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Valleyfair (VF) Discussion Thread


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I drove by Valleyfair on the way to work today. Nice to see that the trains on Wild Thing are back on the track. How soon will they be doing testing?

 

Depends on what you define "testing". There's two stages, one done by maintenance and the other conducted by the operators pre-season. Before any ride can be ridden by anyone, it has to be cycled anywhere from 50-100 times. That goes for each train and car. I know last year some rides weren't done by Preview Day, but they weren't available so it wasn't an issue.

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^ Good question. Why start testing unless the new IOC changes are in place? Otherwise you would have to do it twice. Checked IOC's Facebook page and no announcements about that yet like they said they would at IAAPA. Of course that means nothing, they could be working on it as I type. Hopefully they are or plan to soon because in their announcement they said they would be able to get it to go faster which may provide some airtime on the return bunny hills like it used to be and improve the ride.

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VF just had four new work permits issued to add four new light poles with Verizon Wireless cell antenna's attached to them at $25,000 per antenna. So if you use Verizon as your provider your reception and data usage while at the park should be improved this year They indicate that all four will be placed near High Roller.

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One of the permits for an expensive light pole.

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Is Cedar Fair getting new web pages getting new designs? So far I've only seen two new one's Cedar Point's and Carowind's. Also would anyone like to see any live park web cam's? I don't think Valleyfair has ever had any live web cam's before?

 

A few years back they were in the process of getting equipment to have one off of Wild Thing's lift; but that got poo-pooed before things even got hooked up...

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Is Cedar Fair getting new web pages getting new designs? So far I've only seen two new one's Cedar Point's and Carowind's. Also would anyone like to see any live park web cam's? I don't think Valleyfair has ever had any live web cam's before?

My guess is that the new website will roll out once the park opens. Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland don't have the new design either, while Great America does (a park similar in size to VF and significantly smaller than KI and CW). I'm guessing the new design will debut just before opening weekend. If Kings Island and Worlds of Fun update their's this week, you can assume the same for Valleyfair in May.

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I stopped by the park this morning for employment purposes and was able to snap a few photos...

 

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First time seeing North Star in person and it's a great addition to the skyline.

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All three Wild Thing trains are back on track.

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Didn't get the clearest view of the construction site but it looks like they still haven't poured the concrete for the loading platform.

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Four weeks left until opening day... :)

 

Two other things I noticed...

-The old RipTide gondola from Knott's and the old neon entrance sign are still sitting at the back of the associate parking lot.

-Like the past two seasons, Excalibur only has one train on the track right now.

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Does anyone have any updates on Irvine Ondrey Engineering and the work they said at IAAPA they were going to perform on Wild Thing? Did it happen or is it still going to happen before pre-view day? I cannot find anything and was looking forward to checking out any improvements it would bring to the ride.

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How many test runs does Wild Thing have to make before it can actually open? I looked on the web app said it made the first test run of the season. Would the new improvements make it better and faster to run a 3 train operation without stacking up the trains or does that depend on the ride operator crew on how fast they load and unload the trains? Would they ever run 3 train operation does it have to be a really busy day with long lines to run all 3 trains? Season pass day is less then two week's away .

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How many test runs does Wild Thing have to make before it can actually open? I looked on the web app said it made the first test run of the season. Would the new improvements make it better and faster to run a 3 train operation without stacking up the trains or does that depend on the ride operator crew on how fast they load and unload the trains? Would they ever run 3 train operation does it have to be a really busy day with long lines to run all 3 trains? Season pass day is less then two week's away .

I believe each train has to make 100 test runs before anyone can ride it.

 

When I worked WT last year, we never ran three trains but was told that attendance needs to be at a certain level and there must be six operators checking restraints on the platform. I don't think we ever reached the necessary attendance during the summer season. We had a busy night during Haunt where we probably could've used the third train, but the park is usually understaffed that time of year and those operators would be needed elsewhere.

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Does anyone have any updates on Irvine Ondrey Engineering and the work they said at IAAPA they were going to perform on Wild Thing? Did it happen or is it still going to happen before pre-view day? I cannot find anything and was looking forward to checking out any improvements it would bring to the ride.

 

They just posted a video showing off their new super smooth braking...

 

[fbvideonew]

[/fbvideonew]
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How many test runs does Wild Thing have to make before it can actually open? I looked on the web app said it made the first test run of the season. Would the new improvements make it better and faster to run a 3 train operation without stacking up the trains or does that depend on the ride operator crew on how fast they load and unload the trains? Would they ever run 3 train operation does it have to be a really busy day with long lines to run all 3 trains? Season pass day is less then two week's away .

I believe each train has to make 100 test runs before anyone can ride it.

 

When I worked WT last year, we never ran three trains but was told that attendance needs to be at a certain level and there must be six operators checking restraints on the platform. I don't think we ever reached the necessary attendance during the summer season. We had a busy night during Haunt where we probably could've used the third train, but the park is usually understaffed that time of year and those operators would be needed elsewhere.

 

100 runs on each train is correct (at least from what I've been told). If I remember correctly three trains on WT requires you to clear the next train by the time the first train clears the lift. It's insanely hard to do with current SOP.

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They just posted a video showing off their new super smooth braking...

 

Thanks for the update! That is a much smoother brake run vs. what was there before. It will be interesting to ride it in a few weeks and see what they did to the mid course brake. Hopefully some more speed for air time on the return bunny hills.

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Does anyone know the loading area for north star is complete?

I drove by the park on Friday the 14th and it looked like it hadn't been completed but that may have changed since then.

 

A little late in posting this but it looks like North Star has completed a full test cycle. Looking good.

[fbvideonew]

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How long does it take to do 100 test runs on all 3 trains? Also with the new add on drink plan season pass $29.95 cup refill. Are there going to be self serve Coke stations around the park how does this work just scan your pass and get the cup? I like this idea free refill every 15 minutes all day no more small cups with water for the all day dining pass.

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