Mdcastle

Does Valleyfair sell hard liquor anywhere or just watered down beer? Wasn't there some issue with their liquor license? Seems a frozen adult beverage stand is a natural fit. The random grass patch / VIP seating area / sand volleyball court isn't big enough to do a lot with. A bar with any extra area devoted to more recliners would be about as good as any. You could keep the rope fence as the "adults only" area.

They only tried charging the second half of 2013, then dropped the idea when they got no takers. This year they ripped out all the grass and put sand down for another beach volleyball court.

I'm personally not a fan of Tornadoes, not just because I can't ride them because I'm never in a group, but also because I find similar rides boring (I imagine the Noahs' Ark Stingrays are similar). A mat slide would be an excellent choice. Since they're long and narrow they can't fit anywhere, but they have a high capacity and low staffing needs, and are something for people that want something that can either be done in a group or alone, and less thrilling than the trapdoor or speed slides.

There's really two problems I see with the way circulation is. First of all, they need a weenie in the back to spread out the visitors more; beyond Renegade it's a ghost town. A raft ride with most of the waterfalls defunct and a B-list coaster aren't enough to draw people back there. B&M Invert, WIndseeker, I don't care what, but something. Second, all the people heading to Soak City had to go through that narrow turn by the restrooms. Putting the waterpark way in back seems to be common in Cedar Fair parks, whether by choice or coincidence. Maybe they want people to walk by as many food stands as possible, but it's a pain carting your sunscreen, swimming suit, and towel all the way through the park. They could have easily built a new entrance with the wave pool so traffic wouldn't have to go 3/4 the way around Imax and through that turn by the Mouse. As far as a sit-down restaurant, first they need to deal with the issues at the ones they have. Three times I tried to buy food this season, and two of them it took over a half hour between lines and obviously understaffed food stands, and employees that showed no inclination to move a bit faster. Caribou could be expanded into the shop, or if they decide they absolutely have to have a shop selling souvenirs on each side, moved to a different location to provide a place to sit down. Maybe all the people standing behind the games that I never see anyone playing could help with food.

This I can see happening. The body slides are still fun, and they fill a niche for kids old enough to graduate from the spashpad and too small for the speed and trapdoor slides, but there's probably a better use of the overall space in the area. The one key thing still missing are tube slides. I find them kind of meh, but people like them and waterparks build them. If they wanted to cheap out they could add some tube slides where the old speed slides were and paint the old ones, or else they could just replace the whole complex with something more modern. The old bathhouse needs to be rebuilt too. Men nowadays want privacy even if they didn't in the early 1980s.

I'm not sure if the lack of waterpark investment is just conceding to Wisconsin Dells, or if there's another factor at work. I'm a bit surprised that the Mall of America has never proposed duplicating the Edmonton Waterpark (and that small "hotel waterpark" in the next phase isn't what I'm talking about.

I kind of get the area that the park in general was just overwhelmed- it took 20 minutes to buy a cheeseburger meal. Surprised that if they're going to remove the dining patio, games, and restrooms a single slide tower and a tiny kids area are all that's going in. The people that are questioning why more speed slides obviously haven't A)ridden a trapdoor slide, B)Ridden the speed slides at Noah's, which are comparible in height to the new ones C) Had a swimming suit ripped up by how rough the existing speed slides are.

Maybe "parade" is an overstatement. Around 6:30 they open up the gate to the other side by the first aid station, and all the monsters come out en masse with a drummer and carrying huge banners with the name of the haunt that they're going to. Valleyfair's monsters seem almost entirely young people, at Six Flags Great Adventure they had quite a few older people, but maybe there's a lot of aging wanna-be actors in the New York area. (like the one that ambushed my sister while she was standing around waiting for me to use the restroom and caused her to injure her ankle when she jumped). I'm 40 and I couldn't take that amount of standing and screaming, but I do think it would be fun to work Hellside for some reason.

Judging by the reviews on your blog "Skeleton Key" is and attempt to bring in some more interactive elements like the milder stuff from Blackout. I was there on Saturday and saw the start of the monster parade, and the person next to me got a good scare when one the monsters broke formation and charged at him. Wild Thing- why not 3 trains. What's the point of having 3 if they don't run them when the lines are that long?

I emailed the neon museums in Minot and Cincinnati and neither replied so I'm assuming the sign is doomed to scrap metal now.

I haven't been to any of the haunts for a few years, but favorites were Chateau, Hellside, and Asylum. Weikilleu was OK, I didn't like Bloodshed. Haven't been to London Terror or Zombies. I'm more for atmospheric horror than gore, jump scenes or people yelling boo in your ears, but there were some pretty ingenious actors towards the end of Chateau and Hellside.

I haven't been to any of the haunts for a few years, but favorites were Chateau, Hellside, and Asylum. Weikilleu was OK, I didn't like Bloodshed. Haven't been to London Terror or Zombies.

I do kind of wish they had some signal that you could use if you wanted to see the haunted areas but didn't want scareacters screaming in your ear, like a lightstick or something (that they could make a lot of money selling).

What about a Vekoma Flying Dutchman?

None of them are wearing swimming suits either...

I do like it a lot. Noah's Ark had them years ago but they were removed in favor of Black Anaconda. I'm guessing that they're out of favor because they have low capacity and require a lot of staffing.

I think the difference in reaction is this: Route 76, we weren't expecting much and got something decent. Soak City Expansion, all the rumors led us to expect something spectacular and we got something decent.

I wished for more but I'm happy with what we got. I've ridden the aqua-loops, and the trapdoor part is by far the best part of it, and that's what we go; looks similar to the complex at SFSL. The old speed slides were lame and rough and kept tearing up my swimming suits and those are being replaced; the other old slides are still fun and serviceable. I'm assuming this doesn't preclude another expansion next year or if there's a coaster next year, the year after. What's missing is slides where you ride a single or double tube down, and I personally don't find those especially exciting. Wonder if the tower is being designed so more slides could be added in a second phase, or more elements to the kiddie play area. It's going to take a lot of money to create paths, pipes, and whatnot from scratch so maybe they're laying the groundwork for something more.

I was there today and saw nothing especially interesting

I think that's the direction they're headed with the waterpark expansion. Before the wave pool the area was packed on nice days. Now that's it's about tripled in size it's still packed on nice days. I get the idea a lot of this is new traffic as opposed to diversions from existing rides. People aren't driving from North Dakota to see the new wave pool like they would a B&M invert, but it's attracting a lot of visits from locals looking for something to do on a hot day. Same with Camp Snoopy with locals looking for something to do with their kids.

Generally you can get good deals on admission to Mount Olympus late in the year; I paid $15 (but parking was another $15!). This was an off year for both Noah's and Mount Olympus. For good or bad the new owners of Noah's (Palace Enterntainment) aren't sentimental; they demolished the original waterslides that started it all in favor of a flowrider. Like Valleyfair Noah's has some gems, but also a lot of old stuff of marginal value; they could also use the same slide package that Valleyfair is getting. But I assume they're also out-of-town bean counters so it could work both ways with getting new stuff. The ark itself burning down was none of their doing but was kind of symbolic, I don't appreciate all the fences, did appreciate the conversion to all-day lockers. The surf pool and indoor waterpark are the only reasons to choose Mt Olympus rather than Noah's for wet rides, so if they built those there's be no reason to choose their competition (I can imagine Big Kahuna becoming a surf pool), the new owners probably aren't bound by any gentleman's agreement not to build the same rides.

Mount Olympus seems to be preoccupied with buying cheap motels, painting them white, and then overcharging for the rooms instead of maintaining their rides. See the Opa accident...

So is there a chance for mere mortals to talk to Dave Frazier?

Maybe I'm old, but Hades360 was the worst ride I've ever been on as far as physical discomfort. I'm glad I rode it once, but I wasn't about to go on it again. In my opinion Mount Olympus is more about the surf pool which is like nothing else around, or the elaborate go-kart tracks as opposed to coasters. Nowadays they close the indoor waterpark to the public at the same time as the outdoor one, so you can't relax your sore muscles in the hot tub at the end of the day...

Nothing but more demolition happens for next year and the new waterpark expansion is in 2016? Or it's in two phases with new slides for next year and a tipping bucket family play area for 2016? Or after the big expansion next year we get "infrastructure upgrades" with some more paving stones and flower planters for 2016?