the_rock401

In construction, orange marking paint means communications (phone, cable, fiber optic, etc), and yellow marking paint means a petroleum line (natural gas, oil, propane). Thrillrider15, I'm not sure where you heard that bit about a potential invert working around the water park, because this is the first I've heard of it. The Minnesota TPR delegation will keep you abreast as we accidentally stumble upon things. Paul "VF ain't THAT bad" Miller

Sit in the very front car on Viper, lots of room in the nose cone. That's what I do on all Arrow loopers. Paul "Has to duck quite a bit at 6' 4" Miller

Well, it appears that the crash hasn't diminished Wild Thing's popularity any. Line out of the station and filling up over half of the queue maze, as of 11:30 AM today.

Grand Rios in Minnesota almost always has general public tickets available for their indoor waterpark. Most of the time during the week, it's $10.64 (after sales tax) a shot to get in. Even in the dead of winter, when Minnesotans would be itching to thaw out a bit. Paul "It's gonna be HOT here this weekend!" Miller

The jury is still out on whether I think this is a good acquisition by CF. My initial reaction is to agree with disneyfan1313, and say that this debt service will keep blockbuster expansion quiet for a while. Throw in Wild Thing's extended visit to the DL, rumored major problems with SoB, and the big project going on at the Point, and I think they'll opt to pay down debts for a few years. Paul "I hope VF doesn't get on the short end of this deal" Miller

These pictures taken at 7:30 AM and 1:30 PM today, as I was driving by. Scott County Sheriff and Shakopee PD were keeping traffic moving on 101 (including a 5 Eyewitness News car), so I couldn't come to a complete stop. If anyone wants to A) examine high-res originals or B) hotlink anywhere else, let me know. Paul The car in question, and inspectors on the cherry picker. Closer look at the car in question Better conditions in the afternoon. The train as it came to a stop. Valleyfair was buried in a fogbank this morning, so it made my photos crappy.

According to both newspapers (Star Tribube and Pioneer Press), everyone taken to hospital was released by 8:30 PM. Drove by VF en route to/from work today, took some ground-level pics. Will post later after re-size. In a hurry right now. Paul

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=125295 Current recap of stuff, posted on KARE11.com at 7:15 PM CDT.

Holy cats. The whole undercarriage came apart.

I agree. Having to drag a derailed car as far as the MCBR from the bottom of the first drop could have been much worse, both in terms of human injuries and structural damage to the coaster. Going into the station brakes meant that the train was coming to a stop very quickly and without very much more distance to travel.

Hey everybody! This thread is simple! Rather than having a million little threads about everything that goes on at Valleyfair!, this thread is designed to consolidate it all into one user-friendly thread. Feel free to use it to post updates, trip reports, questions, comments, and of course, general discussion. For pictures and videos of the park as well as past updates, see TPR's Park Index Page. Official Park Website Below are some links to past updates from the park, you may be interested in. Enjoy! --Robb _____________________________________________________ 2006 May 21st, 2006 - Wild Thing accident injures 17 - SEE BELOW! June 5th, 2006 - Markers start appearing at Valleyfair August 16th, 2006 - Renegade announced 2007 May 24th, 2007 - TPR rides Renegade during opening weekend 2008 October 8th, 2008 - Waterpark expansion announced 2010 January 5th, 2010 - Bob Williams, founder of Valleyfair, dies at age 77 July 29th, 2010 - Significant park expansion on the way! August 6th, 2010 - Planet Snoopy announced 2012 February 21st, 2012 - Dave Frazier announced as the park's new General Manager April 16th, 2012 - List of rides included on Fast Pass September 9th, 2012 - Park announces $3.5 million expansion 2013 September 26th, 2013 - Route 76 announced for 2014! 2014 June 25th, 2014 - Severe flooding closes 3 rides, but park remains open September 11th, 2015 - six new slides announced for 2015 2015 September 15th, 2015 - Flying Eagles announced for 2016, also Extreme Sports entertainment show 2016 August 5th, 2016 - Permit filed with the City of Shakopee indicates a new Star Flyer August 18th, 2016 - Northstar: 230 foot Star Flyer from Funtime is announced 2017 August 16th, 2017 - Delirious (a Larson Looper) announced for 2018 _____________________________________________________ Wild Thing accident From KARE-11 news. Wild Thing. Back car of train gets uncoupled, jumps the tracks going into the station brakes. 17 injured, 13 taken to St. Francis Hospital in Shakopee. Mast camera is showing the back car sitting on the tracks, but with one bottom side sitting on the spine of the tracks. My initial guess is that it threw an upstop, but that's strictly speculation. Will keep updating as things emerge. Paul

SATURDAY, MAY 13 VALLEYFAIR FAMILY AMUSEMENT PARK SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA This particular day didn't even dawn. The sun wasn't seen until much later in the day. It was cold, drizzling, windy, and rainy. In other words, it was usual weather for Opening Day at Valleyfair. I arrived a little after 9:30 AM to get my pass processed. This was the first time since I've bought my pass that I've been able to get out to Shakopee. I purchased a parking upgrade, but they hadn't brought the logs to write down who bought parking. I waited in the office until after the national anthem, and then iI just asked for a pass so I could get riding. They told me to come back to the GR office later in the day to get the parking endorsement. I went back to the new Xtreme Swing. Both VF and Cedar Point got S&S swings for this season. It initially looked like the a slightly larger version of the one at Knotts, except with a bigger capacity. My initial inclination was immediately crushed on my first ride. This thing packs a punch! Also, they were taking a LONG time to cycle it. I attribute this to the "new ride" factor. Once they figure out the operations, Xtreme Swing will be a line eater. I met Jerry Dorf after he got off the Swing, and we met Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel. Seemed like a nice guy, and I was a bit surprised to see someone of that stature out at our little corner of the Cedar Fair empire. I went with Jerry and Tim up to the front up for them to fly the Skyscraper and Skycoaster. While they were on the Skycoaster, I got my first cycle on Steel Venom. It was COLD out there in the open. We then headed back to Wild Thing. The train before has had been stopped on the lift for no apparent reason, and after someone had walked up the hill, the train went though. We got on the next train, and when we hit where the mid-course brakes usually are, we heard the clacking, but didn't feel any pinch on the brakes. As a result, the bunny hops on the way back were gloriously filled with airtime. This was the closest thing outside of Coaster Craze that the mid-course brakes have been disarmed. Back to Excalibur. Excalibur was it's normal self, and it further justifies my belief that Excalibue is a sleeper coaster. Very underrated. A couple of poor blokes came off Thunder Canyon absolutely SOAKED! I felt bad for them, never mind the fact that they knew good and well they were going to get soaked. High time for High Roller. This thing was squeaking like mad, but on the way back from the turn, there was actually nice airtime! I didn't feel much of the trims at the start of the run back, which meant by the time we hit that last bunny hop going into the station, there was quite a kick of airtime. This is the best High Roller has run since I started riding it. By this time, it was about 12:30. Jerry headed out of the park to get ready for his trip to Holiday World by way of Mt. O, SF Chicago, and other places. I went with Tim to ride Corkscrew, then found Cameron and the Park at MOA gang. We caroused around Valleyfair for the rest of the day, and I left around 4:30 PM. Paul "A long hot shower is calling my name" Miller The crew from the Park at MOA Getting a hug from Colonel Oompahpah SAMPLE? SAMPLE? Jerry and Tim getting winched into the Skyscraper Swing at the full wingspan. VF's 30th birthday present Ain't that a purty sight... The weather when I left my apartment this morning. Jerry and Tim flying the Skycoaster

Some will wonder if $77 million is the equivalent of thirty pieces of silver.

I don't know about Montu, but last February when I rode it for the first time with brakes, it was STILL forceful through thr duration of the ride. Gwazi Lion was fine, Gwazi Tiger was lousy. Two coasters that seems to be getting overlooked are Wild Thing and High Roller at Valleyfair. Again, I never rode High Roller sans trim brakes, but the only kick of airtime is the last bump going into the turnaround before the station. Tremendous potential here. As for Wild Thing, it's a shame when the only time it runs partially without mid-course brakes is Coaster Craze night ERT.

I'll tell you what a real Polar Plunge is. Try jumping into a hole cut through 24 inches of ice on White Bear Lake (MN) on a Saturday morning in the depths of January. Now THAT is a polar plunge.

Boy, I wish I could be out there right now (4:55 PM CDT). But noooo, gotta take a Soil Mechanics final at 8 AM tomorrow. Right when I'm wrestling with the subtle nuances of slope stability, you'll be riding Tatsu

Watching the 10 PM news, a car got hit down in Farmington. HS junior was killed, two others cut out alive. No drugs or booze, everyone was wearing seatbelts. We have buried two high school classmates since our graduation in June of 2002. One died in a car crash, the other by his own hand. Despite the fact that we had all graduated, we all got really close, and it re-established a lot of channels between us '02 grads. It was also terribly sad. It is a very sobering sight to see a high school classmate in a casket. Funerals for the elderly, knowing they've experience much of what life had to offer, are sad, but it's very much a celebration. But funerals of high school classmates... (shudder)

By this time next year, all that crap (I'd say something else but there are small children on these forums) ain't gonna mean a hill of beans. That said, cliques are notoriously hard to dissolve. My high school class was the most oboxiously cliquey group you ever ran into. I got along with everyone, but I never was on the inside track with anyone. However, things like cliques don't mean very much when you start burying classmates. I don't know what your plans are for after high school, but if your plans include going to a four-year university, by all means live in on-campus housing your freshman year. Preferrably with other freshmen. Having lived and worked as an RA at a large, BCS-conference, state university for several years, living on-campus is the best possible thing that can happen. You will meet so many people who are in the exact same boat as you are, and those friendships are going to last a lot longer than some stupid high school clique will even dream of being around. Just my two cents. Paul

The question on how to get into the business is a good one. I am a civil engineering major, and it would be a cool field to get into.

The fact that "Good Riddance" is played at everything under the sun makes me not like it one bit. At the end of last spring semester, my residents made a end-of-year slide show, and it ended with "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart, and everyone was bawling. Other good ones are "Oh How the Years Go By" by Amy Grant and "Wonderwall" by Oasis. Paul "Get the Kleenex" Miller

http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/ Vote on what goes on a new Monopoly board! Some of the places on there are pretty cool (Red Rocks Ampitheater, Waikiki, and the Golden Gate Bridge), and some are winning by default (Johnson Space Center, Jacobs Field, and the Mall of America) Paul "Go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200" Miller

Nope. Valleyfair is my home park, and as much as I may like it, it's not my favorite park.

I apologize for the delay, but things have gotten so busy it's nuts! PAUL, JERRY, AND DAVID TAKE FLORIDA PART 4: THE GRAND FINALE SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2005 OSCEOLA HERITAGE PARK KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA The fourth day of our invasion of Florida dawns downright cold. The cold front that caused all the rain yesterday and last night is gone, replaced by the Canuck Express. Freeze warnings out over much of the state, which is quite unheard of for Florida. What’s worse is that a cold wind is howling out of the northwest. High wind warnings are out for most of the state as well. The walk to breakfast this morning was chilly, even by my ridiculously low standards. Mind you, this was in the still of a hotel. After checking out of the hotel, we drive out to I-4. Since there isn’t a whole lot to see between Tampa and Orlando, I spend a fair bit of the drive sitting in the back seat, dozing off. We rolled into Orlando and onto International Drive. International Drive is Florida’s version of the Wisconsin Dells Strip, i.e. a vacuum cleaner for your wallet. At one such location on I-Drive is a Funtime Star Flyer, which is a Wave Swinger with a twist: Instead of just rotating the flat pane of rotation, the seats go up and down a very tall central tower. We arrived at Magical Midway a few minutes prior to the open, and all of us are seriously doubting if the Star Flyer will run. Wind advisories are out for most of Florida, which means sustained winds greater than 25 mph. 10:00 AM comes, and we wander about the place for a bit. There really isn’t much here. Other than the Star Flyer, and a Funtime Spring Shot (cable-mounted Ejection Seat), not much. We go to the ticket window and ask if the Flyer will be running today due to the high winds. Much to our surprise, the Flyer runs! We purchase our tickets, go up to the deck, and sit in the flimsy-looking chairs. The Flyer went through it’s cycle, and it was a very interesting ride. A cold, stiff wind at 25 mph made for an unusual cycle. We had read that Strates Shows is playing at the Osceola County Fair down in Kissimmee, and is offering a pay-one-price promotion from noon to 5. After leaving Magic Midway, we work our way on back roads over to the Osceola Heritage Park. Since it’s about 11:00 on a Sunday morning, the place is deserted. The way the “fair” is set up, it is little more than a glorified still date. $5 at the gate, $15 for an all-you-can-ride armband. The midway starts to show some signs of life, and we begin our pursuit of as many rides as we can stomach. Believe it or not, there was a second Rok n Roll there. From never seeing one to seeing two different ones over the course of a long weekend is very unusual. This one is run by operators who don’t seem too enthusiastic about trying to get it to roll as much as possible. Over the course of the afternoon, we get our money’s worth out of our POP bands. This includes a ride on Strates’ Giant Wheel, which claims to be 125’ tall. The top of the wheel yields a good view of the Osceola Heritage Park, which is where the “fair” is. The Houston Astros train here, and their spring training facility dominates the facility. There is a small expo hall adjacent to the carnival, and an indoor rodeo facility outside the pay area of the fair. It is also VERY cold and windy when on the upper reaches of the wheel. By the time we are done at the Osceola County Fair, it’s about 3:00, and we are are hungry, cold, and wind-burned. David’s curiosity gets the best of him, and he tries out some deep-fried alligator meat. He thoroughly enjoys it, and it fills the car up with the fine smell of deep-fried alligator meat. If authenticity was in question, the trailer the alligator came from had Louisiana license plates. Since we’re all quite hungry, we decide to stop at a Steak ‘n Shake on the main drag. If you remember, last night we ate a Steak ‘n Shake in Tampa that left much to be desired. This Steak ‘n Shake was in much better shape than the Tampa one, and the food reflected that. After the Steak n Shake we head west on the Irlo Bronson Highway in search of our Baymont Inn. However, since we can’t find the thing, we proceed directly to Old Town. We park near the end of the street, and take a look at everything that Old Town has to offer. At the end is the Windshear roller coaster, but we didn’t find it worthwhile to ride it, as both Jerry and David had the credit, I was running low on cash, and it would have cost almost as much to ride the Windshear as it would have been to ride a certain attraction located on land along side Old Town. Located along side Old Town are a few other attractions. One of them is the G-Force. This simulates a drag race, going from 0 to 120 mph in about 2 seconds. It’s based out of a former merchandise trailer that was for the Steve Park NASCAR entry back when he was still with DEI. Anyway, it looked cool, but the cost was prohibitive, so we all decided to take a pass. There’s another attraction on the lot next to Old Town. This certain attraction is the 300-foot tall Skycoaster. We go into the office and inquire if the Skycoaster will fly. I’m having some serious doubts, because the wind has not abated, and there are some crazy lateral deflections in the cables. She says that due to said crazy winds, the Skycoaster will fly, but only with 3 people. I still have my doubts, so we retire back to Old Town for further deliberations. After some application of pressure by Jerry and David, as well as a reduction in wind speed to almost zero, I decide to fly. We go to the shack, get our tickets, and then go get harnessed in at the tent. Then, out to the loading platform. Jerry and David are making sure that everyone out on the platform knows that this is my first Skycoaster flight. We get clipped together, and right about the time that I think they’re telling us to lean forward… THUD! That thud you heard was me leaning forward too soon, drawing a 5-yard false start penalty, as well as a skinned knee. Since we’re all clipped together, it’s a royal pain to get back up and properly hooked to the cable. Then, we get told to lean forward, and instead of plopping on the floor, we hang by the cable and begin to be winched up the tower. Damn, it’s a long way up there. Jerry pulls the rip cord, and I take my first Skycoaster flight. Not gonna lie to ya, it was pretty damn fun. Apparently, we hit 66 mph on the radar gun mounted at the bottom of the apex. We swing ourselves out of momentum, and get unhitched. After I watch my first flight, we head back over to the Old Town proper. Located over alongside the main highway is a Funtime Spring Shot. The reported maximum capsule height is about 365 feet (convert 115 meters to feet), and I decide to try it out. I fork over my money, David gets into the seat to my left, and we get launched. It is a VERY smooth launch, but there is no kick of airtime at the top of the launch. I have had more airtime on Sheikra. We’ve seen everything we need to see at Old Town. After I get a quick souvenir (and a drink for everyone), we go back to the car and finally find our hotel. A long, hot shower never felt so good. Except for that time after tramping around Phalen Park on the coldest day of the year looking for the St. Paul Winter Carnival Medallion, but that’s another story for another day. Next morning, after breakfast, we get back to the Orlando airport. My flight goes on US Air via Charlotte. In Charlotte, I hustle like the dickens to the commuter plane terminal, only to see that my original 50-minute connection has turned into a 2:20 connection. I go back to the center food court and partake in some Brookwood Farms Authentic North Carolina Barbecue. Unlike the lousy swill at Famous Dave’s (Minnesota’s premiere barbecue chain), this is actually good stuff. On the very small plane from Charlotte back to Minneapolis, I sit next to a fellow Gopher. It happens to be that our school apartments are only half a block apart, and we enjoy a nice chat on the light rail and bus all the way back to the turn point. At this point, I am glad to see my apartment. THE END

"Shotgun Willie" by Willie Nelson [/i]

92 KQRS is the best morning show in the Twin Cities, but after that the drop is severe down to the quality of stations and morning shows. B96, KDWB, and KS95 are all hideous.