Adventureland Park
Adventureland Park things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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Been regulars at Adventureland for many years (growing up, returning with my children, and now grandchildren!). It’s a great family-friendly, CLEAN park where you get a good bang for your buck, while making wonderful memories! We visited on a Saturday with a large group of 20+ (took advantage of the group rate/early season price). Lots of updates for 2022 including many shiny, new rides especially for younger ones. Our all-time favorites include the wooden coasters, magic show, the circus, and Adventure Bay. Several other favorite rides were closed for maintenance (Tornado, SpaceShot, Ferris wheel, to name a few). I’m giving this review 4 stars instead of 5 because the park has gone to a cashless system this year, which leaves a lot to be desired. The kiosks are self-service machines that take your cash and issue Visa debit cards that you can use to purchase food/merchandise/services throughout the park. Sounds convenient right?? Once you insert money, the transaction cannot be reversed, and any problems with the transactions have to be handled through the bank that issues the Visa cards (by calling # on back of card). One of our cards registered a lesser amount than the amount of cash that was inserted into the machine. Luckily, I kept the receipt, but am still in the process of trying to recoup those funds :/ Another card was declined for a purchase greater than the amount left on that card…in other words, our purchase had to be LESS than the remaining balance on the card; we couldn’t use multiple cards to total a purchase and “use up the remaining balances”. Since tax is not included in the prices of items you purchase, you’re bound to be left with nominal balances on multiple cards. (But, “you can use these cards anywhere Visa is accepted outside of the park”, they say. I have yet to try.) Maybe Adventureland needs more time to work out the kinks in the system, but it seems clunky and INconvenient. I will say, however, that I reported these issues to guest relations and they did follow-up with me several days later, which is commendable.
E CE C
00
First of all, four kids and two adults. For one, we rented out in Adventureland Inn. Let me tell you some basic things. 1: They do not sell breakfast of any kind. 2: The indoor pools are so humid and the towels might as well be wash rags. 3: Bar pool was closed the 2 days we were there. Anyways, now to the park. The front line to get in is long but takes so fast to get in. When you get in, there is two rides. The merry go-round, and the train. Which, all have long lines because people in the park come here with kids. Also, as soon as you go down the Arcade, that’s when it gets real. Mostly EVERYTHING is closed. The diner, sweets shop, and another forgetful shop. It’s all so dumb. Also, it’s so humid out that you want to find a place to sit down or sit in. The two new rides are line filled. It’s so humid you wanna sit in line. I waited 40 minutes in line for each new ride. After that, my family got pretty hungry. Me and my family looked around and we found the red coca-cola restaurant. This one didn’t have a line until we left. The line grew a lot. Secondly, the rides. The rides have super long lines. The monster has a 30 minute line on average. That is ridiculous! So many stores also shut down during the day, and we stayed til 4 on the second day it was that bad. I got to go on 3 rides, my oldest and second oldest got on 7 rides. The two others got on around 3. We were there for 2 days by the way. Also, before we left, we had to cut through lines until my family concluded to go yo adventure bay. I know that there is a complete different review center thing, but I have to mention it. The wave pool is always packed. Young children and older people always go into tubes, trapping kids and adults alike when tubes hit them and drown them. They charge a lot for a pizza. 11 dollars! 5 slices and that’s it. Stupidly expensive. The slides on the second day were opened. But on the first day, all of the slides were closed. The lazy River isn’t so lazy when there is a bunch of screaming and shouting kids. Which, only parents and guardians can control. But they should make it that it is TUBES ONLY. Everything else is fine, but it’s still so boring and bad. That day, we stayed for 6 hours and we had the worst time EVER. On our way out we got hungry. By my county, a pizza shop, another pizza shop, a sweet corn shop, slushee shop, chicken wing shop, a brew shop, diner, sweet shop, sweet corn shop, and then this last shop I have to mention. Me and this older looking lady we’re in line. I told her to go in front of us for the workers to just close down. AT 4!? That is stupid! The family left starving and went back to the hotel where I am making this review as my family swims. The Adventureland park and Bay is terrible. But that’s just day 2! In day 1, my family was excited. And I was too! One of my family members saw a Disney princess which was nice. Anyways, when we walked in, one of the entrances was closed. We walked to the flying Viking which lasted 40 minutes. Like I said. The photos also were so dark in the day and night. Anyways, after that it was just hellish. We walked around looking for a place to eat. We ended up not eating at all. Or at least the kids and a adult did. We walked around and some of the kids decided to go do the monster and tornado. I was at a barn with an adult and two kids. And then for around 10 minutes, our kids were lost. The park is so big and not to mention that barely any security or police are present, it’s hard to track where people are and aren’t. We went to adventure bay where it was okay. The best part of adventure land. After 5, it was boring. They also had overpriced 8 dollar kiddie dippin dot bowls. Which costed 51 dollars total. The next day I got a refund of 19 dollars. Anyways, we all walked around, and basically looked for food. That day we spent lots of money. We went on the flying Vikings where we were so exclusive, that we saw a BOAT from the boat ride get stuck up top. Terrible. Two kids went on the A ride, and we’ll all left. Terrible place and would NOT recommend.
Aiden ScottAiden Scott
00
Adventureland delivers on all it promises as an amusement park-- whether you're looking for rollercoasters or simple rides, kiddie rides, bumper cars, or fair food (funnel cakes, walking tacos, cotton candy), or arcade games like ski-ball or trying to get a frog onto a lily pad-- with those huge stuffed animal prizes (or giant stuffed corn, fitting for Iowa) THIS PLACE HAS GOT YOU. There is something for everyone and now there is a water park in addition to the water rides of my youth. There are many, many water slides and a lazy river, a swim-up bar/pool and a huge kid splash pad. Many people bring wagons to pull around. They do have strollers for rent as well. I recommend something like a fanny pack or small crossover bag that can ride the rides with you. For the water park, a water tight bag is super helpful (and available for purchase if you need one). Parking passes are a little steep, but you'll need one to enter and find decent parking on a busy weekend or summer day. Entry was easy with online ticket purchase, but you can also buy tickets at the gate. We got half price tickets this trip for their Independence Day special. There is SO MUCH to do, you could get a camp site or stay in the Adventureland hotel and visit two or three days to hit it all. Additionally there is a speedy pass you can purchase which allows you to by-pass the lines and hop on all the rides first like a King. This is pricey, but I will tell you the "40 min" wait displayed on one ride's timer was more like 90. Also fun, they take photos as you whoosh! down those tall coaster drops which makes for a fun memory (and, of course, available to purchase). 100% recommend this park for family trips, or adults only too. Just as it was when we were young, the sites, smells, tastes and sounds are second to none. Core memory unlocked! Definitely wear your sunscreen and ride the Ferris Wheel! 🎡
Sarah WrightSarah Wright
00
We went on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. I had my 3 y.o. and 13 y.o. and her friend. Had no issues bringing in diaper bag and stroller and personal bag. The rule is one bag per person no larger than 15' x 15' x 15', you can bring in water and sports drinks. It is a cashless facility but they have kiosks to turn cash into cards if you only have cash. We purchased tickets online so we didn't have to wait in the long line to get it. I would highly recommend doing that. Longest wait was to park. They opened at 11 and we got in about 12. The lines for the rollercoasters and other popular rides were avg 5- 20 min wait at that time. We went to Adventure Bay shortly about 1 and there were plenty of open lawn chairs to choose from. The area with the big water playground was running but all of the slides were closed which was a huge bummer. The tube waterslides were open but the other bigger ones were closed all day. The wave pool was fun, and there is a kiddie area over by the wave pool as well with a couple small slides that were open. This area was our favorite because my 3y.o. and 13 y.o. could both have fun. They have lockers for rent but we just left our stuff on the chairs and they were fine. Tube rental is 6$ they only have the 1 person tubes. Plenty of lifejackets available. We went back to the park shortly before Adventure Bay closed and it was very busy, lines were mostly 45 min or more, with some rides not as long of a wait. We did notice a lot of the rides were not running yet, not sure why. Overall we all had a fun time, definitely glad we were able to get the discount ticket price due to Memorial Day weekend. I'm not sure I would be willing to pay full price, but being a local, the season pass price is very reasonable if I would plan on taking the kids there more frequently I would go that route.
Amanda ShermanAmanda Sherman
00
Going to Adventureland was a yearly summer tradition for my family. After going this year.....we won't be going back. It's just not worth it for the amount of money we paid for a mediocre experience that left us feeling that we made a mistake at the end of the night. Upon arrival, we found that the main gate where we've always bought our tickets was closed. There was no signage or indication on where to go so we were a few in a crowd of very confused people. We eventually found someone that pointed us to a cluster of kiosks off to the side. (The kiosks were signed so that we thought they were special purpose only.) We paid $70 per person to get in after having to pause and use a machine to put our cash on. (Adventureland is now an entirely cashless park.) This became a fun experience when we had three starving kids later in the day and had to wait in line for 30 minutes because the transaction system went down. The prices of food, locker rental in the adventure bay and just about everything else's in the park has gone up dramatically. Before going home we purchased two funnel cakes (12.99 a piece) and despite six people working the booth....it took 1/2 an hour to get it. Our only two good experiences from the park was getting our old time picture taken and going to the circus show. Otherwise by the time we got in to the car to go home, my husband and I both said that for what it cost us as a family of four + a friend for the entire day at Adventureland....it was NOT worth the cost and unusual wait times on a day that wasn't very busy. We will now be going to Kansas City or Omaha for our summer family trip. It will be less expensive and more than likely a lot more fun.
Marcella BerryMarcella Berry
00
I visited the park twice this summer. It's a 4 hour drive from home. Once on august 3rd with the whole family. Lines were fairly short. Most rides were limited passengers due to covid 19, however, we still didnt seem to wait too long for any of the rides. Sadly the raging river ride is still closed due to the park waiting on parts to fix it. They are goping to open it next summer from what a park attendant told me. The ski lift was down also which was fine with me but the kids wanted to ride it. We only bought the 1 day pass and we did not have enough time to ride all the ride throughout the park. We got funnel cakes towards the end of the night and unfortunately they were stale and we felt we wasted money on them. The second time I went was august 26th just me and my sister in law. For a friday the park was not that busy at all. Almost no wait time on all rides except the coasters and even those lines weren't too long. The water park didnt have enough staff so only 1 set of waterslides were open at a time which made the lines and wait time super long. We plan on revisiting adventureland in 2021, we are excited for the new dragon slayer roller coaster! We did buy the season cups for 10$ and refills were only a dollar. NOTE: both times I went one of the roller coaster cameras were down so I only got 1 picture each visit rather than one from each coaster from each visit.
Barbie MillerBarbie Miller
00
Nearby Attractions Of Adventureland Park
Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel
Adventureland Resort
Adventureland Inn
Adventureland Campground
Super 8 by Wyndham Altoona
Adventure Bay Waterpark
super stop liqour & wine
Circuit Master CB Shop
The Monster
Adventureland Corporate Offices

Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel
4.0
(4.4K)Click for details

Adventureland Resort
4.3
(3.3K)Click for details

Adventureland Inn
3.7
(797)Click for details

Adventureland Campground
4.0
(324)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Adventureland Park
Jethro's BBQ
Spectators Sports Bar & Grill
Brick & Ivy Rooftop
Gilibertos Altoona
Guadalajara
AJ's Steakhouse
Perkins American Food Co.
Flip’N Jacks Pancake House & Eatery
Scornovacca's Pizza & Pasta
Texas Roadhouse

Jethro's BBQ
4.3
(1.9K)Click for details

Spectators Sports Bar & Grill
4.2
(709)Click for details

Brick & Ivy Rooftop
4.2
(410)Click for details

Gilibertos Altoona
4.3
(342)Click for details
Basic Info
Address
305 34th Ave NW, Altoona, IA 50009
Map
Phone
(515) 266-2121
Call
Website
adventurelandresort.com
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Reviews
Overview
4.3
(3.6K reviews)
Ratings & Description
attractions: Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel, Adventureland Resort, Adventureland Inn, Adventureland Campground, Super 8 by Wyndham Altoona, Adventure Bay Waterpark, super stop liqour & wine, Circuit Master CB Shop, The Monster, Adventureland Corporate Offices, restaurants: Jethro's BBQ, Spectators Sports Bar & Grill, Brick & Ivy Rooftop, Gilibertos Altoona, Guadalajara, AJ's Steakhouse, Perkins American Food Co., Flip’N Jacks Pancake House & Eatery, Scornovacca's Pizza & Pasta, Texas Roadhouse

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