Valleyfair! 6/25/07

Valleyfair! 6/25/07 (It was hot!)

I had about four hours of free time at Minneapolis on 6/25/07 so that I decided to check out Valleyfair! and Renegade. This was my first visit to the park but have heard a lot about Renegade. Being a wooden coaster fan, I was looking forward to this newest coaster from GCI although I have not been impressed with Gwazi or Wildcat at Hershey. I did like Lightning Racer, however.

Since Renegade was located near the back of the park, I wanted to hit the coasters along the way to Renegade. First up was High Roller.

High Roller (#139) – The wait was about 10 minutes for this one train operation. I got on 4:2. There were 4 cars. This was a decent out and back coaster with surprising amount of airtime. The second hill was rather slow, but the ride was relatively smooth. (6/10)

Mad Mouse (#140) – The wait was about 10 minutes. These wild mouse types of rides always have some waits. The one felt almost exactly like the one at Michigan’s Adventure which I rode last week although the one at MiA was taller. (5/10)

Renegade (#141) – This coaster was the reason I came here. The ride did not disappoint me. After 15 minutes wait, I got on next to the last seat. These GCI trains felt much more comfortable than PTC trains. The first drop was a slightly twisting but with quite a bit of airtime. The turn around was banked and twisted as well. The airtime throughout the ride was amazing even though there was not a single straight drop. Somehow, all the hills were twisting drops with amazing amount of airtime.

Quite frankly, this ride reminded me of the second half of Voyage with more airtime and lateral. The ride was incredibly smooth for a wooden coaster. However, I will still rate Voyage ahead of Renegade and Ghostrider due to shear force and speed. This ride definitely ranks up there in my top five and the second place on my wooden coaster list. (10/10)

I rode this twice and came back to ride 6 more times later, all in the back seat. Yes, I am a back seat rider. The ride broke down and I had to go to a dinner meeting.

Wild Thing (#142) – This was a Morgan Hyper coaster. Except for the colors, the ride looked and felt so much like Steel Force at Dorney Park. (I wonder why?) I LOVE these hypers! As usual, I rode 6:2. The second hill airtime was comparable to Magnum third hill (about 4 seconds of floater). The turn around of this ride was quite different from Magnum (Pretzel) and Steel Force (Double Helix) and was much longer. The bunny hills on the way back had some floaters. I still love all those ejector airtime on Magnum better. (9/10) I rode this three times before heading toward Xtreme Swings.

Xtreme Swings – Skyhawk revisited. I love these rides but they are too short. (8/10)

Corkscrew (#143) – These Arrow loopers are not really my favorites but decided to give it a go. Again, I took the last seat. This is longer than Corkscrew at Cedar Point with extra helix at the end. The ride had on-ride video camera. (5/10)

Excalibur (#144) – This coaster reminded me of a cross between Gemini and Magnum at Cedar Point. I guess this really was. The train, lift hill sound, and the lap bar reminded me of Magnum. The ride was no where close to Magnum, however. The ride resembled Adventure Express at Kings Island. This was not a memorable coaster. (5/10)

Steel Venom (#145) – This cookie cutter inverted shuttle was exactly what I expected. Superman (SFGAm) and Steel Venom (GL) were what I expected. That was what I got. I like them any way. (7/10)

I was not sure if the park was not very busy due to extreme heat. Frankly, eight Renegade ride was worth the trip even though only thing I paid was $9 for parking. I highly recommend Renegade to everyone.

This coaster is now #3 is on my list of favorites. 1. Voyage2. Magnum XL-2003. Renegade4. Ghostrider5. X *** Edited 6/29/2007 3:00:33 PM UTC by Woodyman***

Gah! Paragraphs!

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Woodyman said:

Steel Venom (#145) – This cookie cutter inverted shuttle was exactly what I expected. Superman (SFGAm) and Steel Venom (GL) were what I expected. That was what I got. I like them any way. (7/10)

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The SFGAm one is Vertical Velocity. The one at GL was first called Superman :Ultimate Escape.

We were at VF the day before you - also a very hot day. Once the waterpark openned, it siphoned off the large crowds and made the lines for the rides very short. The waterpark was packed that day, as I suspect it was on Monday also.

Renegade is riding faster now than it was on openning day. It's definitely a run ride. I like front row on Renegade and back row on Wild Thing. Unfortunately, they have really tightened the brakes on Wild Thing before you hit the last series of bunny hops. It has gotten so bad that the ride almost comes to a stop before the last hills. I'm not sure if that is in response to the train derailing last May as it was nearing the end. I can't recall how it was prior to 2006.