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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread


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Did anybody go to the park today? I know it was rainy and cold, this weekend it's supposed to be in the 90's.

 

I went to the park today and have a few things today.

 

- The parks was wasn't corwded (it wasn't dead, just not very crowded)

 

- Grizzly was running one train and probably had the longest wait in the park.

 

- Delirium and Survivor both had quite long lines.

 

- Demon was dead inthe afternoon. I got to marathon it. It was running quite rough today (well, rougher that usual)

 

I'd like to give a shoutout to Christina who was working at Flight Deck and some of Delta Flyer today. She was very enthusiastic and kept the Flight Deck crew going fast. She was also interacting with the guests and ensuring that the ride didn't stack (which is very hard on Flight Deck since it's so short). Thanks again Christina, you were great!

 

Also, Tiki Twirls does have a tiny little sign now. I'll post a picture if anyone would like me too.

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^Yeah, Demon's been running roughly. But then again, it's an Arrow lol.

 

I think the issue with Demon is not so much the trains but more the track, specifically, its very old/possibly worn and it probably has settled some. The transitions between the loops and the straight section before the tunnel seem to be the bad spots. And yes, its and old Arrow so what can you do about it.

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^ what is that?

 

Well I think it is a shed, not sure what-if anything -it is used for. I noticed it a while back when I was taking my break after working at another ride, it sits near where Invertigo was, but I did not think much of it at the time until I watched Beverly Hills Cop 3 again, where the image on the right came from.

Edited by jab88
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And at the end of the clip where the stand is blown up with the annihilator 2000, part of the Hometown Square Station queue ramp(maybe it's exit?) is visible, part of which still remains today as a concrete ramp behind the control room for Celebration Swings (to the left of Triple Play) and no longer accessible to the public as one has to go through Triple Play's old spot to access it.

 

I made an effort to find the old ramp today after reading your post. I spotted it while on the turnaround for Vortex, interesting how they just left it there. Almost seems eerie, in a way.

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I saw Matt! He was walking with a few other high level employees and had a pretty straight look on his face. Let's hope he won't neglect this park like Kinzel did. I'm pretty optimistic though, he seems like a great guy.

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Cross your fingers!!! I am hoping/praying that CEO who visited today was eyeing areas for a new coaster for next year!!!

 

I'm hoping too. As I said above, this park can be changed with a low budget.

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The park has literally gotten no investment from Cedar Fair. The only new ride they put in was a re-location. Which obviously dosen't cost very much for them as oposed to a new ride.

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^At least, we got an awesome Haunt event, which could have totally been left out. That is probably the only major spending Cedar Fair has had on CGA...oh, and the spending to rip out Invertigo from under our feet.

I know I've probably said this many times but hopefully things will change...the park's attendance appears to better this season plus having Kinzel out the door, hopefully the decision of selling off CGA will fizzle out. One can only hope, right?

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They NEED to rip out Grizzly, Demon, Vortex(that will open up a whole bunch of space) & put in some state of the art coasters. Can't CGA get an I305 or Millenimum Force & work with the airport about the height limit? It sucks so bad CGA has the stupid height limit problem! Or I know can't CF give CGA Montezooma's Revenge from Knotts? We need that shuttle loop coaster back! That was the only decent oldie! I believe Paramount left all the footers from Tidal Wave!

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They NEED to rip out Grizzly, Demon, Vortex(that will open up a whole bunch of space) & put in some state of the art coasters. Can't CGA get an I305 or Millenimum Force & work with the airport about the height limit? It sucks so bad CGA has the stupid height limit problem! Or I know can't CF give CGA Montezooma's Revenge from Knotts? We need that shuttle loop coaster back! That was the only decent oldie! I believe Paramount left all the footers from Tidal Wave!

 

I think it's more of a noise problem rather than the height limit problem. I remember seeing some renderings of the GCI that was planned to be put into CGA. Itt wasn't that tall but the offices right next to the park wouldn't allow another noisy wooden coaster to be built.

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They NEED to rip out Grizzly, Demon, Vortex(that will open up a whole bunch of space) & put in some state of the art coasters. Can't CGA get an I305 or Millenimum Force & work with the airport about the height limit? It sucks so bad CGA has the stupid height limit problem! Or I know can't CF give CGA Montezooma's Revenge from Knotts? We need that shuttle loop coaster back! That was the only decent oldie! I believe Paramount left all the footers from Tidal Wave!

 

I think it's more of a noise problem rather than the height limit problem. I remember seeing some renderings of the GCI that was planned to be put into CGA. Itt wasn't that tall but the offices right next to the park wouldn't allow another noisy wooden coaster to be built.

 

I'm so angry at those offices, if it wasn't for them, the gci MIGHT have been built in 2009/2010.

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They NEED to rip out Grizzly, Demon, Vortex(that will open up a whole bunch of space) & put in some state of the art coasters. Can't CGA get an I305 or Millenimum Force & work with the airport about the height limit? It sucks so bad CGA has the stupid height limit problem! Or I know can't CF give CGA Montezooma's Revenge from Knotts? We need that shuttle loop coaster back! That was the only decent oldie! I believe Paramount left all the footers from Tidal Wave!

 

You say the same thing everytime and yet, the answer to everything you say is NO! Knott's isn't going to give up one of their oldest rides that's running great to us! No way! THey aren't getting a giga coaster, they aren't ripping out half of their coaster collection. Most of all, they aren't bringing Tidal Wave back! I'm more happy to copy this post everytime you say this as it does nothing to help this thread whatsoever! Oh, and have I mentioned that none of what you said is going to happen?

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Great America is suffering at the hands of not being owned land- as well as a recalcitrant city council which does NOT have a single clue as to how to let a park grow, become a regional attraction, and best use the resources around.

 

What the SCCC needs to do is look at how many jobs are created by CGA- and the tax revenue that's being pumped into an economy that is already lagging- and evaluate things this way: If we lose this park, nobody else will move in. We will now have many unemployed people around the park, not to mention the residual job losses as businesses close up (Restaurants, hotels, etc.) that will suffer losing those additional guests who'd drop their money in Santa Clara.

 

Now: About removing key rides: Forget it. To lose three more attractions to build something 'state of the art' isn't happening. It would be like cutting off an arm to install a finger- and just about as useful. There's a huge advantage to operating the older rides: THEY ARE PAID FOR! Not to mention: Demon is a great ride (not nearly as great as ToTC, mind you) but just as nifty and as wonderful as it has been for 20 plus years now. Grizzly, well, I'm not a fan of it- but removing it and replacing it with a better wooden coaster would be a good step forward. Adding in some other attractions would also help- but it's a total revitalization project needed, not just a few key rides.

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I'd say the new CEO's visit to CGA is a positive gesture. I wonder if he is touring all the Cedar Fair parks, or if he specifically chose CGA to visit?

 

In other Cedar Fair news, they recently trademarked the name "Stinger" for a future attraction. NewsPlusNotes seems to think that it is for Invertigo, though. Full article here: http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/stinger-speculation.html

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They NEED to rip out Grizzly, Demon, Vortex(that will open up a whole bunch of space) & put in some state of the art coasters. Can't CGA get an I305 or Millenimum Force & work with the airport about the height limit? It sucks so bad CGA has the stupid height limit problem! Or I know can't CF give CGA Montezooma's Revenge from Knotts? We need that shuttle loop coaster back! That was the only decent oldie! I believe Paramount left all the footers from Tidal Wave!

 

You say the same thing everytime and yet, the answer to everything you say is NO! Knott's isn't going to give up one of their oldest rides that's running great to us! No way! THey aren't getting a giga coaster, they aren't ripping out half of their coaster collection. Most of all, they aren't bringing Tidal Wave back! I'm more happy to copy this post everytime you say this as it does nothing to help this thread whatsoever! Oh, and have I mentioned that none of what you said is going to happen?

 

Thank you ABW.... I was thinking the same thing!!!

 

Look greatamerica1990sfan, as wonderful as your incredible plans sound, they just are not going to happen so before you start reorganizing the park for the future you should focus on right now whether or not it will still be there in the first place. THEN we can talk about wishes for future rides. And for the LAST AND FINAL TIME (as much as I would like to see it happen) TIDAL WAVE IS NEVER-EVER-EVER-EVER-NEVER-FOR-NEVER-EVER COMING BACK.........NEVER! First of all, the ride has been scrapped and used for spare parts for at least one other shuttle loop, so you should be happy that it at least is being used to keep the another one running. Second, out of all the things the park could do, out of all the things the park needs to do, that is beyond last on their list. Lastly, they are certainly not going to remove MR from Knott's to put it in here, it's not even the same kind of shuttle loop and because of that I believe the track length/footer are not exactly the same.

 

We all share your concearn and enthusiam for this park and wish it nothing but the best but you need to remember before any of the things that you, I, or anybody else wish to happen can happen the park needs to stay open.

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Lastly, they are certainly not going to remove MR from Knott's to put it in here, it's not even the same kind of shuttle loop and because of that I believe the track length/footer are not exactly the same.

 

Placing Fanboy/Schwarzkopf Junkie hat on first...

 

There is only one real difference between Montezooma's Revenge and Tidal Wave: The propulsion unit. Monte is the 'new' generation flywheel design, the Tidal wave, as was the prototype at KD (King Kobra) were the original weight-drop models.

 

RCDB lists multiple lengths of track, but this is not necessarily correct: Schwarzkopf.coaster.net, which is the encyclopedia of Schwarzkopf coasters, lists lengths as nearly identical- at 722 feet. However, it can be safely assumed that tracks may have been modified in park- but only to the tower ends. The base launch structures remained the same for all models.

 

Changing one from flywheel to weight-drop would be irrelevant, but one could replace (in theory- but NOT going to happen here!) Tidal wave with Monte. But I think the odds on that are like having a dual eclipse tommorow night here in AZ.

 

THe difference comes if your raise up one model over the other- It's an optical illusion that Monte looks different- as it's got so much more stuff going on around it to make it look like a different length. Schwarzkopf only did one variant on his shuttle loops- and that was the rather infamous WienerLooping shuttle loop- which in itself is actually a variant of the Katapult series of flywheel/power axle design systems.

 

R.D. "Schwarzkopf forever" Sussmann

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The whole "Rip this and that ride out" idea would be a bad idea...why rip out something that's already there only to possibly have trouble putting in something new thanks to our dear sweet offices? And what would that do to GA's coaster collection? Even replacing Invertigo with another coaster isn't really an increase in ride collection, just swapping one thing out for another.

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Lastly, they are certainly not going to remove MR from Knott's to put it in here, it's not even the same kind of shuttle loop and because of that I believe the track length/footer are not exactly the same.

 

Placing Fanboy/Schwarzkopf Junkie hat on first...

 

There is only one real difference between Montezooma's Revenge and Tidal Wave: The propulsion unit. Monte is the 'new' generation flywheel design, the Tidal wave, as was the prototype at KD (King Kobra) were the original weight-drop models.

 

RCDB lists multiple lengths of track, but this is not necessarily correct: Schwarzkopf.coaster.net, which is the encyclopedia of Schwarzkopf coasters, lists lengths as nearly identical- at 722 feet. However, it can be safely assumed that tracks may have been modified in park- but only to the tower ends. The base launch structures remained the same for all models.

 

Changing one from flywheel to weight-drop would be irrelevant, but one could replace (in theory- but NOT going to happen here!) Tidal wave with Monte. But I think the odds on that are like having a dual eclipse tommorow night here in AZ.

 

THe difference comes if your raise up one model over the other- It's an optical illusion that Monte looks different- as it's got so much more stuff going on around it to make it look like a different length. Schwarzkopf only did one variant on his shuttle loops- and that was the rather infamous WienerLooping shuttle loop- which in itself is actually a variant of the Katapult series of flywheel/power axle design systems.

 

R.D. "Schwarzkopf forever" Sussmann

 

Thank you for clearing that up. I wasn't sure but I thought I read somewhere there was a difference in track length. I always liked the weight drop version more, don't know why really, maybe because of how the train was katapulted, very neat rides....both of them.

 

I never take off my fanboy Schwarzkopf hat....never!

 

Speaking of which, doesn't his son run the company now and if so, have they built any new coasters?

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I'd say the new CEO's visit to CGA is a positive gesture. I wonder if he is touring all the Cedar Fair parks, or if he specifically chose CGA to visit?

 

In other Cedar Fair news, they recently trademarked the name "Stinger" for a future attraction. NewsPlusNotes seems to think that it is for Invertigo, though. Full article here: http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/stinger-speculation.html

 

 

I saw Cedar Fair's trademarks and the last two they put in are StratoSoar and Stinger. I was wondering what Stinger is but it probably is Invertigo's new name.

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Lastly, they are certainly not going to remove MR from Knott's to put it in here, it's not even the same kind of shuttle loop and because of that I believe the track length/footer are not exactly the same.

 

Placing Fanboy/Schwarzkopf Junkie hat on first...

 

There is only one real difference between Montezooma's Revenge and Tidal Wave: The propulsion unit. Monte is the 'new' generation flywheel design, the Tidal wave, as was the prototype at KD (King Kobra) were the original weight-drop models.

 

RCDB lists multiple lengths of track, but this is not necessarily correct: Schwarzkopf.coaster.net, which is the encyclopedia of Schwarzkopf coasters, lists lengths as nearly identical- at 722 feet. However, it can be safely assumed that tracks may have been modified in park- but only to the tower ends. The base launch structures remained the same for all models.

 

Changing one from flywheel to weight-drop would be irrelevant, but one could replace (in theory- but NOT going to happen here!) Tidal wave with Monte. But I think the odds on that are like having a dual eclipse tommorow night here in AZ.

 

THe difference comes if your raise up one model over the other- It's an optical illusion that Monte looks different- as it's got so much more stuff going on around it to make it look like a different length. Schwarzkopf only did one variant on his shuttle loops- and that was the rather infamous WienerLooping shuttle loop- which in itself is actually a variant of the Katapult series of flywheel/power axle design systems.

 

R.D. "Schwarzkopf forever" Sussmann

 

Thank you for clearing that up. I wasn't sure but I thought I read somewhere there was a difference in track length. I always liked the weight drop version more, don't know why really, maybe because of how the train was katapulted, very neat rides....both of them.

 

I never take off my fanboy Schwarzkopf hat....never!

 

Speaking of which, doesn't his son run the company now and if so, have they built any new coasters?

 

I thought when Anton Schwarzkopf died in the early 2000s that the company was sold to Intamin.

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