Photo TR: Hurricane Last Rides + CGA Fly-by

[singemfrc]

I really didn't want to do this on a holiday weekend, but being that Hurricane is closing tomorrow I couldn't exactly wait until next week I'm sure glad I decided to get to CGA at opening, because by the time I left at 1:00, the crowds were really starting to get out of control and were still streaming in the gates as I was leaving. Traffic was the other reason..the 1 hour drive from CGA to SCBB turned into a 3 hour drive bumper to bumper all the way down 17, no fun at all. Was originally hoping to get home to Sacramento by 4 or so, ended up getting home at almost 10!

 

The whole reason for this trip was getting in one last ride (or two) on Hurricane at SCBB since tomorrow is the last day. I was there on the opening day in 1992 (June or July, I forget. I was 11.) and it was the first roller coaster I ever rode, so it's always been a special one for me. Hurricane, Giant Dipper, and X/X2 are the three coasters that are like that for me, so it was a big deal to me that it was moving to NM...even if I did get to ride it some time in NM, it wouldn't be the same. So when you see how many Hurricane photos I took, that's why...but first up was CGA:

First ride of the day!

Welcome to The Demon!

Last time I was at CGA, Flight Deck was still called Top Gun. Looks like everything but the name is the same.

Jealous..how much longer do I have to wait?

Not long now, B&M bliss coming right up!!

At this moment, these are the happiest people in Santa Clara.

And now for the obligatory GS Construction photos. Sorry I couldn't get closer..but even still I can tell it's going to make the skyline of this park nicer.

Even the upcharges had big lines today. Also not a bad spot to catch a glimpse of GS construction.

This is what CGA calls que shading

That's not a seat sir, I wouldn't recommend attempting to sit down.

He's happy because he hasn't ridden yet. (But seriously, Vortex was actually pretty nice today)

I walked up to Grizzly and saw was appeared to be a 60-70 minute line. I wondered how on Earth that could be even on a busy day, until I saw someone coming back out of the flash pass entrance who said the ride was down..unfortunately CGA hadn't sent anyone down to tell people, so the line just kept getting longer and obviously wasn't moving.

Re-ride on Vortex? Not with a line that long. Another day.

This is funny. I like the "CGA Definies line jumping as" signs all over that make it clear, but Vortex was the only one that said "Line jumping is a violation of the law"...seriously? I saw quite a few criminals at the park today. All the lines are getting out of hand now so that's it for CGA, time for the 1hr drive to SCBB..

Edited September 3, 2012 by singemfrc

[singemfrc]

The drive from CGA to SCBB via 880 and 17 is supposed to be 1 hr, but apparently I'm not the only one who wanted to drive to Santa Cruz today..3/4 of the trip was made at less than 5mph.

How long is this going to last? Yeah, all the way there. Ouch. Next time remind me not to take 880 on a holiday weekend.

Yeah this is pretty much as fast as I was going the whole way there. I think it's pretty safe to take a photo with my phone at 0mph.

Finally about 3 hours later I arrive at the beach and lucked into finding pretty much the only parking spot left in the city. Here is what I drove all this way for!

Oh, holy s$%#. The Boardwalk has gone and turned into a giant que. I guess it gets busy on Labor Day weekend!

Ah, The Giant Dipper. In 1924 it cost 15 cents to ride, today it costs $5 but 88 years later it's still the best woodie on the west coast and is worth every penny. I managed to get one front row ride in before the line got too crazy.

Time for some Hurricane Hoorah!

This would make a great desktop wallpaper.

Dive! Dive!

Yep..there are a LOT of people out here on this beautiful sunny holiday weekend!

Lift me...

The coaster equivelant of an upskirt shot.

"The Hurricane is about to roll through..."

The upper deck is just wall to wall people, and a lot of them are there for The Hurricane, though it did not seem that many people there realized it was closing.

Uhh..your bucket is in the wrong place..ah hell what's one more day?

The blue train. Ops were mostly doing a good job dispatching pretty fast today.

The red train, on which both of my rides took place today.

Somehow I managed to luck out both times in line I ended up being first in line for the next train so was able to easily snag my front and back row rides (which is good because there is no room to wait for a particular row with this coaster)

Forever

A couple parting shots.

Hope NM enjoys you as much as I have..

Kind of a crappy shot with my hand and phone in the photo but thought it was fitting that my last photo of The Hurricane be in my rear view mirror.

[Angry_Gumball]

Looks like SCBB was pretty brutal in terms of crowds, not to mention what is normally a 40 minute drive (It takes me 30 to get to CGA, probably another 30 -40 to get over that mountain) to get to SCBB. At least you got to say your farewells to one of your 'stand out' coasters.

 

I can't wait for the crowds to die down some at CGA especially since we're in 'back to school' mode. A good chunk of my summer visits at CGA consisted of some form of special festival/event going on. Since I tend to go every other weekend, I think I'm going to shoot for a Saturday since Sunday the 16th is...another festival and crowds!

 

I've done SCBB on Labor Day Weekend back in '09 (was a week shy of getting my final rides on the old Haunted Castle) and remember the main 'walk being crowded like that. Getting on rides was not a problem though, probably did not wait any more than 10-15 minutes since they are amazingly fast at dispatches...made me kind of bummed when I was back at CGA yesterday, especially riding Grizzly where it took 2-3 minutes from parking in station to leaving. I guess part of what helps is that SCBB makes/allows you to take your backpack on, just setting it by your feet on the floor of the train, and that there are 5 or 6 attendants alone doing lapbars (they pull them down for you and check simultaneously)....leading to 30 second unload-dispatch cycles.

[gisco]

The crowds look insane. Everyone out to get there last ride before winter.

[beatle11]

Driving like that is not fun. I got caught in the Friday night rush hour out of DC the night before East Coast Bash. At least you were able to get your rides in though. The crowds looked insane!

[singemfrc]

Driving like that is not fun. I got caught in the Friday night rush hour out of DC the night before East Coast Bash. At least you were able to get your rides in though. The crowds looked insane!

Yeah, the crowds were crazy, but other than the extreme unpleasantness that was the drive from CGA to SCBB, it was a good day. I got 3/4 rides at CGA (minus Grizzly that was down but that didnt bug me much, main goal was FD of course) and I'm still amazed and grateful that I got my front row and back row rides on Hurricane in only two tries (Hurricane has an extremely small station, there's really nowhere to wait for the row you want). Somehow at both parks I managed to get all my rides in just before all the crowds were unbearable..I usually don't have good luck like that.

[Angry_Gumball]

880 sucks when it comes to traffic anyway. On the CGA media day, we were on the road at around 9:00am and because of it being commute time, traffic was really slow, going about 30mph or less at some spots. When we got onto 237 from 880, we got on via the carpool lane while 237 was pretty much what you can call a parking lot, we zipped right past everyone and were able to get over once we got to GA Pkwy. The ride later in the afternoon was not too bad when hopping onto 17, and 17 was dead when we came back home, however after close to 10 we grabbed dinner at McDonald's and didn't leave there until 10:30...got home around 11:30 back in Hayward.

[tedfromthefuture]

$5 for the Great Dipper seems expensive if you would like to ride multiple times. I wonder how many riders they get a year?

[singemfrc]

$5 for the Great Dipper seems expensive if you would like to ride multiple times. I wonder how many riders they get a year?

Well they hit 60 million riders just last month so somewhere in the neighborhood of a million per year I would imagine (exact math gives you ~680,000 but I dont think that many people were visiting in the 1920s)

 

It seems like a lot if you havent ridden it but it's such a great ride it's so worth it. Also if you're planning on riding it (or anything else) more than 5 rides, just get an unlimited rides wristband for $29.99, or during summer weekends its like $10 with a pepsi can on tuesdays and wednesdays (done for this year though). EDIT: Forgot to mention the $10 deal is after 5pm..still a great deal

 

I was just there for 2 rides on the hurricane, and I couldn't visit the Boardwalk without at least one ride on the dipper..I didn't have time for anything else so I just bought individual tickets.

Edited September 4, 2012 by singemfrc

[ernierocker]

$5 for the Great Dipper seems expensive if you would like to ride multiple times. I wonder how many riders they get a year?

 

There are a lot of kiddie coasters at FECs that are more than 5 bucks. Sheesh.