Flagg O'Dim
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Posts posted by Flagg O'Dim
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Site looks great, but did anyone notice that Season Pass prices went up again?! $59.99 for regular, $83.97 for Gold. Have to pay for all that new black paint, I guess.
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I like this. For CGA, it's a huge thing, and a step in the right direction.
Looks like Demon avoided the demolition crew .
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I was hoping CGA would at least have some new shows, but after looking at the entertainment auditions on their website, I'm not so sure. They're looking for singers for a "guest interactive karaoke show" (On the Mic Karaoke, anyone?), "a country themed song and dance show" (Boot Scootin' Boogie), and "technically trained dancers for an all new high energy dance show" (it says "all new," but that just sounds like Don't Stop the Music).
http://cagreatamerica.com/events/event_detail.cfm?event_id=375&ec_id=13
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I believe Vortex was re-painted recently, maybe the 2007/2008 off-season because the paint on that is okay. Top Gun/Flight Deck seems like it wasn't re-painted since 2000. Demon looks like it was re-painted in the 2007/2008 off-season too since the corkscrews looks nicely painted. Psycho Mouse has probably never been re-painted as it is a dull yellow and dull teal color. Also, with CGA's coasters, I think they need an upgrade to the 21st century with more theming with Vortex, Demon, and Flight Deck. Flight Deck has good theming, though it seems like it is slowly falling apart and you can tell it is from the 90s.
Are you sure you didn't mean 1997/1998 off season for Vortex's repaint? Seriously, I highly doubt it's ever gotten a repaint since it switched to yellow/purple. The track is white, and the "purple" is pink at this point. It looks pretty shabby.
I wish CGA would actually repaint something. When Woodstock's Express got a new paint job in 2010, it looked like a brand new coaster, and still does today.
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Matt Ouimet's Disney influence is already taking shape: Season and Gold passes raised a dollar.
Old prices circled.
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Everything you've ever wanted to know about the parking agreement:
http://sireweb.santaclaraca.gov/cache/2/q0a3xe55n3jtdo45wkvsju45/59508201082012123204636.PDF
The whole "invest $10 million in the park" thing is only valid from 2015-2019, so I wouldn't really expect anything till then.
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New parking and lease details. CGA's not going anywhere for 60 years, apparently:
Great America finally agrees to 49ers stadium in Santa Clara, for a big price
Ending a contentious four-year battle over parking for a new 49ers stadium, Great America on Friday agreed to allow the team and Santa Clara to build the home field on one of its smaller lots and let fans park next door.
But it's going to cost the local football franchise $12.5 million -- and the city will likely lose future revenue, too.
The deal is essentially the last and most significant piece needed to solve a stadium parking puzzle, and finally resolves the theme park's steadfast opposition to giving up its land for stadium construction.
As part of the deal, Cedar Fair, which owns Great America, agreed to drop its long-standing lawsuit that sought to block the $1 billion project. The company will allow the stadium to be built on its overflow parking lot, and will relinquish its main lot to allow fans to park and tailgate between the roller coasters and the field.
Santa Clara, which owns the land under the theme park, has agreed to give up untold revenue by allowing Great America to keep more theme park profits during boom years. In addition, the city will offer the company a cheaper lease extension that would keep the amusement park open for the next 60 years.
The question of where fans will park when the stadium opens in 2014 or 2015 has long been a major pain for project leaders and a source of concern for project opponents who think fans will clog city streets on game days.
With Cedar Fair's opposition gone, officials say they can begin construction within a year as long as the NFL approves $150 million for the plan, as expected. A group of residents strongly opposed to the project is gathering signatures over the next two weeks, however, in an attempt to send the plan back to the ballot box for a second time.
The deal, which the City Council is expected to approve Tuesday, caps more than four years of closed-door negotiations and courtroom battles.
"Nothing great is easy. But this is great, and it's been challenging all the way along," said Mayor Jamie Matthews. "Having this checked off on our list of things that need to be done ... is a great relief. It's a fair deal between all parties involved."
During NFL game days, 49ers fans will have access to the lion's share of the Great America parking lot, which after a renovation is expected to be left with 6,500 to 7,000 spaces. The company and team will split the lot during non-NFL events at the stadium.
The lot would provide about 30 percent of the 19,000 parking spots expected to be available within walking distance of the 68,500-seat stadium. The rest would come from two nearby city garages, Mission College and adjacent businesses, while some fans are expected to ride public transit to the game or carpool.
"This is one more positive step for the stadium," said 49ers spokesman Steve Weakland. "If approved, it will be great news for our fans."
City officials don't expect the shrinkage of the Great America lot to affect theme park patrons, noting the overflow lot has been perpetually empty.
Officials at Ohio-based Cedar Fair could not be reached for comment late Friday.
Great America will keep its $5.3 million rent to the city flat through 2039, as has been planned.
But the city also takes a portion of Great America's profits when park revenue exceeds $56 million.
Under the agreement, starting in the next decade the park could keep its profits until it hits well past $64 million in revenue if Great America makes $10 million in capital improvements. The park, however, has been struggling lately and hasn't hit the revenue benchmark in five years.
What's more, starting in 2039, the city will allow the theme park to extend the lease and pay rent of only $5.7 to $6.3 million annually through 2074, or a smaller increase than anticipated under normal market conditions.
City leaders say the lost revenue will be a worthwhile exchange for the parking rights, noting they'll make money from the parking and that they hope the stadium project as a whole will be a boon for city finances.
Finally, the deal also calls for the 49ers to pay $250,000 in public safety costs to the city immediately, a payment that had been scheduled for opening day.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_19692990
Interesting quote here:
Under the agreement, starting in the next decade the park could keep its profits until it hits well past $64 million in revenue if Great America makes $10 million in capital improvements.City to Cedar Fair: Add new rides.
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Hey everybody, remember Halloween Haunt? Thomas Tissot has finally uploaded the Slaughterhouse theme to his site:
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Overall, Grizzly never has really rough rides, and I believe that the 2010-2011 off-season that they re-tracked the drop since the drop used to be the worst part of the ride because of how rough it was, though don't quote me on this, I just BELIEVE that they re-tracked it, I'm not 100% sure.
You are correct, the first drop was retracked this past off season. From CGA's Facebook:
I'm going to say it: Grizzly is a fun ride. The retracking they did last off season made a HUGE improvement, to the point where it doesn't even feel like the same ride. I was amazed just how much faster, and smoother, it was after the retracking.
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I'm sorry, I know this coaster rumor is important and all, but I must ask:
What the hell happened to the title of this thread? "California Great America Discussion Thread" ????
Okay, moving along...
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Wow. Just wow. Um...welcome back Cedar Fair?
Honestly, all this back-and-forth news coming from CGA is more entertaining than a new ride announcement. I had a feeling something was up when JMA delayed the council approval.
I sure would like to hear more about these "major capital investments" the mayor is talking about. "New waterslide attraction?" That came out of nowhere.
Well, at least we can laugh at the names "Drop Tower" and "Flight Deck" for another year. This is good news for Haunt.
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Looks like the Dec. 6 decision to approve the sale is now a ghost. JMA requested a postponement to Dec. 13:
http://sireweb.santaclaraca.gov/cache/2/dnxugc451ohnhsfek2g1fabv/59045412022011060043904.PDF
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So...who's up for some Skyhawk pictures?
How about Vortex entrance pre-Vortex?
Green Vortex?
Or maybe Whizzer demolition?
You can still see those footers at the bottom today.
Okay, you get the point. I found a really good site with great pictures. You have to view it through the Internet Archive:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110215023032/http://www.greatamericapics.com/main.php
Lastly, I found this on greatamericaparks.com:
Slaughterhouse entrance with ice cream, minus all the blood!
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Sounds like an interesting writeup. Speaking of Pictorium, when we were going through Club Blood, one of our group members accidentally opened the black curtain thinking that was the way to go. No blackout was present in that area and we got an extremely nice view of the seats all still intact and some of the floor lights were on (or was that rope light?). I had to quickly tell him that we need to head left, not right. And of course me looking at the excessively high ceiling, the talent took the advantage of that and got me a couple times.
That was around the "mad scientist" computer part in Club Blood right? That's where I saw the seats, the emergency exit curtain was open, giving a nice view. I also got scared pretty good from looking up at the ceiling and not paying attention to the maze!
That is interesting that it was used once more several years after it closed, I never would of thought, where'd you find that out at?I found it here:
and here:
http://kinotechnologies.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/great-americas-pictorium-ruined-imax-for-me/
Although one site says 2003, and the other 2004. Maybe the anime festival was held twice?
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Sorry to change the subject--
Those of you who've read my posts know that I'm obsessed with the Pictorium. So now, I've been doing some research about it online, and in the near future, I'm planning on writing an article for my CGA blog based off of my "findings." (The journalist in me can't resist). Perhaps I might start a series of "Lost Attractions" articles.
Just thought I'd share something interesting (well, at least to me) that I found: Contrary to popular belief, the Pictorium was actually open after 2001. Paramount had an anime festival in 2004, and the Pictorium was open for a day showing anime films. Although, the Imax equipment was already gutted, and the films were being shown on some "quickie" standard projection system.
I need your help! I'm looking for any images of the Pictorium that you might have when it was open. I'm really interested in what it looked like inside during it's final years (or any time, really). If you have any pictures that I can use for my article (and I would give you credit in my article, of course), I would really appreciate it! Thanks in advance!
What I've found so far:
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The city will decide on December 6th if they want to approve the sale to JMA. Here's the document:
http://sireweb.santaclaraca.gov/cache/2/c4voga45demwfc45utmol4zn/58977911202011063042156.PDF
In my understanding of the document, apparently JMA is also looking to modify the lease.
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^I guess this can be considered "news": Flight Deck and Star Tower are still standing! You can see them in this construction video of the Global Winter Wonderland event: (some reason I can't get the embed code to work)
I hope they do something to cover up those parking lines. "Parking Lot Wonderland," anyone?
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Also from Screamscape...
2012 - No New Attraction - (11/8/11) Our sources tell us that CGA has confirmed that there will be no new rides for the 2012 season, as the new management will focus on taking control of the park and putting their own house in order.No big surprise there.
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I'm sure that it's the holiday light event as well. Apparently it's going to be a big deal, and it starts soon, so it makes sense that they would start building it now.
Still, wouldn't hurt to drive by and see if the Demon is still standing.
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Awesome! Great find! Now if only Thomas Tissot posts the Slaughterhouse "background noise" and the music from inside Club Blood, I'll be happy.
Not sure if anyone's seen this yet, but check out this website that has great pictures from Haunt this year and last year. Also has a great above view of Club Blood, taken from a high point in the Pictorium.
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Nice pictures! Like I've said before, imagine the lines during non-Haunt season if CGA got a new coaster...
Since it's the end of the season, I thought it would be funny to quote my post from the end of last season. Let's see how wrong my predictions were for the 2011 season! From October 31st, 2010:
Realistic expectations:
-New movie in the Action Theater (nope)
-All six cars working on the Drop Tower (It took most of the season, but yes, I was right!)
-New Haunt maze (Yep, Slaughterhouse)
-Invertigo operates at least 75% of the season (hahaha, oh man, those were the days...)
Not likely, but in the realm of possibility expectations:
-Another hand-me-down used flat ride: Cedar Point's currently-for-sale Chaos perhaps? http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1267 (nope)
Not in this universe, but still fun to speculate expectations:
-The Stampede (Well, we did get some glimmer of hope)
-Pictorium reopens (actually no, I asked this question on CGA's Facebook, the response was "Not at this time") (At least I got to see the theater seating this year)
-Vortex gets a complete overhaul, new name, color scheme, theming (fire cannons at the bottom of the first drop, etc), and runs smooth. (Vortex did have two trains running most of the time this season, certainly an improvement)
-The neighbors shut up (Of course not)
Yes, I completely bombed in my predictions.
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Found this a while back on Greatamericaparks.com's forums, figured it would be a good time to post it. Don't know the reliability of this user, though.
I'm told that Cedar fair already removed some of the assets (the newer roller coasters) before the deal closed.http://www.greatamericaparks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=856
Invertigo, yes, but "roller coasters" is plural. "Newer" would mean Psycho Mouse, or maybe *gasp* Taxi Jam?! I have a hard time classifying Flight Deck and Vortex as "newer," though.
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About the trees, I know there is a weird fungus that trees can get and they need to be cut down so they don't fall over. I don't believe that Demon rumor but who knows.
That's likely the case, CGA is pretty serious about their landscaping (although, they really need to mow the Inverti-lawn, the grass is starting to grow over the Hearse's tires )
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Great day at the park today -- it was pretty empty, but the crowds did start to pick up later in the afternoon.
Made sure I got plenty of rides in on Firefall (4). Something I noticed is that the gondola doesn't shake side to side anymore when it's under a lot of stress.
Grizzly and Delirium were closed all day, so I was disappointed that I didn't get my last rides in on them. Odd, though, that the blue train on Grizzly kept going by with the same few people, yet the red train was sent off empty each time. The "closed attraction" sign was at the entrance. Was there an ERT session that I didn't know about?
Let "Demon Watch 2012" begin. (yes, I know it was just a rumor from some random person on the Internet, but still...). While on Demon's brake run, I noticed that a bunch of trees had been cut down around the old train tunnel (the one right next to the Demon's second tunnel). Not sure how long ago this was, but the stumps looked freshly cut, and it really opened up the area. hmm...making room for the demolition equipment?
THE BIG MIKE ROAD SHOW - 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PICS ON PG 769
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
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I'll give this a try...3 duckies!
Great report Big Mike!