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Just a reminder that Great America will not be open on days when the San Francisco 49ers have home games.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/laces-out/49ers-find-a-solution-to-their-parking-problem-at-levi-s-stadium-082514

 

 

49ers find a solution to their parking problem at Levi's Stadium

Kyle Terada / USA TODAY Sports

 

Parking spaces are hard to come by at Levi's Stadium.

 

The 49ers have a problem with parking at new Levi's Stadium. Specifically, there aren't enough parking spaces to accommodate fans on game days. It's a big issue.

 

But it seems the team has found at least a temporary fix to ease the crush of cars that will undoubtedly gum up the works in their hometown of Santa Clara, Calif. The 49ers have agreed to pay $12.5 million to nearby amusement park Great America to close the park on game days and use its 6,500 parking spaces, according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.

 

Great America is less than a mile away from Levi's Stadium, and while there's no word as to how fans will make it from the parking lot to the stadium, the new arrangement should help traffic in the short term. Santa Clara does own the land where Great America stands, and the park does pay the city a little more than $5 million a year in rent. The city also gets a percentage whenever Great America's revenue exceeds a certain level.

 

However, the park's parent company -- Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. -- owns the parking lot and is free to make whatever side deals it wants. And what's more, the city can't collect a dime from that. However, despite losing a day of potential revenue at the park, Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews isn't worried, saying if the 49ers' money helps Cedar Fair's overall revenue enough, the city will still get its share.

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10644598_10152346255838155_3504421844602050159_o.jpg

 

We’re celebrating our 75 Millionth Guest this Labor Day Weekend, with great collectibles to the first 7,500 guests each day. Saturday will feature souvenir pins, Sunday will be vinyl backpacks and Monday will be rally towels. One lucky winner will be celebrated as our 75 Millionth Guest and there will be 75 random winners chosen each day.

 

Season Pass holders can bring up to 6 guests for just $19.99 each and take advantage of Early Ride Time from 9-10 am each day. There will be fireworks Saturday and Sunday, with an All-You-Can-Eat BBQ ($14.99) Monday.

 

Come help us celebrate and maybe you’ll be our 75 Millionth Guest!

 

Some cool swag to be had, although the park stands to be PACKED! Any TPR's going to brave this event?

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Just a reminder that Great America will not be open on days when the San Francisco 49ers have home games.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/laces-out/49ers-find-a-solution-to-their-parking-problem-at-levi-s-stadium-082514

 

 

49ers find a solution to their parking problem at Levi's Stadium

Kyle Terada / USA TODAY Sports

 

Parking spaces are hard to come by at Levi's Stadium.

 

The 49ers have a problem with parking at new Levi's Stadium. Specifically, there aren't enough parking spaces to accommodate fans on game days. It's a big issue.

 

But it seems the team has found at least a temporary fix to ease the crush of cars that will undoubtedly gum up the works in their hometown of Santa Clara, Calif. The 49ers have agreed to pay $12.5 million to nearby amusement park Great America to close the park on game days and use its 6,500 parking spaces, according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.

 

Great America is less than a mile away from Levi's Stadium, and while there's no word as to how fans will make it from the parking lot to the stadium, the new arrangement should help traffic in the short term. Santa Clara does own the land where Great America stands, and the park does pay the city a little more than $5 million a year in rent. The city also gets a percentage whenever Great America's revenue exceeds a certain level.

 

However, the park's parent company -- Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. -- owns the parking lot and is free to make whatever side deals it wants. And what's more, the city can't collect a dime from that. However, despite losing a day of potential revenue at the park, Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews isn't worried, saying if the 49ers' money helps Cedar Fair's overall revenue enough, the city will still get its share.

 

 

If the city had just put up the cash and build a Parking garage, They could have avoided alot of delays.

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Just a reminder that Great America will not be open on days when the San Francisco 49ers have home games.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/laces-out/49ers-find-a-solution-to-their-parking-problem-at-levi-s-stadium-082514

 

 

49ers find a solution to their parking problem at Levi's Stadium

Kyle Terada / USA TODAY Sports

 

Parking spaces are hard to come by at Levi's Stadium.

 

The 49ers have a problem with parking at new Levi's Stadium. Specifically, there aren't enough parking spaces to accommodate fans on game days. It's a big issue.

 

But it seems the team has found at least a temporary fix to ease the crush of cars that will undoubtedly gum up the works in their hometown of Santa Clara, Calif. The 49ers have agreed to pay $12.5 million to nearby amusement park Great America to close the park on game days and use its 6,500 parking spaces, according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.

 

Great America is less than a mile away from Levi's Stadium, and while there's no word as to how fans will make it from the parking lot to the stadium, the new arrangement should help traffic in the short term. Santa Clara does own the land where Great America stands, and the park does pay the city a little more than $5 million a year in rent. The city also gets a percentage whenever Great America's revenue exceeds a certain level.

 

However, the park's parent company -- Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. -- owns the parking lot and is free to make whatever side deals it wants. And what's more, the city can't collect a dime from that. However, despite losing a day of potential revenue at the park, Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews isn't worried, saying if the 49ers' money helps Cedar Fair's overall revenue enough, the city will still get its share.

Very interesting. Would CGA keep the special 49ers plaza open during the games or would that be closed as well? I would hope not, as that was the main reason for that new plaza to get a profit from the 49er fans.
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Of course it would stay open for Game. They've sold package deals, like a season ticket, that gets you free beer and food. Its just as much as a season ticket, so they're making a killing. They also use the same facility for its corporate and private parties. My company is holding our summer picnic at Great America and we are using that facility. I'll post some pictures from the event.

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Cool event/recognition of 75 million guests. Do we have any idea how the sister park in Gurnee would compare, at this point? Based on all the down years this park has had, I have to assume Gurnee is way ahead...right? Not that it matters, obviously, would just be interesting to see how (what started as) identical parks in two different parts of the country have done over the same 40 year period.

 

Speaking of 40 years - Gurnee looks to be doing something to celebrate their 40th, any news from this park, yet? Definitely seems like a relatively "cheap" way to market something new for the year....

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I doubt they add anything this off season, maybe a flat. For the future though my thoughts are if Vortex doesn't get a new coat of paint this offseason, it's days are numbered and removal and replacement will follow at the end of the 2015 season.
Cedar Fair said this was a park they were looking to invest in. Granted, they received Gold Striker and the new plaza, but the information was given after Gold Striker was added, and a corporate park only receiving a new plaza doesn't scream to me as a huge investment. I bet we would see a new slide complex for Boomerang Bay or a family ride package like Gemini Midway, Route 76, and Boardwalk. We could even see a new family coaster come to CGA, which is needed!
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That'd be interesting to figure out - I know a massive garage/garages, especially in California, can be really expensive. But what I don't know is the calculated lifespan of said garage, and ongoing operating costs of the garage?

 

That's a good chunk of change, EVERY year, to pay to close down the amusement park. Certainly their bean counters have crunched the numbers, but (for some reason) I'd be interested to see where the break even point would be (especially if you factored in a higher parking cost for a garage spot (to fund the existence of the garage) versus a lot spot.

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Wishful thinking, but I hope we get a new coaster for the 2016 season. It would be perfect because it would be a couple years after Gold Striker and the Super Bowl at Levi's Stadium is that year.

 

But if not new...

After hearing that Cedar Point is turning Mantis into a floorless coaster, I would actually be satisfied if they did the same to Vortex. The current standing trains are such a headbanger.

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^^^

Agreed. I actually want Vortex gone or reconfigured. I figure if something isn't done to it in the off-season, something is going to happen to Vortex. So the fact that it hasn't had maintenance in a while might mean something.

 

Oh, and did you know that Great America is getting the Skeleton Key for 2014's HAUNT? They confirmed it on facebook.com/cgahaunt with a post saying something about Roadkill Roadhouse. So I think M4, Roadkill Roadhouse, Toy Factory, and Wax Museum Chamber of Horror get a Skeleton Key room this year. Should be spookifying.

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Wishful thinking, but I hope we get a new coaster for the 2016 season. It would be perfect because it would be a couple years after Gold Striker and the Super Bowl at Levi's Stadium is that year.

 

But if not new...

After hearing that Cedar Point is turning Mantis into a floorless coaster, I would actually be satisfied if they did the same to Vortex. The current standing trains are such a headbanger.

 

Yeah, the trains on Vortex SUCK as of now. I haven't been on it for a while, but if something needs to be changed, it would be Vortex. Yeah, I like the investments Cedar Fair is putting into the park and Grizzly, but if they need to focus on anything, it would be Vortex. Cedar Point is getting rid of Mantis. Canada's Wonderland got rid of their Togo standup, Skyrider. The next part to have their standup reconfigured is CGA.

 

And yeah, a new ride in 2016 would be nice. It might even out the crowds for Goldy and Top Gun (or Flight Deck. Whatever you call it.), so more laps on both can ensue. I'm unsure of what they could add. A launched coaster, maybe? That's what the park needs next. I can somewhat see so,ething like SUF being able to fit in that spot. That would be cool. Its a launched coaster, and I don't completely have to go extremely far to ride a Premier Rides coaster. So getting some launched coaster would be awesome.

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^SFDK isn't all that far if you wanna ride a Premier Rides launch coaster. I extremely highly doubt that CGA would get a SUF clone with Superman at SFDK not all that far North.

 

Yeah, I extremely doubt we'd be seeing a SUF clone here ever. My point with that was saying that CGA needs a launched coaster. And from where I am, it takes a few hours to get to SFDK. Granted, it is short compared to other trips I've gone on, but CGA is maybe a half hour away with no traffic. So in comparison, it is quite far. And I go to DK maybe once or twice a year, when I go to CGA a lot during the summer.

 

But anyways, we do need a launched coaster here. We haven't had one since Tidal Wave (<-- please correct me if I'm wrong here), so we're overdue. Plus, Vortex is rumored to be leaving, so that would be a perfect place for a launched something.

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Yes I am very confused. Cedar Fair stated that Carowinds, Valleyfair, and CGA would be getting SIGNIFICANT growth and expansion. While we already know Carowinds is getting a lot of new things, and Valleyfair, my home park, is expected to get a huge waterpark expansion in 2015, and then a B&M invert in 2016, while CGA has no rumored attractions for the future. Confusing and dissapointing for CGA if you ask me.

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Yes I am very confused. Cedar Fair stated that Carowinds, Valleyfair, and CGA would be getting SIGNIFICANT growth and expansion. While we already know Carowinds is getting a lot of new things, and Valleyfair, my home park, is expected to get a huge waterpark expansion in 2015, and then a B&M invert in 2016, while CGA has no rumored attractions for the future. Confusing and dissapointing for CGA if you ask me.

 

I don't think CF was planning on giving CGA new rides in the future. I believe it was for "beautifying the park" more than it was for rides. Although, in the past few years, there have been a few notable improvements. As Angry_Gumball stated once, the iPod playlist is gone. It does still remain in the Action Zone area, but it somewhat fits. The rides have been getting fresh coats of paints, and I think the most notable of all is the retracking of Grizzly. It's amazing how they've made this park LOOK better. If a new ride does come, I would be thrilled (get the pun? ), but I am still very happy that they are beautifying the park.

 

I believe the latest rumor to be spread around is that Grizzly might be taken down. NEWS FLASH: Grizzly isn't going ANYWHERE!!! Grizzly is a) VERY popular (there's almost always a line) and b) has gotten some MAJOR investments from CF. I extremely, extremely doubt Grizzly will be torn down. If this whole "we're tearing down a ride" thing is happening, it had BETTER be Demon. It has hurt A LOT in recent years. So has Vortex, but Demon hurts MORE. Yeah, I know, it's been there forever (it was Turn of the Century in 1976), but either do something about the bumpiness or get rid if it.

 

So as far as I know, Demon and Grizzly are the two that are rumored to be leaving. Either one would leave a large enough space for some new ride (maybe, oh I don't know, the park's first launched coaster since Tidal Wave?), but it all comes down to their final decision.

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I, for one, would be stoked if demon got some new paint, some new LED lights in the defunked light tunnel, and maybe a little love on the trains. We are in the middle of a bad drought so I dont expect blood colored water this year for Haunt, but its always a nice touch when they do that.

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I, for one, would be stoked if demon got some new paint, some new LED lights in the defunked light tunnel, and maybe a little love on the trains. We are in the middle of a bad drought so I dont expect blood colored water this year for Haunt, but its always a nice touch when they do that.

 

Yes. Demon is in desperate need of cosmetic repairs. It should look good before feeling good, I guess? I manage to bear with the pain, so I would be stoked if that was the next ride to be renovated. It might look insane.

 

I wish they would bring back the "Welcome...to the DEMON! Mwuahahwhahahaha!!" spiel that was in the tunnel. That would make the ride better for me.

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