ariznglori

It looks like the paths over by Camp Snoopy are getting torn up by construction equipment. Is that how far back the slide towers will be?

I was imagining something along the lines of Batman as well, which is a fantastic, intense invert on a small scale. Valleyfair could justify that easily, but not a Banshee.

I'm pretty sure there's a diagram floating around somewhere that shows the lowest restriction is in the center of the park, over its tallest rides. The restriction laxes toward Route 76 and the very back of the park...I think.

I think the colors will balance out the heavy use of white and blues in the older part of the waterpark, as well as the blues of the wave pool. Expecting the splash pad to be very colorful as well.

That brown may actually be a rich red color that shows up more in bright sunlight. The colors in the concept art look like dark red, dark orange, light orange, and a pale yellow (or is it green? Not sure ).

So vibrant! The waterpark will look a lot better with color.

Wild Rails sounds like a great name for a mine train or something really tight and compact, where the track looks like a great knot. Would love to see that name on a spaghetti bowl coaster of some kind.

Totally agree. The Jokers Jinx at SFA did great fake-outs. I was stunned when they launched Steel Venom on the count every single time. Faking out on launch coasters increases the thrill substantially for free!

I would love an invert named Valkyrie, with yellow and purple track and gray supports.

Now I'm very suspicious...Hmm...

They might be getting a discount on the dive coaster because the last 3 B&Ms built were all enormous expensive record breakers (Gatekeeper, Banshee, Fury 325). Then they'd have Gatekeeper swooping over the front entrance and Centurion over the marina entrance. But there's no confirmation it's for CP. The name Centurion feels good for a front entrance to me ("Introducing Centurion, a record breaking dive coaster new at Valleyfair 2016!"). If the dive coaster is indeed for CP, I suspect that they are pushing for a new steel record breaker so fast to try to draw as many guests into the new hotel as soon as possible. They may not be able to get a new woodie or rehab Mean Streak due to the major wood coaster companies already being booked by other parks (I know, unrealistic). And I agree about the wooden coaster situation at Cedar Point, it's weird for a flagship park. But a dive coaster would be a weird addition to get for us too now that I think about it, before an invert. And how could they work it into the front entrance with Dinos blocking one side and Wild Thing blocking the other side (unless it's going to be taking a chunk of parking lot and the entrance is redone or moved)? It might be going to California's Great America instead, they are the other growth park after all. After looking at Google Maps, it's clear CGA could do a dive coaster entrance remodel in the vein of Cedar Point and Carowinds easily by removing their amphitheater. But the neighbors may complain about the noise, so I don't know.

The thing I keep coming back to with Valleyfair is that it was announced as a growth park...meaning a change in investment strategy. And the past few years of additions haven't been cheap or stupid. --$3.5 million for Dinos Alive (opening the park for educational field trips) --Route 76 relocating flats and adding a new family "coaster" along with a great ferris wheel lighting package, new catering/picnic facilities (again to handle large groups) --waterpark expansion for 8 million--the cost of a new coaster, but gives noncoaster riders a reason to come in the summer and establishes the park as a place that can keep the locals away from the Wisconsin Dells, with future development to come... They could have easily not done Dinos or Route 76 or the waterpark expansion and gotten a large coaster for the 13-15 mil instead, but the park wouldn't have been up to par for the crowds they want to have (families and large groups that will drop dollars in the park, not to mention they'd have no educational excuse to get schools there in the first place). It seems like investment is accelerating, actually...The "off years" lately are anything but. All of which keeps my big coaster dreams alive. Valleyfair is on a good trajectory overall, and its unique land limitations promise for a coaster that will be something with high thrills and a tight layout...like a dive coaster...??? Not the coaster I wanted, but I would not be upset if we got one. It would be something SFGA doesn't have.

Mid-September is too far away all of a sudden lol

Looks like they are thawing the ground for the splash pad.

Lots of big white pipes...water infrastructure for the splash pad I'm thinking

So it's structurally sound, just no acts/crowds that validate its space?

The amphitheater really takes up a lot of space, you could almost fit another Camp Snoopy there, especially if Enterprise is relocated to the empty spot where the new "stage" is. But about the amphitheater, it seems strange that a park would willingly lose a large venue that draws guests, so I have been assuming it really wasn't getting acts that drew the crowds... can anyone tell me how the amphitheater was doing prior to its current stagnation? Is the reason it closed simply code violations/structurally unsound (I saw that somewhere mentioned many many pages ago)? I know Michigan's Adventure now has a dearth of live shows, and is one of the only amusement parks without them. I don't believe we're on that route at all, but it pops into my mind when I think about Valleyfair's amphitheater. Would/should the park possibly build a new amphitheater/large show venue in the future, and if so, in what location?

I like the above plan a lot!

Could a slingshot fit in the Wild Thing turnaround? I recall seeing a height restriction map of Valleyfair somewhere in this thread long ago, and it looked like the restriction was at its lowest in the center of the park, where Wild Thing and Power Tower are, so I think it's possible to put a slingshot closer to the front of the park.

I look forward to new bathrooms. The midway bottleneck by the Wild Mouse is getting handled most likely!

A Midwest dive machine sounds awesome. 15 mil for a Cedar Point coaster might be low compared to past coaster investments (as pointed out in the Cedar Point thread), but low cost doesn't mean a bad ride, and seems to indicate that a larger amount of funds may be getting diverted for use by Cedar Fair elsewhere--whether into other projects at Cedar Point, or perhaps other parks (Canada's Wonderland most likely, or maybe even Valleyfair?).

Why not just have the path take a bridge over the service road instead of tunnel under it? You would not even need to mess with the service road height.

If they were to shut down the park beyond Renegade, where and how would you like to see the park handle replacing those attractions (a water type and mid-level coaster)? I'd like to see a new rapids (or flume...any type of tracked water ride beyond a splash boat) ride and coaster fill the place of the amphitheater. Nothing huge necessarily (unless an invert could be worked in swooping overhead, then of course sieze the opportunity!), just two rides that use the space effectively and have an interesting interaction with each other...it would be a cool complement to Wild Thing's interaction with the antique autos (would also work well with Wild Thing's turnaround getting filled by whatever). I would also like to see more trees in that area and Route 76 should such a thing ever happen, to try to bring that wooded feel from the back of the park to the front.

The flooding will have years when it is late. Last year won't be the last time it happens. It did put enough of a dent in attendance numbers to warrant discussion by Cedar Fair executives. What confuses me is why the path to the back of the park goes through a tunnel and isn't raised up above flood levels. It seems to me that there is a way to make back-of-the-park expansion work without removing Thunder Canyon and having important rides shut down. It would be cool to have a coaster back there that was accessible and could be ridden during flooding, just have it designed so the lowest parts of the ride are above the high flood levels (may need special supports or something, I dunno). It would be a completely different riding experience on flood years that would be a unique draw for Valleyfair. It's not like there aren't coasters that have the majority of their track above water. Sounds like something out of RCT but I like the idea of it.

I don't want to see Thunder Canyon go. I love river rapids rides and would love to see it brought up to its original quality-aren't there a few waterfalls that have been turned off? The dry park needs to hold onto its water rides as they help make up for the waterpark's current lack of attractions. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if it was removed and a coaster built in its spot as it seems easier than moving buildings to build a new coaster. But even that feels like a bad move because when the park does flood, your guests lose access to 3 coasters, two of which would be (hopefully) the best in the park: Renegade, Excalibur, and "awesome new invert". If the new coaster is a great ride, that closure would feel more significant and have a more negative impact. At least that's what I see happening.