Valleyfair (VF) Discussion Thread

[coastersandhockey]

I had a theory that they hadn't announced anything yet because they were waiting to see which slides survived deconstruction from Six Flags America that they could move to Valleyfair but now that we see the complex up we know it's a brand new complex. Which makes their lack of announcement all the more puzzling. 

[Swishtime101]

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. 

[Mdcastle]

You can see what look to be pieces of kid's slides sitting down in the grass where the exit to Raging Rapids used to be, like they set them down their until the lagoon at the old Looping Starship is ready. A few other thoughts-

Looks like they may be making a new main entrance between the kiddie slide lagoon? and Barefoot Beach. This makes more sense why the'd put a pumphouse in what was formerly one of the prime locations right at the entrance to the waterpark- they might be planning to wall off the old entrance so the pumphouse is way in the back. 

The old-old kiddie splash station might be a good spot for a future addition of the big family dump bucket structure that we're still missing. 

[Swishtime101]

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...

[prozach626]

It's a theme park forum so it's probably appropriate and beneficial to the users to share it. This place is dead enough now without withholding posts.

[SharkTums]

I honestly found Valleyfair the most shocking park in the announcement.  It's an original Cedar FAIR park!!!  I realize SFStL is also, but that park has felt on the way out for years already!

[CaptainUnknown]

^To add to that, Valleyfair wasn't part of the parks originally trademarked by Enchanted Parks. And the park recently took out a $45M loan to use for CapEx. It'll be interesting to see what happens with that.

[RCjunkie]

This is probably best for VF. As scary as it can be for not knowing what will happen with the new owners, the old owners were doing next to nothing for their small parks.  Now they may get some attention and investment for a new coaster after 20 years.  We’ll see. 

[prozach626]

2 hours ago, RCjunkie said:

This is probably best for VF. As scary as it can be for not knowing what will happen with the new owners, the old owners were doing next to nothing for their small parks.  Now they may get some attention and investment for a new coaster after 20 years.  We’ll see. 

That seems to be the general consensus with the SFStl crowd, too.

[Swishtime101]

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

[SoCalJasonland]

The concerning news to me is that it is EPR that is buying the parks.  I looked up what else they owned before the recent purchase: Pacific Park California, Magic Springs Arkansas, Wild Waves Washington, and Frontier City Oklahoma, and only Frontier City has added a coaster in the past two decades and it was a family Zamperla coaster.  I went by Wikipedia so I am not sure if I missed any other additions but most of there other parks on the list are waterparks.

If all you are getting is the same de-themed rides, loss of the meal pass, and having to buy and extra yearly pass for Enchanted Parks/EPR; then the people are coming out slightly better off than if the parks just closed.

I hope I am wrong and they invest something into some thrill rides but people expecting a great improvement haven't looked at the way other EPR parks have been run in the past.  Private money/equity buy outs haven't done that well for Vegas or fastfood, so I don't know what to expect with amusement parks except for profit optimization.

[AmyUD06]

13 minutes ago, SoCalJasonland said:

The concerning news to me is that it is EPR that is buying the parks.  I looked up what else they owned before the recent purchase: Pacific Park California, Magic Springs Arkansas, Wild Waves Washington, and Frontier City Oklahoma, and only Frontier City has added a coaster in the past two decades and it was a family Zamperla coaster.  I went by Wikipedia so I am not sure if I missed any other additions but most of there other parks on the list are waterparks.

If all you are getting is the same de-themed rides, loss of the meal pass, and having to buy and extra yearly pass for Enchanted Parks/EPR; then the people are coming out slightly better off than if the parks just closed.

I hope I am wrong and they invest something into some thrill rides but people expecting a great improvement haven't looked at the way other EPR parks have been run in the past.  Private money/equity buy outs haven't done that well for Vegas or fastfood, so I don't know what to expect with amusement parks except for profit optimization.

Would you prefer the parks that are going to be run by EnParks be closed all together?  Because that is the most likely alternative in a timeline where EnParks/EPR did not buy these parks.

[Swishtime101]

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/

[SoCalJasonland]

12 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:

Would you prefer the parks that are going to be run by EnParks be closed all together?  Because that is the most likely alternative in a timeline where EnParks/EPR did not buy these parks.

I am fine with them staying open as I worked at Frontier City during high school, loved the charm of the smaller Six Flags/Premier Parks, and was happy that EPR kept them around even though the general public bitches about  Frontier City.   We did drive to SFOT when we wanted to go on real roller coasters though.

I have posted online before that people are lucky the parks are staying open and not receiving the SFA, CGA, SFWOA,/Geuga Lake, Astroworld, or SFNO, type of fate.  But many other people, mostly on Reddit, are acting like that isn't good enough and the new owners need to improve the parks because Six Flags and Cedar Fair neglected them or they will never visit the parks again.  

I am hoping people can be a little more grateful that the parks are still around and not a new housing development.  SF Magic Moutain would have been a housing development 20  years ago if the local California govenment hadn't have voted to deny a zoning change from entertaiment to residential.  CGA was not as lucky with Santa Clara.  Former SFNO is still a swamp that is still begging for $50 million to turn into a sports / fitness park.  Amusement Parks futures are not guaranteed.