Traveling the Globe for the Best Coasters and Theme Parks
We were lucky enough to have both our Northern and Southern California members in attendance for today’s visit to California’s Great America. With Mass Effect: New Earth on the horizon, as well as many other changes around the park we both had plenty to cover. Please enjoy the following update! Continue reading “California’s Great America Update – April 23rd 2016”
California’s Great America has finally reopened for the 2016 season, and we Northern Californian coaster enthusiasts couldn’t be more excited. Although, there was less fanfare than there has been on previous opening days, it was great to be back at the park nonetheless, and of course, we’re here to tell you all about it. Continue reading “California’s Great America – 2016 Season Opening!”
California’s Great America has announced that not only will they be remaining open for the winter season next year, but they will be holding a holiday event as well by the name of WinterFest. In this article we will briefly break down what this event will consist of, as well as our thoughts and opinions on this recent announcement. We hope you enjoy it. Continue reading “WinterFest coming to California’s Great America!”
On Saturday January 23rd, several ACE Members/ Film makers premiered their newest work, a wonderful documentary telling the story of one of the most influential theme-park ride and rollercoaster manufacturers the world has ever seen, Arrow. On January 30th, a week later, the crew came down south to Six Flags Magic Mountain to show coaster-fans their work. I was there and must say it was wonderful! Continue reading “Legacy of Arrow Documentary – Review”
The theme-park industry is always changing, every decade again record-breaking coasters push the limits of technology and that of riders in new innovative ways. Coasters become more massive, taller, faster, and longer by the years. A very important transition period in the coaster manufacturing industry was the 90’s, the usual coaster was well-established and the usual coasters were increased in size, new ways of designing them were invented, and new kinds of coasters made the rounds. For example Bolliger and Mabillard seperated from Intamin and created some coaster kinds the world hadn’t seen before, such as the Inverted Coaster. Let’s take a quick look around the state and see what the 5 Best Coasters in California That Opened in the ’90s are! Continue reading “The 5 Best Coasters in California That Opened In The ’90s”
It’s December 31st 2015. It’s hard to believe that another year has passed. 2015 was one heck of a wild ride, what a year it was for us here at California Coaster Kings, and the amusement industry as a whole. Let’s celebrate the great memories of the year past, while also looking for even better things to come. Please join us as we look back at 2015 and all the amazingness it brought and as we look into the magical future of 2016, which seems to be another amazing year for parks and park-goers in California! Continue reading “A Day Turns Into A Year – 2015 Turns Into 2016”
California’s Great America has announced the name for their new 2016 attraction, Mass Effect: New Earth! Based on the popular Mass Effect video game franchise, The park will be partnering with EA (Electronic Arts) as well as Bioware (The games creators) to completely renovate the Action Theater into an awe inspiring 4D space adventure. The experience will involve cutting edge technology 4D effects, movement, incredible special effects, and most interestingly, live performance! Continue reading “MASS EFFECT: NEW EARTH – The New 4D Adventure at California’s Great America”
It’s still that Halloween time of year, and all Californian parks stay opened late into the night for their annual haunts. Which means we all get to experience the best coasters around the state in the dark. Throw in some occasional cold nights, and you may find yourself experiencing the very best night-rides on some of them. In this top 5, we’ll be taking a look at the, arguably, 5 best coasters in the state when it comes to the experience guests will have when riding them at night! Here are the 5 Best Coasters in California to Ride at Night! Continue reading “The 5 Best Coasters in California to Ride at Night”
California Coaster Kings attended this year’s California’s Great America Halloween Haunt! Thanks to the Fright Lane and Skeleton Key passes we manage to visit all mazes, all Skeleton Key rooms, and all Scare Zones! This year’s event had 3 Scare Zones, and a special Experience: Mirror Mirror. In this particular review article, we’re looking at the 3 Scare Zones and Mirror Mirror the event had this year. Continue reading “California’s Great America Halloween Haunt 2015 – Scare Zones and Mirror Mirror Reviews”
California Coaster Kings attended this year’s California’s Great America Halloween Haunt! Thanks to the Fright Lane and Skeleton Key passes we manage to visit all mazes, all Skeleton Key rooms, and all Scare Zones! This year’s event had 8 mazes. In this particular review article, we’re looking at the 8 mazes the event had this year. Each is rated in 4 categories: Length, Scare, Set, and Experience. Each will also have a quick review! Continue reading “California’s Great America Halloween Haunt 2015 – MAZE Ratings and Reviews”
California’s Great America officially announced their 2016 addition in which they will be partnering with with Electronic Arts (EA) and BioWare to completely renovate the Action Theater into a brand new 4D experience in the Mass Effect canon. Guests will strap in and battle breath taking intergalactic enemies on their immersive 4D journey through the expansive Mass Effect universe. Continue reading “California’s Great America to Open MASS EFFECT 4D Experience in 2016!”
It’s that beautiful period of limbo between the summer season and Haunt season where the crowds just seem to melt away. After the cessation of weekday operation, there has still been a lot to cover at the park. Floortex is continuing in its semi confirmed transformation, and Halloween Haunt preparation is in full swing. Dare we say we have a leaked list of this years mazes and scare zones? Perhaps. Let’s continue and find out. Continue reading “California’s Great America Update – August 30th 2015”
Raphael, our special correspondent from Brazil, visited California for the first time this July. As a Florida park-fan, he decided to visit the opposite coast, and visited almost every single park in the state. His enthusiasm and great re-telling of his Californian adventures, mark the beginning of California Coaster Kings’ newest set of articles and trip reports. – iCCK is a more personalized, background-rich way of providing coverage. Here’s Raphael’s Northern California Adventure. Continue reading “Raphael’s Northern California Adventure”
It was a pleasure to finally be back at California’s Great America after a rather long break from coverage. We do apologize for the recent CGA coverage break but we are returning to our normal schedule so expect much more in the future. Since we haven’t been at the park in a bit, a lot has been going on including Vortex’s conversion and Haunt preparation so let’s quit stalling with this introduction and talk about it. Continue reading “California’s Great America Update – July 20th 2015”
California Coaster Kings rated many coasters, and although we’re usually not fans of listing/ranking rides or parks, we do create an annual California TOP 50! You might, and likely will, disagree, that’s totally fine! That’s what this TOP 50 is all about! Of the many rides in the state, we selected the 50 we think are best! Here are places 10-1 in the 2015 California TOP 50! Continue reading “California TOP 50 – 2015 – Part FIVE (10-1)”
California Coaster Kings rated many coasters, and although we’re usually not fans of listing/ranking rides or parks, we do create an annual California TOP 50! You might, and likely will, disagree, that’s totally fine! That’s what this TOP 50 is all about! Of the many rides in the state, we selected the 50 we think are best! Here are places 20-11 in the 2015 California TOP 50! Continue reading “California TOP 50 – 2015 – Part FOUR (20-11)”
We were very happy to be back at California’s Great America for another update, and good thing we were as there is a lot going on. Huge numbers of school trips were at the park, major construction is being done, new theming has been added, and an old ride is getting a new look! So, I could fill this intro with so more nonsense, but I think we’d both much rather get started with this update, so let’s do it! Continue reading “California’s Great America Update – June 9th 2015”
California Coaster Kings rated many coasters, and although we’re usually not fans of listing/ranking rides or parks, we do create an annual California TOP 50! You might, and likely will, disagree, that’s totally fine! That’s what this TOP 50 is all about! Of the many rides in the state, we selected the 50 we think are best! Here are places 50-41 in the 2015 California TOP 50! Continue reading “California TOP 50 – 2015- Part ONE (50-41)”
– Due to technical difficulties this post was delayed, we’re proud to present it to you at this time! – We were back at California’s Great America for memorial day update. As it has been awhile since we last visited the park, we have lots to talk about including awesome Gold Striker operations, memorial day crowds, new midway games and even more, so let’s get started! Continue reading “California’s Great America Update – May 25th”
Pretty much every coaster includes drops. Some are hardly considered drops, and some have riders fall out of the sky hundreds of feet. In addition there are quite some types of drops. We’ve decided to bring you the 5 best drops in California, from twisted drops, to those that invert riders, the state of California has a great coaster collection, and thus a great collection of thrilling and unique drops! Continue reading “The 5 Best Drops in California”