Valleyfair, Shakopee, MN

Total Timber Tour Blog Day 8

17 miles drive from our hotel in Bloomington, MN to Valleyfair in Shakopee, MN

A full day at the park today, and what a day. Storms clearing through this morning, delayed ride opening by an hour or so, but had the added effect of keeping the crowds at bay. At about 11am, operation started with next to no guests in the park, and the sun came out at lunchtime. By the afternoon, a few more people had turned up, but we had the run of the park all day, with all rides, including Renegade and Wild Thing walk-on!

It must be said the park looked after us extremely well and the visit was in complete contrast to our first 9 years ago. That was part of a trip with The Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain. On that day, you couldn’t see a square inch of parking lot for yellow school buses! And the kid’s had the run of the park without supervision, and all the associated queue etiquette (or absence of it!) that goes with it. So the return today redressed the balance well and allowed us to enjoy all the park had to offer and then some.

Onto the main reason for our visit then, Renegade, the 5th coaster on our ‘to-do’ list and ticked off with great efficiency. The ride is typical of a GCI with a very unique twisting first drop, speed throughout and the signature GCI turns and crossovers. The early rain had ensured our first ride was nice and fast on a freshly soaked track, and by the end of the day, it was flying.

We did a couple of ‘Rodeo’ rides for our friend Andy – cheers for the tip Andy – and completed the day with a full 1½ hours riding putting it through it’s paces. Special thanks to ride ops Paul and Andrew who helped the session feel like a party and gave us all a bonus ride at the end of the day – cheers guys. During that last ride, it started to rain again and by 9pm we were in the middle of a terrific thunder storm.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable day which has ensured we will be back in the near future.

Drive back to the same hotel in Bloomington via Ruby Tuesday’s – where Ian, 36, was feeling particularly pleased with himself for being asked for I.D. to buy a beer with his meal!