California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

[XYZ]

I thought Vekoma was from The Netherlands, but in the video, it says they're Dutch.

 

 

[154bmag]

Now I just feel stupid...

[JJnCFL]

^I have ridden Firehawk. Although the restraints are surprisingly comfortable, there is one main problem with them. The restraints consist of an upper chest-belt and a lap bar. The problem is most people tend to secure the chest belt first. Once this is done, most people cannot reach the lap bar, meaning the ride op has the pull it down for them further reducing the capacity. Additionally, the ride ops are required to check each restraint twice, not once. Before a train can be dispatched, the checking process has to be repeated again.

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You hit the nail on the head. We were responsible for pushing down the lap bar for them and ensuring it was locked in place. Also there were times where guests felt too tight, so to unlock the row, we had to obviously get out of the way and wait for the whole row of lap bars to slowly come all the way up, then re-secure them all over again. Also in the control booth, there were indicator lights that told us which row/restraints needed to be checked again for them to be green for the ride to dispatch, exactly like how Delirium is. We usually just had to to just push the harness a tad for it to register green. Then after all that is done, come dispatch time, the train had to slowly lay flat backwards. The worst ones were when the train suddenly went right back up again and all the lap bars opened up, that was a headache!

[Sunfire]

You hit the nail on the head. We were responsible for pushing down the lap bar for them and ensuring it was locked in place. Also there were times where guests felt too tight, so to unlock the row, we had to obviously get out of the way and wait for the whole row of lap bars to slowly come all the way up, then re-secure them all over again. Also in the control booth, there were indicator lights that told us which row/restraints needed to be checked again for them to be green for the ride to dispatch, exactly like how Delirium is. We usually just had to to just push the harness a tad for it to register green. Then after all that is done, come dispatch time, the train had to slowly lay flat backwards. The worst ones were when the train suddenly went right back up again and all the lap bars opened up, that was a headache!

 

This post reminds me of all the little things that used to slow us down when I used to operate Invertigo. Well, obviously since it wasn't a full circuit coaster we had no choice but to run one train, but there were certain things about our operation and the ride itself that sometimes caused delays. Invertigo didn't have any buttons to unlock individual rows or cars. If somebody needed to get off the ride, we would need to unlock all the restraints at the same time. Somebody wants to get off because they're scared? Unlock all the restraints. Somebody tries to bring a loose article onto the ride? Unlock the restraints, wait for them to put it in the cubbies. You've checked all 7 cars but on the last car, there's a child that needs to have their height checked? Unlock all the restraints. The main delay here being that whenever a harness is unlocked, it must be rechecked, and since all of them would unlock, well, you get the picture. The funny thing is, we would always tell the guests on the ride, "Please do not be alarmed, your restraints will now be unlocking," but the guests would not listen to this announcement and they would panic because they thought they were going to fall out of the ride.

[fpsphil]

 

Facebook Link

 

Just posted up on CGA's Facebook, ima go drive by the park today to check it out

[JJnCFL]

^Beat me to it! Wow I just mentioned land clearing, and wala, they're on to it!

[DJeXeL]

^^^The child's height should have been checked prior to locking the restraints.......

[asimowalk]

I'm gonna say it... Dinosaurs Alive.

 

 

Trolololol. No, but seriously. I'm glad the park is finally getting something fresh.

Edited May 5, 2012 by asimowalk

[gromithere]

I love that they're not wasting any time getting going on this.

[Angry_Gumball]

Wow, they move fast! Who's excited?

[chickenbowl]

Alright, so were are one step closer to having a new coaster! Ground has broken!

[Angry_Gumball]

I'll be out at the park Sunday so we will see what changes there are between now and then...and of course, pictures!

[Tmcdllr]

YES! IT BEGINS!

[Angry_Gumball]

Yup new 49er stadium, according to the GP

[robman]

If you look on the comments on the parks facebook you will find some of the best comments. The ones im about to post are my favorite from the same person.

 

the reason y they took invertigo down is because they had no choice cuz like 3 years ago that ride broke down and it was kinda a unusaul break down they had to call the fire department to take the riders of cuz it got stuck at the top off the drop and 2 years ago santa clara called geat america and told them they had to close that ride down cuz they thought it wasnt safe but yea that ride was hella sick

 

i doubt its gonna be a big ride because look it its not enough space to put a ride there like medusa at six flags discovery kingdom nah its gonna be a small won like vortex or something

 

 

*Edit* Another great comment I saw.

 

ooh i hope it is invertigo:) or staelth

 

 

Yea.....im sure the park is going to bring back a coaster that they had removed already.

Edited May 5, 2012 by robman

[Tmcdllr]

Please post a link to this page where these are, man that person is a moron!

 

Nevermind I found this nonsense.

 

Read a few and found this...

 

invertigo was taken out because the stae of ca wanted g.a. to replace the lift catch chain every year which is quite costly, so it was sold to another park

 

...what?

 

My favorite comment so far is from someone who simply said..

 

I don't know but I bet it will be fun

 

Best comment ever!

[JJnCFL]

I can put a million links to the permit page, the artists renderings, and draw a google map diagram, and they still would think it's the stadium. Oh the GP, you never cease to amuse me....

[MrSum1_55]

Now that the project is underway, I would say that it has potential to be the best wood coaster in California. Grizzly is quite boring, Roar and Giant Dipper give you a beating, and Ghostrider rearranges your internal organs. So, we will just have to see if it is better than Apocalypse.

[XYZ]

Now that the project is underway, I would say that it has potential to be the best wood coaster in California. Grizzly is quite boring, Roar and Giant Dipper give you a beating, and Ghostrider rearranges your internal organs. So, we will just have to see if it is better than Apocalypse.

 

I don't know if this is going to the best woodie in California, but it definitely will be the best woodie in Northern California. This coaster might be better than Flight Deck. Anyways, I am happy that CGA finally gets another standout coaster and this WILL put CGA back on the map.

[cal1br3tto]

I could definitely see this becoming the best and most popular of its type in California. As for whether it'll be my favorite, I'm more skeptical. There's not a lot that can beat the airtime and charm of Giant Dipper (SCBB) for me.

[ScottBrown]

I could definitely see this becoming the best and most popular of its type in California. As for whether it'll be my favorite, I'm more skeptical. There's not a lot that can beat the airtime and charm of Giant Dipper (SCBB) for me.

 

Yes the Giant Dipper is going to be very hard to beat in my eyes as well

 

So the big question is are they going to get this thing built ASAP and have it open by Haunt or is it going to open next season, they are starting the process very early

[Angry_Gumball]

I'm not sure how long it takes to erect a woodie (hehe, erect...woodie...) but perhaps this 'early start' is so that they have more room to work with when it comes time to conduct the noise tests and allow time for any modifications before the following season. It is also very un-Six Flags, if you know what I mean.

 

In all seriousness, how long does it typically take to get a wooden coaster built, especially since there's more footers and more supports going up.

 

And Giant Dipper holds a special spot for me. That is the coaster that got me into coasters. Still one of my favorites today.

[Tmcdllr]

As exciting and awesome as this is as it seems FINALLY they are putting in a new coaster, until there is confirmation otherwise I think its best if everyone assumes it will open for 2013, really don't see this opening (if its even built yet) by haunt.

[robman]

I thought I would post a comparison of the construction site, I took the same picture in just about the same spot on opening day.

 

 

On another note im going to be going to the park later on this afternoon, I doubt much has changed from yesterday but I will take some pictures if I see anything different.

This is from opening day, make note of the elephant.

Now here's the picture from yesterday, also again make note of the elephant towards the bottom left.

Edited May 5, 2012 by robman

[XYZ]

^I still see Whizzer foundations!

 

I'm not sure how long it takes to erect a woodie (hehe, erect...woodie...) but perhaps this 'early start' is so that they have more room to work with when it comes time to conduct the noise tests and allow time for any modifications before the following season. It is also very un-Six Flags, if you know what I mean.

 

In all seriousness, how long does it typically take to get a wooden coaster built, especially since there's more footers and more supports going up.

 

And Giant Dipper holds a special spot for me. That is the coaster that got me into coasters. Still one of my favorites today.

 

It's going to be like SDC with the woodie being built early on and opening on the opening day 2013. From reading old TPR posts, Terminator (SFMM) was at this phase in September and it opened in late May, so that means this coaster could be ready in late January. Well, of course the park isn't open in January so I see this open by opening day 2013. There is now way that this is going to open in October.