WarpedHorizon

"But Mom I want it!" We're the whiny kid in the toy store, just because we have so many options around doesn't mean we don't want more. We want Valleyfair to be awesome, and we want to see them survive.

I've been expecting since 2013 to see a new coaster for 2016, so I'm quite disappointing. I'm normally guilty of reckless positivity, but as a Vikings/Twins/Wild/Timberwoves/Gophers fan saying "maybe next year" is getting real old. I really hope they announce something big next year, Valleyfair is getting increasingly irrelevant in the Twin Cities market, and needs a big move as soon as possible to keep the crowds coming. I trust the men in charge, but it gets more difficult with every disappointing year that passes.

A few pages back I posted my mediocre gimp job of Raptor tucked into Dinos & the former picnic area: Dang Dinos are wrecking all of the easy solutions. But recent talk has given me a radical idea- the current admin building is too small. Tear it out, and relocated it. Put in a coaster and a few flat rides, and maybe fit in a new first aid/security building. Build a new admin building with more offices, bigger locker rooms, better classrooms, better haunt staging area, and more storage. Here's a visual I drew up in Paint: It's totally insane, and will probably never happen, and yet.... never say never. It solves two issues with one big concentrated project, so it's not too insane.

What??!??!

Man I really want to see the real memo. I'm going to shoot the author ofthis article an email and see if I can get a copy of that memo. A dive machine fits all of Valleyfair's needs- compact, novel, inverting, cheap. Admittedly it'd be the second vertical drop coaster in the market (Spongebob's Rock Bottom Plunge has an beyond-vertical drop), but I can totally see it happening. B&M hasn't built a dive coaster in a few years, but they proved with Banshee that they can pick up old designs and make them awesome.

Cedar Fair recently released their Q3 profits, and had a conference call that they allowed the media to listen into. Yesterday I found the notes from that meeting here, and although Valleyfair isn't directly mentioned, there are two points in there that interest me: "The changes made at Knott's, mainly investing in atmosphere, refurbishments and improving the guest experience has been a home run success. Cedar Fair feels there is room to replicate this type of investment patterns at other parks to achieve the same results. I can't wait to see this!" Next year the company will spend $170 million in capital expenditures, much higher than normal due to the Hotel Breakers renovation project. The hotel renovation has been the largest capital project in Cedar Fair's history. In the future, they expect to spend about $120 million a year on capital, which is up a bit from their older "9% of revenues" guidance. My thoughts- VF's atmosphere is a bit of a mess, a number of rides and buildings need refurbishment, and the guest experience, while good, could always be polished. Hopefully we're in line for an investment like that in the future. Extra capital expenditures? Not much is going to us this year, but if they're willing to this year, they probably will be in the future as well.

For a few days at the end of the 2013 season Venom was running without the hold brake. Maintenance turned it off because for an unknown reason it caused the ride to "crash" (in the computer sense of the word) and activate the emergency brakes during the start of the next cycle. I think I'm remembering that right. Venom get's struck by lightning occasionally and it always messes things up, that"s one of the reasons why it was down so much in 2012 and 2013.

Yes, they were breaking the rules, however, if a Rides Supervisor allows, they can do rerides. I don't remember the day, but on at least one extremely quiet day our Sup sat in the Ripcord hut and called the other Area 1 rides to let them know that they could do rerides. So it can happen, and is total OK within the rules, but it almost never will.

Man you guys get up in arms fast. Take a chill pill. You have no right to panic about an amusement park unless you have undeniable signs that the management is making poor decisions- and having met Dave Frasier I know that the management has a plan, and is on the right track. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- we can trust Dave Frasier, and we can trust Matt Ouimet. Unfortunately poor money-first management in the past has dug them quite the hole to pull the park out of, so rebuilding around a guest-first model will take a few years. It is Dave's goal to make 2016, Valleyfair's 40th anniversary, as special as possible. And a coaster would be the perfect thing- if Cedar Fair will pay. A new coaster means more Guests, more Season Ticket Holders, and more Group Sales, all of which mean more money in the future to solve other problems. VF has more guest capacity to spare than most other parks- especially Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Canada's Wonderland. A new ride here make as much, if not more, fiscal sense than a new ride there. We can grow a lot faster, and easier, than they can. The management has a plan, and when we look back in 10 years I believe we will all recognize that the decisions they made were right. And in reply to CaliforniaPinto: 1. Upgraded restrooms [The brand new bathrooms in Picnic Point are no better than anywhere else in the park. Easy-to-clean outdoor bathrooms will always be ugly. But hey- at least they're kept clean] 2. Expanded (beyond what is even being added for 2015) waterpark [i'm confident it's planned already. They're just forced to take one step at a time] 3. Modern flat rides. [Expect them soon. Again, one step at a time. The current fleet is aging, but holding together] 4. Expanded menu options (up to and including another sit down restaurant) [Yeah, cheaper/better/more food should be considered. The improvements seen at Carowinds will probably be seen here soon] 5. More efficient workers in food services. [it's because of the long hours, low pay, number of visa employees, and stressed management. The quality ones get sent to rides, the bad sent to foods] 6. Better guest flow in major corridors (some has been taken care of already) [A work in progress. VF's guest flow is no worse than Magic Kingdom] 7. Removal of "dead" areas of the park and/or unused facilities. [Another work in progress. The front of the park has been transformed, expect similar changes in due time] I hope this doesn't come across as angry. All I intend to do is remind you that we have no control, and panicking about it isn't helping anyone. Life is short. Getting angry on the internet, especially about things you have no control over, isn't worth your time. Now can we return to our regularly scheduled Haunt chat?

I never worked MEA Thursday, but my theory it that they're forced to limit staff because of the number of people who are in college or work another job. Taking off time Thursday, or skipping a class to work, doesn't work for many people. They're forced to run a skeleton crew of whoever's available, and I'd imagine the best veterans are many of the ones who can't make it. If this is true I wonder how long MEA Thursday will last... it sounds like they got a decent crowd, but the staffing issues may cause them to give it up.

Every time I post it gets long winded and ranty... sorry about that, I rarely get to share my opinions and get a bit excited when I get a chance. I regard Valleyfair as probably the most fun job I've had, but also the hardest. I got with a great team, took every opportunity I could to spend time with them (Lots of Perkins and Applebees), and it's the only job I've had (out of 6) where I really felt I was friends with my team. And the management was great, they were all very customer focused, and I really felt I could trust them to handle situations well and take care of the customers right. Being inside a park is awesome- seeing how things work, why things break, the cool people at all levels, getting to meet a truly diverse group of people, and getting to make a lot of people happy. Like any job it is what you make of it- go in with the right attitude, have a short memory, and lots of patience. It's a truly special experience that can be a lot of fun if you want it to be. But the long shifts, and longer weeks, wear you out. Open close shifts (9am-10pm with 2x 30 minute breaks, transit time doesn't count) for days on end- maybe a few part days to let you sleep in, but no weekends, no holidays, no paid vacations. In the summer heat it will run you down to nothing, and you still have to find the strength to show up the next day. Plus working in Area 1 (in 2013 the very front of the park- Wave/Carousel/Venom/Challenge Park etc), at 2 of the most physical rides, added to the pain. I wish I owned a fitness monitor (fitbit or something) so I had a count on the distance I walked some of the longest days I worked- it's about a half mile from the cedar gate (employee entrance by the First Aid station) to the Ripcord hut- and I'd walk that 6 times a day. Plus however many reps of the 70 odd feet at Ripcord from the lift to the "workstation" (winch controls/catch platform on the east side), or the 120ish feet at Go Karts every 5 minutes. I did an easy 4 to 5 miles a day of walking. Add lifting suits, bending and reaching, running when you have to manually catch, running to turn spun out karts, pushing karts- Go Karts/Ripcord would wear out every part of you. There's a reason I'm glad to be the final season to have to run that madness. Few other rides are that bad. Monster will ruin your hands and back (the pins used to secure the doors take a lot of force to open, and those doors get heavy after a few dozen reps), but none of the coasters are physically bad, but more mentally so. But heck- there's something special in saying you worked at an amusement park. I only ran Corkscrew once, but I can still proudly say that I've run a roller coaster in my life. It's a unique way to spend a summer and build a cool group of friends. But don't waste your time in Foods- Rides and Live E are best, Games and Park Services are OK. TL;DR: Work at Valleyfair while you're young. It's a special experience that can be a lot of fun (but also a lot of stress).

I learned of the 40th from Frazier, he's definitely aware of it and wants to see something special done. If he had the money he'd see something special done, but since he doesn't, he has to wait for Cedar Fair. And CF is realizing the potential in it's smaller parks, because having 4 high profit parks is nice, but having 8 or 12 is even better.

I worked as a monster one night (Didn't really enjoy it, it has it's moments, but I don't find being scared fun, consequently I don't really like scaring people. But a good scream is addicting.....) and really the only rule is "Don't Touch Guests". It really narrows down what you can do, even little things like tapping people on the shoulder are too risky. I'm sorry if this comes off ranty, just hoping to give everyone an insight into the madness that is operating an amusement park. There are probably layers of problems here. First, ride ops are almost never to blame for operational issues. Customer experience is a ride ops #1 goal, and we love to make it the best possible. Trust me, every ride op on Wild Thing today left frustrated. The managers are probably the ones to blame, but even then it probably isn't fully their fault. Haunt staffing levels get really thin, often just enough to operate and do lunches. So if someone called in sick on Wild Thing, or another ride, someone could have been shuffled so that another ride could operate and left Wild Thing without enough to go up to two trains. Sacrificed capacity at one ride to operate another. Additionally, Ride Ops have to be specially trained to run at two trains- if some of the Ops were newer, or subs from other rides,they may have not had the proper training. Or it could be mechanical- the third train takes a lot of time to get on the track, so if one train went down with an issue, they may have been stuck with only one. Heck, the whole issue could be because Andy (rides manager) got his math a little off when he first set up the staffing levels back in May. When you're at Valleyfair, or any amusement park, and it's operating well, you're seeing a well balanced house of cards. One little thing- a down ride, a sick employee, a poorly timed lunch, and the whole thing starts to collapse. Operating an amusement park isn't like playing Rollercoaster Tycoon. It's like playing FTL. A mean rogue-like that teases you with success then laughs as it blows it all up. Enjoy it when it works, but feel for the employees when it doesn't. Remember that most of the kids there are working 12+ hour days for less than $10 an hour. When things go wrong it's even worse for them. Again, sorry if this comes off a bit rant like or angry. I can understand that you posted this in a moment of frustration, and probably weren't thinking too clearly. But after 6 years of working bottom of the foodchain jobs I can't help but feel sorry for employees who get stuck in crappy situations, and had to sieze the oportuinity to educate on what you may not realize is going on. TL;DR: It's a giant house of cards, and sometimes little things are enough knock the whole thing down.

From working Haunt last year I recommend going earlier in the day, maybe 2 or 3 in the Afternoon, if not being there at open. You can hit all of the big rides with little stress and limited lines (staffing is often low this late in the year), and be in line for whatever maze you are most excited for right when it opens. If the weather's nice the place gets super busy around 6 (second weekend in October had lines for parking extending down the highway), and the fun decreases from there. The staff is more tired, the lines are longer, but since you've ridden everything you wanted to, you don't care. Oh, and the forecast shows rain Saturday. Bring a jacket, and maybe a Ziploc for your phone.

The best place would be the former picnic area and antique autos area. This is the area where we were supposed to get a coaster back in '06, but now dinos blocks that area. For fun I dropped Raptor over this area, when flipped it fits like a glove: A smaller inverted, like Talon or Patriot, would fit in even better. Add a flat ride or two, new foods and games buildings, maybe a permanent haunt structure, and you've got yourself a neat new area. Access paths could come from where the Restroom is by Highroller's turnaround and somewhere in Planet Snoopy. Flooding could be a concern, but if wouldn't be hard to dyke it in. Oh, and since there are a few out there who still doubt that VF will get a coaster in 2016 let more point out an important fact- 2016 is Valleyfair's 40th anniversary, a fact Dave Frasier is well aware of. If he could he'd build us a new coaster, but sadly the park doesn't have $30 million in cash laying around. So the art now is selling Matt Ouimet... and considering that King's Island's GM was so impressed by Dave and the VF staff when he visited last season that he invited Matt to visit, which Matt did (I left before I could hear the results of this visit), I think the odds are in our favor. Dave's a smart guy, and he's great at balancing big dreams and budget limitations- look how successful Picnic Point has been. A useless money-bleeding area has been transformed into a vibrant money pot. I don't think I'll ever encounter another person of Dave's rank who is so customer focused and detail attentive. Note how they added more seating to the Waterpark this year- Dave's wife pointed out that lack of seating was a problem, so he added more, even if it won't make them more money. We're on the right track guys, but it'll take a few years. "Growth Park" doesn't mean invest $100 million into a park. It means steady, focused improvements, year by year. No matter what happens remember this: We can trust Matt Ouimet, and We can trust Dave Frasier. I'm excited for the future, and I hope you are to! [/rant]