Valleyfair! - 5/12/07

Valleyfair! opened for the 2007 season on 5/12/07, and with it, came the debut of the long-awaited Renegade. Sarah (age 13) and I have been waiting all winter for Renegade to open and thus couldn't miss opening day. Cindy was busy with her daughter, and Eric had sprained his ankle at soocer this week. Thus it was just the two of us.

We got to the park shortly after it opened at 10. The line for season passes was quite long. We had processed out passes a couple of weeks ago so were able to enter quickly.

We headed straight to Renegade. As I approached, I noticed someone taking a picture of the coaster and figured he had to be one of us. It was good to meet Playa and have a chance to talk while waiting in line.

Renegade can be summarized in one word... SWEET! Or as coasterkid might say, "That is one 'sweat' ride." We rode Renegade three times in a row. Met up with Raven while waiting for the second, and Wild Thing Native during the third. We rode in the middle the first time, the back row on the second, and front row on the third ride. Front row is definitely the way to go. Awesome! I had been a little disappointed on the first two rides having expected more airtime. It was definitely present in the front row - incredible. That was the best part of the day hands down - well actually hands up. :) Renegade is really smooth on the curves with incredible banking. Kind of reminded me of licking butter off of a knife. :)

It was 11:30 and the line for Renegade was getting longer. Up to that point it had only been ~20-25 minutes waiting for front row. We then rode Excalibur twice - still a headbanger, but a walk-on none-the-less. Hit Mad Mouse while heading back towards the front.

While waiting in line for High Roller, we were standing behind two of the engineers who had worked on Renegade. It was fun talking to them. I heard them say when they got off of High Roller, "It still runs pretty well for an older coaster." Now if Valleyfair! would only give it a couple gallons of paint.

We hit Wild Thing next. The lines for Extreme Swing, Power Tower and Steel Venom looked to be ~30 minutes. We met up with the other Coaster Buzzers at the covered bridge. Matt had arrived from Des Moines.

We had decided to go with the Challenge Park and Extreme upgrades this year to our season passes. We figured this was the year to do that since we'd be coming to VF alot to ride Renegade.

It was the first time we had ridden Ripcord and Skyscraper. Very fun and intense but very slow loading - that's to be expected. Had a blast on Go-Karts for several rounds. Sarah's first driving lesson. I can see my insurance premiums going up already. Note to self - "Do NOT drive Go-Karts right before leaving park." On the drive home, I kept trying to cut off anyone that tried to pass me on Highway 13.

Sarah had done a sleep-over last night for a friend's birthday party and was getting tired. We left at 5:15.

Overall it was an excellent day. Renegade is awesome. Thanks GCI for a great coaster - kudos. It was fun to meet the other Coaster Buzzers. The weather cooperated. Great day!

Sarah had the best line of the day. "Dad, when did you become such a coaster geek?" *** Edited 5/13/2007 12:41:15 AM UTC by sws***

Glad to hear that Renegade was fun, but you should of rode in the back more.

Wow, coasterkid. I bet Jeff is going to LOVE your new url!

Just got home from the trip up north...

Nice to meet you, Scott. Glad you're enjoying your new toy in Shakopee. I look forward to coming back later in the summer to see how well Reney has broken in. Right now, it's a little slow for my tastes, but still the best ride in the park. If Ozark Wildcat is any indication, Reney should pick up a lot more airtime in the coming weeks.

See ya at Coaster Craze! :)

How was the speed of the whole ride in the back?

The speed is fairly consistent, but slower than I expected. Again, it needs time to break in. IMO, it has more airtime than Rumbler had in May of last year; however, Rumbler had a faster pacing. Just imagine how much better Reney will get with a little more speed if it already has a fair amount of air! :) *** Edited 5/13/2007 7:09:42 PM UTC by Acoustic Viscosity***

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sws said:

"Do NOT drive Go-Karts right before leaving park." On the drive home, I kept trying to cut off anyone that tried to pass me on Highway 13.

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I don't play video games but my friend had this game called Grand Theft Auto and he let me play it. Don't drive after playing that game. :)

It was great meeting you and everyone at the park.

Great report....As a follow-up I was there on Sunday with a group and the park was absolutely dead through mid-afternoon when we left. There was basically no line for Renegade until our last ride before we left. And that was with one-train op at that point.

Renegade was noticeably faster as the day went and I would bet that progression will continue through the season. I'll be back to take a late summer evening ride to check it out.

Wild Thing was dispatching trains with just a couple rows of riders most of the day.

I see VF hasn't upgraded their entrances yet. Someone like me with a WoF Maxx Pass still has to sign in through Guest Services. No big deal but I wonder if that will ever change?