In our Facebook group, Dee/Anna broke the news that the new Doc and Leone’s Diner restaurant on Main Street opened yesterday, 5/30/2018, late afternoon. The location offers food, as well as a large selection of adult beverages (many beers, alcoholic ice cream drinks, and more).
Also, the park’s handout guide already lists what the Fire Station is becoming: The Main Street Marketplace. In the guide it is listed as offering “food allergy friendly offerings, grab and go drinks and salads.”
Dee/Anna has also shared a photo of the ride vehicle for the new children’s ride Shakin’ Bacon, coming soon to Bernie’s Barnyard.
I have been making updates to the Adventureland Wiki with these and other notes, so be sure to check it out.
The weather in Iowa has been very hot lately, with Memorial Day Weekend featuring temperatures in the upper 90s. Adventureland begins daily operation now, and Adventure Bay has also opened for the season.
On Memorial Day Monday, crowds seemed pretty tame early on. Around noon, parking was still mostly using the main up-front lot (Lot 4, I believe). There was, however, a major line at the ticket booths, filling the full queue and extended out past the planters:
The ticket line extended out from the permanent zig-zag queue and out to the right in this photo.
Inside the park, most of the rides had very shot lines, with many basically being a walk-on. I expect most visiting that day were down at the water park.
Main Street
On Main Street, work continues at the fire station. When Adventureland opened in the 1970s, this location was meant to replicate a town fire station, complete with some form of fire truck/wagon on display. In later years, it was used for stroller rentals before finally becoming a small merchandise shop. It looks like the garage door may have been removed, possibly indicating this location will become an extension of retail space for the shops in that area.
Fire Station construction.
Down the way, work continues on the new Doc and Leone’s Diner project. The front sidewalk is roped off, and the windows are uncovered. Inside you can see the new 1950s-style tables and chairs, and even catch a glimpse of a jukebox. It looks like the walls have all been redone too, in fancy 50’s diner style. The park has said this location will open in early June.
Doc and Leone’s Diner is showing major progress.
The locations formerly used by Airbrush Avenue are still closed, and it did not look like anything had been going on inside yet.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign
A number of new signs have appeared in the park, such as new restroom signs…
Several of these new blue restroom signs have appeared throughout the park.
As mentioned in the Facebook group, the Tea Cups also got new signage this year;
An upgraded Tea Cups sign.
Flag Day
In addition to new signs, it was also pointed out that new flags have appeared around the park. Some are tied to the location – such as Iowa flags flying over at Iowa Beer & Wine…
There are various other flags lining buildings and such, but I’d have to check past year’s photos to see if these are new for this year. Adventureland has always had plenty of building-top flags in the park.
Even with a very small audience at the 1 o’clock show, and temperatures in the upper 90’s, the circus gave the same high energy performance as they would to a full audience on a much milder day. The circus has added some new lighting effects inside, as well.
And over at Sheriff Sam’s Saloon, it looks like the building has been repainted.
Sheriff Sam’s Saloon appears to have been repainted. And flags!
Stepping inside, it appears the flooring has been updated, and a new wall constructed.
New flooring (?) and wall inside Sheriff Sam’s Saloon.
This seems to block the light better for Ben Ulin’s Glow Show. They were keeping one of the doors open, instead of them closing during that show.
And, did you notice the four new hitching posts that have been added? These would be where the cowboys would have tied up their horse when visiting the saloon.
Hitching posts!
Bernie’s Barnyard
The new children’s play area has gone vertical, and is visible from within the park.
Bernie’s Barnyard play area.
And landscapers are hard at work on this hot day, too.
(I think she’s camera shy. I was trying to show all all the work she was doing placing the new flowers and such.)
And, when you exit, you can even get a sneak peek at the new Bernie statue:
Bernie statue.
…and appreciate all the work that is going on inside:
Bernie’s Construction Land.
More to come…
The day was hot, so my visit was short. I am sure there are many more things to be discovered this season. Like, how did I miss the relocation of the bowling ball game? Dee/Anna mentioned it was near the Skee-Ball area now, so it looks like some Skee-Ball machines have been retired:
This stupid and impossible and frustrating bowling ball game is, unfortunately, still here, taunting me.
Nothing has yet taken over it’s former spot, but, the jumbo crane game seems to be ready:
It is worth noting that this is a new domain name (though it is a domain name they have had for awhile). Previously, you would see AdventurelandPark.com used.
Bernie’s Barnyard
Last year, the park announced that a new children’s area would be coming in 2018. Bernie’s Barnyard will be located where the corporate picnic area was, between the Tornado and behind the Storm Chaser.
During last year’s Oktoberfest, they had a banner announcing it:
This banner was seen at the 2018 Oktoberfest.
It is already on the in-park maps, too.
Bernie’s Barnyard on the new in-park maps.
The area is supposed to open in June. Currently, it looks like they have just begun working on the ground:
Bernie’s Barnyard construction on 5/5/2018.
Doc and Leone’s Diner
It was recently announced that the Iowa Cafe was being replaced with a new facility called Doc and Leone’s Diner.
Doc and Leone’s Diner on the map.Doc and Leone’s Diner sign.
The new sign, shown above, may seem a bit out of place in the “early 1900s” of Main Street, but if you visit many older main streets in Iowa, you will see a mixture of classic architecture and modern upgrades (like finding a Subway or Starbucks there).
The remodel looks huge. According to my “park source,” the location will still be a counter service location, but the whole area is being remodeled.
Doc and Leone’s Diner construction
And the new menu is very intriguing:
Doc and Leone’s Diner menu.
Collard greens? Count me in! Those were easy to find back in my home state of Texas, but not so common here in Iowa. I look forward to eating through this menu.
During the remodel, the famous adventureland fried chicken is available at the newly repainted Fun Foods next door.
Oh, and if you already miss the inside bench seating that Iowa Cafe had, take a stroll over to Dragon Island and you might find something familiar…
Former Iowa Cafe benches, installed on Dragon Island.
Goodbye, Inverter
Several folks posted in my Adventureland Iowa Fans (Unofficial) Facebook group that the Inverter was no longer listed on the website. There were also posts showing a photo of it on a “for sale” site for amusement park rides. We now know it has been removed from the in-park maps as well:
The Inverter is missing from from the map….
And everything is gone from the site, as well:
The Inverter … was formerly here.
Although they reused the queue building from Super Screamer when The Inverter was first installed, you can see that it has been completely removed.
Food, Glorious Food
There are some major food updates this year. New colorful menu boards have been added, and they clearly mark items that are “New for 2018“:
Taco Villa’s new menu.
And just like we got “fancier’ items like baklava last year, the trend continues. There are some interesting (and delicious) new items, including Fiesta Street Corn.
Burito Bowl and Fiesta Street Corn (and a real margarita).
Over at Coca-Cola Cafe, be sure to check out this Monster Burger:
The $18 Monster Burger (cheaper than buying all the items separately).
There area also Loaded Nachos, a BBQ Sundae, Sriracha Chicken Waffle Cone, gluten free Mac and Cheese, Chicken and Waffle Sliders,a new Outlaw Burger, Speciality Pizzas (like a Gyro Pizza) and Cereal Shakes, among many other new items. There’s even Little Smokies in a cone at Petunia Pig! I’ll try to split out these food offerings in future posts, but for now, suffice it to say that the new chefs brought on last year seem to have had a quite busy off season coming up with these items.
And someone please try this Funnel Cake Bacon Cheeseburger and let me know what you think:
Funnel Cake Bacon Cheeseburger, anyone?
The food locations also show operational improvements. The serving counter at Rathskeller has glass doors covering up the food now, for instance.
Games, Games, Games
My favorite Lucky Puck game has moved a bit, to make way for an upcoming huge crane game:
A big crane game must mean big prizes…
Side note… If you want bottled water, just play Lucky Puck. It costs $5 to buy two bottles of water, and if you play the game, you get two plays, and each one is guaranteed to win at least a small prize, which is currently a bottle of water. You might win $5 in arcade credits, or $5 in game play… or even an Adventureland ticket.
The bowling game is missing in action, but Dee/Anna in the Facebook group reports they saw it installed near the Skee Ball.
The Bowling Game has reportedly moved.
Meet me on Main Street
Back on Main Street, Airbrush Avenue has departed…
No more Airbrush Avenue.
The clearance store, which used to be next door, is now in the “post office” building:
The Clearance Store has a new home.
And the corner store now contains items that used to be at the post office:
The new glowing Corner Store.
The fire house, which used to rent strollers and sell some items, is closed…
The Fire Station is currently closed.
The Adventureland Store in the school room is also gone, and the stroller rentals have been moved there:
Strollers are now in the school house.
I need to find out where the Adventureland Store has moved. That was the place I spent the most money, outside of food and drink…
Speaking of Drinks
And speaking of drinks… the Bier Garten has new beer offerings this year, and Iowa Beer and Wine has added more beer taps, and is now a full bar!
Iowa Beer and Wine is now a full bar.
Many types of alcohol, including Iowa brandys and whiskeys, are available. You can even get a “flight” of the good stuff.
The good stuff!
They even have something I had never seen before. Many restaurants, and most bars, have a single dispensing hose that has buttons on it that let them select Coke, Sprite, etc. Adventureland has racks of liquor bottles that are all hooked up to a similar hose that lets them quickly dispense the “good stuff” without having to deal with individual bottles. This will no doubt greatly speed up drink service on the busy days!
There is also a new selection of cocktails, and a new frozen drink: The Blue Lagoon. While the original frozen green Monster drink will always hold a special spot in my heart (and belly), I think I like the Blue Lagoon even better.
Adventureland has always been an “all ages” park, but with so many of the rides focusing on younger kids, it’s really nice to see the adults getting more and more things to keep them occupied.
General Upkeep
There are so many other things going on, including many buildings getting fresh paint. Notice the newly repainted black windows near Icee Mix-It-Up:
New paint everywhere!
And it is just me, or did they repaint (or replace) the remote controlled boat “island”?
New paint? New props?
Those might have been updated last year, but with so much getting “refreshed” it now starts making the whole park look better.
Lady Luck
Lady Luck has a new computer-controller multi-color LED light show:
Lady Luck’s new color-changing RGB LED lights.
I can’t wait for the park to be open past sunset to see what it looks like at night.
And much more!
There are so many more items I’d like to mention, but I’ll save those for a future update. With all the new food, tasty adult beverages, game and attraction improvements this year, “reporting” on them should keep me really busy this season.
I won’t be able to get to the park until Memorial Day Weekend (at the earliest), so please comment on this post and let me know what I have missed.
Adventureland began its 2018 season on April 28. I’ll have an extensive update soon detailing some of the changes in food, rides, games, and “tasty adult beverages” … and there are many!
Construction of the new “Bernie’s Barnyard” children’s area is well underway (5/5/2018).
