California's Great America is CLOSING! Full Announcement Breakdown: Why & How Much Time is Left
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2022
- Cedar Fair shocked the world when they announced that their Northern California theme park, Great America, will be closing forever. Only a few years ago, the company bought the land the park sat on in order to preserve the property for years to come. Now we've learned that they have sold the property to a real estate company who will develop it for their own personal use.
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Sorry guys that the audio sounds a bit different than normal! We are in Europe at the moment and did not anticipate such a big announcement taking place while we were gone, so we don't have our usual mic set up. I also have no idea why those audio glitches appear randomly throughout the video- those did not appear at all during the edit, so I have no clue why or how those got there.
I forgot you guys are in Europe right now. I was here wondering "why isn't anyone talking about this???!"
it still a good vid either way pretty sad tho :[
make a vid Review Europa park in real Life
No prob. Everyone has bad tech days
I think Gold Striker could replace Hurler at Carowinds
Well The mayor of Santa Clara did said that she would do anything to keep the park open for a very long time. So I mean if the city wants to buy the park. Then they should buy it now before it's too late.
Oh, they’re definitely going to fight. This is the beginning of something juicy.
@@josecastro2332 Agreed, I was there in 2016 when the city voted to keep the park open. I even met the mayor at RailBlazer media day and she seemed so hyped about the direction the park was going.
And the interesting thing is, is that the city's bought the park once already. Great America was originally founded and operated by the Marriott hotel chain, and when they wanted to sell of the park to developers to turn into a residential area, the city bought it off of Marriott (I've heard that the city was worried that a residential area there would increase traffic too much), operated it for a couple of years, and then sold it to Paramount.
I’m a ride operator for goldstriker here. I’ve been coming to this park time and time again since my first visit back in… I want to say 2015? I got the news of this on my break, 3 minutes after the official announcement was released, in an employee newsletter. Goldstriker is what introduced me to this fanaticism, and I’ve ridden it more than any other coaster, by FAR. The thought that this absolute masterpiece may not exist in a few years is straight heart wrenching. It was quite difficult to be an exciting operator for the rest of that day. Not looking good, our only hope is a butt ton of gene staples to show up.
As another member of the gold striker crew I was on lunch when I heard about this. I was dead inside the rest of the day
Let’s hope we don’t get a bunch of Todd Joesphs……
can you please convince your fellow coworkers to start a petition online and have thousands if not millions of people sign the petition to save goldstriker and have it relocated? it would definitely at least cause a big effect on the park. Please make it happen
@@macias7125 This is actually a good idea. It's a stretch, but maybe even a petition to keep the park open? 🤷♀️
@@thechriseyeview3399 I used to operate Orleans Orbit back in the day. This is horrible news. My ex was a security guard for this park. We would go to the Smurf Village for lunch on weekends.
This makes me cry! It has been such a big part of my life and my children. Then are now grown and taking their own kids to places they enjoyed when they were growing up. So, so sad to me. The last park I ever got to go with my mother before she past.
I used to work here as an entertainer doing song and dance shows in the 1990s. This park has a rich history and will live on in the memories for those who had been a part of the action.
I lived in California my hole life never heard of this place till today :(
This is unthinkable, I never thought for a moment that this park would close. Cailfornia's great America means so so much to me. I have great memories of that red, white and blue front. Flight deck was my first inverted coaster, now I'm hearing (coming from comments) that Flight deck is at the end of its service life. I can't imagine a time we're I won't have a choice between SFDK or CGA, and it's all because that stupid pandemic and cold corporate business, everyone is heartbroken, people will lose their jobs and we will be left with a empty lot
As someone who grew up with California's Great America as a home park (I live in the residential area across the creek from the park), this news feels like hearing your childhood friend is terminally ill
Petition to send railblazer to Michigans Adventure
I agree
Or valley fair
Send it to any cedar fair park just keep the coaster
*kings island *
@@copperhead3258 ye
I am very depressed this park is now being taken away from me. This has been my home park my entire life, and I always had a great time there when I went, and it's always been a 45 min drive or less from where I lived. I have even worked there in the 2006 season, which is the first year that Cedar Fair gained ownership. Now all I will have is Six flags Discovery Kingdom, which is pretty much feels like what Six FLags is known for, as a discount chain. It's not as good as Great America, and my memories there haven't been as nice either. And I believe according to another channel, if Cedar Fair has a chance, they're going to walk away from this park as soon as they can. From what I have read and heard of the situation, Cedar Fair is actually making money off selling the land, because it's worth a lot more now than when they bought the park from Paramount.
That’s really sad. I’m sorry they’re taking your home park... mine is Kings Island. It always has, for about 14 years now. And I’m so tired of the whole park by now, but I couldn’t imagine a time where it wasn’t with me anymore.
This is definitely a sad time for us all :(
chin up someone might save it.
As someone with Six Flag's Great America as my home park, it saddens me to see this park go considering its historic ties to my own park. I always wanted to go out and see how it compared to my hone park some day, but now it looks like I'm too late.
They did not gain ownership in 2006, The city bought it first from Panama then Cedarfield bought it later like in 2017ish.
@@audioandlyricsvlogs5934 did you work under any of the participating parties?
This is so unfortunate, CGA has such great potential to be a top tier park.
I’m so damn sad about this. cga is my home park and always has been my home park, I’ve been a season pass holder for over 5 years now and I’ve been hundreds of times throughout my life so this park has a very special place in my heart as a Bay Area native. I can’t believe it’s gonna shut down permanently 😭
10 years a pass holder now for us
The city was just as surprised as us. Please call/email speak out to them. I am. Enough voices, and we could MAYBE save it. The land is zoned for an amusement park specifically, and requires city council approval to change that, so it’s not too late to kick Cedar Fair and that real estate company square in the nuts. :)
Same here! I have so many great memories of that park, and it's mind boggling to see that it might be torn down - And for what? More medical or corporate offices? Shops? Housing?
@@myrealnameisjohndoe116 I know how y'all feel. Born and raised in Sacramento myself, and have fond memories of Great America as well (it actually opened the year I was born!). If I were ever told before now that if might close down one day and I was asked how I thought that might happen, I would certainly never have guessed that it would come about because the owners needed lots of money fast and some real estate developer was just the first company to come along and wave a bunch of money at them.
Gotta become a Six Flags vallejo boy 😢
Very sad and unexpected news. This is a great park. This reminds me a lot of what happened to Six Flags AstroWorld when Six Flags closed that park in 2005. This is also similar to what happened when Cedar Fair closed Geauga Lake in 2007. Hopefully the rides and attractions are relocated to other parks in the chain or sold to other parks around the world. I sure Railblazer will be the first one to go. R.I.P California's Great America. Much like with Geauga Lake, I expect Cedar Fair to slowly start to remove rides and attractions from the park to relocate them to other parks in the Cedar Fair chain within the 11 year timeframe or less. You never know, Cedar Fair may pull the plug in about 2 or 3 years. Any rides that are left after closure will be sold to other parks around the world or demolished or sold for scrap, or, much like AstroWorld, Cedar Fair might close the park and then immediately start to diassemble the rides and attractions. It is a shame.
Eh - I wouldn't say that. I'm from the northeast Ohio area and from my pov Cedar Fair really tried with Geauga Lake.
The place was an utter dump in the time before Cedar Fair bought it when it was a Six Flags and it was working to turn that reputation around & clean up. Plus - if you were from the area - why would you EVER go to Geauga Lake if you could drive another 30 mins and get to Cedar Point.
I thought geauga lake was more a here one year gone the next rather than a gradual thing.
I believe there are legal agreements that will keep the park around for more than 1 or 2 years6 but a gradual reduction will certainly occur.
and then travis scott went on to make a whole album about astroworld
The dimensions of Flight Deck (660ft x 255 ft) are coincidentally almost the exact dimensions of Volcano's old plot of land at KD. I don't think they'd put it there, but it would be funny if the only B&M's at KD continued to be relocations.
_Flight Deck_ would probably benefit Valleyfair the most, so I'd send it there.
@@reillywalker195 yeah, I agree. I don't think there's any chance they would send it to KD - just thought it would be funny.
isnt flight deck a terrain coaster? also, I’m worried it’s nearing the end of its service life anyway
@@ducksfan_1149 The piece of land it's on is pretty flat. There is the bit that goes out of the water, but that shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
As for service life, I couldn't tell you. B&M still officially supports the model, so parts and trains wouldn't be an issue. Unless there is some metal fatigue/weld breaking issue with the track, I'd expect it to still have some life in it. A relocation would even be a good reason to do a maintenance overhaul in that respect.
@@reillywalker195 Vallyfair hasn't got a chance in heck at getting flight deck and KD needs a replacement inverted coaster desperately after losing volcano.
I'm surprised that the community doesn't have enough sense of history to value this park that much. Even if Cedar Fair doesn't want it the community needs to step up and do what it can to save this place.
When Marriott Corporation was originally going to close this park back in the mid 80s, the city of Santa Clara bought it from Marriott's to prevent it being closed. Maybe they will step up again and save the park for the second time. It would be very sad to see this park close, I spent my teenage years here.
@@mikeriley2766I really hope everyone could get together. The demographics have been shifting to more child-free households which makes the sense of community feel weaker, it’s sad to know the park I grew up going to will be gone.
Or give it to six flags since they own the other location
This could be easily fixed...if the City of Santa Clara wants to change the zoning for that location to only host an Amusement park...problem solved, no one could close it then. They could move some of the rides to Gilroy Gardens, but I highly doubt it. Also, Prologis is a supply chain distribution company...they have huge warehouses in the Tracy area.
They own and operate warehouses across the country nit just California
@@concertscoastersandnitro725 I know that, I just mentioned one of their locations. I wasn't implying that was the only location. The other option is to zone the land for entertainment purposes only if they don't want to go so narrow as an amusement park.
The city doesn't want the park there.
@@jeffc1347 I always new the city government was stupid...did not know they're that stupid. There are other options though, costly ones...or if there's any endangered species that live around there. The park is actually a perfect fit with the stadium, Cedar Fair just didn't know how to run it properly, nor manage the property. Plenty of room for expansion, if you replace the single level lots with multi-story garages with solar panels on top. Not really sure what the hell Prologix wants with the property anyways...it's terrible location for a distribution center or office park/logistics center, which we do not need more of.
it'll operate at least through 2024. Coaster Con 46 will be hosted partly at CGA, so it'll likely remain open at least that long in it's current condition. Beyond that, who knows.
Once we found out the wicked twister was being scraped instead of relocated here like the plans said I was nervous that something like this might happen.
Sad to see, but fortunate for other parks, the relocations make sense I can see:
-Flight Deck to Valleyfair (they need another ride with inversions)
-Patriot to Michigans Adventure (not a trash bin)
-Railblazer to Knotts Berry Farm (proximity/size)
-Goldstriker to Carowinds (as is? rmc?)
I'd send _RailBlazer_ to Worlds of Fun. The park is in need of a steel coaster with good airtime and inversions.
I have a feeling the city is gonna step in and try to save the park like they did in 1985 the city has always wanted the park to stay as a park so I don’t see the city just sitting back without putting up a fight
They are definitely going to put up a fight with them. They ain’t going to let Levi’s sit next to warehouses.
@@josecastro2332 fr that’s so stupid
This is so devastating. This was my childhood. So many good memories there
It wouldn't surprise me if this happens to other parks, particularly in areas that have seen major increases in real estate prices. I've said before that I expect that at some point the land Wild Waves is on will be worth more than they can make by operating the park, and wouldn't be too surprised if Discovery Kingdom met the same fate. I suspect the SoCal parks are probably safe, those probably do well enough to keep up with land value.
discovery kingdom's business is about to boom without great america around
@@clearfire8715 if they send gold striker to discovery kingdom because joker was RMC'd, i think that would make a lot of people happy
Flight Deck - Valleyfair
Patriot - Michigan's Adventure
Railblazer - Worlds of Fun
Gold Striker ( i really hope they relocate it) - Dorney Park
Other than these rides I think they can do something with psycho mouse and relocate some flats across the chain , the remaining can be scrapped.
The double decker carousel could be sold to Six Flags Great America for extra parts...
Being my home park I will definitely miss it. It was where I got my first credit, and was what got me to be a coaster enthusiast and is the true coaster capital of Northern California. However at least discovery kingdom will hopefully stay open.
I’ve been going to Great America since I was like 5 years old. I’m 26 now and it’s just such a great park. Many many years of memories are in this park for me. I’m very sad that Cedar Fair bought the land and just turned around and sold it again. And to someone that they know will tear it down. It feels like betrayal. 😢
I was really sad and shocked when I heard this news, this has been my home park litterly my entire life, i always loved comming here, and my parents have been coming here since the 90s. I doubt this will happen but I really hope this park at least operates its full 11 years.
I grew up in Santa Clara I also work there when it was called Paramount's Great America. I worked there in 1993 and 1994 it's sad what has happened to this park. The quality was better it was cleaner more affordable at the time and the rides and attractions were awesome. Thanks for the memories I will always remember the good times.
I worked Top Gun , The Vortex and Days of Thunder and did food service. It was the place to work every summer if you were from the south bay
Of the coasters they could save, I would say that Railblazer, Patriot, Flight Deck, and Gold Striker are the most valuable. Most of those are on the small side, though, and/or too low capacity to make sense at a major park, so we’re going to stick with the “lesser” CF parks.
Worlds of Fun has submitted plans for a Project 50, which I’m going to assume is a new coaster, so WOF is out.
Flight Deck makes the most sense going to ValleyFair. It’s the only park in the chain without a full circuit invert, other than Kings Dominion, and I don’t see them replacing Volcano with the same type of ride as Alpengeist, but smaller.
This leaves Michigan’s Adventure and Dorney. Dorney already has a floorless, so they won’t get Patriot, meaning it’s going to MIA. So that leaves Dorney with either Railblazer or Gold Striker. GS is the least likely to be moved, since moving a wooden coaster is a headache. Plus, as the most substantial of the available rides, it’s the only one that would make sense at one of the major CF parks. Both Cedar Point and Carowinds are in need of a modern woodie, and CP doesn’t get anything secondhand.
So my predictions are…
Flight Deck to ValleyFair.
Patriot to Michigan’s Adventure.
Railblazer to Dorney.
Gold Striker to Carowinds.
I am likely completely wrong on everything. 👍
People are going to be surprised about what I'm going to say but, I would not at all be surprised if railblazer ends up going to Canada's Wonderland. They have just enough room where white water Canyon is that they could fit it in.
I’m sure our friends in Ontario would enjoy it.
@@skystreak1983 Canada's Wonderland is home park but that's not the only reason why I say that. And yes we would!
I want Demon in my backyard.
I would like The Demon to be saved. It is old and not very exciting compared to today's coasters, but I was going to Marriott's Great America when this coaster was "Turn of the Century" and remember the year it got converted to "The Demon". Between "Turn of the Centry" and its conversion into "The Demon" it is my most ridden coaster, having ridden it over 1000 times, so to me it is hugely sentimental.
This news shocked me when I first saw it. This used to be my home park and I have so many memories there.
My first visit was on memorial day weekend of 2019 and I had a great time here. Cedar Fair literally dropped a bombshell on us with this.
Railblazer should definitely go to Dorney Park imo. It would easily fit in Stinger's plot of land and would give the park their elite standout coaster.
R.I.P. California's Great America (1976-2033?)
Would rather see gold striker go to dorney
@Arrow Dynamics Inc. Correct. But these first gen Raptors are wayyy better than JDC or WW.
@@geoffreymiller5422 if JDC or WWFOC had 8 car trains and no mid course they would be better
@@RapidZCoasters Better but still not as good as WWGLC or RB, as their course are far more compact. I have done WWGLC, but not RB. The general consensus seems to be that WWGLC is a little bit better.
@@geoffreymiller5422 I think it's because of location. I've done them both and stunt pilot and I prefer WWGLC
This was my dads home park and he told me about all the memories he had. Hopefully this can help me convince him to take me because it’s like 10 hours away
I don't want gold striker scrapped. And no RMC Grizzly. I hope patriot is moved to Michigan's Adventure.
If they replaced any woodies at Canada's Wonderland with Goldstriker, given its reputation, I wouldn't say no, assuming it survives the relocation. This is sad though, I would be devastated losing my home park.
The Gravity Group might be able to do it if Cedar Fair is willing to try.
True, they probably could pull it off.
Cosmic Rewind at Epcot cost more money than what Cedar Fair is getting for this entire park… if you still don’t think Disney’s outrageously inflated budgets are a problem… this just shows you how bad it really is
I’ve lived nearly my whole life in the Bay Area and I’ve visited this, my home park, more times than I can count over the course of 35 years. I am shocked and disappointed by this news. I can’t imagine GA leveled.
I went in 2019 and I really liked this park. It was super charming and the atmosphere was great. Sad to see it go because it's a beautiful park
My other home park is SF Discovery Kingdom, and I would love to see Flight Deck replace Kong, it’s god-awful Vekoma SLC. I don’t see Cedar Fair selling it out of chain, but one can only hope. I’m sure there are other Cedar Fair parks that could benefit from it. RailBlazer is another that could go there too, since it’s compact and fits within the height limit at DK. There’s no real big draws at DK for enthusiasts, aside from maybe Joker, and that’s a pretty weak RMC. Just a Bay Area native here, hoping to keep some of these rides in the area. 🤷🏼♂️😄 Still, crushed at the news of this closure. 😔
maybe Michigan's Adventure can finally get a couple of decent coasters
I'd bet on _Patriot_ going there. It mighf not be much, but it's at least something-and it's a B&M.
This is really sad, and I feel awful for the locals of this park. It makes too much sense from a business perspective. Probably ~ $275M in profit, while being able to make an addition of some kind to every park in the chain (some being roller coasters, some flat rides). Also saving operation costs and difficulties of running this park. Cali is a brutal market, very expensive, and this is a difficult municipal to work with, as they shut down Cedar Fair plans in the past.
My childhood park. Grew up here in the 90's. Im glad I got to experience it in its prime, Top Gun and Stealth.
Unfortunate to hear, but at least it had a very good run. I highly doubt they’re going to bulldoze their bigger rides. I’d love to see Railblazer relocated Michigan’s Adventure, but it’s highly unlikely 😂
Such unfortunate news. CGA turned me into an enthusiast 7 years ago. I remember noticing that Vortex and Flight Deck had the same style of track, so I looked them up on Wikipedia and saw that they were built by the same manufacturer. That motivated me to look into other manufacturers and the rest is history. I met all of my early coaster friends through CGA and spent countless weekends there marathoning Gold Striker and Flight Deck. When RailBlazer was added we were all so convinced that the park was going to be expanding greatly over the next several years and I couldn’t have been more happy about it. The cancellation of the Hyper was supposed to be a short-term obstacle, but now I’m not convinced that the park will even last 6 more years. The land is currently zoned as a theme park until (I believe) 2026, and the lease expired in 2028, but I highly doubt Cedar Fair will extend it until 2033. I expect to see rides removed in the near future, and I wouldn’t even be surprised if the 2022 addition (the used scrambler) is canceled. The question that now stands is which rides will be relocated and which rides will be scrapped. Whatever happens to the park, though, I’m just glad it existed when I was a kid.
It brakes my heart to see Great America go💔
please heart this
I think railblazer would be a perfect fit to Kings Dominion and may help the park because SFA and BGW are both more popular in the areas near KD, Cedar Fair put in I305 to do that, but many riders, unlike myself, believe the ride is too intense.
Edit: I believe that flight deck may be a better fit, because, I don’t think KD has an inverted coaster
I was thinking Flight Deck would be a better relocation to KD and then send Railblazer to Carowinds since there's no single rail coasters in that part of the country.
@雪間 yukima Name them im having trouble complicating what these 4 coasters are
@@psyclone500tv8 anaconda, tumbili, twisted timbers, dominator
@@EmberMcLain87 Those are coasters with inversions. Inverted coasters hang beneath the track
Volcano's capacity was too good, get railblazer %)
I wouldn't necessarily say it's 100% gave over for the park. Keep in mind that the company that bought the land is a real estate _investment_ company, not a real estate _development_ company. A development company exclusively makes their money off of buying up land, developing or redeveloping it, and then either selling off small plots or leasing it to multiple tenants. Investment companies will often do this when they see a reason to do so, thus the 11 year cutoff date, but they're mainly just looking to make whatever money they can off of the land regardless of how. So it's possible that someone might come in within those 11 years and buy the park as-is, then continue to operate. Alternatively, Cedar Fair could be using this as the equivalent of a mortgage, selling the land and stretching out those 11 years as much as possible with the intent to buy it back once they can afford to do so.
That’s….. ya, your WAY overthinking this.
@@tylerkriesel8590 This is DEVASTATING news for a lot of people, bro! There’s nothing wrong in having hope in something you love! Lay off!
Selling the land for $310 million, paying Prologis rent for 11 years, and buying it back for even more (seeing that real estate seems to be getting more and more expensive here) seems like a worse idea than just keeping the land for 11 years. I doubt that the returns on the investment of that $310 million minus rent would exceed the appreciation of CGA's land.
@@Trancefreak12
You also have to consider that the park will be bringing in money during that time. Selling the land doesn't just mean that Cedar Fair stops making money from that park.
It's literally the same concept as taking out a loan, just with the park itself as collateral and a decently long time to pay it off. And unlike interest, rent doesn't compound.
@@VestedUTuber I didn't mention the money made from the park because it would be made either way. They would own the property and run it for 11 years or rent it and run it for 11 years. The difference is that in the first case they'd be paying taxes on the property, and in the second case they'd be paying rent and have $310 million cash (pre-tax) to invest or pay down debt. What I'm wondering is whether it would be worth the risk to try to have the return on $310 million minus the rent be greater than the appreciation of the property minus taxes. Kind of a simplification, but I can't imagine selling the property with the plan to buy it back. It's not quite the same as taking out a mortgage to buy something for the first time.
Or, the lease could simply renew after those 11 years. Because CF is a publicly traded company, they have to spell out the details of the lease, including the termination part of it...that everyone's taking and running with it like it's for certain going to happen. The comment about the park looking dirty on a single day is not an indication of the park closing its doors. Every park has its off days and on the contrary, the park is looking pretty good this year! Especially the what was drab-looking 50s area - it's been getting a nice facelift.
Sad news! I grew up going to this park. Many great memories there. I’ll have to go one more time to say goodbye…✌️
Paging Gene Staples...Gold Striker needs a new home!
This is sad to see, but this is a good thing for the Cedar Fair chain.
And fun fact, the price paid for the land, 2.77MM/acre, is the same as what Apple paid/acre for their massive corporate campus but at half the size of the Great America property.
I think good striker would be awesome at Niagara amusement park. Then you have a 1.2.3 punch with silver comet, gold striker and the shuttle loop
I’m hoping Valleyfair can get a relocated …anything from Great America 🤞
That park hasn’t seen a new coaster since 2007, and a new coaster would pump a ton of excitement and energy back into the park.
I'm sure this is a long shot, but maybe we'll end up seeing a situation similar to Zippin Pippin with Gold Striker. (For context, the original Zippin Pippin was destroyed but it was rebuilt at a different park using the same layout.)
This is sad, I went in December and was super impressed with the park. Glad I got to go I guess.
This was the park I always went to since it's near my home. My cousins and I went there once. Patriot and The Demon were my favorite rides.
I live in Vegas and ProLogis has a giant warehouse near my house. never knew what they were, sucks to hear they’re gonna be the reason CGA is no longer a thing
This really does sadden me for any park of significance to bite the dust. CGA may not have been high priority for Cedar Fair, but over the years it built up a reputation, and to see that historic value bite the dust is disheartening.
I believe someone else brought up SFDK possibly being in a similar case. I'm wondering if that's true, considering we know Six Flags isn't in the greatest state financially either, and this park is rather limited in a few ways as well.
SFDK will certainly be interesting to watch now that CGA is gonna close, but I could actually see SFDK going the opposite direction. CGA has always been SFDK's main competition, so with them gone, Six Flags will basically find themselves with a monopoly over the Bay Area theme park market since Gilroy Gardens serves a different demographic and SCBB isn't really substantial enough to compete. I bet they'll see an attendance increase because of this. If I were Six Flags, I would capitalize on that and build up SFDK to be a more major park rather than letting it languish like they are now.
But who knows? It is Six Flags after all. If both parks close that would be a real bummer for Bay Area folk.
If sfdk close it will be devastating plus no one want to drive for 6 to 8 hrs for another park down south (its all hypothetical)
I think Santa Clara County will purchase the carousel. They will preserve it and display it like San Francisco did with the carousel at Playland. It is now at Yerba Buena Gardens. Also the carousel at Golden Gate Park is from the 1939 International Exhibition. The Great America carousel is much larger, but I’m sure they will find an appropriate place for it.
I really hope so!
Prologis operate industrial warehouses. I run a dedicated account that operates in a Prologis Warehouse. Prologis warehouses are scattered all over America.
Flight Deck should go to Valleyfair for their rumored invert, and Railblazer should go to Michigans Adventure cause it fills the most gaps.
_Patriot_ might not be a terrible fit at Michigan's Adventure, either, in which case I'd send _RailBlazer_ to Worlds of Fun-and totally deactivate the trims on _Mamba_ so the park can have two steel coasters with decent airtime.
This is chilling. My home park is owned by Cedar Fair and now I'm scared they'll close it too.
railblazer would be amazing at kings dominion.
I’ll be going there in September. Might as well cherish my visit
I spent my teenage years going here. Demon was my first looping coaster. I live in rhode island now so I'm gonna have to get there before it closes.
im still sad. i live nearby, and ive been to it a bunch of times. literally every fun thing in the bay area is being burned down, bought up, and turned into more boring boxy housing. and ONLY housing, no small grocers, or business. i try to use all my cash on local stuff, but entertainment and leisure places keep dying here. its either here or six flags, and imo six flags sucks compared to great america. hate having to need a car to go hours away for a theme park, this place was so convenient.
Where I think the coasters will go:
Railblazer: I can definitely see Railblazer going to either Michigan's Adventure, Worlds of Fun or Valleyfair. It is a medium-sized coaster that has a small footprint. It will fit very well at these smaller parks or any park could be laying claim to Railblazer, so who knows.
Grizzly: Demolished. Trains moved to Carowinds for spare parts for Hurler.
Gold Striker: Could be saved but I doubt it. Most likely demolished with trains moved to other Cedar Fair parks, mostly likely to be used on Mystic Timbers at Kings Island.
Demon: Either sold out of the chain to another park around the world or scrapped. If scrapped, the trains can be used on other Arrow loopers like Corkscrew at Cedar Point or could be cannibalized for parts.
Psycho Mouse: Could go to Cedar Point or could be sold out of the chain or scrapped.
Patriot: Could be moved to Valleyfair or Michigan's Adventure or sold out of the chain.
Flight Deck: Could go to Kings Dominion. It could also fit at Valleyfair or Michigan's Adventure.
Woodstock Express: I would love to see this coaster saved, because it has a very unique history, being first located at Hanna-Barbera Land in Spring, Houston, Texas from 1984 to 1986. It is a nice Intamin Classic. Hopefully it gets moved around the chain or gets sold to a park around the world.
Lucy's Crabbie Cabbies: Could be sold out of the chain or scrapped. If scrapped, it could be cannibalized and sacrificed for parts for the other E&F Miller Industries Family Coasters in the chain.
Kings dominion is too close to bgw(alpengeist) for flight deck to go there, why would they add an inferior version of something that their biggest rival already has
@@darealsavage3472 I honestly think flight deck would be good to go to Canada's Wonderland. Just retheme it so it's not a Vekoma SLC and you're good lol
grizzly at cga has morgan trains not ptc
@@Mister_Brown I would love to see grizzly relocated to the scrap yard lol. I'm just kidding but if it does get relocated, they need timber liners, millennium flyers or new PTC trains
Flight Deck would likely not be moved due to its age. I've always thought it was one of the best inverted coasters. Not intense, just fun. A lot of its attraction was things like the roll over the theater on the approach to the queue and the hidden finishing helix over the pond.
I’m so sorry this is happening yo those that love visiting this park. Enjoy this park while you still can
I spend so much of my life there and had fun there on some water rides. I am stunned and disappointed by this decision when they decided to close the Great America forever 4 months ago.
I want a GCI bad at Dorney Park! Where Stinger used to be. We haven’t had a built from the ground up coaster since 2005 but I wouldn’t be mad if a GCI was relocated
i think railblazer should go to one of the smaller parks in the chain like Dorney, Valleyfair, Michigans Adventure, or Worlds Of Fun.
I’ll personally take rail blazer
Fascinating and sad development! Among interesting things to consider is the impact this could have on classic arrow loopers elsewhere in the chain. Assuming Demon will be scrapped for parts, could it posthumously help extend the operating lives of coasters like Anaconda and Carolina Cyclone?
Unfortunately this is not the first time Cedar Fair has done this. Geauga Lake received the same treatment.
This is very sad, especially for people who have this as their home park and know no rides will be invested into it for the next 11 years then it will close forever.
This place was one of my favorites as a kid in the 80s.
I currently work at Great America and attendance has dropped. All my Colleagues were shocked to hear the news. Projected to close in 4-5 years
Im really heartbroken over this, back when I liked in the Bay Area, this place was so fun! When Paramount owned the park it was awesome! Really wish they gave the park a few more years to have things pick back up, the economy is in the dumpster right now, of course attendance is gonna drop. This place has been around since the 70's!! Its literally historic.
Im crossing my fingers that railblazer gets relocated to worlds of fun or valley fair. I thought I heared some miff last month that worlds of fun was getting a RMC raptor.. maybe this is it! And it would be awesome and total make sense if RMC replaces the old trains on railblazer with the newer better restraint ones during the relocation.
Assuming they actually move Goldstriker and then don’t sell it but move it to one of their parks, i think it goes to carowinds or cedar point. Imagine this thing at CP. That would be awesome!
#SaveCaliforniasGreatAmerica
Hope I make it there before it closes. I also hope they send Railblazer and a bunch of flat rides to my home park, Michigan's Adventure.
I haven't been to Great America in years, but it was my home park and I live about 20 minutes from that park. I would go a lot when it was Paramount's Great America. Maybe this will force me to visit the park in the near term. Still, a lot of the fun things to do in the Bay Area are closing down for housing. I don't think I would want to raise a family in this area. Other than sports teams, there isn't much to do.
This news in honestly devastating. I grew up 20 minutes from GA and had so many summer adventures there in the 80s and 90s. It's an iconic part of growing up in the Bay. They might as well tear down the GG bridge next. 😥
Railblazer might be relocated to a Six Flags park. It’s the reason why Cedar Fair has worked with RMC for a long time so therefore selling it to Six Flags, it will likely be given to SFSTL or SFNE
Sad news. Been there once where it was Paramount Great America. Flight Deck was themed to Top Gun, my very first inverted coaster.
railblazer should be sent to cedar point its fairly small ride and it could fit easily in the line up
Eventhough I live in Tacoma/Seattle area, I consider this my home park, this is sad, I think this is a solid park with an easy map and a nice collection of rides including my fave wooden (Gold Striker)
This sucks
They should just move the park to a cheaper area like Reno NV. We don't have a theme park here yet let alone roller coaster, closest park is Discovery Kingdom with a 3 hour drive.
This is very, very sad news. Being a Bay Area native--Great America has been my home park. We've had many family trips here especially from the 70s-90s. Family get togethers, school trips, and season passes every summer especially when I first got my driver's license in my teen years. Just a lot of wonderful, happy memories here. Guess I better get as many more visits as I can in and make more memories before CGA is gone for good. SFDK is only 20 minutes from where I live. Although I have many memories from there, too; its just not the same and it will never be the same without CGA. Well I guess KBF and SFMM are worth the drive or flight down to SoCal in the future.
I used to work there as a ride op but now I work at CP. I’m really upset about this and will miss this park dearly especially Railblazer Flight Deck and Goldstriker and I have a feeling Gold might get scrapped
Sad news indeed. I grew up in the south bay area and was 11 years old when this park first opened as Marriott's Great America. I had visited this park very often as a teenager until I moved away in the early 80s. I even worked at this park for a couple of years before I had left the area. I worked in a little place called "The Hot Shoppe", which sold root beers for a quarter and was a replica of Mr. Marriott's original sandwich shop. Working there I had free admission to the park, and during the summer or weekends would spend my days there riding the rides on the days that I was not working, and even when I did work, I would go and ride the rides before my starting time. I loved this park, it saddens me greatly that it will be going away.
Move the rides to the middle TN, North AL area. We are growing down here and have a void when Opryland closed.
Damn, I've never been, this shot way up on my priority list of parks to visit.
Welp, I guess I'll have to go and do my California trip before my Pennsylvania park. Really want to ride Demon, Flight Deck and Gold Striker. Always wanted to ride that 2-story carousel too.
I wouldn't be surprised if CF pulled the trigger at the end of THIS season. In which case I predict Flight Deck goes to Valley Fair, Railblazer goes to WoF where they're clearing land for "Project 50", and Gold Striker goes to Carowinds.
I grew up with this park. I own a poster from the ground breaking ceremony and outside of hiring staff my aunt was the 1st employee of this park. It's not the quality of a park I remember when I was younger in it's best years but I had hoped it would not close in my life time.
One day after the news, Tony Clark from Cedar Point PR visited Michigan's Adventure......perhaps to help them write press releases for some new additions, ahem Railblazer?
I think the only one who can save the park is the government of the city of Santa Clara. If they don’t desire to not have the park, then they may rise up and fight to get the park back. (Similar to Kentucky Kingdom)
They could probably buy the land from the company who bought it and then look into another company to run the park. (Hershend is probably the park’s best bet in that situation)
I was wondering what the 49ers have to say about this as well. Their stadium is right next to the park. They tear down the park and put housing up there (and remember there was a lot of issues when Levi's Stadium was getting approved) and that has to impact the team doesn't it?
The Mayors of Santa Clara have always had a soft spot for the park. And CGA was one of the reasons for the move. However Prologis specializes in warehouses. But you are right. Only the City can actually save the park.
Palace Entertainment may be another good option. If I remember correctly, they own Kennywood and Adventureland.
Haven’t been here since 2016, but Gold Striker was my baby! Me and my dad will be so sad when this park is gone. At least clone it! Relocating it may be difficult but recreate it in America plz! I’ll hopefully be back for a visit this year, I haven’t even ridden the B&M’s because of the height restrictions. But for real……May Gold Striker rest in pieces.
There’s an issue with relocating woodies the examples you mentioned are from ptc and their contruction method could be different to make relocation pracitcal
Before I watch the video, Cedar Point or Carowinds may be getting Gold Striker, Flight Deck may go to Valleyfair, Patriot will go to Michigans Adventure, Railblazer will go to Canada’s Wonderland
That's what I've been saying about railblazer.
That’s a Bummer! Because California’s Great America is my home park
While sad yes...I see this as a savy investment. However how savvy is where they send some coasters. Valleyfair and Michigan's adventure needs attention. Also for flats I hope they relocate the orbit too somewhere
My home park is SFGAm and knowing how much history is being lost in the California twin park is hard to wrap my mind around. Very sad for all those who have this historic park as their home park 😔
What exactly is a "twin hard" may I ask?
@@detroitdiezel7856 typo lol twin park. Marriott’s made two wonderful parks and our family has been visiting the one in Gurnee since it opened in 1976