Swishtime101

Further news, I received word on a Facebook group from an employee of VF that Renegade Smokehouse is now becoming the former walking taco stand as a venue. If this is true (got the word on April 1st), that seems like a big downgrade in my opinion. Walking Tacos aren't exactly theme park staples (not sure what else the former location used to serve outside of this item). Hopefully, it's at least an updated menu.

Now, take what I say with a grain of salt, as I have no validity to my vision for the park, but having this updated water park is definitely a plus for the future of Valleyfair. People can say what they want about Enchanted's takeover, but from listening to the Coaster101 podcast recently, and seeing what Enchanted has been posting on their social media accounts, I don't see Valleyfair heading in a bad direction. As for the waterpark in its current state this year, having a quality tube slide complex has always been a need with VF's waterpark, and I think the one that they went with is on par with what the Dells offer in terms of capacity and layout. The kiddie lagoon and slides are an interesting choice (I would have picked more advanced kid slides like a mini tornado or boomerang wall slide), but there's no doubt that it will be a nice addition. The placement of what appears to be an adult swim pool with a bar attached over where the old kiddie splash pad was is another interesting choice. I would have placed it as an attachment to the stage and the beach bites quick service location. That way, you can listen to performers while enjoying a dip in a pool reserved for adults. But hey, I don't plan theme parks. As for the expansion plans themselves, I think the updated pump house where the walking taco stand used to rest could help support a future dual slide/ raft complex where the current one resides. In my opinion, you level that entire elevated field, and build something vertical that has a few raft slides on the top and some body slides below. Maybe, if lucky, you could also fit a Matt Racer ride where the old entrance was (confirmed in a recent drive by that the new entrance will be over by Mad Mouse). As for the original Barefoot Beach, I think it should eventually be replaced with a large-scale kiddie slide tower with the large bucket on top. Theme it to the Lake Superior lighthouses you can find on the north shore, and have the light at the top spin every time the bucket is scheduled to tip. Does anyone else have thoughts on the matter tho? I know we need a new coaster, but the significant change in the waterpark this year is at least a step in the right direction. All we can do now is continue showing up for Enchanted to prove VF's place in the chain, and explain in any surveys that they send out that we need a new decent-sized coaster (in a perfect world, it would also be in the front and act as a Gatekeeper-style ride).

Well, this is interesting. I opened the app to look at the WP expansion again and they removed the additions. We now have a side by side comparison of what it used to look like and what it will look like now when the park opens. Note the old splash pad by the lazy river entrance is now a pool (adults only with a bar?). This was something previously not noted.

Here are some positive views. From their Instagram themselves they have said, "Our focus is simple: Preserve what makes each park special. Support the incredible teams behind them. Continue serving the communities that have supported these parks for generations." Another quote pulled from an Amusement Today article, "Like I said, we have a 40-year lease. We’re committed long-term to these parks,” Harhi told AT. “We’re not going to walk away from that legacy. We’re really excited about building on the rich history of each park.” This came from an interview with James Hari, which I'll link down below. It would seem that if there is a problem with capital investments going forward, it will be on end of EPR, not at the end of Enchanted Parks. Enchanted seems to want to evolve as an amusement park operator, not just simply pick up another source of income. At the end of the day, I guess it's all up to the greed of EPR, and as long as they don't get so caught up in retained earnings or whatever the proper corporate financial term is, then these parks will arguably be better than they were under Six Flags/ Cedar Fair not getting anything of notice. Source: https://amusementtoday.com/2026/03/breaking-news-enchanted-parks-acquires-multiple-six-flags-properties/

Some new news to me I thought I'd share... https://amusementtoday.com/2026/03/enchanted-parks-selects-vantage-to-unify-systems-across-all-eight-parks-and-drive-guest-engagement/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAQg68xjbGNrBCDq_GZkaWQWUC1tzyJYDeUDv0zvctIOLV2rpcJKIGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHr3yMxvYHXSPNV-sIYGWnZ4nYw3CoVNhSQ5Srg--uE9mKzE4hVab-kUF63dc_aem_h99s-qGc-QwOcZZnW0tSQg

https://www.sixflags.com/blog/looking-forward-a-new-chapter-for-six-flags?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAb21jcAQWe4NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81NjcwNjczNDMzNTI0MjcAAac0dCytdOw_FYtqRjDBVh0UdvTHFcs2AtSqV0CWnq_fcNlEt6Kejfae8AQkIQ_aem_fAAr-6B7Tgc978O9VbOILA I have my thoughts on this, but for now I'll just drop this here...

Some recent aerials confirm the slide tower is completed and has a total of five slides— three tube and two parallel pursuits. More intriguing, however, is the focus on the old starship plot of land. Appears to only be a small, shallow lagoon with enough space behind it for modern kiddie slides and more cabanas. So much for the idea of a split rock lighthouse themed large scale bucket dump complex (perfectly matches the retheme but oh well). Anyone else have thoughts? I know this thread may as well be dead, but perhaps there are still some optimistic enthusiasts out there who bear the unfortunate reality of VF being their home park.

A new higher res. image confirms that they'll have light up portions in the darker colored slides as seen in the colored stripes on the green slides. A nice touch considering none of the nearby parks I know of have it. Another interesting note is Six Flags seemed to make no mention of the new waterpark expansion in this recent update on passholder benefits (second page of attached link). Seems to be a bias present towards former Cedar Fair parks, or at least VF, especially considering they haven't let the park announce anything formally yet. We've been lucky to have even got the teasers we have so far, which is sad considering there's been more revealed about the expansion from people driving by the park, or the construction company in charge of the install. Valleyfair's relationship with long time enthusiasts and loyalists is already so damaged, this delay is simply making it worse. Hopefully they can get the right marketing leadership involved and they can start to do damage control in light of a (hopefully) soon to be built rollercoaster. https://s204.q4cdn.com/155295784/files/doc_news/2026/Feb/02/SFEC-Announces-Regional-Pass-New-Gold-Benefits-2026-w-Capital.pdf Also considering the following permit filings, does anyone have any idea what the project over by looping starship's former plot of land will be? "BLDC-029534-2025 Building (Commercial)- New: M1 Slide Tower Footings & Retaining Wall Footings are closely connected [$150,000] BLDC-029541-2025 Building (Commercial) - New: M2 - Lagoon Area Footings and Foundation Walls. The foundations and retaining walls are closely connected [$175,000] BLDC-028330-2025- Building (Commercial) - Other/Repair- M2 - Mechanical Building Kids Lagoon Slides [$100,000] BLDC-028328-2025- Building (Commercial) - Other/Repair - M1 - Slide Tower Mechanical Building (Old Waterpark) [$125,000]"

Oh boy am I glad to have been wrong. Although it's not a watercoaster, these tube slides and what appears to be a matt racer parallel pursuit model look more impressive than what I had originally anticipated. Plus they're a better fit for what Soak City (Surperior Shores pretty soon I guess) needed. Now my only complaint is that they had initially said last chance to ride these attractions (being everything in the older side of the waterpark) only to end up replacing just the body slides. Think about how much nicer it would have been if they got a new raft slide and upgraded the current lazy river to feature some new technology. Now I can only hope they reveal the plans soon since we have no images of the new lagoon area coming in where looping starship used to rest. Hopefully it's a larger kids tower complex than what barefoot beach featured. I'm thinking a split rock lighthouse centerpiece with slides surrounding it, or coming out from it would be nice. I'd also be nice to feature newer kid slides and one of those ropes course style attractions that go over water. On another note, their Meta social media platforms featured a sneak peek at some of the adult beverages, and the color of them matched the slides in the background of the photos. A nice touch on their end that hints that the retheme is going beyond just new slides. Hopefully nicer food options will follow.

I'll just leave these here for everyone to glance at. Last image is likely what the tube slide part of the complex will be. The other one is likely going to be a matt racer style slide. As for the former looping starship plot of land, it appears to unfortunately just be an expansion to the former barefoot beach. Nothing special just a small added lagoon. Now as to why Valleyfair felt the need for now a total of three kiddie areas I'm not entirely sure. Barefoot beach always felt kinda small anyway, so I guess this is their way of addressing that. I also attached an image I found on Reddit of the presentation of Valleyfair at No Coaster Con. It would appear corporate still doesn't want to say much, which is rumored to be creating frustrations from any individual park management left, which is understandable. Remember when they put up that live time lapse cam of North Star's construction? Free missed marketing opportunity. The image from ncc also shows some detailed masonry wall art, of which I'm not sure what it belongs to. Curious to see what other people's thoughts are on this thread (lol does anyone even read this thread anymore or have the lack of additions truly led to the death of enthusiasm on this thread)?

This hasn't been shared yet, but considering this massive amount could it be possible that this isn't just a waterpark expansion? Here's what I'm thinking. Next year for 2026 the new water park opens with new entrance, name, and slide complexes. The park celebrates its 50 year anniversary, and teases something bigger coming our way. Then in 2027 we get a new coaster plus a celebration of VF's 50th operating year. Cedar Point did something similar for their 150th from what I recall so I wouldn't be surprised if this is what they end up doing for VF.

Does anyone still actively visit the park anymore, lol? Flooding is the worst I've seen it at this time of year.

Wow this thread has been active recently, reminds me of the good old days when everyone was still happy with CF and VF. Regarding recent comments, I figured I would provide a little of my own story to justify opinions. I have not made the trip out to Valleyfair at all this season. Nor am I sure if I plan on going at all this season with no new rides or Haunt. In all honesty, the monster truck event is the only thing they have going for them in my opinion. Next year I plan on going down to Adventureland and Lost Island since they will have a fair amount of new rides to try out with Matugani and the log flume/ coaster at Adventureland. So from an enthusiast perspective, Cedar Fair has definitely been loosing fans, such as myself, to local competition. Now I will say, there definitely are loyal Minnesotans that make going to VF a tradition every year, but in my opinion, Cedar Fair has grown way too comfortable with this audience and, as a result, has been unwilling to give any large investment to VF knowing they have loyal fans that will continue showing up every year. I personally have stopped buying a Gold pass, and will not get one until they get a decent addition. Regarding other comments, people really need to stop buying into the whole TikTok rollercoaster teaser. VF's marketing team loves to capitalize on the fact that the park is often neglected by CF. Remember that last year they posted frequent troll teasers on their social medias. Heck they even deemed Valleyscare as the place where rides go to die a few years back. Yes Valleyfair is very much so due for a new coaster, but will it actually come, most definitely not. Just because we can build above 300 feet now does not mean that we will be getting anything that tall anytime soon. With that being said though, optimism for the future of VF is still good and it always brings some good discussion to this thread.

Valleyfair's social media has been about as dry as this thread recently with not hinting at anything, so in my mind that means VF is getting nothing next year. With all the attention that other Cedar Fair parks are getting, the chances of them spending any money on VF is very low in my mind. If we're lucky we'll see some new trash cans next year.??

So with California's Great America closing in anywhere up to the next 11 years, does anyone picture any of their rides making its way over to Valleyfair? Personally, I would love to see their B&M floorless or invert make its way over to VF, but honestly with the way that Cedar Fair treats VF, who knows.