ariznglori

I want to say the tarp thing is for the slides because it's very similar in dimensions to the covered area, but I have no idea.

There's still plenty of site activity going on even in the extreme temperatures. I wasn't expecting to see that. A nice surprise!

The artwork showed blue roofs on the tops of the slides. Wow on the progress! Can someone upload a screenshot of the webcam?

Gold Striker was supposed to be open in 2009, but construction got delayed by years for a myriad of reasons, including the new stadium and the threat of the park being sold at the time. I doubt that the investment they're supposed to get has been touched yet. But...what this also says to me is that I am worried over nothing. Valleyfair "should" get its share before CGA, since we got our GCI in 2007 and Gold Striker was supposed to be CGA's GCI two years later. The coasters were probably all planned/designed around the same time to get Cedar Fair a good deal. Of course now I'm not sure what we can expect from the investment given Cedar Fair now wants to tailor its parks to individual markets which may result in the parks being more diverse. About the only consistent thing is a big coaster/entrance combination upgrade.

I'm not sure if it will be 2016 or 2017, but when Valleyfair does get its turn, I don't think we'll be disappointed. Has anyone heard anything about what might be done to California's Great America? The biggest fear I have is that Cedar Fair may focus on them before us, as I don't think it was ever said which potential growth park would be next. They might get more focus than Valleyfair now that the stadium is there (or less if the neighbors keep complaining about the sounds of the rides and guests).

Excellent pictures, thank you! I think I can see the Ferris wheel in pics 5 and 10, looking rather spindly without its seats

Maybe they were planning on the weather being worse than it is.

If the new splash pad doesn't totally eat up the land between looping starship and the waterpark, we could possibly see mat slides in a skinny stretch along the new splash pad's edge. That's really a good chunk of land to fill.

As previously said, it would be nice to see the existing body slides replaced with colorful tube slides. That would visually give a lot of dimension and life to the older part of the waterpark. What may we see in the place of the current splash pad?

Perhaps, but once upon a time people used to say vertical drops and barrel rolls on wood coasters would never happen, now look at Six Flags turning one of their largest dueling wood coasters into one long inverting self-dueling machine like something out of RCT. These are interesting times.

Where are your turnstile tables? I'd like to see the clicks generated by Wild Thing, as you must have seen them laid out in a nice chart. I'd also like to see them next to the ride's hourly capacity. Because the ride must be drowning in guests clambering to get on. By all means, share. What I do have is a general consensus from my experience with other riders, that the coaster looks better than it feels. Short of an expensive redesign, the easiest and cheapest fix would be to replace the trains. Which Cedar Fair has demonstrated it is willing to consider for its underperforming coasters. So this is not outside of reason. The money for the trains will of course come from investment money in the scenario as I see it. We can't fit a Fury 325 at Valleyfair short of buying new land and improving berms to remove the flood risk. But we can seriously improve the hyper we do have for much less and get a killer new invert AND expand the waterpark. The waterpark is already happening, the invert cannot happen without Dinos leaving barring some major park rearrangement or heavy ingenuity. The hyper is doable while we wait for Dinos to leave. Trains are not as much as a windseeker by a long shot, or a quality dark ride. But as others have pointed out, how likely are those right now with a waterpark focus? Not saying I'm opposed to them, just trying to be pragmatic. The park is also making more off its pool of guests than other similar Cedar Fair parks, and its regional population is growing by leaps and bounds and will be double the size of the others in a decade. So no, I'm not worried about the park losing money for new attractions if it is improving the first ride guests see from the entrance that makes them say "I gotta ride it!" The signature ride cannot be a letdown; it doesn't meet expectations, and more people prefer the MOA park to Valleyfair because it exceeds expectations. Valleyfair isn't the only game in town, and it's the less favored from comparisons between the two. Improvements are necessary to minimise disappointment from new guests and to insulate future profits. Including improving existing coasters.

With the coming and continued investment by Cedar Fair, I don't see why new trains are a waste of money. Valleyfair invested ten million in Wild Thing when it was built, and it's now one of the more boring coasters in the park. With Valleyfair's limited size, every ride has to count, and while flats are more easily placed and removed, rollercoasters stay for decades. Wild Thing takes up a significant amount of room in the turnaround alone. The ride experience should justify the space used and the money spent, and it currently falls short. Trains that at least let you experience the ride at its possible best can help. Chance Morgan hypers are about speed (says so on the Chance website) and Wild Thing doesn't really feel fast when you ride in a bathtub that shields you from the chest down. In fact, in parts it feels downright slow. But according to the stats the ride is not slow. Riders are prevented from feeling the speed. Easy fix here, thankfully--Lightning Run trains, lower profile and better restraints! And made by the same company for the same track, no fuss no muss. They would be amazing on a coaster built to be fast. Just because other parks seem to be fine with old trains doesn't mean that they are. Steel Dragon switched and the ride experience improved. Why can't Valleyfair be the innovator in the USA and do something different? And I don't see how improving the attractions you have will prevent great future development. The next two years are going to be waterpark improvements anyway from what has been gathered, so why not improve Wild Thing so the dry park has something too? The trains will not steal a potential new coaster out of the investment budget, that's absurd. They're spending how much this year on waterslides--several million (I think 8)? And regarding Vortex conversions, I am aware of that. But if successful, they will start changing trains on other kinds of coasters to keep them palatable (think discount coaster wars) so I won't rule out train replacements on other coaster types.

Lightning Run trains are the best option, and already work on the same track style. Just watching the footage, they are more open to the wind than Wild Thing's trains and don't affect the airtime negatively. New trains can get more bang for the buck without the cost of a reprofile--not that Wild Thing couldn't benefit from an overhaul (Phantom's Revenge is tremendously better than Steel Phantom). And it's been hinted that Cedar Fair may pull another Rougarou or two, and while that may just mean more floorless B&M conversions, it can also mean new trains on older coasters that have lost their wow factor (Morgan hypers). It's a trend now to revamp wood coasters, and old steel is the next logical step.

If they redesign the turnaround, they might as well throw in new trains. I don't understand what it is about the current trains that people enjoy. I like my hypercoasters with trains that are open enough to feel the wind and the speed, and the current trains aren't. I don't think I'm alone in saying the bathtub trains are just not thrilling. For me, they neuter the ride as much as the mcbr, and are a cheaper fix than a reprofiling (which would hopefully include a steeper first drop). Excalibur was a more thrilling, if a bit more uncomfortable, experience for me, and I rerode it more than Wild Thing because Wild Thing is about a mile of letdown that is conquered in one go with an average audience reception of "meh". Wild Thing is also Valleyfair's most iconic ride, and it should and could ride like an iconic ride. I don't want to sound harsh or slam, because the park is charming and a great overall experience. But this is a no-brain easy solution that can refresh what was a huge investment with a comparatively microscopic cost.

The Twin Cities are booming and the metro is expected to exceed 4 million people by 2020. That's almost double the size of Worlds of Fun's market, and they have an invert already. Valleyfair is a more challenging park to make additions to with the flooding, weather, airport height restrictions and limited park size, but it seems that the park is being geared up to be able to handle the crowds of a larger metro. I think Cedar Fair is playing this smart and we're just seeing the groundwork getting laid out for the next decade. I think we have a great shot at getting a thrilling signature coaster coming up.

I think it would be cheaper for Valleyfair to put GT-X trains on Wild Thing and improve the rider experience of the biggest coaster in the park than to get a whole new coaster (I'm holding out for a B&M invert, would totally improve diversity of Valleyfair's line-up). But a GT-X would be an addition that I wouldn't turn down, and would probably be more thrilling than Wild Thing anyway. I heard either Carowinds or Kings Island is losing Dinosaurs Alive in 2018/19, can't remember which. I'm pretty sure that means a seven to eight year lease. Does anyone know if that is chainwide?

How full does Valleyfair's parking lot get on a busy day? How much could the park reasonably assimilate for potential expansion without having to create new parking?

Not to mention they look spectacular at night! A windseeker would compliment the ferris wheel well. I cannot even picture how much cooler Valleyfair would be at night with both of them.

While I agree that the windseekers in Cedar Fair's parks have had issues, I don't want Valleyfair to be left out of having a ride type that many people expect parks like it to have. Although it seems odd Mount Olympus also beat Six Flags Great America in getting one. But I will probably eat my words if Mount Olympus takes theirs down after a year.

I wonder how Valleyfair would look dripping in Christmas lights. Have they ever done something like a walkthrough light show or a Christmas in July type of event? And it looks like Mount Olympus is getting a skyscreamer before Valleyfair gets a windseeker (if ever). But it looks pretty short compared to other skyscreamers, so Valleyfair could probably top its height without much trouble.

Is a Vekoma train capable of going on a Morgan?

Can anyone hazard a guess as to how much it would cost to raise and extend the berms around the park and parking lot to make future flooding a non issue? I can't imagine it would be more than the cost of a rollercoaster, and it would probably be a great boost to the park's attendance and profits from what I hear about people avoiding the park when Renegade is closed off from flooding (why go when the star attraction is underwater)--and it can nip the negative press in the bud. It could possibly help lower flood insurance payments, which I'm sure aren't cheap for the park... I'm afraid that the flooding this year is going to negatively affect Cedar Fair's plans for Valleyfair's development over the next few years by the way it was referred to in the quarterly reports (tough weather and park flooding preventing profits from meeting expectations, etc.). Of course I'm most likely overreacting. I understand that there are restrictions on the park in regards to the berms by a government agency mentioned somewhere in this thread, I just don't remember which one.

There's a lot more space there than I thought. The slide complex will look very impressive!

How do people feel about the "welcome to valleyfair" sign in front of the carousel? It seems unnecessary to me and I kinda wanna see it go and maybe replaced with a fountain to open up the plaza. Also, the other signs around the front of the park seem a bit dysfunctional--not at eye level, not in places you'd expect to see a sign, clashing sign styles. Am I the only one who'd like to see them changed?

I would love to see Ripcord removed if it gets replaced with a great ride. A giant frisbee in its spot would be great for visibility. I'm still hoping for a windseeker in Wild Thing's turnaround. Those two rides would make Route 76 that much cooler.