California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

If they can do it I hope it goes there so any other unoccupied space can be saved for a coaster.

^ That's true. They will need the unused space open for when they finally get a real roller coaster, in 2019!

I hope we don't have to wait THAT long!

Californias great america really needs a new ride the park is getting pretty boring at least the swing ride is fun it just stinks that you have to pay to get on but its worth it i guess. Halloween haut was really fun cant wait until next year, and the Hypnosis did work me my brother and cousin all got hypnotized and it wasn't a act totally real it was insane!

Anyone know what the hour capacity is for the ride?

It's probably definitely less than 100 pph.

Anyone know what the hour capacity is for the ride?

Doing some basic calculations....

Assume it takes 6 minutes to complete one cycle of the ride (load, ride, unload). Then with 8 people at a time, that's:

8x10 = 80 people in an hour. That's a VERY low number.

That calculation seems about right. My guess would be a 4-minute load/cycle/unload which still, capacity-wise, would be pretty low. Though it is only a 40-rider difference when it comes to comparing it to a single S&S tower that seats 12.

Found this video on Youtube showing footage from the park in 1978.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUgQepOs6OU

^Wow. Great find! I wish I could have seen CGA back it its heyday.

That reminded me...I saw some old movie film footage of MGA at work the other day. Some customer brought in their old film to be done to DVD and as I was mastering the DVD I noticed a Sky Whirl with it's original red base...and also saw the old Bottoms up and Turn of the Century. Unfortunately, their segment of GA wasn't anything more than maybe 20 feet of footage - roughly a minute.

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_13954469?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Great America owners sue Santa Clara over 49ers stadium deal

By Howard Mintz

 

hmintz@mercurynews.com

 

Posted: 12/08/2009 04:14:37 PM PST

Updated: 12/09/2009 04:50:33 AM PST

 

 

As the Santa Clara City Council approved a crucial environmental report Tuesday on a proposed stadium for the 49ers, the corporate owners of Great America theme park sued to void the terms of a deal between the city and the NFL team, saying the pact is illegal and threatens the rights of the park — which would stand adjacent to the new stadium if it is approved.

 

The lawsuit marked yet another escalation of tension between Cedar Fair Entertainment — Great America's owners — and the city over the stadium project, just as the council was considering a resolution to put the stadium proposal before voters on the June 8 ballot. In a lawsuit filed late Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Cedar Fair argues that the June agreement between the city and the 49ers should not have been consummated before the completion and approval of an environmental impact report.

 

With its chamber packed with stadium supporters and foes, the council late Tuesday voted 5-2 to approve the environmental impact report, a thick document that outlines the potential impact of a 49ers stadium on area traffic, parking, noise, air quality and other factors. The vote enables the city to put the stadium issue to a binding vote of Santa Clara residents. The City Council early this morning instructed city staffers to prepare language for a measure for the June 8 ballot for voters to decide the stadium issue.

 

At the same time, a member of a Santa Clara civic group told the council they would at some point today unveil a voter initiative, backed by the 49ers, to put the issue on the June ballot separately. Former city councilman Pat Kolstad said the group, Santa Clarans for Economic Progress, would immediately begin gathering signatures to get the initiative on the ballot, arguing that such a measure would be tougher to challenge and delay before an election than a measure placed on the ballot by the council. City council members indicated they want to avoid dueling measures on the ballot.

 

"There would be no delay in finding out what the voters want in this deal," Kolstad told the council.

 

More than two dozen residents addressed the council, some wearing 49ers gear and backing a stadium, and others expressed concern about tens of thousands of fans descending on the region on Sundays and spoiling local neighborhoods. It remained possible late Tuesday that the council would put off a vote until its meeting next week.

 

The lawsuit relates to a city term sheet with the 49ers in the spring that sets out a host of conditions for constructing and operating the stadium, which would be built on a large parking lot next to Great America. The agreement provides for a package of $114 million in public contributions, as well as promises from the 49ers to cover any construction overruns on the $937 million project and any operating deficits once the stadium opens in 2014.

 

Santa Clara City Manager Jennifer Sparacino said she had not fully reviewed the lawsuit, but stressed that the term sheet with the 49ers is nonbinding on the city and called for compliance with environmental impact review laws as the project proceeds.

 

A spokesman for the 49ers declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying it is a matter between the city and the theme park owner. But the lawsuit could push the 49ers to follow through with a plan to go to the voters through an initiative, a move that would eliminate the need for environmental review and approval before the matter goes on the ballot and could short circuit legal challenges under state environmental laws.

 

In a letter sent to city officials and the 49ers this week, Cedar Fair's lawyers indicated they are trying to preserve their legal rights as negotiations with the city proceed. The park's owners have repeatedly warned that the potential impact on the park's business has not been taken into account and have asked the council to postpone consideration of the environmental impact report for at least another 30 days.

 

The council was also slated to consider a resolution to put the stadium issue on the June ballot for a citywide vote. Both the city and the 49ers have said the project will not go forward without approval from Santa Clara residents. The council may finalize that ballot measure, and what language would be placed before voters, on Dec. 15.

 

At the same time, the 49ers have told city officials they are considering an initiative to put the issue before the voters, instead of a council-backed ballot measure. Among other things, such a citizens' initiative would negate the need for an approved environmental impact report under California environmental laws; a ballot measure from the council requires an approved EIR. A "community-based group" would join the 49ers in the initiative push, according to a report from city officials.

 

Sparacino declined to comment on the possibility of the 49ers going with an initiative. Lisa Lang, a spokeswoman for the 49ers, said the team "is not prepared" to make any announcement on whether it intends to go the voters directly. Bill Bailey, treasurer of the anti-stadium group Santa Clara Plays Fair, expressed concern about the possible tactic.

 

"If the purpose is to get around (the environmental impact review), then that's dirty pool," he said Tuesday.

 

During Tuesday's meeting, Sparacino stressed that by approving the environmental impact report and date for a vote, the council was far from approving the stadium project. "By certifying the environmental impact report this evening, we still do not have a project that is approved," she told council members.

 

So just in case not everybody saw this, the LA Times released the names for the rides in Planet Snoopy: travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/planet-snoopy-6245/

Also, it looks like, along with Kings Dominion, the KidZville area will not be themed to Planet Snoopy, but instead the rides will just lose the HB theming and go with generic names: www.cagreatamerica.com/attractions/category.cfm?ac_id=40

Come one, Swing Swing Swing?!

There were more people in any given shot of that home movie than were in the entire park last time I was at CGA... on a bright sunny Saturday in September.

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14260668?nclick_check=1

Snoopy's in. SpongeBob is out. When scores of park visitors line up at Great America's annual reopening this spring, they'll find a slew of rethemed rides in the Santa Clara amusement park, all with freshly painted faces from the Peanuts gang. Adiós, Dora the Explorer, Rugrats and all things Nickelodeon. Welcome "Planet Snoopy." Guests will fly, whirl, bounce and squeal on "Peanuts Pirates," "Woodstock's Express" and "Sally's Love Buggies." And, let's not forget the gushing sprinklers at "Snoopy's Splash Dance."

 

Why switch from some of the hottest 'toons of the 21st century to classic characters created in 1950 by the Bay Area's own Charles M. Schulz? It's that Cedar Fair Entertainment's Great America, the third-largest amusement park company in the nation, owns the licensing rights to the Peanuts gang. Someone up top figured it was Nick — inherited from the park's Paramount days — that had to go.

 

'Peanuts' are in the comic strips every day," said Great America's spokesman Jim Stellmack, who sported a Snoopy tie and carried a Charlie Brown coffee thermos on a recent tour of the park. "Peanuts is a brand that crosses genders and generations." Therein lies the debate. "Who's Snoopy?" said 4-year-old Jose Garcia, with his family recently at the Great Mall in Milpitas. But during a random sampling of a class of 10- and 11-year-old students from San Jose's Apostles Lutheran School,Snoopy and the Peanuts gang prevailed. "He's funnier," said Matthew Remmel, 10.

 

But the debate over who is more popular — Peppermint Patty or SpongeBob's sidekick, Patrick — depends on when you were born and what cartoons you flicked on Saturday mornings. It's like asking who do you like better: the Fantastic Four or the Power Rangers? The Partridge Family or the Jonas Brothers? Howdy Doody or Buzz Lightyear? Joel Bullock has been receiving comments about the Nick-to-Peanuts switch on his roller coaster blog — www.thecoastercritic.com — since the Cedar Fair park gift shop in his area, Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C., started selling Nick products at half-price in July. "The general sense of my readers is that they're happy to see the change," he said, adding that he's partial to Dora. "That surprised me."

 

The Peanuts gang first appeared at the family-owned Knott's Berry Farm in Southern California in 1983. Cedar Fair bought Knott's in the 1990s and inherited Pig Pen, Lucy, Linus and the rest. After that, Cedar Fair started putting Peanuts characters into the rest of its parks. In 2006, the company bought five Paramount parks, including Great America, which already had a contract with Nickelodeon. Now, here comes Charlie Brown. That Apollo Global Management is poised to buy Cedar Fair's 18 amusement and water parks and five hotels for $2.4 billion shouldn't immediately affect the Peanuts branding when Great America reopens for the season on March 29.

 

Crews are busy taking down larger-than-life Dora characters and turning the old "Treetop Lookout" ride into "The Pumpkin Patch," where kids can fly through the air on orange pumpkins. The old orange Rugrats roller coaster ride has already been repainted yellow and will be renamed "Woodstock's Express." "You know? I think it's going to be OK," said Great America season pass holder Richard Wang, whose 5-year-old daughter adores Dora. "Maddie always was afraid of the SpongeBob character anyway."

According to CGAs facebook update, Grizzly's getting some retracking done on it again. Looks like it starts from the 10-minute turnaround to the second turn by Drop Zone.

www.facebook.com/cagreatamerica

What's funny is that they already completely re-tracked the first turn-around last off-season.

The area which was retracked last season was the first turn around. This year, the first uphill section, and second drop into the second turnaround were retracked.

Hopefully that will fix that jarring feeling after the initial drop...nothing worse than getting some airtime followed by a sudden jolt...and hopefully fixes the jack-hammering feeling up to the fan curve. Aside from that, I still need to get my pass, and can't wait till March...January & February are the 2 months that seem to drag on...

The park released the park map for the season: www.cagreatamerica.com/DOCs/10cga_parkmap.pdf

Looks like Panda Express will be replacing the former Hometown Grill.

So that's a final confirmation, no new rides again (with the possible exception of the redone Action FX theater as it won't be showing Spongebob). I also noticed they added a "Ride Warriors" store up in front up by their Locker Room and Dragons Layer stores.

And Rock Band Live, video games in the form of a show? Could be pretty interesting. Though it would be cool to see selected park guests rock it out in competition.

And Rock Band Live, video games in the form of a show? Could be pretty interesting. Though it would be cool to see selected park guests rock it out in competition.

^I agree!! I would get a season pass for the park just to do that!

What, no new coaster again this year?

Absolute blasphemy!!!

Come on, really? Ok now they have to do it in 2011 because this is totally lame!

What, no new coaster again this year?

 

Absolute blasphemy!!!

 

Come on, really? Ok now they have to do it in 2011 because this is totally lame!

Not even a new ride again this year. I started buying a season pass in 2001 when Psycho Mouse opened, and every succeeding year I have bought a pass but no new coaster since then (actually negative 2 coasters since then). Solid 9 years and counting...

It's been more than 10 years since a new coaster has been put in, right? More than 10 years too long!