The construction of Valhalla was a multi-year undertaking and remains one of the industry’s most audacious projects ever. With the construction of the Big One in 1994, the park had to snake the ride through several existing attractions. With a ride like Valhalla, that wasn’t possible – a huge single site was required.

The main footprint of the ride occupies land where the Fun House once stood until its destruction in 1991. The Swamp Buggies, Starship Enterprise, Tidal Wave and Maze were also located in this area over the years.

These photos from 1998 show the ride beginning to take shape. Thank you to Michael Whitaker for allowing us to share them here.

The huge show building begins to take shape behind the then new 'PlayStation: The Ride' (now Launch Pad). The view through the skeletal structure shows a rare sight of the Grand National, which would again begin to disappear ask the rockwork was put into place. The more complete building to the right behind the Derby Racer contains some scenes from Valhalla and also a number of facilities used by both the park and Stageworks Worldwide Productions.
Seen from the Monorail, this view looking south shows the concrete run outs for each of the main drops still under construction. The gap in the one on the left is about where the water vortex is located and on the right, the cherry picker is parked where the fire finale begins today.
A similar view from a different angle (on a different day), the trough is still being worked on and a number of steel columns supporting the roof are visible that can't be seen in the darkness of the ride today.
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