robman

Thanks for clarifying that, really excited to see more pictures as it progresses. I do have one question that im not sure if your're able to answer, when can we expect Gold Striker to start making test runs?

Great trip report! Now here is an update from the company that is installing the magnetic brakes on Gold Striker! Pictures were taken from the company's facebook which cab be found, here. A different look at the first drop! Mag brakes powered by Irvine Ondrey Engineering air and electrical boxes. Close up look at one of the boxes. A shot of the station. Will end this mini update with a shot of the lift!

If there is no ventilation in that tunnel I will be dubbing it the "Scream Box" since when ever you go through a tunnel people like to be as loud as they can.

Today I went to the park for a few hours as I had some family members that needed to process their passes. When walking up to the entrance I was immediately able to see the shiny metal that has been added to Gold Striker's tunnel. The sun really reflects off that metal and really "strikes" you as your looking directly at it. Once inside the park, the pass processing line went much smother than last weeks opening day. Fast forward to about noon, my brother and I decide we will wait for Grizzly since the line is only and the station and it should go quick right? WRONG, we waited over and hour because of the insanely slow dispatches, then mother nature decided to rain so they had to shut down the coaster an put one train in the transfer track. All said and done we finally got on, an hour and a half later. Here's a video of them pushing the red train into the transfer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80f6rIJtGyY Other than that it was a pretty good day! The park was crowded which I didn't like but im really glad to see that attendance is much higher this year. Lots of Gold Striker pictures ahead! Before heading into the park lets take a quick look at the stadium. It's shaping up quite nicely! Walking up to the main gate. Hey what's that shiny stuff on Gold Striker's tunnel? They have started to put the metal roofing up! Even closer look at the roof. Looking at the ride entrance but wait, something is missing! That's a little better! Looking into the queue. Some of the awesome landscaping near the entrance! Possible pathway for Fast Lane? I know the exit will go through the gift shop/on ride photo booth. Possible Fast Lane path under the station? A look at the Celebration Plaza turn. I'll end the update with a shot of Vortex's loop.

At the park now, the frame for the sign is up!

Speaking of the station, the park posted this picture yesterday on Facebook. View from the station!

Last weekend at California's Great America : GP: I don't understand how Gold Striker can wrap around Star Tower?!

Great trip report BFG! Really excited hit up the park again this weekend.

Technically it was Turn of the Century in 1976 and then in 1980 it was introduced as the Demon when they removed the two camel back hills and added the two loops. Although thinking ahead is fun and all I would just like to focus on the present at the moment, and be thankful that we are getting a fantastic addition to the park, something that we haven't seen happen in a long time.

According to this morning's San Jose Mercury News Gold Striker will be unveiled on May 1st. We all knew that already since it will be the first rider auction that day and im guessing media day as well. So it's safe to say that the coaster will open that coming weekend. Link to the article:www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_22913633/santa-clara-roller-coaster-strikes-gold-and-wood

OPENING DAY TRIP REPORT!! Once again most of our usual TPR gang was out at the park for Opening Day 2013! I arrived at the park at about 8:15 to make sure I would get one of the 2,500 cups for the free refills (Which was very nice!) after the gates were opened we were held in the main entrance plaza until the opening day ceremonies were started. After they were all done I rushed to get my season pass processed along with everyone else at the park. The lines were unorganized at first and was a jumbled mess, but everything seemed to smooth out later in the day. After I was done with that I met up with the rest of our group and hit up Flight Deck, which is running amazing!. After that we hit up Flying Eagles, of course there was some insane snapping going on. Once we were done snapping we went and checked out the new 3D movie in the AFX Theater, Happy Feet. I will say this movie does feel more thrilling than Spongebob but that's not saying much. Now on to some highlights: -waited and hour for Grizzly, which seems to be running slow. (Rode Grizzly on Saturday and it seemed to be going faster once again.) -Tried out Maggie Browns for the first time, which was very good! -Star Tower is closed, im guessing it won't reopen until Gold Striker is close to being done im guessing. -A smooth Vortex?! I will say the ride seemed much smoother, I just got a lot of headbanging on the far left seat. -Both Delirum and Delta Flyer/Eagles Flight were down most of the day. -Subway looks very nice inside, the prices are higher than what they would be outside the park but that's not surprising. -The themed music should be arriving soon, they are still working out the final details and working on songs. Walking up to the Main Gate im greeted with Gold Striker! At about 8:15 hardly anyone was here, which would soon change. I never get tired of this view. Of course this is why we are here! Hard to believe that today is opening day with these kind of crowds! A look across the reflection pool is Gold Striker, and it looks amazing! We will get back to that later. The opening ceremony began and Snoopy is up on the Carousel. Snoopy decided to come down and join Roger Ross, Raul Rehnborg, and a family that one the VIP contest on the parks facebook page. The ribbon was officially cut and the park is open! Confetti!!!!!!! Let's start the day on Flight Deck! I sure have missed this ride. For those of you who enjoy lift hills. The netting is gone on the displays. Although it's nice to seem them gone I hope they come back. I know its only a matter of time until people start playing in them. Time to take a ride on the Flying Eagles where some new signage was installed. Checking out the new 3D film now in the AFX theater. Also new for 2013 is fence the ride located in KidZville. (Former site of the KidzVille Boat attraction.) A look over the fence shows the attraction is still there for the time being. Psycho Mouses's station was painted and looks amazing. Barney Oldfield's station was also repainted and looks nice. Just some people started peeling the paint which exposed the old white color underneath it. Berzerker received a new sign this year as well. The Food Festival was also repainted as well and looks really good! Star Tower has an amazing new sign. Star Tower is closed, for a very good reason! Now lets take a look at Gold Striker! The entrance looks awesome! Jeff is excited for Gold Striker! World's first launching wooden coaster?! Midway turn! The station with a roof! The transfer building is the background. Looking at Gold Striker from Celebration Plaza. One of the few shirts they have to offer so far, this is located at the Inside CGA store. One of the really cool mugs they have to offer. Im going to end the update with a few sunset shots. That's it! It was an amazing opening weekend at the park and I can't wait until next time!

The ride op at Flight Deck was having a really bad day he would start saying, " We hope you have a good day at Global Winter Wonder---- , California's Great America!

Those are some fantastic pictures! I also really like the themed light posts, really ties everything together nicely.

Today I went down to the Boardwalk to check out the temporary zip line and see the track for Undertow, and of course get some rides in ( Dipper was running amazing today!) Undertow: Some of the track has started to arrive and im sure if will be installed in no time. It also looks the break run is all ready constructed, just need to be lifted up onto the former Hurricane platform. Zip Line: It is indeed a temporary thing, it can fold up like a fair ride and is on a trailer. Being honest here now, I was a little nervous at first as it was freaky just walking off the edge, but once I went down it was a smooth ride until you hit the breaks. It wasn't very fast but for $10 per ride I feel like it was a fair price. General: The Boardwalk was very busy today ( Spring Break crowds are here.) Almost everything had a line, Dipper's outdoor queue was almost full and they were only running one train which made the line slow. The new Cyclone ride is in the but not ready for riders just yet. Here is a video of me going down the zip line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ55PBt8ObE Now to the pictures! A look at the track! Another look Some of the supports and on the right it appears the break run is built. nerd shot Stairs for the lift hill I'm guessing this is part of the transfer track or station? A look at the Zip Line tower. The end of the zip line with the breaks. Sorry about my finger in the shot. A look at me flying down the zip line. Last but not least and look at the new Cyclone!

For anyone interested, this is the type of ZIPLINE that is going to be at the Beach Boardwalk. I plan on checking it out this weekend, it doesn't seem too thrilling but it should give some nice views of the ocean and Boardwalk.

Seeing what the park has planned now for opening day makes me very excited. I've been going on opening day since '01/'02 and I don't think something like this has ever been done.

Stopped by real quick this afternoon to check on Gold Striker, seems like not too much work has been done on the tunnel but the station is now up and it has a roof! Also looks like the rest of the transfer building should be going up soon. Part of the parking lot has been repaved, there is still some areas that need to be done but it's looking nice! Couple workers down by the wood. Roof!

^As long as the bar code scans and it works you're good. That whole weekend should be dead since most people don't visit early in the season, after Spring Break I imagine the crowds will pick up.

Tunnel is closer to completion!

The park just posted this picture on their social media accounts.

The zipline sounds really cool! I need to get down there and try it out, been wanting to try out a zipline for awhile now.

Mine is a shot of Gold Striker I took last weekend and I photoshoped the ride's logo in, came out really nice!

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Great+America+Pkwy,+Santa+Clara,+CA&hl=en&ll=37.403341,-121.969791&spn=0.003272,0.005252&sll=37.269174,-119.306607&sspn=9.489599,21.51123&oq=great&t=h&hnear=Great+America+Pkwy,+Santa+Clara,+California+95054&z=18 Now that the stadium is in the birds-eye view, this gives you a clear idea of its location! Here's another example of how close it is to the park. This picture was taken right next to the reflection pool just inside the main gate.

Its actually on a quadcopter, which makes it more stable than a helicopter would be. Also that is a Go Pro attached to it.