California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread

Actually, the park does not allow photos inside the mazes, period. Flash or no flash, it's just not allowed. I know this first hand and getting photos inside mazes requires authorization/special arrangements with the park.

Actually, the park does not allow photos inside the mazes, period. Flash or no flash, it's just not allowed. I know this first hand and getting photos inside mazes requires authorization/special arrangements with the park.

I've taken a bunch of non-flash photos inside of mazes without a problem. In fact many of the monsters ham it up extra for the camera. None of the mazes have blanket "no photography" signs, only "no flash photography". What's your first-hand experience of not being allowed to take any photos inside the mazes?

My first hand experience with this is being in communication with the park and even attending media day for Haunt. I had asked ahead of time as I wanted to respect the park's rules and was strictly told that "no photos are allowed in any of the mazes." Further down the line I had actually set up a time with park staff (and got escorted through the maze) to take photos for my website only to have just about every blackout telling me to put the camera away regardless of having park management walking with me.

Perhaps somewhere along the lines they realized it was a dumb idea to not allow any photos and changed the policy since your media day visit?

Does anyone have any idea when CF is going to announce CGA new for 2015 addition or rumors as to what it may be? I just haven't heard anything and that's odd.

Their policy always confused me. Some mazes would let you take pictures with no flash, and some wouldn't let you take pictures at all. There was no consistency at all.

Does anyone have any idea when CF is going to announce CGA new for 2015 addition or rumors as to what it may be? I just haven't heard anything and that's odd.

The only rumor I've heard is Kidzville get taken over by Snoopy. One of the tombstones in Great America even read Kidzville, even though it has yet to be confirmed.

Does anyone have any idea when CF is going to announce CGA new for 2015 addition or rumors as to what it may be? I just haven't heard anything and that's odd.

The only rumor I've heard is Kidzville get taken over by Snoopy. One of the tombstones in Great America even read Kidzville, even though it has yet to be confirmed.

Okay! Thank you!

Is it actually a rumor or is this based on evidence provided by the head stone that says "Kidzville"?

^It's a Screamscape rumor. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. KD had their Kidzville turn into part of planet snoopy.

2015 - Planet Snoopy Expansion - Rumor - (10/1/14) According to the latest Screamscape rumors, KidZville at California’s Great America will be taken over by Planet Snoopy in 2015. As a sort of hint, I’m told that the park’s Halloween display of tombstones for removed rides has one for KidZville. As part of the update, I’m told we can expect to see one new ride, and two used rides thought to be from Knott’s Berry Farm added to the park.

Knott’s removed their Snoopy Bounce attraction as well as several Camp Snoopy rides earlier this year: Charlie Brown’s Speedway (kiddie Whip) and the Log Peeler (kiddie Scrambler) and Joe Cool’s Gr8 Sk8 (mini Interactive Rides X-Scream), so any of these could be arriving at CGA.

Ya, I posted that rumor a couple pages back. It would be nice to see the kids area become more cohesive. Plus Kidzville looks so faded and derelict. The rest of the park is looking great, and then you've got the eyesore of Kidzville.

GREAT AMERICA EXPANDS PLANET SNOOPY WITH 3 NEW RIDES

SANTA CLARA, CA – For 2015, California’s Great America will expand and rebrand the Planet Snoopy kids area. Three new Planet Snoopy rides will be introduced and be in place for opening day in 2015 when Great America begins its magical 40th season. The entire KidZville area will be transitioned into the expanded Planet Snoopy.

The new rides will include Joe Cool’s Gr8Sk8, Peanuts 500 and Snoopy’s Space Buggies. Gr8Sk8 will be an interactive ride atop Snoopy’s giant skateboard with the feeling of going off the edge. Peanuts 500 lets racers slingshot around the race track’s ends, while Snoopy’s Space Buggies will lift astronauts into the air for a gravity defying lunar landing.

“Great America is known for its thrill rides, but we pride ourselves on a being a park for everyone. Enhancing Planet Snoopy and introducing three attractions parents can ride with children adds to our inclusive family atmosphere,” said Great America Vice President and General Manager Raul Rehnborg.

In 2013, Great America added Gold Striker, which was named the world’s seventh best wooden roller coaster by the Golden Ticket Awards. 2014 brought the Great America Pavilion, an almost 18,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose facility that has become one of the Bay Area premier venues for corporate meetings and catered events, holiday parties and product launches.

Season Passes for 2015 are just $59.99 through Nov. 1 and are good for the rest of 2014 and all of 2015. By upgrading to a Gold Pass, guests receive Halloween Haunt, free parking, 20 percent off food and merchandise and admission to Gilroy Gardens.

Sounds like a good addition for the kids, certainly Kidzville could do with a make over, but I wonder if they will also make any changes to the existing Planet Snoopy area?

Presumably Joe Cool's GR8 SK8 is the ride removed from Knott's Camp Snoopy this year.

2016= new coaster.

Crossing my fingers both of the Bay Area parks get coasters in '16. As it stands I'll only have a '15 season pass to Marine World and that's only cause I'm going to be driving down to socal to ride Colossus weekly.

This should be a good addition for the park, and I'm glad to see the rides Knott's removed from Camp Snoopy put to good use. However, I'm really hoping 2016 brings a waterpark expansion and/or a new coaster as that is what CGA needs most.

Seems like it will be improvements this year which I can't complain. Just hit CGA for the haunt last weekend and Top Gun (I still call it that hehe) looks awesome red. I am hoping for a new coaster or water park addition the following year though. Gold Striker is still awesome and I'm just glad we have it, still feels brand new.

I'm happy to see this improvement to Planet Snoopy. I feel this will finally complete that back area very nicely. Can't wait to see how it'll all look once completed.

Presumably Joe Cool's GR8 SK8 is the ride removed from Knott's Camp Snoopy this year.

I'd venture to say the Peanuts 500 is from Knott's as well...making the Space Buggies the only "new" ride in this expansion. Never mind...if Kings Dominion's expanded Planet Snoopy (also done by encompassing their KidZville) is anything to go by, CGA is in for a treat.

Well, what do you know? My prediction for next year came true!

I think this is a great addition for Great America because they're the last major Cedar Fair park to get Planet Snoopy (MiA doesn't have one, but I don't think they have a legitimate kiddie area to begin with). The other Planet Snoopys are really nice areas that small children have lots of fun in, so I'd expect the same to happen here.

^ The park does have a Planet Snoopy area. This is their other kids area, KidZville, that will be rebranded into an expansion of the current Planet Snoopy area.

So are these new rides going into "kidZville" or in the the older planet snoopy?

Am I the only one who read the announcement just to see if there would be a new credit? Note: no, I don't seriously care.

Trip report:

We headed out to the Haunt on Friday, 10/17. The last time I was at CGA was for the Gold Striker media shoot. Before that I hadn't been to the park for a couple of years, so there were a few new things to experience.

tl;dr — The park has a few great mazes, and a couple great rides, but needs even more to alleviate the long lines. Some of the scare actors were not fully in character. The maze and main ride lines were all at 45 minutes to 1 hour long and the guest experience suffered. Read on for details.

Walking in the park, I was surprised to see the walk-through metal detectors missing and instead, all guests are personally searched with a hand-held metal detector. The procedure is you hold all your metal items with your hands spread out while they wave the wand across your body, front and back. I think it's an interesting change that removes a lot of overhead, although I have to wonder — what's the point? They weren't searching or wanding bags.

Due to logistical reasons, we arrived at the park around 8:30pm. Our first stop was the Wax Museum. I really enjoyed this maze’s props and theming. I'll stop short of saying the experience was excellent, because it wasn’t. There was nearly a constant stream of guests walking through, meaning barely any of the scare actors were in position as we walked through. I did like the aspect that you weren't always sure whether a body was a prop or actor. This was one of our longest waits, of about 45 minutes. I would hope that after waiting that long, groups would be nicely spaced out.

Next up was Zombie High, another 45 minute wait. The photo booth before walking through the maze was a fun effect. Without giving it away completely, the best part of the maze was a scare actor that pops out in a very unique way. Again, not many actors in position due to the constant stream of guests. Overall, this maze did not particularly stand out in any way theme wise. Having not known about the theme prior to walking in, I thought Zombie “High” meant something else

Next, we got in line for Drop Tower. However, after waiting a few minutes, the line had only moved a matter of inches. I noticed that one cabin was out of service completely. And another was climbing the tower normally, although guests were not being seated in it. So with the queue being 2/3 full, 1/3 of the ride out of service, combined with a steady line of Fast Lane people being given high priority, we exited the line knowing the wait would be too long. Since it was already 10:30pm, I knew that if we wanted to get on Gold Striker, we may have to choose between that and Drop Tower, since the lines close prior to midnight. I figured we could do more mazes after Gold Striker, since they are open until 1am.

On our way over to Gold Striker, we stopped at Toy Factory, whose line seemed to be moving very quickly. We ended up waiting about 10 minutes for this maze, which would be our shortest line of the night. It turns out, they were pushing people through like cattle, just a constant stream of guests. Although I have to hand it the scare actors — they were doing well considering they couldn’t exactly jump out at most people. However, something was missing. Where did the air room go? I don’t know what it’s actually called, but I'm trying not to give it away. I would consider that the main event of this maze, and was disappointed that it’s missing. This was arguably the most unique aspect of any maze at the park and I think it would be a big mistake to keep it out of the maze in the future.

As we headed over to Gold Striker, the line was nearly all the way out to the entrance. Having waited in the full queue before, I remembered it moving fairly quick. However, that was not the case tonight as the line moved ever so slowly. Fast Lane guests were let on with a seemingly very high priority. As the Fast Lane guests walked up the stairs (some of those guests riding again and again) they were let on the ride nearly immediately. Since there was a small but steady trickle of Fast Lane guests, I believe this artificially inflated the length of the standby queue, which ended up taking over an hour (2 trains, by the way).

The ride itself: incredible. So fast and smooth and an all-around great time. It feels even smoother than the last time I rode it before it opened to the public. Even my non-roller coaster enthusiast friends thought it was worth the wait (the true test!). Definitely the highlight of the night.

Next, we did two more mazes before leaving. First up was Roadkill Roadhouse. Not sure what all the hype is about. Yeah, the props are decent, but I remember them in a maze of a different name a few years ago. The great ending scene in the restaurant is now missing. But I guess my main complaint is 1) the scare actor wandering the line was out of character talking to a friend who was waiting in line and 2) some of the scare actors inside the maze were communicating quietly to each other, not really in character.

Just before 1am, our last maze was Madame Marie’s Massacre Manor which ended up being a great choice. The theming was great, and the scare actors were really into it, actually speaking to individual guests. If all the mazes were like this, CGA might have an event to really be proud of.

Final thoughts:

Capacity — I felt that the park was definitely at “critical mass”, with each attraction averaging about a 45 minute or longer wait. And not only were you waiting so long for most mazes, once you were in it, there were other groups right in front of and behind you! I would have an easier time standing the long lines if the experience that followed was something great. Judging from other reviews (such as on Yelp) a lot of others aren’t happy with the waits either. I’m glad that CGA now has such a popular halloween event, but it’s time to expend it even more to accommodate the crowds. I can only imagine the lines this upcoming weekend.

Fast Lane — I have some questions about Fast Lane, and I’m not necessarily expecting an answer. It’s obviously a great perk for those who have it, but at what cost? Should a 5-6 hour event have a Fast Lane line? Does it make sense that for such a short event that a high majority of the guests have to wait extra? I’m looking at the entire guest experience. I would have been a lot more satisfied waiting 30-40 minutes for Gold Striker, as it would have enabled us to ride one more ride. And, what is the priority that Fast Lane riders are given? Should they all be let on immediately (this is what I witnessed taking place), or should those riders be given a 5-10 minute wait to discourage re-rides and create a shorter standby line?

I’ll be honest — I’m not too enthusiastic about going to this event future years until they add another maze to thin out the crowds. Another decent capacity roller coaster would be nice too.

To sum it all up: Gold Striker