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California's Great America
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268 reviews for California's Great America
When I was a kid, this was the place to be during the summer. Marriott's Great America was always busy and me and my buddies had a huge pocket of quarters to burn when we visited. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" was the commercial stuck in our heads. This is even where I saw my first concert.
Recently we went and frankly, it was empty. We went during a peak time during the Summer too. I guess things are a changing. Most of the kiosks and food booths are now closed. They seem to maintain a skeleton crew just enough to cover the more popular parts of the park. Outside of that, we still had great fun! Miss some of the shows though. That new water park is crazy awesome. We didn't know about it so we weren't prepared for it, but it seems like one of the more popular area's in the park.
Parking doesn't seem like too much of problem since the crowds aren't really there. You can always bus it too, they stop not too far from the front gates.
I remember when this placed opened. It was around my high school years, and this place was the go to place for teens at that time. It was initially owned by Marriott, which was then called Marriott's Great America. Then it was bought out by Paramount, which they renamed it Paramount's Great America. Paramount sold it's interest in this park, and its now part of the Cedar Fair Entertainment company, which renamed it California's Great America.
Throughout the years, this park has added more attractions and rides, and updated a few as well. During the summer months, when the weather is warmer, it's waterpark, Boomerang Bay is open, and it's very popular.
On a recent visit, it was the end of October, the 2nd to last weekend before the park closes for the season. Boomerang Bay was already closed, and the park was decorated for Halloween. We had 8 free tickets to use up before the park closed for the season, so my wife, another parent, and I took 8 kids, including our daughters, on a Saturday.
The day we visited, there were busloads of high school kids from service organizations representing various schools. It looked like it was going to be crowded in the park. As it turned out, it really wasn't. We didn't have to wait very long for any of the rides, and we didn't experience the sea of park visitors, as one would experience in a Disney park in the Summer. The kids were able to hit all of the rides they wanted that whole day. My wife and the other parent chaperoned the older kids around the park, while I took the youngest to Kidsville and Nickelodeon Central.
The food court, or the "County Fair" was a mess however. It seems that the all of those high school clubs ended up having lunch at the same time. As a result, we ended up waiting in line for at least a half hour to order our food. On the plus side, they do offer sushi, teriyaki bowls, as well as the usual amusement park suspects like hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza,.... The kids wanted sushi and teriyaki bowls, and they were OK.
One thing I did observe that a lot of the concessions and stores were closed throughout the park. I thought it was because it was the end of the season, but Lolia S. also observed this in early August. Didn't have the same amusement park feel to it.
Overall, it's still an OK park. Didn't hurt that we had some free tickets!
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I went the day after Invertigo got stuck
Basically, the park was empty when we went because of the accident the previous day. I love not waiting in a long line.
I usually don't go to theme parks with scary rides. I am the biggest chicken when it comes to roller coasters. I don't even like Splash Mountain at Disneyland. But, I was able to ride most of the rides at Great America. They weren't that bad. My favorite was Flight Deck. The weird thing is I love going upside down, but I hate big dips.
The Grizzly does not look safe. It is a wooden roller coaster and I didn't like it very much.
The great thing about Great America is the water park is part of the admission. Wear your bathing suit and bring sandals. The lines were a bit longer, but we had a lot of fun.
The Delta Flyer, which is a skyride that takes you to the other side was fun. They use to have this at other parks, but they took them down. I'm glad Great America still has it.
Overall, I had a fun time. This would a good park to bring children and people who are scared of six flag's rides.
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Let's face it
its pretty cheap for a wow card.
Great America is ok, it really needs new rides though.
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Had a great time there this weekend.
Went with 3 friends and we got there at 4pm. We managed to get on about 6 rides and then unbeknownst to us they were closing at 5:30pm for the Halloween Hunt.
Sucks because had we known we would have gotten there earlier. They were going to reopen at 7 for the Halloween Hunt but you have to pay an extra $15.00 to get back in.
Tix were $55 bucks and thank GOD I got discounted tickets from my job offering them for $36.00
Totally worth paying the extra $15 for premier parking because you're much closer!
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So it's pretty fun with a decent amount of rides. I haven't been to many... well, this is the first amusement park i've been to in california, but does it seem a little small to you? I thought there was going to be thrill ride after thrill ride.. maybe.. eh. anyway, it's still a good time if you're going with good company. there was one coaster that trumped all the others.. though i forgot its name. oops. and friendly reminder that applies to all parks: don't get on water rides close to sun down. it's cold.
My little man is turning 4 on Wednesday, so we took him to Great America to celebrate. Unfortunately, there were not too many ride options for him, but he did have a blast. We went on a Polynesian themed day, and got to see lots of dancers and singing acts. There were even vendors who were selling Polynesian items.
It seemed like quite a few of the shops/attractions that I remember had closed. It was actually pretty quiet in the park. The great thing, was that there was little or no wait on the rides that we went on. Most of the shops featured 50% off discounts on items. My son got a Scooby Doo outfit for only $5! I am not sure if it's because we went off peak season, or if this is just a sign of the times.
I was pretty bummed that there were not more big rides for the little ones. Our little guy was stuck riding what seemed to be nothing more than glorified carnival rides. One suggestion that I would like to make is that they make the gas pedals for the kiddie bumper cars easier to reach. My little man was almost being choked out by the seat belt as he was leaning forward trying to reach the gas!
The highlight of our trip was watching as Great America employees gathered around Mateo to sing "Happy Birthday". Cosmo and Wanda from Fairly Odd Parents, and Sponge Bob and Patrick danced with our little guy. Fun times!
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Awww I love Great America. It's the best during the weekdays when it's not crowded. When it's crowded, unless you're on the prowl, you will get annoyed with all of the lines and body heat.
I love all the rides, this place never gets old.... I did strain my neck while on drop zone... =( Lot's of memories here... sure is expensive tho!
Have fond memories of Great America.I think it is still a good place for families,teens and adults.I think adults can still enjoy it.The only down fall is getting stuck on rides while they are upside down,having someone throw up,cry the entire ride(grown up,not kids) and did I mention getting stuck on the rides?
The one ride that was a little odd was the rusty Grizzly.The one that shaked,shaked and shaked...
I have never purchased a season ticket,but I would reccommend if you live near,have kids,like roller coasters and like amusement parks overall.
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What happened to Great America? It seems like a pale shadow of its former self. The place is empty. Nickelodeon Central was a total ghost town but it seems like families with toddlers rarely come to GA. This is the playground of pre-teens and teenagers. Hardly anyone plays the games now and many of the food stands were closed. Many areas could use a good sweeping. There are so many cobwebs around that the park has a neglected feel (not so much worn down as just doing the minimum to maintain it).
On the positive side, the lines were much shorter than I expected and the ticket even had a coupon to come back to the park for free. And there were some promising signs of the Halloween Haunt including a decorated hearse.
The rollercoasters here are decent. They're not the biggest or the newest but they provide some thrills and range from classic (the wooden Grizzly, the Demon) to fairly new. The best coaster is the Invertigo as you spend the longest amount of time upside down and it really leaves you feeling disoriented.
One of the best non-coaster rides is Delirium - a ride that involves spinning around and swinging till you're almost suspended upside down. I loved Drop Tower which combines great views with an exhilarating straight vertical drop. Star Tower is totally lame and doesn't even provide good views.
The rides need their own theme music. The Demon deserves scary music and dry ice.
Most of the rides have cubbyholes where you can store your possessions safely. They also allow you to wait for the spot you want on the coasters (of course the very front or the very back are the best).
They didn't have fro-yo there but you can get soft serve ice cream all over the park. They also had shaved ice, Icees, and the ever popular funnel cakes.
The food court now has sushi! I'm sure it's the equivalent of supermarket sushi, but still it's nice to see that the food options have expanded (e.g., garlic fries, teriyaki bowls, tacos) and they take credit cards. They even had an all you can eat BBQ buffet.
So many people were bouncing basketballs that it was annoying but they must have won the basketballs in a game. Another trend that I observed was the popularity of going barefoot on rides. Furry hats were popular though I preferred the hot dog and hamburger hats they were selling.
The $12 fee for parking isn't so bad and even comes with in and out privileges.
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I haven't been to Great America in over 12 years... I live 5 minutes away and thought we would check it out this weekend.
You can tell the park is running on a showstring budget... hardly anybody there (at least there were no crowded lines), some food places were closed.. and it looks like they haven't given the park a nice paint job in years. the carousel was just plain sad (jerkey and rusted poles).
The only ride of quality was the Survivor Ride... otherwise it is kinda sad representation of an amusement park for Northern California.
I won't be going for another 10 years....
i haven't been here in years, and i forgot how fun this place was. they even had some new rides since i was here last time. we went on a weekday, which is the way to go, since lines are way shorter.
be sure to check out drop zone, invertigo, flight deck (always a favorite). they even had a theater with a magic show. the magician was magic max from saved by the bell. i was pleasantly surprised at how funny and entertaining the show was. it's right next to when you get off from flight deck, so try to stick around until the next show time. the only ride i would avoid is the grizzly - it's so rough and bumpy it will give you whiplash.
If your goal in life is to meet Dora the Explorer (or SpongeBob or the Avatar or Jimmy Neutron or any of the animated characters on Nickelodeon) or if you've always wanted to be deluged from a tipped-over giant bucket of water or if you are dying to win a Chicken Little stuffed animal, well then, CA's Great America is for YOU!
I can't speak for the big kid rides, for all I know they could be great, since I rode a total of ONE "normal" ride (the log ride, which I remember from my junior high school days). But the kid sections are solidly A-OK; there are two separate water areas and numerous kiddie-appropriate rides, ncluding a bumper car area where you have to be BELOW the height requirement to ride. The kids also enjoyed spending an average of $20 to "win" stuffed animals -- though my son bragged that he got his Chicken Little on the first attempt. All the kids in our group, ranging in age from 3 to 7, deemed the day HUGE fun. The adults thought it was decent.
Note: there's a deal right now online for 4 tix for $99.
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Typical day at work:
Boss: Where's Howard and Steven?
Cubemate: They're in lab.
Boss: Wow, they're working hard.
What actually happens:
We get funnel cakes and ride roller coasters for HOURS. Season passes are the best. Get yours today and get free parking! (Thank goodness it's next door to work)
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Reasons to go to Great America:
1) Your 14-year old thinks it's the bee's knees
2) The Demon - My first roller coaster with spirals and inversions, 15 years ago
3) The Grizzly - with its intentionally rickety sounding wood frame
4) Flight Deck - A positively lyrical roller coaster swinging out over water
5) Flying Eagles - will satisfy your flying urges
6) The soothing flying chairs near the entrance for starting and ending the day.
6) The package deals that let you have 2 tickets AND a night in a decent hotel w/pool & jacuzzi, for only $20 more than just the tickets to G.A.
7) The priceless bonding that happens when you stand in a 20-minute line and face death with your offspring
Reasons not to go to Great America:
1) It's not a place to rediscover your love of humanity: Besides the usual stock of morbidly obese mouth-breathers, there seem to be a remarkable selection of people of all colors, genders, and ages who've done hard time, and a fantastic display of individual specimens belying the concepts of natural selection. More belly fat than the Tokyo fish market, most of it proudly exposed..
2) Rip-off games - how dare you make the basket so small that the basketball gets stuck and a kid who can shoot is denied his reward.
3) An incredibly stupid selection of food: Given that a favorite ride is almost always closed for "cleaning" because someone has hurled, do you really think that fried chicken, pizza, funnel cakes, and, I kid you not, DEEP-FRIED HOT DOGS, are the main food choices?
4) The Orbit - Looks cool, feels exciting, but it will ruin your stomach for up to 3 hours and leave you burping green bubbles while you try to recollect yourself to get your money's work at the park
5) Paid parking? For the $55 ticket, you have to pay another $12 to park in place where there is absolutely NO street parking for miles?
6) Surly, slothful, and slow-witted (the latter is generous for the sake of alliteration - "no-witted" wouldn't have cut it) employees. Not their fault, I'm sure; they can't be making anything, and have to stand out in the baking sun saying the same things over and over.
Recommendations:
Different food, more shade for the long lines, lose the usurious parking fee.
Results:
Come for the rides, leave early for the recovery, stay for the hotel
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Man this place used to be the spot back in middle school and early high school back when all our classmates and friends worked here on the rides or hooked it up with free/discounted food and would tell us all their stories on how they were able to jack so much money from working here. Back in the day when we'd all get family season pass packages with our friends or WOW cards and come here every 4th of July to watch the fireworks or to see the 102.5 KDON summer concerts here. Back in the day when our parents used to drop us off here or we'd take the light rail.
But damn...Went here for Comcast's company picnic with some friends and this park hella downgraded. $12 for parking, but we had a free parking pass. They make you take your belt off when going through the metal detector at the front, made it feel like we were going through the Airport security terminals.
And the best damn ride, Top Gun, or I mean Flight Deck was out of service.
We used to call this place PGA, but now I guess it's just GA and no longer owned by Paramount, which is probably why they had to change the name of Top Gun and Drop Zone because of copyright laws or something.
Rough times of the economy showed as none of the rides take photos of you anymore. Stealth no longer exists. Had a couple new rides here since the last time I've been here when I was 16 back in like 2002.
The water park looked pretty legit though. Had some water slides, the water playground for the kids, and big wave-pool like pool in the back by the cabanas. I wish we knew wassup so we could've all brought our swimming trunks and just chilled in the pool.
But yeah, fun times reminiscing on old trips here and riding like half the roller coasters, some of the water rides, and the bumper cars that now go in a circle around a track vs. just being free and open like they were back in the day.
Spent $5 on the 3-Point shootout game to battle for bragging rights and to win basketballs to bounce around. Thought that was one of the cooler new games they had there even though we were all a little rusty on our outside shots.
Picnic food was pretty good...Had some cool BBQ chicken and ribs, hot dogs, salad, beans, bread, soda, ice cream, etc. Had to pay extra for beer or wine if you wanted that.
But yeah, I wouldn't wanna pay to go here anymore even if I had to show touristy relatives or friends around. I'd rather just take the road trip to Magic Mountain or Disney Land.
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Went here for my father's IBM company picnic day..$25 for general admission and all you can eat BBQ lunch = DEAL! Unfortunately, I think the lunch was the best part of the day. I hadn't gone here in about 5 years and now I know why.
Not to say I did not enjoy the rides. Flight Deck, which used to be called Top Gun, was of course the most thrilling. Also, Invertigo and Drop Zone were few of the other notable rides. I just feel that as you get older, Great America isn't as exciting as it used to be as when you were younger, like say in middle school or so. The rides are pretty weak. They have a few twists and turns and go up to 50mph or so, but none of them are really on par with those at like Six Flags Magic Mountain. It is also disappointing that GA has not added any new rides over the course of the past few years. I understand that it takes years to build these roller coasters, but I haven't seen any renovations for quite some time.
Being that it was a "family day," the crowd was mainly younger kids along with their parents and such or groups of teenyboppers (yuck!). But really, I felt like my friends and I were the oldest people here (aside from the parents of course).
We didn't enjoy the day as much as we could have due to the scorching 90+ degree heat, but at least we had Jamba Juice's BOGO to look forward to afterwards! After we had rode most of the rides once, we called it a day and it was only 4pm. 6 hours at this park was more than enough to get our $25's worth. In any case, GA used to be cool, but not so much anymore. If I do go to an amusement park again in the near future, it'll be Six Flags forsure!
I recall coming to California's Great America as part of a field trip to Northern California. About seven years ago, this theme park was known as "Paramount's Great America."
Since 2008, the theme park was purchased by Cedar Fair Entertainment. Co and renamed "California's Great America."
Today, the rides remain the same -- although their names modified. Additionally, they've included the "Huss Ride" since my last visit in 2002.
Admission is about $55 -- but is good for two visits (must be used by the same person).
The prices of food and drinks -- as with other amusement parks -- are ridiculously overinflated.
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Came here for a friend's surprise birthday celebration. For some reason the park wasn't as full as amusement parks normally are. I was expecting long lines (60 minutes), but the lines were really only about 5-10 min max. Of course, I loved the short lines, but you can tell the park is going through a recession. Either recession or it's a combination of summer ending and kids going back to school. No one was really playing any of the games or anything.
Also, this place does not compare to Six Flags. The rides are older, much shorter, and very rough. I'm not that old and I love rollercoasters, but these roller coasters keep banging my head left right forward and backwards. The Grizzley ride was the worst - I felt like my body was about to be compressed on that ride. Some friends said their ribs were hurting.
Anyway, great time to go while lines are super short. Support our amusement parks!
Haven't been here in quite sometime and yes it's still the same. I can honestly say that this by far the quietest time I have ever seen this park. We had no waits for any of the rides and the weather was overcast and by far a perfect day. I also recommend buying a souvenier cup @ the front entrance for $14 because it was well worth the value seeing that a soda is $5 normally. The downer of this adventure would have to be Firefall, that ride blows and needs to go and also being stuck on the Log Ride for 20 minutes wasn't fun @ all , but hey SAFETY FIRST. Flight deck never disappoints and by far The Survivor ride was the most amusing. Well this is the last year for Nickelodeon being there and will be replaced by Snoopy! I really hope that Cedar Parks invests more money into this place and add a new coaster or thrill ride soon...
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Simply put, not so great. I remember coming here in Junior High thinking this place was crackin... Now, not so much. Some run down rides (GRizzly broke down right before we got on, Invertigo the following day). I also miss the themes that came with it being Paramount- Top Gun is now Flight Deck and instead of the cool video and audio that use to play while in line, now they are hawking crappy refreshments and souvenirs via the TVs in line.
And the food- pretty much the same where ever you go in the park. There might appear to be a lot of variety, but the fact is, they just recycle the same food with different locations and names. Not to impressive.
Maybe I was hoping for that nostalgia kick that comes from visiting your old haunts, but this place just wasn't doing it for me. Still a few rides are exciting, Top Gun... I mean, Flight Deck being one of them. Keep your expectations relatively low and you'll probably have a decent time.
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Beware of the Drop Tower- if you have asthma. It will make your heart drop. Otherwise, Great America is A-OKAY! :-)
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"Why am I here? I'm OLD."
This thought echoed through my mind throughout the whole day that I spent at Great America.
Waiting in long lines filled with hoards of obnoxious teens who have just discovered the phenomenon that is puberty is no longer my scene. Yes, I will admit that I have had good times here with friends as a middle school and high school student, but being older makes you more aware of certain things.
The overwhelming crowds, faded designs, long waits, and pricey food and ticket prices are all things only a child or parent could tolerate, the child out of being naive and the parent for the love of his or her children. Being neither of these, I don't think I'll be back until I am one.
Ending On a Positive Note: The Demon, Drop Zone, and Top Gun (now renamed "Flight Deck," wth) are still awesome!
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A 3 star review for the Cedar Fair version of my old stomping grounds is generous. Although I hadn't gone in the last decade, I was nervous to see what changes that they had made. In a word, colors. The place is just bathed in bright flashy colors and gone are the old wood style buildings that was originally here 40 some years ago.
It was nice to go on the rides that I went on as a kid. Demon, Grizzly, Drop Zone(RIP Edge), Rapids, Log Run, etc...the lines were super short on a summer Friday day. No more 30 minutes waits for rides on the right day.
Yes the food options are still ridiculously overpriced and if you are a kid toting adult, there's not a lot of choices around(Budweiser and Foster's). So unless you are packing your own, don't expect any liquid relief of your long day ahead.
Admissions now can be as low as $25 for a day although it will be difficult not to spend any money in the park...one will eventually need to buy a beverage for yourself and whatever kiddies being toted around. Strap yourself in...and keep your hands and feet on the ride at all times!
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No I'm not gonna resort to renaming all the rides I grew up with.
Flight Deck = big middle finger. It's still Top Gun even without the Paramount's licensing. Oh well at least all the rides are being revamp or replicated so it's like Knott's in Buena Park but still...
Great America or should i say California's Great America needs to not suck.
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Drive out from the city: 57 minutes
Making your way past the security check-in and into the park: 22 minutes
Trying to recapture a little bit of childhood nostalgia with a group of fun friends: 10.5 hours
Getting taunted by little kids hopped up on some bizarre sugar rush, every step of the way... Priceless
There are some issues amusement parks can't resolve. For everything else, there's your lovely neighborhood shrink.
All in all, it's an okay option if you're looking for some roller coaster fun. I'd say the key to having a really good time is to bring your own party and go with a fun group.
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I had low expectations following my previous visit several years ago, during Paramount's ownership. But I was pleasantly surprised by how well the park was maintained and how friendly and helpful the staff was. I was also pleased by how much my nearly 3-year-old daughter enjoyed it. The Nickelodeon characters were a big plus, and there were ample rides that she enjoyed.
While Great America is certainly no Disneyland, I would be happy to take my family here again.
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It's not the same when you're all old and grown up.
You can't ride the Demon 15 times in a row and still want more.
You can't ride Top Gun and keep screaming at the top of your lungs the whole ride.
You don't have to get dropped off up front, in the sea of mini-vans along Great America Parkway.
Your meeting point is not the arcade in the back close to "The Edge."
Your "diet" won't allow you to polish off a whole Funnel Cake by yourself.
Bumping into each other high speed on the bumper cars doesn't have that same effect.
Walking around in soaked wet clothing all day after starting the day off on Rip Roaring Rapids wasn't such a great idea.
And worst of all, asking for a "hookup" from someone you know, and that someone you know is your nephew.
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I went here a lot as a kid, and it's changed now. The rides are still awesome, and props to GA for consistently adding new rides. Invertigo is amazing, as is Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun). The only thing that I really, really dislike about GA is how there are souvenirs and marketing ploys at every square inch. There are gift shops galore, and it feels less like an amusement park and more of a souvenir mill. Lemonade stands sell frozen ice with flavored syrup for like $5, and people are stupid enough to buy them. The worst is themed stands with a ride. Like kids can ride Dora's Dune Buggies, and there are tons of Dora items for sale right next to it. Everything is to make a profit and it's nauseating. But the thrill rides are great, I'll admit that!
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Just went to Great America this weekend and was a little upset that so many of their rides were closed. More importantly, that there was no mention of this on their website, by any of the 4 people I spoke w/ on the phone in the week prior, nor anywhere on the way into the park. All of Boomerang Bay was closed. Several other rides were closed as well. And they closed everything else at 5:30pm. If this visit hadn't been included in season pass, I would have felt VERY ripped off. But, since it was so late in the season, the lines were relatively short. And the kids, of course, had a blast. We'll be back many times in the 2010 season.
WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!!
GREAATTT AMERICAAA!
tee hee
yes it is alittle pricey..but hey!
its tha bomb digity(:
My grand kids love going here. This park has some good rollercoasters -- at least 6 different types, sit down, stand up, sitting with your legs hanging, etc etc. Overall, the park seemed a bit uninspired but the rollercoasters and short lines made up for it.
I'd never been here until last Friday, Gay Day (2009). Which is a fabulous idea and delivers on every level: lots of happy, crazily dressed kids, sweet rides, and of course drinking with same. A friend and I even got sassed for being too obviously straight, quite a bonus!
Great America needs to clean up its act though. The food is shite and they don't let you bring any of your own in. The amazing metal detector found my "gatorade" for chrissakes. It failed to find my pocket knife which I hid in the bushes, but also failed to find the knife used to mug one of our party. Yes, he got fucking robbed at knifepoint for 20 bucks and a phone while away from our group. Weak sauce. Security also failed to do anything meaningful about the bizarre gang fight that broke out in the line for the Demon. It was amusing and all but didn't exactly make one feel safe, unarmed as we all presumably were.
Gay Day: +5
Food: -2 (god I can still taste it, someone please piss in my mouth!)
Fighting and other acts of violence: -2
Rides: +1 (kinda old, but clean and way fun, esp in the dark!)
I personally had a great time, but I also got my dose of south-bay ghettoness for the entire year.
This place needs some decent food. They could upgrade the horrid $8 corndogs to be at least as good as the frozen kind I can get at safeway, for instance.
They need some decent security, and I don't mean more metal detectors that disarm the law-abiding and make the problem worse. They could stand to allow more partying and less violence any day now.
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Invertigo is closed INDEFINITELY because those people were stuck on it for 5 hours Monday and had to be cherry picked off the seats on the first hill.
Things that have happened that still probably won't stop me from going to a Great America company picnic despite it happening in my life time:
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1.) Two boys intentionally jumped out of the Loggers' Run ride.
One was killed and the other fell onto a platform and was injured
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2.) Kid plummeted to his death from the top of Drop Zone.
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3.) Two couples were injured on the Yankee Clipper as their boat
hydroplaned then capsized, leaving the riders temporarily
trapped under the upside-down boat. The attraction was later
modified to include a bump at the bottom of the drop in order
to prevent hydroplaning.
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4.) Person broke their leg because some idiot climbed over the
fence to get his hat that flew off on Top Gun.
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5.) Guy died because he went to get his hat after it flew
off his head on Top Gun and was kicked in the head.
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6.) A kid drowned in the Crocodile Dundee wave pool.
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7.) Group of 25 people stuck for 5 hours in 95 degree heat due to
a chain malfunction.
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I didn't realize there was so much when I started this list.
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8/7/2009
Ok, maybe I have the stamina of a pre-mature ejaculator 10 years and counting on his last lay, but I… Read more »
This past Saturday Great American earned another star for their Breakfast With The Nick Characters & Boomerang Bay.
Breakfast with The Characters starts at 9:30-11am. It's $15/person and the food is OK. They served all you can eat eggs, potatoes, french toast sticks, bacon, muffins and orange juice. What I REALLY liked was that when the characters come they make a point to stop off at ALL the tables before they leave. Everyone gets a chance to say "hi" and take pictures with the characters. Our kids LOVED that and it was worth it to see them so happy.
Boomerang Bay opened on Saturday. We were one of the first people to arrive and find a spot. I liked the little kiddy pool and all the water rides. They rent out life jackets for FREE and have lots & lots of life guards on duty. Always a plus.
If you have kids definitely take them to Great America for the kid rides and Boomerang Bay. Great way to keep cool this summer :)
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4/27/2009
This past weekend we went to Great America and bought season passes since our twin (sometimes)… Read more »
Somewhat improved since Paramount rescinded it to Cedar Fair, inc (now called California's Great America). Yes, there are of course your typical teenage crowds and over-priced concessions, but you'd have to be living under a rock to not expect that at amusement parks.
The lines are typically not very long, even on weekends, except on their "special" days. So if you want to "bring a friend" as a season pass holder on their special $15 ticket discount days or go on July 4 or fireworks night, be absolutely sure to arrive early if you want to secure a premium parking space, and be prepared to wait about a half hour for each ride. On off-peak days, I don't think I've ever waited longer than 10 minutes to get on anything.
The rides are mostly good, and there is something for every taste. Their newest, Survivor, is quite fun, although I don't agree with their new policy of seating people in specific order instead of letting them go where they want on the ride...when you watch it from the line, you can clearly see that two out of four colored sections consistently go higher up than the other two (which colors do this, unfortunately, is not consistent, and varies each day).
I recommend the Spongebob ride simulator as well, though it's becoming a bit outdated. And some of the stores in the park actually carry some fairly good merchandise...check out The Dragon's Lair near the entrance or the Thrill Seekers shop in the back of the park.
The food quality is typical amusement park, but there are more nutritious options if you know where to look...the Nicktoons cafe, for instance, offers low-carb burger options and some chicken salads. If you're feeling bad, though, try a very tasty and filling funnel cake...you can buy one and split it with a friend and still have plenty good sweet crunchy cake! Sometimes I even like to take a funnel cake home, and they will give you an extra plate to cover it as you carry it out of the park.
And as usual for places like these...unless you really want to waste your money after paying an already-pricey admission charge, stay away from the carnival games that give out prizes. They are not rigged, but they are extremely difficult to win.
And a last bit of advice...definitely buy a season pass if you plan to go twice, and make it a gold pass if you plan on eating more than three meals in the park, spending more than $50 total on merchandise throughout the season, or attending the Halloween Haunt after the main season closes...the extra $10 is well worth the extras you get (discounted merchandise and free admission to the Haunt, which is also excellent).
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Ah, Great America, the amusement park of the Silicon Valley.
Anyways, I went their twice with my friends so far and it's not too bad. The park was clean and the lines moved fairly quickly.
What I like about this place, as I stated earlier is that the lines move fairly quickly and it was clean. The rides, such as the demon, invertigo and flight deck are a must. I would also recommend Grizzly if you can bare the shaking. The Spongebob theater is unique.
What I don't like about this place is, well...for every amusement park, are well...the overpriced stuff. However, there a few good places to eat outside of Great America such as togos and In-n-out if you know where to look.
Overall, it's not too bad, so it's 4 stars from me.
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We love the water park! I am sorry for the people who got stuck a few weeks back.
Now California's Great America and privately owned, they took away Paramount verbage such as "Top Gun" and renamed it "Flight Deck". It will always be Top Gun to me..
I came here yesterday for Lockheed Day and had a great time! They have a new ride called Firefall and it's officially the scariest ride I've ever been on! Imagine the Revolution but with more flips and turns, a pool full of propane so they can make you feel the heat and good old H20.. I've never felt more scared on a ride in my entire life.
Also went on Top Gun (Flight Deck), Delirium, Rip Roaring Rapids, Survivor, Psycho Mouse, Drop Zone, The Demon, the swings and the double decker carousel. It made me feel like a kid again.. Good times at Great America!
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5/9/2007
i used to get season passes every year when i was a teenager!! this amusement park is one of the… Read more »
Had a freakin blast. The new survivor ride is off the hook, rode drop tower for the first time. (I'll never do that again) hahahahaha. Invertigo pretty much had me on the edge of my seat all day. Vortex and Flight Deck are classics. Screaming eagles was a kiddie ride but so much damn fun, laughed like a school girl. Everything is way over priced, you'd think with the economy there would be a break.
Either way, had a blast!
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