It was summer of 2005 and a bunch of 20 something year old grad school students pranced around the Valley Fair grounds, flaunting our dare devil attitudes by brushing off the intensity of the "Steel Venom" and cherishing the stuffed toys won from "Wack-a-mole". Fast forward 16 years, my sister-in-law's family and us decided to spend an entire day at the Valley Fair - with our two elementary school kids and two toddlers! (and a naïve 24 year old me thought that the "Steel Venom" was the most dare-devil thing I'd ever do at the Fair)!
If you kind of ignored the numerous diaper changes that we executed in all the weirdest of spots, meal times, snack times, outfit changes, the heat, making sure that we dint lose any of the four kids, and oh - the classic "throw-up-on-amma-right-before-getting-into-the-Wave Pool" incident, I'd call the day a grand success! Not to mention, the loopy rides dint quite sit well with me 16 years later. To whoever disagrees - Age is more than a number.
I am not a Valley Fair expert by any means (I have a sum total of 2 experiences). Nevertheless, I thought I'd share some lessons learnt with the fellow parents so there's one less thing to worry about when you get there! Here you go:
Do's:
- Water - Get your own refillable bottles (there're enough water stations + bottled anything is pricey and not worth spending your moolah on). Stay hydrated; it gets hot.
- Food - Its ok to get food (meals, snacks) for your infants/toddlers. They do not allow you to pack food for adults (they screen your bags at the entrance). There are lots of options for food; but there are long lines everywhere (especially during weekends). So make sure you and your kids are decently fed before you head out so you can spend a good chunk of time before you take your meal break. For those with dietary restrictions, you have the option of storing your food in the car. Just get stamped before you step out of the park and you can re-enter. That said, we did take some snacks along and they dint get thrown out. So maybe we just got lucky?
- The park opens at 11. However, the entrance lines for parking are quite long. It takes a good 30-40 minutes to just get inside even after google announces that you've arrived at your destination. Plan to arrive around 10:30ish so you can be one of the first ones to enter the park. That way you can hit many of the rides before the crowds start trickling/pouring in.
- Pack your towels, swim suits, sunscreen, sanitizers etc. Backpacks worked best for us.
- Might be worth getting along a zip lock bag for your phones/other electronics that you don't want to mess with at Soak city.
- Pack more than one swim diaper and swim outfit for your little ones - you never know.
- Bring your strollers along for the little ones. They are allowed and they were super useful to dump stuff. (They rent them out at the grounds too - but again - not so cheap).
- Visit Family Care Center - We did not do this and wish we had. Multiple reasons:
- Kids get measured once and get appropriately colored wristbands that'll then allow the ride operator to say yay/nay quickly at the ride entrances.
- Kid-Track Program - They will also document your cell phone numbers on their wrist bands as a safety precaution + more to track them in case they get lost.
- Parent Swap program (see the "Dont" section for more details)
- Download the App for the list of rides/layout/choosing where to go next. It was chaotic for us and we just went with the flow. But maybe we could have done a better job of tapping into this resource. It had approximate wait times (but not sure if it was accurate). Might be worth exploring.
- They have life vests free to use for all ages. Use them if you'll feel safer at Soak city (We put these on the kids and were more at ease - specifically in the Wave Pool; they dont let you use it on the other water rides).
Don't:
- Wear flip-flops that do not have straps - they will not let you in on the rides. It's recommended to wear strapped floaters/water shows that you can then wear to both the regular amusement park as well as Soak city. (or you can wear shoes and switch; but you'll need to lug them around since I assume most of us would prefer not to wear soaking wet shoes and socks).
- Bother buying beer - It takes an hour; you can get only one drink per individual and its expensive (unless this is your idea of chilling out while the rest of the family races on to the next ride).
- Follow the crowd. Try to get early and perhaps do the more popular/dare devil rides at the outset. Most people turn left and start with the first ride (which is what we did too...and perhaps wasn't the most prudent decision)
- Parents with kids of various age ranges - don't try to go on all rides together/wait around. Split up so you can divide and conquer. There are rides for various age ranges and you cannot possibly go on all rides together. I read that Valley Fair offers the Parent Swap Program ("What is it? Basically one parent can take the bigger kids on a thrill ride and when they are exiting, the other parent (who was tending to the younger kids) can hop into the exit line, grab the Parent Swap slip from their partner, and go directly to the front of the line with one of the big kids AGAIN." - MinneMamaadvetures)..Wish I knew this existed...
- Finally, don't try to do too much. There is no way you can hit 75+ rides on a single day spanning across two parks. We literally spent 3+ hours at the Wave Pool just bumming around. Could we have done more? Sure...but did we want to? Maybe not. The older kids were happy soaking in the wave pool all afternoon and us parents were ok with not having to make more decisions for the rest of the day.
