Adventureland Park — Attraction in Altoona

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...

The park has descended into illogical greed.

My family and I have purchased season passes for the past three years that we have lived in the area. The first year, we purchased Silver passes and these included parking. Last year, we purchased Silver again not realizing we would only get half off of parking. This year, we decided to buy one Gold pass just for the free parking. We bought the Gold pass for my wife not really thinking that it would be an issue if I decided to take our daughters to the park without her.

Today, my daughters and I tried going for the first time this season and I was told by the parking attendant that I had to pay for parking since my wife was not with us. It makes no sense because if we had purchased the Gold pass for one of my daughters instead, it would not have been an issue. One thing is trying to use an acquaintance's pass to park, another is using the pass as a family, especially when all of our passes were on the same receipt and have the same last name

To make matters worse, I told the parking attendant I wanted to leave the park and she rolled her eyes at me and acted condescendingly. It was so unprofessional that my eight and six year old daughters both pointed out how rude the attendant was as we drove away.

Once I got home, I called customer service to explain the situation and asked where I could find a copy of the terms and conditions and where it stated that I was not allowed to use my wife's pass to park. I was not necessarily expecting to prove them wrong, but I still like to read these things for myself because sometimes employees do get it wrong.

Customer service was NOT helpful. They told me I would have to go to the website and find it myself. I insisted that they email me the link or an electronic copy, but I was told very callously I would have to go find it myself.

This is no way to treat loyal customers. This is ridiculous behavior over a technicality that at most would extract $10.50 out of me.

I no longer wish to continue to give money to an organization that lacks common sense and is so greedy that they would willingly give up my business over such a trivial amount.

It is truly sad because my daughters do love going there even though, to be honest, the park is mediocre at best. However, the park's management clearly views its customers as cash cows and I refuse to continue to put my money in their pockets when that is how they view me.

I strongly discourage anyone who reads this from doing the same until they take a step back and realize their escalating greed is unacceptable.

Update: I reached out directly to the park's operations manager, Ross Schoofs. The response I received from him was generic, and he essentially told me to just upgrade my season pass. It seems he only cares to shut me up. He completely missed the point regarding the poor customer experience I've had and doesn't seem to care to make things right. When I told him I wanted to elevate a complaint with someone above him, he simply ignored me. This clearly shows where the root of...

G’day, mates! Just rolled into Des Moines, Iowa, from the sunburnt sands of Australia, and let me tell ya, Adventureland is the kind of place that’d make a kangaroo ditch its pouch for a season pass! This theme park is like someone took a fair dinkum Aussie barbie, chucked in some roller coasters, a waterpark, and a few too many corn dogs, and called it a bloody good day out. Here’s my take on this bonza Midwest gem, with a few laughs for good measure. First off, the coasters—crikey, they’re a wild ride! The Monster’s got more twists than a soapie plotline, flinging you upside-down like a possum caught in a spin cycle. I reckon I left half my Vegemite toast in the air on that one. Then there’s the Outlaw, a wooden beast that rattles your bones like you’re riding a ute down a corrugated Outback track. It’s rough as guts, but in the best way—like a true blue Aussie handshake that leaves you grinning through the bruises. The waterpark, Adventure Bay, is an absolute pearler for a hot Iowa day (who knew the Midwest could cook you like a snag on the barbie?). The Kokomo Kove lazy river had me floating along, sipping a overpriced lemonade, feeling like I was back on the Gold Coast—minus the sharks and the surfer dudes with questionable tatts. The slides? Faster than a wallaby dodging a dingo, and twice as fun. Pro tip: don’t wear boardies with bad elastic, or you’ll be mooning half of Iowa at the bottom of Breaker Beach. Now, the food. Strewth, it’s like they’ve taken every deep-fried dream from a country fair and slapped it on a menu. I had a corn dog bigger than me arm, and don’t get me started on the funnel cakes—they’re so sweet they’d give a bilby a sugar coma. Tried to order a flat white at one of the stands, and the poor sheila looked at me like I’d asked for a vegemite smoothie. Settled for a slushie that turned me tongue blue for two days. No dramas, though—tasted like a holiday in a cup. The vibes here are top-notch. The staff are friendlier than a quokka on a selfie spree, always ready with a smile or a quick yarn. The place is clean as a whistle, too—no dodgy rubbish piles or feral pigeons trying to nick your chips. It’s got that small-town charm where you half expect everyone to know your nan’s cousin’s dog. Families everywhere, kids running amok, and me, a grown Aussie bloke, screaming like a galah on the Tornado ride. No shame, mate. Only gripe? The queues can drag longer than a Boxing Day Test match. Bring a hat and some sunscreen, ‘cause the Iowa sun don’t muck about. And maybe don’t hit the Tilt-a-Whirl after smashing a bucket of cheese fries—learnt that one the hard way, didn’t I? All up, Adventureland is a bloody ripper of a day out. It’s got thrills, chills, and enough sugary grub to keep you buzzing like a mozzie at a barbie. For an Aussie far from home, it’s like stumbling across a slice of Surfers Paradise in the middle of corn country. Five stars, would lose me thongs on the Dragon Slayer again. Oi, Iowa, you’ve...