Located in Santa Clara, California’s Great America is slated to close by the end of the decade – though its coasters still pack quite the punch.
With the summer winding down and students heading back to school, the season for amusement parks is ending for many as most seasonal parks across the country switch to weekends-only operation as fall begins.
This leaves a handful of weekends left for thrillseekers to ride their favorite coasters before they’re closed for the winter, with the opportunity feeling a bit more dire for those who love visiting one certain Northern California theme park.
Previously owned by Marriott, Paramount and Cedar Fair, the now Six Flags-operated California’s Great America is in the twilight of its lifespan, with the park expected to close at the end of the 2027 operating season if the lease on the land the park sits on is not extended.
Despite the seemingly imminent closure of the park, California’s Great America still maintains a very solid collection of rides – one that, at least in my opinion, eclipses the coasters standing at NorCal’s other major theme park, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo.
With the park’s impending closure and small, but impressive selection of rides, California’s Great America has long been a park high on my bucket list, and I’m thrilled to get the chance to ride some of these coasters next month.
Additionally, I’m just four coasters away from reaching a total of 100 roller coasters rode in my life, making this visit likely to be the one where I reach this milestone, further adding to the anticipation (as well as opening up the opportunity for me to rank the 100 coasters I’ve gotten a chance to ride).
While the size of the crowd at the park and the performance of the ride operations team often dictates just how many rides I’m able to get on, I’m hopeful that the major coasters are at least running at some capacity during my visit in a few weeks.
Of the nine coasters at the park, here are the three I’m most excited to ride:
1. RailBlazer
A single-rail coaster made by Rocky Mountain Construction, RailBlazer is often singled out by enthusiasts as one of the best of its format, serving as the most thrilling attraction at California’s Great America.
Having initially opened in June 2018 as single-rail coasters started to pop up at major parks, RailBlazer was one of two prototypes of the single-rail model to open up in 2018, joining the Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio.
In addition to looking like an incredibly fun and compact fast-paced ride, I also have a high degree of curiosity surrounding single-rail coasters, as I have yet to ride one. After missing out on Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage during a visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain in January 2024, I’m more eager than ever to finally ride a single-rail coaster.
At a height of 106 feet with a top speed of 52 miles per hour, RailBlazer doesn’t exactly blow enthusiasts away with its raw numbers, but its unique format and seating arrangement should make this one feel quite a bit more intense than its numbers would suggest.
2. Gold Striker
Adequately named and themed after the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800’s that sent the state’s population skyrocketing, Gold Striker is not just the premier wooden coaster at California’s Great America, but one of the most sought-after woodies in the country by enthusiasts.
Having opened back in 2013, Gold Striker doesn’t exactly blow you away with the stats, featuring a drop of just over 103 feet with top speeds topping out at just under 54 miles per hour. Yet with a trademark 174-foot long tunnel surrounding the drop and its aftermath with G-force that reaches up to 4.2, this coaster packs much more of a punch than what it seems.
As someone who absolutely loves wooden roller coasters of this size, I’m thrilled to finally get a ride on Gold Striker. Having grown up loving to get rides on Viper at Six Flags Great America, Gold Striker looks to be a perfect modern twist on the Cyclone clones that popped up at many parks throughout the late 20th century.
While I have higher expectations for this ride more than any other coaster in the park, I have a hard time seeing myself be disappointed – especially when considering the picturesque views the park offers when riding around.
3. Patriot
It was hard to omit Demon from this list, as I’m incredibly excited to get a ride on the counterpart of the coaster I spent my adolescence loving at Six Flags Great America. But once again, out of curiosity, I couldn’t ignore Patriot, a forgotten coaster when compared to both other coasters at California’s Great America and to other Bolliger & Mabillard coasters.
After the closure of Six Flags America in Maryland that also saw Firebird get shuttered, Patriot is now the oldest B&M coaster in the world that’s still in operation, having originally opened in 1991 as Vortex, a stand-up coaster.
As was the case with Firebird and a handful of other old stand-up coasters, Patriot was converted to a floorless coaster ahead of the 2017 season, changing the experience from the rougher, more polarizing stand-up layout to the more comfortable, crowd-pleasing floorless model.
While I’ve previously rode and enjoyed Medusa at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Scream! at Six Flags Magic Mountain, I’ve yet to ride a floorless coaster that was a converted stand-up, leaving me quite curious at how the coaster’s elements hold up when the intensity caused by standing up on the ride is removed.
Unlike the dedicated floorless coasters that are typically larger and feature more inversions, Patriot has the smaller stature of the stand-up coasters of its time, featuring a pair of inversions with top speeds of 45 miles per hour and a maximum height of just 91 feet.
While I’m certainly not expecting the most thrilling ride of my life, I’m excited to see how the coaster continues to hold up while appealing to a different, broader audience.
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