When Marriott’s Great America theme park opened in 1976, it was a big deal for Northern California residents. They no longer needed to drive five or six hours to Southern California to visit a theme park, such as Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, or Magic Mountain.
On my first visit to Great America a month after it opened, I tried something I had never heard of: a Cherry Coke. You could buy a Coca-Cola with cherry syrup added to the drink at the concession stand. It was a novelty, since Coca-Cola didn’t manufacture Cherry Coke until 1985.
I will still have the memories of that first visit as California Great America disappears in 2027.
Six Flags California’s Great America will permanently close after Labor Day 2027.SpVVK / Getty Images
California Great America closing
California’s Great America will close its gates for the final time on Labor Day, Sept. 6, 2027, after celebrating its final season.
The Six Flags theme park will open for the final year on Saturday, March 27, 2027, in Santa Clara, Calif, according to the park’s 2027 operating schedule. The park is currently closed until the final season opening date.
“For more than five decades, this Santa Clara theme park has brought people together, created family traditions and served as the backdrop for unforgettable memories,” California’s Great America’s Park Manager Dave Vosejpka said in a statement.
“The Farewell Season is an opportunity for generations of Bay Area guests to return, spend time with family and friends, and revisit the attractions and traditions that have made the park in Santa Clara, California such a meaningful part of the community,” Vosejpka.
Theme park open in Bicentennial year
The 50-year-old theme park opened in 1976 in the nation’s Bicentennial year as Marriott’s Great America, surrounded by a lone Marriott hotel and hundreds of acres of vacant land that would eventually develop into Silicon Valley office and research and development properties.
The theme park evolved over the years as it was sold to Paramount Parks in 1992, becoming Paramount’s Great America, until Cedar Fair bought the park in 2006.
The theme park’s neighbor across its parking lot is the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, which opened in 2014.
Cedar Fair sells theme park land
The events surrounding the closing of California’s Great America date back to 2022, when the park’s previous owner, Cedar Fair, revealed that it had sold the 112 acres of land beneath the theme park, but not the park’s rides and vertical improvements, to real estate developer Prologis.
Under an agreement between the theme park owner and the developer, California’s Great America could continue operating for up to 11 years under a lease. An initial lease was set to expire in June 2028, with a five-year extension option, but the owner will not exercise its extension.
Theme park companies Cedar Fair and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced a merger on Nov. 2, 2023, with a pro forma enterprise value of $8 billion. The combined company consisted of 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and 9 resort properties across 17 states, Canada, and Mexico at the time.
The companies also merged all of their intellectual property portfolios into all of their parks, which include Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and Peanuts.
Since the merger was completed, Six Flags Entertainment Corp. has been downsizing its facility portfolio and currently operates 20 amusement parks, 14 water parks, and 9 resort properties in 13 states, Canada, Mexico, and one park in Saudi Arabia, as of Nov. 6.
WinterFest event discontinued
Six Flags indicated that it would not likely extend its lease on California Great America with Prologis beginning in 2025 as the theme park began reducing its season dates at the Santa Clara park and discontinued its holiday season WinterFest event, which had been Cedar Fair’s version of the Six Flags Holiday in the Park event.
WinterFest’s first season began November 2016 and ran each holiday season from November until just after New Year’s Day, but the 2024 WinterFest would be California Great America’s last after Six Flags sent messages to season pass holders on Dec. 19, 2024, that the park’s 2025 season would run from April until late October 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.
“Seasonal events will not be part of the 2025 calendar,” Six Flags told pass holders.
Six Flags, however extended California Great America’s 2026 season past the original Labor Day closing schedule and instead closed the season after Halloween on Nov. 1.
Related: Elon Musk says Tesla will stop making iconic vehicles