Adventuredome is a five-acre indoor amusement park enclosed beneath a distinctive pink-tinted glass dome at Circus Circus Las Vegas on the Strip. It opened on August 23, 1993 as Grand Slam Canyon, a fully air-conditioned park built around a canyon-themed landscape, before being renamed Adventuredome on May 1, 1998.
The park’s centerpiece has always been Canyon Blaster, an Arrow Dynamics steel coaster billed as the world’s largest indoor double-loop, double-corkscrew roller coaster. In 2014, Adventuredome added a second thrill ride, the S&S Worldwide sit-down coaster El Loco, giving Las Vegas visitors two distinct indoor coasters alongside nearly twenty other family rides, an arcade, mini golf, and a climbing wall, all shielded from the desert heat.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Circus Circus, Las Vegas Strip, Winchester, Nevada
- Operator: Circus Circus Las Vegas (owned by Phil Ruffin)
- Opened: August 23, 1993 (as Grand Slam Canyon; renamed Adventuredome in 1998)
- Size: About 5 acres under a glass dome
- Signature attraction: Canyon Blaster roller coaster (Arrow Dynamics, 1993)
- Annual visitors: About 3.2 million (as of 2014)
The Ride Experience
Canyon Blaster remains the park’s signature ride: a 94-foot-tall Arrow Dynamics coaster reaching about 41 mph across 2,423 feet of track, with two loops and two corkscrews for four total inversions in a roughly 90-second run. It has operated continuously since the park’s 1993 opening, making it one of the longest-running indoor coasters in the country.
El Loco, added in February 2014, is a compact S&S Worldwide steel sit-down coaster reaching roughly 90 feet tall and 45 mph over about 1,300 feet of track, with two dive-loop inversions and a beyond-vertical first drop. It was only the second coaster of its model type built in the United States, giving Adventuredome a modern counterpart to the vintage Canyon Blaster.
A Climate-Controlled Escape
Because the entire park sits beneath a translucent dome, Adventuredome stays open and comfortable year-round regardless of the desert heat or occasional Las Vegas rain, a rarity among American theme parks. Beyond the two coasters, the park packs in nearly twenty attractions, including bumper cars, a pirate ship swinger, a Disk’O, laser tag, mini golf, and an arcade, all within a compact five-acre footprint just off the Strip’s north end.
Adventuredome passed 50 million total visitors by January 2009, reflecting decades as a fixture for Las Vegas families and tourists looking for a break from the casino floor below.
Explore more: Explore more Theme Parks.
Roller Coasters at Adventuredome
Every Adventuredome coaster ThrillZing has covered — stats, ride experience and history for each:
Folds into its own pocket. Pop it on when the storm rolls in and the rides reopen to short lines.
Keeps your phone strapped to you, not in a loose-article bin. Zip it before the lift hill and walk straight off the exit ramp.
Rapids, log flumes and splash zones without the rice-bag aftermath. The touchscreen still works through the window, so you can still take photos.
Adventuredome FAQs
Is Adventuredome free to enter?
Yes, general admission to walk into Adventuredome is free; guests pay per ride or buy a wristband for unlimited access to attractions.
What was Adventuredome originally called?
It opened on August 23, 1993 as Grand Slam Canyon before being renamed Adventuredome on May 1, 1998.
How many roller coasters does Adventuredome have?
Two: Canyon Blaster, an Arrow Dynamics coaster from 1993, and El Loco, an S&S Worldwide sit-down steel coaster added in 2014.
Get More from Adventuredome
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate Adventuredome, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.
Photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.