Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Alright, a trip out to Minnesota, what to say. Park at MOA Overall I was impressed with how well the park was maintained. A lot of nice landscaping and it was very clean. Operations were good enough: Timberland Twister running 3/6 cars and Ripsaw running 1 train. Didnt need any more, Twister had a 10 minute line at most and Ripsaw was a walk on, and all the flats were open. Timberland Twister - 3 rides I found this much more fun than Pandemonium, the lift is extremely fast in effect causing the rest of the ride to be that much quicker. The hills had some good air, and the spinning was okay. Pepsi Ripsaw - 1 ride (back row) Better than expected, smooth and has some scenic tunnels. Sat in the back so its cool seeing that massive train navigating the course in front of you. Overall you can tell its a tame family coaster, but gets the job done. Little Shaver - 1 ride An oval powered coaster, not much else to say. Valleyfair! Man am I glad we went to this place for a few hours after MOA before going again the next day. We got on all the coasters, Xtreme Swing, and both Power Towers in that 2 hours. The next day both Xtreme Swing and Power Tower were down because they said S&S called and reccomended intense cable inspections (which is 100% understandable)...PT opened later that day but not XS. Operations were okay at best: most coasters running 1 train but walk ons, Renegade running 1 on Friday morning even when it wasnt raining (probably due to maintenence). Renegade - 1 ride front row / 2 rides back row / 4 total rides 2 trains Thursday night, opened with 1 Friday morning, added the second in the afternoon, went back to 1 when it started drizzling. Its all about the setting. First time we went on it, we were not really impressed. It was fast and had some nice helixes, but no forces or airtime. Then we went on it that night and it kicked major ass, my #2 woodie (even though that was a front row ride at night, got some bugs to the face). The ride was good in back row also. I've never really been a huge GCI fan, this was my favorite GCI i've been on but still wasnt as good as most people say it is. #2 woodie for me behind Hades. Also there is vandalism literally all over the queue already. All the walls and railings have been written on with maker my guests. You can also clearly see where the employees have scratched out innapropriate things with permanent marker (instead of just painting the rail/wall brown like most corporate parks would do). 2 trains Thursday night, opened with 1 Friday morning, added the second in the afternoon, went back to 1 when it started drizzling. Wild Thing - 1 ride front row / 1 ride back row / 4 total rides Now heres the surprise of the trip! I was expecting this to suck cause well, its a Morgan hyper, but the first half was kicking major ass. The drop was great as was the first bunny hill, and the turnaround got some good speed and forces also. Unfortunately after the brake run the ride kinda sucks with those slow traingle camelback hills, but the first half was definitley worth riding again multiple times. 2 train op, 1 train during drizzle. Corkscrew - 1 ride Bleh, Vekoma corkscrew. Basically lift, drop, loop, double corkscrew, brakes. I found it funny how theres an onride video taker on this of all rides (only ride in the park to have one). 1 train op. Power Tower - 1 ride each side Better than CP's IMO (in general, the smaller the tower the better the ride for S&S except Dr Doom). They both had some nice pops of air, but I still prefer the Intamin towers. Xtreme Swing - 1 ride This was much more fun than Skyhawk IMO (even though Skyhawk wasnt running full speed when I rode it). There were 2 swings where the airtime was amazing, great forces and views. It was closed all of the next day (read above). Excalibur - 1 ride front row / 1 ride back row / 2 total rides A little rough around the edges though definitley not as bad as I thought it would be, nothing unbearable. Basically its a lot like Gemeni, same trains and track/support style (though obviousley not a racing coaster, and obviosley its a bit rougher). 1 train op High Roller - 1 ride Bleh POS, wouldnt care if someone took a torch to it and burned it to hell. Good for kids and people scared of coasters, not really worth a re-ride to me. 1 train op. Mad Mouse - 1 ride It was nice there was literally no one on the ride when we went on Thursday night, and it was running 7 cars. Arrow Mice are pretty good, the turns are a lot smoother and not nearly as intense as the Reverchon/Zamperla spinners and obviousley not as "cool" as the Gerstlauer spunners, but its worth a ride or two. 7 car op. Steel Venom - 1 ride back row / 2 total rides Bleh its an impulse, not a huge fan. The holding brake is A LOT rougher than V2 at GAm's, nailed my nuts both rides. The lims make a lot of strange sounds compared to V2 and WT also, kind of freaky. Riptide - 1 ride We sat on the outsides to avoid getting wet, and we did avoid it, which was nice. Cycle was decent, not really intense but had some good flipping. Other Random Trip Notes At VF, right when it started drizzling all the coasters immediatley went down to 1 train (okay, the 2 coasters that were running 2 trains which were Wild Thing and Renegade, went down to 1 train, the rest stayed in 1). We figured they probably dont run 2 trains on rides in the rain and when we asked they said CF made that rule new last week. Wait, would this have anything to do with Magnum? Jeff is a defective navigator When calling for pizza from the hotel room we couldnt decide what to order, and Eric said "You [insert innapropriate phrases here] to us while he was talking to the guy on the phone, it was quite hilarious. "ACEr trips" rock, gotta love the car ride "guess the coaster" games spanning for hours at a time. Shanks for reading. Quick pit stop before MOA Time for some ATR! (Arbys The Ride) Eric playing some Pokemon before we head out Cant decide what to wear, my closet features such a diverse wardrobe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 -- It took a little while to try to take a decent pic in here We finally make it to the park at MOA Which really is the park at MOA, not The Park at Mall of America. All the spiels say "The park at M O A" Jeff sucks it down We drank plenty of lemonade on the trip On Skyscraper Well this doesnt look awkward or anything Ill make sure to do that We decided to try out Skyscraper also. Definitley worth the quick pit stop! Ah ha, no admission gate here! As much as I like you, your too expensive for this quick stop Maybe next time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 -- Yay more Twister Worst shooting dark ride ever. Dont waste your time, ride Timberland Twister more Lil Shaver, taken from Ripsaws exit path Thats a monster train Whoring out on the Little Shaver Loading platform Closer view of block display, and a AB 1000 monitor Timberland Twisters really nice control area, complete with ride camera's and block display Ah now this is familiar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 -- Fountain, pond, shrubbery, corkscrews Oh noes, looks like VF is short on Zenafreeze I find it funny how the only ride in the park to have these is Corkscrew, the ride anyone is least likely to buy it They copied us Nice looking entrance plaza Valleyfair welcomes us As stated in the ride review, Wild Thing was much better than I expected it to be Yay we made it to Valleyfair, cue the completely random modern music they play that doesnt fit the area at all We depart A pretty lame Tumbler flat It was just impossible for my camera to take a decent picture in this place Yes this wave swinger does have a few backwards seats! Good burrito? Tried for another artsy shot and miserably failed Eric and Jeff take on a ride on the Axe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 -- CF parks never short of staff Excalibur is extremely popular among park guests Excalibur queue house That looks perfectly normal Once again, couldnt take any decent pics on this trip. I deserve to die Yay for Renegade Those millennium flyer trains by the way are great! Very comfortable As stated earlier, vandalism all over Renegade's queue already. You can tell where the park employees have been scratching it out (who needs to paint over it?) When Cedar Fair meets the great southwest Dont know why but I couldnt take any decent quality pics on this trip (not that it would be anyway since Jeff is in it) Tried getting a pic of the loading platform but there wasnt much space (not trying to get picture of random girls I dont know and dont care to ever see again)... Yes it does have buzz bars, yes the ride still sucks High Roller queue house High quality theming in High Rollers queue Cheap knockoffs not cool with Jeff! At least VF midways arent creepy or anything As random ride ops jumps into the photo..... Oh and Wild Thing was Erics 250th coaster (reject ACEr)... He's excieted to be here tonight! You may get this, you may not, which is perfectly okay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 -- We asked the ride ops where we could put our merch/cameras so they wouldnt get wet and he advised us to place them on the platform. We looked at where he wanted us to put them and said "um, theres a puddle there" and he insisted it wouldnt get wet. So we did, and of course, our stuff got soaked. Renegade scores a 4 That ride doesnt really look like a "starship" Okay, moving onto the next morning.... Trying out for the theme park review calendar? Hilarious pizza order (read "random notes" above) Yay for being a CF ride greeter Why am I posting pictures of random queue houses at 3am? Time for some artsy night pics Had to go back and re-size this again, hence being out of order Had to go back and re-size this again, hence being out of order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 -- And this is where we have to end the tr The world famous "Dinasour" Taking a spin on their enterprise Eric hates all the people on that train Valleyfair really has no regard for common-sense grooming. Heres a ride op with a Michigan sweatshirt, and his hat says "Ecuador" and isnt wearing a nametag. There were lots of park employees around the park like this, I think they forgot they are a corporate park 2 trains sitting in the storage track (see "random notes" above) Taking a back row ride Inspecting Xtreme Swing Who needs a maintenence cart?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMorgan Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Corkscrew - 1 ride Bleh, Vekoma corkscrew. Basically lift, drop, loop, double corkscrew, brakes. I found it funny how theres an onride video taker on this of all rides (only ride in the park to have one). 1 train op. High Roller - 1 ride Bleh POS, wouldnt care if someone took a torch to it and burned it to hell. Good for kids and people scared of coasters, not really worth a re-ride to me. 1 train op. I love seeing trip reports of my old home park. Actually, since I lived in MN until I was 18, I still kind of consider it my home park. Don't be so critical of your pictures. Those dusk shots of Steel Venom look like they could be postcards! The clouds in the backround look photoshopped, they're so perfect. 2 comments: 1) The Corkscrew was actually built by Arrow, and it was one of the very first Arrow custom loopers. The reason they installed the onride video on the Corkscrew is because, (although hard to beleive), it is the most ridden coaster in the park! 2) Let me get this straight, you think they should keep Excalibur and torch the Highroller??????? Lil' Shaver is worth praise, but not the Highroller? One of the few remaining IAD coasters, and with it's original trains, and you think they should TORCH it? Please explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnumfan Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 High Roller was once a classic coaster. I wish they will run it like they use to back in the days. I always thought our Enterprise is one of the nicest looking flat rides anywhere. It's amazing that it is now 29 years old and it still looks pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Let me get this straight, you think they should keep Excalibur and torch the Highroller??????? Lil' Shaver is worth praise, but not the Highroller? One of the few remaining IAD coasters, and with it's original trains, and you think they should TORCH it? Please explain I wouldnt care if they torched both of them, heh. I've been on plenty of "classic" wooden coasters and High Roller isnt one to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Nicky Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Corkscrew - 1 ride Bleh, Vekoma corkscrew. Basically lift, drop, loop, double corkscrew, brakes. I found it funny how theres an onride video taker on this of all rides (only ride in the park to have one). 1 train op. High Roller - 1 ride Bleh POS, wouldnt care if someone took a torch to it and burned it to hell. Good for kids and people scared of coasters, not really worth a re-ride to me. 1 train op. I love seeing trip reports of my old home park. Actually, since I lived in MN until I was 18, I still kind of consider it my home park. Don't be so critical of your pictures. Those dusk shots of Steel Venom look like they could be postcards! The clouds in the background look photoshopped, they're so perfect. 2 comments: 1) The Corkscrew was actually built by Arrow, and it was one of the very first Arrow custom loopers. The reason they installed the onride video on the Corkscrew is because, (although hard to beleive), it is the most ridden coaster in the park! 2) Let me get this straight, you think they should keep Excalibur and torch the Highroller??????? Lil' Shaver is worth praise, but not the Highroller? One of the few remaining IAD coasters, and with it's original trains, and you think they should TORCH it? Please explain. Corkscrew is the most ridden coaster in the park but only because it has been around for 27 years and Arrow built many Custom Loopers before it- Carowinds Looper(Can't recall the name) Turn of the Century's/Demons-Marriott parks Corkscrew-Cedar Point etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Great TR. Even though if you ask me, I am still going WTF over cameras on Corkscrew. Seriously, the only thing Valleyfair needs to become a well balanced park is an inverted or a looping coaster. Other than that, again, great TR and some nice night shots of Valleyfair! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoosh Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 ^Well maybe they can get Thunderhawk from GL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMorgan Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Seriously, the only thing Valleyfair needs to become a well balanced park is an inverted or a looping coaster. I totally agree. Now that they've got another woodie, they've gotta get a B&M floorless or better yet, a looping accelerater; like Maverick at CP or Storm Runner at Hershey! Maybe they'll move Dominator from Geauga to Valleyfair one of these days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Nicky Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 ^Well maybe they can get Thunderhawk from GL I think Mr. Kinzel will give us a nice B&M invert over a used Vekoma hang n' Bang. After all, he was the general manager here for about 9 years. If WOF can get a B&M, then so should Valleyfair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbilly Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 yeah I think WoF and VF are 2 CF parks on the rise and should definitely get more big coasters. VF really with the additions of SV and Renegade the last couple of years. Adding something big like a B&M or Intamin stated earlier would ice the cake and make this park pretty awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackWidow Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Renegade was a great add to the park but valleyfair really does need an inverter. Hopefully when they add the next coaster in another 3 years or so they won't cheap out for a wood coaster. They also need to clean the park up a little bit they don't really take care of it very well, some of the rides could use some paint as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Nicky Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Renegade was a great add to the park but valleyfair really does need an inverter. Hopefully when they add the next coaster in another 3 years or so they won't cheap out for a wood coaster. They also need to clean the park up a little bit they don't really take care of it very well, some of the rides could use some paint as well. OK, I have a huge feeling that VF is much cleaner then most Six Flags park. I go to VF about 10 times a year and never see trash on the midways. I agree partly with you on the paint jobs although none of the coasters are looking that bad except for High Roller, but who cares about that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnumfan Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Steel Venom is so faded. They seriously need to re-track High Roller, those first two drops are bad and also lose the trims on there. High Roller was pretty awesome back in the days, now it is blah(grow that one tree back, the one near the last hill ha ha). It is a clean park(obviously not Disney kind of clean but it's nice though), it is usually the lazy patrons that make the mess(there no excuse for it since there's gazillions of trash cans near the people). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snorkymn Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Great TR of my home park! I agree that Renegade can be 2 different rides at times.. I've found if you ride it in the heat, it isn't that great.. (it shimmies and shakes after the first big turn, which slows it down the whole ride) but ride it when it's cooler, and it kicks major butt.. Seems the rains definitely kept the people away.. which is too bad.. We were hoping for big attendance numbers this year.. the better chance to get a B&M. And also think High Roller could be burned down.. (more room for the B&M). At least if they're going to let it stay so trimmed like that. It's so slow now, I think next year it will not even make it over the 2nd hill, and the only hill there is any actual air time seems to be one hill at the end of the ride. I can't believe you thought Excalibur was ok.. there's a reason it is a walk-on, even generally on peak attendance days.. nobody here likes it. But everyone is entitled to their opinion. Interesting to hear about the drizzle policy of going to 1 train.. But it looks like here it didn't matter.. nobody seemed to be riding anyway. Keep up the TR's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackWidow Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Renegade was a great add to the park but valleyfair really does need an inverter. Hopefully when they add the next coaster in another 3 years or so they won't cheap out for a wood coaster. They also need to clean the park up a little bit they don't really take care of it very well, some of the rides could use some paint as well. OK, I have a huge feeling that VF is much cleaner then most Six Flags park. I go to VF about 10 times a year and never see trash on the midways. I agree partly with you on the paint jobs although none of the coasters are looking that bad except for High Roller, but who cares about that one. Thats true about the six flags parks, I was thinking that Corkscrew could use some paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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