CGA's new woodie

[demonbulleagle]

Here is the layout for California's Great America's new woodie
http://www.screamscape.com/iaapa/html/iaapa_9.htm

And now it will look even less like our park.

Willard J. Marriott would be sad.

[SheiKra13]

I like the layout.

Looks fun.

And Yes Willard Marriot would be sad, and he would be sad to see what has happened to the parks

[FParker185]

The layout will likely be changed if the coaster does in fact get built (50/50 chance).

I don't see why J. Willard Marriott would be upset with the direction the Great Americas have gone in. Both are still in business, and both are profitable 30+ years after opening, both parks have expanded greatly since then, and both parks still attract large numbers of visitors every year. I think he'd be pretty happy if you ask me. Also to Willard Marriott, the Great Americas were just another business. He/they didnt care for the theme park business and sold off the parks and all other non hotel assets. Now that I really think about it, I bet he wouldn't care less about either park.

At least I got one of his personal MGA nametags. Says J. Willard Marriott, Founder

[coasterkidd100]

Looks like a great ride! I like the layout.

[cycamps]

The layout is a lot larger than I anticpated. It looks like it'll be a fun coaster though.

[Coastermonkey61]

Only 100 feet tall? Yeah, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's gonna be a little taller than that.

[demonbulleagle]

Well their Sky Trek Tower (which is now Star Tower) is only 200 feet not 330 like ours.

[Jackluver18]

seems like a cool ride to me

[Trailblazer Tony]

It reminds me of Thunderhead, I think despite the layout, these coasters always turn out great for me because of the comfortable vehicles, so I'm sure it'll turn out wonderful if built. Interesting idea to wrap around the tower ride....nudge nudge Great America.

[coasterkidd100]

^Do we even enough room to have a roller coaster go around STT?

[FParker185]

We have the same room they do, but they are tearing out Pictorium and they tore out Whizzer a long time ago and since then it's been a field of gravel. Though earliest this new coaster is built is 2010, but it's looking more and more likely it will never get built. Especially if the 49'ers buy the park (assuming they keep it open)

[coasterkidd100]

I just can't see a roller coaster going around STT.

[guitarhero119]

I don't know about that layout it looks like it doesn't pack a punch for the amount of space its going to take up. The idea of going around tower is interesting though...

[FParker185]

here's a news article (with no link) that was posted elsewhere, it sounds like the city isnt going to allow this coaster, and they sorta hint that the park is becoming unwelcome in Santa Clara, at the end you'll notice the paragraph "It's almost at a point where we need to seriously consider what
happens next with the whole park," Mayor Patricia Mahan said, "all the
buildings that have gone up since the park has gone in. There are
bigger questions here."

So, it sounds like another park is getting ready to bite the dust in the not do distant future, especially if the 49'ers don't drop this stadium business...

Proposed 111-foot-tall Great America coaster hits a bump, neighbor
objects to noise
By Denis Theriault
Mercury News
Article Launched: 09/14/2008 04:09:53 PM PDT


Wooden roller coasters are usually beloved for the bone-rattling drops
and head-snapping twists they deal to their devil-may-care devotees.
But at Great America this summer, it's been a proposed roller coaster
enduring the bumpy ride, buffeted by a next-door neighbor's gripes
over the shrieks of delight it might bring.

Whether that trip turns smooth — or comes to an abrupt halt — could be
decided Tuesday night.

Santa Clara's city council, in a first for the city, could keep the
ride on the lumber pile, swayed by those noise complaints from a
valued commercial landlord. Or, hewing to the recommendation of its
planners, it could push forward on the sprawling, 111-foot-tall
behemoth, billed as the park's biggest capital investment in years.
And a third option? Build the coaster, but check back later to make
sure it isn't louder than expected.

Of course, judging by those who might have the biggest stake in the
debate — roller-coaster fans — whatever decision council members reach
won't be easy.

"If it's by some offices, just keep this one," said Logan Breitbart of
San Jose, emerging from the theme park's other cherished wood coaster,
the Grizzly, on Saturday afternoon. "Another one is unnecessary."

Not so said Aubrey Merriman of San Jose, another Grizzly rider. As he
sees it, noise is one of the perils of setting up shop next to a theme
park. "It'd be a shame," he said. "I'd be pretty disappointed if they
couldn't see the greater good. It would be different if they were
going from complete silence to having a new ride."

The months-old donnybrook — which found its way to a handful of
coaster buffs' blogs and transformed the stuff of child's play into
big-person problems like mitigation and decibel levels — blossomed
from what's typically been a routine zoning request: an exemption from
the area's 35-foot height limit. But after a compromise failed and as
the two sides staked out their positions, in dueling noise-level
reports, at public hearings and in tersely worded letters, the issue
of height was quickly trumped.

For Prudential Real Estate, which owns the 8-year-old office complex
along the park's western edge, those concerns about noise quickly came
down to one word: location. Their property line sits about 150 feet
from the proposed coaster site, home to another coaster some 20 years
ago but empty since then. Prudential's lawyers argued their noise
report showed that the employees in those buildings, occupied by
Nortel Systems, will find their workdays unduly disrupted by the
ongoing howls just across the way.

And, anyway, their lawyers told city officials, the park is already
too loud, even without a new coaster next door.

Prudential officials declined to comment, referring instead to their
correspondence with the city.

But the 32-year-old theme park, which leases its site from the city,
begged to differ. Not allowing the heavily promoted new ride — and
possibly setting new restrictions on heights and volume levels — would
put shackles on the park's future, they said. Even more importantly,
its operators said, their noise report revealed no problems for office
workers.

"Everyone is always adding new projects, new capital, new
improvements," said Jim Stellmack, the park's director of marketing.
"A lot of this business is, 'What have you done for me lately?'"

So which side was right? In May, the planning commission voted 5-1 in
favor of the theme park. But when Prudential appealed, forcing a
hearing before the council in July, council members weren't so sure.
They were certain, however, that they needed more information. And so
a third noise study, which included reviews of the first two, was
commissioned.

It's that report which formed the basis the city staff's
recommendation to approve the height exemption this week. The study,
conducted by East Bay firm Wilson, Ihrig, essentially agreed that
screams, even from 150 feet away, wouldn't intrude.

Still, some officials say, a battle that's seen two city stakeholders
pitted against one another, echoing the controversy over a proposed
San Francisco 49ers stadium on the other side of the park, points to
larger issues, especially as tech companies like Yahoo and others seek
to deepen their presence in the area.

"It's almost at a point where we need to seriously consider what
happens next with the whole park," Mayor Patricia Mahan said, "all the
buildings that have gone up since the park has gone in. There are
bigger questions here."

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED

To read the city staff's recommendation, and to review each parties
report on noise levels, go to sireweb.santaclaraca.gov/
pubmtgframe.aspx?meetid=24&doctype=AGENDA.

Mercury News Staff Writer Shelby Martin contributed to this report.

Contact Denis C. Theriault at dtheriault@mercurynews.com or (408)
920-5035.

[demonbulleagle]

I would break down and cry if they close down this park.

[Coastermonkey61]

It doesn't even seem like the city wants to keep the park around anymore.

[cycamps]

I think it'd be a shame if the park was removed. It makes me want to hurry up and get out there somehow so I don't have to worry about missing out in the worst case scenario. I hope that it works out for the park; a new coaster would be neat for them.

[Trailblazer Tony]

Well, I can't say that i've heard many great things about this park, and there really is no desire for me to get out there and check it out (other than to make comparisons in terms of layout/development to ours), but it's sad to see this coaster not go through. In a way, it is kind of the symbol representing the future of the park. It's almost like the Ravine Flyer 2 for Waldameer....

[BP317]

How has this not been brought up yet.

"If it's by some offices, just keep this one," said Logan Breitbart of
San Jose, emerging from the theme park's other cherished wood coaster,
the Grizzly, on Saturday afternoon. "Another one is unnecessary."

WTF!?!?!?!?!?!

[demonbulleagle]

Holy Crap, I diddn't even see that!!!!!!!!!!!!