Ride With Us!
NorCal ACEer Michael L. Boodley, co-founder of Great Coasters International, Inc., was awarded Honorary ACE Membership at the 2009 Phoenix Phall Phunphest at Knoebels Amusement Resort in October. The award is in recognition of Michael’s numerous significant contributions to wooden roller coasters and the amusement industry. He also rode the Coney Island Cyclone into the Guinness Book of World Records! See photo above.
Way to go, Michael! Congratulations!
— photo: Michael L. Boodley collection
Assistant Regional Representatives Emi and Matthew Pearce welcomed new daughters Katherine Lee Pearce and Margaret Lee Pearce into the world on 19 October 2009! May the two sisters have a lifetime of fun-filled visits to amusement parks with plenty of roller coaster rides.
Congratulations to the proud new parents!
California’s Great America has closed for the season. Next spring, the park will reopen with Planet Snoopy replacing Nickelodeon Central.
For more information about California’s Great America, visit
the California’s Great America web site.
— photo: Steven Wilson
Gilroy Gardens is open weekends in November! Gilroy summers too hot for you? Now is the perfect time to visit the park and avoid the heat. Operating hours in November are Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Then in December, Gilroy Gardens is open for its annual Holiday Lights special event. For more details, see: http://www.gilroygardens.org/hl.html
For more information on planning your visit, go to
the Gilroy Gardens web site.
— photo: Steven Wilson
Endless Summer continues at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. In November, rides are open for limited operation on weekends and on Friday, 27 November. Get to the Boardwalk and get your fill of rides for the month. After November, the rides do not reopen until 26 December!
For more information on the park, visit
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s web site.
— photo: Steven Wilson
The park is open on weekends this month. Holiday in the Park begins on Friday, 27 November 2009 and runs through 3 January 2010. For full details see: http://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/events/HolidayinthePark2009.aspx
For more information about Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, check out their web site.
photos: Steven Wilson
Welcome to the October 2009 edition of ACE NorCal News!
In this issue:
Italian Coaster Tour 2009
Frontier Village at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach
California’s Great America, October 2009 update
Gilroy Gardens, October 2009 update
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, October 2009 update
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, October 2009 update
— Steven Wilson
ACE NorCal Assistant Regional Representative went on the ACE Spain tour and the European Coaster Club Italy tour this summer. Below are his notes on the Italy tour.
Sequoia Adventure and Magic Mountain roller coasters at Gardaland — photo: Matthew Pearce
The first stop was Movieland Studios, which is to Universal Studios what Japan’s Nara Dreamland was to Disneyland. Movieland featured X-Smile a powered dragon coaster. Movieland also had one of the last-remaining old-style free-fall rides (think of the Edge at Great America) in Europe. The park also had a double-drop flume ride, a number of good simulators, and a back lot monorail tour.
The next day, we visited the Ski Center, Latemar, and Meran 2000. Each offered good alpine coasters far up in the hills, providing long, scenic rides on the cable lifts. The second stop of the day had a much longer cable ride than the first. We changed cars in the middle of the ride. The second alpine coaster was similar to Kennywood’s Thunderbolt in that you dropped right out of the station and the lift hill was at the end.
Next on the itinerary was Gardaland. Even though a traffic jam caused us to be 1.5 hours late, the park went out of their way to honor ERT and make the group feel special. Gardaland’s Magic Mountain is a smooth Vekoma double-loop, corkscrew coaster with a new shoulder harness design. The bars are several inches from your head, providing a more comfortable ride.
Matthew (on right) on the Magic Mountain roller coaster roller coaster at Gardaland — photo courtesy of Matthew Pearce
Gardaland’s Ortobruco Tour is a long Wacky Worm coaster. This extended version of the roller coaster contains seven lift hills.
The Sequoia Adventure is an S&S screaming squirrel coaster. Four-rider trains go out a log arm with a 180-degree hill at the end of the arm. The train travels inverted to the beginning of the arm, then goes through another 180-degree hill to repeat the trip on two more arms. You will love the airtime.
Mammut is a good Vekoma mine train that combined the themes of Big Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn Bobsleds.
Then it was on to Mirabilandia. Katun is a B&M inverted with some great ground-hugging elements. Katun is located in the Mayan section of the park. The ride passes through two discs, apparently representing the Mayan calendar. iSpeed is a good Intamin rocket coaster. It includes an inline twist, visible from the queue, and a full-length track. Per rcdb.com, iSpeed’s track is longer than Storm Runner’s at Hersheypark.
— Matthew Pearce
From ACE member Richard Tuck:
The history and legacy of Frontier Village is being celebrated on Saturday and Sunday November 14-15 at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach, the Museum of Fun based in El Cerrito (just north of Berkeley). We are eager to involve anyone who loved Frontier Village to get involved with planning this event. We are inviting guests to bring memorabilia and home movies of the great old park as well as share their favorite remembrances.
If you know of some folks who would like to be invited or would like to help plan the festivities, please email Richard: Richard AT playland-not-at-the-beach.org .
California’s Great America is open for regular daytime operation on Saturdays and Sundays in October. Last day of operation for the 2009 season is Sunday, November first. For operating hours, see: http://cagreatamerica.com/visit/visit_calendar.cfm
Halloween Haunt!
California’s Great America’s amazing Halloween Haunt runs through October on Friday and Saturday nights, plus Sunday, October 25th. For all the grizzly details, see: http://haunt.cagreatamerica.com/
The Halloween Haunt is free for Gold and Platinum pass holders!
2010 Season Pass
Buy your 2010 Season Pass now and get the rest of the 2009 season, too — including free admission to Halloween Haunt if you go for the Gold or Platinum pass. For all your 2010 season pass options, see: http://cagreatamerica.com/shop/shopping_season_pass.cfm
For more information about California’s Great America, visit
the California’s Great America web site.