California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

[Angry_Gumball]

I doubt they will invest in another coaster so soon after giving us Gold Striker. What I do wish they would invest in are proper repairs for Firefall, that ride is completely run down. When we rode it last Friday there was extreme brake slippage all over the place. It's sad to witness the last bit of the ride program, it used to slowly lower you upside down, now you cruise back to the station in an upright position while you listen to the squealing brakes struggle to hold the gondola in that position.

 

I'd love to see Firefall get a full on makeover during the off-season. It is rather faded. I have yet to ride Firefall this season as we all had our bags with us (and didn't have a bag-sitter)...and I don't like exactly leaving my stuff out on a crowded day. I have seen though last season on the final 'hang' over the lake where we were essentially just being gently lowered while remaining in an upright position...complete with the squealing.

Knotts recently repainted their Riptide and it looks amazing! I'd absolutely love to see FireFall actually receive a paint job like this...So, CGA, this is my request...I know you guys are reading the boards (Oh and let's paint Star Tower to be like the one at Knotts with the American flag while we're at it!)

 

 

Does that not look quite fitting for FireFall? Minus the surfboards of course. But the flames are far more appropriate than the twisty tornado paint job it has from it's days of being Texas Tornado at Geauga Lake.

 

And fitting coasters into places...it just takes creativity (yup, creativity, not cloning an existing layout). One would never think you can cram a B&M into a small plot like Vortex. Yes it's a shorter coaster but the space looks quite impossible to even fit anything of that scale in its plot of land.

 

 

I realistically don't see a coaster coming again for a few years but you never know what tricks they have up their sleeve. CGA has received back-to-back coasters for several years during its 1990s heyday. Realistically though I can see a flat coming in, or maybe something to increase the value of the waterpark they have...in its current state it feels like a mini water park, as fun as the slides are.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Angry_Gumball

[XYZ]

I could see CGA receiving a new family coaster in 2015 or 2016 as they only have one right now.

[rjvader]

Knotts recently repainted their Riptide and it looks amazing!

That paint job looks great! It would definitely be fitting for Firefall to receive those flames.

[Mechanic]

I'd rather have a top notch dark ride.

[#1rollercoasterfan]

As you can see from rcdb.com CGA got Vortex in 91 & Flight Deck in 93. CF needs to focus on giving us thrill coasters! CGA has enough flats/family stuff. But if you look at Demon 76 & Grizzly 86 thats a huge 10 year gap! I think though with the success of Gold Striker we can see another giant coaster in 2015. I guarantee it won't be another 10 years for another gigga coaster for us thrill seekers.

[XYZ]

As you can see from rcdb.com CGA got Vortex in 91 & Flight Deck in 93. CF needs to focus on giving us thrill coasters! CGA has enough flats/family stuff. But if you look at Demon 76 & Grizzly 86 thats a huge 10 year gap! I think though with the success of Gold Striker we can see another giant coaster in 2015. I guarantee it won't be another 10 years for another gigga coaster for us thrill seekers.

 

Giga coasters cannot be built in CGA due to its proximity to San Jose Int'l Airport and CGA is in the direct flight path. Also, Tidal Wave was built in 1977, so it was a 9 year gap on no new coasters in between Tidal Wave and Grizzly.

[robman]

As you can see from rcdb.com CGA got Vortex in 91 & Flight Deck in 93. CF needs to focus on giving us thrill coasters! CGA has enough flats/family stuff. But if you look at Demon 76 & Grizzly 86 thats a huge 10 year gap! I think though with the success of Gold Striker we can see another giant coaster in 2015. I guarantee it won't be another 10 years for another gigga coaster for us thrill seekers.

 

Technically it was Turn of the Century in 1976 and then in 1980 it was introduced as the Demon when they removed the two camel back hills and added the two loops.

 

Although thinking ahead is fun and all I would just like to focus on the present at the moment, and be thankful that we are getting a fantastic addition to the park, something that we haven't seen happen in a long time.

[Tmcdllr]

As you can see from rcdb.com CGA got Vortex in 91 & Flight Deck in 93. CF needs to focus on giving us thrill coasters! CGA has enough flats/family stuff. But if you look at Demon 76 & Grizzly 86 thats a huge 10 year gap! I think though with the success of Gold Striker we can see another giant coaster in 2015. I guarantee it won't be another 10 years for another gigga coaster for us thrill seekers.

 

What was the first gigga?

[laqueefa]

As you can see from rcdb.com CGA got Vortex in 91 & Flight Deck in 93. CF needs to focus on giving us thrill coasters! CGA has enough flats/family stuff. But if you look at Demon 76 & Grizzly 86 thats a huge 10 year gap! I think though with the success of Gold Striker we can see another giant coaster in 2015. I guarantee it won't be another 10 years for another gigga coaster for us thrill seekers.

 

Giga coasters cannot be built in CGA due to its proximity to San Jose Int'l Airport and CGA is in the direct flight path. Also, Tidal Wave was built in 1977, so it was a 9 year gap on no new coasters in between Tidal Wave and Grizzly.

 

Why not look into building a Giga where the remainder of the drop is underground, or where the land is dug out to complete the descent, negating the need for an underground portion?

[Twitch]

Because of the water table?

[laqueefa]

Because of the water table?

 

???

[XYZ]

CGA is close to the bay, thus it has a high water table.

[Angry_Gumball]

I'll go ahead and confirm the high water table. We asked about this at Bay Area Bash in 2011 (the mini bash) being able to dig underground but can't due to the water table. CGA is pretty close to the wetlands, maybe about a mile away from a bunch of marshes. The water table thing is probably what caused the so-called sinking Flight Deck years ago.

 

I'm going to have to agree with Rob and be happy with what we have right now rather than have the 'more, more, more!' outlook. I'm sure the minor park improvements (paint and maintenance) will continue on next season. In the mean time, we still have a wood coaster to look forward to riding that hasn't opened yet. The park is going to feel way different and improved once Gold Striker is actually running rather than sitting there waiting for construction to finish. Not to mention, we don't even know what exactly is in store for Haunt other than a brand new maze structure to be built plus 2 revamps/refreshers.

[#1rollercoasterfan]

So if the first rider auctions for Gold Striker will be 5/1 will it open to the public on Sat 5/4??? OMG one month a way how very exciting. & Will Gold Striker be on Fast Lane for it's opening day? I plan on being there & plan on getting the Fast Lane just for that special day.

[Angry_Gumball]

While the SJ Mercury News said they'd be unveiling it on the first (I can only assume that the rider auction will also be media day), but when CGA shared the news article on their Facebook, they made it a point that the date was still tentative/up in the air/not confirmed. If this was the case I'd imagine Media Day being on an 'off day' and opening to the public that coming weekend.

 

I've been debating on picking up a Fast Lane on GS's opening day especially if it's crowded...then I can bypass the regular line and get my rides in on the first day. I have a feeling testing will be right around the corner, sooner than we realize.

[laqueefa]

I've been debating on picking up a Fast Lane on GS's opening day especially if it's crowded...then I can bypass the regular line and get my rides in on the first day. I have a feeling testing will be right around the corner, sooner than we realize.

 

I am thinking about getting one as well.

[JJnCFL]

Speaking of the first rider auction, it's up to $10,000!

 

http://www.cagreatamerica.com/goldstriker/first-rider-auction/auction-bid-board

[Blue Fire Guy]

Just got back from the park, gonna do a little write-up here.

 

Rolercstrluvr and I spent a "I've been through better days here" sort of day at the park. The park was fairly crowded today, not insanely crowded, but still crowded. There were lines for just about every ride, ranging anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour (Grizzly has the latter). There was some good and some bad in our day, here are the notable moments:

 

1.) We decided to ride Vortex first just to get it out of the way. Rode in the front row, middle seats. It was surprisingly smooth with only one jolt following the loop and one more in the corkscrew. It still has that cool moment of "levitation floater" air on the last hill before the brakes. Makes me think that the trains got an extra nice rehab this past off-season.

 

2.) We headed over to Demon next, were about to dispatch in the red train when the ride broke down due to some problems with the brake calipers on the transfer. The calipers were "fixed", and the ride started up again after about 10-20 minutes. The calipers were making funny wheezing sounds in the morning, but when we came back in the afternoon they were hissing like normal again. Both trains are running well right now, red is pretty smooth due to its recent rehab while yellow I expect to gradually get rougher as the season progresses.

 

3.) Flight Deck ran freakin' AMAZING today. It seriously hauled A$$ the whole way through, grayout included. Much faster than on the 29th, it was a bit sluggish that day. Now it's all warmed up and kicking A$$ again!

 

4.) Here's an example of a ride that has changed significantly for the 2013 season: Whitewater Falls. Rolercstrluver told me that the park made the boats heavier for this season. The difference was VERY noticeable. On the double down, the airtime has always been pretty good. But this season, the airtime is OMFG INSANE! Total ejector heaven, I think this ride has become the world's first standup flume ride. But then...the splash. Before 2013, the ride would just sprinkle me on back seat rides. This season...it is NOT Dan-friendly! We were really, ridiculously soaked!

 

5.)The Food Festival area was the most crowded area of the park we encountered during the day. It was seriously PACKED there. We waited 45 minutes at Andre's Chicken, but it was worth the wait. You wanna know why? Andre's Chicken is, to rolercstrluvr and I's knowledge, the only place in the park that sells VAULT. To all who plan to visit CGA this season (I don't wanna come off as an advertisement here but...): go to Andre's Chicken and buy some Vault NOW before it disappears into nothingness.

 

6.) Ah, Flying Eagles. The legendary and erratic tub #5 was out of commission today, at least until we hit up the flyers. Our cycle lasted less than a minute due to the ride op calling maintenance in to put tub #5 back into commission. We avoided tub #5 for our next (full cycle this time) ride, just to pay respect to the ride and not soil the sacred tub. We got some really good ker-chunk snappage going, and no Snap Nazi response either.

 

7.) Our final ride of the day was on Grizzly, which up until a half-hour before park closing had an insane line. Rode in the back car, wheel seat. The first drop, retracked in 2011, is starting to get slightly rough. The last turn is much better thanks to the retracking it recieved, but it's just sooooooooooooo sllloooowwwwwwww. After the final hill, there was a REALLY bad pothole that sent a wave of pain up my spine, probably wouldn't have been that bad if we didn't sit on a wheel. The final verdict: One cannot polish a turd. If a woodie is boring and is simply retracked, it'll still be boring. If one had blurry vision, Grizzly would literally look like a giant turd. Adhering to tradition, I'm gonna rank it lowest when the Mitch Hawker poll rolls around again, even if Roar and Ghostrider beat me up later this year, I'm still going to rank Grizzly last. It just doesn't have any redeeming qualities whatsoever.

 

Overall, it was a fun day with some good, some bad, and some ugly. I'll be coming back this Sunday with the usual group, here's hoping it won't be nearly as packed as it was today.

[PretzelLoopVendor]

When is the testing for Gold Striker going to begin?

[Angry_Gumball]

I noticed White Water Falls hauling the other day when I rode it, as well as a huge amount of wetness...and that was with partially filled boats. I actually rode in the front and felt some crazy airtime...still much stronger at the 'end of the paddle' so to speak.

 

LOL at the polished turd thing...sure you can buff it up all you want but it's still a turd The line for Grizzly, I feel is going to turn me away from really riding it this season...atleast when all the switchbacks are full...After that hour wait for 'nothing to really happen' in that blue train, it really turned me away from really wanting to ride it. Well at least the transition into the final turn is smoothed out.

 

Vortex on the other hand I feel has lost it's turd-like characteristics and actually felt like riding it again for a second ride. I've been having Vortex cravings as of lately...something's going on that's for sure! Just watch for the spray paint touchup OTSRs...they have a funky smell to them, and that's all I could smell getting off the ride first time I rode it. Spray paint was done around where your head would be, just about near where the OTSR is mounted on the train.

 

I'm still trying to find that one lone Dr Pepper fountian...it lives somewhere in the Food Festival area. Will have to try some Vault again, been a while since I've had it

 

I can't wait for Sunday and also really hope it isn't ridiculously crowded. But it is spring break so we shall see. I honestly would have thought that today would have been pretty dead even for spring break...makes me glad that we planned our SoCal trip after the bulk of spring break happenings.

[robman]

Great trip report BFG! Really excited hit up the park again this weekend.

[#1rollercoasterfan]

My parents won't let me get the Fast Lane for Goldy's opening day. I tried to explain it would be worth it for that special day but they don't care. I'll have to wait for a weekday to go. Hey I noticed CGA is open Tues 5/21 & Wed 5/22 & those are the only weekdays that week CGA is open. It's not for a private event it's for everyone. I wonder why it's open those days. Hope it's not a mistake on the calendar. If it's not my first visit will be Tues 5/21 & I'll just have to bear with Goldy's long line. Oh well at least I have a season pass. Just hope Goldy opens 5/4 which we are all hoping it will be that day. Then I can ride it 5/21.

[Blue Fire Guy]

Ready for some retro hotness (or not-so hotness)? Here's a retro 1996 POV of our lovely turd Grizzly I found on youtube, and one can notice the following:

 

-It is VERY slow, the 10-minute turnaround is more like 20 minutes

-It is MUCH more efficient. When the train reaches the brake run, the other train has already reached the bottom of the lift hill. Why'd the park have to make this already giant turd even turdier by adding all those pointless seat belts?

-Sky Whirl is running

-Drop Tower in it's original color scheme

-Did I mention the ride is a turd?

 

[TyRush]

My parents won't let me get the Fast Lane for Goldy's opening day.....I'll just have to bear with Goldy's long line. Just hope Goldy opens 5/4 which we are all hoping it will be that day.

Okay where are the pet name haters! 3 times in one post must get someone angry

But i think it is looking wonderful, any news on how the queue will be set-up?

[Angry_Gumball]

True example of turd: Psyclone when it was at SFMM...it was a true 'Row! row!' Moment and left me wondering if we would valley.