Experience the New Rides at California’s Great America

By Centerspread Editor Mallika Gupta & Staff Writer Helen Wang

Great America remains its fun, spine-tingling self as it opens its new rides Patriot and Mass Effect: New Earth. On May 13, the Smoke Signal visited Great America as part of a Media Day event to experience the amusement park once more.

Quality and Variety of Rides
From Planet Snoopy to Drop Tower, Great America offers a wide variety of rides to satisfy park-goers of all ages. All-in-all, every single ride has ended with at least one person exclaiming, “Let’s go one more time!” Given the large number of high-quality rides, every visitor can definitely look forward to a fun day at the park.

Additional Features
In addition to exciting rides and thrilling roller coasters, Great America also features a wide array of additional features to guarantee an unforgettable experience. While strolling through the park, visitors may stumble upon The Peanuts Block Party, or shows such as Vertical Impact and the Great American Game Show. The park has also implemented ‘FunPix’ which provides a streamlined way to collect photos taken on certain rollercoasters.

Ambiance
Great America strives to provide a traditional amusement park experience. With stalls for popcorn and funnel cakes, game booths, and classic diners, Great America emulates a kid’s dream amusement park. The park’s legendary Maggie Brown’s restaurant was renamed Maggie’s Smokehouse & Fried Chicken, adding smoked tri tip, pulled pork, and rotisserie chicken to the menu.

Looking Ahead
In the future, Great America plans on expanding the park to entertain a greater audience. Similar to downtown Disney, Great America is arranging an entertainment district for adults. Great America is also investing in many huge expansion plans, including the tallest rides and coasters in California.

Rides

Overall
Great America is definitely the place to be for all thrill seekers. However, for those who get tired of too many rides, the shows, special events, and numerous shops and eateries still allow for an uber-fun time. This versatile and evolving park has something to offer every single visitor, having just implemented Winterfest to follow it’s Halloween Haunt, giving Bay Area residents even more reason to visit multiple times a year. With exciting new expansion plans in store, Great America is certainly the park to go to this summer.

Photos by Centerspread Editor Mallika Gupta & Staff Writer Helen Wang, Map Courtesy of Daniel Messinger