California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

[CorkscrewFoley]

I'm quite disappointed in the news, but I too knew it was coming. I just hope it doesn't end up like Geauga lake, everything torn out, and then the land is never used. Glad to see Imperialism stronger than ever!

 

or Astroworld!

 

That's right, it slipped my mind. Thank you, Bob.

[Thunderhead]

Soooooo... Season Passes are still on sale?

[Schotcher]

CGA is being sold to buy itself a Giga and a new Windseeke- Oh....

[Nibbler]

Soooooo... Season Passes are still on sale?

 

yes, the park isn't closing...

[ginzo]

Good news for me. Now I only have one more park to visit in order to have been to the entire CF chain.

 

Realistically, CF did OK here. This wasn't a highly strategic property for them and they were never going to "win" against a major sports team. Their best bet was to "take the money and run" and apparently this was as good of an offer as they were going to get.

 

I sure hope this place stays open long enough for me to get the credits when I visit SF next summer.

[jab88]

Not sure if everyone's seen or not, but the Mercury News has an article now-just saw it on the yahoo home page

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_18928012?source=rss

[KI Kidd]

I saw this coming and actually expected this to occur earlier. I'm not saying that the park is bad in any way but Cedar Fair had a more profitable park in California (KBF) and all CGA did was compete with that park.

 

The parks are six hours apart. They serve completely different markets. Cedar Fair owns properties that are much closer together then these two parks and don't see them as in contention with each other. Kings Island and Cedar Point, Cedar Point and Michigan's Adventure, even Dorney and Kings Dominion are all closer together then Knotts and CGA. CGA wasn't turning the profits CF needed to keep the park viable. They were having a hell of a time getting the appropriate approvals to add the types of attractions they wanted and, most importantly, they didn't (and would never) own the land the park was on. It was a good move for CF and hopefully it works out well for CGA too.

[John Peck]

I'll be the first to say it: Cedar Fair were tired of all the political B.S. and found an opportunity to dump it. C.F. were ready to invest significantly several times but kept getting the door slammed on them.

 

I am still optimistic about this park. It obviously makes enough money, and is important enough to the city (though they seem to hate other companies running it), so once things calm down a bit and they get their first season under their belt, we'll have a better understanding of the future of this park.

 

My prediction: JMA Ventures will find out how valuable the park is, and you will see new attractions being built since they are obviously in bed with the local government, and they will have a hard time saying "no" to new investments in attractions.

[niiicolaaah]

Haha good thing I decided to stop by there this year. Now I only regret not getting all of the credits. After about 3 hours there we were like "Meh, I'm bored" and left without riding Vortex or the mouse.

[redfoot12]

^Were the attractions open or did you just not want to spend any more time in the park?

[niiicolaaah]

We were just not impressed with the place, the line for the mouse was long, and I assume Vortex is just like the one at Carowinds that we had ridden a month earlier, so we didn't feel like we were missing anything. We both had a cold too, so that didn't help morale any.

[Philrad71]

When we were in SF/SJ a few years ago, we saw it...and drove by the exit for it. If we would have had our Platinum Passes at the time then we might have stopped to ride a few rides. But there was no way we were paying the cost of admission & parking when we had already been to Magic Mountain the day before and rode X2, Tatsu, etc...

 

Kinda reminds me of Elitch Gardens...maybe a wee bit better because of the B&M invert. Maybe they'll sell that and add a Volare if they keep the park open?

[alpengeist04]

Haha good thing I decided to stop by there this year. Now I only regret not getting all of the credits. After about 3 hours there we were like "Meh, I'm bored" and left without riding Vortex or the mouse.

 

 

Oh the agony of waiting in line for that darn Psycho mouse. Just brutal!!! As for Vortex, no big loss. ...Except for adding to your credit count of course.

[805Andrew]

I'm glad I went to CGA in August. I finally got the Psycho Mouse and Woodstock's Express credits and the Boomerang Bay water park credit as well. I only regret not riding Demon one last time (I made to the station at 8PM moments after they dispatched the last train of the night).

 

On a positive note though, I could see JMA running CGA with a entertainment complex and 49ers stadium next door. CGA is small enough where they could change it to a free admission park with a pay per ride (ticket) or wristband like Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and they could get people wandering around the park before and after 49er's games paying for the rides they want. They could keep the park open on weekends in winter through the end of the NFL season and on Friday nights (and just close the water rides if its cold). They could do midweek specials like SCBB does and they could take out the rides that don't work, like Grizzly, and eventually replace them with new rides (like a Gravity Group woodie like Wooden Warrior ) if the park is profitable enough. Hopefully they would clean up the lake by Flight Deck so it doesn't look disgusting. JMA may be a property management company, but they also operate two ski resorts in Lake Tahoe and another one in Montana, which are kind of like "winter-time amusement parks". Maybe they are looking into expanding their portfolio with this being their first "summer-time amusement park". Cedar Fair wasn't really doing anything with this park, so I am glad to see someone else take a shot at it, and hope for the best.

[154bmag]

Can anyone truly say they didn't expect this. At least when the invertigo was first announced to be removed.

Go to page 121 and on. You know what I'm talking about. In may opinion, this park may not leave, but I think $70 million says something...something bad.

[redfoot12]

Cedar Fair wasn't really doing anything with this park, so I am glad to see someone else take a shot at it, and hope for the best.

I got the feeling Cedar Fair was trying to do something with the park but they were getting stonewalled by the city and stadium plans.

[osm]

I agree with what most of you are saying, it could mean the end is coming, or it could be the best thing to ever happen to the park. We'll have to wait and see what kind of company JMA is. I'm just shocked that CF didn't pull a "Kentucky Kingdom" and relocate Flight Deck to Kings Island. Best of luck to CGA though.

[805Andrew]

Cedar Fair wasn't really doing anything with this park, so I am glad to see someone else take a shot at it, and hope for the best.

I got the feeling Cedar Fair was trying to do something with the park but they were getting stonewalled by the city and stadium plans.

 

Possibly, but JMA is working with the 49er's owners and they may have better connections to get things done.

[Flagg O'Dim]

So long Cedar Fair! (and Haunt...and Snoopy).

 

Goodbye Great America (as we know it).

 

it could mean the end is coming, or it could be the best thing to ever happen to the park.

 

My thoughts exactly. I'm excited that SOMETHING is happening to the park...whether it's good or bad remains to be seen.

 

Guess we got our official reason why Invertigo was taken out. For next season, I think we can pretty much guarantee that there will be rides (yes, plural) removed. The Demon demolition doesn't sound so far-fetched anymore. Probably more older rides will demolished (Orbit, Centrifuge, Berzerker..the list goes on).

 

I don't know what to make of this yet. Looking forward to announcements in the weeks ahead.

[XYZ]

And regardless of the change in ownership, the Drop Zone and the Demon rides aren't going anywhere, as the city's ground lease with the park owners, which generates $5 million per year for Santa Clara, calls for a theme park on the property.

www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_18928012?source=rss

 

The Demon removal speculation is now over. Plus, I don't think CGA is going anywhere, the city gets income from it and they are not going to allow the 49ers or JMA to demolish it.

[redfoot12]

^Ha--It's interesting to read the comments below that article and see how the locals feel about the state of the park.

[Flagg O'Dim]

^^Good, but what's so special about just those two? Does Santa Clara consider only two rides on a piece of property as a "theme park?"

 

Interesting. I wonder if the Mercury knows for a fact that those two rides are staying, or they just chose any two rides to demonstrate their point.

 

EDIT: Something that should go in the GP thread, from the comments on the article:

 

It was the Whirler's Whizzer, which then had it's name changed to the Orleans Orbit, after a rider was decapitated when it slowed to a stop...was at the park that day.

[RoCo]

^^^Very interesting article; thanks for posting this. Gives one some cautious optimism.

 

When they announce the addition of that GCI woodie, I'll exhale.

 

EDIT: Something that should go in the GP thread, from the comments on the article:

 

It was the Whirler's Whizzer, which then had it's name changed to the Orleans Orbit, after a rider was decapitated when it slowed to a stop...was at the park that day.

 

How many things are wrong with this?

[XYZ]

In my high school, when I told people that CGA was sold and it might be shut down, they were shocked. They were no experts on coasters, but it seemed they wondered why?

 

It's good that it CGA probably will still be in operation. I hope they do build the long-delayed GCI woodie.

[jab88]

Which video did the comment about Demon's possible removal occur on? At least it won't be happening for now though. If anything, I would not miss Grizzly, but as of now Great America does not need anymore rides removed from it, unless more are put in their place.