MidwestThemeParks

This is why there is basically no reason not to buy the all day dining. $31.99 and you can get a meal every 90 minutes.

I have seen every ride except Thunderation run two trains on my three visits this year. Powder Keg and Time Traveler have always ran two trains on those visits (as far as I know). Outlaw Run and Wildfire occasionally run two trains, but I think I’ve only seen it on Saturdays. They might be more likely to do it on a holiday weekend though. As of earlier this month, the second Thunderation train is taken apart with only half of it in the storage area. I would actually say to not prioritize the cave if you care more about the rides. I’ve had to wait an hour just to get in the cave for the hour tour, so doing the tour can take 2+ hours. I also know some people in my family who don’t like it because they get claustrophobic. I enjoy the cave, but you would likely have to sacrifice doing other things to do it. Grandfather’s Mansion is another unique attraction that can be missed if you’re not looking for it. You just walk through it and it won’t take more than 5-10 minutes.

I usually start with Time Traveler and Thunderation since they are right by each other and can both have long lines because of Time Traveler’s popularity and Thunderation only having one train available. I would then go to Powder Keg if it is open since that is the other coaster that has the longest lines. Wildfire, Outlaw Run, and Fire in the Hole usually don’t get very long lines (usually less than 20-25 minutes). The water rides (especially Mystic River Falls) will have long lines on warm days, so doing them early can be helpful. I would also make sure to try to ride the Flooded Mine at some point. It doesn’t get very long lines usually and is kind of hidden unless you look for it. It is a great way to relax/get out of the heat. There should be a map and show schedules in the Pathfinder (their “newspaper”). They often have someone handing these out right when you exit the Hospitality House or there is probably a stack of them around that area somewhere. I haven’t taken one in a while since I don’t use a map anymore, so I’m not entirely sure where they are if they don’t have someone handing them out. As far as I know, they do not do any ticket that allows you to come late and get the next day. However, a two day ticket is only $20 more than a one day ticket if you would arrive early enough to make it worth it.

I got basically the same benefits buying my 2024 pass from Valleyfair, except for the slightly lower price due to exchange rate. It also worked out well because I was planning to be there on Sunday anyways, so I was able to get the physical pass at VF after buying it Saturday. I also got the all park passport, all park dining, all park fast lane, and all season drink plan. I plan to visit Carowinds for the first time over Labor Day weekend, so hopefully all those benefits should work. The only thing that wasn’t clear on the website is if the all season drink plan that I spent $34.99 on is for all parks or just Valleyfair. I assume this is also what you bought and it does work at all parks? Also, when I go to parks other than Valleyfair, do I just use my VF season pass everywhere to get in and use my add-ons?

Basically right to the front. I don’t think you would ever wait more than a couple trains when using a Trailblazer pass.

I was also in the park for the first time since 2016 on the 3rd and 4th and left during the fireworks just to avoid that mess. However, I do agree that crowds seemed lower than I expected.

Was it busy? Not really. Even with the reduced capacity on rides we never waited more than 20-25 minutes for anything. I was really impressed with the Phoenix workers. With the small cars I expected the short line for that ride to still be a decent wait, but they really kept the line moving. I don’t know what their cleaning schedule is, but there was only one time we had to wait for them to clean the trains (on Monster) and two other times we were the last train before they cleaned it. I was confused because according to the calendar the park opened at 10, but it seemed like most rides didn’t open until 11. Once they did open, however, they seemed to be running well as I never saw anything closed, except for the Sky Ride which was closed all day. I assume it suffered damage from the storms that went through last week.

I took advantage of the promotion yesterday by getting into the park with my Valleyfair gold pass. To get in you have to go through the ticket booths and they give you a free ticket. We had our physical passes and our drivers licenses but the worker still wanted to see our photos for our passes on the Valleyfair app then had us write down our names and emails. It was really weird for the three of us to be able to get into the park just by paying the $13 parking fee .

Another comment I saw on Facebook makes it sound like you just need a photo ID and your season pass to get in. I hope to try this out sometime with my Valleyfair season pass.

I also wonder how many people would show up on a Sunday night. I don’t think it would be busy enough to make it worth being open most Sunday nights especially for the smaller Cedar Fair parks.

^It was also crazy last night. When we tried to get to the park, we had to wait in traffic for about an hour to get in and traffic didn’t die down until about 9:30 PM. The lines for the mazes weren’t that long, however, but the rides were. We went back right at opening this morning and got in a few rides before we had to leave at 1:30 and it was definitely starting to get busy again.

A coaster like Time traveler would be a great addition to CP’s lineup. When my whole family was at SDC (more than 20 of us), Time Traveler was enjoyed by everyone who rode it. CP could use more coasters the whole family can enjoy and that are just fun. When was the last time a family coaster was built (other than Pipe Scream)? Iron Dragon in 1987, 32 years ago? While a ride like Time Traveler might not be ideal if they want a family coaster because it has a 51” height requirement, it would still be a great addition.

Pepsi Orange Streak definitely requires more maintenance than other rides at the park according to the maintenance schedule. https://nickelodeonuniverse.com/ride-maintenance-schedule/

I find it interesting they list Barnstormer at 32°, but the Silver Dollar City app says it needs to be 38°for the Barn Swing.

Coasters: Outlaw Run Valravn Time Traveler Other Rides: Northern Lights (Valleyfair) Fireman’s Landing (Silver Dollar City)- Firefall and Fire Spotter Impressive.

It probably has more to do with not having enough people in the park after ten to make a profit. Oh I’m sure it has to do with money, but it’s a nice bonus for the employees (except for those who enjoy working that late, which I’m assuming isn’t many of them).

I’m sure closing at 10 instead of 11 on those weekdays will be nice for those who work the bigger rides and have to stay after closing anyway to let everyone in line ride.

I’m glad to hear they finally started to deconstruct the slide (according to the article).

Outlaw Run - 2013 Valravn - 2016 Time Traveler- 2018

And those coordinates are still 342 mi. from WoF. I do find it interesting how many different parks Cedar fair is using in whatever they are teasing, however. I wonder if whatever it is will be going to multiple parks.

Do we usually know by now when Cedar Fair parks are making 2019 announcements? Didn’t they do them on National Roller Coaster Day last year, which is 4 days away?

But the coordinates on the envelope are for Kings Dominion and California’s Great America. I don’t think this necessarily means anything for VF just because of the Mississippi reference.

Notice it says 1969 (Cedar Creek Mine Rides opening year) and 2019 next to the word “diagram”. Maybe it’s closing next year and with the Dino’s likely leaving soon that could be a large area for something new.

Um...River Blast (2010) and Time Traveler (2018). I'd say the company is open to the idea of buying two major rides from Mack within a decade of each other. SDC also built Powder Keg in 2005 and the Barn Swing in 2007 both from S&S. And if we’re talking about any park-Dollywood added Mystery Mine in 2007 and Firechaser Express in 2014 both from Gerstlauer. Cedar Point also has many examples- Millenium Force (2000), Wicked Twister (2002), Top Thrill Dragster (2003), Maverick (2007), and Shoot the Rapids (2010) all from Intamin and then Gatekeeper (2013), Rougarou (2015), and Valravn (2016) from B&M. So there are many examples of parks buying multiple rides from the same company in just a few years. But, I would still prefer SDC go with another B&M before getting another Mack coaster.

Valleyfair’s Enterprise was actually removed in 2016 to build North Star (a Funtime swing ride) for 2017. I am also sad to see another one of these rides get removed, as I really enjoyed them. I’m sure they’ll replace it with something just as fun though. Witches Wheel closing makes me wonder how long it will be before Zulu at Worlds of Fun is closed. Maybe they have been using these removed rides for parts for the ones that are still operating?