Valleyfair is an amusement park located in Shakopee, Minnesota. It is owned by Cedar Fair and occupies approximately 125 acres (0.5 km²).
Valleyfair opened for business in 1976 and is currently the largest amusement park in the "Upper Midwest". Valleyfair was originally themed as a Coney Island-styled turn-of-the-century amusement park; this leads to some jarring contrasts with modern-style rides like the steel roller coasters Corkscrew and Wild Thing .
Valleyfair's major attractions are its several roller coasters and possibly more famously its wide array of water rides, a powerful draw during Minnesota's hot, long summer days.
Roller Coasters
High Roller: The park's oldest coaster, an all-wood out-and-back type coaster. 70 feet at the highest peak, top speed of 50 mph.
Corkscrew: The oldest all-steel coaster in Minnesota. Its primary features are a loop and the two-twist corkscrew segment that gives the coaster its name. 85 feet, top speed 50 mph.
Excalibur: A hybrid wood-steel coaster. Excalibur's dips and curves are generally the most stomach-churning of any of Valleyfair's roller coasters. 105 feet, top speed 55 mph
Mad Mouse: As the name suggests, a Wild Mouse type roller coaster. Mad Mouse is built in the space formerly occupied by Rails (Wild Rails until 1996, a name change necessitated by the similarly-named Wild Thing), a similar coaster. 50 feet, top speed 30 mph
Wild Thing: Minnesota's tallest roller coaster at 207 feet high (the fifth-tallest roller coaster in the world at the time of its opening) and the state's only hyper coaster, with a 200 foot drop and the longest low-gravity section of any coaster in the world. 207 feet, top speed 74 mph
Steel Venom: A shuttle-type impulse coaster which reaches a maximum height of 175 feet. Top speed 74 mph
Water Rides
- Whitewater Country Waterpark: A full-service waterpark with swimsuits available for purchase. Admission is free with park entrance. Known as Liquid Lightning Waterpark until 1992, when the name was changed and the waterpark was opened to general attendance (it had been an additional-fee attraction until 1992).
- The Flume: Known as Ye Olde Log Flume until the early 1990s. The Flume is a log flume ride. The balcony over the Flume's splashdown pool is one of the park's most popular dining locations.
- Thunder Canyon: A six-person raft ride; like all amusement park raft rides, getting wet is the point of the excursion. A thrilling ride and one of the park's most popular attractions, but on very hot days, the wait for this ride can easily exceed a full hour.
- The Wave: A large splashdown pool ride. The Wave is almost as popular for spectators as it is for riders, as the huge wave generated by the nose of the boat can splash almost ten feet beyond the fence around the ride.
- Hydroblaster: An enclosed waterslide (located near the Flume, not in Whitewater Country Waterpark).
See Also
Official website
