California's Great America is a nice park to go to. Sure, it's not a park with a bunch of rollercoasters with some of them kicking ass like Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain. And there is not incredible theming like at a Disney Park. But it does seem to have a quaint little charm to the place. And the park has been adding better coasters over the years. Granted, there have been a few scares with the park thanks to that stupid stadium from the 49ers as well as more bitching from its corporate neighbors *groan*. But luckily that got resolved. And since Cedar Fair bought it, they added Gold Striker, which is a GREAT GCI, and Railblazer (RMC Raptors are amazing. Please build more of them). California's Great America is still a very fun park in Northern California and I am looking foreward to returning to it.
Here are the reviews of all the Flat Rides at California's Great America. California's Great America has a very good flat ride collection with plenty of flat rides spread out throughout the park. Their best flat ride, without a doubt would have to be Drop Zone. Drop Zone is an Intamin 2nd Generation Freefall. It is a very fine drop tower. Another flat ride that I rode there would be Tiki Twirl. Tiki Twirl is a Disk-O with a hump in the middle. It is a very fun ride. The traditional Disk-O seating makes it a much better ride. The frisbee they have here is also quite good. It spun really well, had some nice height, and was LIGHTYEARS better than La Revolution at Knotts Berry Farm. But then again, what Frisbee ISN'T Lightyears better than La Revolution at Knotts. They also have Orbit, which is an enterprise that surprisingly ran a really good program. They also have some Flyers here. While they were fun, they are also on the weak side compared to other flyers I've ridden. They also have a breakdance in Planet Snoopy that I rode. And unfortunetly, it sucked. The spinning was really random and not very strong at all. But hey. It's meant to be a kids ride, so understandable. And then there's Endeavor. Oh, how I HATE that ride. Endeavor is basically a Looping Starship. And as you know, those are some of the worst rides ever. Aside from having a sh*tty program and only going upsidedown once, I managed to spare my balls on this ride by leaning foreward into the restraint, giving them some room. But did that stop the pain? NO!!! It just made my god damn chest hurt. They also have a spinning teacup style ride, some chairswings, a double decker carousel, a skyride, and a bunch of kiddy flats in Planet Snoopy.
Here is Drop Zone. The 2nd Generation Freefall and Star Flat Ride.
Water Rides
While I never rode any water rides at California's Great America, I can tell you what I saw. I saw a log flume that looked pretty cool. There was a rapids ride, a shoot the chutes. And yeah, that's all I know of Great America's Water Rides.
Water Park
(South Bay Shores)
Here is a brief review of the water park that is included with admission to California's Great America. South Bay Shores. It's a pretty small water park. But hey. It used to be a lot smaller. But they doubled in size and actually got a couple of special and unique water slides. Yeah. Doubling in size isn't too crazy when you were extremely small to start. And the new unique slides are good, but nothign to honestly write home about. But at the same time, I had a lot of fun in this water park. Yeah, it's mostly concrete and the slides are fairly standard, with a couple modern staples, such as a tube toilet bowl and a couple trapdoor slides. But there's a little bit of Aussie humor in what little theming they do have for South Bay Shores, and the slides do look fun.
The Major Waterslides
There is a link to a review of all the Major Waterslides at Boomerang Bay.
All right. Moving onto the other slides. The best slide without its own review would be Barracuda. It's intertwined with Feeding Frenzy and can be seen in the photo of that. So Barracuda is.....a standard tube slide for the most part. Fun little slide. But the one thing that makes that stand out would be the fact that it actually has a decent sized drop at the end. In a way, it kind of reminds me of Surf Rider Rapids from the now-defunct Soak City Palm Springs (R.I.P). Nothing too crazy, but its a fun water slide that I also enjoyed. There also is NorCal Wipeout. This honestly, is just a standard water slide. Hell, this one could pass as a Wet'N'Dry slide and be featured in a regular amusement park. Fun, but pretty forgettable and is truly nothing special. There's one more slide that appears to be a clone of Bermuda Triangle @ Raging Waters. But that was closed. Bummer, as that genuinely is a fun slide.
Yeah. This could easily be in a regular amusement park.
Dining
Most of the food that I saw at California's Grat America was Typical Amusement Park Crap. In 2006, remember that I got a hot dog there. It tasted pretty good. And in 2010, they served chicken. However, it was annoying to eat due to the fact that you couldn't cut it since it was so boney and you had to eat it like a caveman would. But yeah, food here is nothing special whatsoever.
Theming and Other Attractions
Here are the reviews of all the other stuff at California's Great America. Well, there's not much theming at California's Great America other than the old Marriot Entrance. But the buildings and setting do bring a sense of charm to the park. And as for other attractions, I'm sure the park has some shows or something, but I really don't know of anything special to do at the park.
In Conclusion
California's Great America is a nice park to visit. While nothing at the park is outstanding, the park does have some intense roller coasters like Railblazer and Gold Striker, as well as some other fun rides. It also has a little bit of charm. I definetly enjoyed my last visit and I'll be back soon for more of this nice park.
Enthusiast FAQs.
*Are there kiddy coaster restrictions? - No and Yes. Woodstock Express has no restrictions, but Lucys Crabbie Cabbies (which I didn't ride, and didn't review) requires you to be accompinied by a child to ride.
Tips
*Run to Railblazer when you first get there as that's not only the best ride, but the capacity is not very good.
