Another opportunity came for Cass and I to take his buddy Ari out for some adventuring, and we took it. Instead of the science- and natural history-heavy Tar Pits, this time we went to a theme park, just likely one you've never heard of: Adventure City.
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Adventure City is in Stanton, CA, in Orange County, but it bills itself as being in Anaheim. I read that the front entrance and parking lot is technically in Anaheim, so that billing isn't total malarkey.
An establishing picture inside the park reminds viewers of most other theme parks:
It looks and feels like other Anaheim-based theme parks, and at a price point of under thirty-bucks, it remains a popular destination.
It is, though, not very big, as the following Google Map shows:
Looks can be deceiving, and I would understand if one finds it difficult what to make of the above picture. The park is designed for the little kids, with over a dozen rides and attractions (and a petting zoo!), and with free parking, it makes sense that their main advertising slogan is "The price for a family of four is less than the cost of ONE ticket to another Anaheim theme park."
It's also very small. It's almost like a tiny slice of Disneyland...like a tiny square of Disneyland.
It opened in 1994, but the train ride I'm showing the boys riding in the following picture was constructed in 1938, and was moved and incorporated into the proper park when it was opened.
There had been a multi-acre lot where other buildings now exist that housed craft stores and other artsy-fartsy stuff, and the rain ride was an attraction for the kids, likely similar to the development of Knott's Berry Farm from a roadside stop and attraction to a fully-fledged theme park with roller coasters.
It didn't take very long to get there, and when I bought the tickets at the gate, the park had just opened, and we snaked in front of a summer day camp group to get inside.
The first ride we went on was an old roller coaster that had been constructed around an enormous pepper tree that was established on the site before any theme park was an idea. It was clanky and great. It broke down soon after, so our attempts to ride a second time were for not.
The first time, though, there was no line at all, and we rode alone, just the three of us. That speaks to another thing that people love about this theme park: wait times are very small. The longest anyone would have to wait around here today, on a Wednesday in the summer, was less than thirty minutes. And it was crowded today, eventually. This is a very happening spot for summer day camps and their large groups of kids in matching t-shirts.
We rode nearly every ride, some more than once. We rode the freeway ride (that first roller coaster), the boys rode the airplane ride, the carousel, and the ballon ride (shown below, where Cass looks like, to quote Corrie, I gave him mushrooms):
We even convinced Ari to ride their biggest single investment in their park: the Rewind Raceway. It's a very smooth German roller coaster that bills itself as the first forward-and-reverse family shuttle coaster in the country. It screams off in one direction, comes to the end of the track, and then screams backwards over the course back to the beginning. Despite not going upside down (nothing here does, since their key demo is the 0-9 year-old age group), this ride is a killer ride for any park. It certainly wouldn't be as glamorous at Magic Mountain (the Mecca for badass rides in the Southland), but it wouldn't be out of place even a little.
We stopped by the petting zoo to say hi to the goats, chickens and pig:
We opted not to eat lunch on site, but the boys did get to enjoy Icees:
Here's the broken down freeway coaster arcing over the pepper tree:
They even had a free-play area, where the boys spent nearly a half-hour playing:
By that point I was hungry and hot and getting cranky, and so afterwards we did a few more rides, checked on souvenirs, and headed home for PB&J sandwiches:
It was pretty awesome, and it's great for a half-day, wallet-friendly, theme park adventure. Daddy Daycare scores again!
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