VF15

Not really a Thunder Canyon fan, but it has reopened.

Wind

Excitement

Darn. Two accidents in one day. Why do accidents always happen in pairs (this and NTAG-Shoot the Rapids)? This has not been a good day for amusement parks. As least no one was killed.

Out

Saw Transformers: Age of Extinction yesterday. I thought it was okay. Not bad, but not great either. Mark Wahlberg was pretty good, and the battle scenes were quite intense, but my biggest problem with it was that it was way too long.

That's awful. I'm incredibly sorry for this boy and his family. Although, based on the ride's safety restraint, it's hard to believe that it happened on this coaster out of all of them. I wonder how this will affect similar coasters like Green Lantern at SFMM. I know this is a serious matter, but I hope that the GP doesn't react to this like they did with NTAG and instantly deem all roller coasters unsafe.

Granted, it sinks on it's maiden voyage. I wish I could go on a TPR trip.

^ I agree. Although, if you're going to sue someone for false advertisement, you might as well sue Cedar Fair because I've seen the same commercials used for many parks in the chain. The problem with using VF's coasters in their commercials is that it probably wouldn't work because I feel that it's the large steel coasters that appeal to the GP. While Wild Thing and Steel Venom fall into that category, pretty much everyone that lives in Minnesota and western Wisconsin has either ridden or knows about those coasters, and since they've both been here for a while, I don't think their pull factor is that strong anymore. That's why VF really needs a modern steel looper. Fortunately, with the park being listed as planned for significant growth, it could happen, and hopefully not on the cheap like in the past.

High Roller - Valleyfair

Umpire

I guess you're right that they could Iron Horse it in that way, but I personally would rather have a new RMC built from scratch because they'd have a lot more freedom to get creative with it.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like a new coaster to me. I guess it could be a dark ride. However, the park GM is making it seem like it will be a kick-butt ride, and on the matter of dark rides, Disney and Universal are really the only ones that make truly kick-butt dark rides in my opinion. Regardless of if their next coaster is coming next year, or later on, it really should be a quality wooden coaster (something from RMC or GCI). If it's an RMC, I think Mean Streak should go to the junkyard and be replaced by a brand new woodie. I don't understand why most enthusiasts are dying for it to be Iron Horsed because the layout looks boring to me: it's seems like just a bunch of slightly-banked turns with only a few opportunities for airtime.

Well, a lot of other CF parks advertise their water parks with the "Two parks for the price of one" slogan, so I don't think that's anything special. However, if they are showing the water park more in their commercials, that could be another sign that the expansion is coming. Speaking of commercials, I've always hated Valleyfair's commercials because they always show rides that aren't at the park.

Strike

Wild Thing cost 14 million. Talon 13 million. The park your basing your hypothesis on is about to spend 30 million on a coaster. If I were dreaming, I'd dream Intamin. Actually, Wild Thing cost $9.5 million. Wikipedia has that statistic wrong. $9.5 million wouldn't buy any sort of B&M, but when adjusted for inflation, it's in the $15 million neighborhood, which I wouldn't say is unreasonable for a smaller B&M. Source: The Wild Thing press release from 1995. (Sorry it's hard to read.)

Yes, I was aware of that, but there are other similarly sized parks out there that have B&M's like California's Great America, Worlds of Fun. Well, Worlds of Fun is slightly larger than VF, but not by that much. I guess you're right that a B&M isn't an absolute necessity, but I think that one would really round out VF's coaster lineup. Also, it doesn't have to be a massive B&M like Banshee or Gatekeeper. A smaller B&M would be just fine by me.

Based on all I've heard, it sounds like a done deal. Carowinds has grown a lot since Cedar Fair took over, so I do think they are large enough for one. I believe it's actually $30 million and not $50 million, but $30 million should still get them a really awesome coaster. While VF could be in for something awesome in a few years, I doubt that VF would receive a giga coaster because I just don't feel that CF would invest that much money in VF, and also, they can't build that high due to Flying Cloud Airport. A decent sized B&M invert, or maybe a floorless coaster would go over pretty well in my opinion. Considering that Valleyfair puts the "Fair" in Cedar Fair, I'm honestly surprised that VF has been getting mostly second-rate attractions for most of it's existence, and I can't put my finger on why exactly why that is. I want to say it's because the park is only open five-and-a-half months a year, but so is CP, and look at how successful they are. Still, since VF is slated for a big expansion, I'm excited for the future.

Sport

Looks like the new giga coaster will be coming along soon...

I'll probably be at the park sometime next week, so I'll get some pictures then and post them on here. This is what Screamscape said: Park News - (7/4/14) Good news from Valleyfair, as I’m told that both Excalibur and Renegade have now reopened at the park following, along with most of the parking lot. Early word is that survey/construction markings can also be spotted all around the areas near the waterpark as a likely sign that the rumored Waterpark Expansion (see below) is the plan for 2015.

Flight Deck - California's Great America

Pizza Hut

1) Wingriders - Call me crazy, but I really liked X-Flight a lot, and I'll be riding Gatekeeper next year. Not the most intense or forceful coaster, but still unique and tons of fun. 2) Floorless - Only ridden Kraken, but that is a great ride. Fun, forceful, and very rerideable. 3) Hyper - I've only been on Raging Bull, which was lots of fun but not what I expected it to be. This might be higher if I had ridden something like Apollo's Chariot or Nitro. 4) Inverts - Ridden B:TR (SFGAm) and Dragon Challenge (both sides). They're probably the most intense B&Ms I've ridden, but I just like the ones above better. 5) Flyers - Ridden Manta and Superman: Ultimate Flight. They are kind of average rides, but the pretzel loops are why I love them so much. Will ride a Stand-Up coaster next year (Mantis), but I don't see myself getting a Sit-Down or Dive coaster credit anytime soon.