RCjunkie

Hell, just tear it down and start from scratch. You had me at 'tear it down', building another coaster would just be a bonus. This is the correct thing to do.

Well, it's not in California, and it's not Six Flags, so there is still plenty of time to get it finished before next year. And it would be a water park expansion and not a major coaster so the construction time line would be shorter and they would have until Memorial Day weekend when Soak City opens to get it done. Unfortunately the site is not 100% clear yet and winter is coming soon (and this is not California ) so my guess is we get grass for next year and the expansion in 2015. 2015 is VF's 40th anniversary so I am slightly disappointed that the park probably will not be getting a big thrill ride or coaster to mark the occasion but probably a water park expansion instead.

Valleyfair posted a picture this morning of the IMAX being completely demolished. YEAH! Now the speculation can really begin as to what will replace it and when. During demolition. Shot this morning of the 'missing' IMAX from Soak City Path.

Fortunately I got to ride it once in 2010 on my trip to Ohio to ride Diamondback. Did it for nostalgic reasons because I rode its sister coaster Wild Rails at VF for many years and loved that version too. Brought back good memories so I was disappointed when they removed it a year later. Wish I would have known they were going to remove it then because I would have a taken a few more laps for sure.

I agree, the amphitheater takes up a lot of space where they can put more rides which will connect or be next to Route 76. Maybe Monster or Looping Starship will end up there.

You paint a nice picture that I personally would like to see for sure. But with all the removals, additions and relocations you mention I doubt it could be done in a 5 year period. Not physically, but the huge capital investment it would take to do that. Cedar Fair has never really been aggressive with investing in VF. Maybe in 10 years though.

That is an interesting question. Obviously it depends on the size and type of the coaster but the area next to High Roller where the old picnic area as it the biggest space. After that your probably getting rid of an existing coaster or moving even more rides to create space. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few years.

Yes, it probably would get more ridership with a better location but I don't think that has anything to do with it's popularity. I doubt the park would close that tunnel if Renegade, Steel Venom or Wild Thing were back there so to me it has to do with the coaster and not the location. That makes the most sense and it will probably happen someday but personally I think a Eurofighter coaster would fit in Excalibur's spot very nicely.

Didn't look or just different priority? Blonde > IMAX. Well played.

I would almost always (selfishly) agree, but this park seriously needs to expand the water park. If you really look at what this water park has to offer you'll realize that it's easily the worst water park in the chain... and possibly at any major corporate theme park in the country. Exactly! Totally agree. I always want a new coaster too but a water park expansion is the #1 thing needed for this park for all the reasons stated by coasterbill. Once that is done a new coaster will move up to #1 on the list of things the park needs.

As a fan of your great trip reports I've noticed they have you and beer in a lot of them so this does not surprise me you missed seeing a 500 seat 4 story tall theater. The demolition picture is now on Valleyfair's Facebook and Twitter pages and it is a great site to see. The park really needs the land to expand the water park as they increase in popularity to keep the crowds coming which should hopefully translate to a new coaster in the future. Too bad when they built the thing in 1982 they did not have the foresight to put it up towards the entrance so in the winter they could have used it to show theater released movies and get revenue that way. Even though it was a nice place to cool off during the day which will be missed the new water park expansion will draw more people to the park than the IMAX ever did.

For sure Goliath at SFGAm. Luckily for me I can drive there in 5.5 hours or fly there in an hour so there may need to be multiple visits depending on how good Goliath is. On paper it looks great! I am also looking forward to Banshee but with caution. It looks great on paper as the biggest and baddest invert but B&M has lost is mojo lately in making rides that are thrilling so we will see. Hopefully it has the intensity of Raptor or better. And only because Valleyfair is my home park I cannot wait to see how Route 76 turns out. If it turns out anything like Knott's boardwalk area combined with all the new LED lighting on the rides for night time we may have a winner here.

"Are you ready for the summer? Are you ready for the sunshine? Are you ready for the birds and bees, the apple trees, and a whole lot of fooling around..." Any trip report with a reference to the movie Meatballs just has to be good. Congratulations on your 10th! Looks like you had a grand time celebrating and thanks for sharing. But also remember...."We are the C...I....T's..so pity us. The kids are brats, the food is hideous. Were going to drink and smoke and fool around...."

Too bad the fire did not reach all the way over to Excalibur for further expansion. No! I want to at least get the credit first! And besides, I've heard Excalibur is actually really good. Unfortunately you heard wrong. I could go on in detail why it isn't even an average coaster but with it ranked #304 on the Mitch Hawker poll you get the idea. I have no idea if/when they will remove the ride but I assume it will be the first of the existing coasters to be removed because on weekdays they do not open the ride until noon when the park opens at 10:00 am plus it is the only coaster not operating during Haunt. If it was a good coaster there would be more demand to ride it. I'm sure you have many years left to get the credit so come on up and get it done on the 'El Camino' of roller coasters.

Too bad the fire did not reach all the way over to Excalibur for further expansion.

I agree that we will not see anything this year like you an triggernel indicated. I doubt they would have been able to remove the building earlier in the year anyway. There would have been too much disruption in that area of the park with no place to put the heavy equipment needed to demolish the building, remove the pieces and still allow people to move around that area of the park. With it all removed by next year at least they can start construction sometime late summer/early fall next year unlike this year and still have the park open back there. The good news is now with IMAX gone (and hopefully Subway and the old food patio) they can widen that part of the walking path from Mad Mouse and all away around that corner. On some busy days you can barley move in that stretch of walk way. Maybe they will put the Subway where the Scrambler was next to Cinnabon. With a water park expansion obviously coming do you think they will relocate the Viking Ship too for even more room?

I agree. CF makes another good decision with the Bat re-theming. Also another reason to visit KI next year.

Hills for sure. They bring greatness whether it is floater or ejector airtime and I like both. Plus, without the hill how are you going to get through that loop?

I would have to agree with you on the demolition part and probably the expansion part since it is so late in the season here with winter coming. But then again I thought VF was getting nothing this year and then came Route 76 and now the retirement of the IMAX theater so you never know. It' is a little funny how they announced the $3.5 million expansion for the Dino's in 2013 ($11 million for Snoopy in 2011 and $2.5 for general improvements in 2012) but no dollar value attached to the Route 76 addition. Corporations never miss a chance to promote how much money or how many jobs that they are putting into their product for self promotion. Maybe we'll get a last minute announcement on a water park expansion for next year and then they will promote a 'total dollar value' investment to the park but that is only hopeful at best. With VF starting is 40th operating season in 2015 it looks like a water park expansion to celebrate it. Hopefully it will be followed by a coaster in 2016 to celebrate 40 years in business but we shall see. I am just happy changes and new additions are finally coming to the park after the past 2 slow years.

The official answer to the 'Burning Question'... http://www.startribune.com/local/south/229543431.html The doomed IMAX movie theater at Valleyfair is about to go up in flames as part of a training exercise for firefighters, the amusement park in Shakopee said Monday. The 500-seat theater is slated for demolition within the next few weeks for a yet-to-be-announced park expansion. Fire departments from Shakopee, Savage and Prior Lake will use fog machines and small contained fires to perform search and rescue drills Monday inside the 31-year-old theater at the park, which is closed for the season. Officials want it made clear: There is no public access to the training. Here’s how it’s supposed to do down: The drill will begin about 6 p.m. when a call is made that a fire has begun at the IMAX, with possible bodies still inside. Fire trucks will enter the park at the back entrance and park around the IMAX. Firefighters will enter by forced entry and begin looking through heavy fog and small fires for dummies or firefighter personnel acting as missing ushers and a projectionist. Ladder trucks will also be used on the north side of the building for rooftop rescues. Fire crews will come and go until the drill concludes about 9:30 p.m. The theater presented each season a single educational feature, rather than typical box office fare, said park spokesman Todd Larkin. The theater’s final selection, the 1998 “edu-tainment” production “T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous,” faded to black for the final time on Labor Day.

Went to VF yesterday since it was nice day to get a few laps in and also the last day of the 2013 operating season. Since the news about the IMAX has already been reported here I will post the pictures that I took yesterday of the construction that has started on the Route 76 area that will be home to the new Disko ‘Coaster’ next year. The remains of the now defunct Go-Kart track. A shot across from Steel Venom on the opposite edge of the new Route 76 area. Looks like the center of the Disko ‘coaster’ where the high point will be where the antique auto tracks go under the ‘coaster’. Looking from one end to the other of where it looks like Northern Lights will go. A shot from the opposite end looking back. Saving some trees in the process which is nice. The steel tower is the ‘pull’ tower for Rip Cord so you can see how much tighter this area will be with more rides. Saving some bushes for the new attraction. May be a future corner of the auto track. Construction stuff. Under the turn of Wild Thing. The old antique car they put out under the Wild Thing turn around as a hint before they announced Route 76. It will be nice to see new cars after 35 years. The right side of this photo will look much different next year. Hopefully next time I can update this thread with demolition photos of IMAX.

Day time or night time riding? RMC or GCI? TPR Park tour or TPR Cruise? Fly or Drive for an out of state park trip? (provided you can drive to it from your location) Corn Dog or Pronto Pup? Mitch Hawker Poll or Golden Ticket Award? Boxers or Briefs?

For me it is easily Cedar Point because I am a coaster and thrill ride junkie. Theming and good food is a nice bonus but not necessary for me to enjoy a park. WDW just doesn't have the type of rides that I go to a park for.

CedarFair actually has 11 parks and helps manage a 12th one. Saying Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks are the same is like saying Disney and Universal Parks are the same. They may be similar but they definitely are not the same.

I would also lean towards Cedar Fair right now. I like what Matt Ouimet has done with Fast Pass, Fast Pass wrist bands at Dorney, updating all of the park's e-commerce parts of their web sites and the attention to theming with a local flavor like the Boardwalk area for Knott's and the Highway 76 area for Valleyfair. And it seems like he has not forgot about big thrill rides with Banshee and the rumored coaster at Carowinds coming. His stated attention to updating the water parks where needed also helps. I am interested to see what Quimit's dark ride plans are for CP. The parks operations of rides seems to be better and faster than Six Flags overall too. As a coaster fan it doesn't hurt that the chains history involves building the first hyper, giga and strata coasters and pushing the bar. One thing I think Six Flags does better is spread out their new rides and attractions among the chain. Cedar Fair seems to favor their bigger parks over MiA, WOF, CGA and VF when it comes to getting new rides or attractions. I think it hurts CF's smaller parks because you can't expect them to grow on pace with the bigger parks when there are longer periods of time between new rides and attractions for them.