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Valleyfair (VF) Discussion Thread


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VF people - does the topspin get you wet/always have water running? I saw it running fountains in a video but it never showed if it hits the gondola.

RidTipe turns the water off on colder days, otherwise it's always running. How wet you get mostly depends on where you're sitting.

 

As one who's operated RipTide, I'd recommend leaving all personal items with a non-rider or in the bunnies across the midway. The platform which riders are instructed to leave loose articles on frequently gets wet--especially on windy days. Or just bring waterproof stuff.

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^ I agree, a very fun ride. Glad you enjoyed it, make sure you get a back seat ride. Best coaster in the park for me. Curious to see what you think of other rides and getting your 'weird' coaster credit on Excalibur.

 

I had 4 backseat rides and 3 front seat rides. Don't know which I liked better!

 

Each ride I noticed the only straight piece of track was the lift. The bunny hills I thought were straight up and over I realized were titled or angled a bit. Great ride!

 

I love Gemini so I was excited for Excalibur.

And it was fun! Rode middle row of the 5th car? Weirdly braked first drop, Millennium ish attempt at an overbank, and a really short layout. I was expecting an uncomfortable/rough ride but it was fine. Definitely a WTF just happened ride. Such a weird layout.

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Whp designed this and why

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I had 4 backseat rides and 3 front seat rides. Don't know which I liked better!

 

Nice! Glad you had the time to really give it a run.

 

Each ride I noticed the only straight piece of track was the lift. The bunny hills I thought were straight up and over I realized were titled or angled a bit. Great ride!

 

Yes, with the lift hill being the only straight piece of track along with those twists and turns are what set it a little apart from other GCI's.

 

I love Gemini so I was excited for Excalibur. And it was fun! Rode middle row of the 5th car? Weirdly braked first drop, Millennium ish attempt at an overbank, and a really short layout. I was expecting an uncomfortable/rough ride but it was fine. Definitely a WTF just happened ride. Such a weird layout.

 

The 'weirdly' braked first drop is due to them removing the bunny hill that was between the first drop and the first big banked turn. Around 1994 (may have been '93 of '95 too because I cannot remember exactly) they removed that bunny hill. And to compensate for that hill slowing down the train they increased the trim there giving you that 'weirdly' braked hill so it wasn't always like that. I have never found out or heard why they removed that little bunny hill either. A "WTF just happened' is a good way to describe that layout. At least you got to try it before it goes away, it is a unique coaster.

 

So after visiting your first small CF park what did you think?

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The two new mazes this year are Dark Harvest and Berserkers Unleashed. Berserkers is becoming a maze and is nothing like the berserkers from last year. Dark harvest is obviously hellside but revamped and moved to the pavement behind berserkers. Having helped set up both these mazes I can definitely say we will not be disappointed. Especially with dark harvest, which in my opinion will be the best maze this year from the looks of it. Super pumped for haunt this year, I'll be in bloodshed!

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My thoughts:

 

Way out back is a good, spooky place for the new Dark Harvest, but now we have three of the mazes on a long dead-end. The old picnic grounds is another good place for a haunt but how permanent is that Beserkers tent? Could that or it's eventual replacement be moved inside the park proper, along with a permanent building for Bloodshed or it's replacemen?

 

With the loss of two scare-zones, I'm thinking they exepect a repeat of the staffing issues last year. I noticed they had very few people outside the zones, to the point where I wouldn't have even needed my "immunity necklace".

 

Is Cedar Fair going away from upcharge attractions? The FearVR concept is really good. My own thoughts was they could have an old prison theme instead of an asylum. I also like Knott's Scary Farm's new "Trick Or Treat" concept where you go through in the dark with a "temperamental" flashlight.

 

Permanent haunt possibilities: Wild Thing Turn-Around? Old Scrambler Spot? Old Tilt-A-Whirl spot. Old Corkscrew Tot-Spot?

 

Wouldn't it make sense to due prop sharing between parks once a maze has completed it's run?

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The Berserkers tent is pretty permanent and not easily dissasembled. My opinion on those locations for a haunt attraction is that they are too "out in the open" and very blatant for the summer season leading to lots of confused guests asking how to get on "that ride"

My thoughts:

 

Way out back is a good, spooky place for the new Dark Harvest, but now we have three of the mazes on a long dead-end. The old picnic grounds is another good place for a haunt but how permanent is that Beserkers tent? Could that or it's eventual replacement be moved inside the park proper, along with a permanent building for Bloodshed or it's replacemen?

 

With the loss of two scare-zones, I'm thinking they exepect a repeat of the staffing issues last year. I noticed they had very few people outside the zones, to the point where I wouldn't have even needed my "immunity necklace".

 

Is Cedar Fair going away from upcharge attractions? The FearVR concept is really good. My own thoughts was they could have an old prison theme instead of an asylum. I also like Knott's Scary Farm's new "Trick Or Treat" concept where you go through in the dark with a "temperamental" flashlight.

 

Permanent haunt possibilities: Wild Thing Turn-Around? Old Scrambler Spot? Old Tilt-A-Whirl spot. Old Corkscrew Tot-Spot?

 

Wouldn't it make sense to due prop sharing between parks once a maze has completed it's run?

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My thoughts:

 

Way out back is a good, spooky place for the new Dark Harvest, but now we have three of the mazes on a long dead-end. The old picnic grounds is another good place for a haunt but how permanent is that Beserkers tent? Could that or it's eventual replacement be moved inside the park proper, along with a permanent building for Bloodshed or it's replacemen?

 

With the loss of two scare-zones, I'm thinking they exepect a repeat of the staffing issues last year. I noticed they had very few people outside the zones, to the point where I wouldn't have even needed my "immunity necklace".

 

Is Cedar Fair going away from upcharge attractions? The FearVR concept is really good. My own thoughts was they could have an old prison theme instead of an asylum. I also like Knott's Scary Farm's new "Trick Or Treat" concept where you go through in the dark with a "temperamental" flashlight.

 

Permanent haunt possibilities: Wild Thing Turn-Around? Old Scrambler Spot? Old Tilt-A-Whirl spot. Old Corkscrew Tot-Spot?

 

Wouldn't it make sense to due prop sharing between parks once a maze has completed it's run?

 

The Berserkers tent is pretty permanent and not easily dissasembled. My opinion on those locations for a haunt attraction is that they are too "out in the open" and very blatant for the summer season leading to lots of confused guests asking how to get on "that ride"

 

-All permanent haunt locations are used primarily as haunt storage in not-haunt season. And they were built in backstage areas/areas that are not otherwise accessible to guests and likely will build no more as Chateau du Damne's old location is now a bar and The Asylum went the way of the dodo because of the fustercluck that was the PR of Fear VR/Zombie bumper cars. So that's potentially two places to add new mazes without constructing permanent structures where they could potentially add new season-long attractions.

-Dinos Alive/Haunt Alley is built on the old picnic grounds.

-Dino Slaughter sucked all kinds of from both guests and actors from what I've heard. Dinos could be a cool maze/scare zone if they themed it to a mad scientist's time travel experiment and had actors dressed from all periods do the scaring.

-Several guests ask what the permanent haunts are as the facades stay in place all year.

 

Other than that, an interesting thing to note is that Dark Harvest is just a relocated/renamed Hellside Farm--previously located in Soak City. Could this possibly have something to do with the eventual Soak City expansions we're all expecting? But then again, Hellside has had numerous locations since its inception so it could just be another location experiment by the park.

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Definitely a WTF just happened ride. Such a weird layout.

 

Arrow designed it... so gotta give em credit. Excalibur came out at the same time as Magnum. At the time, it was a BIG deal that Arrow was going from 55 degrees to the steeper 60 degrees for the first drop(s).

 

Personally, I LOVE Excalibur. We have a shortage of "weird" layouts (but not of short layouts... that part I don't care for.) There was originally a speed bump after the first drop. It was too intense, so the bump was removed and the drop went into that cool "dugout." I heard the ride will be safe from removal "through 2018."

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Last night I went to the opening night of Valleyscare. This will be my thoughts on the mazes, scare zones, and skeleton key rooms. The first ride of the day was corkscrew.

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Corkscrew station emptiness! I also went on Extreme Swing, Wild Thing, and Renegade before the mazes opened.

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The first maze of the night was Human(e) Habitat. This maze was really well done and had a good amount of scare actors.

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The second maze was Berzerkers Unleashed. This maze was one of my favorites and a lot better than last year. The props were really cool in this house and it had some cool special effects.

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Next I did Dark Harvest, and this was by far the worst maze. It didn't have many props and needed more scare actors. I had really high hopes for this maze, and left disappointed.

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The fourth maze of the night was Zombie High. This maze was another really well done maze with lots of props and scare actors, I just wish it was a little bit longer.

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Mr. Cleavers Bloodshed was another solid maze. It had lots of props(some being from the asylum which made me wish it was still there) and plenty of actors. This maze also had some cool special effects.

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The last maze of the night was the Chateau. This wasn't the scariest maze, but the sets were incredible. The butler also did a really good job.

 

Next up are the scare zones:

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Trails end had really good actors, but was too short. I think they should have had it go up to Mr. Cleavers Bloodshed.

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Carnevil had lots of cool props and the scare actors did a good job. I just wish there were some more actors.

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The last scare zone I did was Blood Creek Cemetery. The tombstones were cool and the actors were really good.

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Now onto the Skeleton Key Rooms:

(Warning, there will be spoilers)

 

The Subject: In this room you try to find your way out in almost complete darkness. This room was really well done, and once you finish you can control the strobe lights for the next person.

 

Transformation: This room had the best acting and a funny twist at the end. This room was located inside Berserkers, and the two themes didn't really match, but it was still a cool room.

 

Divination: This was...I don't even know how to describe it. It was just awkward, which I think it was supposed to be.

 

Survival 101: This room is definitely not for people who don't like bugs. You have to dig through what I think was mealworms to find a key. (The mealworms were alive.) This room went well with the zombie high maze.

 

The Invitation: This is another room that went really well with the maze (The Chateau.) It was simple, yet well done and you also get a free souvenir.

 

Are You Chicken?: This one was just fun. You try to find a black feather mixed in with a bunch of white feathers ,(I don't think there is a black feather) and if you don't find the feather you get hay dumped on you.

 

Bite the Dust: This was a cool room with good acting and a funny twist at the end. It was really well done.

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Overall, I really liked Valleyscare this year. It has been better before, but I think it was still a solid year. I think the question most people ask is: Should I get the fright lane and skeleton Key? It is expensive, but I think it is worth it. You get to skip the lines and get 7 extra attractions.

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ZOMBIE BUMPER CARS!

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So you're telling me these people get paid to dress up as zombies and ride the bumper cars? Where can I sign up?!?

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Nice TR! Sorry you didn't care for Dark Harvest. That's the maze I work in, although on opening night I was up at the front gate taking tickets and roaming (I was carrying the doll). There were two of us from Dark Harvest at the front taking tickets, so that probably left a couple spaces empty in the maze. I do agree we need more props, but unfortunately corporate stepped in and isn't allowing outside props this year. Many of us are upset and pushing back against this, so hopefully they'll ease this restriction later this season.

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I have one question, How busy does Valleyscare get during the Saturday night frights? I plan on buying a fast lane for the haunted houses anyway, but I am just wondering.

As far as the ride side goes expect to wait at least 30 min for all the coasters, last year I waited 45 min for Wild Thing and didn't even get through halfway through the queue (I really don't know what I was thinking then). But for the houses, I wouldn't expect super long waits, the longest I waited for a house last year was 20 min and that was Zombie High.

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