Valleyfair (VF) Discussion Thread

[VF15]

Whatever it was, it is now gone, and they are doing more digging and work in that area.

[ariznglori]

I'm glad we have Dinosaurs Alive while Jurassic World is coming out in theaters. The movie will probably give any dino-themed attraction a good boost. We get to be the park that will benefit the most from the walkthrough animatronic garden. If we had to have it at all, this was the ideal time.

[GwaziBSRider1]

^ I don't doubt that the Dinos at the Cedar Fair parks will get a nice boost from the film, but I don't see how VF will be "the" park to receive the most benefit.

[GCI Wooden]

Also, Valleyfair has to compete with MN Zoo's dino-park, so I have no idea how this will be the "most-benefited" park.

[ariznglori]

I was under the impression that Dinos Alive was a travelling attraction that stayed for a set number of years and then left. Haven't any parks that gotten it lost it?

 

Either way, this still benefits Cedar Fair overall compared to its rivals. And I stand by it likely being the most benefited park in the region, even over the zoo.

[VF15]

The Universal parks are obviously going to be the ones benefiting the most from Jurassic World because Universal is making the movie, and those parks have Jurassic Park themed rides and areas. That being said, I still think Valleyfair and the other Cedar Fair parks' Dinosaurs Alive attractions will probably get a boost in visitors because of Jurassic World.

[ariznglori]

Doesn't Universal go without saying, though? I was going along the lines of regional parks, like Six Flags, in which case Dinosaurs Alive is a great leg up, at least while Jurassic World is going.

[VF15]

I was just thinking about possible places for future expansion, and I remember a lot of us saying that the area behind High Roller is where a new roller coaster should go. Well, when riding High Roller back in October, I realized that a portion of Dinosaurs Alive goes behind High Roller, and, I'm not completely sure of this, but I think they built a permanent Haunt structure back there, and the gap between High Roller and those areas is very small, so we can pretty much count that area out as possible expansion land (at least until Dinosaurs Alive goes). Just thought I'd put that out there. Now, my guess is that the 2016/2017 coaster will probably take over the part of the parking lot near Steel Venom, or it will be slightly to the right of Renegade (which would require the relocation of a few of those buildings back there).

[ariznglori]

Good point. The parking lot is probably the easiest thing to move and rebuild to allow the park to expand.

 

Though it's unlikely, I'd love to see an invert between Mad Mouse and Renegade. They could move the sheds and buildings to a new area off the parking lot and still have easy access to the park for maintenance, repairs, storage, etc.

 

I feel like they are focusing on getting as many attractions as possible in the parts of the park that don't flood. Valleyfair's density and compact layout really gives it a lot of atmosphere. Another coaster back by Renegade could stay within the berms to avoid flooding, and attract people to the back of the park even if there is flooding and Renegade is closed.

[valleyfairfanatic]

Like I stated a few weeks ago. The cones that bordered that land in the parking lot mean something. Not sure what, but something

[ariznglori]

Did the cones correspond to the water level during flooding? Keeping the parking lot from flooding will help the park even when the river's not cooperating.

[valleyfairfanatic]

I saw the cones in the parking lot in the last few weeks of Valleyfair's operating season. The thing that confused me is that the area grew in size with in a week.

[RCjunkie]

I was just thinking about possible places for future expansion, and I remember a lot of us saying that the area behind High Roller is where a new roller coaster should go. Well, when riding High Roller back in October, I realized that a portion of Dinosaurs Alive goes behind High Roller, and, I'm not completely sure of this, but I think they built a permanent Haunt structure back there, and the gap between High Roller and those areas is very small, so we can pretty much count that area out as possible expansion land (at least until Dinosaurs Alive goes). Just thought I'd put that out there. Now, my guess is that the 2016/2017 coaster will probably take over the part of the parking lot near Steel Venom, or it will be slightly to the right of Renegade (which would require the relocation of a few of those buildings back there).

 

With the new Haunt structure that went up this fall I agree with you now that nothing will go in that area for a while. The front area of the parking lot to the right of the entrance where the cones were spotted at this fall could make sense too, especially if the Dino's are removed. At that point you could even rebuild the entrance and incorporate a ride into the design like CF and CW. (It's fun to dream ). Not that I want it but I still think a removal of a coaster (Excalibur) is a 50/50 shot if/when the new coaster arrives.

 

Another thing that I speculate about is the re-design of the entire game alley from the Depot Refreshments to Riptide. Anybody else thought about this and care to opine? This is just not the area it used to be when the park opened in the 70's and into the early 80's. Back then it seemed much more popular and created a fair atmosphere with all the people but the modern day amusement park visitor just doesn't seem to play games like earlier generations did. You can see they have already removed 3 game fronts over the last 2 years and converted them to self serve soda and food booths. My guess is due to cost and return on investment, the game area is not not as popular as it once was and you don't need all those attendants standing around sucking up payroll with no return. Am I way off base about this or have others noticed the decline in the area over the last 5 years? Maybe my perspective if off but that is what I see when I visit. Shrink the game fronts in half, move Supercat and you would have some nice space to work with.

[valleyfairfanatic]

I heard from some rumors amongst the employees that they will take out a section of the parking lot and fill it in with a ride or two. When I saw the cones the rumor made a bit more sense. I wish I snapped a picture but, no phones on the job !

[GCI Wooden]

I rarely see anyone playing the games. And moving Supercat, is Supercat popular enough to warrant a move, instead of a removal. I have NEVER seen Supercat with a line or filling all the seats. I agree that removing games for a new ride would be great.

 

Let's just hope that if the park decides to put rides in the parking lot, they paint over the lines so it doesn't end up like Scream at SFMM!

[valleyfairfanatic]

Supercat surprisingly is a popular ride for guests. On a typical summer day, or a busy day in the fall, the ride is actually pretty full. As for demolitions, I would suspect riptide going first. Even on hot days that ride has no more then 10 people on it.

[VF15]

I heard from some rumors amongst the employees that they will take out a section of the parking lot and fill it in with a ride or two. When I saw the cones the rumor made a bit more sense. I wish I snapped a picture but, no phones on the job !

Even though that's just a rumor, if it has any validity to it, that could be good news . That would be the perfect location for part of a Gatekeeper/Fury 325-like layout (having a part of it go over the park entrance). If it was to be a new coaster coming in 2016, we'd probably have to see land clearing/new lot paving in that area by early to mid-summer because that's when that stuff normally happens.

Another thing that I speculate about is the re-design of the entire game alley from the Depot Refreshments to Riptide. Anybody else thought about this and care to opine? This is just not the area it used to be when the park opened in the 70's and into the early 80's. Back then it seemed much more popular and created a fair atmosphere with all the people but the modern day amusement park visitor just doesn't seem to play games like earlier generations did. You can see they have already removed 3 game fronts over the last 2 years and converted them to self serve soda and food booths. My guess is due to cost and return on investment, the game area is not not as popular as it once was and you don't need all those attendants standing around sucking up payroll with no return. Am I way off base about this or have others noticed the decline in the area over the last 5 years? Maybe my perspective if off but that is what I see when I visit. Shrink the game fronts in half, move Supercat and you would have some nice space to work with.

Like others have said, I rarely seen anyone playing the games at Valleyfair, even on busier days. I guess it's probably because people just don't come to amusement parks to play games anymore. Games might have been a bigger thing back in the day, but nowadays, they just aren't. Since they removed the games island near Planet Snoopy and Mad Mouse to make way for the Soak City expansion, it could be a sign that they might remove the other ones later. Removing the game stalls in that area from Depot Refreshments to RipTide could leave some room for a few new rides (probably not enough space for a coaster, but I could be wrong). Relocating SuperCat would not be a problem. They could probably move it over to Route 76, or maybe put it in the old Tilter spot near Wild Thing's queue. As for RipTide, I think it will either stay put, or just get removed altogther. I've never seen longer than a two-cycle wait for RipTide (even on hot days), and unlike it's neighbor thrill rides Power Tower and Xtreme Swing, it is not on the Fast Lane pass, but it will only be 10 years old in 2015, so I don't see it going just yet.

[valleyfairfanatic]

Here's a picture from Mr.Frazier's twitter, it seems the footers are in place!

[ariznglori]

Midway games were probably awesome in the days before gaming consoles. I've never played a midway game and no one I go to parks with even bothers to try them.

 

I'd like to see them turn the midway games area into more of a food court area, with each window being a stall, maybe a fortune teller somewhere...put a dark ride over there. Sideshow attractions a la "cirque du freak", give the whole place a "dark side of the fair" vibe--even the dark ride (since Cedar Fair is customizing dark rides to individual parks). I'm picturing a games island turned bar with stools on the midway and carny lights.

 

It would be cool to go through such an area on the way to the intense attractions, and would help differentiate it from the 50s area and Route 76, and it would be a natural opposite to Planet Snoopy, catering more to adults and teens...

 

Footers are great progress! The slides should be open when the waterpark opens, right?

[VF15]

^

Yep, as long as they stay on pace with the construction, the new additions should be open with the rest of the waterpark on Memorial Day Weekend.

[ariznglori]

I cannot wait to see the waterpark from Wild Thing's lift hill next season.

[VFFTW]

Valleyfair games op here...the games aren't going anywhere anytime soon. They do turn a profit--I could count all the days this season where my profits didn't match my wage on one hand. They're really popular for families with kids. And they are relocating the games that got taken out for the waterpark expansion.

[Mdcastle]

Supercat vs Riptide: My observation is the opposite, a lot of people are on Riptide (when it's not broken) on hot days and no-one is on SuperCat. Now if they'd restore is by putting the top back on... wonder if it just broke or there were issues with guest behavior.

 

Games: Yes, now we have PlayStations and have figured out it's cheaper just to buy a stuffed bear if we want one. The profit is so high I don't see it going away entirely so maybe they could pick the best of the games from the current Midway area and the now closed Soak City area.

 

I've never been on a hydromagnetic rocket slide, but I assume they're an evolution of the conveyor-belt slides like Black Anaconda, which is one of the best rides at Noah's.

[RCjunkie]

Supercat vs Riptide: My observation is the opposite, a lot of people are on Riptide (when it's not broken) on hot days and no-one is on SuperCat. Now if they'd restore is by putting the top back on... wonder if it just broke or there were issues with guest behavior.

 

I have heard it was due to guest behavior and it became a safety issue because of that. I am not 100% sure so if someone does know the real reason why please share it. For those of you who did not ride it when it had the canopy top cover it definitely added an element to the ride that made it more fun. It was a cloth cover that was stored in the middle of the ride and then it would stretch from the center of the ride over the top of the train and the cover the ride while it was operating. The cloth was striped yellow and green/black which when it was active covered the top of the riders and looked like a caterpillar from the outside. (If I remember right that was the original name of the ride; The Caterpillar). Also when the ride was running you would hear the music that was piped into the rest of the park but then when the top came over it played different music that was local to the ride and then go back to the normal music once the top came back down. It would cover the ride for about 15-20 seconds at a time and do it 3-4 times during the ride cycle.

[RCjunkie]

Relocating SuperCat would not be a problem. They could probably move it over to Route 76, or maybe put it in the old Tilter spot near Wild Thing's queue. As for RipTide, I think it will either stay put, or just get removed altogther. I've never seen longer than a two-cycle wait for RipTide (even on hot days), and unlike it's neighbor thrill rides Power Tower and Xtreme Swing, it is not on the Fast Lane pass, but it will only be 10 years old in 2015, so I don't see it going just yet.

 

The area where the old Tilter was would be perfect if they decide to relocate it and keep it. I don't want RipTide removed, just a better use of the space between it and the Depot Refreshments would be nice to add some new rides or attractions.