skaunit

Headed to the park tomorrow with three little ones in tow, hoping to catch the credit for HQ but it said it was down today (what the heck is up with it?)... and FINALLY check out Wonder Woman. But I’ll probably start with Joker at rope drop (that’s still a solid strategy right?). Anyone else going?

Can anyone offer some good crowd predictions for daytime ops, between now and nov. 6th? I need to take the family (myself, wife, 4 year old, and almost 2 year old) to process our membership passes before November 6th, and am thinking about this coming Sunday. I noticed though they aren't open until 12 on Sunday's though, kind of a bummer. We'll probably only stay for 3-5 hours, I'm hoping to score a 15min wait on joker somehow or another... (Wife's not a coaster rider)

Tell us more! Favorite element? Best spot of airtime? Biggest surprise? 13-14 moments of airtime is insane! Favorite element has to be the camel back stall, that part is better than TC's stall for sure (I guess you could caveat that with "unless there's a racing train under you", but let's Eliminate TC's racing for comparison). Best spot of airtime? Probably the hill in between the first 2 inversions. For me I didn't spend a lot of time studying the layout before going into it. I honestly forgot about the third inversion, and it's such a perfect heart line roll, so smooth, it feels amazing. The whole ride is great really, I only have one criticism and it's more of a personal preference... The last hill before the break run is a little too much, too forceful after everything else. But that's a minor personal gripe. They wouldn't confirm the memorial weekend opening btw, but I heard many people talking about it though.

I don't want to give too much away, but 13-14 distinct airtime moments, and the pacing is just awesome. This is such a rideable coaster, easily the best in nor-cal, sorry gold striker. I do think I like twisted colossus better, but it's hard to compare.

I'm lucky enough to know some people that knew about the commercial shoot today, I'm so pumped it's not even funny.

That's a good question. On one hand, this is supposedly an interactive 4D attraction (which is what Guardian and Iron Reef are). But part of me still thinks that there might be a separate dark ride built in the future (my hopes go that they build it in the old IMAX building, with possible extensions to it given the current size of the building and the space in between) I know it has been discussed and said before, but I can 99% CONFIRM there will never be a ride going in the old IMAX building, the building is too old and deteriorated to use in any manner past what it is now, the 2nd half of a haunt maze. I would venture to guess that this will be it for a "dark ride" for the foreseeable future, but i really don't know for sure. I do know that we are in desperate need of a good steel coaster addition, and I HIGHLY doubt that will come in the form of a grizzly hybrid. The structure likely wouldn't support it, next time your there watch the turnaround by demon for a few cycles and see how much the whole thing sways. We have been getting increasingly busier for Haunt as the haunt season goes on, the 17th was pretty packed, it was rumored we were near capacity. Sunday nights are still pretty damn dead though, with Friday's being in-between. I would expct HEAVY crowds for the 23,24, 30, and 31st, and if you want to come still and have the option, come on the 25th.

Just curious where you are getting this info? I'm not saying it's wrong just wondering, as I work in maintenance at the park and haven't heard anything about this. It's not like they tell us everything though, I heard the rumor about vortex the same as everyone here, and then heard it probably wasn't going to happen/got pushed back a little while ago but I couldn't really say anything here. I will say though that there IS a general feeling among the maintenance staff that CGA IS in fact the ugly stepchild of the Cedar Fair chain. Apparently when they took over for paramount they gained the nickname among the full-timers as "cheaper fair". I will say this, there is SOMETHING going on at the action fx theatre. I don't know what exactly because I keep hearing different people say different things like maybe we are only re-doing one side or both, or what kind of ride system it will be [stationary vr type or more like knott's voyage]. In other news RE: Haunt, those that were fans of the Blood Drums show, or Street Drum Corps [the band that were the stars of that show], they are back this year with an act on the sideshow stage called "Toy Drum Corps", complete with light up drummer boy uniforms and a DJ. I'll admit it's not anything like Blood Drums, but worth checking out. Also, the new Evacuate scare zone I think is really well done. Chime back in with your reviews of the new stuff this year, I'm curious to what everyone thinks of Insanitaryum especially...

edit- never mind it's all sorted out thanks to Robb!

I have a question that hopefully someone can offer some insight on... So SFMM is having a flash sale for their season pass, for $71.99 with a free upgrade to gold. I have already purchased 2 WCB SFMM non-season pass tickets. Will the cost of upgrading those tickets to a season pass, or gold season pass, actually be more than $71.99 on 9/12? Has anyone done this at past WCB events? I'm not all that interested in all the extras with the gold pass, aside from the parking. I plan on using the pass 1-2 times at SFDK and maybe one time at SFMM... can anyone give any advice?

Well considering we no longer have a maze called carnevil I don't think it's a problem. Yup the maze in rue-le-dodge is getting a fresh new theme this year!

I rememeber that too I was there too. Is that when you took the pic in your avatar?

Yup OpIvy and just ska fan in general (rancid, reel big fish, old school sublime, monkey, etc.) I don't know when the haunt announcement is coming, but I know I can get in trouble for giving anything away. I don't really know all the details myself and am excited for the announcement.

No need to freak out... I can't go into details, but expect it to be back up and running asap. Remember this ride is a trailer model so it's meant to be fully disassembled if need be.

They won't let you do a membership, Six flags requires you to sign up online for that. So is that to say they won't do monthly payments? Did that only last a few years and get completely replaced with memberships?

I have a ticket/pass question... does anyone know if, when upgrading a daily ticket at the park to a gold pass, will they let you do monthly payments/membership for the balance due? And, a more specific question, has anyone upgraded their West Coast Bash ticket to a gold pass in the past, and if so do you recall how much credit you got for the West Coast Bash ticket? Thanks.

why would we get the exact same model coaster that is up at SFDK? Lots of things could fit in/around the invertigarden area... but that would be the last thing to expect there.

It is pretty much guaranteed that the park won't open till late March, although they are CONSIDERING year round operations... if that does happen, I know it won't be this year. ANY day other than saturday you should have no problem getting in all the coasters and a few flats in half the day. Especially if you do CGA the 2nd half of the day, depending on which day you go, as long as were open 'till at least 8 or 10 that day. For flats I reccomend Delirium, Drop Tower, and Orbit for some classic schwarzkopf enterprise goodness. And Firefall, if your into topspins... I'm not. In other news, did anyone brave the park yesterday? There was some muslim festival and I swear it was the busiest I have seen all season, including beating 4th of july...

Well if you ask ANY of the supervisors/management they are very clear that they consider six flags a direct competitor [and NOT SCBB for that matter]. I didn't make it to the bay area bash, but that sounds like a very "six flags" thing to say... they are "so much better" than CGA that they don't consider us a competitor. At this point, I kind of have to agree, but at the same time CGA absolutely needs/deserves a new thrill ride. With the amount of visitors from all over northern California and beyond, its still fair to say that people that want to visit a theme park are likely to choose between the 2. I'm pretty sure the proximity is only a little bit farther than SFMM and KBF, and they are clearly competitors even though they appeal to separate demographics.

^ I would have to say that pretty much 100% confirms it. Take it from me. My only hope is that we upgrade/rehab/replace some of the ancient components to the ride while doing the conversion. While this is great for the vortex, and good for the park, it really doesn't help keep us competitive I feel. With the virtual confirmation of SFDK getting an RMC Ibox Roar conversion, that really puts that park into a whole other level, and I really hope that Cedar Fair doesn't give up on CGA as far as exciting thrill rides are concerned. We can't float-on on the heels of Goldstricker forever...

So regarding hotels, I checked the certain site that rhymes with coupon, and it seems like that deal lists $99 for sat night and $79 for Sunday night at the knotts hotel. Is there something I'm missing? How did people get those nights for $69? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

Maybe less time focused on filling each train? *shrug*

Still down. As were Tiki Twirl and Firefall all weekend too, sigh. Uhh where are you getting your information? Both of those rides were open Sunday...

Tiki twirl is back up and running as of yesterday, we had a bug we had to work out. FD should be up sometime this week from what I hear, pending state approval. Funny thing, I heard today that the guy who was quoted saying vortex is getting a conversion was not supposed to say that yet, they are nowhere near ready to make an announcement. I'm just hoping that's not ALL that happens for the 2016 season...

Was at the park recently and a good portion of one of Vortex's lift hill supports has been painted gray... Let the speculation begin! LOL, I didn't even notice, maybe because I see it every day... I'll have to pay attention tomorrow. I don't know any details about the conversion, but the rumors have been going around. It'll be interesting to see what kind of themeing they go for. That would be cool. It would also be cool if they would bring back the light effects on demon. Utilize some LEDs in that dang tunnel! Yes, and fix the dang audio too. I'm tired of having to yell it myself when I ride. As soon as I get a bit more established here I plan on pushing for this project... I would really love to bring it back to its old glory!