This amazing and insane GCI (Great Coasters International) wooden coaster opened at California's Great America in 2013. Gold Striker has a rather unique history, as it was originally conceived in 2007 and slated to open in 2009. However, there were many legal struggles to deal with that prevented its construction, such as noise abatements from nearby office buildings to deciding if Levi's Stadium would ever be built (it now stands proudly beside the park).
Plans to build the coaster were revived in early 2012, and later that year it was officially announced by the park. After opening in 2013, numerous walls and a couple of tunnels (including one down the first drop) were constructed to reduce noise levels. This quieted the surrounding offices and added to the ride experience!
Gold Striker is quite a wild woodie. It does not let up its lightning fast out of control pacing for even an instant until it hits the brake run. There are numerous pops of airtime (some of them ejector) and heavy positive and lateral Gs in the turns. This allowed it to place in the top 10 (7th to be specific) wooden coasters in the world according to Amusement Today's 2014 Golden Ticket Awards.
Enjoy the footage!
