California's Great America

California's Great America, often shortened to Great America, is a amusement park located in Santa Clara, California. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, it originally opened in 1976 as one of two parks built by the Marriott Corporation. California's Great America features over 40 rides and attractions, and one of its most notable is Gold Striker, which has been featured as a top-ranked wooden roller coaster in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards publication. Other notable rides include RailBlazer, a single-rail coaster from Rocky Mountain Construction, and Flight Deck, an inverted coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard. The park appeared in the 1994 films Beverly Hills Cop III and Getting Even with Dad. Ownership of the park transitioned several times, beginning with the city of Santa Clara's acquisition from Marriott in 1985. It was then sold to Kings Entertainment Company in 1989 while Santa Clara retained ownership of the land. Paramount Parks acquired the park in 1992, followed by Cedar Fair in 2006. Santa Clara eventually sold the land occupied by the park to Cedar Fair in 2019, who then sold it to Prologis in 2022. While Cedar Fair plans to eventually close the park by 2033, the land rental agreement is a six-year lease through 2028 that gives Prologis the option of extending it another five years. History Marriott & KECO era (1976–1992) The hotel and restaurant operator Marriott Corporation completed Marriott's Great America on the site of what had been a pear orchard and opened it to the public on March 20, 1976. Admission was for adults (12 and up) and for children (4–11). There were 1,500 employees.