2007 Consumer Report - California's Great America

Location: Santa Clara, California
Sample Injury Complaints
Type Ride Name Age / Sex Body Part Alleged Injury Cause of Injury

Wooden

Grizzly

29 / M Neck / Back Strain Rider indicates roughness of ride caused neck and back pain. Noticed that other riders complained of the same thing when exiting.

Wooden

Grizzly

32 / M Back / Head Strain / Ride Induced Migraine Roughness of ride induced a migraine headache. Rider further stated that ride also caused subsequent back pain due to it's rough nature and uncomfortable ride.

Steel

Vortex

39 / F Legs Cramps / Strain Rider indicates that during ride her calves tighten during inversions on the ride ultimately resulting in various leg cramps throughout the day.

This venue has had 1 safety alert and one report released:

Injury/Incident Trends:

Vortex

There have been many inquires regarding the Vortex roller coaster. This stand up roller coaster has induced leg cramps in many riders and has made walking for the rest of the day for many to be a chore. Our research shows that many of these injuries took place in and around June 19th - Aug 27th 2007 between the hours of 1pm-6pm. During that time, obviously, temperatures were scorching and many of the riders who came to ASO indicated that they had not had anything to eat or drink... Indicating prices were just too much. We suggest drinking plenty of fluids before entering the park. Obviously, stay away from the soda, pop, etc. during your visit. Our staff found that this venues first aid station will supply you with cold water, so utilize it if you need to!

Grizzly

Riders who rode the Grizzly roller coaster have only sent in complaints aimed at roughness and back, neck, and head related injuries. Head injuries, though, varied. Cut lips, biting of the tongue, biting the inside of the cheek, as well as headaches and Vertigo... We highly suggest skipping this attraction when you make a visit to California's Great America.

Boomerang Bay

A death in July of 2007 at this venue's Boomerang Bay was indeed tragic. Complaints coming out of this venue's Boomerang Bay center around unsupervised children running around, crashing into each other, and a overall reckless abandon and apathetic look towards the safety of others. We highly recommended that parents supervise their children while they enjoy Boomerang Bay. Just too many out of control elements for this venues staff to assess and observe. During visits many lifeguards had their hands full, on top of watching the safety of those in the pools. We've taken our notes from those visits and are / have devised several solutions to increase public safety within Boomerang Bay.

 

This venue has not changed much from last year. Feedback from this venue, unlike last year, was aimed more at problems regarding children safety. Boomerang Bay was the center of those concerns and we're devising solutions per public comments and our own observation efforts.

 

We still highly encourage the public to avoid riding the Grizzly roller coaster. Even during a ride that we took it was rough and hardly worth the time. The fact that this attraction has lines that are not long, is a good indication that the public knows how bad this ride is.

 

Visitors to this venue utilized AAA as well as Santa Clara, California Chamber of Commerce & Convention-Visitors Bureau and San Jose, California Convention & Visitors Bureau. Many of these visitors, it must be noted, now perceive this venue as a poor choice of recreation.

Check Other Cedar Fair Venues:

Venue Information:

Operating since 5/29/1976
Also Known As: Marriott's Great America; Paramount's Great America; Great America; Knott's Great America
Phone: 408-988-1776
Web: California's Great America's site
Address: 2401 Agnew Road
P.O. Box 1776
Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA

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