garyman6

Minnesotan's are a different kind of breed. They will show up if they feel it is worth their time and money. I am fully aware of all the arguments about how Valleyfair is viewed in the eye's of Cedar Fair. But you need to remember, Cedar Fair has a new sheriff in town with Matt Oiumet and I believe he sees the potential for VF. Why would he have made VF one of three major growth parks if he didn't? I mentioned our state fair. The reason it's so popular is that it has a lot to offer. There are many other states with a much higher population but the Minnesota state fair is second only to Texas in attendance and not by much. I really believe that if Cedar Fair puts some major investment in VF the attendance numbers will explode. Another example is MOA. Do you know that 40 million people enter that mall every year. The vast majority are locals! It's because its worth the time and money to go there. Another example is that Minnesota has the highest per capita of golfers in the nation. Why?, cause after a long winter people want to get out of the house and do things. Bottom line is this. If Cedar Fair had been investing in VF like many of it's other parks, we would be seeing the 1.5 to 2.5 million visitor mark like the other major parks in the chain. O.K. on to more important topics. Is today the day for our announcement? Let's hope so!

Valleyfair has the longest history with Cedar Fair. It was their first park purchase after decided to expand. The name Cedar Fair comes from Cedar Point and Valleyfair I believe that Cedar Fair is finally seeing the market potential here and has decided it's time to tap into that market. We have the same market size as Canada's Wonderland. Our state fair just ended it's 12 day run and topped 1.8 million visitors. That is second in the nation only to Texas whick I believe attracts about 2 million visitors during its run. And don't say it won't work here cause it's in a northern climate. That's a very poor answer cause 3 out of 4 of Cedar Fairs most attented parks are in similar climates and with very similar operating seasons. Knott's Berry Farm is the only park that operates year around. So next time you want to make a rude statement, why don't you base it on facts and not just because its Valleyfair! Thank you very much!!!!

I'm going to go out on a limb here. No hint this time just an observation. Tony Clark from CP on a twitter posting had a list of "To Do" items. Number 3 was "relocate" Mantis. It didn't say convert, dismantle or anything else. I'm totally just thowing this out there. What if Cedar Fair is going to relocate Mantis to Valleyfair? Maybe even convert it to a floorless? This would be in addition to the water park makeover that we all pretty much know is coming. Think of it, Mantis is already paid for. It would only be the cost of shipping and reassembling it at Valleyfair. This could be done fairly cheap. Then we could still get a brand new coaster for 2016! Two coaster in two years! how sweet would that be? I've ridden on Mantis and though it was a pretty fun ride! What does everyone else thinK?

Well, I have to say I am officially impressed! Everyone worked together and solved the 5 word phrase. It is Kings Island Banshee Roller Coaster! The second part though has not been solved. What else of importance happened that day? Go back to my other two hints and that may help you. This may help, the thing that happened is part of the rumor. I have to clarify something though. I do not have official knowledge of any new attraction. What I am hinting about comes from a reliable source of which I can't reveal. Also, the rumors I am hinting about have been backed up with known knowledge that we have all been talking about as well as knowledge that my source has been telling me. Having said that we all know that literally in just 17 days or less we will know what is coming next year. I am predicting a major waterpark makeover complete with new name. I am making the prediction based on all of your input as well as what I have learned while talking with Mr. Frazier. I am also predicting a major attraction for 2016 based on the fact that Cedar Fair has named Valleyfair as a major growth park! I wouldn't be surprised to see a major attraction for 2017 either.

O.K. another hint. Something important happened on the day that (direerconkbshiaglslolstsenenara) opened. What was it? and what else happened? You need to unscramble the letters to form 5 words. Good Luck!

Yep, they are! Pretty Cheesy! And all their "village" buildings made you feel like the village idiot for staying there. All white with blue strips? They looked like prison barracks!

Well, I'm back from the Dells and Mt. Olympus. There were many posts of which I could reply to but I'll just give my report. I decided to book our vaca at the Olympus village, BAD IDEA! My wife cried when she saw the room! The buildings resemble a prison compound and the room was horrible. I called the Wilderness resort and out of over a thousand rooms they had one available, we quickly took it! If you haven't stayed at the Wilderness resort you should, it's a gem! I went on their looping trap door drop slide and it was AMAZING! Anyway the only good thing about Mt. Olympus was that they refunded the entire amount for our 4 nights which I thought was a nice gesture. Park tickets were only 15 and another 15 for parking. Normal price was 45, WAY TOO MUCH! We went on Hades 360 first thing. We loved the ride although it was quite rough especially the first part. The new addition was still very smooth and we loved the underground. Completely pitch black and wild as all get out! Sitting in the back row didn't help the ride to be any smoother. Someone had mentioned poor maintenance on their rides, I totally agree! The coaster only has one train and they only had two operators making for a painfully slow line. All the ride dummies were sitting in the station area and the whole thing was just messy. To make matters worse I asked one operator if he had ridden Hades and in his broken English said "NO" he wouldn't go on it. Didn't exactly make me feel good! We also went on Zeus, again pretty rough. One nice thing is they don't seem to know what trim brakes are, didn't see even one on either coaster. As for the rest of the park, eh is all I can say. Poseidon's rage was a blast, absolutely the best wave pool ever. The waves really were 9 feet. It looked very intimidating when it was coming at you. All you could do was let it throw you around and then get up and wait for the next one. This park is no comparison to Valleyfair. Valleyfair is a real gem and going to Mt. Olympus made me appreciate our home park even more. Mt. Olympus is poorly laid out, poorly maintained and has poor service. Very few life guards on duty. Poseidon's rage had maybe 4 and the other wave pool only 2. Even the go carts were a disappointment. You can't even ride up into the Trojan Horse anymore! While we had fun there we left after about 6 hours and don't have plans to return. When I mentioned Hades 360 I had no intension of hinting about an inverted woodie for VF, sorry to mislead anyone. Some asked if I was suggesting a multi year major expansion. Yes! That's according to Cedar Fair, no me! I'm convinced that we will see a major expansion for at least the next two to three years. I'll be posting another hint very soon. I'm also excited to see all the new Haunt attractions coming this year.

Hey everyone, just thought I'd put this out there. I just renewed my season pass for 2015. I would suggest you do the same. I'm guessing that when they announce the 2014 expansion and possibly a multi year plan, such as they did at Carowinds, that the ticket prices and season pass prices will go up. Right now they are $72 or 9 bucks a month. You really can't beat the price! Get it while the gettin is good!

Who has been on Hades 360 at Mt. Olympus? I'm headed there this weekend and I can't wait to ride it. No really, I am going, that's not a hint or riddle! It's always fun to survey an area and find out what is there!

Where did you find this!?!?!?!!? This is the Dinosaurs alive path! Are you saying that they are going to use this as a new haunt attraction? I could see the potential but I see it getting out of hand and security not being able to keep people on the pathway's. By the way, did everyone miss my last riddle contained in my last post? Go back and look!

I can confirm what "ACE" said on page 211. Mr. Frazier also told me he does not want to loose any coasters. But that was back in May. Now he is saying rides in general. That doesn't mean they cant move a ride but it does sound like CS and Excalibur are staying put. I actually think Excalibur is a fun ride but it could use some themeing and updating to make it more attractive. I can also assure everyone that I am not pulling the steel wool over the bull! Now keep in mind that it is still a rumor. But with all the facts that I have learned about the rumor, it doesn't seem likely to be "just" a rumor.

You are absolutely killing me, Gary! I totally get why you can't reveal much, though. This riddle is going to kill me even more. Obviously, the first things to come to mind are rain showers and Easter eggs. I'm so bad at this kind of thing. Ideas, anyone? HaHa! Believe me, I wish I could say something but out of respect for my source I just can't right now.

O.K. I spoke with my source today to get an update on 2016. I hate to disappoint but I can't reveal anything new at this point. However, keep checking back as this message may change. So, I leave you with this. If January brough us "Snow and Cold" and Feburary brought us "Love In The Air" and March brought us "The Luck of The Irish", then what did April bring? Hmmmm? Have fun with this one!

Yes, Is there a time frame you can tell us or at least hint about it? The suspense is killing me! A while back, garyman6 did hint at the secret a little bit: I remember one user was saying that he desperately wants VF's 2016 addition to be a roller coaster, and garyman6 said that the rumor he knows about should make him happy, so this leads me to believe that it is a coaster rumor, although I could be wrong. Let me check with my source! Until then..........

Check out this video of my friend Jeff yesterday on Excalibur. I can't stop laughing at it! Let's make this video go viral!

That is very interesting! It does make you wonder what they have in mind. On another note, today I was at the park all day and I met a family that drove 8 hours from Winnepeg, Canada just to go to Valleyfair! To me that was encouraging because we all assume that we are only drawing visitors from at most a couple hundred miles away. If Cedar Fair realizes this, this may be why they have marked Valleyfair as a growth park! By the way, they were having a great time!

I had a short conversaion with Mr. Frazier via Txting and was able to narrow down the announcement date for next years expansion (Waterpark makeover! My prediction!). He said that it would take place after labor day but before Haunt! So breaking it down that means any day from September 2nd through September 19th is when we will hear and see the announcement for 2015. So we have to wait a little bit longer but we know a time. Of course he knows that I would be spreading that around so maybe he is trying to catch us by surprise by making an announcement sooner than that! What's everyone think?

That has been my thinking all along. Mr. Frazier was pretty proud of the new picnic point when he took me on a tour of it!

And I think Quimet will be rewarded for his vision with increased attendance and revenue by bringing VF up a notch. I like what he has done for the chain so far, it seems they picked a good leader in Quimet who has a real clue on what makes parks successful. I just want to know why Kinzel did not think is was a good idea to invest in VF. He was GM of VF from 1978-1986 before he became CEO of Cedar Fair so I wonder what soured him on investment in VF? Did he just not see the potential even after managing it for 8 years? You may be on to something there. I don't remember when but I do remember Cedar Fair trying to sell Valleyfair. Anyone know when that was? Maybe Mr. Kinzel was reacting to something that happened to him while he was here!

I really think this is a classic case of "If you build it they will come". Sound familiar? I really believe Cedar Fair see's the potential market here. Let's consider that Canada's Wonderland has the same population that they draw from as Valleyfair. That's 9 million. But CW is a much higher attended park and one reason is that they have some really cool attractions. Cedar Fair has been strengthening Valleyfair's base the last few years. Planet Snoopy, Route 76 and the new Picnic Point. That facility can seat thousands and produce 3000 meals an hour! Build the thrilling rides, Cedar Fair, we will not disappoint you with our attendance! I'm headed to the park soon and I'm trying to get a meeting set up with Mr. Frazier, I'll keep you all informed if we meet.

Have you been on Northern Lights? I know it's not an Extreme Swing but it is a very fun ride. I would like to see a giant frisbee added to the park. I hope your right about adding another thilling flat ride next year in addition to the waterpark makeover. I wouldn't mind seeing a slingshot ride like Cedar Point added this year.

What's the possibility that the demolition could include the amphitheater?

I was able to get confirmation from Mr. Frazier that Richard Zimmerman was at the park Thursday. We had heard that Matt Ouimet was going to be there. Nevertheless, Mr. Frazier gave me this statement about the visit. "We are working through budgeting issues for the 2015 capital and had a good discussion with the long term plan for VF." He went on to say that he still cannot discuss any details yet. Keep your ears and eyes open, never know what we may stumble across!

So, I was on Facebook and Coaster Crew had an update on the new project at Carowinds. There is a teaser poster with a number to call if you see anything suspicious and to watch out for something behind the fence. I called the number and found it pretty interesting. Here is the number 704-943-2802. Call it and see what it says. I hope Valleyfair does the same kind of things, it's great to build excitement!

No problem, I wish I could reveal more but lets just say the rumor I heard, and according to my source has been confirmed, will make you happy! Unfortunaly we won't hear about it officially until sometime next year. When it is safe to do so i'll certainly let everyone know what I've learned. Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair CEO, stated in the August 5th Cedar Fair financial release that all the new park addtions will be announced soon including a record breaking attraction at Carowinds. I think the next couple of years will be Valleyfairs turn! Let's keep the speculation up!