User blog:RCTFan2002/Whatever Happened to... Episode 5: Whatever Happened to...Valley Hills?

Hey everyone, welcome back to the "Whatever Happened to..." series. This week, we're going to focus on another famous RCT3 timeline park that apparently just up and stopped for seemingly no reason - I'm talking about JonnyRCT3's Valley Hills.

This was one of the most popular RCT3 park projects on Theme Park Review, so the fact that this project just apparently stopped updating out of the blue was just not only strange, but practically an outrage to fans everywhere, including me. Not to mention, the last official updates on the park - which took place in 2011 in the VH universe - sort of left a bad taste in my mouth, so hopefully, I can try to fix them in my own version of what happened to the park afterwards.

(Disclaimer: I do NOT own Valley Hills. It belongs solely to the brilliant, talented JonnyRCT3)

Introduction
Valley Hills opened as a small, independently owned theme park in 1972. Over the years, it quickly expanded, adding some more coasters, a kiddie area, a log flume, and more. Eventually, in 1990, the park was sold to Tierco Group Inc., which eventually became Premier Parks in 1994. In 1997, the park was renamed "Six Flags Valley Hills" and quickly grew to become a popular midwestern SF park. However, in 2004, Six Flags put the park up for sale due to their ongoing financial issues, and the park was bought by Cedar Fair, who reopened it in 2005 under it's original name again and gave it the "Cedar Fair treatment", such as Peanuts theming, Coasters Drive-In, etc. Last we heard of the park, it was 2011, and while the park had seen an expansion of one of it's kiddie areas, it also removed three rides - one of which had just opened a year before, and two classics, the "Towering Inferno" first generation freefall, and "Apple Twists", a Paratrooper that'd opened with the park in 1972. That's the last we know of Valley Hills.

But what happened since then? What did the park get in 2012, 2013, and so on? Did they remove any more of their classic rides? What would the park look like today? Well, sit back and prepare yourselves, because you're about to see what I imagine Valley Hills would be like in 2022!

Valley Hills: A History (from 2011-2022)
For the 2011 season, the park featured an expansion of the Camp Snoopy kids area, featuring several new rides such as Krazy Kars (bumper cars), Flying Beagle (a Larson Flying Skooters ride), and Snoopy's Rocket Express (a Vekoma family boomerang coaster, and the first one to open in North America). It also featured an upcharge rock climbing attraction and an all-new picnic catering pavilion opening in the back of the park called "Spruce Pavilions". However, this year also saw some major ride removals - Towering Inferno, the park's Intamin first generation freefall tower, was unceremoniously demolished and scrapped, a vacant dirt lot being all that was left from the ride. Charlie Brown's Wind Up, a Rideworks Whip that had just opened a year before in 2010, was suddenly removed with no explanation before the season started, and it's old ride pad was reduced to an empty spot.

But probably the most surprising ride removal was that of Apple Twists, a Hrubetz Paratrooper ride that had opened with the park in 1972 and was considered a classic. It was replaced with the aforementioned upcharge rock climbing attraction, a switch-out that MANY park fans did not approve of at all. Finally, in October of 2011, after months of little to no explanation, Cedar Fair made an official formal announcement regarding the removal of Charlie Brown's Wind Up and Apple Twists, along with 2012's new additions - apparently, the removals of both Charlie Brown's Wind Up and Apple Twists was NOT final after all. Apple Twists had simply been put in storage to accommodate for the new kids area expansion, and Charlie Brown's Wind Up had also been put in storage due to some maintenance issues during testing. Because there had been a lack of spare parts for the ride at the time (there was a delay in spare parts coming in), Cedar Fair didn't want the ride becoming a maintenance nightmare, so they briefly put the ride in storage until the spare parts came so they didn't have to worry about being unable to fix it if it broke down.

Now that the spare parts had finally come in, Cedar Fair announced that Charlie Brown's Wind Up would indeed be reinstalled at Valley Hills for the 2012 season, as well as Apple Twists, much to the relief of park fans everywhere. However, it was also announced that these rides would not be in the same spot as they once were when they were originally at the park, causing speculation amongst fans as to where they'd go...

Sure enough, in 2012, Charlie Brown's Wind Up and Apple Twists were back at Valley Hills! Both rides were now installed right next to each other in Towering Inferno's old spot, taking up the old drop tower's ride pad quite nicely. While Apple Twists remained the same, Charlie Brown's Wind Up experienced quite a change - the ride was repainted, rethemed and renamed "Saloon Sidewinder", to fit the faint wild west theme of the area it was now in. When both rides reopened this season, lots of guests immediately flocked to them, especially Apple Twists, which pretty much everyone was relieved had not gone to flat ride heaven after all.

But that wasn't all - also new for the 2012 season, was WindSeeker! And yes, the ride is exactly what it sounds like. A 300-ft tall Mondial WindSeeker ride indeed made it's way to Valley Hills that season, just like it did at a bunch of Cedar Fair's other parks. Located in the old spot of Saloon Sidewinder, it quickly became the tallest ride in the park and attracted a lot of guests that season as well, for being a very exciting and intimidating-looking swing ride, yet also actually being gentle enough for families to get on it as well. And as for the icing on top of the cake, Halloween Haunt was announced in August of 2012, therefore extending the park's operating season all the way until October - something lots of park fans were also excited about. Overall, 2012 was definitely a very successful season for Valley Hills, in a couple different ways.

Sadly though, as much of a success 2012 was, the park still, unfortunately, had to remove one of their more redundant rides that year - that ride was Chaos, the park's Chance Chaos that had opened back in 1999 when the park was still under Six Flags' reign. After waning popularity over the years (as well as having to go into a restaurant just to enter the ride's queue) and becoming outshined by the park's other, more updated and exciting thrill rides, Cedar Fair decided to pull the plug on the 13-year-old ride, announcing it's removal in October 2012. The last few days of Halloween Haunt, the ride was closed off to the public as it began getting dismantled, and by the beginning of December, it was completely gone.

2013 saw two major changes to the park. First, Ignition, the park's B&M invert, finally got rid of it's awkward Batman colors and got a much deserved repaint, from it's old blue, yellow and black scheme to an all-new red and bright orange scheme. The second, however, is the more important one - Disaster Transport: The Second Mission, an all-new Sally Corporation dark ride that opened on the former spot of Chaos, and also took up some of the old land that had been previously occupied by Deja Vu. The ride's name was meant to be both a tribute and reference to the defunct Disaster Transport coaster at Cedar Point, which had been removed just a year earlier. Since it was the first tracked dark ride to ever open in the park's history, the ride instantly became popular with guests when it first opened at the park for the 2013 season, immediately being a hit with families and kids specifically.

2014 didn't see any major changes that year, the most prominent addition being the Peanuts Theater, and even calling it that was being generous - it was basically a small stage where meet-and-greet sessions with Peanuts characters happened every half hour, and every week a small 10-minute show would be performed there as well. It replaced the old upcharge Snoopy's Bounce House attraction, which had practically become obsolete and forgotten due to the park's many other kiddie attractions. Other than that, nothing new came to the park that season, other than general improvements. 2015, however, saw an exciting new family ride come to Camp Snoopy, replacing the old upcharge rock climbing wall that everyone apparently seemed to hate. Snoopy's GR8 SK8 was an all-new Zamperla Skater ride, nearly identical to the Zamperla Disk'O but with a rectangular, skateboard-themed vehicle instead of a circular disk. It received acclaim for being quite an exciting family ride, plus it's location right behind White Lightning gave riders great views of the coaster's mid-brake run and turnaround right next door. West Virginia Turnpike also received minor upgrades that year, mainly being new cars (which were actually the relocated cars from the now defunct Cadillac Cars ride at Cedar Point).

However, the 2015 season also featured the park saying goodbye to three more classic rides: Patriot, the park's Huss Ranger which'd opened in 1985 as "Sun Spin", Valley Lift, the park's chairlift ride that opened in 1989, and "Music Box", the park's Moser Tagada that opened in 1983 alongside Towering Inferno. Cedar Fair later confirmed that the official reason that all 3 rides were being removed from the park that season was because of old age, increasing maintenance issues, and a lack of spare parts for the rides. They also announced that the three rides would be replaced in 2016 with an all new flat ride package, just like what Carowinds would later do in 2017...

And sure enough, in 2016, FOUR new flat rides opened at the park. Shockforce, Rock N' Roll Express, Valley Twister and BackWoods Swinger opened! The four rides - a Mondial Top Scan, a Wisdom Rides Himalaya, a Mondial Rollover (relocated from the European fair circuit) and a Zierer Wave Swinger respectively - opened, all in one of the old ride's spots (Rock N' Roll Express replaced the Valley Lift station near Planet Snoopy, Shockforce replaced the other station near Barrel Blast, Valley Twister replaced Patriot, and BackWoods Swinger replaced Music Box). Cedar Fair, wanting and trying to allude to the park's history, used part of BackWoods Swinger's name as a reference to the old BackWoods Buffet restaurant that had operated in the park from 1972 to 1980. While the Planet Snoopy kids area already had a swing ride in the form of Treetop Flyers, that was more of a kiddie-oriented swing ride, which meant that BackWoods Swinger was technically the park's family swing ride (and WindSeeker the park's thrill swing ride. Besides Carowinds has Yo-Yo, WindSeeker AND Zephyr, which are all swing rides, so why not this park?). All four new rides received a fair amount of attention when they opened at the park for the 2016 season.

2017 saw yet another small kids area expansion, this time for the rather neglected Planet Snoopy. It wasn't much, just two small new kiddie rides - a Zamperla Samba Balloons named Woodstock's Airmail and a Zamperla Happy Swing named Sally's Swing Set - but it certainly did help bring some more guests, mainly families and little kids, into the area. Treetop Flyers also got a refurbishment that season, having it's tree theming taken away and replaced with a baseball theme. The ride was ultimately renamed...wait for it...Charlie Brown's Wind Up. Yep, Cedar Fair reused Saloon Sidewinder's old name for the ride, so it would better fit the Peanuts theme of the area it was in. 2017 also sadly saw the end of the park's iconic log flume, Wild Waters, which was quickly demolished and scrapped during Halloween Haunt. Buccaneer, the nearby Huss Pirate Ship, was also taken out during Wild Waters' demolition, though Cedar Fair later confirmed that the ride was NOT getting scrapped unlike the log flume and would be briefly put in storage for the time being while they worked on 2018's new addition.

And so, in 2018, Constrictor opened! It's name taken from the snake, this Mack launched coaster is considered, hands down, one of the best launched coasters in the US, if not the world, given it's compact and winding layout featuring four sharp, cutthroat inversions - a vertical loop, two corkscrews and an inline twist - and it's jarring, sudden launch of 55mph. It also featured some unique interactions with the nearby pond that was once used as Wild Waters' splashdown feature, providing an even more exciting ride experience! Buccaneer also reopened at the park that year, albeit in a different spot from where it used to be: since both Wild Waters and Buccaneer's old spots had been entirely taken up by Constrictor's layout, a new park pathway had been built where Wild Waters' queue and exit used to be, and Buccaneer was rebuilt on the end of the pathway, behind the Cedar Tavern restaurant.

When Constrictor opened to the public...oh man, the park was PACKED to the brim with coaster enthusiasts and thrill seekers coming from all around the country to ride the exciting new coaster! It was also the first major coaster to open at the park in TEN YEARS, the last one being White Lightning in 2008, so to some people this was a long overdue type of ride. In the summer of 2018, a massive plot of land was cleared right next door to Valley Hills, nearly touching the new "Constrictor's Plaza" pathway (as some fanatics nicknamed the all new area). Speculation rose as to what it could mean, suggestions ranging from a waterpark, to a camping resort, to a hotel, and more. Cedar Fair later quelled the rumors online, posting that only one of them was true, but did not specify which one it was.

Then, in 2019, Valley Shores Waterpark had it's grand opening! This gave the theme park it's much needed own waterpark, something that Six Flags had neglected to give them in the past. The whole new waterpark area had it's front entrance located in the Constrictor's Plaza, just down the path from Buccaneer and the coaster's exit, and featured several shops and eateries, as well as, of course, a couple water attractions. Mainly, they were a Proslide Mat Racer (a la Whitecap Racer at Hersheypark), a wave pool, a small kiddie water play area, and a regular slide complex featuring two tube slides and two body slides. As if 2018 hadn't been successful enough, 2019 was even better, with the park experiencing record attendance now that it had an all-inclusive next door waterpark to it. That season also featured the return of the infamous rock climbing wall, this time in between Rock N' Roll Express and Ignition's cobra roll. The upcharge attraction was renamed Rocky Ridge Climbing Co. Still, nobody cared about it.

2020 was apparently supposed to be an off-season for the park, as nothing had been announced at the end of 2019 nor at the beginning of the season. That was for the better though, as COVID hit the US hard in March of 2020 and as a result, every amusement park around the country had to shut down due to the lockdown mandates. On July 3rd, 2020, Cedar Fair posted online that Valley Hills would NOT be open for the rest of the season due to the ongoing pandemic, but the park WOULD reopen in 2021 and all 2020 season passes would be automatically transferred over to the 2021 season. So long story short, 2020 was a waste of a year for the park. Moving on.

2021 saw Valley Hills reopen it's gates for good at the start of the season, and the park ran like normal for the whole season, albeit with the COVID protocols in place. Around July or so, people began discussing online, claiming that Valley Hills seemed to be hiding a new attraction for the 2022 season, but these were treated as just regular rumors and nothing with actual weight to them. Still, as summer progressed, it did seem like Valley Hills was indeed hiding something from guests. In September of 2021, the park closed for the season on Labor Day weekened (Halloween Haunt had been canceled due to the COVID protocols), and people suspected a new ride announcement was bound to happen any day. But it never came.

Then, in October of 2021, coaster fanatics got a scare when pictures were leaked online, showing what seemed like Pulse's queue line and exit being stripped up and removed. Immediately, the internet got into an uproar when these leaks went public, most of them aggressively calling Cedar Fair out for "pulling a Wicked Twister" and "removing a popular coaster without any warning whatsoever". When some of the posts from angry fans began claiming violent threats, Cedar Fair finally stepped in to pacify them and clear everything up: Pulse was NOT getting removed at all, and the pathways exiting and entering the ride were just being redone for the 2022 season - that's what the pictures were showing. It was meant to be a new park pathway for a new 2022 park area, and this quickly calmed everybody down. However, despite all this, Cedar Fair STILL did not confirm if the park was getting a new ride for 2022, which still kept some people in a sour mood.

2022 introduced the all new "Cedar Town" area of the park, which featured crossing a bridge over a river to get to. The main pathway of the area had been built on some of Pulse's old queue and exit, causing both of them to get rerouted as a result - now, Pulse's entrance was located closer on the Main Street area than it was before, right behind the Kanawha Square restaurant, and the exit now simply dropped people off on the new pathway rather than take them all the way back to the Main Street area. Cedar Town was considered sort of an extension of the wild west themed area, featuring a rustic, yet steampunk-ish vibe to it. It featured several shops, an eatery, and, most importantly, the area's main star attraction, Professor Delbert's Escape from the Mine Shaft. The park's third wooden coaster, the ride was manufactured by Gravity Group and featured Timberliner trains, and had a storyline to it: the riders were explorers accompanying Professor Delbert (taken from Cedar Point obviously) on an inherited silver mine that was rumored by locals to be haunted. While exploring the shaft itself, disaster strikes (it is never specified exactly what the disaster is though) and the riders must escape before they're trapped - hence, Escape from the Mine Shaft. But that's not all that the coaster features - you see, this coaster, is one of only two wooden shuttle coasters in the WORLD, the other being Switchback at ZDT's Amusement Park in Texas.

That's right, this was a SHUTTLE wooden coaster. At one point, the riders careen up a vertical wooden spike into an enclosed tunnel element, leading them to think they'll crash in the darkness! However, instead the ride careens backwards and proceeds to go through a backwards cycle of the ride, before eventually going forward again just in time for the brake run. Needless to say, this coaster definitely helped bring the park back from the brief spiral it'd gone through due to COVID, and people were flocking to the park once more to get on the exciting new ride. Some hardcore coaster enthusiasts speculated online that this was the Gravity Group woodie that was initially planned to go to Dorney Park to replace Possessed in 2021, however Cedar Fair did not confirm this.

Valley Hills has definitely gone through a lot over the past 50 years, though it looks as of now that the park is currently in good hands, and will continue to run smoothly and bring fun to families, kids, and thrillseekers alike for many years ahead.