California’s Great America, often shortened to Great America, is a 112-acre 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 Beverly Hills Cop III and Getting Even with Dad; both films were released in 1994.
Ownership of the park transitioned several times, beginning with the acquisition from Marriott by the city of Santa Clara in 1985, and then again in 2019 when it was purchased outright by Cedar Fair. Kings Entertainment Company was hired to manage park operations originally, followed by Paramount Parks in 1992 and Cedar Fair in 2007. In 2022, Cedar Fair sold the land occupied by the park to Prologis, announcing intentions to permanently close Great America by 2033.