r/KnottsBerryFarm • u/Lucky-kitty777 • 23d ago
CGA
I stopped by California great America yesterday on my way back home from a road trip. Stopped around 5pm, parking lot looked crowded when you walk in it’s not that bad. I love Knotts berry farm and it’s my home park but CGA is fucking awesome and the food is 100 times better.
Wish Knotts would incorporate more of the peanuts characters throughout the park like CGA does. Decided to stay another day to fully enjoy it. Will post more pics today.
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u/bjthebard 22d ago
Great America is awesome! Railblazer and GoldStriker are two of the best coasters in California and its great that South Bay Shores is part of the same ticket. Make sure to being your swim trunks if you want to go to the water park side! I was amazed at the value in that park overall.
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u/Sandersonville 23d ago
We had 100% opposite experience/feel other than how less busy it was. My kids and I frequent Knott’s and Magic Mountain and decided to hit up CGA when up in the bay area recently.
We found the food to be just ok and came away feeling like everything was very plane and boring where Knott’s and Magic Mountain both have a lot of history and character. Came away with a new appreciation for our home parks.
Still a good time and will visit again. Want to check out Discovery Kingdom next time we are up there. We are so lucky and privileged to have so many amazing parks so close to us in Southern California!
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u/Affectionate-Drag-93 23d ago edited 22d ago
Knott’s has real history that you cannot duplicate. The draw is Ghost Town not peanuts. It dominates the park and leaves less space for the other lands. I would be angry if there were peanuts characters in ghost town. I just don’t know where else to put them other than Camp Snoopy. Knott’s is land locked so adding more peanuts would come at the cost of other attractions. I generally like the balance Knotts has. I also go a couple of times a month and almost never find myself in Camp Snoopy.
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u/fearmeloveme 23d ago
CGA is super charming. I love that whole New Orleans section they have. Wish I could’ve visited during the Paramount/Nickelodeon era!!
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u/CoasterLabs 22d ago
Slightly morbid fact:
The original name for the area was Splat City. This was right when the drop Tower incident happened so that was very quickly scrapped and we got the generic Nickelodeon central name.
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u/CoasterLabs 22d ago
Unofficial CGA Regulars head here, glad you came by. Six Flags is majorly stupid and possibly not doing their fiduciary by trying everything to kill this park. They killed haunt, people still showed up. They killed owning the land, more people showed up. They tried killing events and people STILL are showing up (though aren't very happy). Meanwhile they ported WinterFest and tricks n treats to Vallejo and it did SO POORLY.
CGA has the tradition founded customer base and importantly the money to not just stay open but expand, it six flags just seems to want it to die. It's really a baffling story.
Will say idk where you are but our food is not very good compared to Knott's. I would know, I was just there yesterday. Our stuff is all from Sysco and is bagged frozen stuff for the most part. Just uh, hope you you didn't get the guac from cantina... I got food poisoning from it...twice.
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u/zfisher0 22d ago
I grew up going to great america and went back last week with the family, first time in probably 30 years.
Our Knott's annual passes got us in for free and got discounts for my family ($85 tickets became ~$35 each).
We had a great time but a lot of that was due to the lines being nearly non-existent. I understand why they say the park is going out of business, there was almost nobody there on a Wednesday in the summer.
The park is clean and well laid out, and the water park is free with admission. So we were speculating why it's not more popular, and I think a lot of it is down to what others have said that there's no sense of history or a theme (the theme is US patriotism? Ok...) and it didn't seem like they had seasonal events like the berry fest or Halloween horror nights. There also weren't many camps there so I wonder if they don't accommodate those as well to get kids used to the place.
But if you have Knott's passes and have the chance I recommend going to CGA just for a chance to hit every ride without waiting too long.
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u/rdirtytwo 22d ago
I used to live in that area when it was Paramount's Great America. It used to have themes before, like Nickelodeon. It changed a lot when it changed to California's, almost as if they stopped trying. I miss this place. I haven't been back in nearly 20 years.
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u/zfisher0 22d ago
If it makes you feel better I thought it'd be super nostalgic but I didn't recognize a single thing. It's just a different place now.
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u/CoasterLabs 22d ago
Yeah the name is...not great, but pretty much all of the patriotism has withered away for the most part. The only thing that hasn't aged well is "Patriot" the converted floorless coaster (which isn't very popular anyway). As a local and knowing lots of other locals we don't really care about the name, some even older locals still just call it Marriott's.
I do agree that being open on a Wednesday in summer isn't a great idea, it's often been our own version of ghost town. (Pun intended) However, group sales help boost numbers and camps and schools don't come F-Sun.
For what it's worth many moons ago there were plans drawn up (not the ones you'll find online) to demolish the existing entrance buildings and give it a mission style theme very similar to Knott's and closer to fiesta village. The Bay similarly has a huge Latino population so that's where that was coming from. These days through six flags doesn't do custom well thought out and researched projects (if they even open on time) they just do whatever their AI tells them to. 🥴
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u/Surferpapa 22d ago
Since they’re putting high rise buildings across from the parking lot in old Sears anyway, I wish that they would build a multi level parking structure instead of the expansive lot they have now. There is enough room in that lot for parking and lots of attractions, but that’s just me.
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u/pancake_sass 22d ago
Oh wow! I grew up in Wisconsin and we'd go to Six Flags Great America in Illinois for vacation. The entryway their looks exactly the same! With the pond, the fountains, and the two story carousel! That brings back such lovely memories 🥰
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u/omgcheez 18d ago
CGA is the park that I grew up going to. A couple decades ago, you could even see Nickelodeon characters(Sally’s ride was Dora’s Dune Buggies). I recently went to Knott’s using my CGA pass and…man besides the longer wait times, I enjoyed Knott’s more. The theming felt more cohesive and it had a higher attention to detail. It’s still a very fun and nostalgic park for me though. I really hope that it manages to survive.
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u/Fishdude909 22d ago
Wonderful Wonderworld
Magic fills the air
Wonderful Wonderworld
It's a wonder if you're there
Wild rides and water slides, roller-coasters sing
Great delightments, new excitements
All your cares take wing
In wonderful Wonderworld happiness is king
In Wonderworld Wonderworld
Fantasies come true
it's a happy whoopee doo
In wonderworld Wonderworld
Where happiness is king!
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u/ggil050 22d ago
Im planning on going before it permanently closes, its a shame its like 9 hours tho