Valleyfair (VF) Discussion Thread

[dippindotsguy8]

I just still don't know how I feel about a waterpark parking lot for guests. The past few years, I haven't seen Valleyfair's main parking lot even half full. I understand it would be easier access for guests and they want to try the concept out here like they did at Kings Island but is it really worth the investment? I do like that yellow shaded area for a new coaster in that previous picture though.

 

You probably are smart as an enthusiast and go on days that won't be high-traffic. There are plenty of days, particularly July and August, that the lot fills up.

[ACES]

There will be four days in June 15-18 long range saying that the temperature will be near 90 for the first time this season we'll see how busy the water park will be. I'd like to ride Rip Tide few times on a hot humid days in the morning then dry off on the Extreme Swing lol.

Edited June 3, 2015 by ACES

[Vonni]

I don't think they will have problems getting permits. Valleyfair owns all that wet land by Rendgade. They said there going to buy 4.5 acres of new land and with the removal of Excalibur are they going to use that money for scrap or I'd like them to sell the ride off maybe to another park like perhaps Michigans Adventure? How much money would they get for Excalibur? I would think they would start construction in diffetent phases I'm thinking by July will see the park getting more active lol. How long would it take to tear down Excalibur?

 

Garyman6 care to share your thoughts lol?

 

 

 

If it is going to be scrapped, I would say they could have Excalibur down, and cleared in probably two days. If its going to be taken down carefully to move to another Park in the chain I think it could be done is about a week or so.

[Snowyowl1028]

Another coaster idea would be a coaster that has a station in the area behind High roller, but goes out over the main parking lot going over a redone tollbooth with the turn around in the area by the dorms.

Nice idea! If they did that though I would want them to make it like Fury325 or Gate Keeper and not like Scream. I have thought many times that chunk of the park could use a coaster. Also I guess Excalibur would work in MiA or WoF line up, but who wants to invest in a 26 year old arrow?

[baileybrucem]

Also I guess Excalibur would work in MiA or WoF's line up, but who wants to invest in a 26 year old arrow?

 

Oh my gosh if I were to be honest WoF could really benefit from an arrow coaster. As much as people like to dream about giga coasters everywhere, WoF could probably fit that ride in particular towards the middle Europa section of the park. It'd be nice to see it just moved and refurbished, not end up as a pile of scrap metal in a dump somewhere.

[VF15]

I'd assume that Excalibur will be headed for the junkyard once it is removed, although there was a park in Italy that bought SkyRider (the 30-year-old Togo standup at Canada's Wonderland), so you never know.

[grsupercity]

Another coaster idea would be a coaster that has a station in the area behind High roller, but goes out over the main parking lot going over a redone tollbooth with the turn around in the area by the dorms.

Nice idea! If they did that though I would want them to make it like Fury325 or Gate Keeper and not like Scream. I have thought many times that chunk of the park could use a coaster. Also I guess Excalibur would work in MiA or WoF line up, but who wants to invest in a 26 year old arrow?

 

MIA has a top ten woodie in ST, and a decent one in Wildcat. Excalibur should be burned to the ground, ripped apart and ran through a wood chipper. Excalibur is a frankenstein Monster that should just die already. Replace it with a nice looper

[baileybrucem]

MIA has a top ten woodie in ST, and a decent one in Wildcat. Excalibur should be burned to the ground, ripped apart and ran through a wood chipper. Excalibur is a frankenstein Monster that should just die already. Replace it with a nice looper

 

Haha I didn't know it was that bad! I've never ridden it

[VF15]

Excalibur isn't that bad. It has some jerky moments, but nothing brutal or painful in my opinion. That being said, I'm not that sad to see it go. These plans for the back of the park are a sign that there are some bigger plans for the future because a park wouldn't invest a lot of money into these infrastructure improvements and then leave it as is.

[DirkFunk]

I actually like Excalibur a lot and would be bummed to see it go. It is something different in an increasingly homogeneous world of rides. Long term given everything changing the way it is in the world, it makes sense to upgrade the water park and get some new Proslide/Whitewater stuff, but that doesn't do much for me personally to excite me and get me headed that direction.

[ACES]

I got another idea location for a new B&M inverted coaster. We're the Corkscrew station is. I have two ideas.

 

(1) Make the exit que line have it turn to the right down by the walk way faceing towards Power Tower.

 

(2) Make the entrance que line take a right turn from the Corkscrew station make the que line go down by the walk way faceing Towards the Power Tower.

 

(3) Relocate the Ferris Wheel and have it go over by the Route 76 perhaps were the chaos use to sit and flatten out that whole land space were the Ferris Wheel sits for a B&M inverted coaster and use the land by The Wave for a inverted station and have the 170 foot lift hill faceing towards Power Tower and go over the water were the same spot were the Corkscrew sits faceing Power Tower and have the track go over planet snoopy and have it come around towards Power Tower que line and have the brake run go behind the Rip Tide and the midway games maybe remove Bumper Cars make room for the brake run. There's room there for a inverted coaster look how Hershey Park did with Great Bear.

Edited June 3, 2015 by ACES

[ACES]

So is city/state going to help with the new parking lot are we talking about the main lot? A repave? Is the plan still there to build a new access road around the park? Also how long has that tunnel been there on the way to Thunder Canyon?

Edited June 3, 2015 by ACES

[VF15]

Looks like some people are already out to save Excalibur.

Edited June 4, 2015 by VF15

[garyman6]

O.K. Right of the bat, this news is confirmation of everything I have been hearing! I have to give credit to djoles. I criticized him for throwing out unconfirmed rumors that seems so implausible. He so far has been right. We will see on the other things.

I've read a lot of murmuring about replacing a Excalibur with a parking lot. Two things to note here;

First, they can't build a new service road or a parking lot unless they build a new berm to push back flood waters making this area high and dry.

Second, The fact that they believe they need new parking is great news because it means huge ride/attraction investment is coming that will bring larger crowds. I personally believe that the field in front of the dorms will become the new entrance plaza and some additional parking. They may even build some new dorms to house more foreign workers when the park grows.

 

This news also confirms Cedar Fairs statement that Valleyfair is going to be a growth park. They obviously see the potential in this market and are now putting their money where their mouth is.

 

It also solidifies rumors I have heard about a new coaster. It was already looking like the coaster was going to be located in the back of the park but It was just figuring out how to squeeze it in the existing boundaries. Now those boundaries are gone! I also believe that 2016 is still the year for our next coaster. The plans from the city state 2015 expansion. I'm guessing that most of the new berm, removal of the old road and maybe even the new parking lot will be done this year. Cedar Fair, I'm guessing, has separate budgets for infrastructure improvements and attraction expansion. All the above work is infrastructure!

 

This is probably the most exciting news for Valleyfair since it opened its gates in 1976. Valleyfair is going to be getting a lot of media attention. It has already started with the Travel Channel coming to film for Extreme Waterparks this summer. I can't wait to get to the park again this year. I'll keep you all informed of anything else that I learn.

[valleyfairfanatic]

I am wondering if they'll do the parking lot and road this season. The map did say "2015" not 2016. This could very well happen during the season. Don't permits come very close to construction in terms of time?

[C.P.A.Guy]

Valleyfair fanatics should be more excited about this than a new coaster announcement. This will open up so many more options for the future of the park and shows that Cedar Fair is willing and planning to put major future investments into the park.

 

On the application document it states the public hearing was until May 11, so I wonder if this has already been approved and onto the next step in the process. I imagine they will want to get this project started this summer since ground/dirt work during the winter in Minnesota isn't much fun. And lets not forget if the new roadway isn't built up and finished by next spring and we have a wet winter, all your progress could be washed away by flooding.

 

I'm willing to bet that moving this road, paving a parking lot, constructing a new entrance, and adding a few new water park attractions will take up the next 2-3 years of investment dollars. For people rooting for a coaster, good things come to those who wait...5 more years. I guess it took 5-6 years in between the new wave pool and new slides this year. Maybe they will construct the new access road and wait 5-6 years to scrap Excalibur and build the new parking lot/water park entrance. Then a coaster could get put in next year or 2017 in the front of the park. I know its been said a thousand times, but for 15 years, I too have been dreaming of a shiny new inverted B&M swooping over the entrance in place of the old antique autos area. Maybe in a smaller version of Gatekeeper now since wing coasters are the new thing...

[WolfmanfromSUFU]

Another coaster idea would be a coaster that has a station in the area behind High roller, but goes out over the main parking lot going over a redone tollbooth with the turn around in the area by the dorms.

Nice idea! If they did that though I would want them to make it like Fury325 or Gate Keeper and not like Scream. I have thought many times that chunk of the park could use a coaster. Also I guess Excalibur would work in MiA or WoF line up, but who wants to invest in a 26 year old arrow?

I was actually implying moving it to another part of the park.

[RCjunkie]

Excalibur should be burned to the ground, ripped apart and ran through a wood chipper. Excalibur is a frankenstein Monster that should just die already. Replace it with a nice looper

 

[ACES]

Garyman6:

If you don't mind me asking how do you know all this information lol?

[Mossed]

Nice having discussion that isn't stemmed from absolutely nothing, for a change.

[garyman6]

Garyman6:

If you don't mind me asking how do you know all this information lol?

 

I don't mind at all. This is fun and exciting. The truth is that I am speculating just like everyone else. I really don't know any concrete evidence until something like this comes out. But having said that I try to take all the rumor, statements, speculation and combine it with what I have heard personally and piece it together. There is some information that I still cannot say. This information is still a rumor but when considering the source its a strong rumor. The recent developments support this rumor but not in concrete. We may know before the end of this year if what I have heard is true or not. Then there is of course what year it will happen. We all know there will be another waterpark expansion in the next 2 to 3 years, that's pretty obvious. The rest of the story is still up for debate but if I was a betting man, I'd put my money on 2016 or 2017 for a new coaster, regardless of how much money the new access road, berm and parking lot will cost. I don't think Cedar Fair is going to waste anytime in getting done what they have planned. Carowinds is our reference. Sure, it was already a bigger park with higher attendance but not by that much. It was still far from Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, Knott's etc. but yet Cedar Fair has invested heavily in the park. They are betting that the increase in attendance will justify the investment. I'm sure they are not done with them yet even after they add to their water park. Hopefully when this news becomes "official" we will have a better idea of what they are planning.

[ACES]

C.P.A.Guy said: Good things those who wait 5 more years for a new coaster.

 

 

C.P.A. Guy: We already on a waiting period 2007 Renegade was our last one were already going on eight years add five more years on top of that? I don't think people want to wait 13 years for a new roller coaster it's going to be my guess I'm hopeing for our 40th anniversary. I'm excited to here what's possibly coming to Valleyfair. Will there be another public hearing and what did the people say at the public hearing were they excited? I'm going to visit the park a lot this summer to see if there's anything going on.

[Snowyowl1028]

With all this new stuff I really don't know when a new coaster will come. It could be anywhere between 2016-20. Hopefully some new clues will pop up.

[C.P.A.Guy]

C.P.A.Guy said: Good things those who wait 5 more years for a new coaster.

 

 

C.P.A. Guy: We already on a waiting period 2007 Renegade was our last one were already going on eight years add five more years on top of that? I don't think people want to wait 13 years for a new roller coaster it's going to be my guess I'm hopeing for our 40th anniversary. I'm excited to here what's possibly coming to Valleyfair. Will there be another public hearing and what did the people say at the public hearing were they excited? I'm going to visit the park a lot this summer to see if there's anything going on.

 

It's not like Cedar Fair is going to add a roller coaster to a park just because a certain amount of time period has gone by. From your train of thinking 2011 should have been a new coaster year, and they probably could of added a coaster with the $9 million dollars they spent that year as Renegade was between built for $6-7 million. Management felt Planet Snoopy was a better investment than a coaster and went that route.

 

So if hypothetically we get budgeted $12 million in 2016 for new attractions and management feels a new access road, new parking lot, new water park entrance, and new water park attractions are going to return a higher investment than a new coaster...then management will go with the upgraded water park ten out of ten times. Like every business it is all about making money and getting the best return on your investment, not pleasing the ten coaster enthusiasts in the area.

 

Public hearings are usually used for people who are opposed to the proposal to voice there concerns. For example, if you read the document it mentioned some bat species that is threatened or possibly endangered lives in the area. If some liberal hippies, which the twins cities area seems to be full of, wants to make a huge fuss about a couple of these threatened bats, then that public hearing would be the time to complain and could possibly delay the project. That's why I would be curious if this has all ready been approved. Somebody should read Shakopee's City Council minutes to see if there is any approvals so far.

 

Just because it is a park's anniversary doesn't mean that it will get a major attraction. In 2006 we didn't get anything major for our 30th anniversary. I guess you could call Xtreme Swing major. Just trying to be a realist, not crush your dreams. I would vote coaster along with the rest of you!

[danderson83]

I was really hoping for a new coaster in 2016. But now with the new land developments, If it takes a year or two longer, but means we get a bigger or better coaster, I'm all for it.

 

Does anyone know .... does the FAA height restriction apply to the areas to the west that will now be protected by the new road/levy? If not, maybe a taller/longer coaster isn't such a stretch for VF anymore!!