California's Great America - A fun place with adventure rides and water activities in Santa Clara, CA
Any visit San Francisco Bay Area comes with opportunity to meet friends living in this part of the world and spend some good time together. This time, one of my friends planned a visit to this place called California's Great America which is located in Santa Clara. This post shares more about this place, what makes it so special and some tips for making your visit to this place pocket friendly and lot of fun.
California's Great America is approximately 100 acres amusement park located in Santa Clara, California. There are more that 40 rides and attractions in California's Great America. One of its most important attractions is Gold Striker.
There are plenty of water-sport activities California's Great America and kids enjoy these the most. Most of the water activities have appropriate arrangements to sit around and relax after water activities, which can be tiring.
It's a popular weekend destination. Ticket for one person is more than $40, but if you visit with some member the ticket price is $20. Lot of folks which live in San Francisco Area, opt for the cards which give year long membership and then per day cost for families are pretty reasonable.
That's the first view you see after entering into the California's Great America in Santa Clara.
Kids certainly enjoy the most at this place. I happen to visit this place with a friend who wanted to take his kid to California's Great America. It seems kids love to visit this place frequently.
Apart from these water activities, there are other rides and the longest waiting time is at all level-5 rides. Above photograph shows one of the best rides at California's Great America in Santa Clara.
Above photograph shows one of the most interesting rides. In this one, this boat comes down very fast very fast. And if you don't want to get wet, don't take this ride. Although it was fun and but I wish my shoes were not impacted by these water splashes :). Anyways, tips to be a little safe - don't sit on the sides and try to be in the middle of the boat. And if you don't want to take this ride, just stop by and watch these boats coming down. It's fun.
Gold Striker and also featured as a top-ranked wooden roller coaster in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards publication. Are you wondering, what kind of publication is this and why am I mentioning it. Interestingly, when I was at this amusement park, I found this mentioned in one of the boards and everyone reading it was having a smile on their faces :).
There is a rope-way ride which takes folks from one part of the California's Great America to other. But at any point of time, they allow you to go one way and then queue up again if you want to go back to the location from where you took this ride. So plan accordingly.
Soham enjoyed this ride the most and he was excited to see aerial views of the California's Great America and surrounding mountains.
California's Great America timings are reasonable and it's always recommended to check latest timings on their website for the day you are planning.
While walking around California's Great America and taking various rides, please make sure that you keep yourself hydrated. At California's Great America, you get a water bottle for $15 and unlimited refills of soda drinks are available in whole campus for a day.
California's Great America rides are quite popular and some of them have long queue in which you may have to wait for an hour or so.
There are enough places to eat inside the California's Great America. There are also shops from where you can buy gears for water sports, although I found these shops expensive so it's better to take your stuff along.
Above photograph was clicked around a place where shows for kids were happening. The comic characters you see above are folks in this dress-up and they were acting on the stage. and the girl was telling stories with interesting jokes for the kids. Kids were having great time around this area of California's Great America.
There are some pretty cool rides for kids, like the above. It starts a slow pace and the speed keeps increasing gradually and during the final phase, all these strings fly high.
Inside California's Great America, you can rent spaces with lock to keep your stuff inside when you are in water or taking rides.
Be ready to walk a lot in California's Great America and in summers you may also want to carry cap & other appropriate stuff.
Delirium is another level-5 ride and I tried this one. This one was super awesome and the queue for this ride was not that long. When I say, not that long it only took 10 mins for us in queue. For some of the other rides, waiting time can be 1 hour as well.
We loved roaming around California's Great America and exploring some of it's interesting rides, although I may not plan another visit to this place. Having said that it's awesome place for people who love water activities, adventure rides or planning some outdoor activities with kids.
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