Adventure Landing is a group of

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

s located in Florida, New York, North Carolina and Texas. The first park was opened in Jacksonville Beach, Florida in 1995 by Adventure Entertainment Company. It was a success and nine other Adventure Landing parks were constructed. Adventure Landing also manages and operates several other family entertainment centers throughout the United States. Adventure Landing runs 11 amusement parks nationwide.

History

Prior to Adventure Landing's founding; founder Hank Woodburn spent 24 years working with the Putt-Putt Golf Courses of America, specializing in updating the locations, to include new features that Putt-Putt introduced. In 1994, Woodburn updated the Jacksonville, Fl Putt-Putt (Blanding & Beach Blvd) locations to include go-karts, batting cages, and arcades. That same year, Woodburn acquired land at Beach Blvd in Jacksonville Beach to open up a new park known as Adventure Landing. The first Adventure Landing opened in 1995 by Woodburn's company Adventure Golf & Games (which later became Adventure Entertainment Company). The first Adventure Landing was constructed on 18 acres in Jacksonville Beach. Initial cost was $5 million, which included a waterpark. The central structure contained the

video arcade An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mer ...

, laser tag, snackbar, prize counter, restrooms and other attractions. It was surrounded by

miniature golf Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by #Nomenclature, several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest ...

, batting cages,

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performanc ...

track and the water park. In 1998, Adventure Entertainment was sold to a former New York investment banker Randy Levinson, who eventually became the president and CEO of the company, overseeing the locations owned by Adventure Entertainment (including Adventure Landing branded locations and certain Putt-Putt franchised locations). On December 18, 2002, a management-led buyout was completed by ''Adventure Landing LLC'' for the four profitable parks owned by Adventure Entertainment. In 2004, Hank Woodburn brought back Adventure Landing from Levinson's Adventure Landing LLC via Adventure Holdings, LLC. In 2010, Adventure Holdings acquired All Star Adventures & All Star Sports in Wichita from Zuma Holdings, LLC. The five Adventure Landing locations owned by Adventure Holdings, LLC were purchased in April 2011 by National Retail Properties (NRP), a

Real Estate Investment Trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

based in Orlando, Florida. All the locations were

sale-leaseback Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done fo ...

transactions, so Adventure Holdings continued to operate the facilities. In 2012, Adventure Landing purchased The Beach Waterpark in Mason, OH, which reopened in May 2013 as The Beach at Adventure Landing. In December 2019, Adventure Holdings & NRP Lease Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In March 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the locations were closed for a few months, although have later reopened with safety precautions (such as sanitization of high touch points & six feet marks). The Blanding Boulevard location in Jacksonville was closed Summer 2021 after 24 years in operation. The property was purchased to build a parking lot for

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's new delivery center. The Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach was sold in 2021 and a 427-unit apartment complex was planned for the site. The parks were slated to close Halloween 2021, but construction was first delayed until end-of-year 2021, then the date was pushed back until August 31, 2022, possibly longer. Former owner NRP announced that they were searching Jacksonville for a location to rebuild a new, larger facility.

Operation

There is no admission for the amusement parks; all the attractions are pay as you play. The water park is seasonal and requires a fee for admission. Not all features are at all parks. All parks included miniature golf and an arcade. Aside from the park in Buffalo, New York, all locations had go-karts, laser tag, and batting cages. Some parks had unique attractions, such as the Wacky Worm Rollercoaster at the Jacksonville Beach location. Special accommodations are available for large group events.

Amusement Park Features

* ''Adventure Speedway Go-Karts:'' a quarter mile track with racing results posted on a finish-line leader board. * ''Batting Cages:'' Participants specify hardball, softball, slow pitch or fast pitch with speeds ranging up to 70 mph. * ''Bumper Boats:'' Electric powered boats that functioned just like bumper cars, but on a pond. Each boat had a built-in squirt gun. Dallas & Winston-Salem locations have them currently, while the Jacksonville Beach location removed it in the early 2000s. * ''Frog Hopper:'' A safe, bouncing ride designed for young children. * ''Laser Tag:'' The course, named, Area 51, included two levels and a maze. The game was played in twilight with lightning flashes and the sound of weapon fire. Scoring was automatic and participants were given a printout of their results. The Raleigh & the former Blanding laser tag arenas were named Pirate's Quest. * ''Max Flight:'' A roller coaster

simulator A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

with 360° range of motion. * ''Miniature Golf:'' Two 18-hole miniature golf courses designed to be fun, regardless of skill level. * ''Sweet Adventures:'' an old-fashioned candy shop. * ''Teddy Bear Factory:'' a stuffed animal could be created interactively. * ''Wacky Worm Roller Coaster:'' The ride was intended for youngsters or small children and their parents. * ''Video Arcade:'' All locations had this feature, with up to 100 machines. All games used tokens and many games dispensed tickets which could be redeemed for prizes. * ''Snack Bar:'' Pizza, drinks and snack food.

Formerly available

* ''Wow Factory:'' A 3-story interactive playland and slide, containing 9,000 foam balls to climb in. Cannons & geysers kept the balls moving.

Shipwreck Island

Shipwreck Island is the waterpark co-located at Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. It was constructed in 1995 but opened a few months after the Amusement Park.

Water Park Features

* ''Typhoon Lagoon:'' a 500,000 gallon

wave pool A wave pool is a swimming pool in which there are artificially generated, large waves, similar to those of the ocean. Wave pools are often a major feature of water parks, both indoors and outdoors, as well as some leisure centres. History Th ...

with 3-4' waves. * ''Lil’ St. John’s River:'' a 720'

lazy river "(Up A) Lazy River" is a popular tune and song by Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin, published in 1930. The melody is by Arodin, arranged and with words modified by Carmichael. It is considered a jazz standard and pop standard, and has ...

. * ''Hydro Halfpipe:'' a water version of

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

half-pipe A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, skating, and scooter riding. Overview The structure resembles a cross-section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ramps ...

. * ''Eye of the Storm:'' a 40' diameter bowl that flows like a

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

. * ''Splash Cove:'' a toddler play area. * ''Rage:'' an uphill water coaster with speeds up to 18mph. * ''Undertow:'' a 400' double-raft

flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

ride with speeds up to 23mph. * Cabana rentals.

Formerly available

* ''Pirate Play:'' a 62' pirate ship with water cannons, slides & waterfalls.

Jacksonville Beach Location

In June 2021, it was announced that the Jacksonville Beach site would close in October 2021 due to the lease owner's decision to construct an apartment building and parking lot. In October of 2022, as the park continued to operate through the past year, it was announced that Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, will stay open until the end of September 2023 after a new agreement with their landlord. Adventure Landing does not plan on ending their stay in Jacksonville Beach once their landlord closes their park, but instead they are exploring other areas of Jacksonville to rebuild another water park.

Adventure Landing Locations

* Florida: Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine * New York: Buffalo, Tonawanda * North Carolina:

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

, Gastonia * Texas:

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Other Locations

* Ohio: ''Magic Mountain Fun Center East'' located in Scarborough Blvd, Columbus * Missouri: ''Cool Crest Family Fun Center'' located in

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

* Kansas: ''All Star Sports Entertainment'' & ''All Star Adventures'' located in Wichita Acquired in 2010 from Zuma Holdings, LLC.

Former Locations

* Florida:

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

(Blanding Boulevard), Daytona Beach (location closed in 2002; now Daytona Lagoon) * North Carolina: Charlotte (previously Zuma Fun Center & Celebration Station; sold and rebranded to Funtasticks in 2018, and closed in 2020) * New York:

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, Wheatfield (Adventure Speedway (formerly The Track)) * Ohio: The Beach at Adventure Landing located in Mason Magic Mountain Fun Center located in Lyra Dr, Columbus * Texas: Amazing Jake's Food & Fun located in Plano

References

External links

* {{Theme Parks of Florida Amusement parks in Florida Indoor amusement parks Amusement arcades 1995 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures in Jacksonville, Florida Entertainment companies established in 1995 Tourist attractions in Jacksonville, Florida