Adventuredome
I was lucky enough to attend CES 2019 in Las Vegas and being the enthusiast that I am, I definitely couldn’t pass up a chance to get to a park for the last time this winter. So the last day I was in Vegas, I went to Circus Circus to spend some time at Adventuredome. I’ve ridden Manhattan Express at NY, NY before a long time ago so Adventuredome was the only major park/coasters that I needed to hit in Vegas! So I drove from where I was staying at the MGM down to Circus Circus, went in and made my way to the park. This was my first time stepping in Circus Circus and all I could think of was how it seemed like an old, run down Holiday Inn Express. I’m sure it was really nice 30 years ago but not so much anymore. After making my way to Adventuredome, I took a minute walking around making sure both the coasters were running before I dropped $34 on a wristband. Luckily they were so I headed over to the counter and bought one. First impressions of the park: pretty impressed actually. Sure the structure was a bit dated (and really, really pink - yep, that’s not just my camera, that’s actually how it looked!) but I was hugely impressed by the rock work.
It was more elaborate rockwork than I’ve seen at any park outside of a Universal or Disney and much better than most amusement parks. I really liked how Canyon Blaster in particular weaved through the rockwork.
I also liked how you couldn’t see the entire park due to the rocks. It made the park seem much larger than I’m sure it was. This park also had a lack of lines going for it.
I walked onto every coaster at the park and I’m pretty sure that ride ops outnumbered guests. You’d think that that would make me happy (and it did to a certain extent) but I always feel sad for slow days since obviously, if there are nothing but slow days a park can’t make it! Hopefully I just caught it on an off day and there are normally enough guests to justify running and continual investment! But after a quick sweep through, it was time to ride! And first on my list was Canyon Blaster.
Canyon Blaster - 45/100
So I had my hopes up a little higher than they should have been for this one. I think I remember reading about this ride in one of my coaster books and remember it saying how smooth this ride was. And maybe it was when it opened but not anymore, at least not more for my ride. I walked onto the back since I would’ve had to wait for the front row. The drop wasn’t anything to write home about but luckily the loops were pretty good, with little head banging. That changed once we hit the two corkscrews. My head was bashed between the restraints, making me a little dizzy. The helixes through the mountain were good only that it was interesting to see what’s inside the rockwork but otherwise, they were also rougher than I would’ve liked. Overall, not super impressed. I like the way it interacts with the scenery but otherwise, not very impressed.
El Loco x8 - 77/100
I was really looking forward to El Loco as I remember being excited by the look of Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach. Unfortunately I never got a chance to ride it when I lived in Ohio and El Loco opened in 2014 at the bottom of my interest in coasters so I never really paid much attention to it. But as I was planning this side trip and noticed that it was in Adventuredome, I was thrilled! And it did not disappoint! Luckily, just like before, there was absolutely no wait, so I was able to walk right onto a car. I thought the station was an interesting mix of the pueblo style architecture that Canyon Blaster uses and the brutalist style of X-Base at Alton Towers.
After a quick restarting check, we were out of the station (shout out to the crew for being quick at cycling trains and engaging with me as I rode it so many times). I expected the drop to be a beyond vertical one like Steel Hawg and was surprised when it was “only” 90*. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun drop but not as unique as I had hoped. After a turnaround, we went into the first dive loop where there was some excellent hangtime.
But that was just an appetizer. After flying up over the station, we went into the second dive loop which dives back into the station. The hangtime on this dive loop was crazy! You must get at least 4 seconds of complete hangtime, more than stalls on RMCs or any of the elements on Monster @ Adventureland IA (which also has a bunch of hangtime with lap bars). Hangtime is definitely the name of the game for this ride and it makes it a super unique ride that you need to check out if you’re in the region! So after my ride, I went ahead and rode it 2 more times right away. Unfortunately I had to walk around to get back on but that’s not too big of a deal. After three quick rides, I needed a break so I went ahead and walked around the park with my camera. After walking around with my camera for an hour or so (turns out the downside of an empty park is having to wait for enough people to come through the coasters to cycle so I can get some train shots) I went back to El Loco to finish up my rides for the day. I knocked out 5 more rides before I called it a day.
Before I left, I went looking for a magnet for my white board like I do for all my parks I visit. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find anything that said Adventuredome at all and had to settle for a cheap Circus Circus magnet. Better than nothing!
I was happy we took the time to visit this park. A little more investment and modernization and it could definitely be the best indoor park in the U.S. (I have MoA a little ahead of it right now). If you’re in the area, make sure to check it out!