Angry_Gumball

Here's a few random shots from the past 3 days...we already saw the coaster so these are just some of the antics...and primarily of TPR members These shots are in no particular order. The group from the 3rd day...Well, not everyone since several left early. What I felt like after riding the past 3 days in a row....literally! "This ride makes me smile!" "See? I can't stop smiling!" Last train of the night line... And more airtime after the amazing ride! "Wheeeeee!" Why do I look like a giant? The group from Day 2 Flagg O'Dim's and RJVader's first ride/credit ride on Gold Striker V2-Dude, Blue Fire Guy, and I taking the tunnel (in the queue) Blue Fire Guy, Flagg O'Dim, RJVader, and I...yes we all approve of this ride!

I put a little compilation together of Gold Striker, primarily just views from the queue...wouldn't mind getting more shots though of this beauty in action once she officially opens. (Random note, yes at the 2:30 mark, that dude was doing an 'illegal POV' of the ride...just realized yesterday when putting this together that he was in the shot.)

Looks like a fun family ride! Due to the launches, I'm nicknaming this "Tires-Tires-Tires!: The Ride". Certainly very twisty and looks like it's a pretty long ride too (well, anything's longer than most of the coasters at my home park ).

I'm a bit late to the party but may as well post anyway...all I had to do was vision my first experience on Revolution (SFMM, insane amount of headbanging on my ride) and watch this POV. You know it's rough when even a TPR-filmed POV picks up the shakiness...due to the shuffling of the train. So yea, all I have to say is this:

More rides than not, we often just went sailing right through the transfer building and right on into the station. Honestly, I'm hoping that operations could be this smooth when it is actually taking on the GP/when it's officially open.

It is all about timing and how the train fills up. Often our group was split as we didn't make the cutoff for the train. I'm not complaining though as this was completely free...park did not even have to go this far to let us try out their new coaster...not sure how many really do this to be completely honest.

Lately Gold Striker has been waking up at around 5:30. Lines cut off at 7:45pm and management/employees get to take in a ride after. Also as you saw, rows are assigned.i spent most of my rides toward the back (not complaining here, I love the back rows!). I tried asking for the front but no requests were accepted. So it's all luck of the draw! I wouldn't really linger too much after closing time as you are technically on private property. Being the only one there hanging around would raise some red flags.

We all need to make nerd signs for ride number 50.

I initially didn't think I was going to be able to make it out next week but I couldn't resist making things work. I'll definitely be there Tuesday and Thursday...I'll try to see if I can make Wednesday happen even if I show up 'late to the party.' I really need to get my 26 laps up to 50 before she officially opens!

^Gold dust ...and lots of it! And gold splinters too (in the queue shaft)!

A little fun over the course of the past 3 days, as told through Vine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJ30qmYTzc Yes there's some awkwardly strange moments, you have been warned!

Even more crazy when you decide to play "Jello" while riding...as in letting your body be a wet noodle and go whichever way the forces decide to take it. I've ridden every row now except the very front. Row 12 has definitely solidified itself as my favorite spot, though I only got it once tonight. On one of my rides, the airtime was so strong and sustained on that hill just going into the midway turn...my butt was out of the seat for a nice moment...was not a gentle zero gravity but a thigh-crushing moment of air! This ride is just balls to the wall crazy, nucking futs, whatever you want to call it. Sadly, our little ERT session/promo shoot has concluded and I finished the event with 26 total rides under my belt. My goal was 30 but 26 is pretty darn close! This has been a great way to get to know Gold Striker and where I initially planned on buying Fast Lane on opening day, now I can use that money elsewhere. Lines were moving along pretty quick today and hopefully the ride crew will be as efficient as what was shown today. Other random notes: People already began vandalizing the shaft portion via scratching in some profanity on the walls...come on already people! Have some class...this isn't your bedroom, you aren't 3 years old...should have outgrown writing on walls by now Well, at least I didn't see any line jumpers today, neither did I experience illegal POVs during my ride (really, it's quite distracting as I then have to focus on if a camera's going to break lose and slam into me). Again, thank you CGA for putting on such an event and letting us get to try out your new toy, our new toy, whatever you wanna call it! Definitely have a winner that will never get old!

^

Honestly the wall does not detract from the experience. TAKE THE WALL!!!

Ok to set things straight, I contacted the park about this via the provided email and can confirm that there is no shoot Friday. Tonight is it so if you haven't made it out to ride Gold Striker be sure to do such! I thanked the park in person but would like to express my gratitude here as well as I know they read the boards. Realistically the park didn't have to do such a thing, letting us ride the hottest wooden coaster in CA, absolutely free! Within the 3 hours I got in as much rides if not more than I did on a busy day at SFMM in a 6-hour session! Let's see if I can shoot for 10 laps today! Noticed something interesting going up on the 'Middle Finger Turn.' We can soon say 'TAKE THE WALL!!!' As it looks like a sound wall is going up alongside the track, as well as the track infill. But who cares? We have a kick@$$ woodie in Great America now. (Wow that last sentence sounded strange). I'm sure it's a courtesy thing and not a requirement.

I'll be back again tomorrow! After 17 laps on this, I am NOT done riding this beast of a coaster! Dress code: They said to refrain from any logos, as much as many were wearing things with logos. I was actually given the OK for wearing my Gold Striker shirt as it is park material as opposed to copyrighted stuff...but the front of it is predominantly a solid color. Bright, solid colors are good though especially when caught on film or photos! I found that out when I was doing my own shoot for TPR/CGA thread and my blog. And I think the flying spaghetti monster took your wallet

Yes we had our share of line jumpers too, as in 1 person in line, and having their 6-7 other friends meet up with them...Have some respect. The line jumping signs are plastered EVERYWHERE and they actually really spell out what line jumping is. In the end we ended up on the same train...but whoever was ahead, would make more sense for them to just move back with the rest of their group. The POV thing, I believe 1 train was actually stopped on the lift as some bozo had their camera out. And yes, there are signs that actually explain about loose articles and how they can become projectiles! Whether if the GP will care, that's another story.

Yup, that's the GP for you... I seriously thought his phone was going to fly out of his hands as we created over the speed hill and into the first turnaround. So yup, it was on one of our trains...

Well, I just got in another 8 laps today! Gold Striker still amazes me quite a lot! Another awesome day despite many of the GP breaking rules (line jumping, illegal pov's, guests putting hands up when clearly instructed not to do such)... Going to rant here now... The park is letting people in to participate, free! Is it really that much to ask for people to follow the rules? Can't wait for tomorrow!

I'm really excited for my second session on Gold Striker. And you know the ride has made a huge impact when you can still feel your body being tossed about like a rag doll, as you walk around at work Having ridden 3 GCI's now Gold Striker sits at the top. Apocalypse And Roar West sit behind, in that order.

Well since it found its way to my #1 wood (very tough fight between Gold Striker and Giant Dipper), I'd have to say it was a fantastic addition to the park! I've ridden almost every woodie in CA (missing San Diego Dipper) and Gold Striker is hands down the best CA has to offer! I just hope the coaster is properly taken care of as there's a couple spots that can become painful if it got rough... Which hopefully won't be the case.

Here's how the shoot worked for those who wonder: You can think of it as though the park was open and all CGA had was Gold Striker. We'd get in line and just ride like normal...no 'hurry up and wait.' The longest I waited was 30 minutes and after that much of the crowds disappeared, leaving only 5 minute waits. Did I say the crew (though they were managers) were pretty fast? Here's hope that the operations will really be this quick when the ride officially opens! I got in about 9 laps today...not bad at all, considering for 3 hours...when I did SFMM for about 6 hours I only got on 7 rides. The talk about noise...I love standing at the entrance and hearing the thunderous rumble as the train comes hurling down the tunnel. Yes, it really goes as fast as it's sounding! It can be quite intimidating and you can hear it at the park entrance...Love it, can hear it calling out to me as I'm getting in the park! Ok...so my review/opinion on Gold Striker! Let's just say the ride does not let up or give you a moment to breathe until you smoothly hit the brake run. Initially I felt like my opinion would be biased due to it being a local coaster....this was when we only had the animation to go off of. Going to be honest, the animation did not look that much/looked very tame but on the flipside I was grateful that we were getting something...and thinking it is just another GCI creation but...is it? Let's take a look! When you pull out of the station, the beginning 'taster' as I like to call it (pre lift turns) provide some nice moments of laterals/gentle body slams. I'm going to be honest here...as soon as we got the all-clear and dispatched, I just got these chills running through my body. I couldn't believe that the day had come and I'd be riding a new world class coaster in my home park. Very surreal but felt really good! After climbing up the loud-ish lift (no complaints here) you begin your descent into the tunnel. While it is not pitch black, it can be somewhat dark in there. You can see the beams overhead and it looks like you're going to smack them...hand choppers! Coming down, you get a gentle bit of 'twisty airtime' followed by shooting out of the tunnel like a rocket, and taking on a nice mix of laterals and positives followed by a nice quick directional change providing the first major body slam! The flyby does not deliver painful airtime but it is sustained and your butt gently comes out of the seat and comes back down just in time for a series of 3 tracks from over head. The last track crossing over (as you head into the first turnaround) looks like you're going to hit it. And this is where the ride then exceeded my expectations! Coming into the turnaround you get a nice moment of "float-jector air" (gentle ejector airtime) followed by another burst of air coming out. Another burst of sideways airtime is to be had before heading into the so-called Prudential Turn (2nd turnaround)...in which that heavily banked turn provides some nice positives and laterals! Coming out of it you get yet another burst of air, followed by yet another as it's kind of a double-down. You kind of get the theme here, air coming into and out of turnarounds, with sudden drop and humps between. In the end, as Blue Fire Guy said, "It's not just another GCI." The funkiest part of the ride is the double up into the second to last turnaround. On my 2nd ride, I was seated in Row 5 with Blue Fire Guy. It was our first time riding with hands up (we were instructed/told when it was ok and not ok to raise hands...had to keep them down when they were actually rolling the camera) and this is where what I call "Body Slam: The Ride" comes in. The quick transitions and strong lats can send you flying into your fellow rider but at one point into the above mentioned double up, my head went slamming into BFG's shoulder (I thought it slammed into his head at first). Didn't hurt but definitely felt the slam! So in the end the ride's definitely worth checking out! Personally, I think it's going to be a huge hit overall, but definitely a shining star for CGA...it may have won over Flight Deck as far as my favorite ride in the park. Gold Striker firmly planted it's spot on my #1 wooden coaster. I highly recommend you try it at least once or twice. Try it in different rows, see what you like. I took in like 3 rides on Row 11, 1 on row 5, 2 on row 12, 2 on 10, one 7, and 8. If I had to pick, row 5 and row 12 were my favorites. But every row still provides a rather fun, relentless ride! As far as other rows I'll find out tomorrow how the front is...just watching for that floating gold dust that's still hanging about. As said, we counted about 13 moments that our butts ...14 if you want to count coming down the drop. It's mild but it's there! Well, the day has come! Finally getting in line for Gold Striker! Yay, test runs! I spy a sexy red train going up the lift! Get ready to....TAKE THE TUNNEL!!! Train comes blasting out right here! Be ready for some nice float-jector air! Coming into the turn here, your butt again leaves the seat briefly. Surprised me quite a bit to be honest! And coming into this turn as well, another quick burst! Sadly, there was lots of this going on tonight...Liking the themed signs though! Train passes overhead into the station... You also get some nice photo ops right here, that is if you and your camera are quick enough to get the shot! Forceful...'nuff said! Yup the train hauls @$$ through this section! First riders for the promo shoot! (I was the first rider in Train B, which was the next cycle) Our minds are blown! This thing is nucking futs! TAKE THE TUNNEL!!11!! (that is before it gets gum-ified and vandalized by idiot GP) Another train full of happy riders! ZOOOOOOOOOM!!! And 'tis time to call it a night! Thank you Roger Ross for taking the photo! And good night CGA, see you tomorrow!

Honestly it's not that dark but at this point I can care less. Lots of head choppers can be seen. I will write up a full review tonight or tomorrow, more than just saying "It's great, ride it now." A few fellow TPRers got the front. Personally my favorite rows were 5 and 12.

Second ride, solidified my #1 wood coaster. Awesome pacing, unexpected pops of air. Fun laterals and smooth ride.