Midwest flooding submerges Valleyfair's Excalibur

I think they should still run it like that :)

-------------
Why live on the edge when you can jump off! -AJ Hackett

This is not good.

-------------
Live to have FUN!

Go Shamrocks!
Go Wolverines!

(going down first drop) "yahoooooooooo... *gurgle gurgle*" Ride op: "D'OH!"

-------------
"I traded my soul for a ride on Millennium Force"
www.starcoasters.com

They have a picture of Excalibur at a different angle in the Boston Globe, our picture is perpendicular to the lift hill, and it looks as sweet as ever.

Maybe now they could run it without the stupid trims all the way down the first drop. :-)

Nate, True to that. I have been on Excalibur before and I really like the ride.

-------------
Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it...eventually

Ahem.....the same thing happened in '97, but the photos weren't anywhere near as good. There will be NO rebuilding, no refurbishing, and it's no big deal. The coaster was built to withstand flooding in the first place.

-CPlaya *** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 4/18/2001. ***

Excalabur has trims in the first drop?

Yep. You see that that tight, ground-hugging helix in the middle of the ride instead of the end? That's why.

Even with the trims biting, that nasty curve would shake your internal organs loose until some work in the 1998-99 offseason. It's a little more refined now--but not much. You can actually raise your hands on it instead of holding on and praying for help.

The ridership has climbed significantly since then. Despite its weird location in the back of the park, I suspect it's a solid #3 in ridership behind WT and PT.....#4 behind the train at worst.

-CPlaya

I've never seen pictures of this ride. Looks short but good.

Excalibur is a fantastic ride, but the trims need to be placed somewhere else; they absolutely ruin what was once a killer first drop.

For those wondering about the trims, you can clearly see them in the following picture:

http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery119.htm?Picture=3

We may have pioneered the flume ride, but this is ridiculous!!!
-------------
www.angelfire.com/oh4/tk173
An unnerving stillness in the woods of southern Indiana beckons for you on May 11th.....

It looks pretty short and I'm sure I've seen pictures of it flooded before, probably in ACE News.

-------------
http://www.bolliger-mabillard.com

Wow the water wasn't this high back in 1993, when the Mississippi flooded. BTW It didn't flood because of the Mississippi, but because of the rains that caused all the floods. Back then only the bottom of the first drop was underwater and it still looked ridible.

-------------
"You are the weakest link, Goodbye"

The park isn't even on the Mississippi River; it's on the Minnesota River.

I'm guessing you mean 1997, which was the last time this happened. While the flood level is a little higher than '97, the photos from that time were taken from a bad angle. If the track by the first drop was submerged, so was the midcourse helix. But you won't see that from Hwy 101 (POV of '97 pix)--you need aerial photos.

-CPlaya

I hope VF get dry out by opening day.
I wonder VF will get a B&M inverted coaster
some day. I will be in 7th heaven if that happens.
VF got water out in 93 too.

Don't worry. When the ride was built, Vallyfair knew that a possibility of flooding existed, and it can handle those extreme floods.

I have work with Valleyfair for 8 years now. Each year we have flooding, but it depends on the how much snow falls. In my opion Valleyfair is in a bad spot for a park because its near the river bottom. I think Valleyfair should relocate to higher grounds and on flat land but that would coast millions its to late now. When the park opend in 1976 they should have known about the river and the flooding possibilities.

When Valleyfair opened they built a dike around the park to protect it from flood waters. Excalibur and Thunder Canyon are located outside of the dike and that is why they get flood damage. You can see the dike when you pass between White Water Country Water Park and Excalibur you will pass through a small tunnel, this is part of the dike. Both Excalibur and Thunder Canyon were built knowing that flood waters will rich them, so I wouldn't worry about and damage to the rides.
-------------
The Coaster King,
Ty