Life Is A Roller Coaster

While Lex and I were in Los Angeles visiting her family, we decided to make a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas to check out the Adventuredome:

Circus Circus is one of the many well-known casinos in Vegas, but from what we saw, it is in need of a face lift. Everything about it just seems a bit outdated.

If you choose to enter Circus Circus from the front entrance, you must wind your way through the casino to eventually stumble upon the Adventuredome.

As is the case for most of Las Vegas, nothing is cheap. Adventuredome follows suit, especially with the individual ride prices. Since we wanted to fully experience the theme park, we opted for the Regular Pass at $30 a pop.

The first ride you are confronted by when entering the Adventuredome is Sling Shot, a seemingly typical drop tower.

To our surprise, it was far from typical. The launch up the tower was actually more intense than most. Unfortunately, the drop back down the tower is less intense than most and is quite disappointing.

Here is a view of the Adventuredome’s carousel, ferris wheel, and Sling Shot. I think it is worth saying that a lot of these photos have low-quality due to the truly unique lighting created by the pink glass of the dome.

Any Happy Feet fans out there? That is the Extreme Ride Theater’s current flavor, which we did not get around to experience.

Here is a picture of the park map. From the photo you can see how the Adventuredome packs a lot into a relatively small amount of space.

In fact, the park currently features 25 rides and attractions, including Lazer Runner. Lex and I obviously had to compete in this laser tag adventure and even more obviously I won (right Lex?).

We did check out Polar Express 4-D and I was pleasantly surprised. It was great for the holiday season and featured a lot of effects.

I had to take a picture or two of a former ride here at the Adventuredome, Rim Runner. I would love to hear about the ride experience it offered from someone who has been on it.

It seemingly had a pretty massive footprint and interacted with the mountain features at the center of the park.

Adventuredome is also home to one of the few Chaos flat-rides remaining. It was running great for Lex and I, too!

I have to imagine that these rides must be maintenance nightmares. From what I remember, they were always popular at their respective parks, so I can’t imagine the ride experience has led to their disappearance.

The ride we were most excited for was most definitely El Loco, Adventuredome’s brand-new S&S El Loco model.

El Loco is a great fit for this park because it packs a big punch into a small footprint. Here you can spot the outward-banked turn as well as the roll into the half loop.

El Loco starts its journey with a 90-degree, 90-foot drop just to get you ready for the craziness that ensues.

The 1,300 feet of track manages to turn you upside-down twice and reaches speeds of up to 45mph.

The final element of El Loco is a roll into a half loop. This was easily my favorite part of the ride since it offered a ton of hang-time.

The El Loco trains track very well but the quick elements definitely can cause some uncomfortable jerks.

The seats and restraints were both comfortable, but as a whole, El Loco was a middle-of-the-road thrill ride. It is a great fit for the park, but I was a little underwhelmed by the first drop and lack of “Wow!” moments.

Immediately next to El Loco is the first coaster to be featured at the Adventuredome, Canyon Blaster.

The pink track of Canyon Blaster is tangled through most of the park and can be seen from almost anywhere.

Canyon Blaster is a Custom Arrow Looper that reaches a height of 94 feet, so you get a great view of the majority of the Adventuredome as you ascend its lift.

Canyon Blaster absolutely flies through its layout, which I was incredibly surprised by.

The corkscrews of Canyon Blaster flip riders over the 18-hole miniature golf course featured at the Adventuredome.

As are most Arrow corkscrews, they look awesome but they unfortunately do not always ride as well as they look. The pair of corkscrews that Canyon Blaster possesses are taken at great speed with a ton of intensity.

A train full of riders are sent flipping over Chaos. Fun fact: Did you know that Canyon Blaster was the coaster that “went through” Criss Angel? Here is the video. It’s worth a laugh because obviously that is not how physics or human biology or just anything works. Still a cool camera trick, I suppose.

The trains on Canyon Blaster look a bit more sleek than most Arrow Loopers. I found that they tracked pretty well, too. I have to say, Canyon Blaster was much better than El Loco. It is one of the best Arrow Loopers I have been on because of its intensity and interaction with the majority of the park. The ride just does not let up throughout its 2,423-foot layout.

Surprisingly, we actually took a decent picture in the dark (minus the hand or whatever that is at the bottom). Las Vegas is definitely a sight to behold at night with the onslaught of lights that are turned on.

Overall, our trip to the Adventuredome was fun, but until they add something worth coming back for it will probably be our only trip there. The operations were pretty poor and the overall vibe just screamed “face lift” to Lex and I. To summarize most of my thoughts, Canyon Blaster was the star of the show and is worth experiencing due to the incredible speed at which it takes its elements. El Loco is a mediocre thrill-ride but is a great fit for the park. Chaos is a great flat ride that is pretty much going extinct, so it is worth a ride or two. Would I spend another $30 to go again? Probably not, but I am glad we experienced it once.

For more information on the Adventuredome such as park hours and prices, visit their website at Adventuredome.com.

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I am a huge travel and roller coaster enthusiast. I have ridden 459 unique coasters across North America and do not plan on stopping anytime soon. I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and am now working with a creative firm in Orlando, Florida.