Angry_Gumball

I'm no expert on this topic but my dad actually suffered a herniated disc from an injury at work. He hasn't gone on a coaster since not wanting to take the risk. To this day he has his sore days, even after having surgery many years ago. Definitely check with your doctor, perhaps explain about some of the coaster dynamics, different flat rides, and ride quality (say riding the new B&M vs the poorly maintained woodie or Vekoma/Arrow coaster).

Just remembered the new Tomb Raider game was recently released. I used to play TR a lot back in their heyday (PS1) so naturally a new TR game seems like a must. Game play-wise I hear it is a bit more action-based but still has exploration and puzzles (my favorite aspect of the series). So today I picked up a copy of it and am looking forward to playing it!

Zip line sounds pretty awesome! Too bad it's only temp.

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. V2 at SFMW

Actually we've been doing motel research in the area, the BW looks like a place to stay away from even if its close. According to some reviews it looks like there's a number of issues including but not limited to prostitution, bugs, poorly maintained rooms, and so on. We're looking at staying at La Quinta inn which appears to be a little cleaner though Sfmm isn't quite in walking distance. That is assuming the reviews are legit and not just GP rants.

Should be pretty quiet actually since its early in the season. Sundays are typically the quieter days. Vortex shouldn't bang your knees up. But your head/ears, that's another story. Metal detectors...empty the pockets including cell phone, wallet... Sometimes I actually have to remove my belt depending on security. Believe it or not even my pack of gum tripped one of their wands, requiring me to take that out as well.

I don't mean to thread jack but I'll be down that way on April 18th (after doing a couple days at Disney, and a day at Knotts)...considering it's a week day, I'm crossing my fingers that it won't be so bad. I could be wrong but I think many of the schools are out the prior weeks leading up to my trip, thus we chose to go later in April. Of course I know to jam over to X2 first and get that credit out of the way.

If you're referring to Vortex, (The way you posted looks like you were referring to the Planet Snoopy thing), then yes. The corkscrew on Vortex is the part I dread . The rest really isn't so bad. With me, as I'm sure with most of you who rode it, there's very little head room and the excessive height on the restraints leave you with ears smashing into them. I often actually leave some extra room at the crotch but make up for it with shoulder crushing. Doing such, I can kind of stretch my neck and pull the head forward some so that my ears just clear the restraints when you go zooming into it.

^ Yay I'm glad they're aware about the much needed paint! Now, how about a retro throwback to the 90s with it's lime green and black! In the mean time, let's get it to run smoother. I kind of feel that Vortex is not what one could call a turd...fixing it up would thus make it a nice and polished but still a turd...instead I see Vortex as actually being a decent forceful little Beemer, killed by its roughness. We can save the polished turd analogy for something else that sits in the back corner

We had a conversation about this. They said they can't announce the planned opening date yet, but they said it's safe to assume opening day will be shortly after the first-rider auction. From the way they said it, I'm guessing GS will open anywhere from one week to one month afterward, but they said not the next day. So Memorial weekend might not be a bad guess after all? I'm wondering if there will be any 'soft openings' before the true official opening. One can hope, right?

^ Had Flight Deck been a bit longer, length-wise/ride time, I'm sure it would have ranked higher even with all the others out there. Flight Deck is definitely a pretty intense ride and pretty smooth considering its age in relation to another certain B&M that lives in the same park (Ok, so it isn't really using true B&M rolling stock...) Glad to see some of my local coasters not quite at the bottom of the barrel, at least within the first 100-range. One of these days I need to take one of these top 15 coasters or so a spin, as much as it may spoil it for me when it comes to re-riding my local rides

For those who didn't make it to the tour, CGA shared the rendering of the ride's entrance. Note: it's not Gold Striker in the photo It was shown in the PowerPoint but here's a clearer image of it.

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!

Well, technically there is that other wood structure in the back Don't expect queue shading though. However the late afternoon sun should cast the lift's shadow over the queue. Plus who wouldn't want to be in line with amazing views of the train screaming out of the drop tunnel?

Photo from CGA's Instagram, station roof trusses are now up!

An interesting myth, not sure if it actually holds true or not but some of us have lead to believe that a moist track from the morning dew can increase the speed of the train (or maybe perhaps some rain). Why I say this? Because I rode CGA's Grizzly on a rather foggy morning and the train was screaming through the circuit at a much faster than normal pace...as in I actually had a bit of airtime on it! Oh, and Flight Deck CGA sinking...We've all heard that one

YOLO's looking pretty good! I can only imagine how it will look when I head down that way in April (Here's to hoping that SEFK will be accessible by then, dying to try out the reversed trains...hoping it will change my thoughts on that ride!). I still wish that the log ride was able to continue to live but what can you do? What's done is done. At least there's still the flume in the back to ride!

Basically Rock-o-Plane is essentially a ferris wheel, if you want it to run that way. Pull the ring toward you, your cage will lock/not free rotate. Release it and you're free rotating again. A skilled rider can lock themselves into a position as they make way around so that getting the initial flip upside down is easy. Even more effort is needed if you want to begin flipping while at a standstill (It is a major upper body workout I will add). A rider can also utilize that brake to lock/release and keep themselves inverted during their ride (which I've done). It's all about experimentation. FYI, the Rock-o-Plane I've ridden was the one located at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

^Thanks for the info/clarification/confirmation of the authorized flight. So, I mentioned about a video of the presentation from yesterday. Forgive my shaky recording, was done on an iPhone while I was taking pictures. But all the info is there that we care about Enjoy!

I've never flown an RC quad but can vouch for how touchy regular copters can be when flown outdoors, in the wind. Doing my research since I'm in the market for a quad (nothing advanced just something to have fun with) I've seen that even the smaller model is quite stable outdoors. I'm sure there's quite a risk involved but it would be neat to see CGA's copter capture unique views of rides such as drop tower...capture the riders faces as the cabins drop

I'd think there would be some legalities if one actually flew it over the property line, unauthorized of course. This flight however was authorized and happened after we had all left. But say that you lived in the neighborhood behind CGA and flew a quad up high enough to get an aerial view of something, I don't think there's an issue. I have a feeling that spy copters/drones/rc choppers with integrated cameras could become controversial as much as many just do FPV as a hobby. I've actually been looking at one of those small HD cameras to be able to mount to my RC truck and get some FPV action of it racing down the street...and eventually get a small quad and mount it onto it. Speaking of drones, I'm not sure what model CGA has but they also have a drone and have used it in their park to film unique angles. There's a video on Youtube of Vortex taking the turnaround by the swings while the copter was hanging out off to the side. I initially thought it was filmed on the swings due to the swaying motion.

^Thanks! It was definitely a fun and very memorable non season visit at the park, was much needed after an absolutely crazy week at work I'd have to say that this weekend was my gold rush. When I got home last night and all night I was on gold overload! Not goldy alone though made the day. It was nice seeing/meeting up with the group again, as well as meeting new faces and seeing familiar ones

It's a DJI phantom with a GoPro mounted to it.