| Alabama Adventure Theme Park |
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Alabama Adventure, formerly known as '''Visionland,''' is an Alabama Theme Park , located off Interstate 20 / 59 in Bessemer , west of Birmingham . Its featured rides are the "Rampage," one of the nation's fastest and largest wooden Roller Coaster s, "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." 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 in May 1998. 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. 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. 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. 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. MAGIC CITY USA THEME PARK ATTRACTIONS Roller Coasters Flat/Spinning Rides Other Major Rides Marvel City kids rides PAST RIDES EXTERNAL LINKS
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