Adventuredome facts for kids
| Previously known as Grand Slam Canyon (1993–1998) | |
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Circus Circus Las Vegas & the Adventuredome in 2008
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| Location | Winchester, Nevada, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 36°08′16″N 115°09′58″W / 36.13778°N 115.16611°W |
| Opened | August 23, 1993 |
| Owner | Phil Ruffin |
| Slogan | 5 Acres of Indoor Fun! |
| Operating season | All Year |
| Area | 5 acres (0.020 km2) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 19 |
| Roller coasters | 3 |
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Adventuredome (formerly Grand Slam Canyon) is a 5-acre (2.0 ha) indoor amusement park located at Circus Circus in Winchester, Nevada on the Las Vegas Strip. It is owned and operated by Phil Ruffin. The park is connected to the hotel inside a large glass dome, and currently offers 25 rides and attractions including the Canyon Blaster roller coaster, rock climbing wall, 18-hole miniature golf course, a video game arcade, clown shows, Xtreme Zone, Pikes Pass, Virtual Reality Zone, Midway Games, and carnival-type games. Because the park is enclosed, it is not affected by cold, rainy, or windy weather, unlike most theme parks, and is open year-round. Every October from 2003 until 2017, the Adventuredome was changed to Fright Dome as a Halloween-themed theme park.
The Adventuredome opened on August 23, 1993, in the west parking lot of the hotel. It sits on a reinforced 18" thick deck elevated 18 feet (5 m) above ground. The dome itself consists of over 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m2) of pink tinted, insulated glass over a teal green space frame (to minimize structural poles inside). Each pane of glass weighs approximately 300 lb (140 kg).
Previous owners of Adventuredome were Mandalay Resort Group (formerly known as Circus Circus Enterprises) (1993–2005) and MGM Resorts International (formerly known as MGM Mirage) (2005–2019).
Contents
History
The park began construction in 1992 as a $75-$90 million project to introduce a family-friendly amusement park to Las Vegas. The building's dome design was created entirely out of pink tinted glass, with each pane weighing approximately 300 lb (140 kg). The dome itself consists of over 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m2) of pink insulated glass placed over a teal green frame. Construction took a little over a year to complete, and the park was finally opened on August 23, 1993, as the "Grand Slam Canyon", a dinosaur-themed amusement park. Grand Slam Canyon originally featured four rides: the Canyon Blaster roller coaster, the Twist 'N' Shout water raft, the Rim Runner shoot the chutes, and the Hot Shotz Lazer Tag arena, now known as "Lazer Blast". The dinosaur theme consisted of eight large animatronic dinosaurs spread throughout the park, with visitors being able to read the informational placards in front of each one. Though visitors could not ride them, the dinosaurs often "interacted" with the visitors, with some spitting water on guests. Grand Slam Canyon, as indicated by its name, was also inspired by the Grand Canyon and originally featured river-rapid rides, two lagoonlike pools, a lazy creek and a re-creation of a pueblo.
Grand Slam Canyon was initially popular, but visitors often expressed their desire for more things to do. Tom Nolan, the vice president of theme park operations at Adventuredome, suggested that "it was a [matter] of what people wanted versus what they could do" and added that "there were a lot of animatronics, a lot of theming, but people said there weren't enough things to do." Following the feedback, the park was closed for 45 days beginning in April 1994 to remodel. During the remodeling, several family-friendly attractions were added, such as Midway shows, Canyon Cars (bumper cars), Sand Pirates (a swinging pirate ship), Miner Mike (a mini roller coaster), Thunderbirds (a mini airplane ride), and Drifters (a mini Ferris wheel). The Twist 'N' Shout water raft ride was removed to make way for several of these rides, solely due to its size, and the animatronic dinosaurs were removed to move away from the dinosaur theme (although remnants of the dinosaur and grand canyon themes still remain). After the remodeling, as space became available, rides were added to the theme park one or two at a time every few years. Near the laser tag arena, for example, management added a rock climbing wall and a miniature golf course. Though initially hesitant to add the golf course out of concern for the park's glass dome, as of July 29, 2014, there has not been a single golf ball incident.
The park was renamed "Adventuredome" on May 1, 1998. In 1999, management tried to keep up with the latest developments in the industry by consulting visitor surveys. This resulted in the addition of several dynamic thrill rides across the next few years, including the Inverter that same year, Chaos in 2001, the Frog Hopper in 2002 and the Sling Shot in 2004. On February 3, 2013, the Rim Runner was permanently closed to make way for a newer roller coaster named "El Loco". El Loco officially opened on February 18, 2014. Adventuredome became a $75-$90 million project.
Rides and attractions
The current and former attractions at the amusement park are provided below.
Current
Coasters
| Current Name | Picture | Opening Date | Manufacturer | Minimum Height Requirements | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon Blaster |  |
August 23, 1993 | Arrow Dynamics | 48 inches | The world's largest indoor double-loop, double-corkscrew roller coaster. This is an original park attraction. | |
| El Loco |  |
February 18, 2014 | S&S Worldwide | 48 inches | Only the 2nd of its kind in the United States, El Loco, a custom S&S coaster, took the place of the splash down pool of the Rim Runner ride. |
Premium rides
| Current Name | Picture | Opening Date | Manufacturer | Minimum Height Requirements | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaos | .JPG) |
March 2001 | Chance Morgan | 48 inches | Ride that spins while allowing each car to flip on its own axis while tilted to a 70 degree angle. | |
| Disk'O |  |
2007 | Zamperla | 48 inches | A ride where passengers sit on a spinning disk which rides along a half pipe track. | |
| Extreme Ride Theatre – Featuring Angry Birds: The Ride |  |
2018 | SimEx-Iwerks | 42 inches | Motion Simulator Experience. | |
| FX Theatre – Featuring SpongeBob SquarePants 4D: The Great Jelly Rescue! | |
May 2013 | SimEx-Iwerks | 33 inches | 4-D film experience replaced SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D in late May 2013. | |
| FX Theatre – Featuring Ice Age No Time for Nuts 4D | |
June 2016 | SimEx-Iwerks | 33 inches | Replaced Dora & Diego 4d Catch that robot butterfly! | |
| Inverter |  |
1999 | Chance Morgan | 48 inches | Ride that spins riders upside down. | |
| Lazer Blast | |
August 23, 1993 | Unknown | 42 inches | Formerly known as "Hot Shots Lazer Tag." Laser tag arena built into the base of the park's signature mountain. This is an original park attraction. | |
| Sling Shot |  |
2004 | Chance Morgan | 48 inches | 100' tall free fall ride that shoots riders upwards with 4G's of acceleration. |
Large rides
| Current Name | Picture | Opening Date | Manufacturer | Minimum Height Requirements | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon Cars | |
May 1994 | Zamperla | 42 inches to ride, 54 inches to drive | Bumper cars. | |
| NebulaZ | November 2020 | Zamperla | 42 inches to ride | NebulaZ. | ||
| Sand Pirates |  |
May 1994 | Zamperla | 33 inches | Swinging pirate ship. |
Junior rides
| Current Name | Picture | Opening Date | Manufacturer | Minimum Height Requirements | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frog Hopper | |
2002 | S&S Power | 36–58 inches | Shoot you up, hop you down ride. | |
| Thunderbirds | |
May 1994 | Zamperla | 36–58 inches | An airplane carousel that flies through the air. |
Family rides
| Current Name | Picture | Opening Date | Manufacturer | Minimum Height Requirements | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.C. Bus | |
Unknown | Zamperla | 42 inches | A bus that goes up, down and around. | |
| Circus Carousel |  |
1999 | Chance Morgan | 42 inches | Carousel themed with circus animals. This ride was relocated in 2003. | |
| Drifters |  |
May 1994 | Zamperla | 42 inches | A hot air balloon themed Ferris wheel. | |
| Road Runner | |
Unknown | Wisdom Rides | 42 inches | Mini-Himalaya that gives a wild trip going forwards and backwards. |
Former
| Ride Name | Picture | Opening Date | Closing Date | Manufacturer | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dino Island | |
c. May 2004 | January 2006 | SimEx-Iwerks | |
| Dino Island II: Escape from Dino Island | |
c. May 2004 (first opening date) November or December 2009 (second opening date) |
January 2006 (first closing date) May 2011(second closing date) |
SimEx-Iwerks | This was a simulator in which one would rescue the last remaining dinosaur on earth. It was replaced with Happy Feet: Mumble's Wild Ride. |
| Extreme Log Ride! | |
November or December 2009 | May 2011 | SimEx-Iwerks | Motion Simulator Experience. |
| Fun House Express | |
Unknown | October or November 2004 | SimEx-Iwerks | Motion Simulator Experience. |
| Happy Feet: Mumble's Wild Ride | |
May 2011 | Unknown | SimEx-Iwerks | Motion simulator with scenes from Happy Feet. |
| Miner Mike | |
May 1994 | 2019 | Wisdom Rides | A small children's coaster |
| Pacific Rim Motion Movie Experience | |
June 2016 | 2018 | SimEx-Iwerks | Motion simulator with scenes from Pacific Rim. |
| ReBoot: The Ride | |
April 2000 | October or November 2004 | SimEx-Iwerks | Based on the TV series ReBoot. |
| Rim Runner | |
August 23, 1993 | February 3, 2013 | Arrow Dynamics | Shoot-the-Chutes with a 60-foot (18 m) drop. This was an original park attraction. |
| SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D | |
May or June 2005 | May 2013 | SimEx-Iwerks | A 4-D ride based on the television series, SpongeBob SquarePants. |
| Baja | |
August 23, 1993 | April 1994 | Unknown | Large water slide tower with two identical slides. Occupied area that is now home to Canyon Cars, Sand Pirates and midway games. This was an original park attraction. |
Images for kids
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Adventuredome at street level
See also
In Spanish: Adventuredome para niños
