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Encyclopedia > Alabama Adventure Theme Park
Alabama Adventure

Location Bessemer, Alabama Flag of the United States
Website http://www.AlabamaAdventure.com/
Owner Southland Entertainment Group
Opened May 23rd, 1998
Previous names Visionland - 1998 to 2006
Operating season April through September
Area 200 acres (81 hectares)
Rides 28 total
  • 3 roller coasters
  • 6 water rides
Portal:Amusement parks Amusement Parks Portal

Alabama Adventure, formerly known as Visionland, is an Alabama theme park, located off Interstate 20/59 in Bessemer, west of Birmingham. Image File history File linksMetadata Alabamaadvlogo. ... Bessemer is an American city and suburb of Birmingham located in southwestern Jefferson County, Alabama. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Southland Entertainment Group is a Alabama based company that owns the Visionland Theme Park is Biramingham, Alabama. ... May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... An acre is the name of a unit of area in a number of different systems, including Imperial units and United States customary units. ... A hectare (symbol ha) is a unit of area, equal to 10 000 square metres, commonly used for measuring land area. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Theme Park is a simulation computer game designed by Bullfrog Productions, released in 1994, in which the player designs and operates an amusement park. ... “I-20” redirects here. ... Interstate 59 (abbreviated I-59) is an interstate highway in the southern United States. ... Bessemer is an American city and suburb of Birmingham located in southwestern Jefferson County, Alabama. ... Nickname: Location in Jefferson County in the state of Alabama Coordinates: , Country State County Jefferson, Shelby Government  - Mayor Bernard Kincaid (D) Area  - City  151. ...


Its featured rides are the "Rampage," one of the nation's fastest and largest wooden roller coasters, "Zoomerang," a steel "boomerang" coaster, and "Space Shot," a 185-foot launching tower. Today, the park is divided into two parks: a water park called "Splash Beach" and a "dry ride" park called "Magic City USA" that includes a children's area called "Marvel City." A typical roller coaster The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. ...


Visionland was built largely as a result of efforts by Jefferson County Commissioner Larry Langford, who at the time was the mayor of Fairfield, Alabama. Eleven cities came together to form the West Jefferson Amusement and Public Park Authority. With help from the Alabama Legislature, the group borrowed $65 million to build the park. Construction began in March 1997, and the park opened for business on May 23, 1998. Location in the state of Alabama Formed December 13, 1819 Seat Birmingham Area  - Total  - Water 2,911 km² (1,124 mi²) 29 km² (11 mi²) 1. ... Former mayor of Fairfield, Alabama. ... Fairfield, founded in 1910 is a city located in Jefferson County, Alabama with a population of 12,381. ...


In June 2002, the park filed Chapter 9 bankruptcy. It was purchased and is now operated by Southland Entertainment Group. WaterMark Place, a nearby 200,000-square-foot outdoor manufacturers' outlet shopping mall, also aims to attract business and tourism to the area. Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration—see text) in the United Kingdom. ... Southland Entertainment Group is a Alabama based company that owns the Visionland Theme Park is Biramingham, Alabama. ...


In 2005, the Alabama theme park was visited by approximately 345,000 people, making the park Alabama's second-most popular tourist destination according to the Bureau of Tourism and Travel and trailing only the Birmingham Zoo. In 2006, the number of visitors to Alabama Adventure rose to more than 388,000. This article is about the U.S. State. ... The Birmingham Zoo is a major zoological park founded in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama. ...


On March 27, 2006, Southland Entertainment officials announced that, after a record-setting season last year, that around $100 million in new rides and other facilities were planned to come online over the next few years. They also announced that the park's name would be changed to Alabama Adventure for the coming season. Among the planned additions: a campground, a hotel with an indoor water park, a NASCAR-style miniature race track, a petting zoo, and a summer concert series. The 2007 series will feature artists such as Birmingham-area natives Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard, Bo Bice, as well as Jesse McCartney, Toby Mac, and CeCe Winans among many others. A campsite (or campground) is a place used for camping. ... For other uses, see Hotel (disambiguation). ... Jeff Burton (99), Elliott Sadler (38), Ricky Rudd (21), Dale Jarrett (88), Sterling Marlin (40), Jimmie Johnson (48), and Casey Mears (41) practice for the 2004 Daytona 500 The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... A petting zoo (often called, and/or part of, a childrens zoo) features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. ... Taylor Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter. ... Christopher Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American pop/R&B/gospel singer who rose to fame as winner of the second season of the American Idol television program. ... Harold Elwin Bo Bice, Jr. ... Jesse A. McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American pop singer and Daytime Emmy-nominated actor. ... Toby McKeehan, better known as tobyMac, is the founding member of the Christian group dc Talk. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...


In early 2007, Southland Entertainment announced 2 new additions to Alabama Adventure for the upcoming season. The first is a new ride called "Vertigo," which will flip riders head over heels as it spins and rises. Also, a new water play area designed for children 6 and under called "Salamander Bay" will open for the 2007 season. Management officials also said that construction on a large hotel with an indoor waterpark could begin soon. Southland Entertainment expects to spend millions of dollars in the coming years on upgrading and expanding Alabama Adventure.

Contents

Magic City USA Theme Park Attractions

Roller Coasters

Ride Year Opened Description
Rampage 1998 A Custom Coasters International wooden coaster. This coaster opened when the park opened.
Marvel Mania 1998 A Miler Coasters steel family roller coaster. Located in Marvel City.
Zoomerang 2005 A Vekoma Boomerang roller coaster relocated from the defunct Wonderland in Sydney, Australia.

Custom Coasters International (CCI) was one of the premier wooden rollercoaster manufacturers in the world. ... Vekoma-built Limit (Heide Park) Vekoma is a roller coaster and thrill ride designer with its facilities based in the Netherlands. ... This article about an amusement park, amusement ride, or roller coaster is a stub. ... Wonderland Sydney was a theme park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ...

Flat/Spinning Rides

Ride Year Opened Description
Hurricane 1998 A "Rock N Roll" Music Express ride.
Scrambler 2003 A classic Scrambler style ride.
Vertigo 1998-2001; 2007 A Huss Rides "Enterprise." Operated from 1998-2001 as "Voyager." Re-introduced and re-named in 2007
Mind Spinder 1998 A Crazy Dance style ride
Fender Bender 1998 Bumper Car style ride
Tidal Wave 1998 A classic wave swinger style ride
The Pirate 1998 A Huss Pirate Ship ride
Carousel 1998 A carousel ride featuring 60 horses and 2 chariots

Other Major Rides

Ride Year Opened Description
Cahaba Falls 1998-2001;2005 A log ride style ride. Operated from 1998-2001. The ride reopened in 2005 after an extensive rehab.
Wild River Gorge 1999;2001 A White Water Rapids ride. Opened briefly in 1999. Closed after one of the boats flipped. After several modifications were made the ride reopened in 2001.
Giant Wheel 1998 A 120 foot tall Ferris Wheel with 24 tubs that can be spun by the riders. Due to the requirement to balance the ride the park either loads 6 tubs, 12 tubs, or all 24 tubs.
Space Shot 2001 A 185 ft. tall tower ride that launches riders up. Opened as Stratosphere Screamer in 2001. The Turbo Drop side was removed prior to the park's re-opening in 2003.

Marvel City kids rides

Ride Year Opened Description
Speedway 1998 NASCAR themed kiddie whip
Adventure Express 1998 A kids train ride
Balloon Wheel 1998 A mini ferris wheel with 8 balloon shaped gondolas
MotoCross 1998 A motocycle themed ride
Convoy 1998; 2005 A truck ride. Three connected trucks travel around the track. Moved to current location in 2005 when its former location was turned into a hill for Zoomerang
Bump A Round 1998 A bumper car ride for kids
Barnstormer 1998 An airplane ride. Kids control whether they "fly" or stay on the ground

Past Rides

Ride Years Operated Description
Typhoon 1998 A polyp style ride. The Scrambler opened in this location in 2003
Stratosphere Screamer 2001 Stratosphere Screamer was a twin tower ride from S&S Power. It featured Launch (A Space Shot) and Re-Entry (A Turbo Drop). When Southland purchased Visionland they kept the Space Shot side, which still operates at Alabama Adventure today, and S&S regained ownership of the Turbo Drop. It is now at Lake Compounce where it operates as Down Time.
Loc-O-Motion 1998-2003 A childrens hand truck style ride. The Convoy was relocated to this spot in 2005
Patriot 2003-2006 A Round Up style ride. Replaced the Voyager. For the 2007 season Patriot was removed and the Voyager was re-installed and re-named the Vertigo.

Lake Compounce is a theme park located in Bristol, Connecticut, United States and a part of the neighboring town of Southington, Connecticut; the lake itself lies completely in Southington. ...

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