Happy Holidays from CGA, plus 2014 season opening date

Great America posted a holiday-themed video, which also announces the opening date of the 2014 season as March 29, 2014.

All Haunt songs now available for streaming

Thomas Tissot posted all of the Haunt songs (even from past attractions) on Bandcamp.

Halloween Haunt 2013 opening night review

 
Many thanks to CGA for inviting me to the Media/VIP event for Halloween Haunt's opening night. The food was great, and Madame Marie's interaction with us was hilarious!

In addition to the dinner, being VIPs we were given a one-time use front of the line pass (which we later used for Dia de los Muertos), two pairs of 3D glasses and Gold Striker ERT.

After my brother and I checked in and entered the park, we ran into CGA's Roger and Ryan, who told us that Gold Striker was open. It was truly a walk on, no line whatsoever, and I was told to sit wherever I wanted. I chose row 12, which gives great airtime going down the first drop. With the exception of a few people riding in the front, the entire train was empty, a pretty surreal experience.

Using our VIP passes, the security guard let us into the area that was blocked off to the public. We headed over to Madame Marie's Voodoo Chophouse.

Halloween Haunt 2013 website now up

Great America's Halloween Haunt website is now live, featuring details of this year's event.

Of note this year is two new mazes, Zombie High (located in a new building behind Grizzly) and Dia de los Muertos (replacing Club Blood in the Pictorium).

A new show, Funhouse Express, will be in Action Theater, although it's not known yet if it will be replacing Happy Feet or will be shown in the long-dormant right side of the theater.

Blades of Horror will be performed in Great America Theater.

Black Widow's Cavern will not return, and will not be replaced with a new attraction.

Halloween Haunt 2013: Club Blood retired, to be replaced by Dia de los Muertos

News about Halloween Haunt is slowly trickling out. Club Blood will be retired and replaced by a Dia de los Muertos-themed maze, according to members from Theme Park Review.

Also, CGA recently applied for a permit to build a new storage shed at the "south edge" of the park, likely for a new maze. The park made a similar move last year when they built a structure for Madame Marie's Massacre Manor.

EDIT: Gold Striker reopens after temporary closure

An email sent out from the park announced that Gold Striker has reopened:

"Great news regarding Gold Striker just arrived! All remediation work to comply with noise issues has been completed and approved by the proper authorities. The additional 70 ft. tunnel (which is themed similar to the initial descent tunnel which has been so well received by riders) will allow Gold Striker to run free the rest of the season."

ORIGINAL STORY:

Because of previous noise complaints by CGA's neighbors (i.e. Prudential), Gold Striker is currently closed as crews install another sound tunnel to the ride. You can read more about the agreement on the ride's permit page (scroll down).

The park hopes to get the ride open by July 4, according to this article.

Gold Striker is now open

I was fortunate enough to be invited as a media VIP for the Grand Opening/media day event for Gold Striker on Saturday.

I was given a Gold Striker goodie bag filled with a T-shirt, gold bar USB drive and a block of wood with the logo branded on the front. Also was able to nab a Gold Striker towel for being one of the first 9,000 riders!

Thank you CGA for putting on such an incredible grand opening event for Gold Striker. I want to give a huge thanks to CGA's Roger, Ryan, Kristin and the rest of the staff who really went above and beyond to make sure everything went smoothly and amazing!

After a short ceremony, the ribbon was cut, resulting in fireworks shooting up along the lift hill and other places as the first train of the day made its way through the course.