WayCool64 Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 The ride ops were definitely not on top of their game, quite a few rides we went on had slow operations. Understandable since it's the first day and they haven't gotten into their groove yet, but it was still somewhat annoying/funny to get locked inside both the bumper cars and Centrifuge because the ride ops forgot to release the magnetic locks on the exit gate That same thing happened when I was waiting in line for Tiki Twirl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robman Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 The ride op at Flight Deck was having a really bad day he would start saying, " We hope you have a good day at Global Winter Wonder---- , California's Great America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 ^I'm totally taking a GWW map with me tomorrow (Going again for a 2nd visit) just to whip it out at Flight Deck. Â So, I was shopping for Gold Striker goods and noticed something strangely familiar... Hmm...this looks neat! Wait! Is that?!?!? OMG It is!!! (The NL track I had submitted on here). Sure the sky was altered a bit but this is certainly an NL track! Â In the mean time, since I'm doing a 2nd visit, I may as well put together 1 big weekend report! Plus I'm too lazy to convert/process all my images tonight. I can say is that this is one of the busiest opening days I had seen at the park, with crowds comparable to what I had seen during the summer last season. Â A real brief highlight on today's happenings: -Kicking off the season on the Flyers -Smooth Flight Deck (always) -Free refills -New show, fresh new experience though it did end a bit abrupt, kind of like "ok, we're done now!" -Didn't quite see the double rides thing but with today's crowds I honestly could do without the double rides. -Awesome weather though it brought in the crowds. Â Full report coming some point this weekend, stay tuned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagg O'Dim Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Opening day was certainly busy with plenty of hiccups. But what do you expect from the first day of the season? Â We got there around 9:10, hoping to score a free Gold Striker cup. But everyone else had the same idea! Â First, the good: Gold Striker looks amazing in person, pictures really don't do it justice. Â The new paint and newly paved walkways in some parts gives the park a fresh, new feel. It makes Vortex look that much worse. Â 20-year-old Flight Deck was running great, and now there's no more netting in the line themeing. Â Lots of enthusiasm from most of the ride ops. Â The new show in the Action Theater, Happy Feet: Mumbles' Wild Ride, is fun, and throws you around quite a bit. The seats also get pretty steep at times. Â The bad: Operations were flat out horrible (and painfully slow). Many of the ride ops were new, reading from their scripts and often messing it up. Also, Centrifuge and Rue le Dodge now have magnetic exit locks, which the ride ops always forgot to unlock. Â CGA talked about double rides, but the only ride I saw (and rode) that was doing it was Drop Tower. In a way, it was a good thing, because the lines were already slow enough. Â Where's the themed music in the different areas? I heard Lady Gaga everywhere. I guess we should give it time. Â Happy Feet is a bit of an odd choice to replace Spongebob. It was popular in when, 2006? Also, the 3D is nonexistent. We waited about 40 minutes the first time, and just as we were about to go in, the ride went down due to "hydraulic problems." After 10 years of running the same program, I guess the seats were in shock. The second time around (20 minutes), we were finally able to ride it. Â Gold passes no longer have free preferred parking. Â As was mentioned before, lots of wasps, especially in Vortex's station. Â Endeavor seemed to be running a different program, where it would take forever to get over the top (about twice as long as normal), and when it did, it would stall upside down for a long time. I watched three cycles while waiting in line, and they all did the same thing. Â I'm sure I can find more to praise/complain, but I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Â My very first photo of Gold Striker's drop. A sea of people waiting to get in. Notice the metal detectors are gone. But what ... who's that? It's Angry_Gumball, JeffyJosephNorCal, Blue Fire Guy and crew! I seriously just noticed this as I uploaded the pictures on my computer. The reason we got here early. Star Tower's entrance, now 90 percent more visible! What a bunch of nerds, taking pictures of Gold Striker ... I would never do such a thing. Nope, you'd never see any wooden coasters on my SD card. Did I mention how crowded it was? Roger Ross welcomes the crowd. We see you hiding, Snoopy. The ribbon is cut, and ... Confetti! Water! Charlie Brown high fives the crowd. A little later in the day, I did a huge Gold Striker photo shoot, amassing more than 100 photos. Gold Striker's entrance. Former Carousel Souvenirs shop, now themed to Gold Striker. It has to be an illusion. Lift hill work, it looks like they were placing the anti-rollback. I have a bunch more photos, but let's move on to some off-season improvements ... ... such as a new Berserker sign! Subway. Barney Oldfield's got a makeover. A spruced-up Psycho Mouse station. Centrifuge looks great with a new coat of paint. Logger's Run now has a drying booth, similar to Rip Roaring Rapids. "Oops, we forgot to put on the Snoopy sticker! Quick, before anyone notices!" And the most pointless removal of the year award goes to ... ... Kidzville River Adventure. But look, it's still here! Happy Feet ... the anti-Spongebob! Kind of a bizarre choice for a replacement, but I enjoyed it. Lastly, the new parking lot, or as I like to call it, the "highway." I mean, seriously, it feels like you're trying to walk across Highway 101. You have to walk over four lanes, with no crosswalks, and people like to haul ass. I even think there is less parking than the old configuration. Here's one for you LED light fans, if there are any. A shot of the 49ers stadium. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 The ride ops were definitely not on top of their game, quite a few rides we went on had slow operations. Understandable since it's the first day and they haven't gotten into their groove yet, but it was still somewhat annoying/funny to get locked inside both the bumper cars and Centrifuge because the ride ops forgot to release the magnetic locks on the exit gate That same thing happened when I was waiting in line for Tiki Twirl! Â Same also happened at the Flyers, though that ALWAYS seems to happen when we ride it haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcdllr Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Â Junk. At least the lot will be better lit for now. I do like the sleek and modern shape though. Â Like to see a night shot of the parking lot to see how well the coverage is now. Â The park looks great.... cant wait to go later this season. Â Thanks for sharing the pics, its really nice to see the improvements and the park starting to thrive again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayCool64 Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Happy Feet is a bit of an odd choice to replace Spongebob. It was popular in when, 2006? Also, the 3D is nonexistent. I agree. Out of all the different ridefilms they could've used, they went with Happy Feet? Well, then again, I did see that same ride appear in other simulators as well, but still. Also, since the ride was basically built from recycled footage from the first film, it would be a bit hard to make the 3D look good, especially when retrofitting it into 3D (which is one of the issues I have with modern 3D films nowadays). Yet despite it's problems, I still thought it was an enjoyable ride (almost better than Spongebob). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Fire Guy Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Gold passes no longer have free preferred parking. Yeah, this really sucked. Didn't expect to have to fork over $18! Oh well, at least I'll burn a little more calories walking to and from the park entrance on future visits, starting Wednesday next week. Â I'm still trying to get over the from Flight Deck's ride op's "Global Winter--California's Great America", that was just classic. No double rides on that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 We are at the park again today. The crowds are definitely a lot lighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1rollercoasterfan Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I am tempted to go tomorrow -Sunday. But will it be super crowded because of the Easter festivities? & I WILL BE THERE for Gold Striker's opening day to the public which will I'm sure be on a Saturday & I know it will be a ZOO. BUT I am hoping my parents will get me the Fast Lane so I can enjoy Gold Striker all day no wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJnCFL Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Just a quick write up, though no photos as I misplaced my camera somewhere as my house is under renovation, silly me.. Refer to Angry gumball later today I'm currently at the park for day 2 of opening weekend, definitely much lighter crowd than yesterday's "busiest ever in a while opening day" due to the inclement weather. Great to be with the gang again!  Notes: °Parking is very much improved, they removed half of the exit row of trees to expand the parking horizontally, definitely adding more spaces. As soon as the tr ailers from the stadium construction crews are removed, the lot will be back to it's original size and then some with the removal of the substation. The led lighting is 1000% better and super bright, it's now CGA Automall bright. °No more metal detectors, security back to using wands like from the 90s °There are brand new iron fencing on Centrifuge replacing the wood sliding gate. °Action Theater now has a new movie: Happy Feet, definitely a step up from SpongeBob's 10 season tenure. °Themed music not present as of yet °Some rides operations needing a boost of caffeine. °The coasters are overcoming their winter hibernation °Entertainment guides now a nice brochure °Flying Eagles as snappy as ever  Besides the opening day jitters, there is much improvement all around with the park looking great with the new paint. Looking forward to the opening of Gold Striker and the rest of the season and the many years ahead with the New CGA & CF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGA_88 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 The bad: Operations were flat out horrible (and painfully slow). Many of the ride ops were new, reading from their scripts and often messing it up. Also, Centrifuge and Rue le Dodge now have magnetic exit locks, which the ride ops always forgot to unlock. Â Centrifuge and Rue le Dodge have had magnetic gate locks for a while now...give or take 7+ seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagg O'Dim Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 ^Thanks for clearing that up. In the five years I've been going to CGA, I've never had that problem, so I must have never noticed the magnetic locks before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I actually just noticed Centrifuge's mag lock today when looking at the new iron fencing. Not ready for pictures yet but definitely some neat moments today... Riding Vortex with lightning anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcdllr Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Just drove by the park and the parking lot looks amazing. Its lit 100 times better than it was. I was impressed. And the tunnel on GS looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolercstrluvr Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Heading out to the park for a third day, lets hope that the crowds are light. Other than that, happy Easter everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robman Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 OPENING DAY TRIP REPORT!! Â Once again most of our usual TPR gang was out at the park for Opening Day 2013! I arrived at the park at about 8:15 to make sure I would get one of the 2,500 cups for the free refills (Which was very nice!) after the gates were opened we were held in the main entrance plaza until the opening day ceremonies were started. After they were all done I rushed to get my season pass processed along with everyone else at the park. The lines were unorganized at first and was a jumbled mess, but everything seemed to smooth out later in the day. After I was done with that I met up with the rest of our group and hit up Flight Deck, which is running amazing!. After that we hit up Flying Eagles, of course there was some insane snapping going on. Once we were done snapping we went and checked out the new 3D movie in the AFX Theater, Happy Feet. I will say this movie does feel more thrilling than Spongebob but that's not saying much. Now on to some highlights: Â Â -waited and hour for Grizzly, which seems to be running slow. (Rode Grizzly on Saturday and it seemed to be going faster once again.) -Tried out Maggie Browns for the first time, which was very good! -Star Tower is closed, im guessing it won't reopen until Gold Striker is close to being done im guessing. -A smooth Vortex?! I will say the ride seemed much smoother, I just got a lot of headbanging on the far left seat. -Both Delirum and Delta Flyer/Eagles Flight were down most of the day. -Subway looks very nice inside, the prices are higher than what they would be outside the park but that's not surprising. -The themed music should be arriving soon, they are still working out the final details and working on songs. Walking up to the Main Gate im greeted with Gold Striker! At about 8:15 hardly anyone was here, which would soon change. I never get tired of this view. Of course this is why we are here! Hard to believe that today is opening day with these kind of crowds! A look across the reflection pool is Gold Striker, and it looks amazing! We will get back to that later. The opening ceremony began and Snoopy is up on the Carousel. Snoopy decided to come down and join Roger Ross, Raul Rehnborg, and a family that one the VIP contest on the parks facebook page. The ribbon was officially cut and the park is open! Confetti!!!!!!! Let's start the day on Flight Deck! I sure have missed this ride. For those of you who enjoy lift hills. The netting is gone on the displays. Although it's nice to seem them gone I hope they come back. I know its only a matter of time until people start playing in them. Time to take a ride on the Flying Eagles where some new signage was installed. Checking out the new 3D film now in the AFX theater. Also new for 2013 is fence the ride located in KidZville. (Former site of the KidzVille Boat attraction.) A look over the fence shows the attraction is still there for the time being. Psycho Mouses's station was painted and looks amazing. Barney Oldfield's station was also repainted and looks nice. Just some people started peeling the paint which exposed the old white color underneath it. Berzerker received a new sign this year as well. The Food Festival was also repainted as well and looks really good! Star Tower has an amazing new sign. Star Tower is closed, for a very good reason! Now lets take a look at Gold Striker! The entrance looks awesome! Jeff is excited for Gold Striker! World's first launching wooden coaster?! Midway turn! The station with a roof! The transfer building is the background. Looking at Gold Striker from Celebration Plaza. One of the few shirts they have to offer so far, this is located at the Inside CGA store. One of the really cool mugs they have to offer. Im going to end the update with a few sunset shots. That's it! It was an amazing opening weekend at the park and I can't wait until next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Monte Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Well the park looks great! Â On a side note, I can't help but wish there was one more tunnel on GS. It looks so majestic though. It's still looks so surreal that this coaster is actually opening at CGA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CpBluestreakCp Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Great pictures! Gold Striker is coming along nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Alright, time for the mega opening day...I mean, weekend photo report, the 3rd wave of photos that is! This initially was just going to be an opening day visit until we decided that we should visit again on Saturday...I wasn't going to be doing anything anyway other than sit around, and type up a trip report...so we went for a 2nd visit to catch up on what we missed on Friday.  As already posted, the park kicked off the season with an opening ceremony and a special promotion: the free souvenir cup + free refills all day. There were also several prizes being handed out during the ceremony and select (very select) double rides. Since the park was a bit crowded, I wasn't really missing much on the double rides due to my experience 2 weeks ago at the neighbor up north. Double rides may be neat and all but it comes with a price: double wait.  So yea, some highlights: • New show in theater (Finally, Happy Feet!). While the show was fresh and enjoyable I felt it ended a bit abrupt and that it even started a bit abrupt. I'll have to try it again sitting in the middle of the AFX as I was on an end seat...everything appeared blurry (or is it really that way?) • As Jeff mentioned, the coasters and such were waking up from their long hibernation and needed a little kick in the rear to get moving as there were numerous break-downs throughout the day. Even the B&Ms were misbehaving • Star Tower is not open yet but from what I hear it should be real soon. • I've lost like 15 pounds over the offseason so I can now very easily fit on Woodstock! • Fresh paint on lots of buildings and rides. Sadly however at the end of the day Friday, Barney Oldfield's looked like it went through a warzone. Guests decided they'd pick at the paint and from there lots of fresh blue paint just peeled right off the posts...ugh! • "Endeavolution"...(Looping Starship) Seems to take a long while to finally make a full inversion but when it does, it cruises through it as slow as it possibly could (can I flip this emoticon upside down?) It will very easily wear you out and kick your butt if you aren't used to extended amount of hangtime. • Grizzly is now smoother! The blue train felt sluggish Friday when I went, and tried the red train yesterday and felt like it was flying through. Better ride yesterday than Friday. • Flyers fun • Season pass lines were long Friday. It really made me appreciate the fact that I renewed my pass last year when there was no line (during Haunt). • And finally, towards the end of the day yesterday, the threatening bad weather was starting to come in and say hi. While entering the brake run on Vortex (By the way, I'm really enjoying Vortex this season, was ready to ride it again), I see a quite bright flash in the distance...Yup, lightning! I saw a few more flashes when in line for Demon.  I'm now wiped out though this should prove to be interesting in a couple weeks when I do my big SoCal trip (5 days of parks)...consider this training for me  The photos you're about to see a combination of Friday and Saturday...didn't really feel a need to make 2 separate reports as this was kind of a 'mega visit' as I like to say. Sweet, we're here after a long month from our last visit (the construction tour). What's that peeking above the trees? ... Fellow coaster nerds talking about Gold Striker The temporary shade structure that was built over the station platform while mechanical is installed Opening Ceremony stuff *POOF* CGA used Confetti Shot! CGA Guest speed harshly fell. I'm all tangled up!!! Help me! There was a choir that day too. The group checking out Gold Striker After a long wait, one of the members of our group gets his pass! And I got my cup! And let's kick off the day on an awesome Beemer! Welcome back! Please exit to your right and enjoy the rest of your day here at Global Winter Wonder....California's Great America! Some fun on the flyers! And as much as this shot looks like it, this was not actually taken onride. My neighbor looks like she got a little cable slack Rob, you always seem to keep hiding behind that sail! Happy Feet: Mumble's Wild Ride These were cycling all day with no riders on Friday Double glasses, double cool River Adventure still stands! Let's check out the new signage and such! Thunder Raceway earned a new banner, looks pretty nice! Mmmmm...cheeeese! Food Festival Barney Oldfield's...let's see how long the station lasts in it's pristine condition... Berserker...basic but it works! White Water Falls looks like it received a fresh sign too. Little things like this make a huge impact on the feel of the park. And then the moment that completely changed my mood on how the day was going... The GP sometimes really make me want to, well you know...  What happened: We stopped at Maggie Brown's for lunch (pretty good food, MB feels like a step up from your typical restaurant in CGA). However in the booth I sat in, someone 'accidentally' left their freshly spat out gum behind...and I ended up wearing it...Ugh! And then, after lunch and cleaning myself off, we braved the slow, hot Grizzly queue. Operations are pretty slow with this ride and I dread to see how a summer day will be. Definitely bring your sunscreen and a hat if you plan on braving the queue. Unrelated, in line I saw a nice photo of Full Throttle's giant loop with it's back-to-back track on one of my routine Facebook lurking sessions. Back over towards the front of the park as we kind of...ignored Gold Striker Mmmm....Gold Striker! This shot was actually taken from yesterday. "I really hope I don't drop my hammer!" Closeup of the tunnel The entrance is sure going to look amazing! Good job CGA! Roof? Nah, I'm dreaming. More Gold Striker hotness Take the Tunnel!!! Calling it now, launched wooden twisty coaster! Another shot of the sign with GS in the background. We realized that the stars kind of looks like it resembles the shape of GS's first drop This does not look real. Really, you have to see it in person...it is very surreal seeing this! Photos don't do it justice. New banners that popped up in the park. The Ride Warriors ones were pretty faded...and is Cedar Fair even using the Ride Warriors advertising campaign anymore? I didn't think so. If you look closely, you can see where the Orlean's Place lettering remnants. Maybe one of these days, different areas will get their respective signage back...that would add to the music that they are working on for the areas. And the B&M decides to "YOLO" and rebels...I guess it's time to move along... Ba-zing! #GoldSwag More #GoldSwag Wait...I thought this was a Cedar Fair park?? Oh, and Gold Striker is TPR/Donkey approved! Hmm...NL coaster? This looks strangely familiar Oh God no...just, no... Here's a pretty shot of Gold Striker, shot on Friday evening In the mean time (Saturday evening) a storm is approaching... Yikes...this is looking pretty ugly! (Not the carousel) Despite the ugly weather, the carousel still shines! It's like sunshine on a cloudy day. And time to call it a wrap...thanks CGA for an awesome weekend. I'm beat but it was well worth it! Until next time...(Thanks for taking the photo Tyler!) Upon leaving, I made it a point to get some parking lot shots during the evening...reminds me much of the automall dealerships. Very bright though and the lighting spreads out pretty far! 'Night CGA! (A drive down the parking lot's 'highway') Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunfire Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Man, Gold Striker is really starting to look gorgeous. This is going to be one hell of a crowd pleaser when it opens, I'm particularly excited to see and hear a train full of happy riders screaming through that first drop tunnel, it's gonna be great! That said, I don't have a season pass to CGA, so my visit will have to wait until GS opens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagg O'Dim Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Great reports and pictures everyone! Â The "Sees TPR member..." photo should be the next TPRMeme. I think it's hilarious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intimidator305 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Awesome pictures. Thank you all for sharing. Â Not only does GoldStriker look incredible as a ride (I love me some Thunderhead), but I'm excited with the theming that is starting to pop up. It seems like Cedar Fair is starting to pay more and more attention to the details, which is great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robman Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 According to this morning's San Jose Mercury News Gold Striker will be unveiled on May 1st. We all knew that already since it will be the first rider auction that day and im guessing media day as well. So it's safe to say that the coaster will open that coming weekend. Â Â Link to the article:www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_22913633/santa-clara-roller-coaster-strikes-gold-and-wood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyRush Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 So about 1 month! I bet all you Cal people are stoked! One day i will ride this  It is really looking good. GCI always puts together a good ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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