Adventuredome facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids
Adventuredome
Attractions

Circus Circus Las Vegas & the Adventuredome in 2008
Slogan	5 Acres of Indoor Fun!
Location	Winchester, Nevada, U.S.
Owner	Phil Ruffin
Opened	August 23, 1993; 30 years ago (1993-08-23)
Previous names	Grand Slam Canyon (1993–1998)
Operating season	All Year
Area	5 acres (0.020 km²)
Total	19
Roller coasters	3

Former Adventuredome logo

Adventuredome logo (2011–2016)

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).

History
Rides and attractions
- Current
- Former
Images for kids
See also

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	Opening Date	Manufacturer	Minimum Height Requirements	Description
Chaos	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	Opening Date	Manufacturer	Minimum Height Requirements	Description
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	Opening Date	Manufacturer	Minimum Height Requirements	Description
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	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

Adventuredome at street level