California's Great America
Santa Clara, California
Just 45 miles from San Francisco, Marriott's Great America opened in 1976. (Marriott also opened a Great America in Gurnee, Illinois the same year.) The City of Santa Clara Redevelopment Agency purchased Great America from the Marriott Corporation in 1985. Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) was recruited to manage the park. The resulting five-year contract included an option for KECO to buy the park business and assets. A year later, the 10,000-seat Redwood Amphitheater opened. In 1992, Great America, along with three other U.S. parks owned by KECO, was acquired by Paramount Communications. The park was renamed Paramount's Great America shortly thereafter. In 2006, Cedar Fair purchased all five Paramount parks for over $1.2 billion. Great America's name changed to California's Great America for the 2008 season. In 2011, Cedar Fair announced they were selling the park, and the land was going to be used for a new football stadium, but a few months later, the deal was off.
In addition to renaming several of their coasters, the park has also removed five:
Demon (formerly Turn of the Century)
Greased Lightnin' (formerly Tidal Wave)
Woodstock's Express
(formerly Runaway Reptar, Blue
Streak, and Green Sime Mine Car)
Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun)
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