California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

[rolercstrluvr]

Sorry for the double post, but i'll be heading out to the park today. Feels like it's been ages since I was last there, I can probably take some pictures of the haunt details that have been put out already.

[Angry_Gumball]

Has been a while since we've looked at the permit page, and particularly Gold Striker. Get ready to take more half tunnels!

 

601a REVISIONS SUBMITTED

Assigned to: Prasad Nallamothu Received: 9/11/2013

 

 

Done by: Not Completed

Status: Completed:

Rec'vd 2 sets of 3rd party approved sound wall sheets (SW1, SW2, SW3,

SW4) and 2 sets of structural calcs and 1 narrative. All routed to PNA.

Contact: Lowell P. Esposo (408) 986-5874 or

lowell.esposo@cagreatamerica.com

[cmullin]

I don't even find GS to be that loud. Vortex and Flight Deck are much louder, yet they don't have any complaints filed. I'm assuming it's because GS is only the side of the park near all the commercial buildings, but still. They have tons of side walls, and even styrofoam,(is that was it is?), in between the track.

[XYZ]

I don't even find GS to be that loud. Vortex and Flight Deck are much louder, yet they don't have any complaints filed. I'm assuming it's because GS is only the side of the park near all the commercial buildings, but still. They have tons of side walls, and even styrofoam,(is that was it is?), in between the track.

 

Vortex and Flight Deck were built before the Prudential office building.

[cmullin]

^ Does it matter though? Can't they still complain about the noise levels?

[Angry_Gumball]

It doesn't seem like it will affect operation so at this point, it's just more walls going up

 

I am curious what other 'upgrades' Gold Striker will get during the off season excluding the obvious queue defacing measures.

[XYZ]

^ Does it matter though? Can't they still complain about the noise levels?

 

If Prudential complained about Vortex, for example, I don't think that complaint could do anything.

 

Heck, this is California, so anything's possible.

[rolercstrluvr]

Today was a great day at the park, it was really cool seeing all of the stuff going up for haunt, especially the flowers when walking towards the fliers spelling out HAUNT. It was also super quiet at the park, so that meant lots of rides on GS, I got on 20 rides today making my total 226. I was just baffled at how quiet it was for a Saturday, also we now have even BIGGER walls on the drop turnaround, caught me by surprise. All in all today was just awesome all around. I feel that I should add that Grizzly's crew was especially slow that day, I decided to give it a courtesy ride with a station wait. They were doing the SFMM thing where before they dispatch the train they say, Are you ready? (no one yells), Oh c'mon, ARE YOU READY. still only two people yell. I get on and then they don't do that, but then here's what irked me. We went through the circuit and got back, they haven't even let the people off the other train yet, we sat there for like 5-6 minutes. I took a quick power nap, told the people in front of me to wake me up when we start moving. But other than that, it was an awesome day at CGA.

[Kyle Coleman]

Looks like I am going to gca for the first time next month and I still have my cup I bought at knott's last week for wcb and was wondering if anyone knew if you can bring a knott's refillable cup to gca and still get the refill deal. Really excited for my first laps on goldstriker and hope it lives up to the good buzz.

[Angry_Gumball]

I would check with the park's FB page. I was able to use my CGA cup down at Knott's back in April, they're essentially the same cups with different stickers slapped on them.

[Flagg O'Dim]

The summer crowds are gone, which means it's a good time to visit CGA. Gold Striker's wait was anywhere between a walk-on and five minutes. Fattened up my lap count, from 22 to 30! Rode twice in the morning, then my brother and I ended the last hour of our day with six in a row.

 

As rolercstrluvr mentioned, the walls have grown significantly. If you thought you couldn't see the train when it exited the tunnel before, wait until you see it now. It's practically invisible. Also, the second tunnel is now connected (via a wall) to the Prudential turn half-tunnel.

 

Notes from the day:

 

- Even though Black Widow's Cavern is no more, that didn't stop CGA from decorating Logger's Run's station with the same props! Kind of odd.

- Cornstalker's new look is intriguing. The "stay away from my truck" part is now right next to Demon's corkscrew, and from the parts I could see, the maze looks much tighter and less wide-open (at least at the beginning).

- Every door on the Pictorium was wide open, even the former entrance doors (that now lead to a steep drop-off). Caught a glimpse of some artwork for Dia de los Muertos inside.

- Haunt hearse is now parked right in the middle of the Invertigarden (how fitting).

- ...Grizzly was actually kind of fun!

[azza29]

Looks like I am going to gca for the first time next month and I still have my cup I bought at knott's last week for wcb and was wondering if anyone knew if you can bring a knott's refillable cup to gca and still get the refill deal. Really excited for my first laps on goldstriker and hope it lives up to the good buzz.

 

I used my Knott's cup at CGA, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Dorney and Kings Dominion with no problems.

[c0sterfreek]

Hey guys. Anyone doing haunt this weekend? I have to so Saturday of Sunday. Does anyone know if on Sundays there are less monsters in mazes/scare zones compared to Friday and Saturday?

[saturday709]

Hey guys. Anyone doing haunt this weekend? I have to so Saturday of Sunday. Does anyone know if on Sundays there are less monsters in mazes/scare zones compared to Friday and Saturday?

 

All the monsters work every night of the event as far as my knowledge goes unless they have a personal problem (illness, family emergency etc.)

 

I'd recommend going on Sunday, there'll be fewer crowds since it's a work/school night and it's the first weekend of the event.

 

Edit: However, some monsters start later on in the night so there may be holes in the mazes/zones earlier on in the event.

[rolercstrluvr]

Hey guys. Anyone doing haunt this weekend? I have to so Saturday of Sunday. Does anyone know if on Sundays there are less monsters in mazes/scare zones compared to Friday and Saturday?

 

I know i'm doing Haunt most if not all days this weekend, It's been way too long without a decent haunt event for me.

[robman]

Hey guys. Anyone doing haunt this weekend? I have to so Saturday of Sunday. Does anyone know if on Sundays there are less monsters in mazes/scare zones compared to Friday and Saturday?

 

 

We are required to work all three days, so the amount of monsters should be the same as a Friday or Saturday.

[Angry_Gumball]

Well, yesterday was a great day at CGA! Haunt is near completion but still lots to go from what I saw! Here's some notes from the day.

- Short lines for Gold Striker...rode total of 7x! Could have very easily done more but with the rest of the park dead, it was inevitable to take advantage of no lines everywhere!

- Walk-on Grizzly ride...We ended up paying for it though as we were held captive in the brake run for 5 minutes...Snooze time! The ride itself really wasn't too bad. It's the horrid dispatch times that make me avoid this ride like the plague.

- Ran into Flagg o' Dim and rjvader as we headed toward Gold Striker. We did a few rides with them.

- Of the rides we did, Flagg, rjvader and I got completely drenched on Logger's run. We had the 2 of us heavier riders in the back of the log and the lighter one up front thinking it would be more hydrodynamic but nope! Epic SKLOOSH time! Not once but twice!

- Mini ERT sessions (no leaving seats) on Flight Deck and Drop Tower

- Lots of Haunt stuff up but still what appears to be a lot to set up within the next few short days.

 

So here's some random photos from the day!

Oh man...so crowded! Why did we pick such a busy day?!?

Beautiful day to be riding Gold Striker!

...

Haunt is in the air at CGA as Friday creeps closer by the minute!

The Gauntlet. That Trending Now sign looks out of place though.

Crowds were just pouring into the park.

At first I thought this sign said "Knott's"

With insane crowds like this, I was able to snag a front row ride on Flight Deck!

Let's play a game here. It's called "Count the Empty Rows"!

This was a common site today.

Some more "Haunt-ness" in the park. Be excited!

Artsy Fartsy shot of the Von Roll

With short/no lines, We couldn't resist taking a flight on the flyers!

This sign became the center of our conversation today among our group, after reading on CGA's Facebook about Centrifuge and how riders were unaware of any signage on this ride and seating the larger rider outside. We call it "Your sign's too small: The Ride"

We even got to ride Psycho Mouse in the early afternoon as lines were short! Normally at this time the queue is 3/4 of the way full.

Something's missing.

And I know you can figure out what ride we're at...

Just after our ride, the line magically grew and yea...make it a 30-40 minute wait.

Zombie High still looks like it has some work to be done. I think I see facade work to the lower left.

Toy Factory looks like it's gotten some changes.

Boo....why does this ride have to be down? Well, I did ride a surperior one down at the 'Walk the day before (better as in, faster movement, cool lighting package and music, all in the dark).

Haunt flowers from above...nice touch!

Another look at Gautlet heading back up. Soon this will be full of fog and crazy clowns!

...

Hi Jack!

And what we really liked: the "Ride Grave Yard."

Wait, what's he doing here?

A look at one of the new mazes from Star Tower, Dia De Los Muertos (DDLM)

DDLM signage

And the long, snaking queue. I wonder how full this queue will actually get.

Hearse on Inverti-garden...very fitting!

After being soaked by the log ride...Flagg o' Dim is still ringing out his shorts.

rjvader...was this an acceptable amount of wetness?

Let's take a ride on this... I'm going to take an outside seat (refer to my seating diagram I posted on here: [Ouch!] [Whee!][Whee!] [Ouch!] )

Why? YOLO!

Let's do this! (I'm not looking forward to this...

...(These restraints look pretty gross)

Maybe taking row 1 won't be so bad...

Bang Ding Ow! (Yes, the front outside seats sucked.)

Some more Haunt-ness...Something's probably goofed on the sign though. I thought it was Madame Marie's Massacre Manor. VooDoo ChopHouse is their special meal they have going on.

Slaughter House signage...can't wait!

CornStalkers now lives on the opposite side of Barney's.

And it will utilize Barney's queue for the maze (which seems like it will work out rather well!)

Alright CGA, time to call it a day and grab dinner!

One of our groupmembers (JeffyJosephNorcal) won 4 basketballs with 5 shots...let's be annoying GP and dribble!

Until Haunt....See you soon!

[XYZ]

^So, the crowds were the same as two years ago?

 

Sounds like you had a great time and nice trip report.

[cmullin]

How should the lines be for Haunt on Saturday's? I'm trying to go for the first time, but I need to make sure there are no conflicts with my soccer, and Sunday's a school night so Saturday's are my only option. Are the lines bad? I won't be going to the first weekend because I'm away, I would think that would be the most crowded days.

[Angry_Gumball]

How should the lines be for Haunt on Saturday's? I'm trying to go for the first time, but I need to make sure there are no conflicts with my soccer, and Sunday's a school night so Saturday's are my only option. Are the lines bad? I won't be going to the first weekend because I'm away, I would think that would be the most crowded days.

 

I'm going to be completely honest here. Be prepared for lots of lines! But you can still get a lot done! I highly recommend you actually hit up the back of the park first. You can get Zombie High, Corn Stalkers, and Toy Factory done with very little wait. Everyone's going to jam to the "headliner" mazes which will be CarnEvil, Slaughter House, Dia De Los Muertos...Werewolf Canyon and Madame Marie's are what I call the borderline of the heavy crowds. Eventually crowds disperse afterwards and the lines more or less even out through the park. Are you a pass holder?

[Double0Kevin]

I was just checking out the Haunt site and saw that they are getting the Fun House Express for Haunt. It's so weird to see a 20 year old ride film marketed as "New for 2013." Fun movie though.

[JJnCFL]

Was a fun weekend with the gang! Now onto Haunt 2013, muhahaha!

[rolercstrluvr]

I was just checking out the Haunt site and saw that they are getting the Fun House Express for Haunt. It's so weird to see a 20 year old ride film marketed as "New for 2013." Fun movie though.

 

Yeah, should be a nice addition for some families who attend Haunt. Although I may skip it as i'd rather do the real mazes and rides.

Edited September 26, 2013 by rolercstrluvr

[Kyle Coleman]

I used to really like funhouse express when they had it at the adventuredome. Looking forward to riding it again next month at haunt.

[cmullin]

How should the lines be for Haunt on Saturday's? I'm trying to go for the first time, but I need to make sure there are no conflicts with my soccer, and Sunday's a school night so Saturday's are my only option. Are the lines bad? I won't be going to the first weekend because I'm away, I would think that would be the most crowded days.

 

I'm going to be completely honest here. Be prepared for lots of lines! But you can still get a lot done! I highly recommend you actually hit up the back of the park first. You can get Zombie High, Corn Stalkers, and Toy Factory done with very little wait. Everyone's going to jam to the "headliner" mazes which will be CarnEvil, Slaughter House, Dia De Los Muertos...Werewolf Canyon and Madame Marie's are what I call the borderline of the heavy crowds. Eventually crowds disperse afterwards and the lines more or less even out through the park. Are you a pass holder?

I have a Platinum Pass and so does my mom. Would it be better to go on a Sunday and just not go for the whole night? Or what about a Friday? Thanks for advice though!