California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

^Glad you enjoyed it

So I'm back with a quick writeup on how last night went as I did my first Friday Haunt. No photos as I was too lazy, and while I thought my camera had life in it's batteries, they were dead. I'll be back Sunday anyway so I didn't really sweat it.

The crowds are definitely here! We also kind of had a late start which was a nice little slap in the face to get there early as the parking lot was a madhouse. We got in probably 7:30-ish. As far as wait times goes, it was strange. As packed as the park was, the longest wait we had was for Toy Factory (Had to use alternate exit, sadly...which completely bypassed the whole 'it' thing of TF), as well as Slaughter House. I actually did not mind the Slaughterhouse wait since I could just start at Gold Striker and smell fresh lumber. The shortest wait during the peak of the night was CarnEvil which was a whopping 5 minutes! Cornstalkers line was pretty long when we passed by it so we came back later which was about 15 minutes of waiting. Massacre Manor was about 20 as much as it probably had the longest, most confusing set of switchbacks. Club Blood was about 10 and we skipped Werewolf Canyon in favor of the flyers.

Noteable highlights and fails:

-Seeing GP carrying a TODDLER (yes you read that right) into Toy Factory. Little Jimmy's never going to want to play with his toys again.

-Walk-on rides on Flying Eagles

-Good view of Gold Striker though being that it's night, it's hard to tell what's changed (which does not look like much).

-If you hate the smell of cigarette smoke, last night would have not been for you. The scent was quite pungent everywhere...mix that in with a little dash of pot...some people were going as far as smoking a blunt in the queue and passing it off to their friends...right in front of park employees.

-Dead Man's cove, while yet still very sparse, was a little more active last night and were actually messing with us when a friend was getting a churro. Still no music, which definitely makes the scare zone kind of fade off into the fog.

I will have a nice little "End of the Season" wrap-up after this weekend with a final haunt report and GS porn. So sad that the end is literally just a day away...at least until GWW (where I can get my off-season flyer fix and gold porn).

Noteable highlights and fails:

-Seeing GP carrying a TODDLER (yes you read that right) into Toy Factory. Little Jimmy's never going to want to play with his toys again.

That's an awesome idea! I'm totally doing the same thing when I have a kid. Just think of all the money I'll save on not having to buy toys!

Drove by the area the other night and I couldn't believe how far along they are on the stadium.

I can bet in 2014 CF will add more slides to Boomerang Bay & hopefully 2 new shows in the Action theater. They need to get rid of Spongebob! I really enjoyed that Temple movie that was there at one time. Wish they could bring that back.

I can bet in 2014 CF will add more slides to Boomerang Bay & hopefully 2 new shows in the Action theater. They need to get rid of Spongebob! I really enjoyed that Temple movie that was there at one time. Wish they could bring that back.

To far ahead to think about that as of now, lets just get into the 2013 season before speculating on anything for 2014.

I ran to the park on my lunch break (11pm) tonight to try to get a last ride or two of the season. I got to ride demon once, but by the time I made it to FD they closed down the queue. I really wish they did some sort of New Years Eve night.

I need to work somewhere where I can go to a park for lunch!

I need to work somewhere where I can go to a park for lunch!

Your actually not allowed to be on rides during any breaks, only if you not in a shift. But you can stroll through the park.

I need to work somewhere where I can go to a park for lunch!

 

Your actually not allowed to be on rides during any breaks, only if you not in a shift. But you can stroll through the park.

Pretty sure he was referring to working somewhere within walking distance of a theme park, not actually working at the theme park.

Warning: Long read ahead of CGA season highlights, recaps and report!

Alright, I'm back with an end of the season report. Before I start my report, let's take a look at my expectations I posted last year and see how close I got.

Recap:

Expectations:

Honestly, seeing how this season went, I'm approaching the following seasons with a yellow light rather than going full speed ahead with hopes. With the JMA purchase, here are my expectations:

-New branding of the park and park materials

We all know JMA was a flop, found that out not long after the season ended, therefore anything about new branding is null and void...park in turn becomes treated more like a Cedar Fair park!

-Perhaps an announcement for a 2013 attraction

Yup, announcement for 2013 attraction alright! If you've been living under a rock, CGA announced Gold Striker back in August.

-Orange and Yellow trains to run on Demon (Yes, I'm looking at that Demon will continue to live at the park and not get scrapped since there's no reason to remove it).

Demon continues to operate, even got a little splash of fresh paint.

Wishful thinking/hopes:

-An attraction for 2012 even if it's a flat ride

Nope, nothing to hold us over...but checking out Gold Striker construction's been a ride in itself for me.

-Official announcement for the "Stampede" coaster.

Ok, so it's not quite Stampede but it is the GCI that finally materialized!

-Release of more Haunt music: Dead Man's Cove, Underworld Alley and possibly Slaughter House (As much as it's just background noise)

Yup, got them all downloaded, lives in my Haunt playlist

Expectations for next season:

-Gold Striker will either be ready to greet us opening day, or perhaps spring break. I don't see a "Six Flags" happening here.

-Coasters will get fresh coat of paint/coasters will get the rest of their much needed paint (Demon, Flight Deck)

-More sprucing up on the property (Parking lot signs are pretty faded, had a hard time finding where we parked the other night during Haunt, letters hard to read under the amber lighting)

-New Haunt maze and/or scare zone, and a maze revamp

-Madame Marie's Massacre Manor soundtrack gets released on Soundcloud for our listening pleasures

-Hint at a new ride

Wishful thinking:

-New attraction for Boomerang Bay, could use a speed slide complex...those drop slides are pretty nice

-Firefall gets new/improved program, earns more flips

-New show to replace the aging Spongebob

-2 ride limit gets lifted, highly beneficial if any kind of ERT sessions are going to happen.

2012 Season Highlights:

-Meeting many new TPR faces (and having these new faces become part of a normally meeting up group)

-5-man run on Didgeridoo Falls (Consisted of Flagg O'Dim, rjvader, my cousin, Robman, and myself). We were flying down that thing and walltime was not a thing unheard of. Most importantly, we all survived as we all bid farewell to each other just before dispatch.

-Catching air on DownUnder Thunder (and finally having video of it happening, thanks Blue Fire Guy!)

-The birth of "Clench 'n Squish" rides on Logger's Run, definitely some WTF moments!

-Gold Striker construction, Au13 media announcement invite

-Full-on take over on Woodstock's Express with many TPRers

-Mastering the art of snapping on their flyers

-And last but not least, Haunt!

Letdowns:

-Opening day, park is dead, I decide to kick off the season with as many Flight Deck rides as I could until I found out that after 2 laps, I have to get off and go around.

-Grizzly redundant seatbelts, leading to very slow operations

-The seriously screwed up queueing system for Grizzly early in the season...glad that got fixed!

And now, my last day of the season report.

The park was pretty quiet but busy at the same time. Many parents with children are there taking advantage of Snoopy's Costume Party and a lot of the family rides (and especially KidZville) were heavily occupied. Most of the major rides were all walk-on. Was overall a very good day and easy to get on rides.

Haunt was another beast to tackle however. Being as it was the last day, Haunt was pretty similar to my Friday experience, maybe just a bit lighter. Kicking off the night, I felt honored to hear that many of the Haunt talent enjoyed the "Haunt Vision Goggles" video I recently put together. Rather than having the typical scares and antics from the clowns, I was instead being complimented...felt good

Once Haunt opened, we jammed to the back of the park were we walked right into Toy Factory and Corn Stalkers. The certain element of Toy Factory was back online making it stand out once again. Corn Stalkers however was mostly dead, thus fading off into the fog. It was funny however hearing my cousin scream at a plant. From here, things were picking up fast! Madame Marie's was about 15 minute wait. We skipped by Slaughter House and Club Blood since it was still within that first hour and everyone's all up front. Slaughterhouse actually had additional queue set up right in front of the Gold Striker banner/wall.

We in turn headed over to Werewolf Canyon where the maze became a Giants victory celebration rather than a Haunt After that half hour wait, we headed over to Club Blood for a 10 minute wait and finished the night with Slaughter House with another half hour wait. Still having a half hour left before needing to head back, we finished the night riding Berserker, completing all 3 classic Schwarzkopf flat rides!

Random note I thought I'd cram in...my cousin and I counted 24 stroller-bound and/or carried toddlers, one crying in Underworld Alley, face smothered in dad's shoulder...good one pops, you just traumatized your beloved child!

It's been a fun season, probably the most standout seasons I've seen so far throughout my duration of being a passholder. I'm ready for 2013, literally. My pass has been renewed so I'm just waiting for opening day

Pictures of construction and other randomness!

Starting off the updates, with the recent clearing of greenery by Star Tower, this opened up a view outside of the park, right by where the pass processing is done. Note the level dirt in the back.

Probably the best view of GS you can get at ground level. Looks like the airtime hill is forming, as well as the track into the brake run. Also, more track/bents at the bottom of the Dead Man's Turn.

And not that it matters now as the park is closed for the season, but this once again remained parked up top for obvious reasons.

Definitely done for the season...the trash cans were upgraded to an iron fence.

Looks pretty much the same here.

If only the sun was not glaring through the windows...they've gotten quite dirty.

May not look different in foreground, but you can clearly see the brakerun going up!

My cousin could not get enough of that foam pit and just had to do it one last time for the season.

View from the Columbia...not much you can really see up here these days, especially with the Midway Turn starting to rise.

Bents await vertical construction

NERD!

I'm curious how that double up is going to feel going into the final turnaround.

Now for some super zoom nerd shots from Delta Flyer!

GS through the trees!

Drop Tower nerd shot

Riders falling, just released!

Flight Deck...

Gold Striker...

Stadium, this thing is massive! We actually drove right by it Friday night when exiting CGA's lot. Very strange, very massive!

Demon lift nerd shot. You can even see its little gear rotating!

Grizzly...

And Vortex...

From here, Vortex looks like a twisted mess! You can also spot those neon yellow and vibrant purple paint splotches. The purple's a bit hard to find, but it's on one of the support connectors.

It was a full moon for the final night of Haunt!

The 4-eye'd Star Tower

Overlord with star tower in background

Messing around, more laser-firing and ball-shooting Star Tower! Someone must have gotten it mad!

These Cedar Fair trash cans were secretly hiding out in a quiet area of the park...Ssssh, don't tell anyone

Heading into Slaughterhouse to finish the night, I accidentally left a long exposure on with a flash...looks kind of cool though.

What I really intended to do.

The bottom of the Dead Mans Turn...it looks like it's got a pretty sharp slope upward!

Back end of the Dead Man's Turn...sorry for all the speckles, it was very dusty back here.

A panoramic view of the turnaround, will give you a better idea what's going on.

Backside of the Midway Turn

1 last look at the upward slope.

And I'll end it with a recycled photo (from opening weekend) of the Carousel. Thanks CGA for an amazing and unforgettable season!

^Was the dust sawdust? On Saturday, they were working on dead man's turn, and if you walked in that narrow pathway beside Skyflyer, there was just enough of a breeze so that you could see sawdust land on you.

Probably could be. I do know that the whole Slaughter House queue smells kind of like the lumber section in Home Depot/Lowes...but smells better!

I think I need another shower after seeing those GoldPorn pics. Awesome TR to conclude the season, definitely looking forward to riding that beauty! Just be sure to bring an extra change of clothes for GWW, it'll be a wonderfully twisted mess by then. Sad to believe this awesome season is now over, but here's to an even better season in 2013 for obvious reasons.

And now, it's time to activate my off-season survival mode: Gilroy Gardens in November, SCBB limited operation days (Giant Dipper marathoning and maybe Undertow construction site pics), and of course, GWW!

I think I need another shower after seeing those GoldPorn pics. Awesome TR to conclude the season, definitely looking forward to riding that beauty! Just be sure to bring an extra change of clothes for GWW, it'll be a wonderfully twisted mess by then. Sad to believe this awesome season is now over, but here's to an even better season in 2013 for obvious reasons.

 

And now, it's time to activate my off-season survival mode: Gilroy Gardens in November, SCBB limited operation days (Giant Dipper marathoning and maybe Undertow construction site pics), and of course, GWW!

Same, activating my off season mode...or what I call "RCT and No Limits season." Still planning on hitting up GWW, and there's talk of us maybe doing Gilroy Gardens (Gold Pass FTW!).

I think I need another shower after seeing those GoldPorn pics. Awesome TR to conclude the season, definitely looking forward to riding that beauty! Just be sure to bring an extra change of clothes for GWW, it'll be a wonderfully twisted mess by then. Sad to believe this awesome season is now over, but here's to an even better season in 2013 for obvious reasons.

 

And now, it's time to activate my off-season survival mode: Gilroy Gardens in November, SCBB limited operation days (Giant Dipper marathoning and maybe Undertow construction site pics), and of course, GWW!

 

Same, activating my off season mode...or what I call "RCT and No Limits season." Still planning on hitting up GWW, and there's talk of us maybe doing Gilroy Gardens (Gold Pass FTW!).

Still never been to GG and I have the gold pass.

Great end of season recap and pics. I'm planning on doing a similar recap.

Speaking of Gilroy Gardens, we went Sunday! Look for a trip report tonight. I haven't had time to mention it (worked a 12-hour day yesterday).

Teaser: Do not underestimate Quicksilver Express.

In honor of the day before Halloween lol

The park just posted this on their facebook page.

Gold Striker is moving along. This is the Celebration Plaza turn. More pictures coming soon.

LIKEY LIKEY!

Wow, that was fast! Just Sunday it was not as high and the banking was not as sharp. Now I know what all those bents were that were stacked behind the wall.

Also looks like part of the construction wall's been taken down now that the season's over.

Almost "NINETY DEGREES!" Not quite, but almost. Can't wait to get some photos of this thing during GWW!

I believe this will actually hit 80 degrees which is pretty impressive-looking if you ask me!

Definitely wanting to hit up GWW just to see what happens in 4 weeks, and to get my flyer fix for the "post-season" as I will call it...we are not quite in off-season yet, but in "Post-Season" mode.

I am interested in going to the Global Winter Wonderland but I have a season pass. Is the event included if you have a season pass? Looks like all the rides will be open & CGA will be open on 12/25 & 1/1! Wow that's a first! The Global Winter Wonderland has a website. But not sure if I can enjoy the event using my season pass.

GWW is a separate ticketed event where you will pay to get in, and pay an additional fee for unlimited rides. I'm still waiting to hear back from them if CGA pass holders will get a discount.

Keep in mind only 6 CGA rides will be running: carousel, bumper cars, flyers (wooo!), swings, Delirium, and Berserker.

Oh then I'm not interested in going. I thought all the rides would be open. But look forward to reading your report!