California’s Great America Closing…In Eleven Years

Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What a strange situation. I guess any future investments in CGA attractions (if any) will be made with eventual relocation to other CF parks in mind.

Having worked there in its opening years and spent many happy teenage days there, I’m sad to hear this. Even though I think the park long ago lost its original charm (and is no match for its Six Flags-owned sister park in Illinois), this development is a bummer for the Bay Area.

Great news for the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, though!!!
 
M

MoonRakerSCM

Well-Known Member
So many jazz band trips there... culminating in a ride on Grizzly...

Thing was each year... we'd tell ourselves- 'It can't be as bad as we thought, can it?' and we'd proceed to ride it. We'd then all exit screaming in pain and agony and swearing we would never ride the damned thing again. It was a brutal cycle.
 
R

Ryan120420

Well-Known Member
Its not in 11 years, its WITHIN 11 years. The lease is good for 6 years with a 1-time option for Cedar Fair to extend the lease by 5 years.


I bet the ride removals start this off-season or next off-season. The park will over a 3-5 year span get smaller and smaller until it closes for good.


Right now the going rumors are that Worlds of Fun in Missouri is getting an RMC single rail coaster. Great America has an RMC single rail coaster...


My only visit to the park was in 2018 and I absolutely loved the park. Gold Striker, Railblazer, and Flight Deck were great rides.

Shame to see this small charming little park get turned into yet another warehouse logistics center. So much potential.
 
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waltography

waltography

Well-Known Member
Gold Striker was my first non-Disney coaster that I loved and was pretty intense; Great America has a soft spot in my heart because of it.

I'm not terribly sad to see the park go in its current state (I vastly prefer the charm and history of the Santa Cruz boardwalk), but I am sad about the Bay Area losing an amusement park.
 
Chupaca Bruh

Chupaca Bruh

Active Member
This makes me sad. Back in the 60's we had hoped to get a amusement park in our area and then Great America was announced. We were there the first day it opened. While it wasn't Disneyland it was fun for us younger ones for all the thrill rides. I can't ride most of them now but I did get to try Gold Striker. To rough for me but very fun. Also did RailBlazer which was great. Those single rail coaster have a great feel to them. Someone will need to open a new park nearby to fill that need. Maybe Gilroy Gardens can expand... a lot!!! ;)
 
Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Chupaca Bruh said:
This makes me sad. Back in the 60's we had hoped to get a amusement park in our area and then Great America was announced. We were there the first day it opened. While it wasn't Disneyland it was fun for us younger ones for all the thrill rides. I can't ride most of them now but I did get to try Gold Striker. To rough for me but very fun. Also did RailBlazer which was great. Those single rail coaster have a great feel to them. Someone will need to open a new park nearby to fill that need. Maybe Gilroy Gardens can expand... a lot!!! ;)
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I was there opening day too! 😊 I remember they opened the front of the park early, with everything beyond the train trestles roped off until the actual opening time. But the Delta Flyer sky ride was open early for round trips, so my friends and I hopped aboard, and got our first bird’s eye view of the park. The CMs were all so super-nice and enthusiastic! 😃 As our gondola rose up and passed over the trestle, I was so happy to see all those great rides coming into view for the first time and knowing that they were all now within a half hour drive of my home! 😃
 
Chupaca Bruh

Chupaca Bruh

Active Member
I don't remember many of the details of that first day, just that we were in the car lined up behind many, on Great America BLVD. at 3:30 A.M. Got out GA free frisbees and did as much as we could. I preferred Turn of the Century over the Demon for the airtime on the first two hills. This was small time period between when I was not afraid to try any ride and when I started get motion sickness on so many.
 
J

J4546

Well-Known Member
Sucks for bay area residents, Ive never been but it lookks like a nice little park. Theres not many options in the bay area now, kinda surprising given how populated that area is
 
DryerLintFan

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
J4546 said:
Sucks for bay area residents, Ive never been but it lookks like a nice little park. Theres not many options in the bay area now, kinda surprising given how populated that area is
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It’s expensive and crowded and the quality is like a six flags. The Bay Area has a million more entertaining things to do that are maybe not roller coasters but way better uses of your time and money.
 
Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
dryerlintfan said:
It’s expensive and crowded and the quality is like a six flags. The Bay Area has a million more entertaining things to do that are maybe not roller coasters but way better uses of your time and money.
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In its early days as Marriott’s Great America, it was a beautiful, charming park full of live entertainment, good food and a lot of unique attractions—A very good attempt at creating a classy Disney-style park minus any indoor rides.

The 2 flume rides were always an eyesore though: The gimmick was that their double drops intertwined, but it still just looked like a bunch of exposed green plumbing sixty feet in the air. Then Yankee Clipper got demolished and Logger’s Run got a chance to be ugly all by itself. 😃
 
C

choco choco

Well-Known Member
denyuntilcaught said:
I have a question...why?
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Cedar Fair sold the land for $310 million. You would think, that area being so moneyed and the only other amusement park being Six Flags Vallejo, that Cedar Fair would realize they were sitting on a gold mine: literally the one of the best markets in the country just begging for a theme park. Somehow though, it looks like the company is struggling, and they decided to take the money now instead of trying to do something incredible. A shame. The Bay Area certainly could support multiple high quality theme parks, and there's obviously plenty of investment money in that area.
 
BubbaisSleep

BubbaisSleep

Well-Known Member
So bummed. I live pretty close to the park and usually manage to visit for either Halloween or Christmas season each year before covid hit. I was especially happy when Cedar Fair bought GA as I knew we'd get a decent Halloween event in the Bay Area (don't care much for SFDK's Halloween event).
 
L

LondonTom

Well-Known Member
Wait, so Cedar Fair brought the land from the City of Santa Clara in 2019 for $150m and now selling it for $310m?! No wonder everything is so F'd up with real estate and various levels of govt not having money.
 
DryerLintFan

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Rich T said:
In its early days as Marriott’s Great America, it was a beautiful, charming park full of live entertainment, good food and a lot of unique attractions—A very good attempt at creating a classy Disney-style park minus any indoor rides.

The 2 flume rides were always an eyesore though: The gimmick was that their double drops intertwined, but it still just looked like a bunch of exposed green plumbing sixty feet in the air. Then Yankee Clipper got demolished and Logger’s Run got a chance to be ugly all by itself. 😃
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It was amazing before Paramount bought it
 

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