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California's Great America | "Gold Striker" | GCI Wood

Don't get me wrong, i love GCI's and this one looks one of the best, but you can't compete with the airtime on the intamin prefabs and it is a shame that they haven't built one recently, but i understand why parks would prefer to buy a GCI, plus they have a lower height restriction.
 
Well it's a consideration whether you want a slightly cheaper coaster that can accomodate smaller children (GCI) or a more highly regarded* coaster with better capacity (Intamin).

*Highly regarded among the coaster enthusiasts, consistently voted among the top woodies in both Mitch Hawker and Golden Ticket and last but not least they're all the most popular ride in their respective park (haven't been to South Korea though).
 
Re: California's Great America | "Gold Striker" | GCI Wood

Then why not go with GG and get the best of both?
 
^ Why change manufacturers when you already have one that offers exactly what you are looking for?

Gravity Group's drawbacks lie in its design. Layouts have a history of not aging well due to higher forces, and until recently still offered PTCs, which pale in comparison to GCI's articulated trains.

Gravity Group is good, but Cedar Fair clearly sides with GCI's approach.
 
andrus said:
^That's a bit sad.. I would love for another park to invest in a prefab. They're awesome coasters and the GP loves them as well. It might not be a given chioce at the drawing desk but irl they're great rides!

I don't know what to say of Gold Striker. I used to love GCI. The two I had been on in Europe where both great, in fact Troy is excellent and world class!! But there was only one decent on my US trip. Ok Lightning Racer is a really solid ride but both Wildcat and Roar where horrible, rough and had uninspired layouts.. GCI seems like they're hit or miss really!
Click to expand...



Wildcat is like that because it was GCI's first coaster I do believe, so it's pretty old and obviously not as well-developed as their newer stuff. I happen to still like it, but I cannot speak for Roar. Thunderhead is like what they build now and that ride is absolutely fantastic.
 
It's about time they add a new coaster to Great America. That place was really starting to lose its appeal to me. This looks like a great addition though and it is probably enough to make me want to go there sometime when I'm in the area. Glad to see Great America is gettin' some love from Cedar Fair.
 
Construction is well underway!

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And those were taken in August...
 
Look on TPR, they have loads of recent constuction photos of the ride.
It's look great so far, hope this turns out well for the park, they need another big coaster.
 
To keep things up-to-date: Gold Striker was topped off last week, with a lot of progress to be shown in the layout.

Here is a video from a local news station on the progress.

http://ow.ly/htn7N

This looks to be shaping up as quite the wooden coaster. I'd go as far as to say it is underrated, in part due to the hype of Rocky Mountain Coaster creations.
 
More "nostalgic"? Because usually the new sleek coasters are the ones I find to be nostalgic.

Also "spring"?! I need an exact date!!!
 
Me either. I'm pulling in to San Fran on the 22nd of May on the Disney Wonder, and was hoping to get this in during the 2 day stop.
 
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