California’s Great America Hyper Coaster Concept Revealed

Over the course of the past year, We have presented a variety of concepts that were proposed for parks. Unfortunately, nearly all of these concepts were never built. This story is different, as the ride was built and you can ride it today.

Since the acquisition of California’s Great America by Cedar Fair in late 2006, the park has gone through a great deal of expansion. Cedar Fair added Gold Striker (the largest wooden coaster in Northern California), RailBlazer (one of the first single rail coasters built in the world), re-themed numerous areas of the park, and in 2019 acquired the land the park sits on.

In the middle of the 2017 season, the park was seeking to build a new hyper coaster. Earlier attempts to build a hyper with an elevator lift had fallen through in the 1990’s. The new plan was to build a large B&M hypercoaster in the ESE corner of the park.

The ride would have had it’s station located next to Psycho Mouse. The trains would have begun a 210 foot ascent that would tower over the park. After reaching 236 feet in the air, riders would then plummet back to the ground. After exiting the first drop, the ride would enter a highly elevated turnaround, similar to the second hill on Fury 325. Following that, riders would enter an airtime hill, an overbanked turn, a speed hill, another overbanked turn, another airtime hill, and finally enter the brake run.

The ride was heavily featured in early planning material. The FAA waivers further correspond to the early designs, as the lift hill was positioned in the spot as indicated in the original plans.

Work proceeded on the ride, and site preparation, until the permit for the ride was pulled shortly after a third party structural review was completed. The project was then relocated to Kings Island, tweaked to fit the available space, and ultimately built as the hugely-popular Orion.

Even though the hyper project fell through, it did not spell the end of the CGA expansion. Instead of the hyper, the park improved the guest experience by improving infrastructure around the park. Furthermore, 2021 will bring South Bay Shores, one of the largest waterparks in the region!

All is not lost, we have re-created CGA’s hyper using the original plans. Take a front seat ride on the original CGA hyper proposal below!

For tickets and more information, visit the official California’s Great America website by clicking here.

Visit the Amusement Park Community FB Group HERE and JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS!

Stay connected with Coaster Nation!

Facebook: facebook.com/coasternation

Twitter: @Coaster_Nation

Subscribe on YouTube!

www.CoasterNation.com

MORE GREAT VIDEOS!