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TPR Valleyfair Meet THIS SUNDAY!!!


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Odd that VF only rated it a 4 of 5 as far as how extreme the ride is. What's up with that!?!?!?

My "guess" would be since that it doesn't go upside down, is probably one of the reasons it's rated a notch lower.

 

And while Renegade is a lot of fun, it's not the most "XTREME" in terms of height and speed, so some people might actually not be as intmindated of a 100 foot wood coaster as they would of a 200 foot steel coaster, or a flat ride that spins upside down or is launched at 60MPH.

 

While *I* personally think Renegade is far more of a thrilling ride than Wild Thing, your average joe public would probably disagree.

 

--Robb

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^ That's true. My Mom will go on wooden coasters but not big steel ones. When we went to Knotts she went on Ghostrider but wouldn't go on Silver Bullet and I think pretty much everyone on this site would agree that Ghostrider is more intense than Silver Bullet. I think the only steel one she would get on was Jaguar.

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Sorry I missed most of you there. I met the group at 9:30 but Robb was not there yet. I brought a nonenthusiast friend who was scared of several rides and had a different idea of what a day at the park should be like so we went our seperate ways. At times I would see you guys when we were in line or you were but never at a good time to say hi. I hope you all had a good time, we sure did. I thought Renegade was running faster and I was getting more air.

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Thanks to everyone who was there today!

 

Due to some early morning lapbar locking point checks by the group we now know where some correctly aligned seats are located and I was able to ride multiple times towards the back and front. The row I attempted yesterday is defiantly 2-3" lower than the seats I rode in.

 

Overall I had a much better time at VF today than yesterday.

 

Jerry- I guess I didn't realize you initially had some problems with the lapbars/seats. Glad it worked out.

 

Had a great time meeting everyone. I wish I could have made it to MoA but as I mentioned I was beat from only about an hour of sleep.

 

We'll see you again sometime!

 

(Brad from Iowa)

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OK .. some photos from the trip. I will include the ones from Timber Falls (Avalanche) and Mall Of America too.

 

 

As soon as you cross the border from Illinois into Wisconsin, they start throwing cheese, fireworks and porn at you. I'm not joking either, this is the very first exit (the porn shop is around the back). I honestly think that every Wisconsiner's dream is to fool around with a large block of cheese in the shape of a naked women, and then set it on fire!

 

 

Since I was driving right past the Dells, I just had to stop off and say hello to my old friend: Avalanche. The first/last time I rode this was almost exactly two years ago, and it's an experience I did not forget. Saying "insane" is just not enough to truly describe this coaster.

 

 

That's right - it's a three car train. Just 6 rows. Watching this thing it looks like a bad Benny Hill bit, in fast motion. It's OK if you want to hum his theme song..

 

 

Photo-shop was not used in the creation of this photo. Thing is that the coaster travels around the perimeter of the park, only making left hand turns; and they ALL look like this! I actually get dizzy riding this too much without a break..

 

 

Notice the kid's hair as it rounds the corner - that's right, there is air-time around the turns too. It doesn't make sense to me either, but somehow Avalanche does it..!

 

 

There may "only" be left hand turns, but between the turns are these crazy small hills. I think the top of the lift is at least twice as high as the entire rest of the coaster. It's nutz.

 

 

After riding Avalanche a couple of times, it was time to jump back into my car for the second half of the drive. I was able to watch a magnificent sunset. (Forgive the bugs on the windscreen...).

 

 

Arriving at ValleyFair you get a lovely view of Wild Thing. It's unfortunate that the ride is so completely average; I was rather disappointed.

 

 

Excalibur is one of those silly Arrow steel coasters with wood supports. I guess that Cedar Fair likes these because people think it's a wood coaster, but Cedar Fair doesn't have to then worry about all that pesky maintenance and upkeep. The result is this confused ride that fails as a steel coaster, and fails as a wood coaster. Gee thanks, Cedar Fair!

 

 

I have lost count of the number of times that I've been promised an Arrow Death machine, only to find an enjoyable ride! I genuinely liked Corkscrew - I mean it's no Colossus (Thorpe), but it was fun.

 

 

Steel Venom might be exactly the same as V2 at Six Flags Great America (my home park), but I really like these rides. I ended up taking several spins on this one. Someone (I think it was Alan) asked me if I thought this was better than V2 at SFGAm; well I have to confess that it felt pretty much the same. This is a compliment, though!

 

 

Checkout the head-swallowing cleavage on the girl in the first row ... Looks like we can finally put to rest the debate about whether the holding brake is better than the twisted back spike!

 

 

The whole Mishbucha! From left to right we have: Jerry, Mark, Jerry, Brad (?), Matt, Cameron (the cool one, not me!), Kevin, Elliot, and Robb. I first rode one of these at Thorpe, and they are freaking awesome. The highest swing actually scares me (my mild fear of heights is suddenly not so mild!). I don't recall who was unlucky enough to be sitting next to me when I rode, but I think I may have grabbed his knee at one point. Sorry about that!

 

 

Elissa was not going to miss out on swinging either. So after a quick partner swap, she got to ride with Jerry.

 

 

There was this new wood coaster built down the back of the park, but you're not really interested in that right? Renegade was awesome .. now that is coming from a GCI fanboy, but seriously it's loads of fun.

 

 

Here we have the first drop. Admittedly not the most insane wood first drop I've experienced, but a lot of fun. In the back seats you float all the way down, with the train rotating around you.

 

 

A wise man once said: "GCI's don't even need a train in the pic to look great."

 

 

However pictures with trains are still great - especially when the train is a wonderful Millennium Flier, and it's sneaking its way around the butter smooth, and beautifully fluid GCI turns.

 

 

I've heard many people complain that GCI coasters lack air-time, but I was floating for much of the ride. This hill, over the service road, very well formed, and taken at speed. Goodness...

 

 

One of the things I find so unique (and terrific) about GCI coasters, is how on the turns they will pop you out of your seat, bank, and turn, all at the same time. It's tough to explain, but you know it when you feel it. You get popped into the air, and then the train banks around you before you land. It actually reminds me a lot of skiing though thick, fresh powder snow; which is probably why I like these rides so much.

 

 

Gee, who are those ugly mugs in the front car? I wonder...

 

 

After ValleyFair we hit up Mall Of America for a while. I could only stay for about an hour, since I had 6.5 hours in the car back to Chicago; but it was a fun stop. The mall in general is very impressive (and I am quite anti-mall).

 

 

This room is so large that an entire ferris wheel fits inside. The funny thing is that the wheel isn't even mounted on the ground floor!

 

 

Timberland Twister opened a few years ago, and it's a terrifically fun spinning coaster. It's a very twisted layout, and winds around many other things. Elissa and I loaded our car right (or wrong!), and really spun a lot. You spin me right round baby, right round..

 

 

As you can see, there is a lot of track on this coaster. Waiting in line I often had difficultly following the track, and watching the cars. It looked popular though, the mall-goers were having a blast.

 

 

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. It was a really fun weekend, and Valleyfair has a great new ride on their hands. The locals up there should be very happy; so feel free to brag about it, it's valid. Anyway, now I must sleep now .. Goodnight.

 

Cameron.

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Great pics Cameron, thanks for sharing! I was out at VF late yesterday afternoon and stayed until closing at 5:00. Renegade was running flawlessly, and the back seat is the only place to be imho. Next to El Toro this is the smoothest wood coater I've been on (Rumbler would be 3rd). It's great to not have to ride defensively, in fact just letting go and letting the track throw you around is a total blast. Can't wait to see how it's running by the end of the season.

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Nice pics Cameron. Yes, you remembered right....My name is Brad.

 

more importantly....Why the hell am I hanging on so tight on Extreme Swing? For the record, on my second ride I was more comfortable and just let the restraint do it's thing.

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