Mdcastle

I think "Our New Waterpark Express Entrance" is going to be enough of something to promote, in one year, considering that some years they've had nothing, and what a massive pain it is to haul your towel, sunscreen, and swimming suit all the way from the front entrance now. If they must have some ride to promote they could drop a cheap flat someplace (will we see Enterprise again?) and not have a budget-busting waterpark expansion on top of a budget busting parking lot expansion in the same year. As for staging, the only thing I can see is maybe delaying the paving of the parking lot and the new gate structure and walkway for a year Basically you want to avoid moving dirt on and off a site if at all possible. What needs to happen is 1) Moving dirt from the wetland mitigation areas to fill part of the swamp, and 2) Moving dirt from the park road berm to fill the rest of it. It doesn't make sense to pay to have dirt brought in to fill the old swamp, then pay to have it brought out to dig out the new swamp so you want to do all the earthmoving at once so you can move it from one place to another rather than on or off site. My guess is they will close down and raze Excalibur around August, and possibly close Thunder Canyon for the season too, then wait till the park closes during the week where they can start digging out the new swamp and moving it across to the old swamp without disrupting operations.

I'm willing to say that if the parking lot goes through, we're not getting a Giant Frisbee, We're not getting a B&M invert, we're not getting a Soak City expansion. We're getting the parking lot. That's it. Even if we get some of Wildwater Kingdom's toys (which coincidentally line up with some of the major gaps Valleyfair has) for free putting in pipes and pavement for them would cost money. The new parking lot is an absolutely massive undertaking, probably one of the largest capital investments in the park. It's not moving a few piles of dirt around with a Bobcat.

Riptide: 1) The former general manager really liked water rides. He's gone 2) Maintenance issues keep coming up and other parks have removed there's. 3) The thrills and extra capacity of the new Soak City slides has depreciated the popularity of "get wet in your street clothes" rides in general. As for a new roller coaster next year, no one has heard if the parking lot is approved and if it is it's going to takes too much money to have a coaster the same year. Dinos is still under contract and isn't going anywhere. I'll believe a new coaster is possible when someone suggests where they could realistically put one. My guess would be Soak City gets one or more of the Wildwater Kingdom castoffs.

Frazier removed the sign as a business decision, but he liked it personally so he kept it around. Likely the new manager will eventually clean up the lot and send it to the recycler.

Do the different restrooms have different reputations with park services?

So how does a season FastPass work? You stop and get a wristband every time?

If and when the wetlands permit goes through things will change, but my thoughts 1) Drop the family raft slide (unless you're talking something visually stunning like a Tornado, the existing one isn't bad) For 2018 (It's too late for 2017) try to grab the mat racer, body/tube slide tower, and family play area from Wildwater Kingdom. All three are available, and things Valleyfair needs and could probably fit. Once we have our waterpark essentials down we can think about upgrades a few years later, like a tornado (visually stunning) or a flowrider, which is staff intensive but a huge crowd pleaser in almost no space. 2) There's no room for a major new coaster until A) Dino's leave, or B) The permit is approved. 3) I"m not sure another major Planet Snoopy expansion is needed, but I can see a ride or two swapped to keep it fresh

Speaking of shade, did they really have to remove every last tree in the area?

Stuff that left with a big announcement and going away celebration: Enterprise Stuff they just demolished in the off-season: Chaos Antique Autos Imax HydroBlaster Haunt struck me as kind of an off year as far as decoration and staffing. I did go through Chateau because I had been through in the lights on tour and knew the general layout and where the monsters might hide, and Beserkers where everyone went through as a group.

So they group people together for Beserkers? It does seem like there's some limitations to permemant haunt structures. You need space for them, you want them spread out,and relatively inconspicuous the rest of the year. One idea I had was a large permanent building where Beserkers / London Terror is that would house both Beserkers and Asylum. Hellside would move back to replace Humane Habitat. The old Tilt-A-Whirl spot and Soak City could have temporary indoor structures.

OK, It's never been explained that concisely before. Do we have an speculation where Asylum would have been / will be built?

CarnEvil seems OK as a scare zone I haven't seen Asylum as a scare zone. Did we ever get a straight answer whey they were kicked out apparently just to run the bumper cars? I never saw London Terror. Carnage was no great loss Trails end providers a good spot for the sliders and for people watching. I like to sit well out of the way with my immunity necklace and watch the fun. I did see Chateau during the "lights on, vampires are sleeping" daytime tours. It was awesome even then. Do they ship props around once a maze closes, like could we get Nevermore or something?

If that's true I'd be really interested in seeing it this year.

So Bumper Cars is too important to shut down for the haunt, but unimportant enough to be replaced with a a dark ride?

Challenge Park used to be completely separate from the rest of the park. Steel Venom is when they made the connection. There was a restroom building smack in the middle of what is now the path to Route 76, and Enterprises entrance was just to the right, next to the present exit. (And don't get me started about how much I liked Climbing Castle where the train station is now.

When they started the dead-end down to what is now Route 76 they built if over the old entrance path to Enterprise, that's why the weird layout.

If the "Bumper Cars with a Zombie" thing is going to happen I assume the measuring that was done earlier this year was to order or fabricate some Halloween props.

So they decided not to recreate the London Terror theme. Are they building another temporary structure at the same location with a different theme. Also, I saw on the site that "No Boo" necklaces will be back. I know most people here disagree with me on them, but this year at least they made it clear that they're not to be used in mazes, something I saw happening last year. Other park chains that tried the concept out already made that clear.

What does London Terror burning down have to do with future haunt structures?

Someone had a random idea they thought was cool, or are they trying to keep more rides open to reduce lines elsewhere? I still think Asylum would be a good candidate for a permanent haunt structure, because you can do a lot with the facade, it's one of the classic horror themes

Any ideas why they put Asylum outside?

Since you've been there, three of the major additions (Route 76, Planet Snoopy, and Dino's Alive) have been mild family oriented things. Fourth, the extreme thrill addition, is the slides in the waterpark. As in good by any standards, not just by Valleyfair standards. If you get there at opening, I'd suggest making a bee-line for Steel Venom, then get all the way across the park to Extreme Swing or Mad Mouse and then Renegade before lines build too much there. From then on there's no particular order. Steel Venom has long lines on even moderate days because it has very low capacity. Mad Mouse attracts a lot of families that won't ride other stuff and also has low capacity. Not too much as far as unique food, I'm more into traditional American food like burgers and Cheese curds, Northwoods Grill is my favorite for that.

I assumed you were serious too, and started rolling my eyes thinking "what does this person think he knows about theme park operations, and where can you put three new coasters when there's not even room for one". Maybe best not to use sarcasm on an internet forum, especially without an /s tag.

Once concept for how the GL slide tower, tornado and family play area (as well as a mat racer) could fit (as well as a flowrider, yeah right). They just open that stupid gate for a new main entrance and Looping Starship is moved somewhere else or sacrificed to Poseidon. In another scenario the tornado is squeezed between the slides and the existing raft ride, requiring relocation of the restrooms, where it's probably about time to rebuild them anyway, leaving Starship alone.

Hmm Modern body / tube slide tower Decent family play area A marquee ride Those are exactly three of the four pieces Valleyfar needs to have a good as opposed to poor waterpark (upgraded from "terrible" with the new slides and "joke" with the new wave pool.) The other being a mat racer.