Archive from April 2010

12:37 PM - Iowa's Adventureland, more updates. (posted by Allen )
I have received some information about Adventureland Park (Altoona, Iowa - http://www.adventurelandpark.com) which explains some of the things I noticed on opening day.

The firethat destroyed halve of their Main Street took out much more than just a set of shops and games. As I wandered the park, I noticed things were missing -- like the animated buffalo head over the shooting gallery at the far end of the park in Outlaw Gulch. It was in storage in the building, and destroyed.

The remote control boats are also missing in action this season. The pond they were in had a small miniature set with a light house and such, and as you travelled the Sky Ride from the County Fair side of the park and exited through the trees, you'd look down and see the tiny village -- a real nice illusion that made it feel like you were really high in the sky. I'd always thought this must have been intentional. Anyway, the boats were destroyed in the fire, and the area they were recharged is also gone.

Remember the brand new High Striker game from last year? Out of commission, as parts of it were in storage and destroyed in the fire. (Though being new, it seems likely they can get replacement parts and return it to operation.)

It seems throughout the park, there are items like these that are out of commission due to aftermath from the fire. This was indeed much more substantial than just losing a row of buildings. Income from the video arcade, bingo parlor, Skee Ball and carnival games, is all gone for 2010.

The loss of a HUGE plush toy store means that their only selection this year must fit in to a building a small fraction of the size of the old location.

And, probably worst of all to me, across the street from the Iowa Cafe WAS a fudge shop that had Dr. Pepper. While the fudge, pop corn and cotton candy has been temporarily relocated to a formerly-unused section of the Iowa Cafe (which used to be a bakery), the Dr. Pepper is missing in action. At least on Main Street.

However, the park is seeing continual updates and improvements while the new water park, Adventureland Bay, continues consturction. Repainting is going on, signs are being replaced or updated, sidewalks and fences repaired, and many other tweaks. This has certainly got to be an expensive year for park operations at Adventureland.

That said... the lines to process season passes on opening day. I believe I have gotten my season pass on opening day every year since they started offering them, and I have never seen lines like this. I hope this is a strong indicator that people are investing in the park with plans to take advantage of the water park when it opens sometime in June. $95 for all season access to both the amusement park and new water park is a bargain, especially when you consider a single day ticket to the park is over $30 (and folks may be much more likely to go swimming many times over the summer than go ride roller coasters).

Good luck, Adventureland. I'll be back out to check on you later this season...

11:51 AM - Post cards from DisneyFans.com photos (posted by Allen )
Check it out:

Adventureland Post Cards

Sold in the park, three for a dollar :)

8:05 AM - Adventureland 2010... (posted by Allen )
Iowa's Adventureland opened up for the season on Saturday, April 24th. I was in the park for a few hours to check out changes, and you can find nearly 400 photos in the gallery:

Adventureland 2010

In February, there was a fire that destroyed half on Main Street. The entire set of buildings on the left side (as you enter the park) are gone, as well as the Baviria section behind it. No more corn dog stand, no more games, no more Skee Ball, no more arcade. The park has the whole area cleaned up to dirt with a chain link fence around it, and banners announcing their plans to rebuild for next year.

There is a section in the Main Street folder showing pictures of this area. It is quite shocking to see.

Other new things: A new drink wagon (nicely themed) is in Outlaw Gulch. $6 buys a metal cup full of one of several types of soda (root beer, saparilla, etc.). Nice.

There is a new Mad Scientist musical show, which features two girls and one guy singing a few songs (the dentist song from Little Shop of Horrors becomes "I'll be a scientist...", Love Potion Number 9, etc.). Between the songs are various comedy bits, and audience participation as they bring kids up to help demonstration simple science fair type experiments. They show how to make a tornado in a jar, for example, and do something else later with jars that was quite surprising. It's worth checking out (15 minutes).

The Iowa Cafe will be adding a salad bar later this season, and two of the shops from the lost side of Main Street have partially been relocated. There is an unused room next to Iowa Cafe that has been used for birthday parties and such, and it now takes over selling fudge, pop corn and cotton candy. This was the first time I think I have ever gotten to go in to this room -- it's been shut to the public (other than parties?) for years.

The stuffed animal store now takes over what was the school house building (which closed to become annual pass processing the first year they did that, then closed and remained closed after. Again, the first time anyone has been able to get in to that building in years).

The park has done a great job getting things recovered after the fire, and when the new water park opens in June, it should forever change the way Adventureland operates -- the park will be the largest in Iowa, I believe (it at least has the longest lazy river). Concept art looks very decent.

Annual passes are $95 for the year, which includes parking (normally $5) as well as access to the water park all season -- a bargain!

More to come, later in the season...

5:06 PM - DisneyFans.com pictures used on theme park post cards... (posted by Allen )
Over the years, my photos (from this site, and my Renaissance Festival site, AtTheFaire.com) have appeared in the newspaper, magazines, ads, brochures and other places. I'm always flattered since I do not consider myself a photographer.

This season, the Iowa amusement park, Adventureland (not the one the movie was based on), will feature three of my photos on postcards. One is a photo of the entrance to the Adventureland Inn hotel, another is a scene of their campground, and the last one is of their water play area Kokomo Kove. They all carry "Photo courtesy of Allen C. Huffman" on them (though I wish they would have done it on the back so it was less distracting -- nice to get visible credit though!). Very cool.

So when you visit the park, look for them in the post card racks!