RollerColester

Great imagination, but I highly doubt it!! Personally, not expecting much for 2020. Could see something as minimal as adding like a Grand Carnival festival and a nice sit-down restaurant. 2020 may be a dud, especially if they have some semi-major plans for the dino's lot for 2021 (which I would hope they do). At least make it a custom Raptor if a B&M is out of the question..

I've been to the park almost every weekend so far this year. Mostly Sundays, but crowds seem to be average at best compared to past years. One train waits on everything except Renegade until peak afternoon 2-3pm. Most popular rides are the park are easily Renegade, North Star, and Xtreme Swing. Those lines are consistently the longest each visit. Blue Power Tower is back up. Looks like it received a new cart and some new seat cushions. No sign of activity in the park of the park as far as construction goes. The park seriously needs something new in the games midway. Been said before, but a Raptor/Sky Rocket II would be perfect there and be a cost effective filler before the waterpark expansion or a larger coaster in place of the dinos. That midway is always dead while the Corkscrew/Monster/Ferris Wheel midway is always packed with people hanging out. I'd be curious to see how the Peanuts Celebration affected attendance. I never really noticed Planet Snoopy any busier than usual during those weekends and we have a 4 and 2 year old, so we spend a majority of our visit there.

Just a couple observations from my 3-4 weekend visits to the park this season: *Food stands seem to be way understaffed. Always seems to be super long lines for any food stand and doesn't really matter what time of day. Could just be because it is early in the season yet or I hope.. *The games midway with Supercat has been a dead zone every visit. Seems people always head right when entering the park if they do not go down Route 76 first. That area really needs a Sky Rocket II or RMC Raptor to replace Riptide and then possibly rework the games area. What is the point of having all those games when nobody goes down that midway. If I'm noticing it, I know the park is noticing it and wouldn't be surprised if they address that area soon.. *(Turns off enthusiast mind set mode) Having a 4 year old that loves rides now, I appreciate the Planet Snoopy, Dinos Alive, and Barefoot Beach investments (2011-2015) so much more! The 11-12 year coaster drought is still unreal, but I understand the need to prioritize those projects even more now..(Alright back to enthusiast mind set mode..) *Renegade is such an underrated ride from a national standpoint. Prowler seemed to get a ton of attention, while Renegade didn't. Both rides are at the same level in my opinion. At least Valleyfair snuck that coaster in before we entered Paramount investing mode.. *The combination of the old side of the water park and the new side just do not mesh well together. You enter and have two choices. Go to the left side to this modern wave pool, enormous side complex, and kids splash area. Or go right over this small bridge and enter the 1980s in this cramped area. If the water park expansion happens, I hope they reconfigure the old side and try to modernize it or have it flow into each other better. This may involve re-configuring the lazy river, but that shouldn't be hard as its just concrete. Well that's my early season observations..be curious to see how others compare! Also.. I personally do NOT think the army corp project is dead for the next year or the couple years after. It was first put up for public hearing in spring of 2015, then approved by the city council in the summer of 2017, so there was not enough time to get the project started for 2018 anyway. Then 2018 was super wet with flooding issues, so it very possibly could have been delayed for 2019 (hence nothing new this year). Hell, 2019 may not even have been soon enough to get everything lined up and an off year for 2019 was planned anyway since this is such a large project. Hopefully the recent flooding this year would not cause it to be delayed again for 2020 if that was the plan. Just my opinion, but I believe this project will still eventually happen.. *fingers crossed* I also would find it very hard to believe that the Dinos area will sit empty for more than one season. Very curious what the next major investment year will focus on. I'd lean water park expansion vs. coaster just cause we have some form of proof for that. But the Dino's location is too valuable to leave empty for too many seasons. Hopefully we will see some type of construction activity here come August on either location.. *fingers double crossed*

I agree, if 2020 was the year for the water park expansion we would have to see ground work begin in the back of the park fairly soon. Building a levee and the increase in ground height for the parking lot would involve a lot of earth moving that would take many months to complete. And Minnesota winters cut out Nov-March for most ground projects (think road construction). So they would have to have the new levee built and the roads/parking lot poured by October. At this point I think a quiet 2020 and the beginning of construction on a coaster for 2021 in the dinos spot would be favored in Vegas. Seems like the army corp project has lost its life.. I still like the idea of an RMC Raptor in the old spot stretching from Riptide's old location to the midway stage. Capacity still seems sketchy with those, but if its working at Great America it would work at Valleyfair. A Talon or Patriot sized invert also fits nice in the dinos spot. Dive coaster, wing coaster, Mack coasters seem to be more interesting lately. So many directions the park could go in ending our 12 year coaster drought! Can't wait for the letdown, haha! (Not complaining, I understand it's a business..don't bother with the whiny Valleyfair home park B.S. )

I too think the dinos area will sit empty in 2020. October would seem late to start coaster prep and that is the obvious choice for the spot.. I can't help but think a RMC Raptor would fit perfectly in the old Riptide spot with the removal of the one side of the games area. Fits perfectly on google maps, haha. Could use the coaster to upgrade the games area as that midway is dead... Excited to get to the park tomorrow night and check out some of the infrastructure changes.

Nevermind.. Carry on..

Delirious was announced on August 16th, 2017. North Star was announced on August 18th, 2016. Flying Eagles was announced on September 15th, 2015. I'd say if something is going to be announced it should be announced before the end of September. Not expecting much at all. Hopefully a set-up year for larger things to come. Hard to believe they will leave the Dinos area empty after removing it next year. Prime real estate upfront there that could use a facelift.

I'm surprised nobody started a "We want Dave back!" petition yet on here. It seemed like Dave's dream job, so must have been some corporate politics or something that led to him leaving. Looks like Excalibur will be surviving another year! What is the record for longest rumored coaster removal?

If Valleyfair was reciving a raptor for 2019, we would of seen the signs by now. Just look back at CGA and even SFFT before their 2018 announcements. I’m saying general improvements and maybe a small flat. Still think there is plenty of time. That area is basically a clean slate and it wouldn't need to be ready until May. I'm not saying it's gonna happen. Just saying it would work well with the parks timeline and Cedar Fairs trend towards more cost effective attractions. The games midway is kind of a dead zone, and a ride like a RMC Raptor would liven it up nice. If I had to bet money I would bet a flat or water slide, but I wouldn't be completely shocked with a RMC Raptor.

^That's why I said a 5 million RMC Raptor..not a 20 million dollar B&M.. I'm still the realest mofo around..

I think a RMC Raptor would be a great addition to replace the north side of the games midway. Comparing the general size on google maps, I think it would fit when stretched from Riptide to the Midway Stage (Scrambler's old spot). I think that would be a good fit to that part of the park. Yes, it is a roller coaster, but I think it would be a very cost effective attraction for the park. Should be under $10 million easy and would not break the bank for the Water Park expansion project the following year. Also, if the park was worried about pushback from removing a coaster in Excalibur, adding a cheaper RMC Raptor the same year you intend to retire Excalibur would silence a few people (probably not though...). The more I think about it, the more I think it makes sense with the removal of Riptide this year and Excalibur's pending doom with the Army Corp proposal. Construction wouldn't have to be started until September/October either for a ride of that stature as Riptide is already removed and there wouldn't be much else to demo (just a few trees, games building, and concrete). Valleyfair's late opening date also could warrant a late start for construction. The low capacity shouldn't be horrible at Valleyfair either, but busy days it would still be worth the wait as I've heard these pack quite the punch!

While I do not have the exact numbers, I do believe that both North Star and Delirious are not expensive by any means compared to other types of flats such as Xtreme Swing or Riptide. So yes, the Route 76 improvements more than likely did not break the bank. I do believe the 2015 water park expansion was a sizeable investment and involved some surprise infrastructure improvements as well. Valleyfair is due for a significant investment, so I hope one happens in the next couple years!

My useless future predictions: 2019 - New water slide to replace looping starship/Excalibur early removal 2020 - New water park entrance and parking lot/Dino's Alive removal at season end 2021 - New coaster in Dino's spot 2022 - General Improvement/Start of the next 15 year coaster drought.. I wonder if the flooding this summer caused any delays in the project. Hope next year's flooding is minimal if that was the case.

The recent flooding makes a guy wonder if it has delayed the water parking lot/entrance project at all.. I always wondered if there was a new entrance back there, would it flow right into the waterpark. Or would it just connect to the pathway and go by Thunder Canyon and Renegade, and you'd have to use the current entrance at to enter the water park. The old slides and some water treatment equipment sort of block off a direct entrance into the water park, so some of that equipment would have to be moved. Every year it floods is an example of why this project needs to be completed to protect that area of the park (I know the rides back there were designed to handle flooding, but still).

Could definitely see a Hangtime @ Knotts type coaster or a RMC Raptor going in at Valleyfair in the next couple years rather than a B&M. Makes more $$$ sense these days. Especially for a smaller park like Valleyfair.

Maybe the Army Corp plan was scratched.. Always sounded too good to be true..

Looping Starship has been rumored to be on the chopping block as part of the water park expansion. Delirious can be an updated similar type of ride if Looping Starship would be removed in the near future. More than likely cheaper on maintenance too. Should be a solid addition to the park! Almost as excited for them to add some trees and other scenic items along that path as the actual ride. Concrete jungle down there, needs some life added!

They are really focusing on the awkward midway recently (2014, 2016, 2017, now 2018). Easy to see new Cedar Fair management viewed that as a weakness of the park back then. I always hoped they would put an out-and-back type coaster that has the station in that corner of the parking lot and have it extend out-and-back towards the employee dorms. I have a feeling if this ride is just the return of the Enterprise, people are going to hammer them on social media. But then again, if it is anything but a coaster, people will hammer them. Be interesting to see where Tilter is moving? What is the point though unless it is a large, crowd drawing ride? If its just a refurbished enterprise or top scan, it won't draw people down the midway that wouldn't wonder down there anyway for more than its first year of operation. Makes me maybe wonder if it is a larger, crowd drawing ride? But I've learned to never get my hopes up.. Knott's Boomerang after all? It would fit pretty well in that space..

If it is a flat ride that can be constructed in 2-3 months, then permits don't really have to be applied for until January/February-ish. The only reason North Star's permit showed up last August is because they started construction early. Not sure why North Star was constructed so early, but I believe Xtreme Swing was also constructed in the fall versus the spring. Whether it is budget purposes, depreciation purposes, weather purposes, who knows! Those circumstances might not apply with the new 2018 ride. I'm sure Valleyfair has a good enough relationship with the county/city engineer that they are not nervous about announcing a new ride before all the paperwork is complete. As far as a Sky Warp goes, in my opinion the chances of that are slim to none. The picture that was posted by Valleyfair doesn't really give much of a clue either. The top maze like pattern almost looks like it might be a queue area. On the far right it looks like maybe a support structure or something, but who knows...

The more I think about this on a boring Saturday, the more I'm leaning top scan. I believe Carowinds was used and refurbished that was added this year, was Knotts (Sol Spin) as well? Or was that brand new? Top scan in Tilters old spot and the return of the Enterprise in the Scramblers old spot. Or at least I hope a ride goes there. That concrete blab looks out of place. Bugs me every time I walk by it, haha.

Sticking with my return of the Enterprise prediction.. Sky roller would be cool though. Frisbees don't technically go upside down, but it wouldn't be the first time marketing led us astray..

Was the last one Mass Effect in 2016 at Great America? That is still pretty recent. Perhaps they were trying to design more cost effective ones for smaller park. I think the games midway is a little outdated. I know it was redone with Riptide in 2005, but I wouldn't mind seeing supercat refurbished, the enterprise return to that midway, and some of the games and shops updated. Maybe throw in the refurbishment of the bumper cars too. I think Dorney just did that too with dodgems?

I'm going to guess the return of the enterprise (all refurbished) and another older refurbished ride, like world's of fun received this year. I'll put one in Tilter's old spot by Wild Thing and one at the old Corckscrew tot spot. With the water park expansion, entrance, and parking lot project looming I don't expect any large dollars to be spent until that. Hopefully in 2019. Long shot 2018 guess, Plant Vs Zombies (Carowinds) type attraction in Galaxy Theater.

I'm going to guess the announcement is.. The return on the Enterprise all refurbished and maybe a smaller family attraction or flat ride. Nothing too expensive. Basically a set up year for the large water park/new entrance expansion in 2019. Hope my low expectations are blown away, but I'll take a set up year if 2019 brings something worthwhile..

I still believe that there was to be some sort of water park attraction to market with the new parking lot and entrance. A re-brand wouldn't surprise me either as it would be a good marketing strategy to say, "Come check out our new (insert new water park name) water park at Valleyfair!" The majority of people wouldn't know that 75% of the water park would be the same as before. Recent water park overhauls in the chain have given water parks new names... Carolina Harbor..Cedar Shores..I wonder what Valleyfair's could be to tie in a local theme. Something Lake? Lake something? Minnesota Marina? Mystic Lake Water Park. Haha. I have no idea... I think they'll have an announcement for the closing of Excalibur. If I remember right, they announced Enterprise was closing on August 1st and it actually closed August 20th. I would guess it will operate up to Labor Day and close like it usually does. There is a lot of other land clearing and prep they can do before they get to Excalibur's area. Pretty sure I've state this before: I know this is a large project, but it doesn't take a good construction team long to grade and level land, or pour concrete/tar. Carowinds didn't get started on their water park renovation until later in the summer, which included a demolition of a large racing coaster, repaving some parking lot, new water park entrance, and a bunch of new attractions. Carolina Harbor wasn't announced until August 27th as well.. Still have plenty of time!