It is unfortunate that we are losing anything to do with family entertainment in the Bay Area. Bowling Alleys, skating rinks, etc. every little postage stamp of land is being overbuilt. My husband takes our kids several times a week with season passes. It is sad it wont be there for my grandchildren. The worst thing about the park is that it was the demise of Frontier Village another long gone theme park of my youth.
I grew up going to Great America. It was within walking distance of my house. And I have to say, the problem wasn’t a lack of theming. It was needing to pull out the theming so, many, different, times. It was re-themed by every owner, and un-themed, and re-themed, and un-themed. The section in the back was based around Hanna Barbera cartoons. Then Nickelodeon cartoons. I think at one point there was a Klingon Meet ‘n Greet there. Every area was going to get built up around themed attractions, then a new owner came though and it would all get undone. This happened over and over with no consistency. People would start a whole overhaul of the areas, then dump the park on someone else who would have to undo what the previous person did. It… was really heartbreaking to watch.
@@tonytone9152 This park was originally Hanna Barberra's. It used to be SMURF themed. Woodstock Express used to be Smurfette's Wild Ride. The park used to have giant mushrooms for kids to play in. I have pictures of those giant mushrooms where kids wanted to go in and play. This was during the 1980's. I love this park but they kept changing the themes. I really wish it would've stuck with Hanna Barberra. Every kid loves Scooby Doo and the Smurfs.
I am not saying goodbye until they officially close. I am still being optimistic that there's still hope for this place considering how 10 years is still plenty of time for something good to happen for this place.
The city ain't having any of it. So cedar fair will pull a geauga lake and leave it in disrepair make it a disaster and then when people stop coming they will get the support to close it. That or they will buy a few votes California is very corrupt in that way.
I’ve lived in San Jose my whole life and I’ve been going to this park since 2000 and I would like to say that Paramount’s Great America was peak Great America, and I’m really sad to see this park go, even with the current version not being my preferred version. I’ve always like this park more than Santa Cruz boardwalk and I’m just not ready to say bye to it 🥲 I wanted to take my kids here, maybe I’ll be able to take them as toddlers right before they close 😭 Also, Gilroy Gardens used to be called Bonafante Gardens and it was also much better back then 🙃
I second that notion of Paramount’s Great America was the best 😢 Even the names of the rides are nostalgic; Survivor, Top Gun, Vortex, SpongeBob theater! RIP
I just visited last weekend for the first time. And my home park growing up was also Six Flags Great America. I can definitely relate to the bizarre feeling that you're walking through an alternate universe.
I've been to the Six Flags that was in Southern California, I was not impressed. I've been to Disneyland in Anaheim as a young person in the 1970s and to this park at Great America Santa Clara and the old park was really great. Nowadays after it's been taken over by the City of Santa Clara it's just gone downhill
@@faithreturns333 Yeah it's a ghost town now. It's NEVER packed and very little people going there. It used to be a really great park but businesses want that space now. I miss the SIGN from the freeway. Good old times though. 😢
This video made me so depressed. This is my lifelong home park, with a season pass for over 25 years. During the Paramout era, it really was well-themed and exciting. Cedar Fair really put a lot of good into the park, but a lack of a cohesive theme and loss of amazing rides caused an overall negative (loss of Invertigo, Revolution, Logger's Run, Firefall, Stealth, etc). I've always wanted to go to the Gurnee park to feel that twilight zone effect, so I love how you did the opposite. I'm surprised you had negative feelings about the operations, and also about Gold Striker. But sounds like operations really did actually suck the day you went. Even though making me sad and depressed, thank you for doing such a good review and tribute to the park and its history!!
Yeah Operations were never THAT bad the years I’ve gone there. The lack of consistency in terms of theming after the PGA years have always bothered me. And a perfect example would be FireFall in 08.
Dam I worked there when Invertigo just opened and had tons of shirts promoting it. You telling me it's closed made me sad lol. I had a lot of good times working there and going there in the early 90s. I'm sure vortex is gone too 😆
@@geebee380 Vortex actually has a pretty funny story, i’m surprised he didn’t mention it in the video, it was repainted in about 2015 and renamed to patriot it’s the same coaster though
Paramount's Great America was my whole childhood. My grandpa was one of the engineers that helped design some areas and we lived 2 blocks away. From the backyard we could always hear the screams from Drop Zone and sometimes if the wind was blowing hard enough, you could hear the ride operators as well. We always watched the fireworks from the house, and as I kid I'd get pissed because they kept me up when I was trying to sleep sometimes. You think you got sad and emotional on your trip, man I got hella sad and emotional just watching this video lol. I don't know if I'll be able to go back before they start moving rides, but I probably will tear up for my final visit there.
It aint gonna happen. The park generates significant tax revenue for the city and city has clearly stated the zoning is strictly for a theme park. Cedar Fair may not be the ones to operate it, but the city isnt going to let the park go without a fight.
The park is also the largest employer of youths in Northern California. That's nothing to sneeze at, and if the park closes, all those jobs are gone for good, replaced by warehouses.
I grew up with this theme park going as a child in the late 80's until the 2000's when I left after graduating college. I have so many fond memories of both Marriott and even better, when Paramount took control. The theming was so well done, the shows were a blast (getting picked for the Nickelodeon double dare stage show is something I will always remember). This was the days of Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Edge (watching a quarter float off your legs was a standard) and so many other rides that were either rethemed or removed completely. Demon was my very first inverted roller coaster and being such a small kid I was deathly afraid but immediately ended up loving fast roller coasters after that. I recently went back last summer (2022) and feeling so sad that the soul had been sucked out of that park. There was no Levi Stadium…in fact there was hardly anything around that area at the time. A few businesses on one side…and HUGE parking lot with the Marriott hotel at the other end and then nothing else. I had season passes and would get dropped off with friends before we were old enough to drive and then picked up at the end of the night. No cell phones, no technology distractions. in fact, my high school senior ditch day was to spend the Monday following prom in this park. My last trip was probably in 2003 and then I wouldn't be back for almost 20 years. I hate to see the park disappear, but I almost hate it more to see the park looking so drained of emotion and care. Especially since I remember so clearly what it once was and how exciting it was to walk through those gates and see the pool with the double decker carosel and hearing the paramount movie soundtracks playing in the background.
I have all these same memories! The quarter on the thigh in that cage for the edge- my first looped coaster- the Demon. Top gun. air hawk. The triple wheel. Field trips. Summer trips. Family trips. The giant iMax theater. Rip roaring rapids. The tidal wave! I rode that thing, 11 times in a row without getting off in a day it wasn’t crowded! So. Many. Memories!
I can still remember when Marriot's Great America was being built. We drove by the property one day and my father told me that something like Disneyland was being built 20 minutes from our house. As a 5-year-old, I had visited Disneyland for the first time the year before, so I was really excited. As I got older it seemed like ALL of my friends worked at Great America at one time or another. My connection is playing in a jazz band that was featured there many times. It was fun to see it become a Hanna-Barbera character park, not just the Smurfs, but Fred Flintstone and others walking around as well. Especially when I ended up working at HB studios down in Southern California. I'll have to visit one last time before its gone. Thank you for this review of the park.
Sometimes we underestimate the power regional parks have. SFDK, CGA, Gilroy Gardens, and Santa Cruz BB, are all notes of pride for many of us. What they lack from destination parks (like in SoCal) they radiate with local charm and aesthetic. We love Disney, Universal, Sea World & Six Flags down there, and love sending out-of-towners there as well. These regional parks serve our local communities on such a different level and theres plenty of time to see this park get saved like others in our area. Still some hope from me.
Yeah it is a weird park. It suffered from the indecisiveness of keeping it open or closing it. I also thought it strange there wasn't like a restaurant row or a hangout spot outside of the park for gamedays. Like a smaller city walk type of thing? Your Great America is a lot nicer. I agree it is strange to see a park that had theming basically removed. Magic Mountain, Fiesta Texas, both Great Americas are like this. I also heard Worlds of Fun was themed but I've never been there. You can see the remnants of theming in the buildings and such for it just turn into generica, it's kind of sad to see. I'm glad CP stopped messing with Knott's after Silver Bullet. It would have been tragic to see the theming removed in that park.
I will miss not having this theme park in Santa Clara. I was there on opening day in 1976, so has a special place. Especially since our other theme parks Frontier Village and Santa's Village closed before CGA was built. I hope it does not disappear.
one thing to know about the demon in CGA is the drop was reprefiled while the other one in gurnee kept it's drop the same and our home park still plays the demon theme song while the one at CGA doesn't play the demon theme song
The rock work in the 2nd loop is also gone at CGA, annnnnd sometimes operates the waterfall. On one of my first visits in May or June of 2021 after COVID the waterfall was on but the next weekend or weekend after it was off
@@scottyjbd the reason why is the water would cause corrosion and rust one thing our homepark does to our demon is they added a spooky laugh and fog would
Sfgam is also my home park I do feel the same way. I appreciate that my great America is still standing, but it’s sad about cga leaving. I hope some coasters there get relocated
As condition of the land sale they can continue to operate the park until 2033 so we have 10 more years to enjoy it. Hopefully because of Santa Clara's refusal to change the zoning from Amusement Park to something they can continue to operate the park beyond 2033. I can only hope that will happen as I too have fond memories in the early 1980s as young kid. So many rides have changed over the years. My favorite is the Sky Whirl which sadly no longer exists. It's got that strange electric motor hum that you don't hear anywhere else. lol
This is my backyard park. Like literally I grew up listening to people scream as Demon and Grizzley made their initial drop. I watched dropzone (now drop tower) and top gun (now flight deck) get built. Hearing there was plans prior to 2020 to re design some of the park is heart breaking. I grew up with this park getting season passes year after year. My parents would leave me at the front gate and pick me up when they wanted me out of their hair for a day. I heard the news that it was going to close in the near future and while I get it especilly if you go during a niners game when parking is at its worst and the real estate the park consumes feels like more a hinderance than anything else. I still love going for Halloween for their haunt and in July for independance day fireworks. Its sad to see it go but given its state its in now compared to my childhood memories I'm okay saying good bye. It sucks cause I won't have a good theme park close but southern california with all its parks is only an 8 hour drive. Thanks for a great review and some new info. I had no idea there was/is a sister park.
Thanks for making this excellent video! I grew up in the SF Bay Area, and was one of the first 100 employees hired at MGA in Santa Clara back in the summer of 1976. Dressed as an English bobby, I was a member of the Security Department. And because I was one of the first 100 employees, I was chosen to spend a couple of weeks at MGA in Gurnee, IL as something of a "goodwill tour" during August of '76. MGA Santa Clara was an AWESOME place to work. Generally speaking, all of the employees had a really positive attitude and were very excited to work at the park. I worked at MGA for the summers of 1976 and 1977, and have to admit that the overall energy of the park seemed to diminish starting in the late 70's. The park never quite measured up to the aura of Disneyland; MGA had too much of a "temporary county fair" atmosphere. I had a tremendous amount of pride for working at MGA, so I'm really sorry to hear that the Santa Clara park will be closing...but it does make sense, since the land the park is on has to be incredibly valuable. Thanks, again, for this terrific and informative video. RIP CGA!
We might have crossed paths! I was the original electronics manager and designed sound and lighting systems for the two Marriott parks. Worked in management till 1986. So much has changed since then. Everything now is MONEY over FUN. Cedar Fair will scavenge the rides for their other parks or sell them to other parks if they can. And while the Santa Clara zoning is now for a theme park. the expected increase in tax revenue will persuade the council to change that when needed. Greed overcomes nostalgia every time. I would like to see them keep the Grand Carousel somehow as it is the largest in the world and contains replicas of many historic carousel animals. Maybe make the entrance area into a local park?
I was born and raised in San Jose and CGA was all everyone would do all summer. Season passes use to be so cheap, they had way more attractions, way more food and goodie stops, a lot of merch and souvenirs everywhere, there was a whole area dedicated to nickelodeon and SpongeBob...ahhh good memories, unforgettable summers 😔
I grew up in San Jose and got season passes to this park every summer as a kid. Back in 1993-1994 this park was absolutely filled with kids. I remember scanning for girls, getting wet when it was hot, and bringing $4.20 to buy a Togo's sandwich each day, a 20 min walk outside then back to the fun. I will miss you Great America. By the way the best rides back then were Tidal Wave and the Revolution.
Same! Between 90-94 I used to go door to door to collect cans to buy a season pass! We live in Oregon now and am taking the wife and kids for their first time! Unfortunately they won't get to see it in it's glory...😢
@@adamlechuga3953 nice man, and I bet you adore that time, hard work pays off with fun. BY THE WAY, it closes in 2033, not 2023. Google around you can still go. I'm going!
My sister lives right by Great America and I got to go with my nephews. It was fun to spend the day with them, but it also made me realize how lucky I am to have grown up in Southern California where I have so many theme park options. It’s a shame the park is closing, there’s a lot of potential.
The potential was lost decades ago when Marriott sold the park and CGA allowed themselves to be landlocked. Six Flags should have bought this park as well but they were focused on keeping Magic Mountain the super park on the west. Also SFA was Wild World prior to Six Flags.
Same here. Great America is like a cross between Knotts and Magic Mountain. I personally like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk better than Venice Beach, the Santa Monica Pier or Balboa Island in Newport Beach. Still haven’t been to Belmont Park in San Diego and probably almost 15 years since I’ve been to Sea World since they started focusing more on rides because of the blowback from the Black Fish documentary. Don’t go to Magic Mountain very often because of the traffic so I only go there like once every few years and only been to Universal Studios twice in my life since they’re more expensive than Disneyland plus don’t want to put up with that traffic going there. Still haven’t been to Legoland yet but now I have kids so that will change probably pretty soon.
I grew up in San Jose, and thus grew up going to CGA. It was my first job, i worked there for two years during the end of its Paramount era. I moved out of state 15 years ago, but part of me wants to do a last visit before it's gone. I have some weird stories from the time, but the highlight of my time was getting to ride Flight Deck (when it was called Top Gun) after closing. It was beautiful and surreal, the park was empty, it was just the closing rides supervisors, our managers, and the mechanics operatiny it for us.
CGA was on shaky ground before the pandemic. The pandemic was just the final nail. CF had been feuding with the local government for years. Them having to split their parking lot with an NFL team was damaging. Local & CA building regulations had hampered future developments (Orion was from CGA failed hyper attempt). Noise complaints complaints also restricted them. Then the local economic environment was an issue (labor costs and running costs were astronomical). Despite high attendance, the profitability just wasn't there. The pandemic (and skyrocketing land value) was just the last straw that broke the camel's back.
@@tonyreyna1067 The difference is, Cedar Fair actually got the cash upfront before closing the park(and they're closing is a gradual process). Six Flags closed and completely demolished the Astro based purely on speculation and no firm offers. That speculation never materialized into profitable bids until they more or less had to beg someone to take it off their hands at a major loss. They didn't really have a choice as the park was literally ruble at that point. The only good thing to come from it was finally having that era of Six Flag's CEO kicked out after that debacle. TLDR: Closing CGA is painful, but makes sense for the chain's health. The closing of Astroworld was just f$%king stupid.
The noise complaints were from office buildings on land that used to be parking for Great America. Building and then leasing an office built on a amusement park parking lot complaining about the noise of the amusement park is like people complaining about the noise of passenger trains on Caltrain. They have only been running passengers on that track continuously since 1863.
Heya, CGA op here. I want to mention a few things. I saw myself in the video during the Patriot footage! That was a surprise, haha. Anyway, you visited in August 2022 which happens to be a hot month, and basically every one of our coasters has no roof over the station. Other CF parks have that luxury but Marriott is weird and never got us roofs lmao. Even for the most dedicated ops (including me) it’s very physically exhausting! I still have tans from Patriot LMAO. RailBlazer has a roof in the station which makes it a lot easier on us to go faster-I used to be at Patriot, and yeah we were slow, and yeah I agree that our ops aren’t the best (and definitely agree that some of our ops don’t have a lot of soul or care about efficiency), but at the same time, we also didn’t have the luxury of shade and that weighed heavily on us. When I switched to the RailBlazer crew, I’ve never been exhausted since, even during hot days. If you looked closely a lot of us were probably panting and sweating. You also didn’t mention the RailBlazer crew’s performance! Unless it was closed when you went lol. Blazer crew is always on top of it, a lot of thoosies including me are stationed there and we care a lot about efficiency. That’s all I had to say, thanks! Just keep in mind that even though it was peak season, yeah the one train ops sucked and they were slow, and yeah not all of our ops care, but please be nicer on us when it’s like 80-90 degrees out 😭 I really do apologize that you had a poor experience with our operations though
Thanks for your comment! Like I said, I didn't want to focus of the video to be on operations or you guys, and it sounds like a lot of the issues you mentioned stems from the park's mismanagement. Railblazer crew was great though. Hope they throw up some shade for ya'll in the future!
@@ParkPros Yeah haha. Operations are the soul of parks though so it is still a very important criticism. A lot of our operators need to hear that they’re not performing well but many couldn’t care less. Makes the ops who actually care look bad. In the park I’m known as the one who “cares too much” lmao. My fastest dispatch on RailBlazer is 29 seconds and our park record is about 23. As a team we get upset at ourselves when we stack trains and/or go above 50 seconds lmao
I remember before the park opened they had models of the park throughout California Malls promoting it. I went to this park in its heyday; was there the opening weekend of Tidal Wave. It’s such a shame the park is just a shell of what used to and intended to be.
Do you still think anyone has those models? Maybe tucked away in an attic storage room at CGA? I would like to make a video showing how these two almost identical theme parks (Santa Clara, CA and Gurnee, IL) diverged under different owners. Anyone interested?
I went to the park as 3rd and 4th grader for my birthday in 1976/77. It was awesome. Tidal Wave Ride actually moved to Astroworld in Houston in 1980 or 81 and was renamed the Greased lightning. I got to ride the same ride in two different parks. Watching this video was kind of sad. I remember my dad showing me the PSA planes from the parking lot with the smiley faces.
The first time I went to Great America was our 6th grade graduation in 1976. It was glorious for years. I lived about 3 miles straight down the street. When I had kids we bought season passes, would spend 4th of july there, it was a good time. Wish Disney would have bought it and created something cool.
Tip my hat to you for being so accurate after just visiting once. Growing up with this park, we all felt the same: it never got a fair chance. Also worth noting since you didn't mention it, due to proximity to San Jose airport it had very strict height regulations which limited the types of attractions they were allowed to build. Still a ton of great memories here.
Going to the Christian college in Santa Cruz, half the student body went to GA for Joy/Spring Celebration. And it was a hoot when Bryan Duncan was doing his concert, and then a plane flew over loudly . . . and, typical Bryan Duncan, he said "We'd like to thank United Airlines for their addition to this concert."
We used to go to CGA every summer, in my childhood years (1980s). My favorite attractions were Demon, Whizzer(no longer there), Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun), the IMAX theater, the rotating sky tower, and their video game arcade.
Willard's Whizzer was my favorite also. It was torn down because it did not have restraints and a kid lost his life after standing up and falling out. :/
This was my home park growing up. Went to to from opening year until '97 when I moved. Sadly I probably won't be able to visit before it's closure. Good news though, I live in Sandusky, OH home to Cedar Point. I would like the Rail Blazer to be relocated up here.
Dude the way u described your experience and your explanation of ur great America made this so sad. It is really sad that what could have happened is now just a sad dream we once had. RIP California’s Great America and everyone, just enjoy your home park while you have it.
Its most authentic time was in the 80s and it was the sh@t... amazing small park that I loved as a kid. The 90s movie themes were great too. I really can't believe you thought the grizzly was smooth. I have back problems from that one from 30 years ago. Gold striker is much smoother and doesn't shatter your balls off.
My childhood was spent growing up in Monterey, CA. Since the high school kids went to down in Disneyland, the Jr. high had trips for 7th-9th graders. 7th & 8th graders went to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk & 9th grade/freshman class went to Great America before school let out for summer break. That place is now a middle school (6th - 8th grade). I visited Great America numerous times during my teen years. I took my 1st daughter there for her birthday several years in a row. The last time we visited Great America was for her 14th bday. We moved out of CA about 7 months later. I haven't been back there since we moved to Seattle. I now have a 2nd daughter but she's only been to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (3 times) & Bonfonte Gardens aka Gilroy Gardens amusement park one time. I wanted to take her to Great America when she got older & would be able to go on the bigger rides, but we always ended up doing other things whenever we visited California. She's not really interested in Great America or any of the Six Flags parks. Right now she just wants to visit Universal Studios-Hollywood, to see the new Super Mario Land. 🙂 Hmm, we might have to do a side trip to Great America on our way home from Universal. My favorite ride in Great America has always been the iconic double decker carousel. I'm sad to hear that Great America will no longer be around, but life is always changing & nothing is permanent.
Damn, that investment plan would have been incredible. My pipe dream now would be for cedar fair to take their new capital and invest in a Pacific Northwest park.
Thanks for the review the first casualty of the future closure was the Halloween event haunted houses were removed. We bought our platinum pass now but regret missing the Halloween event since we planned on attending for years.
I've had annual passes and have been to the part with every ownership. Marriott's was good, but Paramount was a fantastic operator and the park had Paramount characters walking around from movies and cartoons. It was the closest thing to Disneyland and a great park to visit in that era.
Honestly I agree and disagree that it’s a bad park. You were talking about the horrible 1 train operations but that’s weird bc every time I was there, 2 trains are always run. Psycho mouse do be running those terrible operations.It does have some trashy run down parts, and random ally’s with patch’s of grass for no reason. It could of had a giga, had fancy restaurants and lounge areas which they were going to have. But I still love the park. Most of it is just beautiful and lush, and overall you can still have an amazing experience. Each time I go I have an amazing time, sometimes it’s not about the quality but the emotions your are able to experience while there. It ain’t no Cedair fair or Disneyland but it’s enjoyable for sure. And when u think about it yes there is wasted potential and in any case great America will not close (let’s have hope), I could only dream they fix it up and bump it up the tiers of cedair fair parks. Also for their coasters having around an 100ft drop they sure pack and punch. Also no disrespect to your video, I agree with you and I’m happy someone made a video about my home park.
My home park,.very sad it's going away, worked there in 1976 when it was Marriots, The great years, bought and sold way too many times! Have a 5 cent root beer on me, yes they had 5 cent rootbeer at the Hotshot, That were Mr. Marriot got started.
Gilroy Gardens is no longer letting people with Cedar Fair passes in now, I think it went in effect January 1 2023. Also the City of Santa Clara has said publicly that any future zoning of the property would not be granted and they are trying to reaquire the property. We'll have to wait and see on that
This Great America is my home park so, it honestly gets me a little choked up seeing it slowly die. I remember some of my earliest memories coming to the park, even during the Nickelodeon era before the Peanuts overhaul, so seeing the source of all those memories go away makes me feel like a part of my childhood is about to be gone. It may not have been a good theme park by an overall standard, I doubt 3 year old me would have known the difference, but it was my Great America.
Back in the 90's this park was owned by Paramount and called "Paramount's Great America". The park was very well maintained and areas were themed after various Paramount owned or licensed movie assets. The Flight Deck coaster was called "Top Gun" at the time and themed like the movie. They also had Star Trek characters, like Klingons and Romulans, who would walk around for photo ops. I had a lot of great time there. Then the park got sold and became "California's Great America", the movie theming was all removed and the maintenance of the park went downhill drastically. I went back one last time in 2012 and had a terrible experience. Bathrooms weren't being cleaned and paint was peeling off the rides. But the single worse part that caused me to never want to go back was what they did to the ride queues. The queues for the more popular rides used to have canopies or covers to give the people in line some shade from the sun. The new owners removed those canopies and installed vending machines about halfway through the line. So imagine it's a hot summer day, you are standing directly in the sun, its a 45+ minute wait in line to get on a coaster, and now they are charging you $7 for a bottle of water. It became pretty obvious why all the shade and canopies were removed from the line queues.
@@themeparkreconnoiter9787 ahh …. Interesting. I went to college in Fresno. Lots of space. I still hope the city of Santa Clara buys it back. They are trying. Also, the land is only zoned for the amusement park. Fresno would be an interesting option … but super hot many months.
Moving to California in '79 I have visited CGA many times. It has always had a "B-Movie" feel compared to the Disney Parks, more like Busch Gardens in Tampa. The kids with season passes in the summer would add to the roughness, with line cutting and fights. The park kept adding and removing rides to get people to come back. The Sky Wheel, a triple Ferris wheel that could run two sections while loading and unloading the third, was often getting stuck. I don't see it anymore. It was nice having something nearby, even if it was not the best. Let's hope they can go out with a bang.
Let's just be grateful for all the memories this park gave us. I remember when it was SMURF themed by Hanna Barberra. Woodstock Express was known as Smurfettte's Wild Ride back then. The park used to have giant mushrooms so the kids could play in them. Any kid from the 80's knows that. Giant mushrooms for kids to play in was awesome. I still have pictures. The whole section of the park was for the Smurfs. I'll miss this park. RIP Great America.😢
CGA is my local park. It was pretty wonderful back when it first opened. Even after it changed hands, you could still see the old park just under the surface. My husband took me there on one of our first dates, and we've been together over 20 years now. So, it's sad to see the park crumbling like this. (And interestingly, when I see YOUR Great America, it makes me nostalgic for how our park used to be.)
The operations at this park have been atrocious on all of my visits since my first time going in 2019. Gold striker, especially has been irritating because they do not offer a single rider line and there will be multiple empty roads going out on almost every dispatch, because the grouper that tells you which road to go to will not fill up the entire train, and, it’s a complete disaster. The way they are running that ride.
Went there a few months ago with my daughter. It’s really sad to see her childhood being limited opposed to what we had. GA was depressing people weren’t happy looking workers and riders. It felt empty… and to think 30 years ago they filmed Beverly Hills Cop 3 here. Daughter will never see this park at its peak, pier 39 is empty and lifeless and she saw the final day of toys r us a dedicated toy store in its sad former glory. It’s all surreal
just wanna mention that when paramount had the park, "flight deck" was "top gun" and had SOOOO many top gun references and things about it. the dude over the loud speaker would be like "welcome to TOP gun..." cool times
Us Locals are devastated. Cedar fair really betrayed us....not surprised operations suck...it use to not! They took away a lot staple rides as well. They either have two years or up to 10 more years. I hope in the 10 years things change to keep it. We don't need more greedy silicon valley scumbags.
Grew up in San Jose in the 90’s a season pass was only 35 bucks. Anytime we were bored just hop on the light rail. And you were there. Dam I miss those care free days.
I went there in 1990 as a eighth grade trip I thought it was cool I went on the rip-roaring rapids and visited Smurf village I'm surprised it lost so much momentum it used to be the place to go in at least Northern CA.
Cole, can I just say WOW! You made a simple theme park report into a mini documentary. And you did it soo well. Bro, you need to go into broadcasting or radio! You literally told a story that just grabbed my attention and I couldn't let go. Not meaning to just pump your ego but I'm giving credit where credit is due.
I was in Jr High when it opened. It was such a fun park to live near and visit often. I even went to see how it was decorated for the filming of Beverly Hills Cop 3. Now I want to look through boxes to find Mr pictures. I am sorry the fate is looking grim. This really makes me sad. I am truly hoping it is saved somehow.
From 74 to 86 I was the electronics manager for both parks, responsible for show lighting, sound, and park wide background music etc. I can remember walking down the center service road in Calif on a sunny warm December day, getting on a plane and four or five hours later walking down an identical service road...except there is two feet of snow plowed up on each side and it's 50-60- degrees colder! That will screw up your mind, and your wardrobe!
Now let's think. Railblazer will without a doubt be relocated. To where? It's a high demand coaster with decent capacity. I think there's a chance it's coming to Kings Island The nearest RMC is at Kentucky Kingdom, 2 hours away. Holiday World is too far away and don't have an RMC. Cedar Point is few hours away, and it's clear they didn't want an RMC at KI to limit the competition between the two KI can get the RMC they wanted. And KI can finally get the RMC they've needed. Only question is... are places for the T-Rex already in place at CP? Because if CP really is gonna go for the Trex then KI getting railblazer is out of the question. Probably to a park like Worlds of Fun, or back to Kings Dominion for double RMC to limit spending costs to replace double loss coasters
I used to go here in late 90s and early 2000s when it would be packed and they would get new rides. Every attraction was open, they’d have every snack bar open and from what I recall there was always a packed entry before it would open. Apparently a Fresno man is looking to make a new park somewhere near and bring most of the rides from CGA.
Welcome to California! The Land of Real Estate Developers! If there is a piece of land somewhere with a building that's more than a handful years old, there will be a developer that believes that it'll be worth buying and tearing down that old (or not so old) building to make room for something NEW and EXPENSIVE!!!
This place was lit in the late 90s! We used to visit when they had Christian music festivals and it was pretty awesome. Haven't been there since though. Would like to visit one last time.
After watching the video, you do make valid points. This was my homepark from 2002-2016. I always thought the park had potential. But they half ass it 90% of the time. That back half where Drop Tower wasn’t that bad the last time i went there in 2016. This park has always had a weird history. And I don’t think it’s going anywhere in this decade. And the reason is it’s not the first rodeo of a potential closure. Though this time, it seems to be more official as the land was owned by Cedar Fair this time. So a closure IS possible, But what this park has been doing lately makes me sort of believe otherwise is, they’re doing remodeling in much needed areas and there are plans to do some demoing in the Action Zone as well as a new Zamperla Flat going in the area. Which can be relocated but I don’t know. This park has always done some weird things over the years that it’s kind of hard to take it seriously. Which can be a good or bad thing. I’m still hopeful it will continue on. I’m keeping a close eye on it.
I finally visited last Fall. All themed areas have been watered down by each consequitive owner. It has potential, much potential. That giga would have really plced it on the map. Now, I look at Rail Blazer and wonder where they will shoe-horn it into Knott's. That carousel would make a great focal point for a huge condo completx, so I hope it remains.
Glad my kids have season's passes and can still create memories w/ them while it's still around. The video mentioned ride operators who don't seem to care; as a middle schooler I remember putting my head down while riding the Cajun Carpet (which turned into the Revolution) and the operator stopped the ride to ask me if I was ok; totally different times now. CGA also had an amphitheater and l remember watching Jefferson Starship. I already miss those days and I'll miss them more if in 10 years this place is gone.
This has been my home park for my whole life basically. I remember going here for the first time on my 10th birthday. I had a season pass to the park last year and was actually driving home from the park on June 27 when I heard the news on reddit. It's very unfortunate what happened to this park as well as many other of Randall Duell's Parks such as Opryland. Paramount really screwed up the theming and charm of the original park by removing half of the original rides such as Tidal Wave, Sky Whirl, Yankee Clipper, the train, and turning the entire Yankee Harbor section into a Nickelodian area for kids. They left cedar fair with a park that didn't make much sense theming wise. It's very disappointing but I still have hope that the city won't approve the zoning change later on and some other chain will buy this and try and bring back the original park.
I had a 5 year season pass from 1990 to 95 . I remember when the edge used to be There We had the Yankee clipper and Logger run. Flight deck used to be Top Gun. It was so much fun because I used to live in lamplighter trailer park on the San Jose side we used to cross over the Guadalupe where the LRT runs and walk over. It's going to be a sad day to see that place closed.
Living very close to the park and going there all the time I can say I am hopefully optimistic about it staying around. They are making improvements and just opened two new rides over the current season as well as they are working to reimagine the section of the park where grizzly is located to a very cohesive are that looks great and is a massive improvement. They also have brought back shows and parades during their seasonal events that are very surprising, they still have a ways to go to really bring back the life and personality the park so desperately needs but it seems like they are on track to make that be the case. The current park management team really has made an effort and I think with some more Time it’s on track to see great potential. Bringing in Barb from gilroy gardens has proven to be the change the park needed, you can see her hand in it’s improvements. They finally used the amphitheater section after years of it sitting abandoned for both 4th of July fireworks and they had a concert there just this past weekend. If they put some more energy and planning they truly could have a concert lineup that would wow and draw more people plus bring in extra revenue.
It’s interesting when thinking of the history with the Great America parks that my home park could’ve been one, but was turned down. It’s kinda sad really, thinking about how those two parks are both ahead of Six Flags America, and what could’ve been if it just had “Great” in front of the name.
similar story, grandpa bought me and a friend season passes every year through elementary. I was much fearless then but after almost becoming a casualty of that arch swing ride you needed to pay for and years later, Invertigo, think I'm much happier with the memories than taking on any more rides.
I could see the rollercoaster loops from my bedroom window of my childhood home. I worked two summers at the Cantina. That was a restaurant just outside exit of the Grizzly ride.
My school decided last minute to send us there instead of Disneyland when the year before us and after us they sent seniors to Disney. Least to say, I was sorely disappointed and kept just wishing we were at Disney the whole time.😒
I worked at Cedar Point in college and all three of my kids worked at least 1 summer at Kings Island. We're sad every time a park closes. We had so much fun.
I remember this being built. I only went a few times. I can remember there being nothing , but this park in the area. It was before Silicon Valley exploded.
I lived in Sacramento for 41 years and constantly saw ads for the Great America as part of the local advertising. Having said that, the distance from Sacramento to Santa Clara meant that I only visited once in the early 1980s, and it was a very long day with the driving. Considering that the parking lot is shared with Levi's stadium, and this park's days are numbered.
There may be a chance for the park because all the venture capital is dead and many tech companies will die and other things with them. Depends on how many more banks fail and will the new project be a dead park, because the failures are not over and the tech industry and their banks caused it. Or at least are major contributors.
Great dive into the history of the park! It's a shame the Redwoods and Bicentennial areas weren't developed, but it makes sense for Cedar Fair to drop CGA and refocus on smaller parks after the massive ex-Paramount investments in the last decade. Hope Prologis at least keeps the front half of the park open - everything from Goldstriker to Patriot to Flight Deck should stay, with some flats relocated for a cohesive theme. And even if South Bay Shores sticks around as a separate-admission water park (with the Rapids plot for possible expansion), there's plenty of room for housing on the south side of the property. Getting the rezoning approved is the hard part.
7:36 -- Also remember that the park is the middle of the Bay Area. With how ridiculous prices are for just about everything, the operators and park staff are simply not paid enough to care.
Some interesting info about this park: When Marriott sold this park they initially sold it too developers who wanted to tear it down for office space. Santa Clara wanted to preserve it as a theme park so they sued to stop the sale. Ultimately, the developers agreed to let the city buy they park in exchange for selling off some of the parks land to the developer, who built a hotel and office complex on it. This resulted in the park having a smaller footprint then originally (by about 20 acres), constraining what sort of future coasters and other rides could be added. After the City bought the park they hired Kings Entertainment Company to run the park for the city then later allowed them to buy the park though the city retained ownership of the land it sits on. KEC sold the park to Paramount who eventually sold it to Ceder Fair. Another interesting fact was The Demon Coaster was originally called Turn of the Century when the park first opened in 1976 and didn't have to two loops after the first drop. In 1980, Marriott modified the coaster by adding two loops after the first drop, some rock formations you pass through, a colored waterfall effect, sound effects in the initial tunnel out of loading area just before the lift hill, and colored lights in a latter tunnel. Sadly the colored waterfall, tunnel lights, and and sound effects have all since been tuned off, likely to save on maintenance costs I suspect.
I visited the park in December 2021. This was before it was announced that the park was sold but Cedar Fair definately knew at the time I visited. I did notice some operational issues with Patriot and Psycho Mouse not opening for unexplained reasons (they said weather but I doubt it, especially with Patriot since Flight Deck was operating), but nothing too major as I got to ride their big 3. The only dispatch complaint I had was Railblaizer: it needs a moving loading platform like what Jersey Devil has. That capacity is putrid for a park with CGA's attendance. I am more optomistic than most about this park's future. Being that it currently isn't zoned for anything other than an amusement park that could make it difficult for any developer to bouldoze it. I think the most likely senario is the 49ers buy it and use it as a PR stunt to show how good of an organization they are for the community while also working it into gameday experience packages, essentially having it as an alternative to tailgating. It should still be atop every enthusiasts bucket list in case it does close, but I don't think we should be certain the park will close, at the very least.
@@zacharyyamashita8554 Well, they did give it 10 years. That's plenty of time for things to change in any industry. I mean, who would've expected "Zamperla refurbishing Intamin hydrolic launch coasters" as an element of the industry even a few months before PNE Playland's next coaster was announced (just as an example)?
I grew up going to this park, and its heartbreaking to see its current status today. My company has held its last 2 company picnics here and its really a shell of what it used to be. On a summer Friday afternoon there should be lines at every ride. But there was hardly any wait at all.
last time I was there it was paramounts great america. Back when Eddie Murphy filmed beverly hills cop 3 there. I think the park was at its best back in the mariotts name was on it. Yes I am old lol!
It’s super sad to see this park go, but in all the years it has been around it has never been a very big draw. I’m a native to San Jose which is a stones throw to the park, and even growing up there was never the “hey! Let’s go to Great America this weekend!” Because after you had been there once you really never needed to go again. And I have a very strong feeling that one of the major reasons why it’s closing. It’s a one trick pony and families don’t want to spend money to do the exact same thing.
It is unfortunate that we are losing anything to do with family entertainment in the Bay Area. Bowling Alleys, skating rinks, etc. every little postage stamp of land is being overbuilt. My husband takes our kids several times a week with season passes. It is sad it wont be there for my grandchildren. The worst thing about the park is that it was the demise of Frontier Village another long gone theme park of my youth.
I grew up going to Great America. It was within walking distance of my house. And I have to say, the problem wasn’t a lack of theming. It was needing to pull out the theming so, many, different, times. It was re-themed by every owner, and un-themed, and re-themed, and un-themed. The section in the back was based around Hanna Barbera cartoons. Then Nickelodeon cartoons. I think at one point there was a Klingon Meet ‘n Greet there. Every area was going to get built up around themed attractions, then a new owner came though and it would all get undone. This happened over and over with no consistency. People would start a whole overhaul of the areas, then dump the park on someone else who would have to undo what the previous person did. It… was really heartbreaking to watch.
Paved paradise, and put in a parking lot. Make a nice song. ruclips.net/video/jwuPui0pmO4/видео.html
Do you remember when it was paramount Great America? It was soooo much better!!!
@@tonytone9152 This park was originally Hanna Barberra's. It used to be SMURF themed. Woodstock Express used to be Smurfette's Wild Ride. The park used to have giant mushrooms for kids to play in. I have pictures of those giant mushrooms where kids wanted to go in and play. This was during the 1980's. I love this park but they kept changing the themes. I really wish it would've stuck with Hanna Barberra. Every kid loves Scooby Doo and the Smurfs.
@@j.d.contreras392 : I seem to recall the park was originally Warner Brothers characters: Bugs Bunny, et. al. I recall the HB, but that was later.
@@johngrimoldy7637 Yeah when I was a kid it had WB characters. I've got pictures of me there from 79-80 with Bugs Bunny
"Flight Deck" had an amazing Top Gun theme back when Paramount owned the park... I hear Danger Zone on a loop whenever I think of this place.
That ride was perfection
I am not saying goodbye until they officially close. I am still being optimistic that there's still hope for this place considering how 10 years is still plenty of time for something good to happen for this place.
We never give up hope. I like this park actually
Yes!! Cga is my beloved home park and I’m praying that someone can save it
The city ain't having any of it. So cedar fair will pull a geauga lake and leave it in disrepair make it a disaster and then when people stop coming they will get the support to close it. That or they will buy a few votes California is very corrupt in that way.
Same
Same, until the year they officially close the doors, I’m keeping my hopes up, that it could be saved sometime.
I’ve lived in San Jose my whole life and I’ve been going to this park since 2000 and I would like to say that Paramount’s Great America was peak Great America, and I’m really sad to see this park go, even with the current version not being my preferred version. I’ve always like this park more than Santa Cruz boardwalk and I’m just not ready to say bye to it 🥲 I wanted to take my kids here, maybe I’ll be able to take them as toddlers right before they close 😭 Also, Gilroy Gardens used to be called Bonafante Gardens and it was also much better back then 🙃
I second that notion of Paramount’s Great America was the best 😢 Even the names of the rides are nostalgic; Survivor, Top Gun, Vortex, SpongeBob theater! RIP
I agree that was it's prime! So much fun and good memories
The Paramount version was definitely my favorite. Top Gun was awesome. That was the closest the park ever came to having a cohesive vibe
The best thing about the Paramount era was all the Star Trek merch. 😂
I just visited last weekend for the first time. And my home park growing up was also Six Flags Great America. I can definitely relate to the bizarre feeling that you're walking through an alternate universe.
I've been to the Six Flags that was in Southern California, I was not impressed. I've been to Disneyland in Anaheim as a young person in the 1970s and to this park at Great America Santa Clara and the old park was really great. Nowadays after it's been taken over by the City of Santa Clara it's just gone downhill
@@faithreturns333 Yeah it's a ghost town now. It's NEVER packed and very little people going there. It used to be a really great park but businesses want that space now. I miss the SIGN from the freeway. Good old times though. 😢
This video made me so depressed. This is my lifelong home park, with a season pass for over 25 years. During the Paramout era, it really was well-themed and exciting. Cedar Fair really put a lot of good into the park, but a lack of a cohesive theme and loss of amazing rides caused an overall negative (loss of Invertigo, Revolution, Logger's Run, Firefall, Stealth, etc). I've always wanted to go to the Gurnee park to feel that twilight zone effect, so I love how you did the opposite. I'm surprised you had negative feelings about the operations, and also about Gold Striker. But sounds like operations really did actually suck the day you went. Even though making me sad and depressed, thank you for doing such a good review and tribute to the park and its history!!
Yeah Operations were never THAT bad the years I’ve gone there. The lack of consistency in terms of theming after the PGA years have always bothered me. And a perfect example would be FireFall in 08.
Dam I worked there when Invertigo just opened and had tons of shirts promoting it. You telling me it's closed made me sad lol. I had a lot of good times working there and going there in the early 90s. I'm sure vortex is gone too 😆
@@geebee380 Vortex actually has a pretty funny story, i’m surprised he didn’t mention it in the video, it was repainted in about 2015 and renamed to patriot it’s the same coaster though
@@sLifestyle-ny9sx patriot!? Wow 😅
@@geebee380 yep! They just changed it from a standing coaster to a floorless coaster
Paramount's Great America was my whole childhood. My grandpa was one of the engineers that helped design some areas and we lived 2 blocks away. From the backyard we could always hear the screams from Drop Zone and sometimes if the wind was blowing hard enough, you could hear the ride operators as well. We always watched the fireworks from the house, and as I kid I'd get pissed because they kept me up when I was trying to sleep sometimes.
You think you got sad and emotional on your trip, man I got hella sad and emotional just watching this video lol. I don't know if I'll be able to go back before they start moving rides, but I probably will tear up for my final visit there.
Hella cool
I hope that all the Marriott original rides will be relocated to Six Flags Great America. As an effort to preserve Marriott's theme park history
Yeah it would be cool for the gondals to be moved to sga
💯 ❤️
preserve for what
@@yex910 bro i literally said it right there
Isn’t six flags great America closing too in the next decade?
I read the title and thought that the park was officially closing today
I wish.
@@AmazingElevatorsandClaws no! I need more rides on Railblazer!
@@Johnnyiswhere I still need to RIDE Railblazer!
@@AmazingElevatorsandClaws why do you wish?
@@Jacobsgaming20000 So Valleyfair can get flight deck relocated.
It aint gonna happen. The park generates significant tax revenue for the city and city has clearly stated the zoning is strictly for a theme park. Cedar Fair may not be the ones to operate it, but the city isnt going to let the park go without a fight.
The park is also the largest employer of youths in Northern California. That's nothing to sneeze at, and if the park closes, all those jobs are gone for good, replaced by warehouses.
It isn’t zoned for anything else. Isn’t the city trying to buy it back?
@@RaeAnn_1202 makes you wonder if the city is trying to make a land grab by refusing to change the zoning until they can buy it back on the cheap.
@@davidwalker7732 could be. It will be interesting to see what happens. Lots of money was spent to buy it. Crazy with the zoning as it is.
I grew up with this theme park going as a child in the late 80's until the 2000's when I left after graduating college. I have so many fond memories of both Marriott and even better, when Paramount took control. The theming was so well done, the shows were a blast (getting picked for the Nickelodeon double dare stage show is something I will always remember). This was the days of Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Edge (watching a quarter float off your legs was a standard) and so many other rides that were either rethemed or removed completely. Demon was my very first inverted roller coaster and being such a small kid I was deathly afraid but immediately ended up loving fast roller coasters after that. I recently went back last summer (2022) and feeling so sad that the soul had been sucked out of that park. There was no Levi Stadium…in fact there was hardly anything around that area at the time. A few businesses on one side…and HUGE parking lot with the Marriott hotel at the other end and then nothing else. I had season passes and would get dropped off with friends before we were old enough to drive and then picked up at the end of the night. No cell phones, no technology distractions. in fact, my high school senior ditch day was to spend the Monday following prom in this park. My last trip was probably in 2003 and then I wouldn't be back for almost 20 years. I hate to see the park disappear, but I almost hate it more to see the park looking so drained of emotion and care. Especially since I remember so clearly what it once was and how exciting it was to walk through those gates and see the pool with the double decker carosel and hearing the paramount movie soundtracks playing in the background.
I have all these same memories! The quarter on the thigh in that cage for the edge- my first looped coaster- the Demon. Top gun. air hawk. The triple wheel. Field trips. Summer trips. Family trips. The giant iMax theater. Rip roaring rapids. The tidal wave! I rode that thing, 11 times in a row without getting off in a day it wasn’t crowded! So. Many. Memories!
I can still remember when Marriot's Great America was being built. We drove by the property one day and my father told me that something like Disneyland was being built 20 minutes from our house. As a 5-year-old, I had visited Disneyland for the first time the year before, so I was really excited.
As I got older it seemed like ALL of my friends worked at Great America at one time or another. My connection is playing in a jazz band that was featured there many times.
It was fun to see it become a Hanna-Barbera character park, not just the Smurfs, but Fred Flintstone and others walking around as well. Especially when I ended up working at HB studios down in Southern California.
I'll have to visit one last time before its gone. Thank you for this review of the park.
Sometimes we underestimate the power regional parks have. SFDK, CGA, Gilroy Gardens, and Santa Cruz BB, are all notes of pride for many of us. What they lack from destination parks (like in SoCal) they radiate with local charm and aesthetic. We love Disney, Universal, Sea World & Six Flags down there, and love sending out-of-towners there as well. These regional parks serve our local communities on such a different level and theres plenty of time to see this park get saved like others in our area. Still some hope from me.
Yeah it is a weird park. It suffered from the indecisiveness of keeping it open or closing it. I also thought it strange there wasn't like a restaurant row or a hangout spot outside of the park for gamedays. Like a smaller city walk type of thing? Your Great America is a lot nicer. I agree it is strange to see a park that had theming basically removed. Magic Mountain, Fiesta Texas, both Great Americas are like this. I also heard Worlds of Fun was themed but I've never been there. You can see the remnants of theming in the buildings and such for it just turn into generica, it's kind of sad to see. I'm glad CP stopped messing with Knott's after Silver Bullet. It would have been tragic to see the theming removed in that park.
I will miss not having this theme park in Santa Clara. I was there on opening day in 1976, so has a special place. Especially since our other theme parks Frontier Village and Santa's Village closed before CGA was built. I hope it does not disappear.
one thing to know about the demon in CGA is the drop was reprefiled while the other one in gurnee kept it's drop the same and our home park still plays the demon theme song while the one at CGA doesn't play the demon theme song
The rock work in the 2nd loop is also gone at CGA, annnnnd sometimes operates the waterfall. On one of my first visits in May or June of 2021 after COVID the waterfall was on but the next weekend or weekend after it was off
@@scottyjbd the reason why is the water would cause corrosion and rust one thing our homepark does to our demon is they added a spooky laugh and fog would
Sfgam is also my home park I do feel the same way. I appreciate that my great America is still standing, but it’s sad about cga leaving. I hope some coasters there get relocated
As condition of the land sale they can continue to operate the park until 2033 so we have 10 more years to enjoy it. Hopefully because of Santa Clara's refusal to change the zoning from Amusement Park to something they can continue to operate the park beyond 2033.
I can only hope that will happen as I too have fond memories in the early 1980s as young kid. So many rides have changed over the years. My favorite is the Sky Whirl which sadly no longer exists. It's got that strange electric motor hum that you don't hear anywhere else. lol
This is my backyard park. Like literally I grew up listening to people scream as Demon and Grizzley made their initial drop. I watched dropzone (now drop tower) and top gun (now flight deck) get built. Hearing there was plans prior to 2020 to re design some of the park is heart breaking. I grew up with this park getting season passes year after year. My parents would leave me at the front gate and pick me up when they wanted me out of their hair for a day. I heard the news that it was going to close in the near future and while I get it especilly if you go during a niners game when parking is at its worst and the real estate the park consumes feels like more a hinderance than anything else. I still love going for Halloween for their haunt and in July for independance day fireworks. Its sad to see it go but given its state its in now compared to my childhood memories I'm okay saying good bye. It sucks cause I won't have a good theme park close but southern california with all its parks is only an 8 hour drive. Thanks for a great review and some new info. I had no idea there was/is a sister park.
There’s still Discovery Kingdom an hour from CGA!
Thanks for making this excellent video! I grew up in the SF Bay Area, and was one of the first 100 employees hired at MGA in Santa Clara back in the summer of 1976. Dressed as an English bobby, I was a member of the Security Department. And because I was one of the first 100 employees, I was chosen to spend a couple of weeks at MGA in Gurnee, IL as something of a "goodwill tour" during August of '76. MGA Santa Clara was an AWESOME place to work. Generally speaking, all of the employees had a really positive attitude and were very excited to work at the park. I worked at MGA for the summers of 1976 and 1977, and have to admit that the overall energy of the park seemed to diminish starting in the late 70's. The park never quite measured up to the aura of Disneyland; MGA had too much of a "temporary county fair" atmosphere. I had a tremendous amount of pride for working at MGA, so I'm really sorry to hear that the Santa Clara park will be closing...but it does make sense, since the land the park is on has to be incredibly valuable. Thanks, again, for this terrific and informative video. RIP CGA!
We might have crossed paths! I was the original electronics manager and designed sound and lighting systems for the two Marriott parks. Worked in management till 1986. So much has changed since then. Everything now is MONEY over FUN. Cedar Fair will scavenge the rides for their other parks or sell them to other parks if they can. And while the Santa Clara zoning is now for a theme park. the expected increase in tax revenue will persuade the council to change that when needed. Greed overcomes nostalgia every time.
I would like to see them keep the Grand Carousel somehow as it is the largest in the world and contains replicas of many historic carousel animals. Maybe make the entrance area into a local park?
I was born and raised in San Jose and CGA was all everyone would do all summer. Season passes use to be so cheap, they had way more attractions, way more food and goodie stops, a lot of merch and souvenirs everywhere, there was a whole area dedicated to nickelodeon and SpongeBob...ahhh good memories, unforgettable summers 😔
I grew up in San Jose and got season passes to this park every summer as a kid. Back in 1993-1994 this park was absolutely filled with kids. I remember scanning for girls, getting wet when it was hot, and bringing $4.20 to buy a Togo's sandwich each day, a 20 min walk outside then back to the fun. I will miss you Great America. By the way the best rides back then were Tidal Wave and the Revolution.
Same! Between 90-94 I used to go door to door to collect cans to buy a season pass! We live in Oregon now and am taking the wife and kids for their first time! Unfortunately they won't get to see it in it's glory...😢
@@adamlechuga3953 nice man, and I bet you adore that time, hard work pays off with fun. BY THE WAY, it closes in 2033, not 2023. Google around you can still go. I'm going!
Loved Tidal Wave and Gold Rush as a kid!
@@DiscerningTruth577still remember Tidal Wave's introductory commercial!
My sister lives right by Great America and I got to go with my nephews. It was fun to spend the day with them, but it also made me realize how lucky I am to have grown up in Southern California where I have so many theme park options. It’s a shame the park is closing, there’s a lot of potential.
She still has Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Gilroy Gardens, and SFDK
@@JustinCoasters although those other parks are fun, none comes close to CGA.
The potential was lost decades ago when Marriott sold the park and CGA allowed themselves to be landlocked. Six Flags should have bought this park as well but they were focused on keeping Magic Mountain the super park on the west. Also SFA was Wild World prior to Six Flags.
@@seanlewis1148 i agree, SFDK dosent have the same charm as CGA
Same here. Great America is like a cross between Knotts and Magic Mountain. I personally like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk better than Venice Beach, the Santa Monica Pier or Balboa Island in Newport Beach. Still haven’t been to Belmont Park in San Diego and probably almost 15 years since I’ve been to Sea World since they started focusing more on rides because of the blowback from the Black Fish documentary. Don’t go to Magic Mountain very often because of the traffic so I only go there like once every few years and only been to Universal Studios twice in my life since they’re more expensive than Disneyland plus don’t want to put up with that traffic going there. Still haven’t been to Legoland yet but now I have kids so that will change probably pretty soon.
I grew up in San Jose, and thus grew up going to CGA. It was my first job, i worked there for two years during the end of its Paramount era. I moved out of state 15 years ago, but part of me wants to do a last visit before it's gone. I have some weird stories from the time, but the highlight of my time was getting to ride Flight Deck (when it was called Top Gun) after closing. It was beautiful and surreal, the park was empty, it was just the closing rides supervisors, our managers, and the mechanics operatiny it for us.
CGA was on shaky ground before the pandemic. The pandemic was just the final nail.
CF had been feuding with the local government for years. Them having to split their parking lot with an NFL team was damaging. Local & CA building regulations had hampered future developments (Orion was from CGA failed hyper attempt). Noise complaints complaints also restricted them. Then the local economic environment was an issue (labor costs and running costs were astronomical). Despite high attendance, the profitability just wasn't there.
The pandemic (and skyrocketing land value) was just the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Just like Astroworld in Houston
@@tonyreyna1067
The difference is, Cedar Fair actually got the cash upfront before closing the park(and they're closing is a gradual process). Six Flags closed and completely demolished the Astro based purely on speculation and no firm offers. That speculation never materialized into profitable bids until they more or less had to beg someone to take it off their hands at a major loss. They didn't really have a choice as the park was literally ruble at that point.
The only good thing to come from it was finally having that era of Six Flag's CEO kicked out after that debacle.
TLDR: Closing CGA is painful, but makes sense for the chain's health. The closing of Astroworld was just f$%king stupid.
The noise complaints were from office buildings on land that used to be parking for Great America. Building and then leasing an office built on a amusement park parking lot complaining about the noise of the amusement park is like people complaining about the noise of passenger trains on Caltrain. They have only been running passengers on that track continuously since 1863.
Heya, CGA op here. I want to mention a few things. I saw myself in the video during the Patriot footage! That was a surprise, haha. Anyway, you visited in August 2022 which happens to be a hot month, and basically every one of our coasters has no roof over the station. Other CF parks have that luxury but Marriott is weird and never got us roofs lmao. Even for the most dedicated ops (including me) it’s very physically exhausting! I still have tans from Patriot LMAO. RailBlazer has a roof in the station which makes it a lot easier on us to go faster-I used to be at Patriot, and yeah we were slow, and yeah I agree that our ops aren’t the best (and definitely agree that some of our ops don’t have a lot of soul or care about efficiency), but at the same time, we also didn’t have the luxury of shade and that weighed heavily on us. When I switched to the RailBlazer crew, I’ve never been exhausted since, even during hot days. If you looked closely a lot of us were probably panting and sweating. You also didn’t mention the RailBlazer crew’s performance! Unless it was closed when you went lol. Blazer crew is always on top of it, a lot of thoosies including me are stationed there and we care a lot about efficiency. That’s all I had to say, thanks! Just keep in mind that even though it was peak season, yeah the one train ops sucked and they were slow, and yeah not all of our ops care, but please be nicer on us when it’s like 80-90 degrees out 😭 I really do apologize that you had a poor experience with our operations though
Thanks for your comment! Like I said, I didn't want to focus of the video to be on operations or you guys, and it sounds like a lot of the issues you mentioned stems from the park's mismanagement. Railblazer crew was great though. Hope they throw up some shade for ya'll in the future!
@@ParkPros Yeah haha. Operations are the soul of parks though so it is still a very important criticism. A lot of our operators need to hear that they’re not performing well but many couldn’t care less. Makes the ops who actually care look bad. In the park I’m known as the one who “cares too much” lmao. My fastest dispatch on RailBlazer is 29 seconds and our park record is about 23. As a team we get upset at ourselves when we stack trains and/or go above 50 seconds lmao
I remember before the park opened they had models of the park throughout California Malls promoting it. I went to this park in its heyday; was there the opening weekend of Tidal Wave. It’s such a shame the park is just a shell of what used to and intended to be.
Do you still think anyone has those models? Maybe tucked away in an attic storage room at CGA? I would like to make a video showing how these two almost identical theme parks (Santa Clara, CA and Gurnee, IL) diverged under different owners. Anyone interested?
I went to the park as 3rd and 4th grader for my birthday in 1976/77. It was awesome. Tidal Wave Ride actually moved to Astroworld in Houston in 1980 or 81 and was renamed the Greased lightning. I got to ride the same ride in two different parks. Watching this video was kind of sad. I remember my dad showing me the PSA planes from the parking lot with the smiley faces.
The first time I went to Great America was our 6th grade graduation in 1976. It was glorious for years. I lived about 3 miles straight down the street. When I had kids we bought season passes, would spend 4th of july there, it was a good time. Wish Disney would have bought it and created something cool.
The Edge, Revolution, Grizzly, Top Gun, Smurfland, and that double carousel. Will be forever in my memories ❤️
The Edge was fantastic.
What was the ride next to the Demon, they tore it down and stood up a blue roller coaster. I thought it was the Wizzer or something.
Unfortunately the Grizzly was a let down since day one back in 1986.
Rode it many times but never got off the ride and thought wow that was great.🙃
Tip my hat to you for being so accurate after just visiting once. Growing up with this park, we all felt the same: it never got a fair chance.
Also worth noting since you didn't mention it, due to proximity to San Jose airport it had very strict height regulations which limited the types of attractions they were allowed to build.
Still a ton of great memories here.
Going to the Christian college in Santa Cruz, half the student body went to GA for Joy/Spring Celebration. And it was a hoot when Bryan Duncan was doing his concert, and then a plane flew over loudly . . . and, typical Bryan Duncan, he said "We'd like to thank United Airlines for their addition to this concert."
This Was Very Similar to my trip... Besides the Ops, it ran really well (Besides Grizzly) on my Trip in Early August (Week Day)
We used to go to CGA every summer, in my childhood years (1980s). My favorite attractions were Demon, Whizzer(no longer there), Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun), the IMAX theater, the rotating sky tower, and their video game arcade.
Willard's Whizzer was my favorite also. It was torn down because it did not have restraints and a kid lost his life after standing up and falling out. :/
@@chshrkt 😥
This was my home park growing up. Went to to from opening year until '97 when I moved. Sadly I probably won't be able to visit before it's closure. Good news though, I live in Sandusky, OH home to Cedar Point. I would like the Rail Blazer to be relocated up here.
Dude the way u described your experience and your explanation of ur great America made this so sad. It is really sad that what could have happened is now just a sad dream we once had. RIP California’s Great America and everyone, just enjoy your home park while you have it.
Its most authentic time was in the 80s and it was the sh@t... amazing small park that I loved as a kid. The 90s movie themes were great too. I really can't believe you thought the grizzly was smooth. I have back problems from that one from 30 years ago. Gold striker is much smoother and doesn't shatter your balls off.
Regarding the operations, it’s been like that for a long, long, long time. Long before the sale.
My childhood was spent growing up in Monterey, CA. Since the high school kids went to down in Disneyland, the Jr. high had trips for 7th-9th graders. 7th & 8th graders went to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk & 9th grade/freshman class went to Great America before school let out for summer break. That place is now a middle school (6th - 8th grade). I visited Great America numerous times during my teen years. I took my 1st daughter there for her birthday several years in a row. The last time we visited Great America was for her 14th bday. We moved out of CA about 7 months later. I haven't been back there since we moved to Seattle.
I now have a 2nd daughter but she's only been to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (3 times) & Bonfonte Gardens aka Gilroy Gardens amusement park one time. I wanted to take her to Great America when she got older & would be able to go on the bigger rides, but we always ended up doing other things whenever we visited California.
She's not really interested in Great America or any of the Six Flags parks. Right now she just wants to visit Universal Studios-Hollywood, to see the new Super Mario Land. 🙂 Hmm, we might have to do a side trip to Great America on our way home from Universal. My favorite ride in Great America has always been the iconic double decker carousel. I'm sad to hear that Great America will no longer be around, but life is always changing & nothing is permanent.
Damn, that investment plan would have been incredible. My pipe dream now would be for cedar fair to take their new capital and invest in a Pacific Northwest park.
Thanks for the review the first casualty of the future closure was the Halloween event haunted houses were removed. We bought our platinum pass now but regret missing the Halloween event since we planned on attending for years.
I've had annual passes and have been to the part with every ownership. Marriott's was good, but Paramount was a fantastic operator and the park had Paramount characters walking around from movies and cartoons. It was the closest thing to Disneyland and a great park to visit in that era.
Honestly I agree and disagree that it’s a bad park. You were talking about the horrible 1 train operations but that’s weird bc every time I was there, 2 trains are always run. Psycho mouse do be running those terrible operations.It does have some trashy run down parts, and random ally’s with patch’s of grass for no reason. It could of had a giga, had fancy restaurants and lounge areas which they were going to have. But I still love the park. Most of it is just beautiful and lush, and overall you can still have an amazing experience. Each time I go I have an amazing time, sometimes it’s not about the quality but the emotions your are able to experience while there. It ain’t no Cedair fair or Disneyland but it’s enjoyable for sure. And when u think about it yes there is wasted potential and in any case great America will not close (let’s have hope), I could only dream they fix it up and bump it up the tiers of cedair fair parks. Also for their coasters having around an 100ft drop they sure pack and punch. Also no disrespect to your video, I agree with you and I’m happy someone made a video about my home park.
My home park,.very sad it's going away, worked there in 1976 when it was Marriots, The great years, bought and sold way too many times! Have a 5 cent root beer on me, yes they had 5 cent rootbeer at the Hotshot, That were Mr. Marriot got started.
I loved the 5 cent root beers! It is the first thing I think of when remembering visits when I was a kid.
It’s hard losing a park knowing we don’t get new ones often.
Gilroy Gardens is no longer letting people with Cedar Fair passes in now, I think it went in effect January 1 2023. Also the City of Santa Clara has said publicly that any future zoning of the property would not be granted and they are trying to reaquire the property. We'll have to wait and see on that
Interesting about the zoning. Will be interesting to see what happens.
This Great America is my home park so, it honestly gets me a little choked up seeing it slowly die. I remember some of my earliest memories coming to the park, even during the Nickelodeon era before the Peanuts overhaul, so seeing the source of all those memories go away makes me feel like a part of my childhood is about to be gone. It may not have been a good theme park by an overall standard, I doubt 3 year old me would have known the difference, but it was my Great America.
Back in the 90's this park was owned by Paramount and called "Paramount's Great America". The park was very well maintained and areas were themed after various Paramount owned or licensed movie assets. The Flight Deck coaster was called "Top Gun" at the time and themed like the movie. They also had Star Trek characters, like Klingons and Romulans, who would walk around for photo ops. I had a lot of great time there.
Then the park got sold and became "California's Great America", the movie theming was all removed and the maintenance of the park went downhill drastically. I went back one last time in 2012 and had a terrible experience. Bathrooms weren't being cleaned and paint was peeling off the rides. But the single worse part that caused me to never want to go back was what they did to the ride queues. The queues for the more popular rides used to have canopies or covers to give the people in line some shade from the sun. The new owners removed those canopies and installed vending machines about halfway through the line. So imagine it's a hot summer day, you are standing directly in the sun, its a 45+ minute wait in line to get on a coaster, and now they are charging you $7 for a bottle of water. It became pretty obvious why all the shade and canopies were removed from the line queues.
They're talking about relocating the park in Frisco, away from The Bay Area.
San Francisco is part of the Bay Area. Where would there be space?
@@RaeAnn_1202 Sorry, I meant to say Fresno, not Frisco, Fresno is a city in California, I was thinking of Frisco, a name of a railroad.
@@themeparkreconnoiter9787 ahh …. Interesting. I went to college in Fresno. Lots of space. I still hope the city of Santa Clara buys it back. They are trying. Also, the land is only zoned for the amusement park. Fresno would be an interesting option … but super hot many months.
Moving to California in '79 I have visited CGA many times. It has always had a "B-Movie" feel compared to the Disney Parks, more like Busch Gardens in Tampa. The kids with season passes in the summer would add to the roughness, with line cutting and fights. The park kept adding and removing rides to get people to come back. The Sky Wheel, a triple Ferris wheel that could run two sections while loading and unloading the third, was often getting stuck. I don't see it anymore. It was nice having something nearby, even if it was not the best. Let's hope they can go out with a bang.
This is my home park and I don’t drive so getting to the next 2 closest parks is difficult, plus they’re six flags park.
Let's just be grateful for all the memories this park gave us. I remember when it was SMURF themed by Hanna Barberra. Woodstock Express was known as Smurfettte's Wild Ride back then. The park used to have giant mushrooms so the kids could play in them. Any kid from the 80's knows that. Giant mushrooms for kids to play in was awesome. I still have pictures. The whole section of the park was for the Smurfs. I'll miss this park. RIP Great America.😢
CGA is my local park. It was pretty wonderful back when it first opened. Even after it changed hands, you could still see the old park just under the surface. My husband took me there on one of our first dates, and we've been together over 20 years now. So, it's sad to see the park crumbling like this. (And interestingly, when I see YOUR Great America, it makes me nostalgic for how our park used to be.)
The operations at this park have been atrocious on all of my visits since my first time going in 2019. Gold striker, especially has been irritating because they do not offer a single rider line and there will be multiple empty roads going out on almost every dispatch, because the grouper that tells you which road to go to will not fill up the entire train, and, it’s a complete disaster. The way they are running that ride.
Went there a few months ago with my daughter. It’s really sad to see her childhood being limited opposed to what we had. GA was depressing people weren’t happy looking workers and riders. It felt empty… and to think 30 years ago they filmed Beverly Hills Cop 3 here. Daughter will never see this park at its peak, pier 39 is empty and lifeless and she saw the final day of toys r us a dedicated toy store in its sad former glory. It’s all surreal
just wanna mention that when paramount had the park, "flight deck" was "top gun" and had SOOOO many top gun references and things about it. the dude over the loud speaker would be like "welcome to TOP gun..." cool times
Us Locals are devastated. Cedar fair really betrayed us....not surprised operations suck...it use to not! They took away a lot staple rides as well. They either have two years or up to 10 more years. I hope in the 10 years things change to keep it. We don't need more greedy silicon valley scumbags.
Six flags should consider buying "parts" from the rides that are the same in both parks. Gurnee is also my home park.
Grew up in San Jose in the 90’s a season pass was only 35 bucks. Anytime we were bored just hop on the light rail. And you were there. Dam I miss those care free days.
I remember riding 'The Turn of the Century' there
I went there in 1990 as a eighth grade trip I thought it was cool I went on the rip-roaring rapids and visited Smurf village I'm surprised it lost so much momentum it used to be the place to go in at least Northern CA.
Cole, can I just say WOW! You made a simple theme park report into a mini documentary. And you did it soo well. Bro, you need to go into broadcasting or radio! You literally told a story that just grabbed my attention and I couldn't let go. Not meaning to just pump your ego but I'm giving credit where credit is due.
I was in Jr High when it opened. It was such a fun park to live near and visit often. I even went to see how it was decorated for the filming of Beverly Hills Cop 3. Now I want to look through boxes to find Mr pictures.
I am sorry the fate is looking grim. This really makes me sad. I am truly hoping it is saved somehow.
From 74 to 86 I was the electronics manager for both parks, responsible for show lighting, sound, and park wide background music etc. I can remember walking down the center service road in Calif on a sunny warm December day, getting on a plane and four or five hours later walking down an identical service road...except there is two feet of snow plowed up on each side and it's 50-60- degrees colder! That will screw up your mind, and your wardrobe!
Wait really!? I gotta know more about your experience
@@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois I also worked for Gene Patrick who produced a lot of the music that Nolan Bushnell used for the characters early on with CeC!
Where my SFGAm home parkers @ 😊
Six Flags Magic Mountain gang ALL DAY!!!
It's all at Marriott's Great America! Santa Clara, CA and Gurnee, IL.
Now let's think. Railblazer will without a doubt be relocated. To where? It's a high demand coaster with decent capacity. I think there's a chance it's coming to Kings Island
The nearest RMC is at Kentucky Kingdom, 2 hours away. Holiday World is too far away and don't have an RMC. Cedar Point is few hours away, and it's clear they didn't want an RMC at KI to limit the competition between the two
KI can get the RMC they wanted. And KI can finally get the RMC they've needed. Only question is... are places for the T-Rex already in place at CP? Because if CP really is gonna go for the Trex then KI getting railblazer is out of the question. Probably to a park like Worlds of Fun, or back to Kings Dominion for double RMC to limit spending costs to replace double loss coasters
I used to go here in late 90s and early 2000s when it would be packed and they would get new rides. Every attraction was open, they’d have every snack bar open and from what I recall there was always a packed entry before it would open. Apparently a Fresno man is looking to make a new park somewhere near and bring most of the rides from CGA.
Might have to kill 2 birds with one stone and make a trip to this park and a 9ers game 🤔
Keep it in California and moved it to Gilroy or Fresno. We can use the California High Speed Rail to visit the new location.
Not a bad idea.
New generation of Californians and everybody else can enjoy it. We do have the best climate in the nation.
Welcome to California! The Land of Real Estate Developers! If there is a piece of land somewhere with a building that's more than a handful years old, there will be a developer that believes that it'll be worth buying and tearing down that old (or not so old) building to make room for something NEW and EXPENSIVE!!!
This place was lit in the late 90s! We used to visit when they had Christian music festivals and it was pretty awesome. Haven't been there since though. Would like to visit one last time.
After watching the video, you do make valid points. This was my homepark from 2002-2016. I always thought the park had potential. But they half ass it 90% of the time. That back half where Drop Tower wasn’t that bad the last time i went there in 2016. This park has always had a weird history. And I don’t think it’s going anywhere in this decade. And the reason is it’s not the first rodeo of a potential closure. Though this time, it seems to be more official as the land was owned by Cedar Fair this time. So a closure IS possible, But what this park has been doing lately makes me sort of believe otherwise is, they’re doing remodeling in much needed areas and there are plans to do some demoing in the Action Zone as well as a new Zamperla Flat going in the area. Which can be relocated but I don’t know. This park has always done some weird things over the years that it’s kind of hard to take it seriously. Which can be a good or bad thing. I’m still hopeful it will continue on. I’m keeping a close eye on it.
I hope someone comes and saves the park.
I finally visited last Fall. All themed areas have been watered down by each consequitive owner. It has potential, much potential. That giga would have really plced it on the map. Now, I look at Rail Blazer and wonder where they will shoe-horn it into Knott's.
That carousel would make a great focal point for a huge condo completx, so I hope it remains.
Glad my kids have season's passes and can still create memories w/ them while it's still around. The video mentioned ride operators who don't seem to care; as a middle schooler I remember putting my head down while riding the Cajun Carpet (which turned into the Revolution) and the operator stopped the ride to ask me if I was ok; totally different times now. CGA also had an amphitheater and l remember watching Jefferson Starship. I already miss those days and I'll miss them more if in 10 years this place is gone.
This has been my home park for my whole life basically. I remember going here for the first time on my 10th birthday. I had a season pass to the park last year and was actually driving home from the park on June 27 when I heard the news on reddit. It's very unfortunate what happened to this park as well as many other of Randall Duell's Parks such as Opryland. Paramount really screwed up the theming and charm of the original park by removing half of the original rides such as Tidal Wave, Sky Whirl, Yankee Clipper, the train, and turning the entire Yankee Harbor section into a Nickelodian area for kids. They left cedar fair with a park that didn't make much sense theming wise. It's very disappointing but I still have hope that the city won't approve the zoning change later on and some other chain will buy this and try and bring back the original park.
i'd kinda love to see it become busch gardens santa clara
@@GavHern SeaWorld is definitely on their way UP
I had a 5 year season pass from 1990 to 95 . I remember when the edge used to be There We had the Yankee clipper and Logger run. Flight deck used to be Top Gun. It was so much fun because I used to live in lamplighter trailer park on the San Jose side we used to cross over the Guadalupe where the LRT runs and walk over. It's going to be a sad day to see that place closed.
I didn't know they sold 5 year passes.
@davidho2977 No I Got the season pass for each year.
Living very close to the park and going there all the time I can say I am hopefully optimistic about it staying around. They are making improvements and just opened two new rides over the current season as well as they are working to reimagine the section of the park where grizzly is located to a very cohesive are that looks great and is a massive improvement. They also have brought back shows and parades during their seasonal events that are very surprising, they still have a ways to go to really bring back the life and personality the park so desperately needs but it seems like they are on track to make that be the case. The current park management team really has made an effort and I think with some more Time it’s on track to see great potential. Bringing in Barb from gilroy gardens has proven to be the change the park needed, you can see her hand in it’s improvements. They finally used the amphitheater section after years of it sitting abandoned for both 4th of July fireworks and they had a concert there just this past weekend. If they put some more energy and planning they truly could have a concert lineup that would wow and draw more people plus bring in extra revenue.
Bringing back shows would help give it new life. My parents loved the shows.
It's because they accidentally named it Great America. California couldn't handle it. 😂
LOL! I see what you did there.
It’s interesting when thinking of the history with the Great America parks that my home park could’ve been one, but was turned down. It’s kinda sad really, thinking about how those two parks are both ahead of Six Flags America, and what could’ve been if it just had “Great” in front of the name.
This closure is a Astroworld-style mistake
I grew up at this park in the 80's and 90's.I loved going there.
Same
similar story, grandpa bought me and a friend season passes every year through elementary. I was much fearless then but after almost becoming a casualty of that arch swing ride you needed to pay for and years later, Invertigo, think I'm much happier with the memories than taking on any more rides.
Lived in San Jose from 76-89 went on a lot of dates at Marriott’s Great America during those years.oh well…memories 😀
I could see the rollercoaster loops from my bedroom window of my childhood home. I worked two summers at the Cantina. That was a restaurant just outside exit of the Grizzly ride.
My school decided last minute to send us there instead of Disneyland when the year before us and after us they sent seniors to Disney.
Least to say, I was sorely disappointed and kept just wishing we were at Disney the whole time.😒
I worked at Cedar Point in college and all three of my kids worked at least 1 summer at Kings Island. We're sad every time a park closes. We had so much fun.
I remember this being built. I only went a few times. I can remember there being nothing , but this park in the area. It was before Silicon Valley exploded.
I lived in Sacramento for 41 years and constantly saw ads for the Great America as part of the local advertising. Having said that, the distance from Sacramento to Santa Clara meant that I only visited once in the early 1980s, and it was a very long day with the driving. Considering that the parking lot is shared with Levi's stadium, and this park's days are numbered.
I was just there yesterday because it was shutting down soon, it’s a shame because the park is nice and the rides are fun minus The Grizzly.
The back of the park used to be magic when I was kid. Nickelodeon Splash Zone was back there 😢❤
There may be a chance for the park because all the venture capital is dead and many tech companies will die and other things with them. Depends on how many more banks fail and will the new project be a dead park, because the failures are not over and the tech industry and their banks caused it. Or at least are major contributors.
Great dive into the history of the park! It's a shame the Redwoods and Bicentennial areas weren't developed, but it makes sense for Cedar Fair to drop CGA and refocus on smaller parks after the massive ex-Paramount investments in the last decade. Hope Prologis at least keeps the front half of the park open - everything from Goldstriker to Patriot to Flight Deck should stay, with some flats relocated for a cohesive theme. And even if South Bay Shores sticks around as a separate-admission water park (with the Rapids plot for possible expansion), there's plenty of room for housing on the south side of the property. Getting the rezoning approved is the hard part.
What! My home park G.A. is also in Gurnee, Illinois!😊❤& that’s insane I too have family in California! Cool!😎
7:36 -- Also remember that the park is the middle of the Bay Area. With how ridiculous prices are for just about everything, the operators and park staff are simply not paid enough to care.
Some interesting info about this park: When Marriott sold this park they initially sold it too developers who wanted to tear it down for office space. Santa Clara wanted to preserve it as a theme park so they sued to stop the sale. Ultimately, the developers agreed to let the city buy they park in exchange for selling off some of the parks land to the developer, who built a hotel and office complex on it. This resulted in the park having a smaller footprint then originally (by about 20 acres), constraining what sort of future coasters and other rides could be added. After the City bought the park they hired Kings Entertainment Company to run the park for the city then later allowed them to buy the park though the city retained ownership of the land it sits on. KEC sold the park to Paramount who eventually sold it to Ceder Fair.
Another interesting fact was The Demon Coaster was originally called Turn of the Century when the park first opened in 1976 and didn't have to two loops after the first drop. In 1980, Marriott modified the coaster by adding two loops after the first drop, some rock formations you pass through, a colored waterfall effect, sound effects in the initial tunnel out of loading area just before the lift hill, and colored lights in a latter tunnel. Sadly the colored waterfall, tunnel lights, and and sound effects have all since been tuned off, likely to save on maintenance costs I suspect.
I visited the park in December 2021. This was before it was announced that the park was sold but Cedar Fair definately knew at the time I visited. I did notice some operational issues with Patriot and Psycho Mouse not opening for unexplained reasons (they said weather but I doubt it, especially with Patriot since Flight Deck was operating), but nothing too major as I got to ride their big 3. The only dispatch complaint I had was Railblaizer: it needs a moving loading platform like what Jersey Devil has. That capacity is putrid for a park with CGA's attendance.
I am more optomistic than most about this park's future. Being that it currently isn't zoned for anything other than an amusement park that could make it difficult for any developer to bouldoze it. I think the most likely senario is the 49ers buy it and use it as a PR stunt to show how good of an organization they are for the community while also working it into gameday experience packages, essentially having it as an alternative to tailgating. It should still be atop every enthusiasts bucket list in case it does close, but I don't think we should be certain the park will close, at the very least.
I pray your right.
@@zacharyyamashita8554 Well, they did give it 10 years. That's plenty of time for things to change in any industry. I mean, who would've expected "Zamperla refurbishing Intamin hydrolic launch coasters" as an element of the industry even a few months before PNE Playland's next coaster was announced (just as an example)?
Very interesting ideas! Hope you are right.
Is the city trying to buy it back?
@@RaeAnn_1202 I think I have heard something along those lines.
I grew up going to this park, and its heartbreaking to see its current status today. My company has held its last 2 company picnics here and its really a shell of what it used to be. On a summer Friday afternoon there should be lines at every ride. But there was hardly any wait at all.
last time I was there it was paramounts great america. Back when Eddie Murphy filmed beverly hills cop 3 there. I think the park was at its best back in the mariotts name was on it. Yes I am old lol!
It’s super sad to see this park go, but in all the years it has been around it has never been a very big draw. I’m a native to San Jose which is a stones throw to the park, and even growing up there was never the “hey! Let’s go to Great America this weekend!” Because after you had been there once you really never needed to go again. And I have a very strong feeling that one of the major reasons why it’s closing. It’s a one trick pony and families don’t want to spend money to do the exact same thing.
Being brave enough to “ride the Demon at Marriott’s” was a coming-of-age moment for 80s norcal kids.