VF15

Wow. Mike Fehnel tweeted this picture of Fury 325's pneumatic gates, and they look great.

Carowinds tweeted this picture of the beginning of the construction of their Slingshot. Looks like it will be located next to Vortex.

Fairly Odd Coaster at Nickelodeon Universe. My 37th credit.

I like Wild Thing more than most enthusiasts seem to, but I don't adore it like a lot of the GP does. Wild Thing does have intense moments here and there, but it's not all-around intense from start to finish like other hypers such as Raging Bull. Still, I'm glad Valleyfair has Wild Thing and would be sad if it left (likely won't happen for a very long time). As for Steel Venom, I love that ride too, but I think the reason it doesn't cut it as an invert to most enthusiasts is because it is only a shuttle coaster and does not complete a full curcuit. Valleyfair is the only Cedar Fair park without a full-circuit inverted coaster (except Gilroy Gardens). Excalibur is not a bad ride, but not a great one either. I personally find Corkscrew to be a smooth ride but to each his own. Excalibur used to have an on-ride photo (before the helix), but has since been removed.

This weekend, I had a nice break from the offseason when I took a trip to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America, and I had a great time there. For a park that's located in a mall, I think it is quite impressive. A lot of the park is targeted at the younger audience, but they also have plenty of thrilling rides for adults and teens. They have a few fun roller coasters, and also lots of interesting and unique flat rides. The park looks good and is kept clean (being indoors probably helps with that). The operations were sometimes slow, probably since they have mostly low-capacity rides, but they got the job done since I got on most rides within 30 minutes. The crowds actually weren't that bad considering it was a Saturday at one of the largest malls in the world. While none of the coasters here threaten my top 10, and I prefer its outdoor cousin Valleyfair, I'm still very glad we have this park since it allows us Minnesotans to get an offseason coaster fix without making a trip to a warm-weather state (although a trip to Florida or California this time of year would be nice). Overall, Nickelodeon Universe is a really good park for what it is, and I'd recommend visiting it if you're ever in the area. Now onto the pictures... Entering the mall. Arriving at the park. Started the day with Spongebob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge. Unfortunately, my first ride on Spongebob was pretty rough. My back didn't feel great afterwards. Spongebob, stop trying to kill my back. Didn't ride Pepsi Orange Streak because I got the credit a while ago and didn't find it particularly interesting. Very long trains... Avatar Airbender: I forgot how much fun this ride really is. Spinning + Airtime + Good Drops = Fun Ride. A ride that I had neglected to ride in the past, and I liked it more than I thought I would. Good spinning, decent forces, and one or two small pops of air. Nothing amazing, but still fun. Entrance to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shell Shock. It's a ride that's hard to describe. You sit in your seat, rock it left and right, and use the control wings to help with that. I almost turned myself inverted, but not quite. It's actually a lot more fun than it looks. Went to ride Spongebob again, and it was running better. Next up was the Log Chute, and I can see why a lot of people really like this ride. Dark queue line. It has some decent drops. Avatar Airbender control panel. Avatar about to start. Wow. Brain Surge is amazing. You get to control how much you flip, and I probably flipped more than everyone else on the ride. I wish there were more of these. Now for a few night pictures. Brain Surge looks cool when lit up. Spongebob looping. When it isn't rough it's my favorite coaster in the park. This zero-G roll has some nice hangtime. Nerd picture. Rode Splat-O-Sphere since it had a short line. It's an okay drop tower, but I've ridden better. Fairly Odd Coaster control panel. Fairly Odd Coaster car dropping. Thanks for a fun day Nickelodeon Universe.

Went by Valleyfair this morning, and unfortunately didn't get any construction pictures (couldn't see anything). I think it's interesting to see what the park looks like in a dormant state. Steel Venom and RipCord The old sign is still here. Wild Thing not making my heart sing today. Dormant Mad Mouse and dormant Looping Starship. Excalibur and Renegade's turnaround.

Avatar Airbender at Nickelodeon Universe, about an hour ago.

^^ While relocating one of the Vortexes and giving it floorless trains wouldn't be the worst option, if we were to get a floorless coaster, I think it would be a brand new one, though it would likely be a smaller one like Hydra or Batman (SFNE).

Wild Chipmunk - Lakeside Amusement Park B&M Dive Coaster (with floor)

Both have Zierer Tivoli coasters. Kings Island and Nickelodeon Universe.

That does look like it would be a good alternative to a HUSS Giant Frisbee. It would be nice for one of those to take over the Amphitheater spot because it would have great curb appeal. Although, if Valleyfair was to get any flat ride from Zamperla, the one I'd like to see the most is an Air Race because they look like a lot of fun, and I've heard nothing but good things about them.

I read a while back in this thread that Dave Frazier was considering a carousel refurbishment in the near future. It would probably be more of a general improvement than a major project, so I'd be all for it if it happens. Also, if a HUSS Giant Frisbee is not going to happen like Lareson says, then I'm not really sure what flat ride we could get. Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the exception of the CP and Carowinds Slingshots, Cedar Fair hasn't been getting many thrilling flat rides recently (Northern Lights was more fun than I was expecting, but it's definitely not a thrill ride).

Granted, but you have to pay to get it. I wish for RMC to build a coaster in Minnesota.

Last night, I had a dream that I was at Holiday World, and when I rode Thunderbird, it apparently had Superman theming. It was still the same orange B&M wing-coaster that it is in real life, but on the ride itself, there was Superman theming along the track in sort of a Bizzaro-SFGAdv style.

Not sure if $50 million is the amount of money that Cedar Fair plans on investing in Valleyfair, but if that was the case, then this is what I'd choose from $44 million ($6 million already spent on waterpark expansion). This list likely won't be exactly what happens, but I can dream, right? -$15 million: B&M invert that's small to medium-sized but forceful (replaces Dinos or coned section of parking lot). -$5 million: HUSS Giant Frisbee (replaces Amphitheater). -$6 million: Waterpark Expansion #2 (replaces Panic Falls slides and old Splash Station). -$10 million: Insane RMC woodie (replaces Excalibur). -$1 million: Larson Flyers (in Route 76). -$5 million: Redesigning of Wild Thing's turnaound by Chance, new ride computer, and new brakes to allow it to run without strong braking. -Remaining $2 million: General improvements.

Granted, but you now have to starve to make it happen. I wish for perfect weather.

Granted, but you still don't make the team. I wish for all roller coasters to be smooth.

Looking like winter again at the construction site. They took away that tarp that was over the slide tower concrete, and it looks like they're doing something new at the splash pad spot. Only 100 days left until Valleyfair opens.

7/10 - Pretty good top 10, but you seriously like Gemini better than El Toro?

^ There doesn't seem to be a way to build a direct path to that (theoretical) area on the ground. Maybe they could relocate/get rid of the restrooms near High Roller's turnaround and build a bridge over Dinosaurs Alive, but I'm not so sure they would do that. If we do get a new coaster there, maybe we could get a new entrance plaza along with that, and they could probably create enough space for a path between the entrance and the Dinos.

Bump. I want to play, but I have no idea what the above coaster is. Could you give another hint?

-Cedar Point -Kings Island -Carowinds -Kings Dominion -Six Flags Great Adventure -Six Flags Magic Mountain -Six Flags New England -Canada's Wonderland -Holiday World -Liseberg -Busch Gardens Tampa -Busch Gardens Williamsburg Probably several more that I can't think of now. Yep, I've got lots of catching up to do.

^ From what I've heard, when Valleyfair has another waterpark expansion in a few years, they will probably be removing the Panic Falls slides to make room for it. Don't get me wrong, I like your idea, but it probably wouldn't happen for a while, that is unless they decide to do more than just replace those old slides in the coming years.

Recently saw this video from Buzzfeed called Terrifying Facts About Theme Parks, and the comments are reaching the height of stupidity... -I went on this wooden roller coaster one day with my brother. When we were on it, it was making weird sounds.. I was scared! Right when we got off the ride and other people got on, there was a loud bang. It was louder then lighting. My brother and I saw flames and the coaster car falling off the hill. Most people were killed instantly others died a week later. My family and I never go to theme parks anymore -My mom told me the story about how she saw a kid get his face split open by barbed gates by the swing ride. To this day they removed them but it still freaks me out. -Everytime my mom went to six flags someone died and she went to six flags 5 times. SUPER SCARY -my dad works at a theme park where he saw a woman go on a ride 7 times and she kept looking out and fell, her head was nearly detached from her body...she died -one of my friends when i was at vally fair in MN he said the wild thing a couple years back like fell of the tracks at the very top of the ride i was afraid of heights after that o_o