RenegadeBy Meryn Fluker

The sounds of summer are alive with popping fireworks at Minneapolis’ Aquatennial, sizzling grills at St. Paul’s Taste of Minnesota and screaming thrill-seekers at Shakopee’s Valleyfair. Many of those screams are courtesy of Renegade, Valleyfair Amusement Park’s newest roller coaster.

In recent years, amusement park rides have gotten taller, faster and scarier. Thrill rides like Xtreme Swing and Riptide have been major draws at Valleyfair.

Renegade is the first new roller coaster to come to Valleyfair since the opening of Steel Venom in 2003, and is only the second wooden roller coaster. While Steel Venom can reach nearly 70 miles per hour and is 175 feet tall, Renegade only goes 52 miles per hour and is just 104 feet tall.

Wooden roller coasters like Renegade are structurally unable to compete with their steel brethren like Wild Thing and Steel Venom when it comes to loops and speed.
What Renegade lacks in speed it makes up for in turns and sheer surprise value.

If its popularity on the Fourth of July is any indication, Renegade is holding its own. At around 45 minutes, Renegade had the longest wait of all the rides in the park, excluding the water park. Even the line for Wild Thing, Valleyfair’s signature rollercoaster, was only a third of the line for Renegade, and moved twice as fast. This is due in part to the fact that Renegade only operates two trains at a time, and Wild Thing operates three.

The Old West lives through Renegade with barn and saloon facades and wood post railings. The adventure begins with a slow, chugging ascent up a steep hill to what is typically a plummet straight down. Instead, the rider is treated to a surprise zigzagging descent before being lifted and dropped on the coaster’s many curving hills. Also unique to the coaster are low to ground high speed S-turns and a high speed station fly-by.

Active wooden coasters have become quite rare. There were just 178 wooden roller coasters operating worldwide in 2005 compared to 1,672 steel roller coasters, according to the organization American Coaster Enthusiasts.

But Valleyfair Promotions and Communications Manager Rachel Onken said wooden coasters have become more popular in recent years.
“Rollercoaster enthusiasts are excited about Renegade…” Onken said. “We’ve had an enormous amount of people say that it is their new favorite ride.”

It’s true the ride is slower and shorter than its steel siblings, but Renegade’s steeped bank curves and fast transitions give riders plenty to scream about.

Contact Meryn Fluker at mfluker@swpub.com.

Ride ratings
1. Low Thrill Rides: Rides that are generally calm and gentle in nature. Carousel

2. Mild Thrill Rides: Rides that generally have low speeds with gentle motion and braking. Rides have smooth transitions with some changes in elevation and speed. Ferris Wheel

3. Moderate Thrill Rides: Low to medium speeds. Heights may vary. Moderate or unexpected forces can be generated during the ride. Scrambler

4. High Thrill Rides: May have high speeds or heights. Significant or unexpected forces can be generated during the ride. Renegade

5. Aggressive Thrill Rides: High speeds or heights. Aggressive and unexpected forces generated during the ride. Riders may experience rapid directional changes. Steel Venom