Adventuredome filled to its pink brim

You can have too much of a good thing.

Just ask Tom Nolan, the vice president of theme park operations for Adventuredome at Circus Circus. The park has grown so much since opening 18 years ago that there is little room to expand more. And, despite low visitor visitation to the city and the lingering effects of a long recession, the Adventuredome needs to grow.

"We've used up every square foot possible," says Nolan, who has worked at the park since it opened. "We've almost outgrown ourselves. We have to get creative trying to figure out how to fit in more."

In May, the special effects-laden "Happy Feet" was added to the Extreme Ride Theater but that was in a pre-existing space. The park has been so popular that more rides and attractions will soon be needed. While there is no timeline, Nolan hopes something exciting can be added to the park.

But he will have to move mountains to do so. Literally. Management is looking at moving one of the giant mountain facades in the park to make room for more rides.

The park opened in 1993 as Grand Slam Canyon. It had a dinosaur theme and featured four rides: the Canyon Blaster, the Twist and Shout Water Raft ride, Rim Runner and Hot Shots Lazer Tag, now called Lazer Blast.

Management quickly realized that visitors expected more, so in 1994 the park was closed for 45 days to remodel.

"I think it was a (matter) of what people wanted versus what they could do," Nolan says. "There were a lot of animatronics, a lot of theming, but people said there weren't enough things to do."

Now, the park features 25 rides and attractions, including a midway and some family-friendly rides such as bumper cars, a swinging ship, a mini roller coaster, an airplane ride and a mini Ferris wheel.

In 2007, the immensely popular 3-D IMAX theater underwent a change. One theater was remodeled and made into a 4-D theater. The seats always moved and gave viewers the feeling that they were taking part in films such as "Funhouse Express." The 4-D theater added another element to it; now the seats vibrated, leg ticklers were added, Nolan says.

Disk'O, the park's newest ride, was added in 2007. It spins around while the floor drops out from underneath.

The roller coaster has always been the most popular ride and averages 1.2 million riders a year.

Starting in 2001, the park began averaging 4 million visitors a year. In 2002, the Adventuredome had its best year, recording 4.5 million visitors, making it the park with the 11th highest visitorship in the country, according to the magazine Amusement Business. The park ranked higher than SeaWorld and Six Flags Valencia that year.

In 2009, visitorship dropped to 3.6 million, which was right in the midst of the recession, Nolan says. That rose last year to 3.7 million. They are on track to do more than that this year, Nolan says.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@review journal.com or 702-380-4564.