Iconic Fun in Minnesota: Must-Do Valleyfair Rides for Kids

This story and vlog of Bean’s first time on a “big kid” ride at Valleyfair is sponsored by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company in conjunction with Blog Meets Brand, and I have been compensated for my participation. All opinions are my own.

Back in the day, we used to go to Valleyfair every summer for my Dad’s work company picnics. I have many awesome memories of Valleyfair, but there are some Valleyfair rides that are so iconic they will stick with me for the rest of my life. There are even more awesome things at Valleyfair for kids now!

During our latest trip to Valleyfair last weekend, I made sure that Bean got to experience all of my favorite things about the park (plus some!). It was of course a hot and steamy day, so we made a beeline straight for Soak City. The water park was always one of my most favorite things about the park (still is!).

We started at Barefoot Beach, one of the newer attractions at Soak City. Bean told me she was pretending to swim in the photo below… 😀

Bean has a strong dislike (to put it lightly) for water getting in her eyes, so she doesn’t usually last long in typical splash pads. That’s my Bean! Luckily, Soak City has another kiddie pool/splash area that she hadn’t been to before. Splash Station was my favorite area to cool off as a kid. More splash pads should be in kiddie pools, in my opinion.

Bean loved being able to swim around on her tummy and cool off without water spraying all around her. She also loved Giggle Run, the cute little kid lazy river. I liked how easy it was to keep an eye on her 😉

We spent quite a bit of time at Soak City before drying off and making our way to Bean’s other favorite area of the park: Planet Snoopy!

When I was a kid the kid’s ride area at Valleyfair was themed around a different cartoon character, but honestly Planet Snoopy is a huge improvement! There are SO MANY RIDES for the kids to do of all different thrill levels.

Having all of the kid rides available in Planet Snoopy is worth the price of the park ticket alone! Once Bean was happy with her time at Planet Snoopy, we made our way towards some other childhood Valleyfair ride favorites like the train and carousel. But first… a face painted spider. Typical Bean, right?

At this point during our adventure Bean was so over smiling normal, if you couldn’t tell 😉 After a ride with Mom on the carousel, it was time for a snack. Of course that snack had to be Dippin’ Dots, a childhood favorite of mine!

After our snack and taking a minute to sit and relax, we all realized how wiped we were. It was time to bid Valleyfair adieu.

I made a video detailing all of our adventure-filled day at Valleyfair from start to finish. The highlight: Bean was finally tall enough to ride an official BIG KID RIDE and she was so proud of herself! Check it (and Bean’s secret dance moves) out…

If you’re planning a trip to Valleyfair this summer, save on tickets at Valleyfair.com!