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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread


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On 9/6/2021 at 12:52 PM, PKI Jizzman said:

Anyone got advice? I guess I'll just budget for FL.

I only went once this year and it was a Friday in July I believe. Fast lane was required and there was a huge line of boarding pass abusers clogging up the FL queue at railblazer. They used to clog up the exit but now they are allowed in FL line. It seems they hand out boarding passes to anyone now. So heads up to check wrist bands in RailBlazer line if you get FL.  

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25 minutes ago, Domm said:

I only went once this year and it was a Friday in July I believe. Fast lane was required and there was a huge line of boarding pass abusers clogging up the FL queue at railblazer. They used to clog up the exit but now they are allowed in FL line. It seems they hand out boarding passes to anyone now. So heads up to check wrist bands in RailBlazer line if you get FL.  

And do what, exactly?  Yell at them yourself?  That is absolutely not your place.

Listen, I hate when I have to wait any longer due to boarding pass people jumping me by using the exit ramp as much as everyone else.  But the park has deemed it appropriate.  Some people have injuries or disabilities, or got stuck on another ride and were compensated with exit passes.  You don't know.  If anything, having them use the FL is a preferable solution, this way they don't "surprise" anyone by taking their row from the exit ramp.

I'm also disgusted that you call them them "boarding pass abusers."  Not all disabilities are visible.

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On 9/6/2021 at 1:52 PM, PKI Jizzman said:

Anyone got advice? I guess I'll just budget for FL.

Yeah, if you can swing it, do it on a Friday night instead. They are open from 4PM to 10PM on Friday nights both this week and next week before Halloween Haunt starts. My son and I visited on the 27th and it was empty. Felt a lot like a Six Flags Coaster Power Hours event. Walk-ons on just about every ride that wasn't named "Psycho Mouse", including two in a row on Railblazer, and we even got a zen ride on Patriot! We visited again the following day (mainly to hit the waterpark) and by comparison it was jampacked.

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I'll post a trip report later but wow this park is beautiful. I get why this park isn't talked about much but there's hardly a spot that's ugly. Trees, flowers, mountain background, landscape, and short but sweet coasters with Gold Striker being the well rounded stand out. 

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  • 4 months later...

They closed Dorney every Monday and Tuesday for staffing, but since the 4th of July was on a Sunday, the federal holiday was observed on a Monday and they didn’t make any adjustments for that.

Every other park in the area had waits exceeding 2 hours that day because it was a federal holiday in the summer. They were closed and reopened on Wednesday when everyone was at work.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looks like the rumors were true, CGA is scrapping haunt for this year for a more family friendly "tricks and treats" event. Was announced via their instagram.

https://www.cagreatamerica.com/events/tricks-and-treats

As a local this is a bummer especially since parts of Shadowlands were spotted at the park not too long ago. Hopefully they'll bring back Haunt down the road but who knows.

Will be interesting to see if other parks in the chain follow suit.

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Saw on the Valleyfair thread that they are doing the same thing over there. Kinda hard to get info since both pages are exactly the same as far as descriptions and concept art. Kinda sounds like they are trying to do a more family-friendly approach, focusing on food and shows rather than "scaring the cr*p out of you". They did mention that in the Land of Tricks that they would have "mazes" but that they would be spooky, not scary.

Also thought it was interesting that this is not a hard ticket event, and season passes are good for it. I always heard/thought that the most profitable part of haunt events was that everybody had to buy a ticket.

Haunt is still scheduled for Worlds of Fun, Dorney, and Kings Island with no mention of Trick or Treats (as of right now). Kings Dominion and Carowinds seem to be trying to take a page from Knotts and doing both Haunt and a Trick or Treat Festival (which apparently is different from what Valleyfair and CGA are doing...yeah I know it's confusing...). Interestingly, Cedar Point has neither listed on their website...

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8 minutes ago, swfan1988 said:

Also thought it was interesting that this is not a hard ticket event, and season passes are good for it. I always heard/thought that the most profitable part of haunt events was that everybody had to buy a ticket.

At most CF and SF parks, the night-time Halloween events haven't been separately ticketed events, and season passes have been good.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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California's Great America to Close within 11 years

SANDUSKY, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and immersive entertainment, today announced it has sold the land at its California’s Great America amusement park and plans to close the park. Cedar Fair elected to sell the land to Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD), a Bay Area-based logistics real estate company, for approximately $310 million with a lease agreement. The Company will continue to operate the park for a period of up to 11 years and then will close existing park operations at the end of the lease term.

The land sale, which was marketed by CBRE, was the outcome of a strategic review initiated by Cedar Fair in 2021 to explore potential avenues to maximize the value of the Company’s extensive asset portfolio. Cedar Fair purchased the land at California’s Great America in 2019 from the City of Santa Clara after the State of California dissolved redevelopment agencies, requiring the city to cede its ownership of the property to pay off existing debt. Prior to that transaction, the Company leased the land from the City for more than 40 years.

Cedar Fair intends to use proceeds from the land sale transaction to accelerate progress on its strategic priorities of reducing debt to achieve its $2 billion target, investing in high-return projects within its portfolio such as upgrading resort properties, and reinstating a sustainable unitholder distribution. Based on the strength and pace of the recovery since reopening its parks in 2021, and due to the additional capital raised through the Great America transaction, Cedar Fair expects to reinstate quarterly unitholder distributions by the third quarter of 2022, subject to review and approval by the Cedar Fair Board of Directors.

“We chose Prologis as our partner because of their deep ties in the Bay Area and their reputation for working closely with local communities on large developments,” said Cedar Fair President and CEO Richard A. Zimmerman. “For our investors, the sale and lease agreements allow us to monetize a high-value asset in the heart of Silicon Valley at a very attractive multiple. The transaction also provides us with a substantial sum of incremental capital which we intend to use to further advance our strategic priorities and generate enhanced returns for our unitholders.”

Cedar Fair

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I guess we know when MiA, WoF, and Dorney are getting their next coasters...LOL but not really.  This is kinda sad, but they are a business first and foremost.  Guess I know where my first trip in 2023 will be.

My speculation on the destination for their coasters and major rides, based solely on what I think they need, not any actual land-use planning:

-Berserker (Schwarzkopf Bayern Kurve) - Dorney Park, please please pretty please?
-Delta Flyer (Von Roll sky ride) - Sent to CP for spare parts
-Demon - Scrapped
-Drop Tower - Do any of their parks not have a drop tower?  MiA?
-Flight Deck - Kings Dominion
-Gold Striker - WoF
-Orbit (Schwarzkopf Enterprise) - Kings Dominion, please please pretty please?
-Patriot - MiA
-Psycho Mouse (Arrow wild mouse)- Scrapped
-RailBlazer - KBF or Dorney Park
-Star Tower - Scrapped
-Grizzly - Scrapped
-Either of the kiddie coasters - Kings Island or Dorney Park
 

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Shocked but not surprised. The land this park sits on is too valuable to maintain a theme park. I went in 2019 and was surprised by the very small crowd. No way this park is making enough money to justify its existence in this city known for its tech presence.

Will they rebuild somewhere else? Doubtful. I can only hope they move the rides to other deserving Cedar Fair parks. My suggestions:

Rail Blazer to Worlds of Fun or Michigan's Adventure.
Flight Deck to Michigan's Adventure so they can scrap their Vekoma invert.
Patriot to Worlds of Fun which doesn't have a floorless.
Psycho Mouse to Cedar Point. Why not!
Gold Striker: who knows. 

Demon, Grizzly will probably be scrapped. 

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I never get emotional over things like this, but Great America is my childhood park. Riding Flight Desk (Top Gun at the time) is what turned me into an enthusiast.

I will miss this park immensely 😪

On a scarier note, I can envision a future where Knotts, Universal and Disney are the few players left in this state. Real Estate land is at such a premium here.

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