Marriott's GREAT AMERICA parks 1978

1976年にオープンしたアメリカ・カリフォルニア州サンタクララの遊園地マリオッツ・グレートアメリカパークス。撮影は1978年です。現在はカリフォルニアズグレートアメリカに変わりました。

[@Toast0808]

Thank You so much for this. I visited Marriot’s Great America in Santa Clara for the first time when I was 11in 1979. Such a nice and fun park and all that open space around it, not yet spoiled by urban sprawl. The park today is pretty unrecognizable from what it once was.

[@denisemayosky1955]

I *loved* the Orbit! I rode it later on, but still!

[@Strangenstein]

Love, love, LOVE the footage of The Turn of the Century coaster. That was the first big coaster I ever rode. The first drop isn't real big, but those two bunny hills were amazing. I like that version of the coaster much better than The Demon. Thanks so much for posting this.

[@abbabeththehamster4320]

I rode the Demon in Illinois and hated it. Third-worst roller coaster I've ever ridden. According to Great America's website, the amount of airtime on those two hills was unique to Turn of the Century, and (according to the site) no other Arrow coaster produced as much amazing airtime in short bursts. Given that the second loop on Demon was one of two places I hit my head, now I feel cheated. I wish I could have ridden the Turn of the Century version, but, alas, I wasn't born yet. :-(

[@christophereichorn5036]

Turn of the Century's double corkscrew track was upgrade in 1978 becuase Arrow corkscrew was recalled of very noise?

[@scottnelson2384]

You can still ride it! The Demon was built by simply adding on to the Turn of the Century, and replacing part of it. The original famous sideways cork-screwing loops are in it.

[@Strangenstein]

@@abbabeththehamster4320 My family made our first trip to Marriott's Great America (Illinois) in late October of 1977. It was a cloudy, windy, cold day so there weren't many people at the park. We rode Turn of the Century 11 times and Willard's Whizzer 7 times. We also rode everything else several times. I'd been excited for weeks about going to the park, but also a little nervous since Turn of the Century was going to be my first big coaster. I remember pulling into the parking lot a little before they opened and I could see a train of cars going up the lift hill of Turn of the Century. They were doing a test run before everything opened. I recall standing in the parking lot and watching the cars go over the edge of the drop -- but I couldn't see the entire drop, so I wasn't sure how big/long/steep it was. When my friend and I rode it for the first time, we sat somewhere near the middle. I vividly recall being nervous about the corkscrews, wondering what they'd feel like. Turns out the best part of the ride was the first drop, followed by those two bunny hills. They gave tremendous airtime! As we came up the hill and turned left toward the corkscrews I held on tight -- pffft, they turned out to be nothing. It was a really fun day and one I'll never forget.

[@abbabeththehamster4320]

@@Strangenstein You're lucky that you got to experience the airtime pops on that thing!

[@richardpaggi9988]

What good memories!!! Don’t get me wrong it’s nice What it is today under six flags but it seems so cluttered with all the rides they have. When it was under Marriotts, it looked beautiful!

[@nathanlopez5667]

almost every time I see an old video both of the Santa Clara park it never shows the Whizzer rollercoaster up close but in this video you can see it in the background next to the lift hill of turn of the century aka the demon

[@michaelgreenslade7260]

Santa Clara without all the high tech high rises

[@denisemayosky1955]

So much better then!

[@seanmick3093]

Whizzer was the first roller coaster, I ever rode on.

[@denisemayosky1955]

Same here. It scared me!

[@richardpaggi9988]

Me too!!

[@norcalemt02]

RIP great America

[@The_Husband_of_Jane_Lane]

My mom was 15 years old (didn't turned 16 years old until September 29th) when this happened.

[@SouthernOregonReps]

Turn if the century looks so much fun! To bad I was 2 in 1978

[@NMAfreak]

So is this video of Gurnee or Santa Clara, I mean, it's so close to the layout of what I remember in Gurnee it could be either, but construction of a hotel or something in the background of Turn of the Century makes me think this for sure is Santa Clara. Did Santa Clara also have 2 gondola rides, with one actually going nowhere and you had to ride back to where you came from? I have been to Great America once a year every year since the year it opened, and now our whole family has season passes every year, even though we are 2-1/2 hours away

[@gabbystufflebeam7511]

maddox six flags great america had a fire issue

[@nathanlopez5667]

@ yes correct because the first season of the gulf coaster in Gurnee was removed due to a fire and other problems the one is Santa Clara lasted until the 1980 season ended

[@jojovaldez2766]

I don t hardly go there anymore these days They don t advertise that place on TV commercials I ve been going to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

[@bandsreunited]

I'm currently writing a book on the second generation of amusement rides and I'm mentioning the Turn of the Century coaster seen here at 1:11. Do you know if this is the park in CA or IL? Thank you kindly.

[@kbigstone]

+bandsreunited This park is located in Santa Clara, California.

[@bandsreunited]

+kbigstone Thank you for kindly for the information. I have a rare factory photo from Waagner-Biro, who manufactured the Sky Whirl, and it features red track pieces from Turn of the Century, laying next to the giant triple wheel, on the ground. However, since I've only been to Great America in Gurnee once and never to Santa Clara, I wanted to make sure that I cited the location correctly. I appreciate it immensely.

[@nathanlopez5667]

+bandsreunited both park's look pretty much exactly the same when they were both owned by Marriott with the exact same rides and attractions it's the 40th anniversary this month when they opened the gates to both

[@behindthespotlight7983]

bandsreunited That Park is positivity Santa Clara CA

[@nathanlopez5667]

1979

[@jojovaldez2766]

Been.there.rode.the.Turn.Of.The.Century.then.renamed.it.to.The.Demon

[@steliokontos1180]

What.is.with.the.periods.after.every.word.?

[@jolietpinball7439]

@@steliokontos1180 Perhaps a broken space bar.

[@jojovaldez2766]

@@jolietpinball7439 yeah thats what it is