PTR: California's Great America 6-7-2008

Spent a bit of time at the park today... it was busy throughout the day and then lines got short around twilight.

I'm just going to start posting pics...

more soon...

stay tuned....

Even a long line seems to move quickly.

...but it packs a punch.

It may be a little short...

Love Flight Deck.

...or sew my car keys to my shorts.

Someday I will pay $8 for a locker...

...and I haven't seen anything like it elsewhere...

...but it is so unique...

I still haven't had a chance to ride Endeavor... too many things in my pockets...

How is Firefall doing, anyway?

Holy crap!

Survivor fire... check!

OK, that settles that

First, we had better make sure Cedar Fair isn't ruining the park omg.

Spongebob Bubbles... check!

Cool pictures, I like the blurry Endeavor shot you got as it was swinging around. About Endeavor, it is a rib/breast crusher so do be warned. I do like it however as it gives some of the best hangtime I've gotten. Also, try not to get your jewels squished...makes the hangtime much more enjoyable!

more... no particular order... i'll try to group by ride a bit if I can...

Vortex. Again: short, but a pretty fun ride that won't leave you waiting forever in line.

I wonder why this ride doesn't operate into the night.

I'm a big sky ride fan. I wonder if these cabins are used regularly?

Will this all be overshadowed by the new coaster?

The swings have such a prominent location here

like some of the girls I've dated, it looks better as it gets darker....

One of the coolest carousels...

Celebration Plaza(?)

agh! flogging molly, I really screwed up a couple posts...

here we go...

Grizzly at night.

stay tuned... still more!

There is a great courtyard inside the structure of the Grizzly. You pass through it to enter the ride.

Grizzly passing by...

Games Gallery at night... whoooaha with the exposure..

This is just outside the Great America Theater, where the new ice show just opened.

The First Aid building looks cool.

Eagle's Flight station at night

Drop Tower at night

The Demon... corkscrew section

Delirium is one of my favorites.

Centrifuge! A classic

At night, parts of the park really look "amusement park-y".

...what's next....?

Bumper cars... with instructions for less bumping?

stay tuned... one more!

So many trees here!

Some of these shops look cool on the outside... not very interested in what they sell, though.

Psycho Mouse... one of the slowest lines in the park.

What is the fate of the Pictoriummmm... mmmm??

Some water by the Outback shack

Thank you, Cedar Fair, for saving this classic!

Orbit!

Was Maverick really worth losing this great station?

The great, rotating Loggers Run station.

White Water Landing fans rejoice!

Loggers Run!

Spongebob had bubbles even at closing time...

That way to KidZville?

Invertigo! I like it... it can be intense... and awkward, staring at someone you might not know.

Ok. this should wrap it up....

and at night...

That's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed another look at California's Great America.

I have never seen the park at night before. It is nice. Unfortunately, a lot of rides don't have extensive lighting systems but there is plenty of night-time amusement park feel, including carts of glowing, flashing, spinning things for sale as you walk out!

Another example of how beautiful this park is.

I think I forgot this one earlier...

Fire... even at closing time.

Survivor! This ride gets panned a lot, but I like it.

...an exposure so long that the security staff took notice...

so is the sun

The Star Tower is... setting.

The big-raft-splashdown ride has some wonderful landscaping... as does most of the park.

and the nearby Speedway Bowl... or "that game with the bowling ball."

which is much better than "all those games with the basketballs"!

Actually, I thought this game was doomed, yet it is still here...

The speedway... really cool how it weaves in and around Grizzly and Demon(?). I'm not sure, because I haven't ridden it myself yet...

Wow great pictures and thanks for sharing. I haven't been to Great America in awhile. They sure have added a lot since I went last. Again thanks for sharing the pictures, there great.

Thanks for showing how beutiful this park is. Those were some fantastic shots!

Agreed. Terrific shots.

Cool pictures, I like the blurry Endeavor shot you got as it was swinging around. About Endeavor, it is a rib/breast crusher so do be warned. I do like it however as it gives some of the best hangtime I've gotten. Also, try not to get your jewels squished...makes the hangtime much more enjoyable!

Noted!

I kinda thought something like that could happen. It's nothing like Orbit, where you are pushed into your seat even when you are upside down.... I've seen Endeavor sit up there for maybe a few seconds sometimes!

Awesome Tr. Those shots are cool.

Great America gets bashed around a lot, but it really is a nice looking park. Once the new coaster opens, I think people will realize how underrated it is. New coasters tend to do that...

Thanks everyone. Luckily, CGA has made it easy to get good pictures... the park really looks good. I know Gilroy has the "Gardens", but there are so many plants and trees at CGA, too. I wonder how many different trees they have?

It's going to look killer for the Halloween event.

I noticed some weird "cables" with a stake on the end hanging out of the beams above the bathrooms by Survivor. After thinking for a while, I'm guessing the "cable" is actually an irrigation hose and the stakes probably went inside hanging pots that so far have been missing this season.

Congratulations to the park for Firefall. It is a ride we've seen plenty of times before, but they have really made it a great spectacle. A lot of people gather around just to watch it (and to hold things for people who are riding it).

It may not seem like it in memory sometimes, but there really is a lot to do at this park. I didn't even snap pics of the water park. There are enough rides that the lines are never way too long (except maybe Psycho Mouse), and the ops seem to get faster each time I go.

I was at SFDK recently (it looks better than I ever remember it)... I like that park, too. Great animal shows, some unique jungle-themed rides and a few great coasters . I wanted to ride more rides while I was there, but the lines were SO long and SO slow. Great park--perhaps a victim of its own success... I just wish I could spend less time waiting and more time doing. At CGA, I always can.

thanks for the review. brought back amazing memories when I used to work there (2000-2001 ops sup/HR, if ur curious). i enjoyed the landscape pictures the most. looking at them, ive realized i feel as though I overlooked and somewhat taken for granted the parks' beauty.

I have to say Flight Deck is one of the worst names for a ride ever......

Nice TR!

Wow, great pics. I cant wait to ride FD at night!

This was an awesome PTR, it really showed the beauty of CGA that has been missing for a long time.

I love your pictures they look fantastic. I go to Great America a lot but never been there at night, thanks for the pictures.

This is a great TR of CGA. By the way, you might have seen me at Invertigo, Berserker, or Whitewater Falls (the splash flume). I was working yesterday from opening to around 4. I'm really stoked about next year's coaster, and I'm really surprised how great the effects are at Firefall.

Great Photo TR. It's been a long time since I was at CGA, and at night. Like you, tkkyj, I like sky rides and am glad that this park still has theirs. They are rare these days.

As I've said, I will return to CGA once the new woodie opens.

Eric

Wow, great pics. I cant wait to ride FD at night!

Night time on Flight Deck is pure awesomeness! I've only gotten to that once, and it was amazing. Good portions of the ride, I could not see a thing. Over the lake was pretty dark, and I only knew I was going over the lake as it suddenly got really cold, and had that odd algae smell.

I know people tend to bash CGA for it's short coasters and stuff, but I think this park has a lot of potential to keep it living. For the most part, the staff is pretty quick at loading people, though not as fast as what I've seen at Santa Cruz on a 1-train operation! But they're making the effort to speed things up. Speaking of which, I'll be hitting up CGA this Sunday, so anyone interested ins meeting up or whatever, I'll be there...send a PM if interested!

Some of you pictures made me feel sick.

Grizzly seems blacked out at night, too. I sorta think Paramount may have just said "who needs lights on the rides when we close at 7?"

Parts of the park get pretty dark... it seems like they quite a lot of security staff walking around. I hope they can eventually brighten the place up some more.

Firefall looks tremendous. I couldn't believe it either! It reminds me of when I first saw Rip Tide at Knott's (when they were running the "wet" program). I think I had higher expectations than a lot of other people for it, and it is still better than what I expected.

I can't wait to see a render of the park with the upcoming coaster. I imagine it is going to really change the look of the park dramatically. I wonder if they will paint it?

Invertigo at night... Very well lit!

my little camera doesn't offer much in the way for exposure control, but the shutter stayed open long enough to make the ST cabin look fast.

Another Endeavor blur.

Thanks for the update. I was just there on Monday with my 8th grade class and it was fun! But the lines were kinda long. I went on Firefall: so much fun, but it needs to be alot longer. Survivor: waited in line in the hot sun for over an hour for this ride and it was boring. Invertigo: line seemed slow, but it was actually kinda fast, but the ride was so much fun. Flight Deck: I went on it 2 times because it was so much fun, but it needs to be way longer too, it was like over in a blink of an eye, but that was the best ride at the park.

I will be hitting up CGA this Friday ill see if can get and pictures or a video of Firefall to put up on Youtube.