Valleyfair

Valleyfair
Location	Shakopee, Minnesota, United States
Coordinates	44.79673°N 93.45014°W / 44.79673; -93.45014
Website	Official website
Owner	Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
General Manager	Dave Frazier
Opened	1976
Operating season	Daily Memorial Day through Labor Day, some weekends in May, September and October.
Area	125 acres (0.51 km2) (0.5 km²)
Rides	46 total 8 roller coasters 3 water rides
Slogan	"The Fun and Only" "Ride On"

Aerial view of Valleyfair

Valleyfair, sometimes stylized Valleyfair! is a 125 acre (0.5 km²) amusement park located in Shakopee, Minnesota, USA and is currently the largest amusement park in the Upper Midwest United States. The park has 46 rides and water attractions and currently operates 8 roller coasters, one of the most popular being Wild Thing. Valleyfair also has a water park, Soak City included with the price of admission.

Valleyfair opened in 1976 and was originally themed as a Coney Island-styled turn of the 19th to 20th century amusement park, which leads to some jarring contrasts with modern-style rides like the steel roller coasters Corkscrew and Wild Thing.

The park is owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Valleyfair and Cedar Point are the two original Cedar Fair parks and the Fair in the Cedar Fair name comes from Valleyfair.

Valleyfair’s normal operating season runs daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day and some weekends in May and September. There is also a "ValleySCARE" event near Halloween.

History

Former logo used until 2007

Valleyfair opened in 1976 featuring 20 rides and attractions on 26 acres (110,000 m²), with the roller coaster High Roller being the main attraction. The carousel in the park came from Excelsior Amusement Park which was closed many years earlier. It is the oldest ride in the park. In 1978 in an effort to increase investment capital for continued park expansion, Valleyfair was acquired by Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio and placed under the management of Cedar Fair Limited Partnership. The park continues to grow every year with new rides and attractions. Since 1976, Valleyfair has invested over $96 million into the park, and today the park has over 50 rides on 125 acres (0.51 km²) of land. A height restriction was imposed in the year 2000 with the building of Power Tower. After negotiations with the FAA and the nearby Flying Cloud Airport, the FAA restricted the building height of Power Tower at 275 feet (84 m) due to its proximity to the airport. Power Tower's original plan was to be a height of 300 feet (91 m) and to take riders to 275 feet (84 m).

As the park is located on the banks of the Minnesota River, flooding can become an issue during the springtime months before the park usually opens, notably in 1988, 1993, and 1997. Excalibur and Thunder Canyon are built outside of a pre-existing river dike, and were built with this flooding potential in mind.

Current attractions

Ride Rating System
Rating	Thrill	Description
1	Low	Rides that are generally calm and gentle in nature
2	Mild	Rides that generally have low speeds with gentle motion and braking. Rides have smooth transitions with some changes in elevation and speed.
3	Moderate	Rides that generally have low to medium speeds and/or heights with moderate motion and braking. Riders may encounter unexpected changes in direction and/or speed during portions of the ride.
4	High	Rides that generally have medium to high speeds and/or heights with moderate to rapid braking. Riders may encounter unexpected changes in speed, direction and/or elevation.
5	Aggressive	Rides that generally have one or more of the following: high speeds and/or heights, aggressive and unexpected forces, and rapid directional or elevation change. Riders will encounter many unexpected rapid changes in speed, direction and/or elevation.

Roller coasters

Although not as well-known a "coaster park" as some other parks like Cedar Point, Valleyfair does have many popular coasters and is known widely for them.

Coaster	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Thrill Rating
Corkscrew	1980	Arrow Dynamics	A steel Looping roller coaster	5
Cosmic Coaster	2011	Zamperla	A kiddie roller coaster. Prebiously located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom as Dragon Coaster	3
Excalibur	1989	Arrow Dynamics	A steel roller coaster with a wooden structure	4
High Roller	1976	Rauerhorst Corporation	A wooden roller coaster. It is currently the oldest coaster at Valleyfair.	4
Mad Mouse	1999	Arrow Dynamics	A steel wild mouse roller coaster	4
Renegade	2007	Great Coasters International	A Wooden roller coaster	4
Steel Venom	2003	Intamin	A steel Inverted Impulse roller coaster	5
Wild Thing	1996	Chance Morgan	A steel hyper coaster. It is currently the tallest roller coaster at Valleyfair.	5

Thrill rides

Ride	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Thrill Rating
Enterprise	1979	HUSS	A Enterprise type ride.	4
Looping Starship	1985	Intamin	A pirate themed Looping Starship ride.	4
Power Tower	2000	S&S Worldwide	A combo Space Shot and Turbo Drop tower	5
RipTide	2005	HUSS	A Suspended Top Spin ride. Riders get sprayed by a fountain during the ride.	5
Xtreme Swing	2006	S&S Worldwide	A Screamin' Swing ride. It is currently the second tallest of its kind.	5

Family rides

Ride	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Thrill Rating
Antique Autos	1976	Gould Manufacturing	Gas-powered replica 1910 Cadillac Touring Car travel around a 1,148 feet (350 m) track	3
Bumper Cars	1976	Rauenhorst Corporation	A Bumper cars attraction	4
Carousel	1976	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters	An antique 48-horse Carousel	1
Ferris Wheel		Chance Rides	A classic Ferris wheel ride	2
Minnesota River Valley Railroad		Crown Metal Products Co.	A train ride around the park	1
Monster	1977	Everly Manufacturing	A classic Monster ride	3
Scrambler	1976	Eli Bridge Company	A classic Scrambler ride	3
SuperCat	1976	Ramagosa		2
Tilt-A-Whirl	1977	Sellner Manufacturing	A Tilt-A-Whirl type ride	3
Wheel of Fortune	1976	Chance Rides	A circular ride that holds 40 riders and raises to a tilted position while rotating backwards.	3

Water rides

These are the water rides besides those in the Soak City.

Ride	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Thrill Rating
Hydroblaster	1995	Whitewater	An enclosed water slide. Guests can choose between two different tunnels, both soaring 40 feet in the air.	4
The Wave	1992	Hopkins Rides	A Shoot-the-Chutes water ride. There is a bridge at the bottom where visitors can get soaked.	4
Thunder Canyon	1987	Barr Engineering	A six person River rafting ride	4

Planet Snoopy

Planet Snoopy is a kids area designed for children. On August 6, 2010, it was announced that the entire children's section of the park would be transformed into Planet Snoopy for the 2011season as part of a $9 million expansion.

Ride	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Thrill Rating
Charlie Brown's Wind Up	1976	Chance Rides	The ride consists of 32 swings lift off the ground while travel in a circular motion and tilting at the top. It was originally called the Flying Trapeze, but received a facelift and renamed for Planet Snoopy.	3
Flying Ace Balloon Ride	1988	Zamperla	Eight balloons that can accomidate up to 4 riders. It was originally called Hot Air Balloons.	3
Kite Eating Tree	2000	S&S Worldwide	A kiddie version of Power Tower. It was originally called the Frog Hopper.	2
Linus' Beetle Bugs	1976	Ramagosa	A little spinning ride. It was originally called Bumble Bees.	1
Linus Launcher		Zamperla		3
Lucy's Tugboat	2004	Zamperla	It was originally named Rockin' Tug.	2
PEANUTS 500	1976	Zamperla	A kiddie Whip ride	2
PEANUTS Road Rally	2000	Zamperla	It was originally named Convoy.	1
Sally's Swing Set	1977	Zamperla	A kiddie swing.	2
Snoopy vs. Red Baron	1988	Chance Rides	It was originally named Sea Planes.	2
Snoopy's Deep Sea Divers		Zamperla		3
Snoopy's Junction		D&P	A train ride around Planet Snoopy	1
Snoopy's Rocket Express		Zamperla	A kiddie monorail around Planet Snoopy	2
Woodstock Whirlybirds		Zamperla	A kiddie spinning ride	2

Challenge Park

Challenge Park is located on the southeast corner of Valleyfair. It is a separate charge attraction and requires an additional fee to participate in activities. Challenge Park features three different attractions: RipCord, Adventure Golf, and Go-Karts. The Bumper Boats were removed at the end of the 2009 season and sent to Michigan's Adventure.

Ride	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Thrill Rating
Adventure Golf			A semi-mountain themed Miniature Golf course with a waterfall and ponds, making a rather picturesque entrance to the park
RipCord	1996	Sky Fun 1	A Skycoaster where 1-3 individuals are harnessed, raised to a height of 161 feet (49 m), and one of the riders must pull his or her own cord to release them to a swinging freefall.	5
Go-Karts	1991	Bass Engineering	A 1,250 feet (380 m) Go Kart track	4

Soak City

Main article: Soak City (Valleyfair)

Soak City is a water park located within Valleyfair. It is a no-additional-charge attraction open to all Valleyfair visitors. It includes five high speed, single-person water slides, a lazy river, a fast single person rapids ride, a large family raft ride, and a children's area. In 2009, Breakers Bay, a large 350,000 gallon wave pool was added in addition to a new bathhouse, restaurant, and cabanas.

Shows

Power Tower, Xtreme Swing, and Corkscrew from Wild Thing

Valleyfair hosts several performance venues with a wide variety of live entertainment at no additional charge.

• The Amphitheater is a large outdoor venue that has hosted country music tribute shows, battle of the bands competitions, acrobats, and even a dog show. The venue is not currently being used.

• The Galaxy Theater is an indoor, air-conditioned theater, fully equipped with professional lighting and sound. Originally, it was used to stage musical revues, but in recent years, The Galaxy has played host to various comedy and magic acts, such as Ed Alonzo and Chipper Lowell. This year's performance is a musical show called "Rockin' the Galaxy". During the Halloween Haunt at Valleyscare, The Galaxy usually presents a kid's magic show Frogwarts: Wizard's Academy. This year Eternal Jamnation is also showing.

• The Gazebo Stage is an outdoor stage with a covered bandstand which presents a musical revue of classic and contemporary hits. The Gazebo always features a 7-piece live band (keyboard, bass, guitar, drums, trombone, sax, and trumpet), setting it apart for most other "tracked" theme park shows. The venue features numerous covered picnic tables and is close to many food service locations, so park guests can enjoy their lunch or dinner while catching the show. This year's production, entitled "Shout!", features sequences paying tribute to contemporary, reggae, and Motown styles, with a special tribute to the music of Stevie Wonder.

• Benchwarmerz is a roaming band that strolls throughout the park and plays many classic songs as well as some more contemporary music. Some songs from previous years have been, "Thriller", "Sexyback", and "Sweet Caroline".

• PEANUTS Showplace is an outdoor venue that is next to the PEANUTS Playhouse in Planet Snoopy. It features stadium bench seating, with awnings to provide shade, and a lot of room for the interactive entertainment. The PEANUTS Showplace is the current home of Charlie Brown’s HOEDOWN, where the PEANUTS characters dance, sing, and interact with the audience.

At the Halloween Haunt, The Boogie Monsters take over the PEANUTS Showplace, performing Halloween and spooky-themed songs for the trick-or-treaters on the nearby Trick-or-Treat Trail

Former rides

• Northern Lights (Chance Falling Star)
• Bayern Curve (Schwarzkopf Bayern Curve)
• Wild Rails (Schwarzkopf Wild Mouse)
• Skyscraper (Relocated to Cedar Point)
• Tot Town: In the space now occupied by the Power Tower was once a small area of rides, a jungle gym and ball pool designed for small children.
• The Flume – (1979–2008), Known as Ye Olde Log Flume until the early 1990s, the Flume was a log flume ride. The Flume was permanently closed and dismantled at the end of the 2008 season. Soak City waterpark (previously Whitewater Country waterpark) was extended in place of the Flume to accommodate the installation of Breakers Bay, a wave pool attraction.
• Bumper Boats (Closed 2009, demolished in 2010)
• Mild Thing: (Closed 2010) Closed as part of Valleyfair's revamping of the children's area, will be replaced by a relocated kiddie coaster.
• Chaos – (1999–2011), Chaos is a spinning ride which starts spinning in a horizontal position and gradually lifts in to a vertical position. Each individual ride unit flips 360 degrees on its own axis. Chaos was removed prior to the 2011 season. There is currently no knowns plans for the empty area.

Halloween Haunt at ValleySCARE

History of ValleySCARE - Valleyscare is a Halloween event put on by Valleyfair that started in 2006. Originally, Valleyfair operated Halloweekends until 2000 and changed the name after it reinstated the event with more theming and haunted areas. The first event featured 3 indoor haunted houses, one indoor/outdoor haunted house, and one scare zone.

2007 - The Haunt expanded with one more scare zone named Hellside Farm.

2008 - The Halloween Haunt at Valleyscare expanded once again with the addition of the indoor maze Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed, a slaughterhouse themed attraction located in the 2nd games warehouse behind Cool & Creamy. Along with Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed, Hellside Farm received a major upgrade, and Chateau Du Damne received a new ending.

2009 - Hellside Farm was moved to the Amphitheater Backlot, CarnEvil received a slight upgrade which consisted of 3 new rooms, Chateau Du Damné added a new torture room scene, Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed added a number of new rooms and hallways, and Carnage at Crimson Isle received a whole new layout and maze design. In addition to the various maze modifications, Fangs and the Mick Mangler's Madness and Mayhem Show were added to the Live Entertainment lineup.

2010 - All mazes received upgrades. CarnEvil's ending was rethemed, Chateau Du Damné received many new rooms and changes, Hellside's layout was redesigned lengthened a bit for a more claustrophobic feeling, and Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed layout was switched up and included a brand new scare never before seen at ValleySCARE.

2011 - With the addition of Planet Snoopy, Blood Creek Cemetery was moved closer to the Front Gate with a very different layout, but still the only Scare Zone at ValleySCARE, Festival of Freaks took over the nightlife of Planet Spooky, and Camp Wekilou was added in the picnic cove as an outdoor maze.

Haunted attractions

Here is a list of the Haunted Attractions found at the Halloween Haunt at Valleyscare.

• Chateau Du Damné - You are cordially invited to dine (or be dined upon) at the Chateau du Damné. The Baron and Baroness look forward to…meating you. Come experience first-hand the many rooms of this nightmarish renaissance castle including the Baron’s throne room, the Baroness’ reception area and finally her “bedroom”. If you survive the visit, you’ll make your way outside to the fabled gardens. The Baron hopes you partake in the delights of his fauna. From there the gardens exit to the entrance of the Chateau’s graveyard and mausoleum where you can meet other visitors who never left. If you’re lucky, perhaps you may leave to live another day. If not, the Chateau always has room for more.

• CarnEvil in 3D - The clowns are no longer funny or happy but psycho, demented and over the top. Plenty of shrilling laughter will be heard as they entice you to be part of their world under the Big Top Tent, but beware, you may never exit the world of the killer clowns! CarnEvil is a 3D attraction.

• Mangler Asylum - Over a century of torture and pain live within the walls of this defunct facility that housed one of America’s most notorious sanatoriums, the Mangler Asylum. At the turn of the 19th to 20th century, Dr. Frederick Mangler conducted numerous dreadful experiments on the local unfortunates. Within these halls, his hideous endeavors opened the door to the evil nature of man and his most disturbing nightmares. Some say the wicked doctor unlocked the barrier between reality and nightmare. With lack of funds and Dr. Mangler’s mysterious passing in the 1970s, the asylum staff abandoned the facility, leaving the building and grounds unsupervised. Most patients died of a slow miserable death, but some still linger living off the decaying corpses of the dead. The doors of this evil place will now unseal. Guests will be invited within the bloody asylum walls, which house a collection of living fears and phobias waiting to wreak havoc on innocent souls. They could venture, if they dare, into the unholy depths of the building where Dr. Mangler conducted his most bizarre experiments...that is, IF THEY MAKE IT.

• Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed - Within the depths of the slaughterhouse, innocent mortals will witness a gruesome massacre as murderous butchers and maniacal plant workers lacerate the tender flesh of their human victims. “Slice and dice” will take on a whole new meaning inside this brutal meatpacking plant.

• Carnage at Crimson Isle - The pirates of Crimson Isle, though long dead have sworn to protect its precious treasure. Now that the infamous pirate Captain Tack Gallows has gone after the treasure for himself, the isle has become a black and bloody battleground of shock and horror. Rare be the ones who make it through the Carnage at Crimson Isle.

• Blood Creek Cemetery - Blood Creek Cemetery was closed at the 20th century after reports that the local undertaker, Damien Tedrow was cutting up cadavers before burying the bodies, preventing the dead from entering the afterlife. Valleyfair unknowingly constructed on the abandoned cemetery and has operated ever since. One night as the fog thickens, the dead rise looking for souls to take in order to enter the great beyond.

• Hellside Farm - From the outside, Hillside Farm appears to be a simple abandoned farm with equipment and fields left long forgotten. However, when the sun sets, it quickly becomes apparent that this farm is not entirely abandoned as Hillside turns into Hellside and the demented residents of the farm begin looking to harvest their next victim. Will you be next?

• Camp Wekilou - After being temporarily closed due to the mysterious disappearance of campers, many wondered what would come of Camp Wekilou. Now, despite the many unanswered questions about whatever happened to the lost campers, Camp Wekilou is ready to reopen its doors and welcome new campers. The only question now is will everyone make it out alive?

Accidents

Main article: Incidents at Cedar Fair parks

• On June 16, 2011, the ride Minnesota River Valley Railroad derailed near the amphitheater at the front of the park and careened into the south train station platform. Two passenger cars left the tracks and were later placed back on the tracks by park maintenance. No injuries were reported.

• On August 5, 2010, a chlorine leak from the Soak City Waterpark sent 26 people to the hospital.

• On September 3, 2007, the ride Xtreme Swing experienced a fire in an electrical junction box. There were no injuries, and the ride reopened several days later after the problem was fixed and the ride successfully tested.

• 18 people were on the Wild Thing on May 21, 2006 when several cars tipped in the final curve before the ride comes to a complete stop. All those who went to the local hospital were declared unharmed and released.

See also

• Excelsior Amusement Park – a park that operated in the region from 1925 to 1973. The carousel that stands inside the entrance came from Excelsior Amusement Park.

External links

• Valleyfair Official Website
• Valleyfair at RCDB
• ValleyFairZone