Is 4 hrs long enough for Valleyfair?

I have to go to Minneapolis for business May 8-10 and I want to hit VF (it opens on the 10th). Is 4 hours enough time hit the park?

I am looking at being there when they open but the last American Airlines flight out is at 4:54. I figure I can leave the park at 2 and still be at the airport by 2:45-3:00 (Counting time to check in rental car)

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--George H
---Superman the ride...coming to a SF park near you soon...
Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

Sure....just don't expect a lot of re-rides. :) I did SFNE last year on a Saturday in 3 1/2 hours (1 ride on every coaster) without Q-Bot. I was in a situation very similar to yours. It was rushed, and no time to "smell the roses" but I did it :) You'll be fine

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

I have been at every opening day since 1996 and the crowds are light in the morning. This year might be more active because Steel Venom is new and most non-coaster people have never seen or heard of an Impulse coaster. That said you should see smaller than normal lines on the other coasters and rides. The lines tend to get longer later in the day when it warms up a bit. Some of the past opening days the temps were in the lower 40's in the morning and then warmed to the 60's and 70's in the afternoon. Get to the park when they open and 4 hours should be enough time to ride everything at least once. Some of the coasters like Excalibur have no lines what-so-ever, so you could re-ride those multiple times. Wild Thing almost always runs two trains and if you are not huge on waiting for the front or back seats you should be able to get in several rides. Hopefully that helps you.

Not like you'll need rerides, as there's really nothing there to reride. You've been on an Impulse so that's not new...you might want to take a reride on Wild Thing (to see if it's really that bad lol), but other than that you should be in good shape, esp if you're there when the gates open.

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"No honey, the monkeys have already done enough damage on this trip." - Guy coming out of front gate at SFGAd

cool...As it turns out I will have an additional three hours at the park...My corporate travel found a MUCH ($185 vs. $531) cheaper fare if I fly in/out of Midway vs. O'Hare ...it has the added bonus of me flying back at 8:00p instead of 4:54p...

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--George H
---Superman the ride...coming to a SF park near you soon...
Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

Three additional hours? If you ask me you had four hours too many from the beginning at that park. What a dump.

A dump? Please.

Valleyfair may not have the best selection of coasters, and it may be a pretty small park, but it's hardly a dump. It's clean, employees are friendly, and it's nicely landscaped. You don't need a top ten coaster to be a nice park.

-Nate

Hey, make sure you don't forget about Excalibur. It's hiding way in the back of the park and hardly visible from the park's main midways. Since Wild Thing moved in, it's been mostly forgotten (almost always has walk-ons). A lot of VF first-timers don't even know it's there.

I think I may have come close to spending a whole day at VF exactly once in seven seasons. It's just not an all-day park if you ask me.

Nevertheless, for a metro area the size of Mpls/St. Paul, it's a great park. Where anyone would get off calling any park with a hyper, a full-size PT and an impulse a 'dump' is beyond me. It's in very, very good hands with Larry Mackenzie (who's improved the shows and even--gasp-- the infamous sucky FOOD) and should have yet another well-attended and profitable season. Sure could use a wavepool tho...

However, I can't shake the feeling that VF might have some fairly healthy lines for the major rides. Season pass sales have been strong since at least 2000 and now there's a new major coaster for the first time since WT. Look at the bright side tho--at least it isn't a Student Day...or should I say 'Rowdy F-word day?'

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 4/2/2003 1:42:03 PM ***

ANY park that is *new-to-me* gets a full day, with exceptions being very few and far between. My local parks that I've visited before, sure I'll hop in for a few rides and leave, but at a *new* park, I want a chance to soak up the atmosphere, get re-rides on the good coasters/falts, try their food, look for souvies, the works. A park that's over a thousand miles away, I'm not leaving 'til they boot my butt out of the gate....

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Dr. Thrill IS my family practitioner
Hey look, gator finally posted a TR...;)

I don't usually leave time to re-ride falts, but I do leave time for flats. :P

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"faster, cheaper, and more often" that's somebody's new sig -UpsideDawnGrrrl
My shirt in my photo seems to be for "Aging Bull"

Kristin Marie and I did Valleyfair!, Mall of America, Riverview, and Big Cheif Carts and Coasters in one day... does that answer your question? ;)

now THAT sounds like a full day...eep!

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--George H
---Superman the ride...coming to a SF park near you soon...
Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

coasterdude318 said:
A dump? Please.
Valleyfair may not have the best selection of coasters, and it may be a pretty small park, but it's hardly a dump. It's clean, employees are friendly, and it's nicely landscaped.

What Valleyfair did you go to? When I went I was unlawfully pushed by one of the employees! A tuba player lashed out at me for unknown reasons. I tried to believe it was an isolated incident but unfortunately I do not think that was the case. Oh no, this went much further. There's just nothing fair about Valleyfair! You may not need a top ten coaster but you do need employees that don't shove the guests!

Okayyyyyy......Did he sneak up and shove you without the proper 'oompah, ooompah' warning? You know how sneaky those guys can be with their huge shiny 25-pound instruments....especially when they're dressed in clothes that would make a polyester-clad Hawaiian tourist cringe.

And unless he shoved you into a ubiquitous trash can and showered you with its contents, i still don't see how this makes VF a dump. Are we starved for attention today?

-CO

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 4/3/2003 1:13:54 AM ***

This is one of the stupidest posts I have ever seen, flabby lips. I went to VF around 20 times last year, never once was I treated poorly by an employee. Ever care to think that maybe the employee tripped? In fact the best operations I've seen consistantly at a park (Besides CP) is from VF.

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Cameron Willis
Waiting for Coaster Mania!

I guess that's less embarrassing than being assaulted by a flautist.

Mmm, flautas.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Flabbylips, I have never encountered any problems from Valleyfair! Did you make sure that the employee who unlawfully pushed you didn't trip, or just didn't see you? What about that lashing out by the tuba player? Were you being rude or possibly you were making certain hand signals without knowing about it. I'm sorry but those things you said are either made up or you're making a mountain range out of a molehill. I don't think anyone would ever do what you just said, not to mention I've been going to Valleyfair! since I was four at least five times a year and now I am seventeen. I have never encountered anything of the like, in fact I've encountered quite the opposite. By the way, what do you mean by this went much further? You didn't say anything else to back that statement up! Are you sure you didn't make this up Flabbylips? To answer your question redman822 four hours is enough time to have fun and ride everything, but more is better. By the way, the rides are fun, the employees are great and the scenery and landscaping is excellent!
*** This post was edited by Wickedtwister180 4/2/2003 4:28:01 PM ***
*** This post was edited by Wickedtwister180 4/2/2003 4:29:39 PM ***

LOL you are all too much!

The way the story goes, is the band was playing "La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin ("and I'm going to kill you") and they were just about done with the song and Flabby wanted to dance. So Flabby joined in on the festivities behind some benches and started to do his thing. Then the song ended, the tuba player looked at Flabby and didn't like where he was standing and gave him a nice shove on his shoulder. Technically, that is assault, no? I am not up on my criminal law.

So, I can see where Flabby disapproves of VF. After getting shoved by a tuba player, getting your foot run over by a "friend's" car, and not getting to eat a butter burger, wouldn't you be in a crummy mood, too?

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"No honey, the monkeys have already done enough damage on this trip." - Guy coming out of front gate at SFGAd

BOYCOTT FLABBY LIPS!

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Tizzle Thrizzle Dragsizzle in 2003izle!