California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

[IronWolfman]

Awesome!!! I'm going to the park in 2013 because my stepbrother lives 14 min away!! XD

[Tmcdllr]

Something kind of cool....

 

Just went to IHOP and on the way home decided to go by the park down Great America Parkway to see if I could see anything. When you get to the bitchy neighbor building, before all you could see was the park fence and a bunch of trees hiding where Whizzer once stood. Now, not only can you see the site but from the street you can see all the way to the turn on Vortex! I bet if you went to the top of the parking garage next to the bitchy neighbor building you could get some great pics as the construction site is right there! I just thought it was so cool seeing this, a very big change happening that is long overdue.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Tmcdllr

[JJnCFL]

^Awesome!

 

Someone mentioned on FB that the elephant that's still in the construction zone should be saved and used as part of the entrance *if* they are indeed gonna call it "Stampede".

[Angry_Gumball]

Something kind of cool....

 

Just went to IHOP and on the way home decided to go by the park down Great America Parkway to see if I could see anything. When you get to the bitchy neighbor building, before all you could see was the park fence and a bunch of trees hiding where Whizzed once stood. Now, not only can you see the site but from the street you can see all the way to the turn on Vortex! I bet if you went to the top of the parking garage next to the bitchy neighbor building you could get some great pics as the construction site is right there! I just thought it was so cool seeing this, a very big change happening that is long overdue.

 

Last year, driving down GA Pkwy for the first time to head to my niece's softball game, the park is pretty well 'hidden' once you past the first office building. The only rides really visible were the Star Tower, Sky Coaster, Drop Tower, and between the buildings, Demon. I wonder how much that wooden coaster will show, especially the "Prudential Turnaround."

[Tmcdllr]

Something kind of cool....

 

Just went to IHOP and on the way home decided to go by the park down Great America Parkway to see if I could see anything. When you get to the bitchy neighbor building, before all you could see was the park fence and a bunch of trees hiding where Whizzed once stood. Now, not only can you see the site but from the street you can see all the way to the turn on Vortex! I bet if you went to the top of the parking garage next to the bitchy neighbor building you could get some great pics as the construction site is right there! I just thought it was so cool seeing this, a very big change happening that is long overdue.

 

Last year, driving down GA Pkwy for the first time to head to my niece's softball game, the park is pretty well 'hidden' once you past the first office building. The only rides really visible were the Star Tower, Sky Coaster, Drop Tower, and between the buildings, Demon. I wonder how much that wooden coaster will show, especially the "Prudential Turnaround."

 

Not only can you now see the all that from the street but you can completely see Demon's lift and first drop, it's really strange in a very cool way. I easily saw all of this while in a moving car.

[Jew]

Good to see them getting started already. Can't wait to have what will hopefully another good ride besides Top Gun to ride!

[rolercstrluvr]

I went to CGA today and had a blast. The parking lot looked packed but there were no lines, Flight Deck was a walk on while I was there. I had two crazy rides on the Flying Eagles, thought My car was going to "fly" off, it was wobbliing like crazy. Also had two great rides on Peanuts Pirates, got my car spinning really fast before the ride even started and kept spinning till the very end. I saw Drop Tower break down like 15 feet off the ground, thought that was funny. Now some big news, Grizzly's tangled mess of a line is now gone!!! They finally finished the new staircase, so now the old slanted way to get up is now for fast lane. The big construction wall for our 2013 coaster is up and looking very plain, also the area where Club Blood is usually placed is now completely torn up, the cement is in huge chunks to the side and most of the dirt is now compacted down. Sorry that I don't have any pics.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I went to CGA today and had a blast. The parking lot looked packed but there were no lines, Flight Deck was a walk on while I was there. I had two crazy rides on the Flying Eagles, thought My car was going to "fly" off, it was wobbliing like crazy. Also had two great rides on Peanuts Pirates, got my car spinning really fast before the ride even started and kept spinning till the very end. I saw Drop Tower break down like 15 feet off the ground, thought that was funny. Now some big news, Grizzly's tangled mess of a line is now gone!!! They finally finished the new staircase, so now the old slanted way to get up is now for fast lane. The big construction wall for our 2013 coaster is up and looking very plain, also the area where Club Blood is usually placed is now completely torn up, the cement is in huge chunks to the side and most of the dirt is now compacted down. Sorry that I don't have any pics.

 

Sounds like this much needed project is a go for the park.

 

Last time I rode KD's eagles the ride kinda left me a bit lightheaded & kinda off balance for a while,these are suprisingly intense little rides if you know the tips & tricks to really get airborne although I have yet to figure out how to bounce the birds myself.

[rolercstrluvr]

I got my bird bouncing and rocking so much the people in line were saying omg.

[cal1br3tto]

^I wasn't sure if you could do that at CGA; glad to hear it! The only insane Flyers sessions I've experienced were at Knoebels; otherwise, I'm generally not a fan of the ride type (but will try to check them out more often just in case).

[IronWolfman]

How is the Fast Pass operations at CGA? I'm thinking of getting of one when I go in 2013 if the lines aren't long, but I don't like the idea of Fastlane not merging with the normal line before the station. Do any ride have the 2 lines not merged?

[Angry_Gumball]

I myself have become hooked on those flyers. You know you're doing well when you start to scare yourself and have to tone down your flight pattern. Especially when a loud "thump" is heard and felt.

[Mechanic]

How is the Fast Pass operations at CGA? I'm thinking of getting of one when I go in 2013 if the lines aren't long, but I don't like the idea of Fastlane not merging with the normal line before the station. Do any ride have the 2 lines not merged?

 

Why would you spend the money on an upcharge virtual queue system if the lines aren't long?

[IronWolfman]

^Wait, I worded that incorrectly, if they are long, I'll get it.

[rolercstrluvr]

^I wasn't sure if you could do that at CGA; glad to hear it! The only insane Flyers sessions I've experienced were at Knoebels; otherwise, I'm generally not a fan of the ride type (but will try to check them out more often just in case).

 

They do have those plastic sign's in the cars saying to not swing violently, but they don't really enforce it. My guess is that the ride-op doesn't know or care.

[jray21]

Now the Pixtorium really stands out! I'm going to say this will be the ride queue/entrance area.

 

If we're lucky, it will be the Norway movie from Epcot!

[XYZ]

I myself have become hooked on those flyers. You know you're doing well when you start to scare yourself and have to tone down your flight pattern. Especially when a loud "thump" is heard and felt.

 

This is exactly what happens to me on Flying Eagles. The only problem about flyers is their low capacity and it usually has a 10 minute wait when there isn't many people in line.

[jab88]

I myself have become hooked on those flyers. You know you're doing well when you start to scare yourself and have to tone down your flight pattern. Especially when a loud "thump" is heard and felt.

 

This is exactly what happens to me on Flying Eagles. The only problem about flyers is their low capacity and it usually has a 10 minute wait when there isn't many people in line.

 

When I worked at Eagles, we were suppose to try to get people to pair off, to help move the line along. Some would pair off with no problem, mostly adults and some teenagers. The problem though was with some of the younger kids who were tall enough to ride alone would not pair off with their siblings,friends, or parents. They insisted on going alone, further making the wait increase. The ride cycle is about 2 or so minutes, loading/unloading time about 3 minutes, but the ride cycle could be shorter if we decided to stop the ride early.

 

As for the cables and the snapping/thumps that happen, Generally it is up to the ride operator if they stop it or not. Over the 2 seasons I was there, I had stopped the ride on multiple occasions for violent swinging, in addition to some guests rocking the eagle side to side and told them to not come back to the ride at all for the day, though I'm sure some did after I left.

[Angry_Gumball]

Well, I guess ride construction couldn't start soon enough, looks like the building permits are set and ready to go:

http://smartpermit.santaclaraca.gov/tm_bin/tmw_cmd.pl?tmw_cmd=StatusViewCase&shl_caseno=BLD2012-28623

 

**3rd PARTY** **FAST TRACK** FOUNDATION ONLY Build

New 113-foot high wooden roller coaster.

I guess this could be CGA's tallest roller coaster

 

So would this probably apply to the whole setting up the footers and whatnot for the ride? Soon, it will go vertical. I can't wait to watch this coaster progress since the only coaster I've seen built was V2 at SFDK, which wasn't a whole lot to see due to its simplistic structure.

 

I'm going to throw this out there but this seems to make sense. On the last update on the permit center site, it mentioned about target end date was the 16th of this month for the rough grading. On the current update for the foundation, it appears that the target end date is 1 month from now, 6/13/12. So with this said and if my understanding is right, I'd expect to see some 'real' construction begin next month!

[Tmcdllr]

Wow, this is even cooler than before!

[JJnCFL]

Woohoo! Though once the wood *FINALLY* arrives, then I'll be doing somersaults and back-flips!

[Tmcdllr]

I can't wait for pics of the trains...someday soon!

[XYZ]

I'm really wondering what the height of the woodie will be. Some sources say it will be 103', previous permits said 111', and now 113'? Whatever height it will be, it probably will be the tallest coaster in the park.

[vacoaster09]

If they are going to possibly use the urethane wheels to reduce noise, they will deminish the speed quicker so they may need to increase the height of whatever they are going for to increase the potential energy of the coaster. Just my thoughts.

[154bmag]

I'm really wondering what the height of the woodie will be. Some sources say it will be 103', previous permits said 111', and now 113'? Whatever height it will be, it probably will be the tallest coaster in the park.

I heard it was 115, but if the permit says 113, that is the most likely.