RCjunkie

It's true that the Six Flags parks has so much Flash running on it you cannot use some features on a mobile device. When I was last at SFGA in 2012 for X-Flight the ONLY app you could download then was a Windows version due to an agreement SF had with Microsoft to try and promote the Nokia phones that MS just recently bought at the time. Good luck with that market share. I agree that Six Flags is missing opportunities on this.

The Valleyfair mobile app by CF has outdated GPS and Park Maps. The Park Map is from 2012 and the GPS one is from 2013. I emailed VF on opening day with no response still, they usually respond within a couple of days when I email them but it looks like I will need to try again. Not a good impression when the app is featured on the back of the map being handed out at the park this year. Anyone else download a CF park app and experience the same thing? I wish it had wait times for rides included in the app.

Way to rock the TR Ernie. Thanks for sharing and the theming looks great.

It would be fantastic if the rumored water park expansion included the park moving those bathrooms. They need updating and that corner is terrible for people traffic on a busy day, it comes to a crawl at times. Moving the bathrooms and removing the old corporate patio would open up that entire corner and help it out. Something is going to happen with all the usable space around Soak City now. If it is going to happen next year we should see an announcement in about 90 days.

^ Yes, it is CGA. And the reason they were neglected even more than VF was because of the indecision of the 49er's stadium right next to the park. That has now been settled with a new stadium being constructed and the parking situation resolved without taking any land from CGA. They did not invest for 3-4 years because of the uncertainty of that situation but now that it is done it is one of the 'Big 3' parks for growth for CF according to them.

Since the removal of IMAX and Hydro Blaster this year along with the old corporate dining patio not being used anymore there has been a rumor that VF will receive a water park expansion sometime in the future, probably next year or the one after that. Since all of these things are adjacent to the water park this makes logical sense that it could happen. It has been a while since VF has received a big addition so let's have some fun and speculate what could happen. To help us out I took an ariel Google shot of the existing water park and its surroundings. I outlined the structures to give us a better idea of how it all fits together. KEY: Blue Outline - This is the border of the exisiting water park. Red Outline - These are structures that have already been removed. ---Red Outline area in the middle is where the IMAX was. ---Red Outline area on the right is where Hydro Blaster used to be. Yellow Outline - Structures that exist now but could be relocated or demolished. ---Yellow Outline area in the middle is where Looping Starship is located now. ---Yellow Outline area to the right is the existing corporate patio that is no longer being used. Green Outline area is the mini games sections next to the water park. Do you think this could even be removed or relocated up by the other midway games if they wanted that room? I just noticed this when looking at this ariel view. When you look at all the red and yellow area's they add up to about another half of the existing waterpark that could potentially be used. And since MiA has a better water park than VF and VF genereates more revenue than MiA I hope they do use this space. So what do you think VF fans? What do you think could or will happen? What would you like to see happen? Please share your thoughts and opinions. Water Park Ariel view.

^ Thanks for posting this new information before you boarded, very helpful! I was planning on June 4th and will need to change plans also. Too bad because I was trying to get there before school let out.

^ And if you remove Excalibur which is connected to that piece of land you get even more room. Then you also have a walking path in place to a new loading station and could still use some or all of that strip of land your talking about.

Correct. When you go up Renegade's lift hill you look to the right beyond the maintenance building and that is where the employee parking lot is. Last weekend I saw two big construction grater trucks plowing fresh roads towards the parking lot and also pushing dirt around it. I wondered what all that work was about and now we might know. Next time you go and ride Renegade look right on the lift hill and check it all out. Too bad we cannot pull out a camera and take a picture though.

I am with you, the only reason I go to VF in September and October is to ride the coasters (except Excalibur of course) and thrill rides also. I like riding Power Tower at this time of year when you can overlook the river valley and see all the trees changing colors, not many parks are next to a nature preserve. Like you, the Halloween aspect just doesn't float my boat but it sure does resonate with other people though, the place can be just packed on a Friday or Saturday and that's great for VF so I like it. I understand why you go on Sunday but may I suggest you going on a Saturday in the late afternoon and be there when it becomes dark. You get to see all the Haunt characters come out dressed up around 5:00 pm and head to their Haunt places which is actually kind of cool to see even for me. But the part I think you might enjoy is seeing the park being filled with fog from the fog machines for Haunt. It's a different view than normal for the park for sure. When you ride up Wild Thing's lift hill and look over to see the Xtreme Swings completely covered in fog and then see them rise above the fog with the red lights on the bottom of the cars only visible until they get to a certain height before you can see the entire car is fun too. Then there is riding the bunny hills on WT back to the station, the fog covers the lower part of the bunny hills and then you emerge above it as you hit the top of a bunny hill and then repeat it a few times going in and out of the fog. You might want to check this out once for a different experience.

Way for them to really go out on a limb with an anonymous source and then zero details or even a hint of what they consider crazy. Very informative.

After a long and cold winter Valleyfair opened the gates last Friday for the 2014 season so I stopped in to check out the new Route 76 and all the other changes in the park. That’s what this trip report is about, just to capture all the changes in the park for 2014. Northern Lights was not running when I was there on Friday before I left but I was notified by valleyfairfanatic (thank you) on these boards that it was up and running later in the day so I went back Saturday to get some pictures and ride it for myself. Some observations or Route 76 and the other changes. - Route 76 is a great addition to the park, great design by VF and CF. - It really brings life to that area of the park now. - The rides in the area are very tightly put together yet there is plenty of room. - The atmosphere with all the rides running in the area is fun. - Northern Lights is a great family ride, better than I thought it would be. - They did a great job on the Scrambler and Tilter refurbs. - The Antique Auto track is bigger and better than the last one. - VF did a real nice job of landscaping and adding trees. It should look great in 5 years. - On another note High Roller and Renegade both ran great with their new track work. - The new sound system in the park is great, major upgrade through out the park. When looking at this TR notice all the trees with no leaves on them due to the very late spring. I will need to follow up with another one once they bloom to see how it looks. So let’s get this trip report started for the changes this year at Valley Fair - America’s Frozen Coast! Right as you walk in the entrance there is a newly remodeled shop called Sweet that has all kinds of candy’s. It looked great inside, so good I forgot to take a picture. Next time. I did remember to take a shot through the display window for the Route 76 merchandise though. And of course that is ‘themed’ candy in those glass jars. Once you get past the main gate you see the new Auntie Anne’s pretzel palace. Nice to see how they fit it in with the ‘old’ Cinnabon building. I will try you one day hot dog wrapped buy a pretzel with cheese and jalapeño. Be warned. Then right around the corner is the new performance stage where the old Scrambler used to be. This is a new sign just left of the main entry for Route 76. Interesting how they still have the exclamation point in Valleyfair! on the sign. I guess it’s a nod to the old school park name for Route 76 which works for me. Somehow they need to get something in Route 76 about the old park mascot Colonel Omp Pa Pa. At the start of Route 76 is this car that rotates with a tree tower floor pot holder behind it and to the right of it. If spring ever arrives here I’m sure they will look good once they bloom. Elk in the turn around of Wild Thing for the Antique Auto’s as your walking towards Route 76. Shot of the refurbished Scrambler. A refurbished orange Scrambler car. A refurbished yellow Scrambler car. The new Valleyfair gourmet hot dog food truck. Food Truck Menu. Yesterday’s menu was $12.99 that included a drink and a Coke. I will definitely be eating here in the future. I did not have one because you have to be hungry, they are a foot long and huge. The Sonora Dog looks good. Here is a shot of the Chicago Dog by Valleyfair GM Dave Frazier from his twitter account. The new Steel Venom Queue which is now parallel to the ride instead of horizontal like before. Steel Venom queue from another angle. The Antique Autos Station sign. The Antique Auto queue as popular as ever. The newly refurbished Tilter. Look at all those new trees with barely any leaves yet. Should look great in another month. Tilter close up. Another of a Tilter car close up. Classic Tilter sign. It’s been updated and refurbished but still has that old school look. I approve! Rear view of the Antique Autos loading station. Antique Autos with Northern Lights in the back ground. No Bumping Allowed. Noted! Antique Auto Advertising on the route. More AA advertising on the route for the ride. The Antique Autos running under Northern Lights arch. The opposite angle of the Antique Autos under the Northern Lights arch. Antique Auto track under Wild Thing. Antique Autos Gas Station on the route track. Northern Lights from the Steel Venom end. Northern Lights from another angle and also the view from the new Picnic Point. Northern Lights in action. Northern Lights control panel for control panel enthusiasts. Shot of completed Picnic Point. There is another 2 buildings to the left of this not in the shot. They have a lot a room to run multiple events at one time here now if they want. Now on to the rest of the changes in the park. It’s another instance of amusement park SEAT BELT GATE 2014! Are you kidding me? After 37 years High Roller no longer has the seat belt that goes all the way from one side of the car to the other? Is that really 2 seat belts I see? Yes it is boys and girls. You can no longer ride in the middle of the seat if you ride solo, it’s only a memory now. I will seriously miss riding in the middle and don't like it but I understand the safety aspect. How does this affect it’s ACE recogniton? There are now FUN TV's in all of the coaster queue lines but since Renegade is my favorite ride I only took pictures of those TV's. One of two FUN TV screens in the Renegade queue tunnel with park trivia on it. And the trivia answer. The third FUN TV in the Renegade line as you come out of the tunnel and into the stair turn around. A new trim compressor for 2014 on Renegade. Why does everyone in line look at me funny when I take a picture of a brake trim? A shot of some new wood on Renegade out of the load station and it goes all the way to the base of the lift hill. Also new wood from the base of the drop hill, over the first hill, halfway through the big turn around, the low hill after that, the following right turn all the way through the left turn under the lift hill which makes it ride great again. Thank you Valleyfair maintenance crew! Half of the spot where the IMAX theater used to stand. Look at all that room. The other half of the spot where IMAX used to be and where the new Volleyball courts are. If they do expand the water park here is even more room for them to play with. This year…GRASS - The Ride! This is where the Hydro Blaster used to be. Even more adjacent land to the water park to play with. GRASS - The Ride 2! Where the Tilter used to be in front of Wild Thing. Yup, we got one of these too this year. The now defunct Excalibur soda station which is has become a new area for the new electronic code lockers. Is it really a game of skill if kids can play until they win? This softer younger generation. Ed Alonzo continues his CF tour. Well, that is all the changes for Valleyfair this year. Drop your comments and let me know what you think of how they did.

^ I am going robe at the park about 1:30 pm - 1:45 pm. Send me a PM if you want to meet up it hit some rides.

^Good to hear that they got NL up and running. I was going to do a trip report highlighting all the off season changes but did not get to try the biggest change of all in NL. I will wait now until I get to ride it Sunday to post the report. Thanks for the update.

1) I would not know because it was not running from 10:00 am until 2:30 pm when I left. They had some maintenance guys working on it with the top center cone off but it did not run. 2) Renegade and and High Roller are both running better. The re-tracking has paid off! Renegade has new wood from the station to the base of the lift hill. Then there is new wood from the base of the drop hill, over the first hill and halfway around the big turn around. Then more new wood on the hill after the turnaround, the right turn after that and the left turn going under the lift hill. After that I did not see much new wood but they must has made adjustments because it is now running like it was 5 years ago. No more rattle for a headache. Thank you Valleyfair maintenance crew, your work is much appreciated! I can re-ride my favorite ride in the park multiple times. 3) They have music videos (old and new, actually saw Michael Jackson's Thriller video), current weather and by the hour forecasts, sports updates, some ads and park trivia. The park trivia is cool because it is tailored and about VF. No too much advertising and it changes fast enough to not be annoying and for now is better than Six Flags for sure. Hopefully that does not change. No wait times yet. I should have a full trip report up by tomorrow afternoon with all the changes in the park once I get the chance. Hopefully NL will be running when I go again Sunday.

^ I will be there, I want to see all the changes and definitely want to check out the track work on Renegade and High Roller. Hopefully they have the Renegade train with the new test seats running that garyman6 was talking about. Going to be a little cold riding in the morning with a high of only 56.

Since the construction cam is down here are some more pictures of Route 76 from VF's GM Dave Fraizer's Twitter account. 24 more hours until opening day! A shot of the Antique Auto's loading station. Local TV crew doing a segment. Check out the row of dual lights on Northern Lights in the background and the refurbished Scrambler.

That was quick! Done. Done laying sod.

They are finally laying sod for Route 76 today. After that it should just be getting the Antique Auto's on the track and some other minor finishes. Hopefully they can get it all done by Friday. Close to finishing.

Thought it was just me but that is how I felt about Renegade last year, I could only ride it three or four times before I would get a minor headache. Just two years ago I could ride it a dozen times in a row and not even think about it. I agree on High Roller, hopefully the off season work on the structure will allow them to relax the turn around trim so those bunny hills can give the air that they can give.

If you have new factual information like this then no post can be too long. Go ahead and tell us about all the changes, I am really curious now about the new sound system you mention. Nobody will mind a long post if it is all new information.

^ It usually is about a 3 or less on opening day. And with the forecast only in the 60's it should stay that way. It is usually only season pass holders that show up on opening day because if you were paying for entry wouldn't you want to wait for a nicer day in June than one in May? And until school lets out crowds are lighter. I am planing on hitting the park Friday and Saturday to check out all the changes and get my ride on.

Just checked the construction cam for Northern Lights and saw them testing it. They were also planting some more shrubs in from the the pine trees in the picture below. The LED lights on the side of Northern Lights are now finished too. This will be different from Pipe Scream at CP which they put side panels on to cover the track and had lights on the ground aimed at the ride to illuminate it. Nice to see some customization between the two for each park. With only one more week to go until opening it looks like all they need to do is lay sod in the area and drop the Antique Auto's on the track. Testing of Northern Lights.

^ You are correct, Cedar Point has usually opened the same weekend as VF over the last 5 years. This year they opened a week earlier than usual.

Don't worry, Amazon has its drones at the ready to fly over and drop Twinkies to distract the ACErs as their people escape the stampede.