Next in our lineup, let’s talk about Valleyfair, a small park near Minneapolis. I rank all the roller coasters, the rest of the park’s rides, the waterpark, and what you need to know to navigate around like a pro.
Valleyfair
Before visiting Valleyfair, all I knew about the park is that it’s the other half of the original name for the Cedar Fair collection of parks, the first half being Cedar Point. I knew it’s not anywhere as big as Cedar Point…but I expected a bit more than what is there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice park with some good rides. But it’s not flagship by any means.
Valleyfair has a weird layout. Many rides seem tucked into corners, even with limited hours, they’re so off the beaten track. You have to go looking for rides as opposed to being drawn towards them. I’m mainly thinking of the back corner with Excalibur and Thunder Canyon here. While it looks huge on the caricature-style park map, in reality, the path back is easy to miss.
Roller Coasters
First, let’s discuss Valleyfair’s roller coasters. There are NOT a lotta inversions happening here! Not that that’s automatically bad, but as I was ranking all the coasters, I realized the only one that goes upside down is the corkscrew from 1980. In fact, there aren’t any roller coasters newer than 2011, and that’s the park’s kiddie coaster. Before that, Renegade was built in 2007.
For a park that’s half of the Cedar Fair name, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of money being spent here. Still, it’s a charmer. A nice, steady presence in the life of Minneapolis-area families.
If you want to see videos of all the roller coasters, check out my post Roller Coasters in Minnesota.
#8 – Cosmic Coaster
Cosmic Coaster is Valleyfair’s Snoopy-themed kiddie coaster. It’s decently robust, at last more than a wavy oval or figure-8. Still, nearly half of it is a powered lift hill, and the other half a helix. The ride is a decent thrill for your kids.
#7 – Corkscrew
Corkscrew is a decent ride for its age. And it does more than its signature double corkscrew over the landscape – it also has a solid initial loop. The drawback is that it takes longer to load than to ride. And when your ride is over, the train sits in the full sun while they (slowly) load the train in front of you.
It is the only roller coaster in the park with any inversions, however! So that counts for something.
#6 – Excalibur
Excalibur is a more ambitious ride, but it’s tucked so far back in the park that you have to really seek it out. It also has more limited operating hours. A permanent sign is posted indicating Excalibur and Thunder Canyon are both only open from noon-7 p.m., so don’t leave it until last.
The ride itself on the 1989 steel track is kinda backbreaking. Every park seems to have the “spine adjustment” ride, and Excalibur is that for Valleyfair. But the ride operators seem to be having a lot of fun. It’s like it’s own little world back in here.
#5 – Mad Mouse
Valleyfair’s Mad Mouse earns props for being an extra-smooth ride, with no gut-punching hard brakes as is usual on these rides. It loses some of those props for the line being in the full sun, which is no fun.
#4 – High Roller
The 1976 High Roller wooden roller coaster is a solid, out & back style. It has some fun pops of airtime (but don’t expect a towering hill like on the exaggerated map.)
#3 – Renegade
Renegade is Valleyfair’s other wooden coaster, this one quite a bit bigger, twistier, and reasonably smooth. There’s a fun pass by the station, and you end the ride under a much-needed shade structure while waiting for your turn at the station.
It was a walk-on the afternoon that I visited, which made me think it would be too jarring & headachy. but it’s not bad at all.
#2 – Steel Venom
Steel Venom in a front addition to the park (ca. early 2000’s?) is a properly thrilling roller coaster, though on a small scale. The ride is an inverted impulse coaster, meaning you hang from the track and are launched from stock-still to 68 mph in under 4 seconds up a twisting spike, fall back through the station to be launched backward, then forward again even higher.
When you pass back through the station to the back spike, a brake will hold you for a second before launching you back up the front spike, then brakes into the station to unload. So really just back and forth along a U-shaped track, but it’s surprising how thrilling those fast passes through the station feel. It’s a great ride for a small park like this.
#1 – Wild Thing
Wild Thing is the best roller coaster in the park, by far. A fairly simple out-and-back steel coaster, you get some nice airtime and a really fun double-hump tunnel near the end. It is properly thrilling!
I aimed for Wild Thing first thing in the morning and was frustrated that it didn’t open until 20 minutes after the park opened. It’s also cut off by the train tracks. The train goes by fairly often, so you might have to wait a bit before you even get to the line! I enjoy that some of the line is shaded, but they could definitely do better on shade structures throughout the park.
If it’s normal for Wild Thing not to open with the park you might do better fitting in another ride as soon as the park opens, like Power Tower or Steel Venom, or the flat rides in that front area.
Other Rides
The rest of the rides at Valleyfair include a lot of your standard flat rides, a park train, some water rides, and some nice height rides. Let’s rank them too, just for fun.
#17 – Bumper Cars
As always, usually traveling solo and not having anyone else to “bump,” Bumper Cars don’t hold much appeal for me. I save my aggressive driving for the highway.
#16 – Antique Autos
Antique Autos is also never a high priority for me. I tend to find them loud and slow, something to do when you have kids. Valleyfair’s version is reasonably scenic, winding under the tracks of Wild Thing and the coster-like Northern Lights.
There are also some ride-specific sights, like Minnesota-area billboards and a faux garage. I’ve certainly seen worse versions of this ride.
#15 – Carousel
I apparently took no notice of the Valleyfair Carousel! I confess, after you’ve been to a few parks in a row, they all sort of blur together. Judging from photos online, it looks perfectly nice. You’ll find it smack dab at the entrance to the park. (Normally, I’d say, “you can’t miss it” but here we are.)
#14 – Ferris Wheel
The Ferris Wheel at Valleyfair is the smallest version I’ve seen of its kind. Bigger than a “classic” Ferris Wheel with bench seats, this is a gondola style that doesn’t allow solo riders (or infants.) It might give you a decent view, but it’s not the light-up centerpiece of the park by any means.
#13 – Scrambler
The Scrambler is your basic scrambler – an egg-beater motion perfect for squishing you against your loved ones. You can find theirs near Steel Venom.
#13 – Tilter
Tilter is Valleyfair’s name for their Tilt-A-Whirl. And at least they changed the name, unlike the previous five attractions! I did step on this one, and I couldn’t get a good spin out of it.
You can find the Tilter along the stretch back towards Steel Venom, closer to the North Star.
#12 – SuperCat
SuperCat is a shaded Himalaya ride. It’s reasonably thrilling, but I wished it were a faster, longer ride.
#11 – Flying Eagles
Flying Eagles can be a decently thrilling ride, if you know how to work the single wing. If you pull the handle to the inside as you swing out, and to the outside as you swing in, you can get a big swing going on!
#10 – Minnesota River Valley Railroad
Valleyfair’s park train, the Minnesota River Valley Railroad, isn’t very scenic, but there is one tunnel. And it runs next to several roller coasters for some fun views.
There are two stations, so you can ride it round trip as a chance to get off your feet, or as actual transportation. The South Station is near North Star and the big park amphitheater (which was not running any shows during my visit.) And the North Station is near the Corkscrew and the Ferris Wheel.
#9 -The Wave
The Wave is a solid boat chute ride, designed mainly to get you wet. It’s a welcome relief when the days get hot!
#8 – Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune, back by the waterpark, is a roulette-themed spinning ride that lifts enough off the ground to offer a fun bouncy motion as you go around. Other versions of these spin a bit more at the end, or go backward, which this does not do. But other versions also don’t allow solo riders, so that’s a plus in my book.
#7 – Monster
The Monster, an octopus-like ride along a corridor of food and entertainment options, is very spinny and loads of fun once it gets going, but it takes terribly, terribly long to load.
#6 – Xtreme Swing
Xtreme Swing is one of those big, powered swings that I love. I like this version, but the ride time felt too short. I only got one good pop of air time, then it was over.
#5 – Delirious
Delirious is one of those coaster-like circle rides. They usually call it a ring of fire, or something similar. Its short ride time is fun and I like that it holds you upside down a bit.
The biggest downside is that you have to face other people while you ride it. Unless you’re a party of 3-4, try for a spot on one of the ends!
#4 – Thunder Canyon
Thunder Canyon, way back in the park next to Excalibur (and with its reduced hours) is a great long ride! Most of the getting-wet action is from several waterfalls along the way. The rapids action isn’t super strong on this one and you get good stretches with just a nice view of Renegade. But you will definitely get pretty wet, especially your shoes.
#3 – Power Tower
Power Tower is the park’s 250-foot drop tower and power shot. One Space Shot tower shoots you up into the air, and the two more popular Turbo Drop towers, lift you high before pulling you down faster than a freefall.
The Power Tower is on a little island near Wild Thing – it’s might make a good first stop (if it’s open and Wild Thing is not) or right after Wild Thing early in the day. Otherwise, the line tends to be long.
#2 – Northern Lights
Northern Lights is a fun roller coaster-type ride, like a spinning skateboard on a track. This one has a good spin and decent height. Sit on the outside for more height and spin, and on the inside for a tamer ride.
(Though I wish it were named differently – Northern Lights vs. North Star is hard to keep straight!)
#1 – North Star
North Star is a fantastic high swings ride. It’s almost zen, how quiet and scenic these rides are. Plus, it has a shaded line!! I find these rides more calming than thrilling, but if heights get to you at all, the 230-foot-tall tower might scare you a bit.
Kid’s Rides
Valleyfair has a solid Peanuts-themed kid’s area with 15 attractions, including the Cosmic Coaster. Lots of things that go in circles – balloons, swings, rockets, planes, etc. Plus a rocking tugboat, a frog hopper, and a cool-looking monorail.
Planet Snoopy is located pretty much right in the middle of Valleyfair, before you get to the water park, and before and after the main dining avenues.
Soak City Waterpark
Right smack in the middle of Valleyfair is the big Soak City Waterpark. I say it’s big – it certainly takes up space. Wide-open, non-shaded space. For all that, there wasn’t much here I wanted to experience. There is one big family raft ride, 9 body slides, plus a wave pool and a lazy river. There are also two kid’s splash areas.
The only ride I was interested in is called Raging Rapids, a tube slide dug into the side of a hill, which makes it unique as far as tube slides go! It’s still not huge, but fun enough that I did it twice.
I tried to hit Soak City during the last operating hour it was open, in hopes the lines would be shorter. I’m not sure it helped – it seemed really packed in there. But I didn’t wait too very long for my one ride either. There’s a centrally-located bathroom, lockers, and changing space, but I confess I walked across the large plaza to a bathroom across from the Soak City entrance.
Food
Dining at Valleyfair is a singularly terrible experience. I ended up at a chicken finger place and it took 40 minutes to get my meal! One worker up front took all the orders, kept them straight, and handed them out, but not very well. Back of house seemed in no hurry and up front was often shouting back what they still needed to cook. Just a terrible workflow overall.
But otherwise, there are the theme park mainstay chains of Subway, Auntie Annes, Cinnabon, Panda Express, Dippin Dots, and Caribou Coffee. Plus a 50’s diner near Wild Thing, a “Stadium Grille” near the entrance to Soak City, and a Peanuts Grill in the kid’s area. I saw pizza, Icees, cotton candy, all the usuals. Since the park-made food was so bad, you might want to stick to a chain option. (I had to do this at Kings Island, another Cedar Fair park.)
I also think their ice cream game could be much stronger. Besides Dippin Dots (which I think is gross), there’s only one ice cream counter, and they only really offer chocolate or vanilla soft serve, plus some milkshakes and smoothies.
Grand Carnivale
I happened to visit Valleyfair during its Grand Carnivale season, which every Cedar Fair park takes part in. In fact, I bought a package deal with my ticket that included parking and two international food selections. Included in Grand Carnivale are some fun park-wide decorations and special entertainment and food along the corridor from The Wave to Planet Snoopy. The event starts in the evening, I think 5 or 6 pm. (Always check hours before you go – I can’t currently find any corroborating information on their website.)
The special entertainment was quirky, with lots of circus-like performers and some outrageous walk-around characters. The food was pretty decent, if expensive and in small portions. One of the offerings I wanted was at the same chicken-finger restaurant and suffered the same disorganization and wait (though not nearly as long.) Other, smaller food booths operated much faster. I ate Mongolian Beef over rice and apple strudel, then later a seafood Paella and Natillas de Leche because I was still hungry. It might take 2-4 entrees to feel full if you’re using festival food for a meal.
The highlight of Grand Carnival is a nightly Mardi Gras-style parade at 7:30. There is a festival king and queen to kick it off, lots of harlequin checks and umbrellas, and parade floats and dancers to represent different countries. A big green, gold, and purple final float has folks throwing beads to the crowd.
It’s worth seeing if you’re already there, and every Cedar Fair park has a Grand Carnivale at some point in their season. I don’t think it deviates too much from one place to another, though other parks might do it on a grander scale. While I just missed Grand Carnivale at Kings Island, the decorations on their large entrance avenue were very impressive.
Other Events
There is literally NO other information about Valleyfair’s annual events on their website. It looks like besides Grand Carvinale, there are Halloween doings, maybe a harvest (or corn?) festival, Latin days, possibly 4th of July fireworks. It’s hard to tell!
As for year-round live entertainment, it looks like there might be (or have been) Charlie Brown-themed children’s stage shows, I see a video for a summer drumline, and there’s a massive outdoor amphitheater near the front of the park. None of the stages were occupied prior to the Grand Carnivale, unless I totally missed them.
Amenities
Valleyfair has park-wide Wifi and a park app. It’s not even a Cedar Fair app where you select your park (like Six Flags), but one specifically for Valleyfair. On it, you can see a park map and showtimes, store your tickets, ostensibly find your friends and your car, and see ride wait times (though they are often wildly inaccurate.)
There is a solid loose articles policy in place at Valleyfair. They’ve got numbered bins on most ride platforms. As always, it’s leave-at-your-own-risk, but at least they have a system.
Their opening procedure (at least on a weekday visit) is to play the national anthem at 15 minutes before opening time, then let folks into the entrance area until rope drop at 10 am. But many rides weren’t operating right away. Wild Thing didn’t even start testing until 8 minutes after the hour and didn’t open until 20 minutes after. It seems like opening time is also when the staff arrives… I’ve seen this at a lot of parks post-Covid. They just aren’t up and ready to go at showtime.
Parking costs $25, unless you have a season pass or buy some sort of package deal like I did.
Hours
Valleyfair opens for the season on May 12 and starts daily operation by the end of the month. They close down again in early September, so it doesn’t look like they stay open through the Halloween season. (Unless that’s updated later. Always check times for yourself!)
The park’s hours vary a lot – always check before you visit. Opening time is usually around 10 am but sometimes 9:30. And closing varys from 5 pm early in the season, to 10 pm on weekends in the summer. Soak City, when it is open (usually Memorial Day through Labor Day weekends) has reduced hours, usually from 11 am to anywhere from 6-8 pm.
Tickets
Admission at the gate can cost as much as $65, though it’s always cheaper to buy online ahead of time. Right now, you can get a daily ticket to use anytime during the 2024 season for $40. Parking is an extra $25 (cheap by today’s standards!) and there are the usual add-ons for dining plans, photo passes, and skip-the-line offers.
Annual passes start around $89, which you can pay in installments. Add $100 to your annual pass to get into all Cedar Fair parks. Includes free parking at all locations. It’s worth noting that if you buy an all-parks passport from Valleyfair, it’s $189. If you buy one from, say, Kings Island or Cedar Point, it’s more like $210-245.
Conclusion
As you can tell, I was underwhelmed by Valleyfair. I was in the middle of a stretch of theme park visits and maybe a little tired. It’s never a bad day when you get to ride a good roller coaser like Wild Thing, but overall it was the least impressive park on my trip. It’s still charming, a decent local park, but not really worth traveling for. Lines on a Thursday were reasonably low.
Some specific criticisms: they could really use far more shade structures in the park. Some tarps on poles would go a long way in visitor comfort. If it’s going to be that hot, they need to offer more water stations (and ice cream!) I also noticed a lot of smoking in this park, and not localized to smoking areas, just out and about.
I don’t regret that I visited Valleyfair, but I wouldn’t go again. Not unless they introduce a big impressive roller coaster. And even then, I might only do so if I had one of those all-parks passports from Cedar Fair.
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