California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

[Mechanic]

I hope they don't feel a need to make any changes to Gilroy Gardens, as I'm pretty sure that park is perfect as it is.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing them add a junior woodie or a log ride, or both. Otherwise though, it is a nice little park.

[Angry_Gumball]

I could very well see that, especially a log flume...would be good for those hot silicon valley days...I don't see anything huge being put in there and could see the park's charm also being preserved.

[Andrewoplis]

Count me as another non-fan of the park. I'm not sure if this news will push me over the edge and inspire me to go next year just in case, but probably not. I'm only really interested in Flight Deck and a few just-for-fun flats.

 

I hope they don't feel a need to make any changes to Gilroy Gardens, as I'm pretty sure that park is perfect as it is.

 

Agreed, it's fun to take trip to CGA now and then, but when it comes down to it, Flight Deck and Drop Tower and the only ride that I need to go on there. There are some other fun rides like the Schwartzkopf flats and the Break Dancer, but there coaster collection is really lacking, its starting to look even worst with SFDK get Superman.

 

As for Gilroy, I agree with you there too, it looks like a great park that needs no changes, but a new major attraction would be nice.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I Haven't been to Gilroy so I can't say but a Wooden Coaster (Raven Size?), A Water Ride, and A Waterpark/Waterpark Expansion and the Park would be really cool.

 

 

The Park IMO could become a Dollywood/Silver Dollar City/ Holiday World if they wanted to IMO. Why don't they just add the 49ers Stadium in Gilroy?

[SoCalCoasters]

Bonfonte/Gilroy Gardens if I recall correctly is owned by the city, but operated by Cedar Fair. I doubt the city would approve of such an enormous addition to their park when it didn't actually turn a profit until last year...although expansion is welcome when you consider their relatively high prices for tickets...

[Rollercoaster Rider]

How did I Go Crazy With those Ideas?

[rcdude]

I'm thinking this could end up being either good or neutral for California's Great America. If JMA is willing to invest in the park and add some new major attractions, CGA could become a more popular (and better) park than SFDK. However, if they act just like Cedar Fair and make minimal investments, it won't change that much. As long as they don't remove Flight Deck, the park is still worth a stop for a few hours if I'm in the area. If they want to compete with SFDK, however, they'll need to invest in new attractions, as it looks like Six Flags is going to start pumping more money into that place as well. I don't foresee a negative outcome, at least at this point, because there isn't any real reason to close CGA. It does decent business, even with two competitors in the area.

 

As for Gilroy Gardens, that is my favorite small park and I wouldn't mind if it remained exactly how it is now (which is very similar to how it was opening day. However, I do agree that the park could use one or two additional major rides in order to justify the cost. As they are primarily for families, if they get a coaster it probably shouldn't be any more intense than something like Wooden Warrior or a wild mouse (aka no large or inverting coasters), and I would love to see either a log flume or a rapids ride at that place (but not a splash boat).

[XYZ]

I don't understand why people say CGA isn't worth it because it has a lot of nice rides:

-Of Course Flight Deck

-Delirium

-FireFall

-Rip Roaring Rapids

-Logger's Run

-PEANUTS Pirates (It's actually a really fun ride)

-Psycho Mouse

-Survivor/Tiki Twirl

-Drop Zone

-and last but not least Invertigarden!

[greatamerica1990sfan]

News from Screamscape today: "The good news is that the deal does require them to continue to operate and improve the park, and not just rip it out for a new mall or something." Awesome news best news ever this is the news we've been all waiting to hear. Time to celebrate! There's huge chance CGA could get a new coaster next year. I have a feeling something good is already being worked on.

[Mechanic]

What's to make us believe that the new operators would do anything more than milk the park as a cash cow? I just don't get all the optimism. Until I see evidence otherwise, I will keep my expectations low so as not to be disappointed yet again.

[CoasterBeagle]

My only expectation is for it to stay open. If the add stuff awesome. If I'm excited about anything it's to see what jma ventures does.

[Nibbler]

I just don't get all the negativity. Until I see evidence otherwise

 

Fixed.

 

In all honesty folks, some of us love parks for more than just it's coaster count.. a lot of us have tons of memories here, and it's kind of sad to see the majority of people only care about who gets what rides from the park, rather than have concern for the park itself.. Like I said from day 1 of this being announced, i'm looking forward to see what they can do for the park, I have no reason to believe they won't help get it back where it belongs, CGA is truly a great park and I have no shame defending it

[SantaTeresaHills]

As far as Homewood Ski Resort, JMA Ventures bought it to expand it. They are not expanding it by adding acres to the ski resort but they want to add chair lifts, ski village at the bottom, hotel, and condos.

 

What does it mean for Great America? Not sure. They may focus on the park itself or the area around the park but I do believe they will invest money to improve things.

 

My guess is that they have to do something inside the park for next year. There needs to be a reason for people to renew their season passes for next year. We will not renew our season passes because Cedar Fair has not been adding coasters or big rides to get excited about going to Great America.

 

I would expect them though to develop a dining area / entertainment area in between the Niners stadium and Great America. The one thing that is not mentioned is demand for dining during lunch. I worked at Cisco for 3 years in the late 90's and all the big areas to go for lunch were extremely busy. I do realize that some food retail has been added since but they are still building office buildings in North San Jose and Sunnyvale. They would probably get more business during workday lunch than evenings and weekends.

[SKULLY]

As far as Homewood Ski Resort, JMA Ventures bought it to expand it. They are not expanding it by adding acres to the ski resort but they want to add chair lifts, ski village at the bottom, hotel, and condos.

 

What does it mean for Great America? Not sure. They may focus on the park itself or the area around the park but I do believe they will invest money to improve things.

 

My guess is that they have to do something inside the park for next year. There needs to be a reason for people to renew their season passes for next year. We will not renew our season passes because Cedar Fair has not been adding coasters or big rides to get excited about going to Great America.

 

I would expect them though to develop a dining area / entertainment area in between the Niners stadium and Great America. The one thing that is not mentioned is demand for dining during lunch. I worked at Cisco for 3 years in the late 90's and all the big areas to go for lunch were extremely busy. I do realize that some food retail has been added since but they are still building office buildings in North San Jose and Sunnyvale. They would probably get more business during workday lunch than evenings and weekends.

 

There's nothing wrong with some chairlift upgrades! After all, high speed quads cost millions in themselves and there were previous images of Homewood that actually had a lift titled as a gondola. The initial price of a gondola these days is actually in the ballpark of many coasters so it shows that they are willing to invest. In fact, there are many times where I would rather have a fixed grip chair replaced with a high speed than some new terrain. I'm not saying that they're going to plop down some world beater during their first year of ownership but they are willing to invest.

[Angry_Gumball]

 

In all honesty folks, some of us love parks for more than just it's coaster count.. a lot of us have tons of memories here, and it's kind of sad to see the majority of people only care about who gets what rides from the park, rather than have concern for the park itself.. Like I said from day 1 of this being announced, i'm looking forward to see what they can do for the park, I have no reason to believe they won't help get it back where it belongs, CGA is truly a great park and I have no shame defending it

 

I couldn't agree anymore. I don't have the time to really travel to So Cal or across the US and am happy enough at the moment that I have an amusement park almost in my backyard (ok about 25-30 minutes but that's pretty close if you ask me). I've been here frequent enough that some employees recognize me. Some are TPR members that work here (Coasterbeagle, Sunfire), some being security, and one being the park's entertainment director. Honestly, It's pretty cool to have an employee call you by name rather than just being another face in the crowd. I honestly don't see why the park would get neglected now since all of these politics are now officially paved over.

 

I do hope that JMA does focus on the park itself rather than primarily other things surrounding the park (being the stadium and retail). But since they mentioned bringing new ideas and energy to the park, there is definitely something to be positive about. I don't recall Cedar Fair ever making any note of bringing energy to the park, just talk about selling off the park because of the 'uncertain future' that they were bringing upon themselves.

 

One thing I got to thinking about, again too soon to tell...since there will be a stadium on site, I'm wondering if there's really a need for the un-shaded Redwood Amphitheater or if that can be taken out to make way for CGA's hybrid Intamin/B&M/GCI/S&S Arrow inverted wooden 4d wingrider aquatrax coaster.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Angry_Gumball

[JJnCFL]

I don't get all the negativity, all I have is optimism. Obviously CF didn't give a damn anymore with all the politics, and now (hopefully) we'll get the attention that's long overdue, instead of being a shadow among 18 parks in a chain. Growing up with this park, working here in my teen years for 4 seasons being promoted to area manager, it's always gonna have a place in my heart. Looking forward on what's to come...

Edited September 22, 2011 by JJnCFL

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

In all honesty folks, some of us love parks for more than just it's coaster count.. a lot of us have tons of memories here, and it's kind of sad to see the majority of people only care about who gets what rides from the park, rather than have concern for the park itself.. Like I said from day 1 of this being announced, i'm looking forward to see what they can do for the park, I have no reason to believe they won't help get it back where it belongs, CGA is truly a great park and I have no shame defending it

That kinda bothered me too. Great America is not my home park (SFDK is) and I've only been to CGA once, but I'm pulling for it because we don't have a lot up here in NorCal. I would be pissed if people were verbally auctioning off the stuff at SFDK, so I can completely understand where you're coming from.

 

That being said, I also am afraid to put too high hopes in this company. I thought it would be a good thing when I heard that CF (an established amusement company) bought CGA, but they really did nothing for the park, if not make it worse. But it did occur to me that since this company isn't jaded with high-amassing parks all over the country, maybe they'll have lots more time and energy to invest in the park. I hope that's the case... I would be sad to see any more bad things happen to CGA. It's gone through so much, it just needs some love.

[MrSum1_55]

I just don't get all the negativity. Until I see evidence otherwise

 

Fixed.

 

In all honesty folks, some of us love parks for more than just it's coaster count.. a lot of us have tons of memories here, and it's kind of sad to see the majority of people only care about who gets what rides from the park, rather than have concern for the park itself.. Like I said from day 1 of this being announced, i'm looking forward to see what they can do for the park, I have no reason to believe they won't help get it back where it belongs, CGA is truly a great park and I have no shame defending it

 

I agree, as well as many people on here. So many people seem to be actually hoping this place closes, just so their home park can get one more ride. I almost pisses me off. Ugh guys, just because I live near the bay area doesn't mean I don't have feelings. When I visited CGA for the first time, I had been fed up by SFDK's awful operations, and expected something similar. Instead, I got a clean and well-rounded park with reasonable operations and a nice atmosphere. With SFDK, each visit seemed to only get worse. 1 train operations on all coasters was not an unusual sight. At least at CGA, I could have the satisfaction of seeing more than one train running. Since my good visit, this park will have a place in my memory.

 

So, for all you on the east coast that want Flight Deck here is my opinion: I hope that SFGAdv tares down El Toro, and it is moved to SFMM. That way, since I already have SFGAdv's credits, I will never have a reason to go back to New Jersey! If you live there, well, your highway/turnpike system sucks, your people are the worst quality I've ever seen, and I would love to never have a reason to go back. (Everyone already knows about people in NJ, though)

 

MrSum1"Sometimes, it just feels good to get your feelings out."_55

[laqueefa]

News from Screamscape today: "The good news is that the deal does require them to continue to operate and improve the park, and not just rip it out for a new mall or something." Awesome news best news ever this is the news we've been all waiting to hear. Time to celebrate! There's huge chance CGA could get a new coaster next year. I have a feeling something good is already being worked on.

 

This is awesome news, and makes me so happy to read that the park will remain I have been going to the park since the Marriott days, and even though its a shell of its former self, I do love the park for what it is, and what it could be.

 

"back in the day"

 

Im a little more hopeful for improvements considering a local firm will be managing the parks upgrades, and not a company in the mid west. Hopefully they can bring the charm, and excitement back to CGA. I also heard that in order for the 49er owners to seal the deal on the over flow lot, they themselves had to invest some capital into JMA.

[XYZ]

I just don't get all the negativity. Until I see evidence otherwise

 

Fixed.

 

In all honesty folks, some of us love parks for more than just it's coaster count.. a lot of us have tons of memories here, and it's kind of sad to see the majority of people only care about who gets what rides from the park, rather than have concern for the park itself.. Like I said from day 1 of this being announced, i'm looking forward to see what they can do for the park, I have no reason to believe they won't help get it back where it belongs, CGA is truly a great park and I have no shame defending it

 

I agree, as well as many people on here. So many people seem to be actually hoping this place closes, just so their home park can get one more ride. I almost pisses me off. Ugh guys, just because I live near the bay area doesn't mean I don't have feelings. When I visited CGA for the first time, I had been fed up by SFDK's awful operations, and expected something similar. Instead, I got a clean and well-rounded park with reasonable operations and a nice atmosphere. With SFDK, each visit seemed to only get worse. 1 train operations on all coasters was not an unusual sight. At least at CGA, I could have the satisfaction of seeing more than one train running. Since my good visit, this park will have a place in my memory.

 

So, for all you on the east coast that want Flight Deck here is my opinion: I hope that SFGAdv tares down El Toro, and it is moved to SFMM. That way, since I already have SFGAdv's credits, I will never have a reason to go back to New Jersey! If you live there, well, your highway/turnpike system sucks, your people are the worst quality I've ever seen, and I would love to never have a reason to go back. (Everyone already knows about people in NJ, though)

 

MrSum1"Sometimes, it just feels good to get your feelings out."_55

 

I completely agree with this message. For those who want CGA to close, how about Kings Dominion closing, it would be great for BGW! CGA is an awesome park and I always have a great time whenever I go there. I vist CGA over 20 times a year since 2008 and tge 1st time I visited this park, I was 11 months old. This park is a great deal to me and for it to close down, what is left in the South Bay. Nothing. The Tech Museum is fun 1 time, but it gets boring when you visit it more, the Tech Museum is more for tourists than locals and the same goes to the Winchester Mystery House. So, CGA is literally the ONLY fun thing to do in the South Bay.

 

X"Loves this park"Y"Like MrSum1_55, likes to let out my feelings"Z

[Austin11KD]

^Umm.. I can tell you 100% that Kings Dominion isn't going to close and there is no reason for it to. CGA has a reason to, sort of. It isn't the greatest park in the world and they only have old dated rides. Unlike Kings Dominion, the place that gets something almost every year!

[greatamerica1990sfan]

Quick question sorry I'm slightly off topic. Has Loggers Run been open during the day or is it only open when the Haunt is going on? & Is Whitewater Falls still open? I know Rip Roaring Rapids & the Waterpark is closed. & How have the last couple Sundays been wait wise-are they more than 30 min? I might go this Sunday only if Loggers Run will be open. & Because it's been really nice weather.

[XYZ]

^Umm.. I can tell you 100% that Kings Dominion isn't going to close and there is no reason for it to. CGA has a reason to, sort of. It isn't the greatest park in the world and they only have old dated rides. Unlike Kings Dominion, the place that gets something almost every year!

 

I was using KD as a metaphor for effect, not reality. I didn't say it was the greatest park in the world, I said it was an awesome park.

[Angry_Gumball]

Quick question sorry I'm slightly off topic. Has Loggers Run been open during the day or is it only open when the Haunt is going on? & Is Whitewater Falls still open? I know Rip Roaring Rapids & the Waterpark is closed. & How have the last couple Sundays been wait wise-are they more than 30 min? I might go this Sunday only if Loggers Run will be open. & Because it's been really nice weather.

 

Logger's remains open during the day, along with White Water Falls. I actually recall riding White Water Falls a couple years ago on CGA's last day of the season, which happened to be a chilly November 1st. WWF does not operate at night during Haunt however.

[ABW]

I really don't get this whole "let's bash any park that doesn't have a totally badass coaster count" kind of thought that seems to go around on this forum (espicially CGA's thread.) I don't want to be too judgemental (oh, fuck it I'm going to anyways) but it seems that the people who apparently have no "optimism" are the people that 1. Don't pay attention to the park 2. Bash the park unnecessarily (when there are many other parks that deserve this kind of bashing) and 3. Wouldn't care if the park closed down and like to act as if the park means nothing to anyone. I'm sorry but why don't you consider the people who actually DO care about the park ("*Gasp* people care about CGA?! That's I blasphemy tell you") and think that maybe the park does have some meaning. Has anybody actually checked out the flat rides and/or the water rides? My guess is no (from what everybody makes it sound like) and that they really only go to ride coasters for two hours and leave. Then you think you know everything about the park from that short visit that you took? Or you know what, forget that. Let's just say that some people by chance actually DO spend more than just a couple hours at the park, do you wait for the flats, or do you just mindlessly make your way through the park without admiring the fact that there's actually more to CGA then just coasters. Did you happen to do that or even try to semi-notice and appriciate it? Either ways, why not just give the park another freaking chance?! It has a new owner and new potential and it's not Cedar Fair. But please consider that some people actually like this park and it actually has something to it. Alright?

/End rant