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Valleyfair!

Shakopee, Minnesota, USA

“Regional amusement park with good atmosphere”

If we were to erase the years 1975 and 1976 from history, the amusement park world would look totally different. In Europe, we would never have known Walibi Belgium, Europa-Park and Gardaland. Across the Atlantic, both Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion first saw the light of day, while the Marriott hotel chain opened theme parks in California and Illinois. Further north, Valleyfair officially opened its gates on 25 May 1976. The park was built on the banks of the Minnesota River, approximately 18 miles south-west of Minneapolis. Valleyfair became the first notable theme park in the region and even to this day, it remains the largest roller coaster destination in the entire state.

ROLLER COASTERS

According to the Roller Coaster Database, 8 roller coasters are currently operating at Valleyfair. Looking at the manufacturers of these rides, it is striking that some well-known brands are missing. Anyone looking for a coaster built by B&M, Vekoma, RMC or Mack will leave disappointed. Even Intamin was hired just once and this collaboration led to the opening of Steel Venom. This is an Impulse Coaster with several launches and two vertical spikes. The accelerations are powerful and we experience quite a bit of airtime on the spikes, so the ride provides a great thrill on a limited footprint. By the way: Valleyfair’s version offers something extra compared to similar installations at Six Flags Great America and Leofoo Village. This is the only variant where the so-called holding brake is still active. Thanks to this brake, the train can be brought to a standstill in a vertical position for a few seconds. And believe me… that creates a rather unusual sensation.

Steel Venom is Valleyfair’s most thrilling roller coaster, but it’s certainly not the largest one. The park’s skyline is dominated by a 207-feet-tall (63 metres) hyper coaster with a top speed of 74 mph (120 km/h). These green tracks and supports belong to Wild Thing, a ride that’s commonly referred to as Mild Thing by coaster enthusiasts. With a nickname like that, it goes without saying that the ride does not offer excessive g-forces or extremely steep descents. But despite these relatively limited thrills, it is still an attraction that I enjoy. Morgan created an incredibly smooth ride and the final bunny hops provide a good dose of airtime. Besides, Wild Thing is a visually appealing ride. The steel structure acts as a landmark for visitors approaching Valleyfair, and the towering lift hill can be seen from nearly everywhere inside the park.

Valleyfair’s two oldest roller coasters can be found in the northern half of the park. High Roller is a wooden roller coaster dating from 1976. With its out-and-back layout and bright white support structure, High Roller exudes a lovely antique vibe. The experience turns out to be rather disappointing, though. The ride is equipped with an enormous amount of brakes, resulting in virtually no airtime or intensity. The nearby Corkscrew is a 35-year-old inversion roller coaster built by Arrow Dynamics. The ride isn’t entirely smooth and the layout offers no surprises, but I’d like to praise Corkscrew for being the most photogenic roller coaster at Valleyfair. The tracks were painted in vivid colours and a considerable portion of the ride was built above a stunning lake.

According to seasoned Valleyfair visitors, Mad Mouse usually has the longest line in the entire park. It’s easy to see why, because the operations on this ride are downright horrible. Despite the fact that Mad Mouse was running 5 vehicles during our visit, it seemed as if only one car could be in motion at any given time. This brought Mad Mouse’s estimated capacity to around 150 people per hour, which led to a frustratingly slow moving queue. That’s a shame, as the ride itself is actually quite enjoyable. This wild mouse from Arrow Dynamics is smooth and it offers a substantially different experience from the versions we know in Europe.

The amusement park chain behind Valleyfair invests millions of dollars in new roller coasters every year. However, not every location is treated equally. Unfortunately, Valleyfair counts as one of the unlucky parks, as the last big thrill coaster opened back in 2007. We are talking about a GCI wooden coaster called Renegade. The ride was given a beautiful location in a green corner of the park and it’s characterized by an exceptionally curvy layout. Even the first descent was shaped like some sort of S-bend, which is rather unique. The rest of the track features GCI’s characteristic power and a good dose of airtime, giving Renegade a very authentic wooden roller coaster feel. Thanks to its intense nature and high speeds, the ride even reminded me of Troy at Toverland. And that can definitely be considered as a compliment. Awesome coaster!

And then there’s Excalibur, a ride that appears to be suffering from low ridership due to its remote location. That’s a shame, because this is a rather unusual coaster. It can be described as an old-fashioned Arrow mine train coaster, albeit with considerably more mature stats than most of its siblings. The experience starts with a 105 feet (32 metres) drop and the train then reaches a top speed of 54 mph (nearly 90 kmh). The rest of the layout consists of high-speed turns and several snappy transitions. It’s therefore not the smoothest ride, but all in all, Excalibur turns out to be a surprisingly enjoyable family roller coaster. This ride deserves more attention than it gets, if you ask me.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

On this website, my attention is mainly focused on roller coasters and dark rides. No amusement park is complete without a certain amount of flat rides, though. And despite the fact that Valleyfair has less to offer in this segment than many other Cedar Fair/Six Flags properties, the selection is still more than sufficient. Eye-catchers include a 100-year-old carousel, a Screamin’ Swing, the 300-feet-tall Power Tower and a Star Flyer called North Star. Three other flat rides can be classified as typically American. I’m talking about classics such as a Tilt-A-Whirl, a Scrambler and a so-called Larson Loop. My weak stomach usually isn’t too fond of these spinning and swinging machines, but I do think that they add great kinetics to a theme park.

When Americans talk about temperatures in the nineties, almost all amusement park visitors start looking for ways to cool off. At Valleyfair, they can head to Soak City and two water attractions. These are The Wave (a barely themed shoot-the-chutes) and Thunder Canyon. This rapid river meanders through a dense forest and that’s a beautiful sight. However, the ride isn’t overly exciting. The boats float down a rather gentle stream and the wetness is almost exclusively due to a few strategically placed waterfalls. Thunder Canyon may be one of the park’s most popular attractions on hot summer days, but it’s by no means the best American rapid river.

WORTH A VISIT?

Valleyfair is an amusement park rather than a theme park. It’s important to keep that in mind when visiting this place. If you’re hoping to discover dazzling themed land or immersive attractions, you’re guaranteed to be disappointed at Valleyfair. However, if you’re looking for a fun and effortless day out, this charming park will most likely meet all expectations. Valleyfair offers an excellent collection of attractions, with Renegade and Steel Venom being the highlights. Besides, the park was in excellent condition during our visit: all the attractions looked well-kept and the park was adorned with colourful flower beds and lush landscaping. Valleyfair managed to put a smile on my face, but I won’t deny that it feels as if time is standing still here. So Six Flags… please order a big new signature attraction for Valleyfair soon!

Have you had the chance to visit Valleyfair? What would be the ideal addition to the park’s coaster lineup? And do you call that hyper coaster Wild Thing or Mild Thing? Share your opinion in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

This article reflects my personal experience at Valleyfair during a visit in July 2025.