RCjunkie

Nice pictures! Looks like a nice start to your season at the local park. Thanks for the shots of the nice foliage down there blooming. I am so jealous because up here in Minnesota it is snowing again today, even for here that is late in the season. Of course if you mentioned that it was spring one more time in your TR I would have to consider that 'rubbing it in' and some harm may have come to the Hummel Boy because of that. The trains are on the tracks here at Valleyfair but no testing has been done yet due to the cold weather but this TR gave me some hope that soon spring will arrive.

Thanks for sharing! Very funny. I have never seen this but it is dead on accurate of how the channel operates now and why.

Just some feedback, I was alerted automatically on Tuesday via the Apple App Store function and downloaded the new update. I saw the alert on my phone before I saw your post here. Fun to play while your in a line waiting for rides. Maybe I will be lucky enough to get a trivia question about a ride that I am waiting in line for at the time while playing the game this year. Can you score bonus points if this happens?

On your next business trip just let me know when your in town and I'll take you there if you want. It's only 30 minutes from downtown and if your in the suburbs it is even a shorter drive. Unfortunately, unless your really into GCI woodies there is not a coaster that makes you want to come here but you should at least once see the park that put the 'Fair' in Cedar Fair if you are that close. The good news is that it is not high volume park so you can go after work during Twilight Hours and still get on all of the coasters with some re-rides on Renegade and a flat or two. Winter obvioulsy does not work but the fall is gorgeous here when all the trees turn colors and if your here on a weekend day. Getting on seats 7 and 8 (red columns) for Power Tower allows you to get an elevated look over the Minnesota River Valley nature preserve which is adjacecent to the park and can be quite a unique view for fall colors that most parks do not have.

Gatekeeper for me. After riding X-flight last year I am truly curious to see if the extra height, length and speed of Gatekeeper brings the ride a little more intensity and thrills to make it a great ride vs. just a fun ride like X-flight.

Yeah, looking out to the right on Wild Thing's lift hill all you see is an industrial zoned area across the highway.

Not as weird as it was funny. In June 2010 during early entrance morning ERT on Raptor the lift hill chain just stopped running. Of the 5 trains that just had their 1st run of the day 4 of them made it back to the station (we were train #4) and the 5th one was trapped at the mid brake so none of the trains would let people off because the restraints would not go up without any power. 15-20 minutes go by and we finally see from the train a maintenance guy with about a 3 foot long wrench in his hand walking towards the machine shed next too/under Raptor. He looked really upset, I am guessing by his body language and look on his face that this interrupted his morning coffee break routine. The funny part was right before he opened the door to the shed he let out a loud primal yell in disgust, we heard the door slam and then less than 2 minutes later Raptor was running again.

I totaly agree. He coexisted with the Berstein Bears when they ruled the kiddy area with no problems. Even though the Baron looked like the neighbors drunk uncle that your parents warned you about he was an orignal. Been there since the park opened and he wasn't commercially exploited or 'corporatized' since he was only at one park. It is too bad an original themed character like no other in the CF chain is gone with nothing to remember him by, he will be missed by some. In the future maybe they can put up a plaque about him somewhere in the park or name a new ride after him.

The kids area was terrible and this update was badly needed. The park is VERY hodge podgy and does lack a good flow but Camp Snoopy really helped the north side of the park overcome this now with the re-design. There is now a valley between High Roller and Corkscrew with nothing but 'new' kiddy rides and redone paths of stone. It really helped the park look good again. Over the last 2 years I have also noticed more families and kids with a fuller parking lot but the lines for the bigger rides are only slightly larger in contrast by bringing in more kids. This has also spilled over into the water park attendance so that's good news for the park. And even better because it is more attendance that really doesn't affect my experience. The park needs to update Soak City next because of this. Even though I am not a water park fan and would rather see a new ride it is needed and overdue to attract the next generation for sure.

I just joined the site in February so that is the main reason. I had no intention of doing a TR report and these are just pictures I took last year on a visit for myself to capture how the park has changed for posterity. But up here in the Great White North the off season is long, it snowed yesterday (which is even late for Minnesota) and I was looking through the website at other TR's to remember warmer times in anticipation for the new season and just decided to get off my backside and try a post. Considering that no one has ripped on me too hard for the TR I may do more of them now. Thanks for the feedback.

That makes sense. Thanks for the answer. Just never thought about that considering the park borders the 1000 plus acre River Valley nature preserve and assumed birds would rather be there considering how close it is. And with all the people, music and noise around the ride when it is operating I thought that would just keep them away too. Plus I have never seen anything like this on Wicked Twister or Vertical Velocity when I rode those over the last 2 years so they must not have this problem like this location. Of course the canopy provides protection so I can see why they would like that. And also the fact the birds probably view it as a large statue that they just can't miss when nature calls.

Joined the site recently and noticed nobody has done a trip report for Valleyfair since 2010 so figured I would give it a shot and do one. The only major change since 2010 was the addition of Camp Snoopy . The upgrade looks great and was needed since some of kiddy rides were originals from when the park opened in 1976. A few of those rides survived the conversion and have been re-themed to look good again. This TR is to show you how every thing turned out and what changes were made. I took these pictures last fall on September 15th, the last Saturday before the park converted to Valley Scare. This is my first trip report so if anyone actually reads this and comments please don't be too brutal. It is a rather lengthy TR because I wanted you to see all of the new stuff. I also need your help with an Intamin question at the end of the TR. Let’s get started and I’ll see if I can throw in a few TPR clichés too. Welcoming us to Valleyfair today. Which is unfortunately no longer Valleyfair!. After the Camp Snoopy conversion we lost the explanation point from the name so now it’s just Valleyfair with a flag above the ‘I’ and no explanation point. Bummer. See, just the flag now. Snoopy also kicked out our old mascot Colonel Omp Pah Pah. After you enter the gates this is the new fountain that replaced the old Disco Ball fountain. Oh wow, the Antique Cars queue is dismantled! That’s a nice piece of land there, we must be getting a new ride! Or...maybe not. This Dinosaurs Alive addition is sure moving along quickly. Or is this just the famous Jeff Johnson without cigarettes? Entrance into Camp Snoopy. In case you forgot where you were. High Rollers lift hill in the background. Moon Bounce. Corkscrew's track and supports got a facelift with its new yellow and orange colors. Still the old blue cars though. Tugboat. Bench theming. More theming. This guy seems to be everywhere. Rocket Express. A Rocket Express train with a Wild Thing train in the background. This is my artsy ‘Two trains' shot of the trip. Teacups ……I mean Whirlybirds. Total egomaniac, this guy is everywhere. The Bugs. An original ride that made the conversion. Valleyfair finally got that rumored B&M flyer. Swinging. The old Trapeze Swings re-themed. This has been at the park since it’s opening. A shot of High Rollers trims for the enthusiasts along with the second car in a coaster cocoon. High Roller had some work done during the Camp Snoopy upgrade that really improved the turn around and some other areas. It definitely made the ride better. Not today High Roller. I rode alone in the middle of the bench seat. Take that Cedar Fair! This is for KT and Frog Hopper enthusiasts everywhere. Balloon Race. Peanuts 500. Yellow Submarine. More theming. This is the Linus Cosmic Coaster. It’s the re-themed DRAGON coaster from Dorney Park that replaced Mild Thing and is now giving kids in Minnesota some good times. Thank you Dorney Park! Also a new credit in the park …nice. Here is a closer look of the re-themed trains. They turned out pretty nice. Planes. The back entrance to Camp Snoopy. After 30 years of the blue tracks on Corkscrew it’s weird to see them orange and yellow. But it does look good since it now fits in with Camp Snoopy. They also repainted the Mad Mouse tracks and supports with same colors to fit in with Camp Snoopy. They kept the cars the same old colors though. The sign is still original colors too. Also one of the only places where you can still see the explanation point in Valleyfair! Shot of Renegade’s lift hill for you enthusiasts. As the wise coaster sage who lives in the in the liar of the Huge Hummel Boy once wrote in a TPR report, “…if they had to name a ride after a Styx tune, 'Renegade' was probably the best choice.” True. But considering the rest of the coasters in the park 'Best of Times' may have worked too. This was the line for Renegade today. 4 laps in 30 minutes. A good day! More trim from Renegade for you enthusiasts that just can’t get enough. Another cool thing they did in 2011 besides Camp Snoopy was finding the old Excalibur sword for the sign. Unfortunately it didn’t improve the ride and now the sign is better than the ride. Here is a shot of the amphitheater that has not been used in years (except for Haunt) and is officially ‘off the map’ for the 2012 Valleyfair map. Can we label it SBNO? It will be interesting to see what replaces it in the next few years. Went to ride Steel Venom on the way out. When looking under the cover of Steel Venom on the way to the queue line what is that I see? An owl? I look further down under the cover and look……… Another owl? Actually these owls have been here all year. But why are they here of all places? This is where I need your help to understand this. I currently have two theories about them. 1) Valleyfair has a fun maintenance crew with a tech that has a sense of humor. Or… 2) These are “Intiman Owls” and they are a safety feature. If Steel Venom ever becomes a giant steel zombie snake, the Owls will grow 1000 times there size, snatch up the steel zombie snake with their claws and fly it away from the park to save all of the patrons. Yeah! Someone must have a better theory. Please leave your comments below. Took this shot leaving the park at the stop light while leaning out my passenger car window. Also one of the only few places you can see the explanation point still in Valleyfair!

Great report! A behind the scene tour was better than some dark rides.

Thanks for posting the pictures! Gatekeeper looks pretty sweet. . Rode X-Flight last year and had a lot fun so looking forward to riding this one and comparing. Hope its extra height, speed and length provide the intensity to make it a great ride vs. just a fun ride like X-flight.

For the last 5 years it is Renegade for me and with Valleyfair as my home park it is no surprise. I get at least 50 rides a year on it to feed my addiction.

Ditto. I am an old foggie too (44) and am a desk jockey all day. Never had a weak back and never saw a chiropractor in my life until this past January when I had to because my back finally went 'out'. The reason for it was years of being a desk jockey with bad posture and at a PC all day. Using a mouse caused me to lean right all day and it finally caught up with me and shut me down for 2 month's. Luckily no major damage like you but 2 month's of PT and I feel that I can ride again thankfully this year. I was worried the way I felt that I was going to have to skip this year and heal. Just wanted to reiterate his point for you youngsters to stay active, correct posture and stretch properly and regularly to extend your coasting years if you are a cube dweller.

I still can't believe people are actually complaining about 'Fast Passes' a year later. If you don't like it, don't buy one. My personal experience with it has only made me wait one train extra when other people are using the fast pass and I am not. One time it happened to me 3 times in a visit but that only added 15 minutes extra wait time for the day and that to me is reasonable. For me this works great when needed. If I am taking the time to travel at least 100 miles from home then I am going to maximize my time in that park because odds are I will not be back for a few years. Plus, I am not getting any younger and these Fast Passes are like buying time and I value that Immensely.

Are you serious? I rode VF's Corkscrew last year and it was ridiculously smooth for an Arrow. In all honesty it was the smoothest ride in the park aside from Wild Thing. Although it's got great floater air and a neat layout with great intensity, KBF's Ghostrider is ridiculously rough and rattly. Defensive riding really is needed to enjoy it. I agree, for an 'Arrow' VF's Corkscrew is pretty smooth all things considered. If you were shorter and your head hits the restraint during the inversions then I can see it being a rough coaster but otherwise it is pretty decent even after all these years. But if VF's Corkscrew is the roughest coaster he has been on then kudos to him! I am not that lucky.

I agree, after watching this video I would like to ride Superman for comparison to their other Hypers. This track layout looks unique compared to other Morgans. This ride showed that Morgan definitely had the ability to design some great and unique rides but unfortunately the majority of their Hypers were just average like Wild Thing.

Entry #2.

My entry.

My local park is Valleyfair, 25 minutes or less away from it. I actually live closer to Nickelodeon Universe, about 10 minutes away, but consider Valleyfair as my local or 'home' park.

43 and my first coaster was High Roller at Valleyfair in 1977. It looked 'too scary' to ride a year earlier when I went to the park.

Corkscrew at Valleyfair. 33 years later it is still the only coaster in the park with inversions.

In this forum you make it clear about the 800 by 600 picture size and in the Terms of Service section it has "...please keep them under 100k..." also but I have seen some 800 by 600 pictures in TPR reports that are over 100k. Has the 100k limit been removed or relaxed since this was written? Is that 100k limit still the rule? I am new on these boards so thanks for the clarification.