California's Great America uploaded some new photos of Gold Striker to their Facebook page, taken today (found here). Some steel rails have been laid out onto the final turnaround, and the views from Star Tower offer a nice overview of what's happened the past few weeks!

Gold Striker update, holiday style!

I'm back with another update as I did my first visit to the park's Global Winter Wonderland event. While the park itself doesn't run this, another group rents the park's space for the event and transforms it into a winter wonderland! This opened up some opportunities to check in on Gold Striker and it has been a month since I've actually seen this in person and it is looking quite amazing!

From outside the gates, you can see that the lift has gotten taller!
Yes, there are workers inside working on the bents!

A rare aerial view of the Midway Turn's footers.

Midway turn from inside the park. Celebration Plaza looks very different now!

The foundation still being prepped for cement. You can see that all of the queue has been pretty much
removed and will be significantly altered once the construction is complete.

The lift rises from behind the Carousel Souvenirs shop.

And an overview of the site at night. I really can't wait to ride this thing!

There were also several lanterns set up inside the park. This was in the carousel's
reflection pool. It was very surreal to see.

More light displays with Gold Striker in the background.

And a final shot looking towards the park's gates.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Weekly Update!

Happy Monday! Just a week away from Global Winter Wonderland at Great America, and some more Gold Striker construction! In the mean time, I'm back with some more construction photos of Gold Striker, some taken by California's Great America, and some taken by a fellow coaster enthusiast that happened to be in the area to snag some photos!

Some photos taken from Patrick Henry Dr, a little side street along the back side of Great America

The 2nd turnaround from street view.

An overview on what's visible from the area.

Over at Star Tower, things are looking quite bare! And yes, that's the Midway Turn rising behind the gravel pile! Also note the Global Winter Wonderland props sitting in  the background.

Now that this area's been cleared from what was a nice grassy area, this can be used to prepare the bents for vertical construction!

A tad hard to tell but the bottom of the 'double down' drop sits just beyond the gravel pile.

Just a few days later, the lift has began to rise.
-Photo by California's Great America-

The midway turn looks nearly complete, except the fact that they are probably layering the track.
-Photo by California's Great America-

Foundation work for the lift and drop. This should be very interesting riding Star Tower next season!
-Photo by California's Great America-

Another shot of the lift going up!
-Photo by California's Great America-

Here's a few from Great Coasters International's Facebook page. It is very open now around Star Tower!
-Photo by GCI-

Looking back at the lift construction, you can see the lift construction, as well as the bottom of the first drop!
-Photo by GCI-

Friday Update!

Happy Friday everyone!

California's Great America has posted some more photos here of Gold Striker's latest progress. The midway turn is taking shape and as you will see, the banking looks pretty intense!

View from Celebration Plaza.
-Photo by California's Great America-

Despite the cold, nasty weather, Gold Striker's looking quite nice!
-Photo by California's Great America-

Almost 90-degree banking!
-Photo by California's Great America-

 

Stay tuned for more off-season updates!

Gold Striker Construction Update

This is my first "Off-season" update on Gold Striker. The park just posted some really good photos of the latest progress on Gold Striker on their Facebook page and in just 4 days, it looks like a lot has taken shape! Photos were taken by California's Great America.

A lot more has cleared around the tower. It also appears that the cement slab for part of the lift and station has been formed.

A POV shot entering the Dead Man's Turn, with some very low headchoppers overhead!

A shot taken from inside one of the final turnarounds, showing the last turn into the brake run. Note the additional head choppers in the final turn!

The "miners" are hard at work!

And something I have not been able see for a few weeks now. A lot has taken shape over the past 2 weeks!

The coaster as a whole, so far. The midway turn has grown a lot in the past few days!

More track work is going on with the Dead Man's Turn.

This looks twisty as always!

Dead Man's Turn, airtime hill leading to midway turn, and brake run!
This coaster's beginning to become a tangled mess of wood!

The cement slab next to the pictorium has finally been poured!

Final shot of the midway turn and it's heavy banking!