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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread


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Is going to a park on its last day of the season a bad idea?

 

Better to go to a packed park then not going to it for another like 3-4+ months IMHO.

 

 

 

also out of curiosity, does CGA close their bumper car arena to put a maze up in it?

 

I don't know how it will be on the last day of operation, but i'm willing to go find out as well.

 

Fire2box, yes CGA does close their bumper car arena for a maze, as it's a prime spot as well.

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Row 7! It was a good day there. Sad to see it go, but it will be back with more UMPH next season with that new ride. Can't wait

 

I may have seen you there, what were you wearing? I was just wearing my work shirt saying,"Keep Mod Weird"

Probably ran into eachother! I had a grey dos equis shirt black and orange volcom hat, friend had a grey element shirt. We rallied on GS for a while without getting off

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Row 7! It was a good day there. Sad to see it go, but it will be back with more UMPH next season with that new ride. Can't wait

 

I may have seen you there, what were you wearing? I was just wearing my work shirt saying,"Keep Mod Weird"

Probably ran into eachother! I had a grey dos equis shirt black and orange volcom hat, friend had a grey element shirt. We rallied on GS for a while without getting off

 

I did see you guys, looked like you were enjoying the hell out of the dead crowds and walk-ons.

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Was there yesterday. It was empty and I heard one ride operator on the Vortex declare that she was bored. The lines on the Gold Striker never extended beyond the stairs before the station so towards the end of the day, I seized the opportunity to have a mini ERT on the Gold Striker. Got 6 ride in about 40-45 minutes, which is good considering the ride's popularity. I also saw a bunch of people who did the same thing on the Gold Striker.

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Wanted to post a brief TR about Saturday....

 

OMG, the crowds were insane! I was about an hour late and my friend did Boofet and was able to do a couple mazes and rides before I showed up, but when we saw the crowds pouring in we were like, "Yep, let's get Fright Lane!" Well they actually SOLD OUT of Fright Lane but were printing more. When I got mine a bit later, they had run out of the nifty Skeleton Key keychains, and I heard that later they were even printing Fright Lane passes on regular paper because they ran out of the laminated stuff! Wow! Lines for the Skeleton Key rooms themselves were about half an hour, so we skipped them all except Madame Marie's and Cornstalkers later (dang, I said "I'm not gonna eat or drink anything gross!" but I felt obligated to, so I took a sip of the warm yellow vinegar. Yuck!)

 

We were able to do all of the mazes once each with Mirror Mirror twice because we waited in the regular line before getting Fright Lane, saw League of Villains show, caught some of the acrobatics show by the carousel, and none of the rides. Overall, I thought we did pretty well considering it was the Friday before Halloween!

 

It had been a while since I'd been to CGA Haunt and I've finally gotten to experience other Haunts now to compare CGA too. I think CGA has some really great mazes but overall, there were not enough scareactors!!! In so many of the mazes, there would be room after room with no scareactors, or one guy trying to scare like 50 people. Really, I don't know what was up with it because my friend said it wasn't this bad earlier in the season, Idk if a bunch of people just quit their jobs before Halloween weekend, but there were just so few scareactors. I think if CGA can hire more good actors, they would have 100x better of a Haunt because I thought the mazes were pretty well done!

 

Well, most of them. I loved Toy Factory in the past but it's just really outdated, I think Toy Factory and Cornstalkers needs to go in favor of something fresh.

 

I thought Insanitarium was interesting, I liked how you essentially walked through the sanitarium twice and the second time was weirder, but it was kind of confusing what the earthquake had to do with things and why we were walking through all the same rooms twice, and there were still hardly any scareactors in this!

 

I really liked Wax Museum but again, there were a lot of empty spaces where I think there were supposed to be actors! I really wanted to walk through this slower and look at all the detail, but I felt pressured to go fast because of all the lines.

 

Madame Marie's, Dia, and Zombie High were all about how I remembered them from before, and I think they're all pretty solid mazes although I'm not a huge fan of zombie mazes.

 

Mirror Mirror... the first time we went through, we waited half an hour and got to be in the maze like a minute before they ushered us out. The second time we used Fright Lane and OMG... we were in there SOOOO LONNGGG!!! It was so disorienting and awesome being in there so long, it felt like we were in there at least 10 minutes! No kidding! It's not really scary but I have an affinity for corn mazes and things like that so I really appreciated this maze. I almost walked into walls a few times too! My friend thought the mirrors needed some serious cleaning but I wasn't as bothered by it, or maybe chugging that beer beforehand made me not care? So if you buy Fright Lane, you're gonna be in the maze for a long time. If you wait, you're not going to be in there much time. I did NOT appreciate this when I was the one waiting, but I appreciated it when I had Fright Lane!

 

Hmm that was kinda a long TR, but moral of the story, Haunts are always better earlier in the month! Too bad there are only so many weekends compared to so many awesome Haunts to do! I wish Halloween season was as long as Christmas!

 

I have a compilation video of Academy of Villains but I'm having some technical difficulties so I'll post it later. I really liked all the songs they used! ANddd...THE NAE NAE!! haha I've danced the Nae Nae at so many amusement parks this year!

 

EDIT: Here we go

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]
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When line cutters attack!

SANTA CLARA , Calif. (KGO) -- Two young adults claim they were brutally attacked at a Bay Area amusement park.

 

It was supposed to be a fun Halloween night for a brother and sister at Great America in Santa Clara but they say they were attacked when they objected to people jumping in line.

http://abc7ne.ws/1MB8v9s

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When line cutters attack!
SANTA CLARA , Calif. (KGO) -- Two young adults claim they were brutally attacked at a Bay Area amusement park.

 

It was supposed to be a fun Halloween night for a brother and sister at Great America in Santa Clara but they say they were attacked when they objected to people jumping in line.

http://abc7ne.ws/1MB8v9s

 

It was bound to happen eventually, I mean when you mix BIG crowds with alcohol, some fights are bound to break out eventually.

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Honestly, the GP I saw at CGA Haunt was worse than any other GP I've seen this year, Haunt or otherwise. Even Magic Mountain Fright Fest and HHN didn't seem as bad! This is sad for the two victims who were just trying to have a good time and speak up against line jumpers. After the lines we saw this past weekend, easily an hour or two for some of the mazes, I would have spoken up against the line jumpers too!

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So I got to visit the park on the last day of operation (forgive me if this is a bit belated). It was kinda interesting to me that I visited the park on its first and last day of the season. I thought I'd give a mini TR.

 

The park was pretty much empty, which surprised me since I've never seen such a small amount of guests on the days I've visited. Almost everything was pretty much a walk on, including Gold Striker. Even rides such as Tiki Twirl and Grizzly had a pretty short wait. During my visit I could see one or two employees starting to take down some of the Haunt stuff. I decided to check on the status of Action Theater during its transition into Mass Effect. Wow, talk about a makeover! Almost the entire building was painted blue (which somewhat reminded me of when BTTF was transformed into the Simpsons at Universal) and all of the stuff in the preshow area was dismantled (the TVs, the banner, the signs, even that stage thing in the middle). I rode the Delta Flyer to get a slightly better view of the area, and I noticed in the middle of the preshow area there were two circular platforms that looked like they could spin. If I remember correctly, in the early years of its original run, those platforms were used in showing props that were related to the ride. I have some pics to show of the construction (though I wasn't able to get an aerial pic because I probably forgot or something).

IMAG0228.thumb.jpg.1865795e3925e0b1e5255c4cf4caa889.jpg

A better look at construction. If you look closer, you can see that platform thing I mentioned.

IMAG0230.thumb.jpg.76c9dd82e0a29bf206533cb5211c3be1.jpg

Almost everything is gone..

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While my hopes for this ride aren't very high (I still need to play the ME games in order to understand it), I'm still cautiously optimistic about it, especially when it comes to the Action Theater

 

Another interesting thing happened to me when I visited the park. I decided to look around the new Planet Snoopy area since I hadn't seen the whole thing. Then when I was trying to find a restroom, I came across this...

IMAG0231.thumb.jpg.a3237eedc503d3153e54134bad9daf1d.jpg

At first glance, I thought it was that old plaque that used to be by the Celebration Swings. But when I got closer, I saw that it was completely different. It blows my mind to see this here at the park, and in the kids area of all places. It's probably the last explicit bit of Paramount's existence in the park left untouched (that I know so far). But as I read more what was on the plaque I was even more intrigued. Granted, compared to other time capsules I've seen, the contents explained in this one seem kinda strange. But at the same time I am interested in knowing how the different essays were written (even though we'll all probably be dead by the time it's uncovered). I kinda really hope that this park can sustain itself for that long, and if not, well hopefully the time capsule can be relocated.

 

Other than that, I pretty much spent my day riding rides, getting some discounted souvenirs (I got a bag filled with candy for only $5 and a 40th season jacket for half off), and enjoying the park for what it is.

 

So enjoy some few random photos I took.

IMAG0232.thumb.jpg.23b23cbd5c8518fdd0139283aaac2d99.jpg

SQUIRREL!

IMAG0233.thumb.jpg.d759a8de90764e84b061ea83d7c49d90.jpg

I don't know how long it's been there, but I never noticed that little pond garden in the middle of Whitewater Falls. It looks nice.

IMAG0235.thumb.jpg.97173b1ede2fc2c9bd8b059dfc727e98.jpg

IMAG0237.thumb.jpg.6307f700c32b71db668025aab9da6272.jpg

Great America in its final minutes of the season. 2015 was fun, and I hope things will get even better in 2016

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When line cutters attack!
SANTA CLARA , Calif. (KGO) -- Two young adults claim they were brutally attacked at a Bay Area amusement park.

 

It was supposed to be a fun Halloween night for a brother and sister at Great America in Santa Clara but they say they were attacked when they objected to people jumping in line.

http://abc7ne.ws/1MB8v9s

 

It was bound to happen eventually, I mean when you mix BIG crowds with alcohol, some fights are bound to break out eventually.

 

 

This is why I just keep my mouth shut when I witness line jumpers or other forms of rule breaking. Its not worth the potential consequences.

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I'm actually pretty stoked for the Mass Effect ride. It's different than what's ever been in there before, it'll also attract a new crowd to the park. (Gamers specifically)

 

Other than this 2016 addition to CGA, when do you think we'll be getting another coaster? If so, what kind?

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As opposed to line cutting as I am, I think I would rather not say anything than risk getting injured. What took place is appalling.

 

Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm a pretty large guy, but iveymost definitely confronted line jumpers before. They don't always listen, but at the very least they get shamed and it draws more attention to them. On 2 different occasions I had park employees (Not this park, but still) notice and kick them out of line.

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I'm actually pretty stoked for the Mass Effect ride. It's different than what's ever been in there before, it'll also attract a new crowd to the park. (Gamers specifically)

 

Other than this 2016 addition to CGA, when do you think we'll be getting another coaster? If so, what kind?

 

CGA will not be getting a new coaster any time soon. If they were, it would be a Hyper GTX or S&S Free Spin. There are many parks that would get a coaster before CGA (Valleyfair, Worlds of Fun, Dorney Park, Camadas Wonderland).

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CGA will not be getting a new coaster any time soon. If they were, it would be a Hyper GTX or S&S Free Spin. There are many parks that would get a coaster before CGA (Valleyfair, Worlds of Fun, Dorney Park, Camadas Wonderland).

 

I don't see any of those parks getting anything anytime soon either except CW. I also don't see CF installing an S&S free spin or Hyper GT-X either, I think they'll stick to B&M for their bigger parks while the smaller parks will continue to get shafted.

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Noticed in the recent Cedar Fair 3rd Quarter Conference Call that California's Great America will likely be adding a Christmas event in 2016.

And then your third question or your fourth question I guess it was, was about the fairly operating season and I guess because we are coming off a hugely successful Halloween season it makes us think more thoughtfully about what is available to us particular in markets where the climate is more favorable. So we will start with Great America this year, I am sorry, in 2016 this coming year and we have high hopes for that particular property and obviously if that proves successful you can expect to see it at multiple parks, maybe not at all parks but at multiple parks. And that would be the primary growth driver when we talk about expanding the season. I should point out again, since I am sitting here, we already have an extremely successful Merry Farm program here at Knott's Berry Farm and so we are going to take a lot of lessons, keep learning there, about what entertainment works, what food product works and how to market that product in order to leverage the attempt that we are making up at Great America.

Cedar Fair's (FUN) CEO Matt Ouimet on Q3 2015 Results - Earnings Call Transcript $FUN

http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/3655906

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Just kinda learned about the mass effect 4d ride today. I really like Mass Effect and it's world building, i just hope they don't use Commander Sheppard much if at all.

 

But, I really want to see what they do with it. I think this will finally get me back in the park at some point. Likely will only go if my friend wants to see tailgating and then hang out at CGA durning a 49er's home game, something stupid like that.

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