Mdcastle

Friday night- a ghost town. After 11 when most of the people that were there had left, was able to reride both Renegade and Wild Thing. Saturday Night: A Mob scene and I wound up not riding anything because the lines were so long. They ran out of the necklaces and substituted a standard flashing trick-or-treat type commercial product, which aren't nearly as comfortable as the lanyards. It was kind of amusing, a couple of tween girls needed to meet their parents on the other side of Blood Creek. They asked a security guard "Can you walk through with us, and tell them not to scare us". The guard said, I can walk with you but I can tell them that. I followed at discreet distance figuring this was going to be good, and it was. Mad Mouse was running again. The line wasn't as long as you'd expect relative to the number of people, so maybe the new system is working. Hopefully the nice weather holds up, Saturday was a bit too windy for good fog, but both nights the weather was beautiful. Tried the "Sizzling Burger" from one of the food trucks. It wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be, but maybe I just don't like Sriracha sauce (I had never tried it before)

I'm assuming they'll turn the water torture back up next summer. As fun as it is to watch people get it, most have enough common sense not to get wet on an October night so a lot more people (including me) would make use of it.

^^^ That was it then. I didn't see the third train sitting there so I assumed they were running it. And it was almost a walk-on late at night so I didn't see operations for a long time Lines for Renegade were absolutely nuts even with two trains (extending back well into the switchback queue), earlier in the night. Later I cam back around 11 and they had tapered down to merely long "typical" so I rode it. Power tower was long all night (was only running 1 tower, at least when I rode it Friday). Think I may have seen Captain Unknown if he was working there. Corkscrew was outrageous when I first got there- running 1 train and took 4 ride cycle to get one, but I rode it since I missed it Friday. Steel Venom was closed and didn't check High Roller. Extreme Swing was long but not outrageous early in the night, almost a Walk-on after people seemed to desert the park en-masse around 10:30. And yes, I had the same reaction "What the .... are you doing taking a necklace into the mazes". It wasn't a lot (but then again I didn't stand in line for any of the mazes so it was just the people I saw walking past). Three teenage girls, and two ten-year olds together with ther family. I guess Hanlon's Razor- never explain by malice what can be explained by incompetence" applies, I think they were just being stupid or forgetful rather than wanting to mess with the monsters (and probably ruining the experience for the people next to them) Like I said it would be a good thing to clarify the policy, maybe something they didn't really think of their first year. WOF has it listed in the FAQ on their web site. They could just have a "Not Valid in Asylum, Zombie High... etc" on the signs where they sell them, or have the hosts say something like "you're silly necklace will not save you here, enter if you still dare" (or maybe the hosts did, I wasn't close enough to hear.)

Power Tower had long long all night tonight, even after the huge crowds dispersed after 10:00 or so, so I didn't ride it again, but Wild Thing was running three trains and had very little wait. The "No Boo" necklaces had enough battery to last most of two nights (I shut it off if I was in long lines). If you buy replacement batteries at a local store (they take six AG13 watch batteries) they cost more than the necklace, but I found you can order them online for $2 for a 10 pack. I observed some monsters be polite and friendly to people wearing "immunity idols", some trash talking them, but most were simply ignored. I saw about a half dozen people in line for the mazes with them, so I don't know if they didn't turn them off or pocket them, or if they were trying to get through the mazes with immunity. Worlds of Fun makes it clear they aren't valid in the mazes, so I would suggest Valleyfair also make it clear. Riptide was running sans water, and Steel Venom was down.

Was a nice night to be out, rode power tower twice, fun to see all the fog an around.

So: If people show up they'll figure they're doing perfectly OK without a new coaster If people don't show up they'll figure there's no justification for building a new coaster.

I'll probably be there Friday and/or Saturday night. Crowds were not bad last Saturday.

I guess your sarcasm detector is turned off. I appreciate them. The poster above me obviously does not.

They need to get some decent slides as opposed to the little kid baby slides that were put in last year.

As much as people say "Valleyfair sucks", I don't disagree, at least in certain regards (waterpark, coasters, etc), but bottom line is I'm renewing my pass for next year. It's better than sitting on my deck or driving to Six Flags all the time.

I bought one when I was there on Saturday night. Are people using them in the mazes (I didn't happen to see any people waiting in the lines with them), or just walking around the park? Are they even be allowed in the mazes? The designated mazes and maybe even the outdoor scarezones I can see how they'd be annoying to workers and other guests, especially if you're near a group that wants the "interaction", but It was nice to be able to walk from Wild Thing to Renegade without constantly looking over my shoulder.

Buy a "No Boo Necklace" and walk around wherever. Although you don't need to go through a haunt zone if you go the long way around by Wild Thing instead of by High Roller and Corkscrew

Suppose they thought the permit was about to be approved so they waited, but then found out that it got delayed again so they weren't able to announce it?

Maybe I'll go see Chateau this year if the actors aren't jumping. Of course with my luck.

Apparently the dozen or so people behind such investments with years inside the industry and heavy park management experience seem to differ. It's not like the people behind the scenes who've run the park for years don't know what the park needs. Every park has things it needs to approve upon, and will be dealt with eventually. This isn't RCT3, everything can only be done one step at a time. Getting a little passive aggressive, aren't we? Has a corporation never made a mistake? Or maybe there really have been long lines of people saying that they'll never come back unless the park gets a Larson Flyers. New Coke was made by people with years inside the industry. So was the Arch Deluxe. If they're saving money to build a parking lot maybe anouncing a "meh" flat was the best they could do. For what it costs they certainly can't fix the things that the public perceives are actual problems with the park, but your insulting tone wasn't necessary.

I've ridden flyers before. It's not that they're a bad ride. It's that there's so many things Valleyfair needs more than a decent flat.

As far as social media, I can understand the negativity. Of all the problems the park has, not having a stunt show and and not having an OK flat ride in an empty patch of grass aren't even close to the top. I think people aren't seeing this in the context of the parking lot plan that's still presumably in the works and would take up most of the funding if approved. You don't announce replacing a coaster with a parking lot as an attraction, so they had to find something else cheap in addition. It might even take most of the summer if they do the grading since they're not going to want to pay overtime and you can't move earth in the winter, so the parking lot might not even be done next operating season.

Where would they put Vortex?

A Larson Flyers would be worth a couple of hundred posts.

I'm wondering if this is "Plan B" that was thrown together at the last moment since the grading permit was either denied or hasn't been approved yet. But it's pretty obvious something is going to go there. If they wanted to knock it down and put grass in would have made sense to do it last year when they had the demolition equipment on site. Likely Cedar Fair doesn't want to pay to knock down a building unless there's a real reason to, other than "we're not using it".

...

Because of your second sentence: "I"m not sure where they would put it". And revise the next sentence to read: "It's certainly not possible to find a space." They can't build a coaster in back until when and if they get the permit. The Dinos aren't leaving next year so they can't built it in front. There's empty spaces here and there, and lame rides here and there, but nowhere even close to big enough to put a coaster unless another Mad Mouse counts.

You basically just threw out every possibility for new additions. They could get Larson Flyers, they could get a Frisbee, it could be a different flat ride, they could get a water park expansion, etc... Of course your "sources"/you will be right to some extent. ^Anybody who follows the industry and looks at what Cedar Fair has been doing with their parks could guess that... I'm really surprised something hasn't leaked yet. In the past we have always had somebody come out of the woodwork and basically nail exactly what we are getting right before it is announced. Not the guessing game as mentioned above... Does that mean it's already been leaked last June and we're getting a parking lot?

Can they finally fix that waterfall then?

I don't think so. I think management is well aware of what needs attention at Valleyfair, and what doesn't. Who's ever said "boy, this park sure has a lousy collection of flat rides". And management probably isn't thinking "We'd better get a Larson Flyers or people are going to stop coming. But then again Route 76 wasn't correcting an obvious problem and came out of nowhere, so who knows.