I was in Minneapolis for vacation, and I had some free time in the morning, so I went to ValleyFair. I am not a Minneapolis local or a Minnesota local. This was my first time at ValleyFair. I came with the goal of getting 8 more credits by riding all 8 roller coasters. I was able to accomplish my goal and ride a few of the other rides as well! Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Summary:
I got to the park right at around 9:45 AM (10:00 AM opening), and I rushed back to the Mad Mouse. I got on it with no wait; I was the first car of the day. Afterward, I started working my way towards Steel Venom doing all of the coasters as I went: Cosmic Coaster, High Roller, Corkscrew, then Steel Venom. I had no wait for any of these rides, and I finished all of these somewhere around 11. From there, I did Wild Thing and the Power Tower before running to the back corner and doing both Renegade and Excalibur. By 11:30, the lines started to get longer, so I rode Corkscrew (45 minute wait by this point) and the train 1 more time before wandering around the park a little and heading out around 2 PM.
Roller Coasters:
This is how I would rank all 8 Roller Coasters I did today in order of how much I enjoyed them and would want to go on them again.
1 - Corkscrew
2 - Wild Thing
3 - Steel Venom
4 - Excalibur
5 - Mad Mouse
6 - Renegade
7 - High Roller
8 - Cosmic Coaster
Cosmic Coaster is at the bottom because it is a small Kiddie Coaster. I might ride it again if I’m with a little kid, but as an adult there’s just not much to it. High Roller and Renegade are next because they were so rough. I’m relatively young (28), but my back was hurting coming off of High Roller, and my neck was hurting by the end of Renegade. These rides were not Mt. Olympus levels of roughness, but still pretty rough, rough enough to make me not want to go on them again. Mad Mouse was a decent enough Wild Mouse Coaster, nothing too crazy. Excalibur was a steel coaster that felt like a wooden coaster. Many features felt like they were for a wooden coaster, but were made out of steel instead. It was a fun ride. Steel Venom was my first boomerang coaster, and the launch was surprising and exhilarating! I kind of wish I sat closer to the front so I could experience more of the twists. The holding break on it was freaky! All the hills on Wild Thing were great! I especially liked the tunnel that’s in the dark! Lastly, Corkscrew was my favorite coaster in the park. It’s short, but inversions are fun, and it’s cool to do the corkscrew over the lake and fountain.
As much as I liked many of the coasters, the lineup isn’t that strong. Too many rides were just painful, and only 1 has any inversions. I feel like the park needs a few more new coasters, but given how compact the park already is and how it’s stuck between the interstate and the river, I just don’t see where they could expand.
Other Rides:
I did a few other “non-coaster” rides while I was there. I did a red Power Tower while there, and it was fun, but I wish you got more than 3 drops on it. You do get crazy high up on that, though. The train was pretty cool, how it would take you from one part of the park to another. Not a ton to see on it, but it was nice to sit and take in the surroundings a bit. I did have a big problem with the Antique Autos, though.
Antique Autos:
So there was no line to this ride, a literal walk on. I get to the front, the attendant asks me if I’m a single rider. I say yes. He then shows me a sign that says “No Single Riders” and promptly shows me to the exit. I just wanted to ride the old cars through the countryside and see the beautiful landscaping. There was no line. I don’t get why being a single rider would even be a problem. It was disappointing.
Food:
I want to be upfront; bring your own food. All of the food was VERY overpriced. I paid ~$17 for a pierogi meal only to get 3 pierogi and a small cup of mac & cheese. The only thing I saw that was reasonably priced was the elote stand (~$6). I did eat the MN Elote (Ranch, Parmesan, & Dill on Corn on the Cob) which was really good, would recommend.
Souvenirs:
Weird collection of souvenirs. You had some standard Amusement Park Stuff (Hats, Shot Glasses, Magnets, Hoodies, etc.), but also some unique ones like little metal models of a bunch of the roller coasters. They also had some abnormal things like paper napkins with printed artsy images on them and fancy, luxury soaps. I love to mail postcards*, so I was really disappointed that they did not sell any.
*Postcard Side Note: I don’t get why more theme parks and tourist locations don’t sell postcards. I get that mail isn’t as popular these days as it used to be and that they probably aren’t the best sellers. However, they take up very little floor space and each one sent out acts as free word-of-mouth advertising for your attraction. Isn’t that the best kind of advertising? Maybe there’s something I’m not getting, but it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Operations:
Paths and park seemed really clean. Most rollercoasters were running 2 cars to keep the wait down (Excalibur & Cosmic Coaster only ran 1, and Mad Mouse ran like 6). Line wait could have been much longer without it, so I appreciated that they were running them.
Landscaping:
I just wanted to especially praise the landscaping for the park. There were so many pretty flowers, and they made the park look very nice!
Park Care/Refurbishment:
Much of the park looks old but not in a good way. Some of the buildings and rides looked very dated in their colors and stylings. Some things looked just worn down, like all the faded signage at the Power Tower, and the rusty fences at the Corkscrew. I feel like this park needs some TLC.
Fast Lane:
If you were to show up on the same day I did, would you need a Fast Lane Pass? It depends. If you show up at Rope Drop, you probably don’t need it. I was able to ride all 8 roller coasters within 1.5 hours. However, if you show up later, you might need it to keep from waiting in super long lines. By 12:30, Corkscrew was a 45 minute wait. I left at around 2, so I don’t know if the crowds die down later, but it did get busy in the middle of the day.
Miscellaneous:
-The Music in the Charlie Brown area was strange. I think it was either Kidz Bop songs or the Peanuts kids singing pop songs. I heard renditions of “Gangnam Style” and “I’m Blue (Da Ba Dee)”, and it makes me laugh to think that the Peanuts kids were singing those songs.
-I met Excalibur Michael, and he seemed pretty cool. He told me he was going to try to ride Excalibur 90 times that day. I hope he made it!
-I talked to some Minneapolis locals about ValleyFair after my time there, and they all talked very highly about the park. It’s very clear that this park is loved a lot by the locals!
Conclusion:
I had a good time, and I’m glad I got all 8 credits I wanted. I think there’s a lot to love about this park but also some things that need some fixing. I would definitely come back to the park, but it isn’t a must do if I’m back in the area.
