It is unfortunate that we are losing anything to do with family entertainment in the Bay Area. Bowling Alleys, skating rinks, etc. every little postage stamp of land is being overbuilt. My husband takes our kids several times a week with season passes. It is sad it wont be there for my grandchildren. The worst thing about the park is that it was the demise of Frontier Village another long gone theme park of my youth.

I grew up going to Great America. It was within walking distance of my house. And I have to say, the problem wasn’t a lack of theming. It was needing to pull out the theming so, many, different, times. It was re-themed by every owner, and un-themed, and re-themed, and un-themed. The section in the back was based around Hanna Barbera cartoons. Then Nickelodeon cartoons. I think at one point there was a Klingon Meet ‘n Greet there. Every area was going to get built up around themed attractions, then a new owner came though and it would all get undone. This happened over and over with no consistency. People would start a whole overhaul of the areas, then dump the park on someone else who would have to undo what the previous person did. It… was really heartbreaking to watch.

"Flight Deck" had an amazing Top Gun theme back when Paramount owned the park... I hear Danger Zone on a loop whenever I think of this place.

I’ve lived in San Jose my whole life and I’ve been going to this park since 2000 and I would like to say that Paramount’s Great America was peak Great America, and I’m really sad to see this park go, even with the current version not being my preferred version. I’ve always like this park more than Santa Cruz boardwalk and I’m just not ready to say bye to it 🥲 I wanted to take my kids here, maybe I’ll be able to take them as toddlers right before they close 😭 Also, Gilroy Gardens used to be called Bonafante Gardens and it was also much better back then 🙃

I am not saying goodbye until they officially close. I am still being optimistic that there's still hope for this place considering how 10 years is still plenty of time for something good to happen for this place.

Paramount's Great America was my whole childhood. My grandpa was one of the engineers that helped design some areas and we lived 2 blocks away. From the backyard we could always hear the screams from Drop Zone and sometimes if the wind was blowing hard enough, you could hear the ride operators as well. We always watched the fireworks from the house, and as I kid I'd get pissed because they kept me up when I was trying to sleep sometimes. You think you got sad and emotional on your trip, man I got hella sad and emotional just watching this video lol. I don't know if I'll be able to go back before they start moving rides, but I probably will tear up for my final visit there.

I just visited last weekend for the first time. And my home park growing up was also Six Flags Great America. I can definitely relate to the bizarre feeling that you're walking through an alternate universe.

This video made me so depressed. This is my lifelong home park, with a season pass for over 25 years. During the Paramout era, it really was well-themed and exciting. Cedar Fair really put a lot of good into the park, but a lack of a cohesive theme and loss of amazing rides caused an overall negative (loss of Invertigo, Revolution, Logger's Run, Firefall, Stealth, etc). I've always wanted to go to the Gurnee park to feel that twilight zone effect, so I love how you did the opposite. I'm surprised you had negative feelings about the operations, and also about Gold Striker. But sounds like operations really did actually suck the day you went. Even though making me sad and depressed, thank you for doing such a good review and tribute to the park and its history!!

I grew up in San Jose and got season passes to this park every summer as a kid. Back in 1993-1994 this park was absolutely filled with kids. I remember scanning for girls, getting wet when it was hot, and bringing $4.20 to buy a Togo's sandwich each day, a 20 min walk outside then back to the fun. I will miss you Great America. By the way the best rides back then were Tidal Wave and the Revolution.

I grew up with this theme park going as a child in the late 80's until the 2000's when I left after graduating college. I have so many fond memories of both Marriott and even better, when Paramount took control. The theming was so well done, the shows were a blast (getting picked for the Nickelodeon double dare stage show is something I will always remember). This was the days of Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Edge (watching a quarter float off your legs was a standard) and so many other rides that were either rethemed or removed completely. Demon was my very first inverted roller coaster and being such a small kid I was deathly afraid but immediately ended up loving fast roller coasters after that. I recently went back last summer (2022) and feeling so sad that the soul had been sucked out of that park. There was no Levi Stadium…in fact there was hardly anything around that area at the time. A few businesses on one side…and HUGE parking lot with the Marriott hotel at the other end and then nothing else. I had season passes and would get dropped off with friends before we were old enough to drive and then picked up at the end of the night. No cell phones, no technology distractions. in fact, my high school senior ditch day was to spend the Monday following prom in this park. My last trip was probably in 2003 and then I wouldn't be back for almost 20 years. I hate to see the park disappear, but I almost hate it more to see the park looking so drained of emotion and care. Especially since I remember so clearly what it once was and how exciting it was to walk through those gates and see the pool with the double decker carosel and hearing the paramount movie soundtracks playing in the background.

I can still remember when Marriot's Great America was being built. We drove by the property one day and my father told me that something like Disneyland was being built 20 minutes from our house. As a 5-year-old, I had visited Disneyland for the first time the year before, so I was really excited. As I got older it seemed like ALL of my friends worked at Great America at one time or another. My connection is playing in a jazz band that was featured there many times. It was fun to see it become a Hanna-Barbera character park, not just the Smurfs, but Fred Flintstone and others walking around as well. Especially when I ended up working at HB studios down in Southern California. I'll have to visit one last time before its gone. Thank you for this review of the park.

Sometimes we underestimate the power regional parks have. SFDK, CGA, Gilroy Gardens, and Santa Cruz BB, are all notes of pride for many of us. What they lack from destination parks (like in SoCal) they radiate with local charm and aesthetic. We love Disney, Universal, Sea World & Six Flags down there, and love sending out-of-towners there as well. These regional parks serve our local communities on such a different level and theres plenty of time to see this park get saved like others in our area. Still some hope from me.

Back in the 90's this park was owned by Paramount and called "Paramount's Great America". The park was very well maintained and areas were themed after various Paramount owned or licensed movie assets. The Flight Deck coaster was called "Top Gun" at the time and themed like the movie. They also had Star Trek characters, like Klingons and Romulans, who would walk around for photo ops. I had a lot of great time there. Then the park got sold and became "California's Great America", the movie theming was all removed and the maintenance of the park went downhill drastically. I went back one last time in 2012 and had a terrible experience. Bathrooms weren't being cleaned and paint was peeling off the rides. But the single worse part that caused me to never want to go back was what they did to the ride queues. The queues for the more popular rides used to have canopies or covers to give the people in line some shade from the sun. The new owners removed those canopies and installed vending machines about halfway through the line. So imagine it's a hot summer day, you are standing directly in the sun, its a 45+ minute wait in line to get on a coaster, and now they are charging you $7 for a bottle of water. It became pretty obvious why all the shade and canopies were removed from the line queues.

Thanks for making this excellent video! I grew up in the SF Bay Area, and was one of the first 100 employees hired at MGA in Santa Clara back in the summer of 1976. Dressed as an English bobby, I was a member of the Security Department. And because I was one of the first 100 employees, I was chosen to spend a couple of weeks at MGA in Gurnee, IL as something of a "goodwill tour" during August of '76. MGA Santa Clara was an AWESOME place to work. Generally speaking, all of the employees had a really positive attitude and were very excited to work at the park. I worked at MGA for the summers of 1976 and 1977, and have to admit that the overall energy of the park seemed to diminish starting in the late 70's. The park never quite measured up to the aura of Disneyland; MGA had too much of a "temporary county fair" atmosphere. I had a tremendous amount of pride for working at MGA, so I'm really sorry to hear that the Santa Clara park will be closing...but it does make sense, since the land the park is on has to be incredibly valuable. Thanks, again, for this terrific and informative video. RIP CGA!

I grew up in San Jose, and thus grew up going to CGA. It was my first job, i worked there for two years during the end of its Paramount era. I moved out of state 15 years ago, but part of me wants to do a last visit before it's gone. I have some weird stories from the time, but the highlight of my time was getting to ride Flight Deck (when it was called Top Gun) after closing. It was beautiful and surreal, the park was empty, it was just the closing rides supervisors, our managers, and the mechanics operatiny it for us.

I was born and raised in San Jose and CGA was all everyone would do all summer. Season passes use to be so cheap, they had way more attractions, way more food and goodie stops, a lot of merch and souvenirs everywhere, there was a whole area dedicated to nickelodeon and SpongeBob...ahhh good memories, unforgettable summers 😔

My sister lives right by Great America and I got to go with my nephews. It was fun to spend the day with them, but it also made me realize how lucky I am to have grown up in Southern California where I have so many theme park options. It’s a shame the park is closing, there’s a lot of potential.

This is my backyard park. Like literally I grew up listening to people scream as Demon and Grizzley made their initial drop. I watched dropzone (now drop tower) and top gun (now flight deck) get built. Hearing there was plans prior to 2020 to re design some of the park is heart breaking. I grew up with this park getting season passes year after year. My parents would leave me at the front gate and pick me up when they wanted me out of their hair for a day. I heard the news that it was going to close in the near future and while I get it especilly if you go during a niners game when parking is at its worst and the real estate the park consumes feels like more a hinderance than anything else. I still love going for Halloween for their haunt and in July for independance day fireworks. Its sad to see it go but given its state its in now compared to my childhood memories I'm okay saying good bye. It sucks cause I won't have a good theme park close but southern california with all its parks is only an 8 hour drive. Thanks for a great review and some new info. I had no idea there was/is a sister park.

Yeah it is a weird park. It suffered from the indecisiveness of keeping it open or closing it. I also thought it strange there wasn't like a restaurant row or a hangout spot outside of the park for gamedays. Like a smaller city walk type of thing? Your Great America is a lot nicer. I agree it is strange to see a park that had theming basically removed. Magic Mountain, Fiesta Texas, both Great Americas are like this. I also heard Worlds of Fun was themed but I've never been there. You can see the remnants of theming in the buildings and such for it just turn into generica, it's kind of sad to see. I'm glad CP stopped messing with Knott's after Silver Bullet. It would have been tragic to see the theming removed in that park.

I will miss not having this theme park in Santa Clara. I was there on opening day in 1976, so has a special place. Especially since our other theme parks Frontier Village and Santa's Village closed before CGA was built. I hope it does not disappear.

one thing to know about the demon in CGA is the drop was reprefiled while the other one in gurnee kept it's drop the same and our home park still plays the demon theme song while the one at CGA doesn't play the demon theme song

This is my home park, i grew up in the Bay Area. The paramount era was this parks golden era. Nicktoons village was replaced with peanuts characters. The park used to be filled with Hanna barbera characters and the “flight deck” ride used to be named top gun after the movie. This place made my childhood awesome!!

I read the title and thought that the park was officially closing today

I hope that all the Marriott original rides will be relocated to Six Flags Great America. As an effort to preserve Marriott's theme park history

My childhood was spent growing up in Monterey, CA. Since the high school kids went to down in Disneyland, the Jr. high had trips for 7th-9th graders. 7th & 8th graders went to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk & 9th grade/freshman class went to Great America before school let out for summer break. That place is now a middle school (6th - 8th grade). I visited Great America numerous times during my teen years. I took my 1st daughter there for her birthday several years in a row. The last time we visited Great America was for her 14th bday. We moved out of CA about 7 months later. I haven't been back there since we moved to Seattle. I now have a 2nd daughter but she's only been to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (3 times) & Bonfonte Gardens aka Gilroy Gardens amusement park one time. I wanted to take her to Great America when she got older & would be able to go on the bigger rides, but we always ended up doing other things whenever we visited California. She's not really interested in Great America or any of the Six Flags parks. Right now she just wants to visit Universal Studios-Hollywood, to see the new Super Mario Land. 🙂 Hmm, we might have to do a side trip to Great America on our way home from Universal. My favorite ride in Great America has always been the iconic double decker carousel. I'm sad to hear that Great America will no longer be around, but life is always changing & nothing is permanent.

Sfgam is also my home park I do feel the same way. I appreciate that my great America is still standing, but it’s sad about cga leaving. I hope some coasters there get relocated

Moving to California in '79 I have visited CGA many times. It has always had a "B-Movie" feel compared to the Disney Parks, more like Busch Gardens in Tampa. The kids with season passes in the summer would add to the roughness, with line cutting and fights. The park kept adding and removing rides to get people to come back. The Sky Wheel, a triple Ferris wheel that could run two sections while loading and unloading the third, was often getting stuck. I don't see it anymore. It was nice having something nearby, even if it was not the best. Let's hope they can go out with a bang.

The first time I went to Great America was our 6th grade graduation in 1976. It was glorious for years. I lived about 3 miles straight down the street. When I had kids we bought season passes, would spend 4th of july there, it was a good time. Wish Disney would have bought it and created something cool.

Heya, CGA op here. I want to mention a few things. I saw myself in the video during the Patriot footage! That was a surprise, haha. Anyway, you visited in August 2022 which happens to be a hot month, and basically every one of our coasters has no roof over the station. Other CF parks have that luxury but Marriott is weird and never got us roofs lmao. Even for the most dedicated ops (including me) it’s very physically exhausting! I still have tans from Patriot LMAO. RailBlazer has a roof in the station which makes it a lot easier on us to go faster-I used to be at Patriot, and yeah we were slow, and yeah I agree that our ops aren’t the best (and definitely agree that some of our ops don’t have a lot of soul or care about efficiency), but at the same time, we also didn’t have the luxury of shade and that weighed heavily on us. When I switched to the RailBlazer crew, I’ve never been exhausted since, even during hot days. If you looked closely a lot of us were probably panting and sweating. You also didn’t mention the RailBlazer crew’s performance! Unless it was closed when you went lol. Blazer crew is always on top of it, a lot of thoosies including me are stationed there and we care a lot about efficiency. That’s all I had to say, thanks! Just keep in mind that even though it was peak season, yeah the one train ops sucked and they were slow, and yeah not all of our ops care, but please be nicer on us when it’s like 80-90 degrees out 😭 I really do apologize that you had a poor experience with our operations though

I remember before the park opened they had models of the park throughout California Malls promoting it. I went to this park in its heyday; was there the opening weekend of Tidal Wave. It’s such a shame the park is just a shell of what used to and intended to be.

CGA is my local park. It was pretty wonderful back when it first opened. Even after it changed hands, you could still see the old park just under the surface. My husband took me there on one of our first dates, and we've been together over 20 years now. So, it's sad to see the park crumbling like this. (And interestingly, when I see YOUR Great America, it makes me nostalgic for how our park used to be.)

The Edge, Revolution, Grizzly, Top Gun, Smurfland, and that double carousel. Will be forever in my memories ❤️

Let's just be grateful for all the memories this park gave us. I remember when it was SMURF themed by Hanna Barberra. Woodstock Express was known as Smurfettte's Wild Ride back then. The park used to have giant mushrooms so the kids could play in them. Any kid from the 80's knows that. Giant mushrooms for kids to play in was awesome. I still have pictures. The whole section of the park was for the Smurfs. I'll miss this park. RIP Great America.😢

just wanna mention that when paramount had the park, "flight deck" was "top gun" and had SOOOO many top gun references and things about it. the dude over the loud speaker would be like "welcome to TOP gun..." cool times

I’m 28 and I also grew up going here, my 10 year old kid brother who is autistic, loves and enjoys this park, we get gold passes and take him as often year round, he has a huge fascination with roller coasters and he is always studying about them, I’ve now realized this place is one of the only fun places to go to besides Santa Cruz and six flags Vallejo, we live next to raging waters which is nice but great America is the best since my brother gets to look right at the roller coasters and go on some, it’s what he loves the most in this world haha 🙂 & when it comes to having somewhere fun to go to without going too far out, it’s convenient, San Jose has become boring..and it’s one of the few fun things we have here left. It’s a shame they may build houses there.. I think about it everytime I go 😢

This Great America is my home park so, it honestly gets me a little choked up seeing it slowly die. I remember some of my earliest memories coming to the park, even during the Nickelodeon era before the Peanuts overhaul, so seeing the source of all those memories go away makes me feel like a part of my childhood is about to be gone. It may not have been a good theme park by an overall standard, I doubt 3 year old me would have known the difference, but it was my Great America.

We used to go to CGA every summer, in my childhood years (1980s). My favorite attractions were Demon, Whizzer(no longer there), Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun), the IMAX theater, the rotating sky tower, and their video game arcade.

I was in 7th grade in 1976. Born and raised in Santa Clara county. Before Great America opened to the public they opened one day for all the contractors that built the park and their families. My best friend's father was the landscaping contractor for the park. I was invited to enjoy Great America for the day with them. I'm almost 62 years old now and I remember that day like it was last week. It's a real shame that it will close for good in the not too distant future.

I had the privilege of attending an off-season ACE event at CGA the day the trains for Railblazer came in. The future for the park truly looked bright- we sat in for a presentation about the future projects you mentioned. For lunch, we were treated to a spread of food from the park’s chef, who was in the process of finalizing menus for upcoming eateries. I left the park feeling really pumped for what was to come. It’s such a shame to see where’s it at now.

Tip my hat to you for being so accurate after just visiting once. Growing up with this park, we all felt the same: it never got a fair chance. Also worth noting since you didn't mention it, due to proximity to San Jose airport it had very strict height regulations which limited the types of attractions they were allowed to build. Still a ton of great memories here.

Went there a few months ago with my daughter. It’s really sad to see her childhood being limited opposed to what we had. GA was depressing people weren’t happy looking workers and riders. It felt empty… and to think 30 years ago they filmed Beverly Hills Cop 3 here. Daughter will never see this park at its peak, pier 39 is empty and lifeless and she saw the final day of toys r us a dedicated toy store in its sad former glory. It’s all surreal

As condition of the land sale they can continue to operate the park until 2033 so we have 10 more years to enjoy it. Hopefully because of Santa Clara's refusal to change the zoning from Amusement Park to something they can continue to operate the park beyond 2033. I can only hope that will happen as I too have fond memories in the early 1980s as young kid. So many rides have changed over the years. My favorite is the Sky Whirl which sadly no longer exists. It's got that strange electric motor hum that you don't hear anywhere else. lol

Dude the way u described your experience and your explanation of ur great America made this so sad. It is really sad that what could have happened is now just a sad dream we once had. RIP California’s Great America and everyone, just enjoy your home park while you have it.

Been coming here since I was a toddler around 2009 or 2010, and I’ve basically grown up here every summer. I went from going with my parents and spending all day in Planet Snoopy, to my mom taking my friends and I to the Boomerang Bay and trailing behind us to give us a little taste of freedom, to getting dropped off with my friends all day in recent years. Staying for nine hours and going on every ride and every waterslide, playing carnival games and winning stuffed animals, and eating the sugariest and greasiest food possible… it’s just the peak days of summer. Maybe it’s not the best amusement park in the world… but it always will be to me.🥲

Visited for the last time this past weekend. That park is a shadow of what it used to be. Growing up it was super cool. Now 5 rides were closed. It was dingy n many areas are beginning to fade away already. We actually left for 3hrs for a siesta. Right before they closed I got on carousel n felt sad to say goodbye to a part of my childhood🥹

I used to go to Great America often in the 80s. I loved the carousel, the log flume ride, and the Wizard’s Whizzer. We stopped going in 1986 because Marine World Africa USA opened. A few years later they took out the Whizzer because of injuries. They took out Logger’s Run in 2017, that was so sad. I took my kids to the park in 2019 and the park was so depressing. Very incoherent at times. It was not the park I remembered. Coming from several recent trips to Disneyland, Great America was like a county fair. The rides were breaking down, theming was bad, and little to do if you didn’t want to go upside down. Kiddie rides were from the carnival. In not surprised they sold the park for the cash. It’s probably a good thing they did. It really needs someone with vision.

I lived in Sacramento for 41 years and constantly saw ads for the Great America as part of the local advertising. Having said that, the distance from Sacramento to Santa Clara meant that I only visited once in the early 1980s, and it was a very long day with the driving. Considering that the parking lot is shared with Levi's stadium, and this park's days are numbered.

This was my home park growing up. Went to to from opening year until '97 when I moved. Sadly I probably won't be able to visit before it's closure. Good news though, I live in Sandusky, OH home to Cedar Point. I would like the Rail Blazer to be relocated up here.

I remember back in 2000 my school took us to Paramounts Great America. We had never been on a roller coaster. We rode them all. The Deamon was our first, Then Vortex, Then Invertigo, Then Grizzly, Then Top Gun. Finally we saved the best for last. At that time they had this new flying roller coaster named Stealth. I just can’t explain the amazing feeling I felt as an 8th grader gliding through the air on that amazing coaster. Anyways, all Im saying is that Great America brings me some great memories and just like the Stealth, it will be sad wen its gone.

From 74 to 86 I was the electronics manager for both parks, responsible for show lighting, sound, and park wide background music etc. I can remember walking down the center service road in Calif on a sunny warm December day, getting on a plane and four or five hours later walking down an identical service road...except there is two feet of snow plowed up on each side and it's 50-60- degrees colder! That will screw up your mind, and your wardrobe!

I used to go here in late 90s and early 2000s when it would be packed and they would get new rides. Every attraction was open, they’d have every snack bar open and from what I recall there was always a packed entry before it would open. Apparently a Fresno man is looking to make a new park somewhere near and bring most of the rides from CGA.

The Demon was the first roller coaster I ever went on as a kid back in the 90's. I have many great memories of this place growing up coming here with my family. The paramount days were amazing, the vibe and atmosphere at the park was the best, being a kid it was lots of fun. I must have been there 50 times in my childhood and a handful of times as an adult. I went over the summer this year (2023) and it was nothing like I remember, honestly it was sad to see what it has become now. The vibe there was terrible, lots of random problems with everything and the condition of the park isn't very great nowadays. It just had that going out of business soon look and feeling. Regardless I'm glad I went, it was kinda like I knew that would probably be the last time I step foot in that place that I have so many good memories at, one last ride.

I worked at Cedar Point in college and all three of my kids worked at least 1 summer at Kings Island. We're sad every time a park closes. We had so much fun.

Thanks for the review the first casualty of the future closure was the Halloween event haunted houses were removed. We bought our platinum pass now but regret missing the Halloween event since we planned on attending for years.

Glad my kids have season's passes and can still create memories w/ them while it's still around. The video mentioned ride operators who don't seem to care; as a middle schooler I remember putting my head down while riding the Cajun Carpet (which turned into the Revolution) and the operator stopped the ride to ask me if I was ok; totally different times now. CGA also had an amphitheater and l remember watching Jefferson Starship. I already miss those days and I'll miss them more if in 10 years this place is gone.

I was in Jr High when it opened. It was such a fun park to live near and visit often. I even went to see how it was decorated for the filming of Beverly Hills Cop 3. Now I want to look through boxes to find Mr pictures. I am sorry the fate is looking grim. This really makes me sad. I am truly hoping it is saved somehow.

I was at Great America exactly twice... once in November 1976 when we rode the Whizzer (with its spiral lift hill) a couple of times, as well as the log rides, and again sometime in 1981. By the time we were done riding the log ride we had figured out exactly when to duck so the people behind us got the entire splashdown soaking. (Hey, it wasn't very warm out in November.) We saw all the theater shows and they were excellent. The staff were all friendly and enthusiastic (and most of them were good-looking). The only roller coaster besides the Whizzer was the Turn of the Century, which had two corkscrew loops. My stomach does not handle upside down well so I never rode that one. We also rode the whatever-it-was with 3 arms and gondolas in the sky. Theme parks really aren't my thing anymore, and I'm actually glad I didn't have to watch this one going downhill.

I grew up going to this park, and its heartbreaking to see its current status today. My company has held its last 2 company picnics here and its really a shell of what it used to be. On a summer Friday afternoon there should be lines at every ride. But there was hardly any wait at all.

similar story, grandpa bought me and a friend season passes every year through elementary. I was much fearless then but after almost becoming a casualty of that arch swing ride you needed to pay for and years later, Invertigo, think I'm much happier with the memories than taking on any more rides.

I grew up going to Great America during the Paramount era, but after going to Magic Mountain, there’s no comparison. But one of the reasons why I only went 2 more times in the last 23 years is because of the kid dying on the Drop Zone, I was waiting in line for Grizzly when the incident happened and the park was immediately closed without initial explanation.

As an Employee, I recommend you guys visit Great America during Winter Fest. The decorations are out of this world. The Orleans Plaza is pretty with lights flashing with certain songs.

Grew up in San Jose in the 90’s a season pass was only 35 bucks. Anytime we were bored just hop on the light rail. And you were there. Dam I miss those care free days.

Great video! One of if not thee best I've seen covering my home park of just over 30 years now. I only just made my first visit to SFGAm in 2021 and my experience there seemed to be very similar to what you may have experienced here. SFGAm was like visiting a place frozen in time, it looked almost EXACTLY as I remember my home park looking in the 90s. All of the named areas, so many of the flat rides still running, the dueling log flumes Yankee Clipper and Logger's Run. It was a trip to say the least. I was well aware of Cedar Fair's planned expansion of CGA but this is the first I've heard of "Redwood Territory" which yes, you can still see the building blocks of completely stopped in its path. The section of the park between the kiddie area and the water park is just this huge sprawling space of nothing, and i also wasn't aware that a Giga was being planned (WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?! 😭😭😭), I had been hearing Hyper for quite some time and I thought plans were actually approved for just a 200ft coaster but whatever, none of it is happening anyway. The park would have finally been a destination for the first time since Stealth was built back in 2000. It's fate isn't completely sealed though as the park is apparently zoned for an Amusement Park, we shall see what Prologis is able to do about that'll. It would be nice if they're unable to close the park. Blue Streak, which is now called something else (totally blanking), the Intamin kiddie coaster, was my first coaster and I'll be completely wrecked when they tear it down. Until then, I'll be going as much as I can while the park is still in decent shape. (Also for what it's worth, ops have never been very good on any of the coasters, at least since the park opened back up after COVID) Thanks again for the great vid!

I've visited California's Great America many times in the last decade. I even purchased a season pass for one of its seasons and visited a literal ton of times. While this park is completely without any theming throughout, it wasn't a cluttered mess. In fact, there are so much dead space in the park, it was literally barren in places. The coasters that dot the land of the park are haphazardly placed, yes, but the park is certainly not cluttered as a result. The only place where I felt the park was a bit cluttered was in the water park, where they jammed a ton of water amusements into a very tiny amount of land. There were so many water attractions in that space that there's almost no room for chairs. The water park addition was an odd play considering the air temperature most of the year in Santa Clara (i.e., in the 60s and 70s... that is, too cold). The rest of the park feels empty, even though it has a lot of coasters and other rides. The real problem with the park is its lack of a proper layout and path structure. Rides were thrown down wherever someone felt that's where they should be. There were also former ride areas which were removed, leaving empty queue house structures with no ride. Most parks would demolish that and then landscape the area nicely. Nope. This park simply leaves abandoned structures sitting around for all to see, season after season. I get that it costs money to perform that kind of park management, maintenance and improvements, but leaving empty structures sitting around season after season is just weird. Overall, the best coaster was Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun). I didn't get to ride RailBlazer as that ride was installed after I stopped visiting the park. I gave up on visiting the park because the management was lazy and didn't improve the park enough each season, yet kept raising the prices tremendously each season.

Living very close to the park and going there all the time I can say I am hopefully optimistic about it staying around. They are making improvements and just opened two new rides over the current season as well as they are working to reimagine the section of the park where grizzly is located to a very cohesive are that looks great and is a massive improvement. They also have brought back shows and parades during their seasonal events that are very surprising, they still have a ways to go to really bring back the life and personality the park so desperately needs but it seems like they are on track to make that be the case. The current park management team really has made an effort and I think with some more Time it’s on track to see great potential. Bringing in Barb from gilroy gardens has proven to be the change the park needed, you can see her hand in it’s improvements. They finally used the amphitheater section after years of it sitting abandoned for both 4th of July fireworks and they had a concert there just this past weekend. If they put some more energy and planning they truly could have a concert lineup that would wow and draw more people plus bring in extra revenue.

Cole, can I just say WOW! You made a simple theme park report into a mini documentary. And you did it soo well. Bro, you need to go into broadcasting or radio! You literally told a story that just grabbed my attention and I couldn't let go. Not meaning to just pump your ego but I'm giving credit where credit is due.

I had a 5 year season pass from 1990 to 95 . I remember when the edge used to be There We had the Yankee clipper and Logger run. Flight deck used to be Top Gun. It was so much fun because I used to live in lamplighter trailer park on the San Jose side we used to cross over the Guadalupe where the LRT runs and walk over. It's going to be a sad day to see that place closed.

This is MY home park. I worked here at least one season in every iteration of the park except cedar fair, and still have friends there i worked with when it was a paramount park. It is a hodgepodge, bexause each ownership had to revamp rides from previous licensed themes. But it was still our park. Discovery kingdom in vallejo hadnt been a themepark as long, and opened as a half animal park when it opened. The animals had their own park before they were moved from marine world in redwood city, in the 80's/ 90's. Glad i got to see your perspective as the guernee park has been on my bucket list to this day. I assume my first trip there will be in an oct, as haunt season is my favorite event for every theme park ice been (back) to

This videos made me sad. Growing up in Santa Clara County Ive been going to GA since I was a toddler. Back then it was such an experience. The 80’s and 90’s were the golden decades for the park. Marriotts GA as a kid, Paramounts GA as a teenager. I used to work retail there at Flinstones and friends. Flight Deck was first Top Gun, which we still call it to this day. They had The Tidal Wave, a huge single loop coaster that started at 65mph and went into reverse. We used to ride it 15x in a row. The Revolution, a giant pirate ship the swung 360 around. The Edge, a metallic cage ride that dropped you 8 stories down. I could go on and on. Smurfville used to be the kid section. Now, the park is a mere shell of what it used to be. Its sad that its leaving. I absolutely made amazing memories at Great America. :(

I was 9 years old when Great America opened in 1976, got to ride The Turn Of The Century and Willard's Whizzer to name a few, had a lot of good times there with family & friends throughout the years. It's sad that the park was sold out, should've invested more into it so it would be a nice family outing again.

This was my park growing up in the 70's and 80's. I spent many a summer there as kid with an annual pass and worked there as a teen in the late 80's, I was a great place to have a fun time and took our kids there when they were young. Watching this, a lot changed but a lot was still familiar. I should try to go back one more time before it is gone. Thanks for the memories.

I grew up in Nor Cal and "Marriot's", as we still call it, was our "local" theme park. I remember many a day trip down from Sacramento to visit in the late 70's and early 80's. I went once when I was older in around 2001 and even then the park had changed so much from what I remembered when I was a kid but there were glimpses of the past like the carousel. Thanks for the video and the memories.

Just visited last week. Being a teenager in the early 90s visiting the park, I was left feeling both fortunate to have had my kids enjoy it, and also saddened by the shell it had become. I remember Great America being PACKED with people, loud awesome music, food carts everywhere,.. totally live. Last week I was met with a 80% empty parking lot, run down landscaping, creepy music looped through metallic speakers, abandoned or mostly closed areas (including the old food court), and the faces of depressed teenagers managing the rides and few areas that remain open. Knowing it will never be restored to its former glory, I’d almost prefer burying it all now to honor the memory of what it was. Close it. I won’t be returning again.

When you take the time to make full length videos, you're one of the best!

I grew up in this Great America. in the late 80's and 90's. Man, it was such a more magnificent place back then, brimming with opportunity. I still go back and watch Beverly Hills Cop 3 just to reminisce about better times. Halloween was always amazing. They had a concert venue there and 4th of July was always a must-see. Even if we couldn't get in the park, we'd climb on the roofs of local business and face Great America, every 4th of July. I see a lot of stuff has been moved out and/or abandoned since I was a kid, but it's always nice to see little glimmers of what was once an amazing park. PS I miss the train too.

I've had annual passes and have been to the part with every ownership. Marriott's was good, but Paramount was a fantastic operator and the park had Paramount characters walking around from movies and cartoons. It was the closest thing to Disneyland and a great park to visit in that era.

As a Northern Californian, this is pretty brutal. I confess that I haven't visited the park in about 25 years (it is a three-hour drive away), but I feel that California just keeps losing all the fun stuff -- amusement parks, racetracks, stadiums, sports events, sports teams. I remember Marriott's (what I still call it) when it had really robust theming, the Sky Whirl, Willard's Whizzer, the Americana carousel in the back (as opposed to the double decker Columbia carousel up front) which was an original PTC carousel from the 1920s, the train, Yankee Harbor and its two flume rides, etc. I guess I need to make the trip to ride Gold Striker before it's gone...

The operations at this park have been atrocious on all of my visits since my first time going in 2019. Gold striker, especially has been irritating because they do not offer a single rider line and there will be multiple empty roads going out on almost every dispatch, because the grouper that tells you which road to go to will not fill up the entire train, and, it’s a complete disaster. The way they are running that ride.

Until recently the city of Santa Clara owned the CGA land and held it in a redevelopment district. The park operator paid rent for the ground. But state law changed and the redevelopment districts had to be dismantled and property sold. Once Cedar Fair had control of the land then they were able to sell it.

My father was a carpenter and worked on Great America and I remember vividly going there at age 4 visiting the site while it was being built. It was a favorite place to go with friends as a teen in the 80s❤

It aint gonna happen. The park generates significant tax revenue for the city and city has clearly stated the zoning is strictly for a theme park. Cedar Fair may not be the ones to operate it, but the city isnt going to let the park go without a fight.

I loved Great America growing up as a kid. Summer season passes were gold in the 80s.

Congrats on 100,000 subs!! 🥳 love my home park of SFGAm too! 🎠🎢🥰

SFGMa is my home park too. I ran out to CGA recently too after I heard they were closing. I found it so bizarre being at a "new to me" park and just knowing my way around the park perfectly

Great dive into the history of the park! It's a shame the Redwoods and Bicentennial areas weren't developed, but it makes sense for Cedar Fair to drop CGA and refocus on smaller parks after the massive ex-Paramount investments in the last decade. Hope Prologis at least keeps the front half of the park open - everything from Goldstriker to Patriot to Flight Deck should stay, with some flats relocated for a cohesive theme. And even if South Bay Shores sticks around as a separate-admission water park (with the Rapids plot for possible expansion), there's plenty of room for housing on the south side of the property. Getting the rezoning approved is the hard part.

Regarding the operations, it’s been like that for a long, long, long time. Long before the sale.

Not Jeff here. We live up the Peninsula,but gone to this park just once. We did have free tickets. Since I'm notorious for throwing up on any but the mildest coasters, we stayed on the ground. I'm sorry to say that there was really nothing for me to do except look at other people on the coasters. I'm diabetic, so I can't eat the food. We went before Paramount theming, so no characters or features to look at. We walked around, stayed for about an hour, then left. On the other hand, we did visit Bonfante Gardens yearly until Michael sold it. I'm a gardener, and spent many hours happily looking at the flowers and trees. Bonfante is great if you have young kids or seniors who want a more relaxed experience.

This Was Very Similar to my trip... Besides the Ops, it ran really well (Besides Grizzly) on my Trip in Early August (Week Day)

I could see the rollercoaster loops from my bedroom window of my childhood home. I worked two summers at the Cantina. That was a restaurant just outside exit of the Grizzly ride.

After watching the video, you do make valid points. This was my homepark from 2002-2016. I always thought the park had potential. But they half ass it 90% of the time. That back half where Drop Tower wasn’t that bad the last time i went there in 2016. This park has always had a weird history. And I don’t think it’s going anywhere in this decade. And the reason is it’s not the first rodeo of a potential closure. Though this time, it seems to be more official as the land was owned by Cedar Fair this time. So a closure IS possible, But what this park has been doing lately makes me sort of believe otherwise is, they’re doing remodeling in much needed areas and there are plans to do some demoing in the Action Zone as well as a new Zamperla Flat going in the area. Which can be relocated but I don’t know. This park has always done some weird things over the years that it’s kind of hard to take it seriously. Which can be a good or bad thing. I’m still hopeful it will continue on. I’m keeping a close eye on it.

It’s super sad to see this park go, but in all the years it has been around it has never been a very big draw. I’m a native to San Jose which is a stones throw to the park, and even growing up there was never the “hey! Let’s go to Great America this weekend!” Because after you had been there once you really never needed to go again. And I have a very strong feeling that one of the major reasons why it’s closing. It’s a one trick pony and families don’t want to spend money to do the exact same thing.

CGA is my home park. And I have to say that the saddest part about it closing is that Cedar Fair sold the land for half of what it’s actually worth. One thing that CGA has that not many other parks have is live entertainment spaces, where they do concerts, plays and musicals. Unfortunately the only ride that still exists in the park that is original from when the park opened is star tower and to be honest it’s not that great. It’s just sad to see the place go since it was a place that my mom grew up going to then I grew up going there.

Great Video, it's actually amazing how much has changed I worked there 2 seasons back when it was Paramount's Great America and it looks like it has some major overhauls. I use to get a season pass every year it was cool, looking for the new ride coming out each year. I agree this park had potential but, it just switch hands to much and many of the themed areas got rebooted and when you make an area specific to something and then change it to something else unless you are spending way over the top money it just does not have the same feel. I'm going to try and go back one last time.

This was my childhood amusement park, back when it was "Paramounts Great America " in the mid 90s. Thanks for making this!

I worked for Marriotts great America in 1983 and 1984, when The Edge was first there. I operated The Tidal Wave, Octopus,. and occasionally the train, Demon, Yankee Clipper. Sounds like none of those exist now, except the Demon. It was such a fun job! My co-workers occasionally still come to mind: Anna, Andy, Jim, Frank, Glenn, Kevin, Joe, Olivia, Denise, and others. I wonder what and how they are doing now?

Great video!!

We did the exact same thing in visiting NorCal before our home park’s clone closes forever. It was so weird intuitively knowing where energy restroom was on a first visit to a park

The back of the park used to be magic when I was kid. Nickelodeon Splash Zone was back there 😢❤

My home park,.very sad it's going away, worked there in 1976 when it was Marriots, The great years, bought and sold way too many times! Have a 5 cent root beer on me, yes they had 5 cent rootbeer at the Hotshot, That were Mr. Marriot got started.

I attended the first month they were open. As a kid with my Jr. High school classmates GA was a blast. I have so many memories throughout the years, including my best pal and I ditching the kids and work in 1998 to spend the day at the park.