VF15

^ Wow. It looks like a comletely different ride.

...your favorite card in your wallet is your season pass.

I would rather have Excalibur stay for a while than have it be replaced by a parking lot because replacing a roller coaster with a parking lot is not a smart move in my opinion. Besides, if Soak City became a separate admission attraction, I'm sure there would be a lot of complaining. Even though I rarely visit Soak City, I wouldn't be happy about a fee to get in there because even if the waterpark expansion ends up being something really awesome, it would still be far from being one of the chain's best waterparks. I don't know who owns the land behind those park offices, but even if VF does own it, I don't think that they would choose to place a coaster there because I think it would probably be hard for them to get a walkway built to get over there. Speaking of walkways, if Valleyfair's next roller coaster ends up in Excalibur's spot, they'd probably need to find another way to get people over there because currently, the only way to get to the Excalibur/Thunder Canyon area is through a very small tunnel, and since a new coaster would mean higher visitor traffic back there, that little tunnel would make getting in and out of that area pretty hectic. Just my thoughts.

^ I'm thinking a small B&M invert would be the best choice (something along the lines the lines of Patriot, Talon, or Batman: The Ride). I highly doubt that it would be a Vekoma SLC for reasons I've stated before. While a Maverick style coaster would definitely be awesome, Maverick cost $21 million, and while Valleyfair was noted as one of the fastest growing CF parks, it will be a while before Valleyfair is ready for that kind of capital expenditure. A slingshot would be cool, but Valleyfair needs other things before a slingshot. I'd be all for a B&M floorless, but it's been a while since one was built, so probably not the most likely option.

I don't believe I've been to a park with overall bad ride operations, but there was this one thing that happened at SeaWorld Orlando in early December a few years ago. When I got there, Kraken was only running one train. I was okay with that for the time because it was early in the morning and the crowds were light. However, later in the afternoon, it got a bit busier, and because Kraken was still running one train, it had an 85 minute wait time. That was a bit crazy because before that, I had never seen a line for Kraken longer than 25 minutes, even on a busy summer day. They didn't put on the second train until after sunset, and then it went back to being a walk-on. Even though Kraken is one of my all-time favorite coasters, that one memory will not sit well with me.

Well, I think the main reason Excalibur Cold Drinks is gone is because it was rarely ever used due to the low volume of visitor traffic in that area. It was only open one or two of the times I went last year. You do bring up a point though. Regardless of whether or not the removal of the drink stand means anything, Excalibur will likely be the first coaster to leave due to reasons listed several pages back. While I personally don't think that this is Excalibur's final year, you could still be right. Only time will tell.

I bought this game, and I don't think it is as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It's decent for what it is, and can keep you somewhat entertained at times, although I'm still annoyed with the amount of freemium content on here. I'm still hoping that the computer version is a realistic type of game.

From Dave Frazier's Twitter: Wild Thing testing. Opening weekend just can't come fast enough.

Yeah, I've heard about this. I believe it is called FunTV, and it is supposed to be chain wide. It would probably be used in the lines for the most popular attractions, such as Wild Thing, Renegade, Steel Venom, Power Tower, and probably some other rides. I guess we'll have to wait until opening weekend to find out exactly which ones. I'm glad we're getting this. I just hope it's not as annoying as the queue TVs at Six Flags parks.

Yeah, I should have remembered that it's Six Flags. Cedar Fair has their new attractions ready by opening day 90% of the time, whereas Six Flags just seems to take their sweet time for construction. I guess you could also say that about their dispatch times and customer service.

Even though my sources say that opening day for Goliath is May 24th, based on the current progress of construction, I have a hard time believing that will happen. They've still got a lot of work to do on the track, and don't they have to have a few weeks of testing before it opens? Construction must really be going slower than expected. Perhaps the bitterly cold winter was a factor, but the park is in an area that has harsh winters, and the construction got started relatively late compared to that of some other coasters, so I think it's more of the park's fault for this. Fortunately, I'm not visiting until later this summer, so it should be open by the time I go.

Even though there are several things that annoy me about the GP, one thing I feel some enthusiasts are too harsh on is when people mess up statistics (when they are reasonable), such as when someone says "I think this ride goes 70 mph", and then some enthusiast responds "Nope. It goes 75 mph. You're an idiot." I think that's a little much. If they said something like "It goes 600 mph", then that might get irritating, but I really don't have a problem with off-statistics when people sound reasonable about the subject. The GP does not spend 3 hours a day studying coaster statistics (well, I don't either...), so I think they should be cut some slack in that area.

A picture from Twitter of Corkscrew taking a test run. I know it's just the test dummies, but it sort of looks like the restraints are open.

^ I've never heard anyone say that before? What's so horrendous about Morgan supports?

Here are some pictures from the park's Facebook page of the AA roadway construction. Looking good. Would anyone happen to know the purpose of the building in the top picture? I can't tell.

Yeah, NU needs a new coaster soon. If it were to get one, it would have to be something small like a Wild Mouse, because there is very little space left in there. Although it probably wouldn't be a Wild Mouse because there's one nearby at Valleyfair. I can't really think of any other small footprint coasters that would fit in there and still be thrilling.

...you have a hard time seeing shows or other entertainment at a park when there are coasters nearby.

I agree with most of this. I highly doubt that Valleyfair would ever be another Cedar Point, but still, given all the circumstances, I think the future here looks bright. I've never been to Cedar Point, but I always hear about how terribly crowded it is, and when I get there one of these days, I will definitely get Fast Lane Plus because I will not wait who-knows-how-long for a roller coaster even if it was my only chance to ride it. Last year, the longest I waited for anything at Valleyfair was an hour for Renegade and Wild Thing, and technically, those waits should have been shorter (Renegade was down for 20 minutes for maintenance, Wild Thing was adding on the third train, and I waited for the front row on both rides), so that shows how shorter the lines are at VF. In other news, I noticed some new dining and entertainment options on the park website: https://www.valleyfair.com/things-to-do/dining https://www.valleyfair.com/things-to-do/live-entertainment

Actually, did you know this is wrong? On the topic of Valleyfair, Ive actually always been very interested in this place. I do kinda look at it as one of the chain's flagships because of the name, and yet they really dont have a major headliner or anything worth traveling far for (in my opinion). It looks like a really nice park aesthetically, but as a less hardcore theme park fan, I would want a major attraction to get me to the park, and Im sure most people feel the same way. I think they could definitely use a nice big coaster in the next few years, because as of now the very pleasant space theyve created is wasted on somewhat mediocre attractions IMO Yeah, I hope we'll get more thrilling attractions. Over the past few years, the park has really been made more family friendly. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel like they now have more than enough family rides. While Route 76 looks to be a nice addition, it probably won't dramatically increase attendance. If they built a decent sized B&M invert, that would draw in people from all over the Upper Midwest. I think it really is necessary because while Valleyfair does have some fun coasters (particularly Renegade), it's probably not worth coming here if you live more than 3 hours away.

I think Thunder Canyon is an okay ride. You'll like it if you're the type person who loves getting wet, but if you're like me and don't particularly care about it, then it's just okay. I only rode it once last year, and that's because it was 90 degrees and humid. It's a hit or miss on whether or not you get soaked. I just got mildly wet. If you want to guarantee yourself you'll get totally soaked, then go ride The Wave, front row. I still think Thunder Canyon does it's job. It's still relatively popular with children and their families, unlike it's next-door neighbor Excalibur that never has a line. Like I said, it really depends on how you feel about water rides.

-Michigan's Adventure (anything) -Adventureland Iowa (anything) -Great Escape (anything) -Valleyfair (B&M invert) -Dorney Park (GCI woodie)

I absolutely hate entitled people at amusement parks. I don't care if you came to the park from across the country, or live 15 minutes away from it. Wait in the two hour line like everyone else, or don't ride. I used to think that was only a GP thing, but I believe there are also some entitled enthusiasts out there. Just because you know more about coasters and like them more than the person in line in front of you doesn't make you better than that person.

^ It's hard to see it in this photo. It looks like it was painted yellow, but it's hard to tell. Hopefully, VF will post some pictures of it on Facebook or Twitter soon.

If you're talking about full-circuit inverts, then it would have to be at least 196 feet tall because Alpengeist is 195 feet tall. I am aware that Valleyfair was noted as having potential for significant growth, but still, I don't want to set my expectations too high, or else I might be setting myself up for disappointment. Also, I couldn't agree with you more on the second part. Valleyfair puts the "Fair" in "Cedar Fair", but yet they've never gotten the treatment that Cedar Point has. Valleyfair will never be a Cedar Point, but for being one of the company's first parks, it really gets ignored and left behind.

I've always thought that a coaster at Valleyfair that travels over the midways would be a cool idea. It would be similar to how Wild Thing's figure-8 crosses over the walkway to soon-to-be Route 76, but much more of the ride would take place over the midways. Pespi Orange Streak at Nickelodeon Universe is a good example of this. It would also be cool if they could do something Gatekeeper-like and have a coaster travel over the entrance. I've noticed that a lot of the new coasters are using tunnels as well as over the midway. Let's not get stuck on the idea that a roller coaster has to stick within a box. Watch the POV for Nemesis. An amazing B&M invert. The que line actually goes through one of the loops. VF may have height restrictions but that doesn't mean we cant have great coasters. We could actually have an B&M invert that would be the worlds tallest. Banshee kept I believe just 2 feet short of the world record for height. Why? I've read rumors that they may bring that record to VF. Doesn't mean it has to be the longest! Just a couple of thoughts! Sorry, but the world's tallest invert isn't going to happen at Valleyfair. Any steel coaster that breaks records usually costs in excess of $20 million, and because of their budget, I wouldn't expect VF to pay more than $15 million. Technically, the world's new tallest invert would have to be at least 216 feet tall because Wicked Twister (215 feet tall) is the true tallest invert. Besides, I really don't think that anything record breaking would fit in at VF. Yes, Wild Thing does have the world's longest zero-G section, but it's not exactly the most noteworthy record out there.