And just like I mentioned my last update at SFDK, I finally made it back to California's Great America, for the weekend after opening weekend! As I mentioned in the subtitle, it's the 50th anniversary of the park and to be honest, with all the storm clouds over the park, I didn't quite know what to expect. Well, it both disappointed and exceeded my expectations. But let's get started!

50th Anniversary

Thank you for joining me for another year of CGA updates!

This year is a special one, being the 50th year of this awesome park we have!

Let's start off with the year's map. Looks pretty similar to last years!

Other than the flags, the biggest change around the park was a shortened Carousel stage and some signage there

But when I say I wasn't disappointed, that mostly falls on the special 50th merch that we did end up getting

The best item in my eyes is this great jacket that looked very similar to the Kings Dominion one I picked up last year

Plenty left!

I was less a fan of this design but glad to see the 50th celebrated!

The t-shirt though, I was a big fan of!

And the camp shirt was very cool!

And that's pretty much the end of the 50th aniversary stuff. I think maybe the park got a general refresh but the park always looks pretty good so not too much of a difference. With how uncertain (or maybe certain in a bad direction) the future of the park is, I can't say that I expected a ton but it's still disappointing to see so little celebration for a 50th anniversary.

General Updates

The closed rides today even though Patriot and Flight Deck both ended up being open

Replacing a pizza stand over near Railblazer and Maggie Browns, we have a new drink stand called Station Refresh

It serves both soft drinks and alcoholic beverages

The garden tunnel is in midsummer form right now and looks great!

Has this been sponsored by Snickers before? I don't remember it and it might be part of the Six Flags-ization of the park...

Were the trees over by Woodstock Express always this sparse?

Although Patriot and Flight Deck opened, the rapids ride was indeed closed

Although there wasn't a show at the gazebo in All American Corners, there will be later this year!

Merle's was closed but it's still on the map so I'm not too concerned! But I'll keep an eye out

And finally, keep your eye out for a sale over at Bayou Outfitter!

Rides

And finally, I ended up getting a new camera and some lenses and decided to put them to the test! Give these pictures a look, I think they ended up pretty good!

I got a lot of shots of Railblazer

Grizzly is more fun to take pictures of than to ride

I can't believe I've never thought to get this angle of Patriot

And ending with an old favorite angle of Flight Deck

And that ends our update for the day! It was so good to get back to our park on what's in all likelihood one of the last years. I will cherish my time at the park much more this year than I have in the past. And of course, I'll keep you updated about any changes over the next few months!