Adventureland Review

Adventureland amusement park in Altoona, Iowa really charmed me this summer, despite not having many truly great rides. Instead, they excel at live entertainment, fun ride operators, and in overall friendliness. All of which ends at the gates of the water park, in my opinion. Let’s take a look.

Adventureland Rides

You can find Adventureland about 15 minutes/11 miles northeast Des Moines, Iowa, the state’s capital. That’s not to say you’ll find it in a city setting. The immediate area feels like farmland, and you’ll see park visitors in work boots arriving in trucks that smell like cow manure (at least I did.)

I’m not sure how to describe Adventureland overall – there’s a main street with a restaurant, arcade, and a few shops. But beyond that, it’s pretty sprawling. There’s a big area to the left of Main Street with the Ferris Wheel and a large stage. Just past Main Street is what feels like a central area, dominated by The Monster roller coaster, a circus tent, and a big Iowa beer tent. But keep going back, and you’ll cross a bridge and into Outlaw Gulch and one last roller coaster. Still further, you’ll reach the water park, Adventure Bay. For what still feels like a small amusement park, it’s larger than you might think.

But still, even in all that space, there aren’t many really fantastic rides. And definitely not any coasters I would call my favorite. Let’s look down the list of attractions, in order of least interesting to most thrilling.

Roller Coasters

There are six roller coasters at Adventureland. Sadly, none of them knock it out of the park.

#6 – The Underground

The Underground is a centrally-located mine-train-themed dark ride built on a coaster track. So technically, it’s a roller coaster, but you won’t find any big dips or thrills here. You enter to a spiel from an ancient-looking ole’ timer, warning you about…something? I can hardly understand him over the sound of his mechanics. Then for the rest of the ride, you pass by mining scenes of an increasingly troubling nature – a haunted mine, or a mine catastrophe, something like that. It’s honestly over before you know it.

Having ridden it, I would have thought The Underground was an original ’70s era ride, but no! It was installed in 1996. It reminds me most of Blazing Fury at Dollywood.

#5 – Tornado

What is a ’70s era ride is the original Tornado roller coaster. Bordering the right side of the park, the Tornado makes an impressive “skyline” to that side of the park. But I found myself mostly paying attention to the view during my ride and not so much the ride itself. It’s fine; it’s just not anything in particular – not particularly good nor particularly bad.

Around the base of the Tornado is where you’ll find most of the park’s pay-to-play games, including speedball, derby downs, and skee ball.

#4 – The Phoenix

By contrast, the Phoenix is one of Adventureland’s newest rides and nice and smooth. It’s a spinning coaster on a swooping track, almost like a wild mouse but not as blocky. It’s fun, just nothing special, and it didn’t spin nearly as much as I wanted it to. Also, the line is in the full sun and moves very slowly, making a lackluster ride feel even less worth it.

What I like about The Phoenix is the surrounding area, found on the left side of the park near several flat rides. While the track isn’t lit at night, the Chinese lanterns strung around the area look really nice. Plus, there’s a little rock garden with a gong and statue and a pagoda featuring an Asian food truck serving Kirin & Sapporo beers. (They seem to close in the evenings, so plan on it for lunch rather than dinner.)

#3 – Outlaw

The Outlaw coaster lives back in Outlaw Gulch, a bit of a hike back in the park. It’s a great-looking wooden coaster with a tight footprint and a fair layout, but I found it to ride slow and rough. And only the first drop is decent. The rest of it is just turns.

#2 – Dragon Slayer

On the original spot of The Dragon, which closed in 2019, the new Dragon Slayer is a “4D Free Spin,” making it unique, especially for an amusement park like this. It’s a wing coaster, so cars are placed on either side of the track, and the ride goes straight up and backward through a series of bumps and curves stacked vertically on one another. Most of your ride depends on the orientation of the car, which can flip upside down independent of the track. In fact, there is a “wild” side (Knight) and a “mild” side (Squire) to choose from, and I’ll give you two guesses as to which side flips you upside down more.

I unwittingly rode the wild side as my first ride of the day. You ascend the lift hill more or less laying on your back, then *flip!* your feet go over your head and don’t really stop doing so in both directions for the entire ride. The mild side only flips you that first time, then it calms down after that. It’s honestly a weird ride. But it’s definitely terrifying/thrilling.

The theming around the immediate area is kind of fun – there’s a castle wall and a cute tiny dragon spinner for kids too small to ride Dragon Slayer. The tracks for the old Dragon are still around, too – look for the two vertical loops and some swoopy bits around the water’s edge as you walk back to Outlaw Gulch.

#1 – The Monster

I can’t say The Monster is a fantastic ride, but it’s the best roller coaster at Adventureland! Eight riders at a time take single-car trains up a completely vertical lift hill and down a 101-degree first drop and into a series of loops and inversions. Many of these loops offer “hangtime,” the sensation of hanging upside down from the track during an element. This is what I don’t like about it – there’s not enough forward momentum. It’s just not zippy enough for me.

But it is beautiful, especially at night. The bright green track is central to almost the entire park, and at night it lights up with an amazing shifting color design. And the best part is that the Skyride goes right through the middle of The Monster, so you get a good view of the lights and the riders looping overhead.

Flat Rides/Everything Else

Besides roller coasters, there are 20 other rides that aren’t specifically for kids. I’ll take these in a bottom-up ranking as well.

**Raging River-dishonorable mention

I’m not sure where to rank this one. Completely disregarding the accident in the summer of 2021, it looks like a middling river raft ride. I’ve seen a video, and it just doesn’t look very splashy except for a tunnel and waterfall at the end. It honestly looks a little home-dug.

But this past summer, one of the rafts completely flipped over, injuring four people and killing one eleven-year-old boy, despite having passed an inspection just the day before. And it sounds like locked emergency gates and personnel untrained in CPR contributed to the horror of the day. By the time I visited the park in mid-August, the ride was closed and drained.

#19 – Frantic Freeway

The park’s bumper car attraction is called Frantic Freeway, which is a fantastic name for a bumper cars attraction, BTW. But I’m still not a fan of being run into, especially by strangers on a solo trip. This one is centrally located behind the circus tent.

#18 – Himalaya

I was quite disappointed in Adventureland’s Himalaya attraction. It seems small, slow, and with only two little bumps in it. Definitely not on par with the excellent operation at Waldameer. On the plus side, it’s very pretty at night. This spot used to be where the park’s antique carousel used to stand, on a pretty spit of land jutting into the small lake. I can’t help but think the Himalaya is a downgrade for this spot.

#17 – Carousel

The current carousel is a small-scale replica, standing in the town square right at the entrance to Adventureland. It’s not that it’s not pretty, it’s just so…small. And since it’s a replica, it doesn’t earn any history points.

#16 – Lady Luck

Lady Luck is a spinning ride themed to a roulette wheel found across from The Phoenix. I rode a larger version of this at Waldameer and loved it, but at Adventureland, they wouldn’t let me ride it solo. However, it’s being removed this year along with Falling Star and Lighthouse due to not being able to obtain replacement parts.

#15 & #14 – Scrambler/Tilt-A-Whirl

I don’t have anything in particular to say about either the Scrambler or the Tilt-A-Whirl. They’re fun spinning rides, but there’s one in every park, so they’re nothing special. The Tilt-A-Whirl is next to the water behind The Monster, and the Scrambler is around the corner from Falling Star and a large Bier Garden.

#13 – Teacups

I’d put the Teacups in the same category as the Scrambler & Tilt-A-Whirl above, and frankly, they’re both more thrilling. But this is the smallest and oldest version of a teacups ride I’ve ever seen! It’s a rectangular, figure-8 layout instead of a larger circular type like at Disneyland. And the floor is wooden – you can tell it’s over 40 years old!

#12 – Giant Sky Wheel

As a solo rider, I can’t ride these gondola-style Ferris Wheels alone. Apparently, they’re afraid someone will freak out and try to jump off. But apparently, this one is the largest “open-gondola Ferris wheel” ever made, so it’s got that going for it. And from the ground, it’s pretty to look at, especially at night when it’s all lit up.

#11 – A-Train

I’m not sure if there’s an Iowa-specific reason for calling this the “A-Train” or if this small train is named after the Duke Ellington song. And it’s small – it only travels the left side of the park, behind the Sky Wheel and The Phoenix, up to a bridge over the small lake, then loops back to the front of the park again.

There is a Disney-style train station over the entrance to the park, with two entrance tunnels and everything. And I will say that the best candy is sold at the train station and not in any of the shops.

#10 – Galleon

The Galleon is your typical swinging pirate ship ride, found next to the Sky Wheel and a big stage. What I love most about the Galleon is that it’s made to look like a pirate with loooong, stripey leggings, ending in huge boots at the base of the attraction! I think that’s hilarious and couldn’t stop trying to get pictures of it between the crowds of people.

#9 – Parachutes

Parachutes is one of those paratrooper-style spinning rides, which I enjoy. It used to be called “Der Flinger,” which is an infinitely better name!

#8 – Sidewinder

I didn’t get to ride the Sidewinder during my visit – it was closed. It’s a small version of those swinging pendulum rides where you almost go upside down, which I like. This one is located on a path back towards Outlaw Gulch.

#7 – Falling Star

The Falling Star was also down during my visit and is due to be removed this year. Which is too bad. I like these platform rides. There’s usually good airtime and lateral g’s.

#6 – Saw Mill Splash

Now to an actually thrilling ride, and one I could ride by asking another family if I could go with them! This water raft ride is back in Outlaw Gulch and right next to the water park, but it’s not a water ride. In fact, you don’t get very wet on it, except for the pooling water in the bottom of each raft that sloshes over your feet as you go up the lift hill.

After the surprisingly tall conveyor-belt lift hill, your raft is sent down a spiraling flume and into a splash pool below. You wouldn’t think it’d be very exciting, but you get a lot of great spin right at the top of the ride that continues most of the way down. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would!

#5 – G-Force

I take notes when I visit amusement parks to remember what I think about them later. In my notes for G-Force, I wrote, “I’ve ridden it, I’ve watched it, and I still don’t understand it.” It’s a spinning ride, for sure, with four cars on each of three platters that whip you around a bit like a scrambler. There’s a disc-shaped handhold in the middle, like what you would find in a teacup ride, and I could never tell if it helped you spin at all. I suspect it doesn’t.

At any rate, it’s a fun spinner, and it’s indoors, located inside the large main street arcade.

#4 – Lighthouse

Now, this one I’m actually sad about. I really enjoyed the Lighthouse and have never ridden anything like it anywhere else. Unfortunately, it’s being dismantled this year for want of parts. It sounds like the park is adding ten new rides for the three they are taking out, including a renaissance fair setting. So I’m not sure if that’s a new land or if they are rehabbing a particular area. The three rides they’re removing aren’t all in one spot, so I’m curious to see where they’ll put the new stuff.

But back to the Lighthouse itself: first of all, it serves (served) as a nice beacon at the end of a bridge over the water, especially at night with the lights on. Six arms attached at the top of the lighthouse hold six four-person cars. Then as the whole thing spins, the arms swing out and up, then down and close, making a tighter & faster radius around the central lighthouse on the downswing. I think it is a fantastic ride and, I’m so sad Adventureland will be losing it. It’s lasted since the opening of the park, 1974. RIP, Lighthouse.

#3 – Skyride

I love a good Skyride, and this one goes through the center of The Monster! At night, when The Monster is lit up, it’s especially magical. It also serves as a legitimate way to get across the park, from the station to the left of Main Street to the rear, back by Dragon Slayer.

#2 – Space Shot

As far as drop towers go, Space Shot is about average. At a park like Adventureland, it stands as a major ride! I found it like an adult froghopper. You are shot up 200 feet, then bounce your way back down to the ground. This one especially has fun ride operators, which make all the difference.

#1 – Storm Chaser

Arguably the most thrilling ride in the park might be Storm Chaser, a tower swings ride just like WindSeeker at all the Cedar Fair parks. But instead of playing flying-themed movie music like Superman and ET, the Storm Chaser plays classic rock! It’s located right next to the Iowa beer tent, so I guess that’s appropriate. Whatever the reason, I love it!

Kid’s Rides

There is an assortment of rides just for children scattered around the park among the other rides. Along the midway around The Phoenix are several flat rides, including a Balloon Race family spinner, and the tots-only Lady Bugs. Centrally, next to the bumper cars and Space Shot, is a flying Red Baron spinner, and a Frog Hopper is just across the way to the right.

Next to the Dragon Slayer is the Dumbo-like Puff Dragons spinner, featuring baby dragons. Nearby, next to the Tilt-A-Whirl, is Hampton Cars for the littlest drivers. And over by the Lighthouse is Convoy for kids who like big trucks. On the way back to Outlaw Gulch, there is Infant Ocean, a boats-in-a-circle ride, and the Chuckwagon, a mini Ferris wheel.

The only area specifically dedicated to the smallest riders is Bernie’s Barnyard, with more limited hours than the rest of the park. Inside, you’ll find play structures, a Shakin’ Bacon “crazy couch” ride, and Junior Jockeys horse race.

Adventure Bay Water Park

Tucked way back in the park is Adventure Bay, Adventureland’s water park. I walked back here only to find unclear, meandering pathways and wall-to-wall people. It also seems as if you need to rent a tube for the lazy river or wave pool, as I saw loads of folks just “walking” the packed lazy river instead of floating. Compared to the rest of the park, which feels cozy and grown-in, the new water park feels stark and bare and harsh.

There are ten attractions total back here – Typhoon seems to be the biggest slide, with 2-person tubes (no single riders, I guess?) and a small funnel about halfway down. The four-slide tower of Bermuda Quadrangle takes single or double tubes, which seem to be provided. The two body slides are the straight-down speed slides of Gang Plank & Pirates Plummet. The Reef Racer, almost on the same tower, is the park’s mat racer. Breaker Beach is the wave pool, Caribbean Cruiser is the lazy river, and the Pirate’s Port Pool is a swim-up pool bar. The kid’s areas include the Kokomo Kove splash tower complex, Shipwreck Shores kid’s pool, and Heron’s Harbor splash pad.

Loose Article Policy

While there are single-use lockers around the park to buy with quarters, there are bins at every ride for your stuff. (Leave it at your own risk, as always.)

For a proper locker, you can rent one at the front of the park for $12, $5 of which is returned when you turn in your key. In Adventure Bay, you can rent lockers in various sizes for $10, $13, or $16. (But no $5 back.)

Adventureland Live Entertainment

Part of what makes Adventureland so unique is all the live entertainment! This is the first park I’ve seen with so many high-quality live acts and not the standard theme park singers and dancers. At park opening, you’re greeted by Bernie, the St. Bernard mascot of the park, a stilt walker, and maybe even some circus performers. Let’s take a ranked looked at all the shows.

**Boulevard Concert Series/Local Iowa Musicians

There is a rotating cast of artists at two stages in the park – on a big stage near the Ferris Wheel and a small single-person stage in the Iowa beer tent. I won’t rank these guys since they change constantly. (Plus, I never stood still long enough to listen to any of them.)

The main stage can host almost anything. During my visit, there were several Latin-music acts throughout the afternoon. They looked fun but boiling hot, performing right in the sun! Several bands pulled kids up on the stage to dance.

Local musicians populate the Iowa beer tent stage, with rotating artists throughout the day. I noticed one that mainly played cover songs, so I think it’s the same vibe you’d get at any bar patio.

#4 – Sam Adam’s Saloon: Magic & Comedy Review

Magician Ben Ulin performs a magic show inside a saloon setting near the back of the park. It was pretty entertaining, but mostly silly humor. The best thing about the show is that you get to sit down inside with the air conditioning. Even though it is my least favorite, it’s still good fun.

#3 – Brad Weston Experience

Arguably less popular, I enjoyed Brad Weston’s show a bit more. He ends up at a stage in the courtyard of one of the places to eat, so most of his audience are probably diners. Brad does sort of a juggling/clowning show, but with wry humor that’s a little more appealing. He also appeared as the stilt walker at the opening of the park.

#2 – American Puppet Theater Company

I was really charmed by this tiny puppet show in front of a small chapel next to the circus tent. With the name of “American Puppet Theater Company,” I wonder if there is a rotating cast of puppeteers, but I’d bet it’s just this one woman and her handmade puppets. It’s definitely geared towards little kids, but I loved it too.

There is a big circus-colored box with three windows, and a short puppet show takes place in each one, each about 7-8 minutes. Each show features a cast of handmade scenes and characters and runs the gamut of poignant to very silly. The woman who does it is very talented! I found it to be adorable and very unique for an amusement park setting.

#1 – Circo de Luz

I think what really made my visit to Adventureland is the fact they have a CIRCUS. It was so unexpected and so fun! There is an additional cost of $3 to see the circus, and it lasts about 45 minutes and has six acts per show. It’s shown a few times a day, so I saw it twice to see if any of the acts changed out. (For the most part, they don’t.)

Circus Acts

A short introductory song and dance from the ringmaster introduces the only reference to the “de Luz” part of the Circo – when the lights go out and performers appear in lighted costumes for the “Circus of Light.” Then there was a juggling unicyclist, a black-light slinky-person dance (I don’t know how better to explain that – it’s a silly act mostly for kids.), an aerialist, a rolo-bola balancing act, a lady on what’s called a cloud swing, and a tightrope family. The aerialist act was the only one that was different on my two visits.

My Favorite – the Cloud Swing

As you might expect from such a small venue, it’s mostly second-rate performers. We’re not talking Cirque du Soliel here. But where my jaw hit the floor was the second-to-last act. This older lady comes out and does a turn in a very elaborate dress, then takes it off to reveal a bikini costume. Then she proceeds to do an aerial act on a rope attached to a bar at both ends, leaving a sling/swing, on which she pumps up to the very top of the circus tent, right over the audience. At various points, she flings herself off and catches herself just by her feet! The proximity to the performer and her look of pure joy as she performs made it feel like you were seeing something truly special. The final “big” act of the trapeze artists felt like a letdown after her.

My only complaint about the experience is that it is super hot in that tent. You don’t notice it during the performance, but when I left, the 80-degree outside heat felt cool by comparison. Otherwise, you can pretty much walk in right at showtime and get a good seat.

Food

Food around Adventureland is, for the most part, pretty good. The only sit-down-inside restaurant is on Main Street, in a fun ’50s diner with an actual bar and free jukebox. Directly adjacent is an ice cream parlor with inside seating.

There’s a really fun section near Raging River with a series of food windows, each serving a different style with storefronts to match. There’s tacos, pizza, gyros, & subs, and I love that they tended to play Harry Connick Jr. music in this corner of the park. (And they play Johnny Cash back in Outlaw Gulch.)

Elsewhere, there’s kettle corn, hamburger & hot dog stands, and the Asian bowls near The Phoenix looked really good. I ended up with a cold corn dog from near the beer garden, then later got a black bean burger from the Chicken Shack and took it to the Coca Cola Cafe where I got onion rings and watched Brad Weston. I will say that the ice cream I got near there was pretty terrible. I’d stick to the Main Street Creamery instead.

Shops

I honestly really like the shops at Adventureland. I like the merchandise and was able to get a good-quality shirt, a couple of postcards from the post office, and an old-school bumper sticker. The shopkeeper even let me try on the shirt before I bought it, and was lovely to talk to overall.

There’s the best candy at the train station, a whole host of stuffed animals in a prominent corner shop on Main Street, even a dark shop selling all kinds of light-up items. (Which is nice to visit on a hot day.)

You can get an airbrush t-shirt, get a caricature done, or do an old-tyme photo shoot. And there is any number of games, from a shooting gallery to kid’s arcade rides.

Parking/Amenities

Parking at Adventureland costs $15 per car or $25 for any oversized vehicle that takes up more than one space. And it goes without saying that there are plenty of bathrooms around, including a large bathhouse with changing rooms in Adventure Bay.

There’s no in-park wifi or Adventureland app, though it’s easy enough to pull up a park map from the website.

Events

Adventureland isn’t too big on special events (aside from its rotating list of performers.) They do generally have fireworks on July 4th and seem to open for private rental events. The biggest event is the one-day fall Oktoberfest. This year’s cost was $50-65 (the lower price if you bought before September) and occurred on September 25. The event includes parking, one beer & one food item, plus access to a handful of rides. Season pass holders can get in for free but don’t get the free food or beer.

Hours

Adventureland is generally open from late April-September, with Oktoberfest being its last day of operation. Open daily from Memorial Day to the third week of August. I honestly can’t remember the exact operating hours (and they aren’t posted on the website calendar yet), but I think it was in the neighborhood of 10 am-10 pm. I’m pretty sure about the 10 am start time, and it got nice and dark in August before they closed, so fairly late. As always, check the hours before your own visit.

Tickets

They haven’t posted prices for 2022’s tickets and passes yet. I paid $50 online total for my day ticket in August 2021.

Season ticket prices in 2021 were $110 for a bronze pass, $140 for a silver pass, $175 for a gold pass, and $290 for a platinum pass. The bronze level only gave access Monday-Thursday. Silver includes weekend access plus parking. Gold adds free guest tickets, food, merch, and hotel discounts, free circus admission, souvenir drink cups and popcorn buckets, admission to Ocktoberfest, full refunds on water park tubes, $5 arcade cards, and a few other discounts. The platinum level adds early entry to the water park, more free refills in those souvenir cups, deeper discounts, and a free night in the hotel.

Adventureland Inn & Camping

Speaking of the hotel, Adventureland can officially be considered a “resort” because it offers an on-site hotel and camping village. The Adventureland Inn features three pools, a swim-up bar, a sports bar & grill, and two hot tubs. The cost right now in the off-season is in the $90 range. In season, it’s more like $400-600 per night.

By contrast, the Campground costs $35-45 for a full-hookup site or $20-25 for a tent site. And it’s entirely closed in the off-season, from October-March.

So, while I can’t recommend staying in the hotel (it’s not $400 nice), I do recommend a visit to Adventureland! And make sure to pay the extra $3 for the circus.