California's Great America - 5/25/24

Well ... this one wasn't in the plan, however with a hotel a 10 minute drive away, a partner who was happy to have a quiet evening in the hotel, the availability of an evening ticket and the news that the park will close before I ever get back there ... I decided I should go.

$45 for an evening ticket, parking and a meal - not bad I thought. When I saw the length of the queues, I almost considered Fast Lane, but decided I'd make the most of the visit without it, riding what I can. $59 on top of the above felt excessive, for a four hour visit.

The park was smaller than I anticipated, but plenty to do - very charming really. The only thing that I thought it was lacking was a 'proper' dark ride - there was some 4D theatre thing, but I skipped that. Also, the gap left by the Log Flume is pretty obvious, if you know where to look.

I arrived at 6pm, as the water park was emptying out, the park was due to close at 10pm. I won't do a blow by blow of the visit - but here's some thoughts on the rides I got on :

Star Tower - these towers are increasingly difficult to come by, so I jumped on this thinking I would get a great view of the park and I did.

Demon - I waited too long for this, but it's a pretty iconic ride, it was fun too. I was surprised to see some remote restraint monitoring had been retrofitted onto the trains. Not too much head banging on the Deeeeeeeeeeeemoooooooonnnnnnn.

Orbitz - I would normally avoid these but had never ridden a Schwarzkopf Enterprise, so figured I'd give it a go. Really good fun.

Delta Flight (sky ride) - I love these old Von Roll rides, it's a shame that so many of them are being removed, but this was being run extremely well with plenty of gondolas.

Drop Tower - standard drop tower - nice view. A couple of the cars in bits.

Grizzly - Very odd - those trains (train ... single train ops - other one nowhere to be seen) are not pleasant, not sure who made them (Morgan?). They are bizarre in that the restraints are connected between rows so the kid in front who was furiously rattling the restraint in the station and up the lift meant mine was shaking too. The ride didn't do much, pretty ride though - a lot of structure. We stopped on the lift for them to make an announcement that I couldn't hear.

Railblazer - These rides are nuts. This was far tighter and more out of control vs. the Magic Mountain ride. Really enjoyed it. I don't know what they are like to maintain, it feels like the train is ripping itself to bits throughout the circuit (SFFT have replaced their trains, incidentally) - but it feels like a natural choice for a smaller park. I wonder if we will see many more.

Flight Deck - Very cool invert with a fairly unpredictable layout. The turn out over the water was great. I'd love to have ridden multiple times, but today wasn't going to be a day for re-rides.

Patriot - I knew this would suck. These early B&Ms really haven't aged well irrespective of the trains that they put on them, nor do they do very much as they vibrate around the circuit. I was the only person on the train.

Gold Striker - WOW! It was pitch black and one of the last trains of the night by this point, which I assume made it run (and feel) quicker ... but goodness me, what a great ride. I'm a big fan of GCIs, this is my favourite - absolutely flying.

The only thing I really wanted to ride before I ran out of time was Psycho Mouse - I've never done an Arrow Mouse, but the line never seemed to move, with all the cars stacked and one occasionally going around the circuit. The rapids were closed, as was the Disko. I think the Bayern Curve was too. I have since read that I should have ridden Centrifuge, but did not.

In terms of operations, they were largely pretty good. A bit slow on some rides with multiple trains on everything bar the Grizzly. I didn't eat much but what I had was fine. There was some live music in the park - almost unheard of in the UK.

I appreciate it could run for another 10+ years, but as I understand, it could theoretically be gone by the end of next season as per the terms of the land sale.

Odd situation to be visiting, being surrounded by a number of modern rides, freshly painted fences - knowing that the end is essentially confirmed and all that stuff will go away, but the timeline is unknown.

Great park. I really enjoyed it and glad I got to visit. I headed back to the hotel with an In - N - Out Burger peace offering after a lovely unplanned evening.

Sad I'll never go back. So it goes ... 'progress' I guess.

I've got a conference at the Hyatt Regency next door this summer. I was thinking about getting an evening or two in during the trip; this tips the balance. Thanks!

I’m sorry you missed a credit but Psycho Mouse is an awful ride. I spent so much time there that I will never get back. So don’t beat yourself too badly.
I enjoyed the DiskO for two reasons- one, it’s the only DiskO coaster I’ve seen with a disk instead of a long boat and two, it’s named Tiki Twirl. One of those reasons is more important than the other.
Centrifuge is a rare Schwarzkopf Calypso and is nuts. I had to ride the bench for a while afterwards. I’d go again though. I don’t remember the one in Chicago or Canada being so fast. The Bayern Kurve was a nostalgia trip but wasn’t a very good ride.
Grizzly has Morgan trains that I think are now supplied by PTC. I’ll stand over here by myself for this one, but I didn’t think it was as bad as everyone has always said.
Schwarzkopf Enterprise rides are disappearing. The only ones I can think of are at Fun Spot (relocated Wheelie) and Carowinds. I’m glad you got to go on.
I enjoyed my day there, and I don’t figure I’ll have a chance to go back. Hopefully the better coasters will find good homes should the place close. Gold Striker would be a real loss.
Thanks for the report.

It looks like a nice park, and it's a bummer if it is in fact destined to close. I gotta imagine the land is far more valuable for virtually anything else.

I was there for a few hours in the evening on 5/25 as well. The new Pacific Glider ride is way more fun than it has any right to be, especially with synchronized rocking from the passengers. ;) It's a nice park and definitely one that the family enjoys visiting every few weeks, but I can also see why they sold it. That land has got to be worth big bucks with the stadium literally across the parking lot and an amusement park has at best, neutral synergy with a football stadium whereas restaurants, shops, and the like could make a killing, I'm sure. It will definitely suck when SFDK is the closest park at 1:15 door-to-door.

I went there when I was 8, and Demon was fairly new. It was the fastest thing I'd ever been on and probably my first looping coaster. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Glad to hear it's still running well. I might try to get back before they shutter it.

So what’s the story with this park? It got sold off for commercial development?

Sounds like a nice park.

CF sold the land it sits on too pay off a good chunk of Debit.

And has to be off it in 10 years or less…

But with the collapse of the commercial real estate market in SF and the valley, Im not sure it’s as valuable as it was pre pandemic, remote work, second tech bubble collapse, etc.

So we shall see what happens…

The sale went through in June 2022, I assumed that was accounted for and the price was reduced on that basis, but maybe not.

accounted for and the price was reduced on that basis, but maybe not.

I have no doubt it’s more valuable then the park, and I know it closed, but Im sure the speed of closing it all depends on what can replace it, and considering the bay area has the largest amount of empty office space in the country… I don’t think park closing sooner over later.

What a fascinating development. I’m sure when the park was built years ago, there wasn’t much around? Seems to be the case with a lot of parks around the country. They got built decades ago where land was abundant. Then over time they get encroached upon with urban sprawl.

I grew up going to Chicago's Great America in the 80's. It was always fun on my few visits to California's to notice the similarities and the differences, of which there are many of both.

Last time I was at CGA, I'm pretty sure Stealth was still there.

Last time I was at Chicago's GA, 2 years ago, I did not recognize anything from my youth at all. Other than maybe the entrance plaza. (And of course the remaining coasters, but that doesn't count.)