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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread


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Several pages back, it was mentioned about a proposed lighting package or something like that. It would be cool to see something set up with LEDs much like what Millennium Force was recently outfitted with. I also wouldn't mind seeing some of the other rides like Drop Tower, Star Tower, Psycho Mouse, etc get outfitted with multi color LED flood lights...imagine some rides illuminated a red/orange color during Haunt. A red-glowing Star Tower with the red eyes would be pretty eerie to see.

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If they are going to possibly use the urethane wheels to reduce noise, they will deminish the speed quicker so they may need to increase the height of whatever they are going for to increase the potential energy of the coaster. Just my thoughts.

 

That's news to me...since when have woodies been using urethane wheels with exception of the intamin's?

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KDCOASTERFAN, prior to the plug-n-play coasters Intamin started rolling out with Colossos, the first wood coaster I can think of with poly wheels was Pegasus (now defunct) at Efteling in the Netherlands, which ran standard PTCs and was designed by Dinn and Summers. The ride was about the quietest wood coaster ever built.

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About Wodan, I read that it does use polyurethane (PU) wheels, and had to be built a little taller since urethane wheels 'make it slower', according to an interview. (I hate seeing that description, would have rather seen it be described as having more rolling resistance, taking a bit more time to accelerate).

 

Interview with Jr. President of GCI

 

Speaking of coaster wheels, are there different durometers of the PU used on coaster wheels? I know this is not coaster-related but skateboard wheels are also made of a PU and come in several flavors of hardnesses...the harder the wheel, the quicker the acceleration but the rougher and noisier it is. The softer the wheel, the smoother, and quieter the ride is but doesn't accelerate as quick. Back to the coaster, I'd think that even if there were a higher durometer wheel it would still be rather quiet as opposed to the hardness and density of steel.

 

Random useless fact: until last summer, I always thought all wood coasters had PU wheels, never knew that they were steel only.

 

And those LED wheels...those look pretty amazing. While it reminds me of those light up wheels found on kid's scooters, it could look pretty amazing at night. How much of it would be hidden by the wood structure is beyond me...and I can see the GP thinking that the wheels are sparking or something's on fire.

 

Edit/update: I was reading more of that interview and came across this question, which is 99.9% sure that it is a reference to CGA's GCI:

NP: Do you have any other projects currently at Great Coasters International?

 

CH : We have projects on the horizon yes, but nothing has set in stone yet. Today* is a very important date for us because, if everything goes well, we will have another ride to be build in North America next year.

 

*The interview was conducted on March 28, the day that architectural meeting was held for the coaster.

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KDCOASTERFAN, prior to the plug-n-play coasters Intamin started rolling out with Colossos, the first wood coaster I can think of with poly wheels was Pegasus (now defunct) at Efteling in the Netherlands, which ran standard PTCs and was designed by Dinn and Summers. The ride was about the quietest wood coaster ever built.

 

I wonder if using urethane might help smoothen the ride? I can think of a few woodies that might benefit slightly from such a switch since it's possible for PTC trains.

 

Should be interesting to see how this ride turns out & if CF has any other woodies planned for the 2014 season,the ride is long overdue at CGA & it's great to see that CF didn't scrap the project considering all of the money they've put into the design & planning,not to mention the litigation just to get it built..

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Sorry to double post, but it's been a couple days. I just got back from the park a bit ago and there's some new improvements that's taken place, as well as a 'minor' update on the construction site. Let's start with how the day went. I met up with Rolercstrluvr and we hung out for about half the day to get some rides in. It was a pretty busy Sunday that started off pretty light. Flight Deck was empty at around 10:30 allowing for a front-seat ride. Also, a ride on Flying Eagles was a must. Firefall was running a bit strange today however as the locking mechanism didn't seem to have enough 'bite' and the gondola was slipping. I had about 10 minute wait on Psycho Mouse (I actually timed it, attempting to try out the Ride Hopper app) and over to Grizzly to check out the new line.

 

As guessed, the new stair case is for regular guests to use. Guests now enter through the 'exit' side and the line starts there. The exit path has been temporarily split in half to allow for the new entry. Unfortunately, there is no shade whatsoever and there is no real railing so guests exiting the ride can vary easily cut over. There is an attendant manning the area however so that should help. Up in the station, I decided to actually time the whole unload/load procedure and got a 2:12 time. It would have been less but half the train failed to lock those new seatbelts so they had to stop at each one who didn't lock it and tell them/help them lock it. Yea, it's a pain. Honestly, I feel sorry for the Grizzly ride crew and the stress they could potentially be under.

 

Demon's crew was pretty zippy to about average throughout the day and finally the audio is working in the tunnel. It seems to have a mind of its own this season. From here, the park was starting to ramp up, crowd-wise. Flight Deck's line was starting outside of the shaded area/roll up doors, going down a few zig-zags. The water rides were quite popular as well but lines were pretty zippy.

 

As it got closer to 5, the crowds died down a tiny bit, then the skies started to dim. By around 6:30, the overall look of the park looked like a very under-esposed, desaturated image. We had a partial solar eclipse creating a nice grand finale for the day and got a nice, awkward, dim/desaturated ride on Flight Deck.

 

So what's new/happening? Remember that waterfall over the Rapids I mentioned about last season, just after Lake 2? Well, it's back in its evil glory. Something new over at White Water Falls also...with a twist! They've installed about 5 or 6 coin-op splash cannons along the splash down area...but they aren't for the riders. They're set to hit the path coming off the bridge so you can soak guests as they exit the ride! There is also one planted to hit the boat post ride, and one aimed towards the entrance of the ride so you can soak someone getting in line. Fun stuff, I just had to try it out!

 

Some more progress around the GCI site...it is for the most part pretty smooth. There's now a huge barrier bowing out into the midway over by where Mt. Rushmore once stood. Behind that there is a huge dirt mound, chunks of concrete, and more dirt. The path that we used to get to Club Blood and the pictorium is demolished. The multi-tiered walkways leading to the upper doors on the theater are gone as well. Whizzer footers and that little pond are also gone, all dirt. I think we will soon start seeing more changes in the coming weeks.

 

Now for what you've all been waiting for...Photos!

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I broke tradition today...this was one of my first rides today. Typically it is Flight Deck.

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Since Rolercstrluvr and I seem to love both Flying Eagles and Peanuts Pirates, a ride on this was a must...I got lucky at the end of the ride and got my pod locked in a funky position.

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Yup, more of my new obsession!

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What I call "Water Cannon Alley," a line up of geysers to soak unsuspecting guests as they exit their ride. It is entertaining to watch people try sneaking by not to get hit, and see those completely oblivious to it and get nailed!

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Fire in the hole!

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Alright, I know you've been waiting for this!

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The new barrier (or Fence: The Ride) bowing pretty far into the path.

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Compared to 2 weeks ago.

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Nothing's going on here yet...maybe to keep the Star Tower up and running as much as possible? Who knows.

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More overviewage.

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Now, the skies begin to deepen a bit.

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Getting darker!

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A bit hard to tell but the lighting is awkward. The eclipse was at its peak at about this time.

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So Instagram filters come to my rescue to recreate (and enhance) the view.

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Looks pretty close to reality...maybe not.

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And that's a wrap! Had a great day!

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I guess I'm not the only one to ride Flying Eagles & Peanuts Pirates a lot.

 

I like how CGA is getting these small things like those geysers in Whitewater Falls. Are those free?

No, they cost a quarter, but it's definitely fun to use. Each control box is rigged up to 2 cannons, color coded to their respective buttons.

 

I figured I'd throw in a couple more photos I didn't post yesterday as I noticed some other signs of the eclipse: the crescent-shaped shadows!

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Probably the most obvious photo to tell that this was happening...little crescents on the pathway!

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The Flight Deck drive motors and supports appear to have a scalloped shape shadow to them, just before the peak of the eclipse.

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Lower right corner at the peak of the eclipse, more crescent shapes behind the railing (and some further back by the gazeebo).

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^ sweet pics Angry_Gumball. Just thought that i'd share my crazy ride I had on the Flying Eagles today. Maybe two spins into the cycle, I start to see my car rotate and does a full 360 mid ride. The ride op didn't stop the ride at all and just let it keep going. I was pretty scared after that and shaky.

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^ sweet pics Angry_Gumball. Just thought that i'd share my crazy ride I had on the Flying Eagles today. Maybe two spins into the cycle, I start to see my car rotate and does a full 360 mid ride. The ride op didn't stop the ride at all and just let it keep going. I was pretty scared after that and shaky.

 

Whoa!!! I didn't think that was even possible.

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^ sweet pics Angry_Gumball. Just thought that i'd share my crazy ride I had on the Flying Eagles today. Maybe two spins into the cycle, I start to see my car rotate and does a full 360 mid ride. The ride op didn't stop the ride at all and just let it keep going. I was pretty scared after that and shaky.

Well that's understandable; I've freaked out on the Knoebels Flyers over much less (though the bizarre feelings are actually what keep me going).

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^ sweet pics Angry_Gumball. Just thought that i'd share my crazy ride I had on the Flying Eagles today. Maybe two spins into the cycle, I start to see my car rotate and does a full 360 mid ride. The ride op didn't stop the ride at all and just let it keep going. I was pretty scared after that and shaky.

 

Whoa!!! I didn't think that was even possible.

 

As soon as I spun around I was like, wtf just happened. Even people in line were freaking out.

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The most I've done was a full turn facing backwards. This was last year during Haunt, before I really knew what I was doing on the Flyers. I think just beginning go figure some things out and a nice breeze caused me to face the rider behind me.

 

My most recent ride on their flyers was pretty crazy, but not like Rolercsterluver's. Instead, mine felt like the whole thing was going to fall apart and had several thuds/snaps. I had to tell myself to tone it down while everyone in line was like "Woah!" I really wouldn't mind having one of these in my backyard one of these days. Really, it's all about timing and being quick without being 'violent' with the fin.

 

For what it's worth, I noticed some updates on the Permit Center site.

 

605 REC'D THIRD PTY APP PLNS

3RD PARTY APPROVED PLANS ~ Rec'vd 4 sets of plans, 2 sets of structural

calcs, 2 copies of book six zone 2, 2 copies of book five zone 3, 2 copies of

book eight 1 of 2 & 2 of 2, 3 copies of bent # 145, 3 copies of bent # 84, & 3

copies of bent # 518, 2 copies of book one design criteria, 2 copies of book

three general foundation analysis, 2 copies book four foundation analysis -

zone 1, 2 copies of book two typical structure & connections. 2 copies of C-10,

2 copies of application signed (placed in plan check folder) , 2 sets of calcs.

All routed to PNA. Contact: Lowell (408) 986-5874

 

Not sure what this means in terms of what kind of activity we'll be seeing in the coming month but following this project is making this season a good one so far.

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