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California’s Great America revives plans for Gold Striker coaster

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Los Angeles Times

After a decade of difficulty and uncertainty, California’s Great America has dusted off plans for an oft-delayed wooden roller coaster in hopes of reversing the Santa Clara amusement park’s declining fortunes.

PHOTOS: New wooden coaster at California’s Great America

Scheduled to debut in 2013, the Gold Striker wooden coaster would send riders whirling into a one-of-a-kind twist around the Star Tower observation deck near the park’s entrance, officials confirmed.

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The 3,100-foot-long Great Coasters International wooden coaster would include a terrain-hugging S-turn, a high-speed station fly-by and a series of zero-G camelbacks and bunny hops at speeds topping 50 mph aboard Millennium Flyer trains.

Originally scheduled to open in 2009, the 108-foot-tall cloverleaf-shaped coaster was repeatedly delayed over noise concerns, a contentious football stadium proposal and the pending sale of the Bay Area amusement park.

In December, parent company Cedar Fair announced plans to remain as the long-term owner of California’s Great America after the sale of the park fell through. A month later, Cedar Fair signed an agreement allowing construction of the San Francisco 49ers’ new football stadium in the amusement park’s overflow parking lot.

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That leaves the noise concerns of neighbors, which could resurface on March 7 when city officials begin reviewing plans for the proposed coaster. Last year, the park received an extension of a previously approved height variance for the ride, according to Screamscape.

California’s Great America has removed three coasters in the past decade, a period when the park added no new coasters, according to Roller Coaster Database.

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