garyman6

I was there last Thursday and noticed a small circular form for concrete being constructed in the middle of wild things turn around. My guess is it's just a pad to set a Haunt decoration on!

Could this be hinting at a possible rmc T-Rex? I mean they could of use any picture of dinos, yet they use a picture of only a t-Rex Cant open this, can you create a link?

^^^^

A SUPER LOOP is NOT a coaster. Nuf said!

I was just going to mention that too. Cedar Fair likes naming new rides at Valleyfair after Minnesota people, things or items. Polaris, the company, is based in Minnesota. I wonder if it's even possible that Cedar Fair and Polaris have some kind of marketing deal! Now, during the season, we look for signs of "something" happening both in the front of the park and in the back of the park.

Of Course we would. There are all kinds of examples where the two coexist! Plus, the mall can be way too busy much of the time. I took my daughter to Nick U. last month. We paid for all-day wrist bands and rode a total of 3 rides! Every line was 45 min wait min. And as much as I'd love to see a big coaster put up there, unless they can figure out a way to have the station inside Nick U and the track leaving the mall, I don't see that as being a viable option. Cedar Fair has shown itself to not back down from competition. If anything, maybe it will make them re-evaluate their plans for Valleyfair and increase the investment. I mean from a tourist perspective or a theme park enthusiast perspective, what could be better then having two great destinations within 20 min of each other. Honestly, I think Valleyfair should partner up with MOA and offer shuttle buses from the Mall to Valleyfair! No car rental or Lyft needed.

New Park Map is Out! Looks like the construction work by corkscrew is the new Superior Stage for the Peanuts Celebration!

Could have something to do with the new Peanuts Celebration in June! Those lines look like some kind of heated water tube to thaw out the ground for digging.

I heard that too but probably from the same source. I'm not really understanding why though. If they can keep woodies going for centuries, why can't they keep a steel coaster, which is located inside and out of the elements, going for longer then 27 years? Even running year around. Corkscrew at VF is over 30 years and no plans to remove it. Maybe just get new trains for it! Or maybe they are going to "end" the current version of it. Do a complete refurb. on it, re-theme it and re-open it with a different name. If they do remove it, I hope they replace it with a similar layout but more thrilling!

Maybe now's the time for Cedar Fair to get a deal with B&M!! Seems like in the past Cedar Fair has usually installed two B&M's in a row because they got a discount for purchasing two at a time. Or maybe they could do that with Intamin or Mack. It will be interesting to see what they do. I'm not sure Cedar Fair was planning on removing Volcano right now and that was one of KD's most popular rides. Big hit for them. That would be like losing Wild Thing or Renegade at VF. Anybody think Cedar Fair might go above their capital expenditure goal this next year to more quickly make up the loss at KD? I sure hope any plans for Valleyfair aren't setting set back again due to Volcano closing. I guess we will see!

Happy New Year Everyone!.....................I hope I wasn't sounding too excited for 2019 and what it may hold for us. Some that read this thread don't like it when enthusiasm is expressed about the future. Ahem!

You understand that malls lease space to other businesses right? "The mall" is not adding most of these things, the businesses that are leasing space from them are and the investments they make in new space are offset by the companies that end up leasing that new space. Triple 5 DOES operate the amusement park but it's also a pay-per-ride park so adding new rides directly leads to measurable returns. Plus I would argue that Valleyfair is right on par with the mall in terms of new attractions in the decade since they re-branded the park. Delirious, Northern Lights, tons of new slides, antique cars and a 230 foot starflyer are at least comparable with a Chance revolution, upcharge ropes course, a Sky Fly and a Unicoaster. It's not like Nickelodeon Universe has been breaking the bank on new additions over the last decade while Valleyfair has sat around doing nothing. They're pretty much on the same level and that's probably because they've pretty much cornered the market. You completely missed my point! I am fully aware and understand how malls work! Of the above list, only rides with in Nick U. are NOT being added by the mall itself. Everything else Is a "Mall" addition. MOA decides who leases with them and who does not. Have you ever seen promotional videos of MOA? They are promoting MOA as being the sum total of everything that the mall has to offer even if they don't own it or run it. The mall gets a percentage of profits on top of rent money for the space so even if Nick U. want's to add another attraction, you bet the mall is going to be all for it because ultimately it will bring in new revenue for the mall itself. So, for example, why is there a new hotel being built at Carowinds on property owned by Cedar? The hotel will be run by an independent company and the hotel operator can decide what amenities or added income sources it would like. Cedar Fair wont profit from that! But Cedar Fair will get lease money for the land, it may get a percentage of profits if that was part of the deal but mostly Cedar Fair and Carowinds will see increased income from guests coming back for a second or third day! Yes, there are other hotels around but none that will have the level of convenience that would come from a hotel on site. When Triple 5 announced this year that they were close to having a deal with the city to build a new 250,000 square foot indoor water park, hotel and parking complex they also predicted, I believe, that nearly one million people per year would visit that water park. This is "new" guests over and above the 40 million that pass through the doors of MOA every year. They said they have wanted to do this addition for many years and now is the time. Why is that? The mall is doing great! It's because MOA is a destination point and with a new super mega mall in New Jersey set to open next year, also operated by Triple 5, they want MOA to remain a destination point. Nick U and Valleyfair have been adding attractions at a comparable rate. I personally really like what Valleyfair has been doing. But what they are doing is improving the over all experience of the park. Non of what they have done has seen a surge in attendance because of it. I'm sure if Nick U had the space they would add some pretty major attractions. With 40 million visitors per year passing through MOA, they know it would pay off. And BTW, Nick U is only partially pay per ride, you can get all day wrist bands too! My whole point in this discussion is sometimes you have to go big to get that huge surge in attendance. I believe Valleyfair has been preparing for this and the "huge" is coming soon. MOA is going huge with adding a massive water park. To adventureland down in Iowa, their "huge" was Monster and now a second coaster in 3 years.

Based on? Attendance has been fine throughout that 13 year drought that you mentioned but in year 14 people are finally going to get fed up? Come on... Right... I didn't say it was going to drop in year 14 but I still stand by what I said. Look at the Mall of America. Why do you think they are constantly adding, adding, adding? New rides, new attractions, new stores, new kiosks, new restaurants, new hotels, new water park! etc., etc., etc! It's because they know that adding or changing keeps crowds coming back! If Valleyfair just built their park, opened it in 1976 but never added another ride or attraction do you think it would still be in operation? Of course not! People would have gotten bored with it and stopped going. When Valleyfair built Wild Thing guess what happened? They topped one million visitors for the first time ever! Gee, I wonder why? I'll admit that Water Park additions do attract more people, primarily families which is great but you have to have a balance. I bet the addition of Delirious didn't see a boost in attendance. Since Cedar Fair does not release attendance figures for each park I cant say for sure but I sure didn't see big lines for it whenever I was there. A nice addition for sure but not one that's going to bring in local crowds. Look what Cedar Fair is doing with Carowinds? They are seeing HUGE jumps in attendance, according to CF. Valleyfair has a larger population base to draw from then Carowinds does. Cedar Fair knows this because that data came from them. I still believe CF will follow through with their commitment to give Valleyfair a Carowinds style treatment in the future. All I'm saying is that they really need to think about doing it soon.

It's a small park that's almost 250 miles from Valleyfair. No they don't. Umm, I have to both agree and disagree. Valleyfair needs a boatload of new additions to get to where they should be but I agree with the waterpark addition. Valleyfair will have to make some additions to compete with MOA. They need to add attractions that you just cant really do indoors. But I disagree about answering Adventureland. Adventureland went 20 years between new coasters. In 2016 they build Monster. Now just 3 seasons later in 2019 they are adding another coaster. I can almost guarantee you they saw a huge increase in attendance from Monster. Gee, add something people want to ride and attendance increases. So what do they do? Add another one! It will be at least 13 years before a new coaster for Valleyfair. That's assuming they get one in 2020 which is a BIG IF????? Are people from the twin cities going to start flocking to Iowa to get their coaster fix? No! But if Valleyfair doesn't start doing something Big time soon attendance is going to drop. Yes, a water park addition will increase attendance from families but a big coaster addition or two would also see a big boost in attendance from every other demographic. That's why they really need both plus maybe a few more major flat rides! Ugh, where to begin?!?!

I just cast my vote for Delirious. Not that I think it's the best new attraction but anything that can bring Valleyfair some mention in the media is great. I rode Time Traveler last summer and it was fantastic!! Super fun to ride and very re-ride able. On another note, Adventureland in Iowa is getting another new coaster! Its a Maurer spinning coaster that looks totally fun! Not massive but a great addition for them. Valleyfair needs to answer soon!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all have a great day!

Yep. I had a really good role to scare in so it was pretty consistent. It does happen. I scared one guy so bad he went down! His wife was laughing hysterically and said she just peed her pants! Had another girl curl up into a ball crying uncontrollably. Her friends had to come and drag her away! Ahhh...good times!

So does anyone think that Valleyfair may get a winterfest? I wondering if they were hinting at it during the Scaries awards during the opening act! Canada's Wonderland is starting winterfest next year so it's not out of the question for other northern parks like Valleyfair or Cedar Point. The only thing with Cedar Point is that they aren't really close to a major metro area, its a destination park. Would people come to Cedar Point if they held a winterfest?

That's a wrap for the season! I had a blast working in Dark Harvest during Haunt! I will definitely try to come back next year and do it again. I want to give a big shout out to valleyfairfanatic for winning best monster award in his area of expertise. Congrats bro! You were awesome and very deserving! It was pretty cool though how you brought up your mentors and publicly praised them. Very classy!! Everyone did an outstanding job this year! I have to say, I really have a new appreciation for Haunt actors and talent! It is a very demanding job physically and mentally. I was wiped out each night. MEA weekend was brutal by the end of Saturday. It's easy to get discouraged when you get those guests that are like "whatever, this is so stupid". I do have to say that I made more than a few of them jump anyway! But it's when you get those guests, which is the vast majority of them, that are there to have a great time and really get into it. Boy did that fire me up! I determined early in the season that the "perfect" scare was when a guest ended up on the ground! I had probably a couple dozen of them! I literally had to turn around and laugh out loud. Does anybody have any funny stories from Haunt? I'd love to hear them!

I'm in Dark Harvest. What about you?

I was working as a scare monster when the park was evacuated. First, Dark Harvest is back in the same location with a different maze and some added extra. So far we have a fully staffed crew ready to scare you. The emergency lights came on around 10:15. About 15 min later after we evacuated Dark Harvest the announcement came that the park was closed. We were not told why officially but what we heard was mostly true about up to 100 kids running around starting fights then hiding when police showed up. Apparently they were jumping fences most likely putting everyone plus themselves in danger. No one that I talked to said there was any weapons despite the rumors that there were. I'm sure it was treated as though there were weapons. Getting out of the park was pretty crazy! I was diverted from 101 cause it was closed to traffic except what was coming out of the park. The atmosphere with all the scare actors was awesome! Everyone was super excited to get started. Come to haunt this year, its gonna be great.

Last Thursday Sep 6th, 2018 I was walking from the employee parking lot headed for ValleyScare orientation. I snapped this photo of some work going on by Renegade. There was some earth moving equipment doing something heavy over there. I attached a map of the area and circled the area where work was going on. Is it possible that work has begun on the new berm and flood mitigation. This is right where the employee access road would be. Anybody know anything else about this. I'll be back at the park this coming Thursday. I'll report back anything I see.

O.K. so I sent an e-mail to Valleyfair asking when an announcement for 2019 will be made. This was the response I got back today. Hello William – Thanks for reaching out to us. As for right now, we have no announcements for 2019. Thanks, Kelsey Bailey | Manager of PR & Communications Valleyfair Amusement Park So that doesn't mean there wont be! It could be they just aren't ready to reveal it yet!

I was at the park yesterday and the holding brakes were still not fixed. On another note: Six Flags announced their new attractions for 2019. Pretty impressive line up with three new coasters and three new giant Zamperla revolutions! Plus some other pretty great attractions. Does anyone know when Cedar Fair will make announcements for Valleyfair? I know its usually after the state fair but I believe they announced last year during the state fair. It's been pretty quiet on the rumor mill but that doesn't necessarily mean anything either.