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It would be better if it was closed because this discussion isn't opening anyone's minds to anything new. People are going to just spout their own opinions on the topic and bash anyone who disagrees with them. The basic idea of this thread as is has been "discussed" in many other topics though it may be packaged slightly different than the other threads.

Take out Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland or remove two lightposts from Main Street...and watch the uproar. You are comparing Disneyland to a CF park. Anyone going to Disneyland isn't going for thrilling rides, they are going for the experience (themeing) that the park will provide. Although, I'm sure that many visitors to Disneyland are first time visitors, so they wouldn't notice the change. It would only affect return visitors, and only if they remembered it. If someone is going to a CF park, they aren't going to it for the theme.

I got a good laugh out of that. We're all biased. Deal with it. Just because I was employee at a CF park doesn't mean that I think that it is the prefect chain tht is better than any chain or better than Six Flags. I haven't gone to any Six Flags parks yet, so I can't make any judgements. What could be worked on is more intermediate rides (40"-48" range), more employees that actually cared about their job (but this is near minimum wage workers that we are talking about, you can't expect much), cheaper/better food, and more trees/gardens/theming. I don't think that CF is a horrible chain, but the primary reason that they aren't experiencing the same difficulty as SF is because they didn't morgatge their future by building more "high thrill rides" than the chain could afford. CF is still more family oriented than SF was in the late '90s, instead of being a tennager/young adult park. CF could be going the same place that SF is going if they make a few mistakes.

These are all of the states that I've been to: Minnesota (I live there) Iowa (I go to College there) Florida (I lived there) Wisconsin South Dakota North Dakota Washington Oregon Montana Idaho Nevada Wyoming Alaska California Utah Arizona New Mexico Colorado Nebraska Texas Oklahoma Louisiana Arkansas Kansas Missouri Illinois Mississippi Kentucky Tennessee Indiana Alabama Georgia North Carolina Virginia Ohio Michigan New Jersey New York Plus I've been to: Washington D.C. Puerto Rico

Just because you hate a park chain doesn't mean that everyone thinks the same way that you do. While I don't like everything that goes on, I think your assesment is unfair and biased. As an employee at Valleyfair, I can attest to the fact that most of the GP likes at least Valleyfair. (and I would say that it would be the same way at most, if not all CF parks) If the GP didn't like CF parks, they wouldn't go to them, they would find something else to do. I haven't experienced the season pass system, but I believe that anyone with a season pass can go through the main gates at Valleyfair, I'm not sure if its the same at all the other parks yet. While there are some employees that poorly interact with guests, I have noticed from comparing Valleyfair to other places that hire low wage workers, that the customer service seems to be much better than those places. There are some rough rides, but honestly, I think that most rides are well maintained. I can't comment on any six flags or other CF parks, but I would think that most parks aren't much different in this regard. Charm is a subjective term. What do you describe as charm? Lack of trees at parks? Old attractions being removed that may cost too much to maintain to justify being open? IMHO, most of the GP don't care if the park keeps it's classic rides or if it has trees/good scenery (If they wanted that, they would have paid to go to Disneyland, not a CF or a SF park. Are you going to say a mall doesn't have any charm just because it doesn't have enough trees? The reason CF is doing well is because they usually balance the attractions enough so that there is something for everyone to do. They also don't spend more than is wise to spend, unlike SF did.

As someone who hasn't ridden either yet, I really can't say anything about the topic. However, I do remember that this topic has been argued ad nauseum on many different sites, TPR included.

I paid 2.65/gallon for gas yesterday in Minnesota, which was pretty awesome.

Its 3.09/gallon in Shakopee, which is kind of the cheapest gas near where I live. I haven't gone out today and checked gas prices in Iowa(where I go to college), but I imagine that it is around the same price.

Its 3.45/Gallon where I live at college(Iowa). Up in Minnesota where I live, the price of gas is about 3.60/Gallon.

All Cedar Fair parks do this as well. My biggest pet peeve (maybe this is because I am an employee) are slow employees. There is no reason you should be standing around talking unless there is something important to the operation of the ride. Guests don't pay to wait around watching you talk to your friends or see you slowly checking restraints, they pay to go on rides.

No matter how some people may knock Wild Thing for being forceless, it is still the third best coaster at VF. Excalibur is the best of the arrows at VF though, if thats saying much.

I am Jacob from Minnesota. I am going to college for a Computer Science degree. The whole reason I actually care about coasters is because I work at Valleyfair in the summer. My coaster count is small right now. I have ridden all of the coasters at VF, I've only ridded one at the mall, and I've ridden most of the coasters at WDL. (Space Mountain was closed when I visted). I am hoping to increase my coaster count next year with a coaster trip. (The only thing for certain is Cedar Point right now). I happened to be one of a few people that actually liked working in rides at Valleyfair.

This kid risked his life too... From my experience at Valleyfair, the park will have have people go out and search under major atractions at the end of the night/beginning of the day (When the ride is not running). If something is worth enough to risk your life, it should also be worth taking a trip out to pick it up. If you did lose anything of value on the ride, (which you shouldn't, you should be smart enough to know that loose items might fly off, and you are even warned) notify the people up at lost and found. I realize that this might not be the case, but it is partialy operator error in the case if they allowed someone to ride with their hat on. On almost every ride, we are drilled that we need to tell people to take their hats off and to not dispatch until we have checked to make sure that each guest we are responsible for has no loose articles on them. I realize though that it isn't strictly followed because most people are too afraid to tell people what they need to do.