Iconic Minnesota Thrill Ride Celebrates 25th Year In 2024

Minnesota's biggest theme park, Valleyfair, has been open in Shakopee since 1976. Over the years the park has added to its collection of thrill rides.

It began with the High Roller roller coaster in 1976, which at the time was the park's biggest attraction. In 1980 the park added the Corkscrew rollercoaster, in 1983 a waterpark, Thunder Canyon in 1987, Excalibur roller coaster in 1989 and in 1996 the epic roller coaster Wild Thing.

In the spring of 2000 Valleyfair added arguably its most thrilling ride yet- the Power Tower!

Valleyfair:

The Valleyfair skyline changed again with the addition of the 275 foot Space Shot/Turbo Drop ride called Power Tower. This thrill ride was meant to be higher but had to be kept at it's already notable 275 feet due to the Flying Cloud Airport flight path. Young guests were not neglected with the a new children’s area featuring Frog Hopper, a mini-version of the Power Tower.

There are two towers that shoot riders straight up into the sky before floating them back down to Earth and another that starts riders close to ground level before skyrocketing them 275 feet into the air.

Valleyfair recently shared a throwback post on their Facebook page with a behind-the-scenes look at the construction of Power Tower which, of course, generated a lot of nostalgia in the comments. As it turns out, a lot of people would like to see the Corkscrew roller coaster reverted back to its original blue color. Who knew?