Went to Valleyfair this past weekend for Opening Day. Park looked clean as always. Ride operations were slow with new staff, but that is to be expected. There was a group of kids from Owatonna that kept getting away with using the Fast Pass lane and didn't have Fast Passes, which was kind of annoying, but whatever. Small issues...
Retracking of High Roller did wonders on the second hill drop! So smooth.. While riding High Roller on the turn around, I did notice there was some trees removed and have red X's spray painted on the stumps in the old Antique Autos/Dinos Alive area. I would usually start to get my hopes up, but I've been a season pass holder for over 20 years, so not going down the roller coaster hope road ever again until there is an actual announcement...
There are some areas of the park where a new ride just seem obvious: 1) slide complex at old Looping Starship 2) roller coaster at old Dinos spot 3) games midway always just feels empty and a waste
Other Notes & Rambles: Power Tower is looking rough. 25 years old now that I think of it. Wild thing paint job looks great! Looks like they turnaround up to the brake run. Hope the lift hill/return hills/station area to complete it this next offseason! Renegade kicks ass as always! Could envision Steel Venom exiting the park's line up in 5-10 years with a coaster replacement in that corner of the parking lot too. It is pretty rare to see that ride batting 1.000 on the day, but I know they just put some money into it with the holding brake repair, so probably safe for awhile.
Looking forward to another good year at the park with the family!