VF15

Good to know that 2016 won't be the year for the next waterpark expansion. I guess it means that 2016 will be either a flat ride or a coaster (hopefully the latter). Also, garyman6, when can you give us your next hint? You said it would come Haunt begins, but Haunt is now almost over.

I'm sure that being landlocked is part of the reason why the waterpark hasn't seen much action lately. They should have built it in an area of the park that's more expandable (i.e. closer to the entrance). Also, if Excalibur had not been built where it is, they probably could have expanded it westward. Now, there is really no more land to expand upon without taking something out. Even though Looping Starship borders the waterpark and could be removed/relocated, it doesn't take up a lot of space. My guess is that the Panic Falls slides would be most likely for removal soon.

^ I disagree on not needing a coaster because VF has been waiting for a new thrilling coaster longer than any other Cedar Fair park and the park is losing it's appeal to thrill seekers, but yes, next year could be another waterpark expansion because garyman6 said in his interview with Valleyfair's GM that he basically said we will have another expansion in the near future.

I agree. I really think that Chicago could use another major park because of how overwhelmingly crowded SFGAm is. I went there on a Monday in mid-August this year, and every major coaster had at least an hour wait (Goliath never got below 2.5 hours), and if that's how Mondays are, then weekends and other peak days must be nighrmares. One park covering a metro area of ~10 million plus a lot of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin is too much if you ask me.

I could see X-Flight's layout becoming a common clone at more Six Flags parks because of it's compact layout and good GP appeal. Plus, X-Flight is a lot of fun. Even though they technically aren't coasters, Super Loops are obviously now becoming a thing for Six Flags, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see one in all Six Flags parks eventually.

Granted, but you have to go to summer school and the only time you have off is the TPR trip. I wish 2015 would come faster.

At Valleyfair on Sunday, when I was in line for Wild Thing, it got stopped on the lift hill for about 30 seconds because someone had a phone or camera out, and someone else in the station suggested that they stop it on the lift just so they can scare/freak people out . That is actually a decent idea, but it wouldn't work because it would slow down operations.

Granted, but all coasters that currently have lap bars will now have OTSRs. I wish I could make a legitimately good coaster on NoLimits.

Yeah you are right. Leviathan and Behemoth were such cheap investments and are completely worthless coasters. You should be jealous of Worlds of Fun. They are getting swan boats next year.

If this was 2007 or earlier, I'd say yes because before Behemoth, they didn't really have anything that would make coaster enthusiasts want to go there, but now that they have two B&M megacoasters, I wouldn't call that neglect at all. Although, they were a Paramount park from 1994 to 2006, and that may have had something to do with it.

^ Not completly sure, but I think it's because it was B&M's first hyper-twister coaster, and they added the trims just to play things safe. I still think people exaggerate too much when they say it's trimmed to death. It has enough speed that I floated out of my seat on all of the hills, but it would still be great if Raging Bull started running trimless.

Nickelodeon Universe, probably sometime in January or February. Other than that, I'm pretty much on a coaster/park hiatus until May .

I did not ride Mad Mouse yesterday, but when I walked by it, I noticed that it was running slower than normal. They usually use the trims on Mad Mouse all the time, but it looked like they were slowing it to the point where even young kids would find it boring. I don't get why they have to trim Mad Mouse so hard. It's a pretty slow ride to begin with, so are the trims really going to save them that much money in the long run? Probably not.

Today at VF, the Renegade crew was pretty entertaining. While the train was out running the course, they would lip-sync to whatever song was playing, and they also made some funny announcements. -Right before train enters station: "This next song playing is called Welcome Back Riders." -As people get off: "As you leave, don't forget to wave hello to our oncoming riders." -Right before dispatch: "Clear, scanning... hashtag all clear (#allclear)!" I wish more ride ops were this entertaining.

Continuing my Mini-Photo Trip Report from the last page... Renegade, running great like always. Another shot of the demolition area. Corkscrew pulling into the station. Nothing to report here. A distant shot of the soon-to-be gone Valleyfair sign. While the new sign will be a good upgrade for the park, I will miss the charm this one had. The sun shining brightly behind Wild Thing. Rode Renegade a total of 68 times this season. Really going to miss it this offseason. It has been a great 2014 season at Valleyfair. I'm sad to see it go, but I'm looking forward to coming back next May.

I don't think Raging Bull is braked "to death" because I got airtime on all of the hills when I rode it back in August, but I will admit that I wish they'd lighten up on the brakes to turn that airtime into great airtime. I personally found the slight B&M rattle more annoying than the brakes.

Mini-Photo TR - 10/26/14 Went to Valleyfair today to get in my final rides of 2014. Unfortunately, other obligations have precluded my closing weekend attendance . For those of you that go next weekend, I hope you can tell us how it goes. Some of you were requesting on ground photos of the waterpark construction, and I only have four because there really isn't much to see, but hopefully they are good enough for you. The last visit of the season is always a bittersweet one, but I still had a great time. There were no lines for anything. It was a little chilly, but not bad at all for late October in Minnesota. Everything was running pretty good today, and it was overall a good cap to the year. High Roller pulling into the brakes. Running decent today. Wild Thing was fun as usual but the thumbs down is for the one-train operation. Most of the trees around the park are already bare, but some still have nice colors. The Taste of Valleyfair truck was over by Coasters and Atomic Pizza for some reason. The one flat ride I always ride during VF visits. Steel Venom right after launch. I got E-stopped here twice on SV today. The second time it resulted in the holding brake being turned off. I guess it's just because of Intamin unreliability. Wild Thing train getting trimmed (to be fair, I still got decent air on those hills). The spot where the new slide tower is going is nothing more than a dirt pile right now. Sign near the pretzel stand advertising the expansion. The remains of what were the Mad Mouse restrooms. Assuming they turn this into pavement, it should allow for better visitor traffic flow next year. The wall of corn blocking off access to the back of the park. Excalibur hibernating. More to come later.

^ I'm pretty sure that it's the main parking lot near the Dinos. I wonder if they are planning to relocate part of the parking lot to make room for whatever's coming in 2016. That area would be a great place to put in a coaster without removing any others. However, I can't see them keeping that lot and building a coaster over it because of the risk of something falling and denting someone's car. Edit: Just got to VF and the parking lot cones are gone. What that means, I don't know, but let's just hope for the best.

^ I don't think we have enough information to speculate in detail about what these cones mean, but if the area has gotten bigger, then that might be good news.

Banshee

Thanks for the great SFGAdv trip report. Looks like everyone had a great time. I really need to go to Great Adventure someday to experience El Toro, Nitro, and KK.

Raging Bull when you sit farther back because of the great floater air. Spongebob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge also has a pretty steep and intense drop. I have a feeling that MF or TTD will probably take the title next year.

I usually like riding in the back because you get more of the first drop and other drops, and if it's an airtime machine, the back usually has more/better airtime. Although, if it's a coaster that's notoriously rough, then I sit as far forward as possible since that helps a little.

I'm thinking that the 2016 coaster will be a B&M wing coaster because, as others have said, they'll probably name it Ziz to complete the Behemoth-Leviathan-Ziz trio. Ziz was apparently a giant bird in mythology, and "giant bird" hints at nothing other than a wingrider. My only problem with it is that Ziz sounds like a really awkward name for a roller coaster, but then again, there are plenty of strange coaster names out there.

While I love Valleyfair, it is not my favorite park I've been to. That title belongs to Six Flags Great America. It will probably change to Cedar Point next summer.