California's Great America is an amusement park owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, located in Santa Clara, California, USA. Great America is one of four major amusement parks that operate around the San Francisco Bay Area, the other three being Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, and Gilroy Gardens in Gilroy. California's Great America is the only theme park in northern California that has a water park built in.
History
1970s and
1980s
Marriott's Great America, built by Marriott Corp., a
hotel and restaurant
operator, was opened in 1976, along with a sister park located
north of Chicago bearing the same name. A third park was originally
planned for Howard County, Maryland, but it was not constructed due
to local opposition. California's Great America's sister park, in
Gurnee, Illinois, would become Six Flags Great America in 1985.
The park, although profitable, was still an earnings
disappointment for Marriott, leading the company in 1983 to agree
to sell the park to Caz Development Co., which valued the prized
land appraised at US$800,000 to $1 million per acre. But Marriott
also gave a first option to the park to the city of Santa Clara,
which was already partially involved in the park, leasing
55 acres (220,000 m2) for parking space for $75,000 per
year. Fearing development of the land would aggravate congested
roads, on 31 January 1984 the city council approved a $101 million
deal by a 4-3 count on the condition that the electorate authorize
the agreement. City voters approved the sale by a margin of 3 to 1.
Caz Development sued the city and Marriott in Santa Clara County
Superior Court to block the transaction. The court nullified the
sale, forcing the city to attempt to salvage their deal through
negotiations with both other parties. Unable to broker a timely
agreement, the city council voted 6-1 to scuttle the sale on
February 5, 1985, although the city was still interested in owning
the park. After Marriott refunded a $20 million down payment to the
city, negotiations were started afresh. Finally all parties worked
out a compromise, which was signed in marathon sessions taking
place over June 4-5, 1985. The city for $93.5 million acquired the
park and inventory from Marriott, which retained 20 acres
(81,000 m2) for development. Caz Development settled its
lawsuit and in exchange the city allowed the developer to build a
hotel and an office on land near the park.
During the 1980s the park conducted a number of environmental
analyses, many related to acoustical impacts of proposed new rides.
Examples of these studies include the Grizzly ride and a
proposed steel coaster.
Kings Entertainment Co., an operator of other parks, was hired
to manage the park for the city. As planned, the city ended its
ownership and sold the park structures to Kings in 1989 for $22
million but not the land, which would be leased for $5.3 million a
year. In addition, the city earned 5% of revenue over $56
million.
The 90's ~
New Millennium and Paramount Parks era
Three years later Paramount Communications, then owners of
Paramount Pictures, sought to join other entertainment companies as
a theme park owner. The company acquired Kings Entertainment, owner
of three parks including Great America, and two other parks for
$400 million and created Paramount Parks. Viacom, the parent owner
of MTV Networks and Nickelodeon, then bought Paramount in 1994,
allowing Nickelodeon theming and merchandise into the park as well.
During the Paramount Era, attractions from the Action FX Theatre,
Nickelodeon Splat City (Now Nickelodeon Central), Drop Zone Stunt
Tower giant drop, Invertigo inverted boomerang, and many more
modern thrill ride attractions were added in. Unfortunately because
the park was literally landlocked being in the center of Silicon
Valley, several rides including the classic train ride and the
Triple Wheel Ferris Wheel, a Marriott's Great America signature
attraction, were removed to make way for newer attractions.
The New
Era: Cedar Fair
After Viacom and CBS Corporation split, Paramount Parks became
part of CBS. The merger did not last long as CBS announced plans to
sell the theme park division.
In May 2006, it was announced that Cedar Fair Entertainment Co.
would be acquiring the entire Paramount Parks chain for $1.24
Billion USD. On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair announced it completed
the acquisition of Paramount Parks, including Great America. The
transaction includes licensing agreements with Nickelodeon and
Paramount, providing the park the option to retain its Nickelodeon
and Paramount theming for several years.
On October 25, 2007, Cedar Fair renamed the park California's
Great America. For the 2008 season, the park saw the addition
of a Huss Rides top spin ride called FireFall, a new ice show in
the "Great America Theatre" (formerly The Paramount Theatre), and
the addition of the Halloween Haunt event to the park.
Rides and
attractions
Current
rides
The park's current rides and attractions include:
-
The Demon. Built by Arrow Dynamics, the Demon is the
park's oldest roller coaster, opening with the park in 1976 and
originally named Turn of the Century.
-
Flight Deck. A B&M built Inverted roller coaster,
Flight Deck is Northern California's longest Inverted coaster.
Formerly known as Top Gun.
-
Invertigo. A Vekoma Invertigo shuttle coaster, Invertigo
was North America's first inverted face-to-face roller coaster.
Invertigo is the tallest Roller Coaster in Northern California,
however it is not the fastest.
-
Vortex. A B&M Stand-Up roller coaster, Vortex is
Northern California's only stand-up coaster.
-
Drop Tower: Scream Zone. A Giant Drop model drop tower
(2nd generation Intamin freefall ride). Eventually replaced the
park's original 1st gen. Freefall ride, The Edge. Stands
224 feet (68 m). Drops at 62 mph (100 km/h).
Formerly Drop Zone Stunt Tower.
-
Carousel Columbia. A Double decker carousel, is one of
the world's tallest carousels, along with the clone at Six Flags
Great America.
- '. A Zamperla Disk-O.
-
Action Theater. A motion simulator attraction featuring
SpongeBob SquarePants in 3D.
-
Grizzly. A wooden roller coaster designed by Curtis D.
Summers and built by Kings Island Construction, Maintenance &
Engineering Dept., Grizzly opened in 1986.
-
The Orbit. An Schwarzkopf Enterprise (ride). The Orbit
Re-opened in 2007.
-
Centrifuge. An Schwarzkopf Calypso, formerly known as
Fiddler's Fling.
-
Berserker. An Schwarzkopf Bayern Kurve.
-
H.M.B. Endeavor. An Intamin Space Shuttle/Looping
Starship, formerly known as The Revolution.
-
Whitewater Falls. A Shoot-the-Chutes.
-
Flying Eagles. A Larson Flying Scooters.
-
Delirium. A Chance Revolution.
-
Xtreme Skyflyer. 170 ft (52 m) tall skycoaster
flying 17 stories at 60 mph (97 km/h). Upcharge
attraction.
-
Psycho Mouse. An Arrow Wild Mouse.
-
Delta Flyer/Eagle's Flight. A Von Roll skyride
transporting guests from one side of the park to the other.
-
Loggers Run. An Arrow Flume Ride.
-
Celebration Swings. A Zierer Wave Swinger.
-
Rip Roaring Rapids. An Intamin River rafting ride.
-
Barney Oldfield Speedway. Classic style car ride for
everyone of all ages.
-
Planet Snoopy. Kids area themed to the Peanuts.
-
KidZville. Kids themed area.
-
FireFall. Relocated Huss Top Spin, Texas Twister, from
Geauga Lake. The
ride officially opened May 17, 2008. The ride also contains water,
fire, and fog effects to enhance the ride experience.
-
Star Tower. An observation tower, Star Tower was
formerly Sky Tower.
-
Rue Le Dodge. Bumper cars.
-
Thunder Raceway. Go-karts. Upcharge attraction.
Past
rides
Past ride and attractions include:
-
Stealth. A Vekoma Flying Dutchman, was removed for
construction of the Boomerang Bay water park, and relocated to
Carowinds as
Nighthawk.
-
Great America Scenic Railway. A custom-built railroad
around the perimeter of the park.
-
Yankee Clipper. An Arrow Dynamics Hydro Flume that used
to interlock with Logger's Run.
-
Tidal Wave/Greased Lightning. A shuttle loop roller
coaster manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf. A model exists in the
park office.
-
The Edge. The first original free-fall ride in the world
and hence a first-generation Intamin AG Freefall.
-
Skyhawk. The pilot ride with the barrel rolls around the
tower, known as an Intamin AG Flight Trainer.
-
Sky Whirl. This three-armed Ferris wheel, made by
Intamin AG, was removed to make room for Invertigo.
-
Lobster. An octopus/spider ride.
-
Bottoms Up. The classic carnival ride known in the
industry as a Trabant.
-
Triple Play. The Huss Troika ride that was next to
Vortex.
-
Willard's Whizzer. The original steel family roller
coaster, made by Anton Schwarzkopf.
-
Trolley Cars. In early years trolley cars traveled in
Hometown Square and other parts of the park.
-
Dolphin Show/ Seal Show. During the Marriott years
dolphins and seals were kept to do daily shows. Removed when
Paramount took over to make way for what is now known as the
Peanuts Playhouse Theater.
-
Smurf Woods. Smurf-themed small kids area with small
Smurf mushroom houses. Was changed eventually into Planet
Snoopy.
-
Cajun Carpet:.A large rotating platform ride located
near Orleans Orbit and Rip Roaring Rapids .
California's Great
America's Timeline
- 2010: Planet Snoopy (Re-theme of Nickelodeon Central); Panda
Express
- 2009: All Wheels Extreme Stunt show; Chipper Lowell Experience
show; expanded Halloween Haunt
- 2008: FireFall; Dora's Sing-Along Adventure; Endless Summer On
Ice show; Halloween Haunt
- 2007: Great Barrier Reef added to Boomerang Bay; Ed Alonzo
Misfit of Magic; Twistin' to the 60s Show
- 2006: Survivor: The Ride
- 2005: Boomerang Bay expansion
- 2004: Boomerang Bay. Triple Play is removed
- 2003: Spongebob Square Pants 3-D in the Action Theater;
Nickelodeon Central (expansion of Splat City); Stealth (flying
steel coaster) is removed and sent to Carowinds as
Nighthawk
- 2002: Delirium; Flying Eagles; Greased Lightning (steel
coaster) removed
- 2001: Psycho Mouse; Celebration Swings
- 2000: Stealth (flying steel coaster); Scenic Railroad
removed
- 1999: KidZville
- 1998: Invertigo, James Bond: License to Thrill
- 1997: Xtreme Skyflyer
- 1996: Drop Tower Scream Zone
- 1995: Nickelodeon Splat City
- 1994: Action Theater
- 1993: Flight Deck
- 1991: Vortex
- 1990: Whitewater Falls
- 1989: Skyhawk
- 1988: Rip Roaring Rapids. Whizzer is removed
- 1987: Blue Streak; Smurf Woods; Fort Fun; HMB Endeavor
(Formerly known as The Revolution)
- 1986: Redwood Amphitheater with the Miami Sound
Machine
- 1985: The Grizzly
- 1983: The Edge
- 1980: The Demon (remodeled from Turn of the Century)
- 1979: Star Tower (formerly Sky Tower)
- 1978: IMAX Pictorium Theater, with film Man Belongs to the
Earth
- 1977: Tidal Wave
- 1976: Marriott's Great America opens
On film
and television
- Though appearing under the name "WonderWorld", Paramount's
Great America was used as the theme park in the 1994 film
Beverly Hills Cop III.
- Paramount's Great America was also used as the theme park
Macaulay Culkin visits in the 1994 film Getting Even with
Dad.
- California's Great America was featured in a 2007 Excedrin
commercial with the park's inverted steel coaster, "Flight Deck",
as the main star.
Injuries
and accidents
There have been a number of notable injuries and accidents at
California's Great America, some of which are listed below. Please
see Incidents at Cedar Fair parks for additional information on
these and other incidents.
- In 1980, a 13-year-old boy was killed and several others
injured on the Willard's Whizzer roller coaster.
- In 1989, two boys intentionally jumped out of the Loggers' Run
ride. One was killed and the other fell onto a platform and was
injured.
- In 1991, two couples were injured on the Yankee Clipper as
their boat hydroplaned then capsized, leaving the riders
temporarily trapped under the upside-down boat. The attraction was
later modified to include a bump at the bottom of the drop in order
to prevent hydroplaning.
- In 1998, after riding Flight Deck (Top Gun at the time), a 24
year old Spanish-speaking man, who could not read the
English-language warning signs, entered a locked, gated area
underneath the ride to retrieve a hat. He was hit and killed by the
foot of a passenger on the Flight Deck train. The passenger
suffered a broken leg.
- In 1999, a 12-year-old boy fell out of the Drop Zone Tower and
died.
- On July 12, 2007, a 4 year old boy drowned in the Boomerang
Bay's Great Barrier Reef wave pool.
Notes
References
- Michelson, Herb. (June 7, 1984). "City will purchase
Marriott's". Sacramento Bee, p. A.
- "Santa Clara drops Great America pact". (February 7, 1985).
San Francisco Chronicle, p. 4.
- Ewell, Miranda. (June 6, 1985). "Santa Clara assumes ownership
of Great America". San Jose Mercury News (CA),
p. 8B.
- Kava, Brad. (March 15, 1989). "Great America reopens". San
Jose Mercury News, p. 1.
- Eng, Sherri. (August 1, 1992). "Paramount to buy Great America
owner". San Jose Mercury News, p. 1E.
External
links