rumble

There's a pic here: The drop and all of the lower-level channel have been dismantled, the station is still standing.

I was speaking to the foreman of the ride whilst at the park on Friday and asked him about this. He said there will be a catwalk on the right side of the lifthill. It was omitted from the renderings for clarity.

RailBlazer progress:

Gold Striker was down yesterday. Not sure if it stayed down all day, I left mid-afternoon and it was still closed. Firefall has been down since last week. It's currently stuck in the halfway up position. Everything else was open yesterday.

Could you provide a source for your information? Its on the park's Instagram page:

Just booked my ticket for both days! Excited for my third West Coast Bash! Thanks for arranging what promises to be a super weekend.

Worth noting that it is park policy that adults can not enter the park without children. However they do make exceptions for card-carrying members of recognized coaster clubs, so if you are planning on swinging by the park be sure to take your credentials if you a member of ACE/ClubTPR/etc.

Kings Island already have some webcams from the same company on their site (https://www.visitkingsisland.com/online-fun/webcams-7315_34349), so perhaps this is a test for CGA?

Was at the park on both Saturday and Sunday and didn't see either running, maybe I just missed them on Sunday though if they had re-opened by then. Thanks for clearing that up. Were they running all day?

I heard that FD was testing today, hope thats a good sign.

Still down. As were Tiki Twirl and Firefall all weekend too, sigh.

Yep, I just got back from spending a couple of hours at the park after work tonight. Was surprised to see FD still closed, wonder what's the hold up in getting the ride-reopened. Park was really quiet. There was a rock band playing at the 50s gazebo for "Throwback Thursday". Was nice to see live music in the park, but maybe only half a dozen people watching. Wonder why the park doesn't really bother to promote things like this?

Was closed all day Saturday and Sunday. Haven't been over to the park since then, but might head in tomorrow to see if it's reopened. Will report back if I do.

In other CGA news, tonight the park previewed "40 Seasons of Summer" show, the second of their three big summer shows. The show is a musical trip down memory lane with favorite party songs from the four decades the park has been open set against the backdrop of the park's history, including an abundance of references to long-gone favorite rides that underscore just how passionate the team behind this show are about their park. I wasn't a huge fan of the Broadway show that ran in the same theatre for the past couple of seasons, and I was kind of expecting to see more of the same this year, but was instead really pleasantly surprised by both timeless choice of songs, spectacular staging and talented cast, and as a CGA fan I absolutely loved all the references to park history. Live entertainment at CGA continues to go from strength to strength, with a hugely passionate team of entertainment staff and performers. The current roster of summer shows are all worth checking out when you visit the park. The show kicks off with a wonderful rendition of the classic Marriot-era "Carousel Song". It really sets the tone of the show as being a loving tribute to the history of CGA, rather than just another generic rent-a-song variety show. Our master of ceremonies is Melvyn, a suitable coaster-boy character complete with park t-shirt and souvenir cup, and having ridden GoldStriker 5 times in a row! A huge LED video wall serves as the backdrop of the show. Apparently this is the first time any Cedar Fair park has used this technology in one of their shows. The cast of singers and dancers had boundless energy throughout the show. The 90s segment included a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek boyband number. An impromptu stage invasion occurred during the 90s segment (though this group of stage-invading "park guests" were actually comprised of the kids from the park's daytime Peanuts show). The final number started with an "In loving memory" segment in which classic rides of CGA past were highlighted, including Willard's Whizzer, Sky Whirl, Stealth and Invertigo. The cast take a well deserved bow after a great performance.

At the park right now, apparently there has been a accident on Flight Deck. Word is that an employee was knocked from the platform by a train and has been hospitalized. Ride is closed. Two news choppers already circling low above the ride, though there can't be much for them to see in the dark, and tonight's fireworks display has been cancelled accordingly. Anybody seen anything about this on local Bay Area news sources?

Yeah I'd love to see them put a dark ride in the Action FX Theatre. It's a huge building with plenty of space, only one half is ever open and the film they show is a pretty dated franchise now.

Am just arriving now, traffic is crazy. Wish I'd got here earlier! (Am wearing a gray Instagram shirt and blue shorts, if anyone sees me stop me and say Hi)

Am at the park too! Hope you didn't get out of line as Gold Striker is back up now. There has been some downtime on a few rides today (I saw Gold Striker, Flight Deck, Vortex, Firefall, Loggers Run, Tiki Twirl and the Rapids all down at various times), but I think this is opening day bugs rather than some systematic problem with operations. Looking forward to reading your TR!

The bar is by the rapids rides, in our "All American Corners" area, which I believe is your "Mardi Gras" area.

Great America is open for 2015! The new Planet Snoopy expansion looks like it will be a hit with families, and lots of smaller improvements and changes can be seen around the park. Beautiful weather, and lots of people in town for "Wrestlemania", saw opening day draw some large crowds, but the park seems to be managing well for the most part with all rides open by midday after a few teething troubles on Flight Deck, Vortex, Gold Striker and Firefall were smoothed out. The park kicked off the day with a short opening ceremony of mark Great America's 40th season. It's opening day! Long lines to get in to the park first thing this morning. Before opening park management held a brief opening ceremony to mark the start of the parks 40th season... Former members of park staff from the opening season were welcomed back as guests of honor. Gary Gillmor was Santa Clara Mayor in the 1970s and was instrumental in bringing Great America to Santa Clara. He spoke of how he convinced then-Govenor of California Ronal Reagan (the actor?) of the benefits the park would bring to the local area. He also thanked Cedar Fair for continued investment in the park. Snoopy was on ribbon-cutting duty. Let's go and take a look at the new Planet Snoopy area... The Peanuts characters were on hand to help open the new area. This talented chalk artist was re-creating the Planet Snoopy logo. Nice to see little extras like this in the park today. GR8 SK8 is the first addition to the area. This Interactive Rides X-Scream was previously at Knott's Berry farm and has received a lick of paint before arriving at CGA. Peanuts 500 is the other ride transplanted from Knott's. This looked like a lot of fun! Snoopy's Space Buggies is the final new ride. Elsewhere the surviving Kidzville rides have bee repainted and lightly rethemed to the Peanuts characters... Such as Snoopy's Space Race... Junior Jump club is now The Kite Eating Tree... ...and the elusive Taxi Jam is now Lucy's Crabbie Cabbies All in all the area is well done and looks really nice, the new paint really popping in the sunshine. Let's check out what's going on during opening day, and what else has changed around the park for this year... The hill by Vortex has a really nice 40th Season floral display. Gold Striker was only running one train for the morning and thus had a huge line. I don't think I've ever seen the ride only running one train before, let's hope they don't make a habit of this. Planet Snoopy is also now home to a Star Bucks coffee kiosk, expect long lines here! The Antique Photo shop has been moved to Orleans Place. I've never seen anyone having their photo taken, and am kinda surprised it survive the reshuffle. The arcade machines have been moved from the Game Time bar in to the old Antique Photo shop location... ...freeing up lots of space for shiny new seating inside the bar. The food service area has also been reworked to include draft beer and hot food. A much needed improvement following the disgraceful state this location was in at the end of last season. I'll definitely be hanging out here over the summer for a beer or two! Flight Deck was down at park opening, but quickly opened and is running as great as ever. Flight Deck now has it's own range of "Kick the Sky" merchandise. It would appear that tie-die neon is the latest fashion. The Fool-the-Guesser stand in All American Corners has been replaced with a wheel of fortune game where you can win front-of-the-line passes for Gold Striker and Flight Deck. This is still here. That huge building would make a great home for a dark right don't ya think? I also spotted this new entry way that leads from the main entrance area to the office buildings next to the park. I wonder if the park or stadium will be using the parking structures as over flow parking? Is this an indication of warming relationships between the park and its neighbors?

I saw a lot of adverts and Facebook posts, and the like, trying to recruit monsters in the run up to, and even after, the start of Haunt. It did make me wonder whether they were struggling to find enough. This weekend Toy Factory, Carnevil and Wax Museum all felt really light on monsters. It's especially noticeable in Wax Museum which has these name signs where the characters should normally be positioned and it feels really odd walking past and seeing these name signs in front of empty spots. I'd love to be a zombie, and would gladly do that on the side at weekends, but sadly my work Visa wont allow that. Unrelated, I witnessed a sad incident in the Gauntlet tonight where two guys tried to trip up the stilt walker clown, following which a bizarre stand-off occurred where several of the cast of the Gauntlet surrounded these idiots whilst a supervisor called for security. Unfortunately security did not respond in a timely manner and after about 10 minutes of this awkward situation the guys managed to get away. I chatted briefly with two of the Gauntlet cast as this was going on and they said that this kind of thing happens more than you would imagine, usually because a fully-grown Alpha Male feels humiliated in front of their friends for having jumped at a scare, and they try to look big again by taking it out on the high-school and college kids that work so hard to make the event fun. Such as sad state of affairs, and this particular incident was certainly a real failure on the part of Great America's security team for not keeping their performers safe.

Sounds like a good addition for the kids, certainly Kidzville could do with a make over, but I wonder if they will also make any changes to the existing Planet Snoopy area? Presumably Joe Cool's GR8 SK8 is the ride removed from Knott's Camp Snoopy this year.

I've taken a bunch of non-flash photos inside of mazes without a problem. In fact many of the monsters ham it up extra for the camera. None of the mazes have blanket "no photography" signs, only "no flash photography". What's your first-hand experience of not being allowed to take any photos inside the mazes?

Flash photography and video cameras with lights are not allowed, otherwise they are happy for you to take photos and videos in the mazes and the scare actors will pose for photos with you in the scare zones. It can be kinda difficult to take decent pictures in the mazes without a flash, but I think the no flash photography rule is to both preserve the illusion for the show, and for the safety of the scare actors who don't want camera flashes blinding them all night long. If you use your flash in the maze one of the maze attendants will probably ask you to stop (happened to me when I accidentally forgot to turn off my flash once).

The Blue Bayou is Disneyland's signature restaurant. Its very popular and they cram the tables so close together that it always feels crowded. The food is pretty good and comes in huge portions, which I actually found a little bit overwhelming. The Monte Cristo is probably the most glutenous sandwich you will ever eat. I got about half way through it! The Carthay Circle restaurant was a wonderful surprise for me, I was expecting a fairly typical theme park table-service restaurant, with quality on par with the Blue Bayou over at Disneyland, but this was so much more. A wonderful menu, attentive staff and luxurious surroundings. Probably the best restaurant you can find inside any theme park and highly recommended. Linger over dinner there, don't feel that just because you're inside a theme park that you need to rush. There are also a bunch of decent places to eat outside the parks in Downtown Disney. You can easily leave the parks for lunch or dinner and return later. These range from quick-service locations such as Earl of Sandwich to chain restaurants such as The Rain Forest Cafe to fine dining locations in the hotels. The Napa Rose and the Grand Californian Hotel is the top restaurant at the resort. Dining at the Chef's Counter is a great experience but incredibly expensive. You can, and should, make your restaurant reservations online a few weeks before your visit. This is a great alternative idea. There are so many wonderful treats you can pick up from street vendors and the shops on Main Street USA. Its a great way to discover some new favorites.