Great America Tips And Insider Tricks! Family Entertainment You’ll Love!

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Great America, Santa Clara, California: We love a lifestyle with traveling. We also love entertainment. What happens when you add a short day trip plus entertainment? For us, it was Great America, CA. We had to share our tips and insider tricks we found with you!

You might remember when I mentioned that we were going to take a trip to check out the theme park. You can see my previous post here: Great America Theme Park You’ll Flip Over And Discount. 

Are you looking for something else? See all our travel posts.

I promised when we got back, I’d share a few family photos of our trip, along with some insider tips and tricks for making the most of your family entertainment at Great America.

Traveling by Car To Great America

Since we traveled almost three hours to get there, we decided to eat prior to heading into the park. We stopped along the way in Morgan Hill. We hit up their local In & Out Burger. But if you want to eat in the park, there is plenty to choose from. Lots of eats and treats.

I knew on this day, not everyone would make it without the stop. Have you ever woken up teens to get somewhere? Yeah, excited or not, nobody likes to wake up before they are ready to.

Great America Tips

Note: You can bring in water, but no food (as of this posting/subject to change). I’ll list all my tips at the end of the post.

They were all so excited to get in to hop on rides that we didn’t get this photo op until after our adventure. I’m happy to say we all had a blast. 

Since we are a family of all ages, from the little ones to the teens, older kids have kids. We made a plan. That was to stay together for a while, break up into different areas, and then meet up again.

Before entering the park, there is security at the entrance. You also see the security here and there as you make your way around. We ran into helpful staff when we couldn’t find a ride we were helped with directions. There are maps as you enter, grab one.

Entertainment

Let’s go! Great America

Double-Decker Ferris Wheel

 First, stop the two-level Merry Go Round. It’s beautiful, fun, and a mild ride for the little ones, or young at heart. There are so many animals to pick from. A cat carrying a fish, lion, giraffe, and horses, and we have a winner for the little one. Eli picked a Reindeer.

Next up, the swings! This ride is gorgeous! Even little Eli wanted to ride it, but we felt he was too little. The rest of the gang hopped on. We watched and took photos.

Ride The Swings! 

This gets them flying! Thumbs up. Warmed up for roller coaster and fast flipping fun!

Roller Coasters! 

This got a thumbs-up! This is when we split up, half of us to Snoopy’s area (taking my grandson Eli around), the older kids headed to the Vortex and other rides.

Great America Rides

A snapshot of just a few of the rides we went on in Great America theme park. Click to view the image larger

• The teen’s favorite rides were: Vortex, Flight Deck, Roller Coasters & Rip Roaring Rapids (Log Ride).
• Eli’s favorite rides in the Planet Snoopy: Love Buggies, Mini Roller Coaster, Flying Pumpkins, and Air Plane Ride.
• The busiest ride with the longest wait, The Grisly. Go when the park opens. 
• We all enjoyed the sky tram and the Double Decker Merry Go Round.
• We loved the rides that were rated, which made it helpful to know who it was suited for.

Tip if you have smaller kids going to Great America:

Eli was so excited about the race car ride that he started to run, then tripped on the connector for the ride as he went to the wrong side to get in. Luckily he ended up fine. Only with a few scraps and hurt feelings. A lovely lady shared first aid items. I highly recommend walking the little ones onto their rides! We were behind him but probably should have been holding his hand.

We stopped at the arcades to meet up with the teens. They had been playing games while we took Eli back for final rides.

Theme Park Treats & Shops

We all grabbed our favorite park treats to share: cotton candy, soft ice cream, and big pretzels. Pressed a penny for Eli with the park’s image on it. Then headed for one last family spin on the merry-go-round. There are plenty of shops to purchase souvenirs.

Tips for Great America Park

• Bring charged-up cell phones to keep in touch with others at your party.
• Bring layers. It’s CA. It might start foggy and end up hot! (sunglasses and hat if summer)
• Sunscreen and first aid supplies (at least a small kit)
• Wipes! You’re bound to want to wipe your hands, and the bathrooms are spread out a bit.
• Water! Seriously, you can fill it up at fountains too. Forget it, and you will pay $4. Or find the water fountains near the bathrooms.
• A backpack to toss all the stuff and all the extra layers.
• Camera, because who doesn’t love keeping family memories?
• Your eyeglass cases, as you’ll want to take them off for rides that flip.
• Good walking shoes, you’re covering lots of areas.
• If you have little ones, a change of clothes…
• If it’s hot, bring their swimsuits: They have water centers and bubble areas for the kids! (towel? or drip dry)
• Grab a map at the gate to make your plan
• Know where the bathrooms are, especially if you have little ones.
• Live closer than we do? You might want to grab a season pass; passes are already on sale!
• To See Great America’s Insider Tips
• They do have fast lane (pass) options; see the site for details. This is an additional charge on top of the entrance ticket.
• Have a great time!

Right now, Great America is still open on weekends. We missed their haunt nights in October. But, heard it was awesome.

We did see some stuff still up when visiting. If you head there, grab the discount from the other post before you get your tickets. We hope you enjoy the park as much as we did. We can’t wait to go again. PS. If you can: Visit during when it’s not the summer season. It is great for getting on rides quickly, with short or no wait times. Live in CA. You might consider giving the gift of a season pass as a holiday gift.

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Where to Find Great America Deals and Discounts

• Find out more and visit: GreatAmericaCA
• Enter discounts in the search bar and find deals and exclusive offers! Right on their site!!

Have you been to Great America? Do you have any tips for visiting theme parks?

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