· Valley Fair was opened by two local businessmen in 1976. At its opening the park featured twenty attractions. Today it has over seventy-five attractions.
· Local radio station KDWB has hosted contest which award a new car the contestant who can ride roller coasters like the Wild Thing for the longest continuous amount of time. In 2005, two riders who endured seventeen days of nearly continuous roller coaster rides were named joint winners of the competition.
· Valley Fair’s first attraction for children was Half Pint Park, created in 1988. Later attractions included Berenstain Bear Country, KidWorks, and the Foam Ball Factory. In 2011, Planet Snoopy debuted (four years after the Mall of America’s Camp Snoopy changed its Peanuts brand).
· The oldest ride at the Valley Fair is its forty-eight horse carousel, which was transferred from Excelsior Amusement Park. The oldest roller coaster in the park is the High Roller, opened in 1976.
· The park’s tallest rollercoaster is the Wild Thing, at two hundred and seven feet. Its height was limited by federal aviation laws.
· Valley Fair’s Xtreme Swing is the world’s second largest swinging thrill ride. The largest is the Skyhawk at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.
· During Halloween Season, ValleySCARE features seven ghoulish mazes, and four terrifically terrifying Scare Zones, complete with monsters, zombies, and a festival of freaks.
· Roller coasters were originally inspired by coal carts, and log chute rides were inspired by real log chutes.
Image courtesy of anat_tikker / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tagged: Scott County MN , Minnesota Counties , Minnesota Tourism , Four Score