California’s Great America Theme Park One Day Itinerary (2024)
Want to know the ultimate Great America one day itinerary? We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know!
As part of a larger trip to the San Francisco area, JP and I spent a full day at California’s Great America theme park.
If you didn’t know, it’s located in San Jose, directly across from the San Francisco 49ers stadium.
At the time, we had season passes that were good at every Cedar Fair theme park in the country since we live down the street from Knott’s Berry Farm.
So we thought we should go check out the other Cedar Fair park up north!
You can check out our full day at Great America in this video on our YouTube Channel!
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California’s Great America One Day Itinerary
You may have seen some viral news stories that Great America is permanently closing, but those are very misleading.
Their contract has a good decade left and who knows what will happen between now and then.
So you’re safe to plan your trip to Great America!
We’re sharing all of our tips to make the most of just one day at Great America.
From all the best rides, best food, and best entertainment, we’ve got you covered!
➡ Rides and Attractions at California’s Great America
Since Great America is owned by the same company as King’s Island in Ohio (Cedar Fair), I’ll be making lots of references between the two parks.
I was much more familiar with King’s Island when it was owned by Paramount, so many ride names I’m referring to will be the old names.
Also if you’re familiar with the Disney theme parks, I’ll be making comparisons to some of those attractions too.
Roller Coasters
- Demon (pictured below)
- Flight Deck
- Gold Striker
- Patriot
- Psycho Mouse (pictured below)
- Railblazer (pictured below)
- The Grizzly
The Grizzly and Gold Striker are the 2 wooden roller coasters.
Flight deck is a hanging roller coaster, very similar to Top Gun at King’s Island.
Demon is a regular steel roller coaster that seems identical to The Vortex that used to be at King’s Island – the same color scheme and everything!
Psycho Mouse is like Primeval Whirl or Goofy’s Sky School at Disney World and Disneyland.
Railblazer is probably the most thrilling of all of the roller coasters because it’s single file and there’s nothing surrounding you.
Other Thrill Rides
- Drop Tower
- Orbit
- Thunder Raceway
- Tiki Twirl
- Xtreme Skyflyer
Many of these are self explanatory.
Drop Tower is exactly how it sounds, just like Drop Zone at King’s Island.
Thunder Raceway is go-kart racing.
Tiki Twirl is common in many theme parks – the best way to describe it is the ride glides back and forth across a half pipe type track.
Everyone is sitting in a circle facing outward.
The ride spins as it goes back and forth and goes higher and higher each time.
The Xtreme Skyflyer is the tandem swing on a wire where the bring you up to the top and just let go.
You swing back and forth on your stomach until you come to a stop.
Orbit is the hardest to explain.
We didn’t go on it but looks fun!
You spin rapidly and are lifted by a hydraulic arm up to 80 feet in the air, while repeatedly being turned upside down.
Family Friendly Rides
- Barney Oldfield Speedway
- Berserker
- Carousel Columbia
- Celebration Swings
- Centrifuge
- Delta Flyer / Eagle’s Flight
- Flying Eagles
- Mass Effect: New Earth
- Rip Roaring Rapids
- Rue le Dodge
- Star Tower
- Whitewater Falls
To start, the water rides are Rip Roaring Rapids (which is on a raft) and Whitewater Falls (which is in a boat).
There’s a handful of traditional rides that fall into this category that you’ll find at most theme parks:
The carousel, swings, centrifuge (aka Scrambler), Rue le Dodge (aka bumper cars), Speedway (driving antique cars), Berserker (cars that spin in a circle), Delta Flyer (gondola transportation across the park), Star Tower (an observation tower) and Flying Eagles (swinging but with a sail).
Lastly, Mass Effect: New Earth is a 4D Theater Show.
Kiddie Rides
We of course didn’t have any kids with us, but the kiddie area is typical of any theme park.
It’s Peanuts themed (Charlie Brown) and has all the classics that places like King’s Island and Knott’s Berry Farm all have.
But just so you have a list, here are all the kiddie rides in Great America:
- Character Carousel
- Flying Ace
- GR8 SK8
- Joe Cool’s Dodgem School
- Kite Eating Tree
- Lucy’s Crabbie Cabbies
- Peanuts 500
- Peanuts Pirates
- Planet Snoopy Construction Zone
- Sally’s Love Buggies
- Sally’s Swing Set
- Snoopy’s Space Buggies
- Soopy’s Space Race
- The Pumpkin Patch
- Woodstock Express
The vast majority of these rides are similar to Dumbo at Disney, but on a much smaller scale.
There’s a couple kiddie coasters, bumper cars, a mini drop tower, swings, and a play area.
➡ Food at California’s Great America
An important part of your Great America one day itinerary is definitely the food.
We obviously didn’t try every place in one day, so I can’t vouch for all the food in the park.
But pretty much all of it is your typical theme park food.
So let’s start with the foods we did try!
Pier 76 Cafe
This restaurant is actually located where you enter the water park area.
We weren’t craving anything in particular and didn’t want a super heavy meal, so we decided to just share some chicken strips and mac n cheese.
Here is where we learned a fun fact:
We have the Cedar Fair Platinum pass, which means we have unlimited admission for 1 year to EVERY Cedar Fair park in the world.
The pass was only about $200 by the way.
BUT we added a meal plan and a drink plan onto JP’s pass because Knott’s Berry Farm is included with this pass and it’s 10 minutes up the road from us.
We like to just stop in on our days off for a “free” meal and to ride a couple rides.
When you purchase the meal and/or drink plans, it implies it is just for that one park you purchased your pass for.
So we thought it only worked at Knott’s Berry Farm.
We were very pleasantly surprised at the register that the meal plan is transferable across all the Cedar Fair parks.
But for some reason the drink plan is NOT!
French Quarter Funnel Cakes & Churros
Later in the day we were ready for a little snack.
Who doesn’t love a good funnel cake?
I found out later that one of the food stands in the kiddie area had deep fried oreos also, but I was too full at that point for anything else, so I missed out.
Great American Pizza Company
We used the meal plan again for a late afternoon snack.
With the meal plan you have to wait 4 hours in-between meals for your next one.
We learned that with pizza you get 2 slices included in the free meal.
Other Dining Options
Now for all the places we didn’t get to:
- American Cafe
- Auntie Anne’s
- Churro Factory
- Coca-Cola Refresh Stations
- Food Festival
- Game Time Sports Bar
- Great American Hot Dogs and Snacks
- ICEE Mix It Up
- Maggie’s Smokehouse & Fried Chicken
- Panda Express
- Pizza Orleans
- Sally’s Sweet Treats
- Sand Bar
- Shark Bites
- Sierra Creek Lodge
- Snack Shack
- South Bay Cantina
- Starbucks
- Subway
You’ll notice some popular chains like Auntie Anne’s, ICEE, Coca-Cola, Panda Express, Starbucks, and Subway, plus a lot of snack and drink stands spread throughout the park.
➡ More Places Around California’s Great America
Great America has several themed areas.
Some are reminiscent of other Cedar Fair Parks, like Planet Snoopy, which is the kiddie area, while others are unique to this park.
The water park area is accessible directly from the theme park and it’s easy to spot with the giant “South Bay Shores” billboard.
There’s also a stage here where they have some live entertainment throughout the day.
New Orleans
Surprisingly Great America had it’s own little Bourbon Street.
It looked picture-perfect ready for Mardi Gras even though it was late July.
While we were there, they were hosting a food festival, but only on weekends.
They had food booths set up throughout the whole area featuring your typical New Orleans dishes.
Great America Park Entrance
The park entrance has lots of great photo op spots!
From the fountain, to the carousel, to the entrance signs, it’s a very Instagram friendly park.
Is The Fast Lane Pass Worth It?
Pro tip: Depending on when you’re visiting, it might be pretty busy.
We visited on a Wednesday at the end of July and every roller coaster had 90+ minute waits.
Many had 3 hour waits and these lines are not efficient like the Disney parks.
If you end up here on a day like this, just splurge on the Fast Lane Pass.
I know they’re ridiculously expensive, but it’s the only way you’ll get on any of the rides on a busy day.
With this pass all of our waits were under 30 minutes.
If you’re only visiting once, it’s a must!
Where to Stay When Visiting California’s Great America
When we visited the area, we spent our first night at the Hayes Mansion.
With the Hilton Friends & Family discount it was only $86 for the night so we just had to check it out!
The rest of our stay in the area was at the Homewood Suites in Palo Alto.
We moved over to this area because JP had to work during the week and we needed a room with a kitchen for breakfast and lunch each day.
This particular location happened to be the most cost effective, which is ultimately how we chose where to stay.
With our discount it was $104 a night the first 2 nights and $86 a night the next 2 nights.
✔ Hayes Mansion – A Hilton Curio Collection Resort (San Jose, California)
Hayes Mansion is about 25 minutes away from California’s Great America.
Check out our video walk-through tour of a standard King room in this video on our YouTube Channel.
👉 Click Here To Book Your Stay At Hayes Mansion Today!
✔ Homewood Suites Palo Alto
Homewood Suites Palo Alto is less than 20 minutes away from California’s Great America.
Check out our video walk-through tour of the standard King room in this video on our YouTube Channel.
👉 Click Here To Book Your Stay At Homewood Suites Palo Alto Today!
More Fun Things To Do Near California’s Great America
I highly recommend spending at least a couple of days exploring San Francisco while you’re in the area.
Some of our favorite places include visiting The Walt Disney Family Museum, the Famous Alcatraz Island Night Tour, and hiking around Muir Woods.
San Francisco is also home to a ton of iconic foods like clam chowder, sourdough bread from the Boudin Bakery, authentic Chinese food from Chinatown, and chocolate from Ghirardelli Square.
We have a guide on what food San Francisco is known for + where to find it) and all the best restaurants with a view.
If you’re visiting in the Winter, we have a post dedicated to all the best things to do in San Francisco in Winter and we have a guide on snow in San Francisco.
Lastly, there are also some nearby weekend getaway itineraries we recommend include wine tasting in areas like Napa Valley, Sonoma, and Calistoga.
Conclusion: California’s Great America One Day Itinerary
California’s Great America is a fun theme park in Northern California.
Being part of Cedar Fair, there are quite a few perks if you are a Cedar Fair passholder.
This Great America one day itinerary is perfect for seeing the best of the park if you’re just visiting for a short time.
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