California's Great America 2018 Rumor Roundup and Construction Update

Hey there Park Journey readers!

Today we are bringing you a full update of the construction that is happening at California's Great America. We previously published an article with our Top 5 Guesses on what's coming for 2018, and boy a lot has changed since then! The project area has significantly grown in scope, making some of our smaller choices highly unlikely. ​

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Written by Andrew Cunningham

Today, we're going to give you a construction update (taken on July 29th), and we're going to summarize what has been done so far. 

In case you're just joining us, let's start with the basics:

• ​California's Great America is confirmed to get a 110.5 foot tall steel coaster in 2018. This is confirmed through the permits filed with The City of Santa Clara.
• It is likely that this coaster is 1) from a manufacturer that Cedar Fair has worked with in the past, but not recently and/or 2) is a prototype attraction. These are based off of comments made during the Q1 earnings call in May. 
• The park is teasing the attraction as "Project SR1", which could stand for several things. Construction walls are currently up.

Now, for what's newer:

• Markings have been spotted around Whitewater Falls, which is adjacent to the current walled off construction area. This is leading many to speculate if we may see Whitewater Falls close to make room for the coaster. 2/3 Boats have been taken off of the attraction via a forklift, and some minor groundwork has been started in the area.
• Cedar Fair trademarked the name "Railblazer", leading many to speculate that this will be the new coaster's name. 

And for those less familiar with the park, here is an overview of the current areas that will be included in this update:

Let's begin by talking about the current construction zone, highlighted in Orange on the map above.

Pictured above, you can see the teaser wall that the park has been promoted on social media. There is a trail, with 16 different markers reserved for a different coaster in the park's history. We'll get up to 15 with the parks current and previous lineup (they will count Vortex/Patriot and Turn of the Century/Demon as two), and the 16th spot will be reserved for the new attraction. 

Opposite to Demon's entrance, there is a teaser area where we can take a peak into the construction area. 

Through the wall, we currently just see a lot of dirt being pushed around. 

Now let's go take a look over by Whitewater Falls...

Whitewater Falls was operating with one boat left on the ride. I'm not sure how long it's been down to one boat, and if that is normal or not. 

Above you can see the work being done behind Whitewater Falls. On the left of the building, there is a forklift with the other two boats sitting out of the water. On the right of the building, there is a digger with ground construction happening. 

Above, you can see the construction area as seen from Star Tower. Nothing is vertical yet, so not too much to see. 

There you have it! We have a walls, construction equipment, and a bunch of dirt!

Thanks for reading! Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for future updates and live coverage of the August 16th announcement! 

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Related Updates: 

• Trip Report: Canada's Wonderland - A Beautiful Park with two Top 20 Coasters
• Ghost Town Alive Makes a Triumphant Return to Knott's Berry Farm
• Red, White and Brews at California's Great America 
• Knott's Soak City Opening Day and quick Berry Farm Update 
• Patriot is now open at California's Great America ​

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