California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

[Mater]

I would seriously never stop laughing if they actually spent money to move Vortex anywhere but a smaller park/garbage can.

[CGA_88]

The Vortex conversion will most likely happen next season. They have already built a maintenance cat walk underneath the station for the platform (you can see it while waiting in line).

[thrillseeker4552]

I'd love to see a conversion on Vortex next season. Hopefully they add a station roof while they're at it. I've never been to CGA, but I find it so odd that most of their major coasters (Demon, Vortex, Flight Deck) do not have a station roof. I can't imagine how that feels during the summer...

[Vonni]

If a conversion does happen to Vortex, I wonder if it would mean Demon would be removed shortly down the line?

[grsupercity]

If a conversion does happen to Vortex, I wonder if it would mean Demon would be removed shortly down the line?

 

Would be neat to see the Sitdown/floorless conversion on Vortex, and then the Vekoma trains with vest otsr on Demon. Improvements on 2 rides, for the fraction of the cost of 2 new coasters.

[coasterbill]

If a conversion does happen to Vortex, I wonder if it would mean Demon would be removed shortly down the line?

 

Those two things literally have absolutely nothing to do with eachother.

[grsupercity]

That would give the park 2 smaller sit down loopers. Vortex as a stand up makes it different then Demon. Vortex as a sitdown makes it similar. With a small park like GCA, removing demon could make a big difference for future attractions. But Id rather see both converted, not removed. Gotta love some old arrows

[coasterbill]

Those two things still have literally nothing to do with eachother. Tons of parks have more than one sit down looper, and with a floorless gimmick they'd be very different rides. Even without one they'd be very different rides. And even if they weren't Cedar Fair has never cared about that sort of thing before.

[jray21]

I wish they would either expand Vortex, or just get rid of it. It's such a short and painful ride.

[Vonni]

If a conversion does happen to Vortex, I wonder if it would mean Demon would be removed shortly down the line?

 

Those two things literally have absolutely nothing to do with eachother.

 

 

I feel they do. A Vortex Conversion would create a bigger, more modern design to the steel looping coaster. In turn it could open up possibilities for Demons location. I know many parks have similar coasters. I'm just speculating on what could happen.

[jarmart]

Hopefully the conversion will make it smoother. But im not opposed to getting rid of it either lol. Gold Striker was a great addition but we need a new steel coaster ASAP. If the rezoning passes, I hope they build a hyper. A giga would be better but considering their track record, that probably wont happen.

Edited April 7, 2016 by jarmart

[RCF]

I don't even see a hyper at this place, unless they go for something with a smaller footprint. B&M Dive Coaster, anyone?

[singemfrc]

I'd love to see a conversion on Vortex next season. Hopefully they add a station roof while they're at it. I've never been to CGA, but I find it so odd that most of their major coasters (Demon, Vortex, Flight Deck) do not have a station roof. I can't imagine how that feels during the summer...

Demon actually stays pretty cool in the station, lots of tree cover. The front of the queue is partially covered, only the back is wide open.

Flight Deck's station is brutal though. The man ride op is in a covered shed but everyone else is in the sun, and those plywood walls just amplify the sun too.

[Vonni]

I'm really surprised since CF took over that they have not covered the stations by now.

[John Peck]

^ Just no way to get the ROI. Unless you remarket the attraction. If they do a floorless or sitdown conversion to Vortex, then perhaps a roof will be in the budget as well. Speaking of Vortex, is it even possible to go the floorless route with Six Flags being so close... I don't know if there is a no-compete rule with similar rides.

[Six Flags Haiti]

^ Just no way to get the ROI.

 

Guess it depends on how serious the issue is. I haven't had the opportunity to visit the park so I do not know if it just causes mild discomfort or if it is brutal conditions. I am sure the park GM could find some room in his capital budget if they are constantly dealing with heat exhaustion issues for their employees and guests.

 

Heck with how employee friendly California worker laws are I am surprised the state hasn't forced them to do it anyways, and levy fines on top.

[jray21]

They could easily build an inexpensive shade structure, and should have years ago.

[SFOG1991]

Flight Deck's station was miserable when I was at the park and it was 95 degrees that day. It actually physically hurt to stand there for 10 minutes. This is coming from someone who lives in the deep south where it is that hot for months and way more humid. A cover is inexpensive and would increase customer satisfaction enough to justify it in my opinion.

 

I love open stations on cooler days with gorgeous weather but that's about it!

[SFOG1991]

I love Vortex and Demon so I hope Vortex gets the convert to floorless for comfort reasons and Demon gets vest restraints. Demon was a surprise hit for me!

 

The only coaster I see no point in is Grizzly, but even that I would rather see them keep while adding a new coaster. The more the merrier for a park that has lost 3 coasters in the past 15 years.

[Bubba]

It's funny reading about Flight Deck's queue as I instantly flashed back to the moment it was incredibly hot and there was were so many clouds of insects flying around (possibly the lake had a great effect on this?). It was more funny than annoying cause there were groups of people, myself included, were dodging and ducking the swarm of bugs as they flew through the queue. That line is horrible but since Cedar Fair took over there usually has been an attendant on top of the stairs assigning rows or if not waiting at the station usually doesn't take long due to there being 4 seats each row. Reason why I never get too intimidated by Medusa's line at SFDK as well, having four vs. two seats makes a huge difference. Typically GCA is nearly empty weekdays or the first few and last hours anyways so the only time I've actually waited was during Halloween Haunt. IMO Gold Striker has the worst queue. If there is a full queue and you're near the entrance, you're literally waiting an hour in the direct sun until you get to the final step in the station, which just contains rows no queue. But the ride is so great I've never regretted it once, and got a nice tan in the process haha.

[WayCool64]

So for the sake of curiosity, I decided to fool around with Photoshop and make a layered comparison between the park today and it's upcoming expansion.

As we can see, it's not quite the kind of expansion we commonly think. I get that they're limited to the amount of land they have, but seeing how this expansion will go will be quite interesting.

 

It seems that Orleans Place and Celebration Plaza/Hometown Square will receive the most amount of changes as they create the new entertainment complex. I am very happy to see they'll be using the amphitheater properly again (I don't think they've had a concert there since the Paramount days). Some of the more interesting aspects I see is that the Boomerang Bay expansion will be taking over where Peanuts Playhouse and Woodstock Express is (which would explain the potential Planet Snoopy expansion/new family coaster). I'm also surprised they're possibly putting in a Dinosaurs Alive. I know it's still in most of the CF parks (it's the only remaining former Paramount Park to not yet receive one) and dinosaurs are still a popular thing, but I'm surprised they're still interested in it. I am curious if this part of the plans mean that the Barney Oldfield Speedway will either be rerouted or removed.

 

They mention more plans for the Action Theater meaning that hopefully we could see the right side reopen again after almost a decade of it being closed. I'm guessing they'll either make a clone of Mass Effect, use a different IP, or do something original. The most surprising part is that it seems like they want to relocate Vortex. I know they want to convert it into a floorless coaster, but relocating the ride seems like a rather odd yet interesting move. My guess is so that they have enough room to build a new coaster.

 

One thing I just realized is that there seems to be no plans for their own "Amusement Dark" ride. Dunno if it is in the plans or not (I remember hearing CF saying they wanted to put one in for each of their parks. But now they want to do the same with EA attractions if ME and PvZ at Carowinds does well).

 

I really hope things do go smoothly for this expansion. I have good hopes for this park's future.

[Jew]

I've always hated the un-covered stations at CGA.

[rolercstrluvr]

I mean, they could at least put up some of that shade covering that full throttle has. Just as something to make it through as a temporary cover.

[jray21]

They could easily put up some shade fabric like water parks do. They're cheap, and virtually maintenance free.

[TyRush]

It really is not hard to put a cover over them! Seems very odd that they don't, I never understood that. It reminds me of a RCT3 station!