cfc Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 GG is a nonprofit organization and the park is just managed by Cedar Fair. I'm sure there's a pretty right budget they have to deal with. That would be my guess, too--Cedar Fair is more of a "hired gun" here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 GG is a nonprofit organization and the park is just managed by Cedar Fair. I'm sure there's a pretty right budget they have to deal with. That would be my guess, too--Cedar Fair is more of a "hired gun" here. Where ever the money is coming from, I'm surprised we don't see more (as in anything). I've been to the park, I know its demographics and its budget restraints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Doesn't the city of Gilroy hold the purse strings for this park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 According to the website, it sounds like the funding for the park comes from a community trust fund setup by the Bonfante family. I bet there are a lot of restrictions on the park since it was never originally intended to be an amusement park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTER FREAK 11 Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Then maybe a new bendy tree display? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Hardly anyone goes to the park now, if it wasn't for the rides, no one would go. I wonder how much money comes from the trust to run the park and what does CF get out of all this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCjunkie Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 I wonder how much money comes from the trust to run the park and what does CF get out of all this? Good question, it would be interesting to know. CF must get enough to make it worth their time because they have kept this relationship up over the years and they list them on their main site as one of their 13 parks. In their quarterly reports all I have been able to find for revenue is their pie charts with no dollar values assigned to it but just a graphic representation of how much each park contributed to the whole piece of the revenue pie. And they don't split out their 'fee' for running the place or how much of a percentage of sales (if any) that they get towards revenue. If anyone knows where to find this information please let me know because I too am curious. I just read the quarterly reports for CF, do people who own stock get a more detailed picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagg O'Dim Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 I went to Gilroy Gardens' annual Holiday Lights for the first time on Saturday. I was able to get in for free thanks to my 2013 California's Great America Gold Pass (really got a lot of mileage out of it this year). The light displays are pretty spectacular. The park opens at 3 p.m., but at that time, it's a little too bright to be able to see any of the displays. Once darkness starts to fall around 5 p.m. that's when the park really starts to shine (literally). Night rides on Quicksilver Express and Timber Twister were some of the highlights of the night, even if it was freezing cold! Some of the trees around Quicksilver Express are lit up, but for the most part, you're in complete darkness. Going down the second drop in complete darkness is pretty amazing. The Waterfall Illumination show at Bonfante Falls was fun to watch. I took a video of it: [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] On to the pictures: The park's entrance gives you a taste of what you're going to be seeing a lot: Lights! Attendance was a bit lackluster, but at Gilroy Gardens, that's the norm. Wish I took this picture when it was darker, but Panoramic Wheel had its own mini light show. At first, I thought the amount of tables was excessive for the holiday feast, but it was quite full later on in the night. Many ride queues had their own decorations. This was Timber Twister's queue. People gather for Waterfall Illumination, a really cool display of lights that are synchronized to music. Most of Bonfante Falls is closed off, and for good reason: You don't want to be walking underneath the waterfalls in this weather. But of course, off-limits areas do not apply to irresponsible parents. The show is about to begin! South County Backroads (aka "the car ride") is themed to the 12 Days of Christmas. The lights are hardly noticeable during daylight. Once night hit, this ride had a long line (for Gilroy Gardens, that is). We wanted to punish ourselves with a freezing-cold ride on Mushroom Swing, but it was down when we got in line. I'll end this with a construction update for Gilroy Gardens' new water area. Land clearing is still going on. They removed a circus tree on the property since my last visit. This is what the area looked like in mid-November. Workers dug around the circus tree and built a box around it for transportation. A hole is all that is left now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Looks like Gilroy Gardens does a nice job with their holiday lights. It is a very pleasant park, and I hope it survives and has the chance to grow a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechanic Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Thank you for the report! It's been several years (maybe even a decade now that I think about it) since I've attended Gilroy Gardens' holiday event, but it looks like it's better than ever. The South County Backroads ride was definitely a highlight during my last visit. Hearing that they had the coasters running during your visit is icing on the cake. This is definitely a must-visit park for anyone that finds themselves in the south bay area. I may just have to find myself in that area this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidcoaster 2 Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Looks like a really nice event. Thanks for the photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrlittle Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 They did a good job with the christmas lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 What does fast lane actually cost the park? Might as well add it, since it's almost pure profit for the park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forces Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Thanks for the update!! I enjoyed the park when I visited this year and it is nice to see the park taking the time and efforts to look great for the Christmas season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Thank you for the report! It's been several years (maybe even a decade now that I think about it) since I've attended Gilroy Gardens' holiday event, but it looks like it's better than ever. The South County Backroads ride was definitely a highlight during my last visit. Hearing that they had the coasters running during your visit is icing on the cake. This is definitely a must-visit park for anyone that finds themselves in the south bay area. I may just have to find myself in that area this weekend. I think Gilroy's car ride is the best of its kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Thank you so much for this report! I went to GG for the first time this past April and I love the park. It is really beautiful and the rides seem to be taken care of well. It was mainly a credit run for us and I wish we would have had more time there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyBo Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 This park looks great for the Holiday Season! I still have yet to make it to this park but it looks really great with all the lights. I really do love this time of year around parks because they seriously know how to do it up during night time. I wonder why parks don't just keep the lights up year round…it seriously looks better. Jimmy "Need to make it to Garlic Town" Bo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double0Kevin Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 It's really too bad that Gilroy Gardens is so off the beaten path. I could see it being a park that really would have taken off in more populated area like a Busch Gardens park. Their holiday even looks fantastic though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aCoasterStory Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Since there's not really an official Gilroy Gardens thread, I figured I should post here. I'm going to be in the Bay area the weekend of 8/16-17 and may have some time Saturday afternoon to visit the park (I have a CF Platinum Pass). I'm an adult male, so I'm not really planning on doing a ton of rides--I'd really just like to ride the 2 coasters, plus whatever I need to ride to see the gardens (I believe there's an antique cars ride and a monorail that go through gardens, right?). I also want to have some time to just walk around and appreciate the scenery. How much time should I budget, given that it'll be a Saturday afternoon? This will likely be my only visit ever to the park, but I'll also be trying to hit CGA in the same day, so I don't want to cut out too much time from there. Suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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