California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

I was at CGA for Haunt last Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a mess! Way too many people, made it nearly impossible to get to even 1/2 of everything. Sunday was a dream come true... got there at 6:30 and cruised around to everything a few times and even got out at 11pm.

I haven't gone on a Friday yet... how do you guys think this Friday will be? It is my understanding that to get the fast pass for the night you'd have to buy 1 for the mazes and then 1 for the rides which would be way too much for something I've done 3 times already- how do you think the crowds will be?

ps- thanks for all the awesome gold striker updates. I check this thread all the time cause they are quality posts!

^ Last Saturday was insane and it is only going to get worse. Friday's are not as busy as Saturday but not nearly as quite as a Sunday. If I were to list the days from least to most busiest it would be, Sunday, Friday, and then Saturday.

I was at CGA for Haunt last Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a mess! Way too many people, made it nearly impossible to get to even 1/2 of everything. Sunday was a dream come true... got there at 6:30 and cruised around to everything a few times and even got out at 11pm.

 

I haven't gone on a Friday yet... how do you guys think this Friday will be? It is my understanding that to get the fast pass for the night you'd have to buy 1 for the mazes and then 1 for the rides which would be way too much for something I've done 3 times already- how do you think the crowds will be?

I have yet to go on a Friday but I can imagine it being almost on par with Saturday, maybe between a Saturday and Sunday. I didn't go this past Saturday, originally was going to head out there after work but decided to do the full day out at the park Sunday instead and do Haunt then. I'm glad I did because a couple fellow TPR members (JeffyJosephNorcal, Rawkin Coaster, Rolercstrluvr) went Saturday evening and told me that it was packed! Before having to leave I heard that they waited in line for Toy Factory for 45 minutes, and still had about another 20-30 minutes ahead of them. I'll stick with my Sundays, hoping this coming Sunday will be similar to this past (which was dead).

ps- thanks for all the awesome gold striker updates. I check this thread all the time cause they are quality posts!

We are usually out at the park every other week, so why not keep up on the updates! Honestly, it's been fun following the construction progress and watching this grow! The Star Tower has been getting lots of love from us this season

We will have a healthy Goldy update tomorrow but here's something to hold you guys over for now! Notice anything different? My sinuses/allergies sure do!

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING UPDATE CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF WOODEN COASTER CONSTRUCTION PORN. IF YOU FIND THIS IN ANY WAY OFFENSIVE, TURN BACK NOW! VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Had another really awesome day at the park, and there were a number of memorable highlights as well:

-Tons of GoldPorn shooting.

-More extreme snappage on the flyers.

-Grizzly ran FAST like a bat out of hell. The early morning fog had moistened the track, allowing the train to slip through the 3-second turnaround with ease. There was quite a bit of back seat floater air to be had!

-Madame Marie herself greets us at the Boofet, telling us that our visit to her manor will be extra special, and she was NOT kidding!

-I get chased by a talent from Underworld Alley ALL THE WAY to Drop Tower, quite impressive if you ask me!

-Funny chase in the Gauntlet (sorry Heather!)

-Best Mmmmmmmmmmm walkthrough yet. There were lots of startles this time, including a portrait scare. We passed by the portraits thinking why there weren't scares there on our previous visits...and then BAM! I also got nailed in the face by the "zombie door" sprayer, and we all had the honor of getting our souls taken away by the Madame herself. This place has now firmly cemented itself as my #1 maze of CGA's haunt, as it really hit its prime last night.

And now...Gold Striker construction porn updates commence!

Normally, seeing trees get cut down is sad, but this is an EXTRAORDINARY circumstance.

I see you...you're just waiting for us aren't you...

The best portable toilet in the world, in the core of the finely built coaster.

The long train will gracefully slide through the tight opening...

It is foggy mornings like this one that'll naturally lubricate the track, allowing the train to only go faster and faster...

Don't be sad, Midway footers. Soon you shall become one with Goldy...

New bents impatiently waiting to be transferred over...

You are looking good, even in the fog...

Wooden coaster construction is dirty, very dirty... (shot under the wall)

The midway footers, waiting...

The brackets are VERY sensitive...you don't want to put the bents on them too hard.

G-Goldy...y-you, ohhhh you smell WONDERFUL... (Southern Yellow Pine!)

Goldy's smooth, fine curves...

Goldy stands proudly, even though the trees are in the way here.

These trees have sacrificed themselves for an insane first drop.

Here is Goldy, illuminated by the sun at last...

Goldy's small opening again...

Another dive under the structure. There is going to seriously be a LOT of headchoppers in this ride.

Goldy's small opening from Slaughterhouse's queue.

Such an impressive, well-built structure...

You can see the fan-turn style bents driving themselves firmly into the ground...

Random wood pieces.

You are j-just...G-GORGEOUS Goldy...we will be very happy to see you next Spring!

BONUS PHOTO! Jeff and Heather brace themselves for impact on Logger's/BWC.

BONUS PHOTO #2! The evil Star Tower engages in a laser duel with its taller brother behind Goldy.

Great trip report!

I think someone else got you pretty good last night in a certain Werewolf maze!

So why did it take until 2008 to add the Hallowenn Haunt?

So why did it take until 2008 to add the Hallowenn Haunt?

Paramount never had a major Halloween event, plus that is the year all the former Paramount parks got a Halloween Haunt event.

The park didnt get fully Cedar Fair-ized until 2008. 2007 the park did offer CarnEvil during the day time operation as a little teaser as to what is to come.

Great update BFG!

Ok, so here's my update! As a side note, please bear with me with the quality of photos. I had my battery charging for my DSLR the night before, and I have everything loaded in my bag. At the park, Jeff and I are talking about cameras and how his battery/camera is getting serviced when it dawned on me that my battery was still on the charger at home. Good thing my iPhone can take decent daytime shots...night on the other hand are less than stellar.

It was a very surreal morning at the park as there was a considerable amount of fog hanging about (Too much fog from previous night? lol) and after deciding to get our Haunt meal tickets early we find that their (Windows 2000-based) computers are down. In just minutes before park opening, the systems are back up and running. It was also the Cheer Leader Competition so there were some crowds at the gates. A lady ahead of us was 'saving a spot' for their pretty large group for the security check and were generous enough (after probably seeing the look on my face when the first person met up and when I saw strollers coming behind us to cut over) to let us ahead of them.

In the park, we took our first ride on the Star Tower for a very surreal view of Gold Striker...with the rest of the park swallowed up in the bay area fog. We were the only ones riding and the tower's onboard audio spiel was off so we got a nice, quiet ride (could hear the whines and groans of the motors pulling us up).

Some other day highlights:

Lines were short all day regardless of the cheer competition. Very few groups of cheer leaders were actually in the park itself! And the size of the cheer group in the amphitheater was quite small. Haunt crowds were light too!

As BFG said, had some pretty wild rides on the Flyers, and I'm also figuring out how to get some pretty high outward swings and quick dives while being nice to the cables

Also as BFG said, Grizzly was running insanely quick! I counted 3 moments of airtime (floater air, but fun nonetheless) coming off the 3-second turnaround, a rather smooth entry into the second turnaround by the station, some more air coming off the last turnaround and some light air over the last little hump.

Recently contributing to the Reride policy thread, we were greeted to a kind ride op who asked us if we'd like to ride again when doing Drop Tower as there was no line. I'm pretty sure we probably could have kept going but people finally showed up. Surreal moment: We decide to close our eyes going up, then open them at the top only to see yet again another very foggy park below us!

Logger's seemed to provide some nice floater air even with 2 of us in a log. It was freaky however going up the lift with both of us in the back end of the log (weight the back down for a less intense splash)...the front of the log was bouncing about going up the lift, making me wonder if it's going to tilt back on us.

White Water Falls delivered probably the freakiest moment of airtime for me, especially on my second ride. This can only be felt in the back row of the boat, bonus points if you go hands up! Honestly, it felt like I was going to get yanked right out...fun stuff!

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Haunt highlights:

Being it was a sunday, crowds were light...but I did not expect to be the only group for the Haunt meal...Ok, there was 1 other random guest. He was almost nonexistent, thus making this feel like VIP status. You can say we had "Exclusive Monster Time" during Boofet as we kind of hung out with them before getting in the park at 6:45. Was also cool running into the security that recognizes me from here and Youtube, as well as Facebook.

Being as the Boofet was dead, our entry into the park was pretty epic, being the only group wandering into The Gauntlet...Exclusive Clown Time you can say.

Toy Factory provided a pretty solid experience the first visit...the freakiest moment being in the strobe room with the dolls gazing right into my eyes in what felt like slow motion. Also there was an insane amount of fog in one of the first rooms, making it difficult to tell which toy packages actually had someone inside.

Cornstalkers once again offered some great moments of startles due to the camouflaged talent, and others that were either fake, or passed off as fake until the right time.

Madame Marie's was probably the strongest maze of the night. As BFG said, the portrait hall had a pretty "WTF" moment as we were initially disappointed in the lack of talent...until one slides the portrait to the side (sliding window) and scares us pretty good! Also finally saw Madame Marie! Initially saw Madame Marie at the Boofet with her pet Heidi (a walking hand), she greeted us to take our souls as we passed by her room! Also, as BFG noted, we got a healthy spray from the zombie door. Speaking of which, while this is a cool element in the maze, it is a tad out of place...still provides a good moment of startles if you don't really see it coming. And not everyone going through the maze will get blasted so your timing has to be good. MMMM got my vote last night.

Slaughter House was a stronger last night but still serves more as a 'visuals' kind of maze rather than the pop out and scare techniques.

Club Blood...what happened to you tonight? CB didn't do much for me that night as there didn't seem to be any real effort to try to scare us. On the plus side, we did get to see some good views of the workspace/parking lot entering the maze, as well as walking right by the lift foundation exiting the maze. Downside? All the shredded up greenery and the possible kicked up pollen really affected my allergies today...you can really smell the trees and whatnot when in line...part of me felt like I was at the Christmas tree lot

Werewolf Canyon seems to be on a roll as far as continuing to improve, this one did not disappoint! A certain werewolf got some of us pretty good, did a pretty convincing job at being an aggressive werewolf What leads you on to a dead spot catches you by surprise with a wolf blasting that crazy horn that once lived at Black Widow's Cavern. Heading into the 3rd segment of the maze has to be my favorite part...it's a dimly lit (red) hallway loaded with fog and solid walls with small holes in it (allowing outside lights to pierce through). Out of nowhere, there's this massive werewolf there to greet you and you really can't see him until you're within just a few feet! Werewolf, you got my vote last night!

Underworld Alley provided once again a lively atmosphere and sent my cousin and BFG on a long sprint over to Drop Tower, complete with one of the talent chasing them all the way down there! The 'pick your path' option adds some nice variation.

Gauntlet was pretty much lacking once again, sadly...this used to be my favorite scare zone but has become just a shadow of its former self. However, it was entertaining to see one of the talent (that I know) breathe some action into the zone by chasing my cousin down the zone until she took cover in a nearby shop! Funny stuff! Well, atleast she didn't book it into the restrooms this time

Dead Man's Cove...are you even there? No? That's a shame... The largest scare zone with the weakest effort and fewest talent. Bummer that I was told that I couldn't film with my assist lamp on, using my iPhone ("Turn off your flash light!")...Oh well, nothing really to film anyway...sad to bash a scare zone but it is pretty disappointing. Again, lack of music (3rd time noting this haha).

Deciding to take a break we decided to catch the full Culture Pop show. CGA definitely has a solid show on their hands and I feel that they can keep this show alive for a few seasons since it's all based on current trends. Now as long as current trends remain interesting, this show can feed off of it. Bonus points for ripping on Six Flags' Fright Fest

Final Toy Factory highlight before I had to get heading out...In line, I decide to play the theme on my phone, having it perfectly synced with the maze's music and loop perfectly...suddenly the stereo music is gone and the tune continues through my tiny speaker...I wonder to myself, 'what happened?' as I see that the house lights came on in the maze, strobe room was light up like normal and talent were just walking out. Still have no clue what happened other than seeing security arrive. In about 5-10 minutes, the familiar tune comes back on and the line gets moving again...first semi maze e-stop credit!

Kicking off the day, what other way is there than to somehow make a coaster reference out of a simple word? (This is how we pass time in line )

Coming into Star Tower...you see green...

Now, you don't see green! The tower now looks very naked without its trees!

The lift and drop foundation is taking shape and will be ready for cement soon (maybe this week?)

As shown, here's the latest progress!

Also as shown, more bents!

It was very foggy that day.

Closeup of the first turnaround...it has really taken shape!

We all like very dirty photos! (As mentioned, this is visible from under the fence)

Gold Striker Butt Shot!

Going down...

SKLOOSH!

The pair of turnarounds rising above the trees

More Star Tower Gold Porn!

View from Carousel

Speaking of which, I have not ridden the Columbia for the past several months.

Shhh...don't wake the Overlord, or he WILL shove the diarrhea back up your butt

Flyers session

Food...you know what this means, Exclusive Food Time, Exclusive Monster Time, and Exclusive Maze time

Hurr Hurr...my head's got supports

After nearly being attacked by a bunch of yellow jackets we decide to move indoors...and put on a movie...any guess at what's on?

Here's your other clue!

Shortly after eating, some people came to greet us... Hello Madame Marie!

And her pet, Heidi! Rumor has it that it's a similar species to Thing.

Giant crayolas!

Take this lollipop!

S'more Gold porn!

Some of The Gauntlet crew!

Random

We decided to do a night time spin on Firefall (or what we now call FireFarts due to the strong odors this ride's produced the past few weeks)

More necro-fun!

Alright folks, well that's a wrap! I wish had gotten some more Haunt shots...next weekend! Planning on getting some atmosphere shots...just don't forget the battery pack this time, Billy!

Had another great time at the park with the gang. It's hard to believe we have only 2 more weekends left till the park closes for the season, though with Winter Wonderland opening this year inside the park, we'll have more excuses for more Gold Striker pics!

First and foremost, another Invertigarden? Nope Gold Striker prep for the lift and spiraling first drop!

Bye Bye Trees.....

Soon this will be a different view from the ST queue..

Already noticing the differences between the POV and actual construction with the headchopper effect finale at the last turnaround

Trees sacrificed for GS! We salute them

Getting more massive every week...

BlueFireGuy, The Carousel, & The Woodie...

Reflecting on what 2013 will be like by the Reflection Pool....

Another view that will change....

49er Stadium Construction progress....

Boofet time!

'Til next week!

Awesome updates from everyone, you all know I wish I could be there but can't. It's just crazy to see GS grow more and more in between each week. When the off season starts, that's when they'll kick it into high gear and before you know it GS will be done. Anyone wanna camp out for opening day, lol.

Anyone wanna camp out for opening day, lol.

I actually sort of wanted to, thought it would be a fun experience haha.

I've always wanted to, but haven't had a reason to do it. Now we have a good enough reason to camp out. Be first in line for GS of the season, even though we'll be there for media day as well, lol.

Nice update Jeff! Again, I like seeing what each of us has covered

Switching gears here from Haunt and Gold discussion to a future event at the park. Remember Global Winter Wonderland? It was noted a while back that it will take place inside of the park this year. A few rides (6) will be running including the Carousel, Berserker, Delirium, Flyers (yay!), Bumper Cars, and Celebration Swings. There will also be a handful of carnie rides brought in, primarily kiddie rides including tea cups, a couple Hampton "spinning umbrella" rides (as I call them, the typical jeep/motorcycle ride), Dizzy Dragons, Star Ship 2000, a funhouse, Century Wheel, kiddie train ride, and a random bee flat ride.

It looks like there will be a parking fee, park admission fee, and an additional fee to do the rides (not sure if this is just for the carnie rides or if CGA's as well). Also, I was flipping through some of the images they had posted on their site and found several interesting ones. Check out the "Lanterns" link for some interesting stuff!

Inverti-Castle! (This could very well be even bigger than Disneyland's Castle haha)

Going from evil clowns to an enchanted entry way...quite the polar opposite!

this sort of reminds me of the Beverly Hills Cop III reflection pond makeover with the elephant fountain.

And most importantly...

Somewhat Dino's Alive!

I was hoping for a Wacky Worm for whoring purposes, but still...yay for carnie rides ! Especially a TPR takeover of Dizzy Dragons, those things are easy to spin riding solo, but with a group of crazies...oh dear...

Any pictures for this past weekend?

Any pictures for this past weekend?

I'm sure there will be a couple great TR's coming up shortly.

I took the weekend off from GA as the lines are getting out of hand now- even last Sunday Flight Deck's line was 20 mins. Definitely looking forward to updates on the striker though

What Rolercstrluvr said, there will be at least 3 reports real soon... My report will be up when I get off work

Here's a teaser to hold you over for now.

It's amazing to watch how much the coaster is growing every week! Really appreciate all the updates people are doing, planning on checking it out before my Haunt shift on Saturday. Speaking of Haunt, if you plan on visiting this weekend I highly recommend on purchasing Fright Lane as it is going to be packed this weekend.

Can't wait for the updates to roll in from this weekend, I loves me some GS porn.

I'm back with my weekly update once again!

A few important notes: This time I did remember my battery for my DSLR (yay!) however shooting some Gold Striker photos proved to be a challenge as the Star Tower was down all day (or technically, it was up...half empty half full kind of thing). The next best spot to see anything is via the Carousel, or if you don't mind not being able to take photos, shelling out $17 but get a nice top down view, give Xtreme Skyflyer a try.

Some Haunt tidbits:

I am quite impressed with how manageable the park is even this late in the season. Crowds are picking up even for a Sunday but very bearable. However, the longest we waited was 20 minutes for Werewolf Canyon. We actually had all mazes done within the first 90 minutes...with taking our time too!

Madame Marie's is still holding itself in the spotlight, being my favorite maze. I don't know why, but I was actually getting a little nervous walking down that portrait hallway as it was just...too quiet. Each of those portraits are a potential scare so, here's M4's 'it' moment as I like to say.

Cornstalkers and Club Blood were the least standouts last night...I'm guessing that several may have been on break and/or called in sick or ??? with Cornstalkers. Normally this one's pretty solid but last night it kind of fell apart.

CarnEvil was good as always, I don't think anything can really go wrong in there...especially after watching Blue Fire Guy walk right into a mirror in the mirror maze

Toy Factory could have done a little more effort last night, though one of those dangling doll heads got me...was walking through wondering what happened to all of them, thinking someone ripped them all out until I practically kiss one as I walk right into it...couldn't see it

Werewolf kind of fell apart a bit last night which was a bit sad. It was improving really well the past 3 weeks. Instead, Gauntlet vastly improved, more 'in your face.' I had a tough time voting between UA and Gauntlet as they were both pretty solid.

Without further ado, here's my update, and the first of the wave of updates!

First off, here's how the stadium's looking for you sports fans.

Uh, Star Tower...why are you still parked up top? It's 9:56 already!

Aw...

And this is most definitely the reason why.

Well, it's down for a good reason so we can't complain!

It is looking even more bare back there!

Coming over to the wall, we see the dirt behind getting a massive woodie

Star Tower gazes over the construction site today.

Being creative, we decide that Carousel Columbia should offer a decent overview of the site, as well as seeing how curvy she's getting

NERD! (Snapping photo of Overlord mechanism behind stage)

One last look at the site for now.

Being that Fall weather is out to play, though we still are craving some log ride action, we decide to take our own personal log. There were no lines so we felt this should be fine.

So...how do you like my new pen that I found laying around?

Alright, back to some GS porn...there really is not much we can really do from this side now as it all looks the same minus the first layer of rails being done.

My cousin and Jeff suited up for their flight.

Taking in a nice drop!

Alright, it's our turn! (Blue Fire Guy and I, first ride on this)

I'm ready, let's do this!

OMG This thing's insane!

We have to now process what just happened to us

Another random shot of GS

Xmas lights are starting to pop up inside the park, this is certainly not lighting for Haunt.

Other random shots..."Your seats are now potatoes!"

No real pre-scare tonight but Madame Marie came to visit us again, and she took my soul!

A new face in the Gauntlet. This guy came from Knotts Berry Farm, and did a pretty good job breathing the much needed life into Gauntlet.

Some evening gold porn, not much to see now.

Random evening Haunt shots from here on

White Water Falls still had water running all night long.

Some friends in Gauntlet

Underlord is rocking a new look this season!

The poor driver was ejected from his jeep when the werewolves came out to play.

Night time insane flyers ride, Flagg O'Dim approves!

Last photos of Gold Striker before we leave...this is what I call Gold Butt and Crane Butt.

Alright, Good night CGA! Oh, what's this? Looks like Star Tower's defending his wood via firing lasers out!

Angry_Gumball, you never fail with awesome updates and GS porn. I can't wait to see more of GS as it'll be awhile since I can go back to the park. But before we know it, it'll be media day and we'll be riding it like crazy, lol.

Thanks for the pics, ah Xtreme what a rush after a 9 year gap from my last ride

On to my pics

More dirt!

New signs....

Star Tower closed......you're forgiven due to GS

I see new wood up!

Star Tower all naked and exposed

Borrowed talent from KBF scaring the anxious crowd...

One more weekend of Haunt to go, then 4 week break till Winter Wonderland! Until next time!

Basically like i've said above, another great PTR. Something that I forgot to mention in my last post is that it's awesome that KBF is donating talent from their haunt to ours. It's little things like this that make me appreciate CGA and KBF more than Six Flags.