Hello from California(‘s Great America)!

Hi there Coaster101 readers, I wanted to thank John for his introduction last week, and also take an opportunity to say hello myself.  I figure the easiest way to do that is with a quick trip report from one of my home parks, California’s Great America.  Additionally, I wanted to let you know that if you have any questions about any California parks/coasters/other, or anything specific you’d like me to write about (or try to find more info about), feel free to let me know.  A lot of my “on-the ground” stuff will be on Northern California parks since I’m based up here, but I try to get down to Southern California a few times a year and will try to provide a news and info on all the major parks down there.  For now, on to the trip report!

Goldy Oldy 2

It happened that September 6-7 was Guest Appreciation weekend at  CGA, so a few buddies and I decided to head down on Sunday morning to get some late summer (and it turns out definitely post crowds) riding in, while also gorging ourselves on $1 hot dogs.  While parking in the lot, the biggest difference at the park this season is obvious.  On the opposite side of the parking lot is the giant, fancy, new home of the San Francisco 49ers.  It’s also pretty clear why the park and the 49ers came to an agreement to close the park on game days; I can’t imagine the Niners can afford not to use the parking lot for games.  After we finished being impressed by the stadium that basically wasn’t there a year ago, we headed into the park.

Levi's Stadium dominating the mostly empty CGA parking lot

Levi’s Stadium dominating the mostly empty CGA parking lot

 

CGA has a similar iconic entrance as its one time sister park, Six Flags Great America, with the beautiful double decker Columbia carousel at the end of a long fountain.  A few years ago the entrance didn’t look nearly as nice, and the effort Cedar Fair has made to beautify and maintain the park grounds shows.   The first stop for me these days is always Gold Striker, the GCI wooden coaster opened last year and named the #7 wooden coaster in the recent Golden Ticket awards (it was the #4 best new ride last year).  I always sort of debate whether I should go on it first, since it is definitely the top coaster at the park, but it’s close enough to the entrance and of course gets the longest line, so we usually give in.

A poorly cropped photo of the entrance Columbia Carousel and fountain

A poorly cropped photo of the entrance Columbia Carousel and fountain

Unfortunately things didn’t start well.  Apparently Gold Striker was down for some issue, and as always the employee at the entrance was unsure if or when it would be starting up.  The park was pretty empty so far, so we figured we would make our way around the rest of the park first, keeping our eyes out for trains on the Gold Striker lift.  We changed direction and headed to the opposite side of the entrance, toward Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun).

Lucky for us, early in the day Flight Deck was almost a walk-on.  I think part of the lack of crowds was probably related to this being basically the first post-summer weekend, although it’s been awhile since I’ve been to the park in the heart of summer so I’m not sure how full it is then, maybe we just lucked out.  Flight Deck was repainted this past offseason, and the new scheme helps the track pop and gives it a fresher feel, even if it is 20 year old (wait, really?)!  After taking one ride in the middle, we decided with the small crowd to go again, and wait for the front.  The front seat on Flight Deck is still one of my favorite ride experiences, and even though it’s smaller than most other B&M inverted coasters with only 3 inversions, I think it has one of the better rides and layouts.

Flight Deck heartline roll over the ride entrance

Flight Deck heartline roll over the ride entrance

Following Flight Deck, we headed towards the rear of the park that houses most of the other coasters.  The Flight Deck side of the park (the East side) is home mostly to the Boomerang Bay water park and the kids areas, although it does have some fun flat rides and the parks two water rides.  We rode a few of the flats, including my first time riding on a “Flying Scooter” type ride, Flying Eagles in this case, and I loved it.  As one of my friends said, “Rides where you can control it are the best.”  We also took in a round of dollar hot dogs and a ride on the Logger’s Run flume as the weather was heating up.  Both were excellent, although it is a little sad that Logger’s Run nowadays winds mostly through a water park instead of a wooded area.

Being alone in the front, I got soaked.

Being alone in the front, I got soaked.

As you head to the back of the park the first coaster you reach is also the first coaster I ever rode, now called Woodstock Express.  For nostalgias stake, I made my friends ride it.  It’s still pretty good for a family coaster, and it’s nice to know Intamin could make kiddie coasters in the 1980s as well as it make gigacoasters today.  We also hopped on Tiki Twirl, a Zamperla Disk’O.  It was actually the first time I had been on it as well, as it is broken almost every time I’m at the park.  It was also surprisingly fun with a decent amount of air time.

Pretty impressed I managed to fit (albeit sideways) in these Woodstock Express cars.

Pretty impressed I managed to fit (albeit sideways) in these Woodstock Express cars.

From here, we made our way to the two oldest coasters at the park, first The Grizzly and then The Demon.  The Grizzly is notorious for being one of the worst wooden coasters there is, both painful and not very thrilling.  I’ve never disliked it that much, but will admit before the trip my last ride on it was pretty bad.  However, it was re-tracked this past offseason, and it seems to have made a big difference.  It’s still a relatively mild coaster, but it was much smoother than I remembered and felt faster than my last ride.  The biggest downside is that the ride-ops are incredibly slow, so the line is actually one of the longest at the park.

After stopping for another round of dollar hot dogs, we hopped onto the Demon.  The oldest coaster in the park, these days it’s kind of rough and not as intense as newer coasters, but it’s still one of my favorites. I love the use of multiple tunnels (more coasters should use tunnels) and rock formations as well as its location in a wooded area in the back of the park.  Sadly the CA drought has eliminated some of the water effects, but hopefully that’s only temporary.  This one was another walk-on with the small crowds.  The theming could use some TLC, but I’m hoping that’s in the works based on the other repaint and landscape work done at the park in the last couple years.

The twin loops of the Demon poking through the trees.

The twin loops of the Demon poking through the trees.

Heading back towards Gold Striker, we still hadn’t noticed a train running.  But we had one more coaster to go: Vortex, a B&M stand-up.  I think it’s my least favorite coaster at the park, a combo of being very head-bangy while also being very short.  This is the one I always hope might be replaced with something new someday, maybe expanding into some nearby empty space where other rides were removed in the early 2000s.

Since Vortex is boring to look at, I took this picture  from the brake run of some ready to-go Halloween Haunt decorations

Since Vortex is boring to look at, I took this picture from the brake run of some ready to-go Halloween Haunt decorations

After hopping off Vortex, we finally saw it, a train heading up Gold Strikers lift.  Thank goodness!  We hustled over (well, after stopping for another hot dog round) and got in line.  With the park crowds still relatively small, the wait wasn’t bad at all, probably ~15-20 minutes.  We went on it three times, and it was awesome every time.  In the future I plan to write a more detailed post on Gold Striker specifically, but it really is one of the best wooden coasters I’ve ever been on.  It has an amazing amount of air time and manages to feel like it’s going top speed through the whole ride.  Also, props to the ride operators who load it quickly and seem to always be having a great time (it clearly gets the cream of the crop).

The Gold Striker entrance (and showing the drop twisting around the observation tower).

The Gold Striker entrance (and showing the drop twisting around the observation tower).

The line/station flyby of Gold Striker, one of my favorite elements as the train flies along this straightaway.

The Gold Striker train turning into the line/station flyby. The flyby is one of my favorite elements as the train just rockets along this straightaway.

For a park that a few years ago was languishing, California’s Great America is definitely rejuvenated.  The effort Cedar Fair has put into making the park feel fresh, from new paint on rides to well-manicured lawns, combined with getting a top-notch new coaster last year, has pulled it back from the brink.  It’s still a relatively small park, and I still dream of them getting one more top notch coaster, but it’s great to have the future of one of my home parks seem so much brighter than it did a few years ago.  It’s absolutely worth a visit if you’re in Northern California, if only to ride Gold Striker over and over.

I also highly recommend going on a dollar hot dog day, as long as you don’t mind feeling a little queasy after each ride.

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