Valleyfair (VF) Discussion Thread

[garyman6]

The past two years they have rented out their parking lot for a drive through Christmas light show.  Maybe to test out the response.  It has been a hit!

[jazma]

I think if you cut down on the Winterfest characters, it could be a viable return to WOF and a new addition to VF.  I hope so anyways.

[Swishtime101]

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. 

[valleyfairfanatic]

I think Valleyfair has a good niche and I think cedar fair notices this. Why drop a lot of money when the park is doing fine with cheaper events and additions? From a purely corporate perspective, I think if a park like valleyfair is able to easily get by with the occasional 100k investment into an event compared to a 10 million dollar roller coaster, why even bother?

I think the biggest shock to me was the removal of haunt. Valleyfair seems to have a very kid-gloves approach to security now as compared to when I started my time working at the park, and I think that contributed to the removal of haunt. Good security is expensive, and sometimes events like the 2018 fight night at haunt can give valleyfair bad PR. Even so, third party security contractors can make things worse and I genuinely believe the temporary agencies that were hired in during the 2018-2019 seasons did more harm than good during haunt.

Looking at the security guards most of them don't have much outside of a radio, body cam, and maybe pepper spray. This is a pretty stark difference to how they were equipped and would deal with situations in 2014-2017. I think a lot more is handled by Shakopee PD and Scott Co Sheriff's Office as they have officers patrolling the park as well. I could certainly see Valleyfair raising prices to keep trouble makers out similar to what Six Flags and Knotts has done. 

This isn't to say valleyfair isnt making things happen though. The park i started working at in 2014 and the park I left in 2021 when I ended my time there is a night and day difference. I started at a park that was disorganized and had a very mom-and-pop feel, and now it feels like valleyfair is an organized corporate business. I'm still holding out hope that haunt will return given the negative feedback that decision made and that we will hopefully get something new. 

I do think the marketing "false teases" are annoying and the dead horse has been beaten enough. This is my sole opinion and no one elses. Not trying to represent anyone or any company. 

[ilrider]

We may be up near VF at the end of June and are thinking of stopping by. Would we need two days to get all the coaster credits on weekdays, or would one weekday day be enough? There will be five of us, with two who will ride all the coasters. Would we enjoy the park more if we gave it two days? We don’t want to feel rushed. We won’t do Fast Lane. Debating whether to do two days at VF or one at VF and one at Nickelodeon Universe. We have never been to VF, but were just at NU a couple years ago, so we will likely skip NU if we spend two days at VF.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[budtbum]

I'd say you could do it in a day. Especially if you're mainly interested in the coasters. 
If you spend a lot of time in the water park it would make it harder to get all the other rides in. But it's doable. Especially if you're there the full day- 10am to 10pm.

You probably won't see "everything" in the park , but would be satisfied. 

[ilrider]

^We won’t hit the waterpark. Thanks!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Valleyfair is not a two-day park. Do one day at VF and one at NU, or one at VF and one exploring the Twin Cities. There's a lot of great stuff around here, depending on what you like.

[grsupercity]

I did half a day at VF and half a day NU. Park is small. When I went High roller, excalibur and Cosmic coaster were closed. With those open I could see it being a full day park 

[garyman6]

Valleyfair announced their event line up yesterday. NO MONSTER JAM.  Does this mean we could see some construction activity in that area?  Keep an eye out for markers and equipment.  

[jazma]

I wouldn’t read too much into that. That Feld Entertainment was a package deal for the smaller parks and if I remember correctly, it just rolled over due to Covid. It was never intended as a long term thing.   Also the other CF parks who also hosted this event as part of a tour, are also not hosting it in 2023.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Just got my season tickets! Who else is excited for the new season at Valleyfair!?

[millertpr]

Did anyone notice that Valleyfair removed the small Snoopy's Junction kids train ride behind the monorail? I've always thought this would be a prime expansion pad, especially given that Valleyfair seems to be marketing more to families. Any work being done? Are the train tracks/sign/station still there? Or is it all gone?

Have to remember that in the last 5 years, Valleyfair has added 0 new rides, and now, they have removed 5 attractions: Snoopy's Moon Bounce, Snoopy's Junction, Dinosaurs Alive, Looping Starship, and RipTide...

[budtbum]

I was just there- nothing is happening at Snoopy Junction. Track, Station and sign are gone. 

Just the comic poster of Snoopy wondering if all that sand is necessary. Which has more of an ironic twist now.  

[millertpr]

This is a crazy thought, and I don't think it will happen. But just a thought, so I thought I'd throw it out here:

Within the past few days, Knott's closed Timberline Twister, a very small and compact kids coaster. What if this was transferred to Valleyfair's Planet Snoopy to go in the plot of land formerly occupied by Snoopy's Junction?

If it could be moved and the ride still works, I think it'd be a good addition for a park that's heavily advertising to families with small children. The park needs something in between the powered coaster and Mad Mouse.

[CaptainUnknown]

That ride is 40 years old. It's headed to the scrap heap. But that plot would make a good place for a Planet Snoopy expansion. Maybe for the 2024 season.

[Donomike05]

It actually looks like Valleyfair is actually teasing something on Instagram.

[budtbum]

Unless there is something else, the only thing I see is they officially announced Tricks and Treats for this year... Short lines for the fall rides. 

[CaptainUnknown]

The park has changed their profile pic across various socials with the caption, "Notice anything different…? Things are changing at Valleyfair."

[budtbum]

Tricks and treats does say "family-friendly fall daytime event"- maybe Scare is coming back, if that is a homage to the old sign when things "changed". It was a big money maker at one time. Who knows with the merger with Six Flags, what influence that made too...

[Lightning Rod]

Just announced on April 2nd this morning ValleyScare returns this fall. 

[CaptainUnknown]

Valleyscare will be a separately ticketed event this year.

It'll be interesting to see how well this does this year. While I'm not expecting a quality event, the crowds could prove why it stopped in the first place.