Angry_Gumball

Went on this CHEESEY carnival ride earlier which was a motion simulator. It had a '90s-ish generation 3D animation of a coaster...really bad. But you get to get swallowed by a statue! Feeeeed meeeeeeh!

^Honestly, I don't bother with Grizzly anymore...that valuable time in line could be spent for waiting for a fine quality woodie up front. I'd easily wait an hour for Gold Striker...if the line's only in the station, I *may* give Grizzly a courtesy ride but not much more than that now...meaning, TAER IT DOWN!!! Yes I'm aware it's a.... ....(refraining from saying 'good')...family coaster, something li'l Jimmy can ride as his first large scale coaster...it was my first coaster of a larger scale...but Giant Dipper was the one that actually got me coaster obsessed about 2 years later...see? I even knew better as a young'un that Grizzly was pretty bad..and that was before being a true coaster enthusiast! Going to the park Sunday, going to hit my 60+ laps on GS!...Curious how the Firefall storage box works as the entrance and exit are on opposite ends of the ride. We typically have a few members of our party that don't do Firefall so we've had them be our bag watchers while we ride. Now while we're on the topic of GS, let's take a little trip to the past...a trip to last late spring/early summer...and let's take a quick 8-minute ride to present day! Figured I've got to do something with all the photos that are sitting there on my hard drive and a lot quicker than sifting through 100's of pages to find a park update...a very fun thing to watch!

I was about to do SFMM's bungee slingshot when I was down there but concentrated on coasters instead. Closest I've done, though technically it's not a bungee as it was attached to cables and launched via compressed air were those S&S Absolutely Insane (I think that's what they're called) attractions. The Absolutely Insane, named Thrill Shot, was down at SFMM. Same principal, a little more restricting as far as flips and such goes.

Quite creepy... Reminds me of the dudes I saw in speedo's....not exactly something I planned on seeing in the water park. And the worst part is you can never un see that! Precisely...one can't simply un-see what he just saw ...and it wasn't exactly something is like to see in a waterpark again.

Well, tomorrow I'm going to the San Mateo County Fair with a couple TPR members (My soon to be TPR member neighbor, Blue Fire Guy and JeffyJosephNorcal) for some ghetto carnival action. Looking ahead are some visits to SCBB and Gilroy Gardens (Have yet to hit up GG and need some credits from there). Nobrainers are more CGA and SFDK visits, and in the back of my head figuring things out would be another possible run to SFMM again, possibly WCB. This has been a very busy 2013 season already as I have multiple CGA visits, a couple SFDK visits, a couple SFMM, Knotts, SCBB, and Disney already under my belt. And a lot of this was early in the season!

Quite creepy... Reminds me of the dudes I saw in speedo's....not exactly something I planned on seeing in the water park.

Row 12 is awesome. And you did not see Sunfire since he's no longer working there. Sunfire was there as a guest Saturday evening though and was with our group Wait...WTF???

3/4 of my wardrobe is theme park stuff! You know you're a nerd when you arrive in the park rocking everything coaster-related...as in, you have one of those TPR luggage grippers on your backpack (really helps actually, easy to spot my bag in the storage bins when I go on a ride), t-shirt for a given ride, and a hat also themed to that given ride...a good example of this was this past Sunday when our group was wearing those Gold Striker miner hardhats with headlamp on it, and wearing Gold Striker t-shirts. Many GP were asking where we got those cool hats, and some were saying "Wow, you really are a fan of this ride!"

CGA fanboy mode commence... I was messing with NL and visioned a mega coaster (Mack?) behind rapids...here's what I did (so far). This was my original Flying Uranium concept

I've code named CGA's next coaster Flying Uranium...otherwise known as FU for short...and will always be referred to as "FU." This coaster will be a hyper coaster in the location where the proposed Morgan Hyper was to go. Lets make it a non sand filled Beemer with no sound walls either

Very valid point. I think a while back (last year) we saw that Prudential was speaking up on behalf of its tenants. I can also see tenants wanting decreased rates due to the .0000000001db too loud scream and rumble. In the end this all sucks...why were buildings ever set up there is beyond me and is a pretty poor decision in my opinion. Now riding in Star Tower the coaster really isn't that loud. I've been lucky enough to go down as the train goes past...no different than me hearing the jet flying overhead at work. There is a slight rumble you feel in Star Tower (which is pretty awesome!) but those offices, more insulated than the tower should have no problems...not to mention they aren't right next to the coaster...

^This... I don't mind the walls, though the infill is a bit...yea...ugly? My main concern though is seeing more spontaneous closures because that one rumble through the already insulated and barrier'd turn was .0000009db too loud....so loud that it interferes with with the hums of their air conditioning systems, computers, and so loud that they can't hear themselves type. Heaven forbid if they can't even hear themselves fart... As said, do noise tests inside the offices, not on top of the garages. I could swear I saw some people up top of those garages during the promo shoot. Whether if they were spectators or people listening in on the ride I don't know. Just sucks that the park has to go through this hassle.

I actually saw that yesterday but decided not to post about it. It is really sad that a well established location has to put up with this BS. It's the classic airport scenario all over again. In the mean time, I guess it's time to enjoy the ride while we can before it becomes a gravel ornament again...thanks to the lovely prudes. Funny thing was that the other day at the park, We were talking to some GP (well educated ones at that) about Gold Striker and it's roller coaster ride it went through before it became a reality. It turned out the ones we were speaking to used to work for Nortel (one of the tenants who were complaining back then). He thought it was absolutely ridiculous...as in "What is wrong with these people? It's an amusement park for crying out loud!" So yea, thanks Poo-dential for giving the park and us guests all of this frustration! While we were frustrated that the ride wasn't open on time, the park was probably even moreso frustrated that they couldn't open their new attraction, something that's going to boost revenue in a timely manner. Prudential, you suck. And this is how Gold Striker feels about the whole thing

Gold Striker, California's Great America

This is probably pushing it but this could work You were once able to slide through a painting of a serpent's mouth and slip out its rear Snakey goes nom nom

Alright, so the big write up of opening weekend! Well, I got the displeasure of missing out on the whole opening ceremony as it was my Saturday for work. However, since the park was open until 10, and I got off at 4, why not head out there for some evening rides on Gold Striker? To shave off potential Saturday afternoon traffic, I hopped on the Capitol Corridor/Amtrak to get out there and finally met up with the gang. First wait of the night was about 80-90 minutes. The area was full of life! Finally we get to ride! Awesome as always! Second time of riding the line was more like an hour or so. By the time we had gotten on the final it was already 10:00, being dark. First night ride! I mentioned a few pages back about the night ride experience. There are plenty of floodlights to illuminate the track, as well as some light pollution generated from Xtreme. Still a neat experience though and plunging down in an almost dark tunnel is pretty cool! Light does penetrate though the white infill though. I got in 2 whole rides on Gold Striker Saturday, as well as a ride on Flight Deck and Orbit. Sunday, I got there at opening where people were already in line for Gold Striker. The park had opened the gates prior to the 10:00 opening which honestly I like. Sure the rides are not open yet but this beats standing in line at security to get in while things get clustered. Another random photo I figured I'd add...apparently the SJ Mercury News were there snapping photos of yesterday's morning rides. I'm in Row 10, see if you can spot me Wait times Sunday started off at an hour and eventually quickened down to 30-40 minutes with the full queue. The queue remained pretty consistent throughout the entire day, though many of the GP kept leaving as soon as they entered as "the line was too long for them." Perhaps they think this is Grizzly? I will gladly wait an hour for this coaster! Other highlights included checking out the Happiness is Snoopy show, and short lines on the other rides. Flight Deck's line was actually moving rather quick too! Here's an offride compilation I put together from opening weekend with more angles. Here you go! Here's a few photos...took much less than I actually anticipated. I spent most of my time behind the camera filming actually. Ready to enjoy my gold rush! Wood...sexy... Yes, this is the line, wrapping around and heading into the Star Tower plaza. Keep in mind the line stops at the entrance sign. Fast forward to afternoon, let's check out the now open Happiness is Snoopy! Happiness is... ...Snoopy! Did I mention, there's airtime in Happiness is Snoopy? You all should check out this show next time you go, a very nice production! Back at GS...what was once a dormant plaza is now full of life! Starting here was a common site today. Using all switchbacks...During the morning through afternoon, I actually advise you bring a hat or something to provide shade for your face. Playing with balls (A kendama that is ) Wheee! And I'll end it with an evening shot from Saturday evening. And of course you can't forget the onride photo (taken Saturday night).

Again I seldom buy onride photos but I think this coaster was worthy of doing such...plus the shot just happened to catch our entire group of TPR members on the train And another shot (not an official onride photo but a cool one at that, shot by a fellow TPR member/ACER)...I fixed it up for my cover photo on FB.

At CGA, they were selling Gold Striker-branded hardhats. Naturally we decide to buy some and walk around wearing them (equivalent to wearing Mickey ears at Disney for us) when some kids asked us: "Did you build Gold Striker?" Next one who asks, I'll tell them I'm maintenance and need to check some loose bolts

I happen to like Happy Feet, especially the initial descent down the mountain. Spongebob had gotten stale during its extended lifespan at CGA, it was a great run and an enjoyable film, but we needed something fresh and new. Happy Feet was a fresh experience but to me it feels like it ends abruptly, and also thought the same as far as 'who we are' in the video. Are we watching a regular film or are we one of the penguins? Just a little confusing

Any random bench in the vicinity of Vortex would be the best seat.

Further adding to GS's opening, we actually waited maybe 10 minutes or so after the park opened as the ride was still cycling trains. Everyone was let into the Carousel Plaza brfore opening (which I like, less waiting at the bag check/security). I'll do my full weekend write up in a little bit. Why does Grizzly not open with the park's other coasters anyway? Not that I really have a desire to ride Grizzly now that we have Gold Striker

Sadly this stuff is inevitable...GP will be GP... Broken wire anyone?

Update on the line: we just had a 40 minute wait. A lot of GP are entering and leaving the line. Reverse line jumping anyone? I snagged a few photos but mainly focused on filming offride footage. I'll post a quick report tonight from my point if view

I'm looking forward to riding this more tomorrow! (Later today?) Media day was well covered, thanks Flagg! I'll focus on general park crowds and such as well as shooting some off ride footage. Yes as a photographer I'm also disliking that inside wall Once you come out the queue tunnel you actually get some nice views of the track straight on!

Though only at the park for a few short hours I had a great time wth the gang! I got in 2 rides on Goldy, a ride on Flight Deck, and one on Orbit! Night rides on GS were awesome but wish it were truly dark...lots of light pollution. Still an awesome experience though! I'll post a full on report late tomorrow. Wheee!