Park Environs - Gurnee vs. Santa Clara

[WestBurbs14]

I wonder what people's opinions are on how well the two parks give you an immersion experience. I.e., do you feel lost in the park or are you aware of the fact that it's surrounded by other stuff? I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have attended both parks in recent years. I'll say that judging from satellite photos and stuff that people have linked to here, it seems that Santa Clara has more close-in tall buildings that are visible from within the park.

[Angry_Gumball]

Unfortunately, all those surrounding buildings by the carousel made the whole plaza seem to shrink including the carousel. I remember as a kid that the carousel looked massive. Depending on where I'm at in the park now, I don't really see outside the park unless I'm on a coaster or Drop Zone.

[ElkGroveGroovin]

For me in SC, ever since they torn down the railroad and redid the Carousel Plaza area, it seems that there are too many wide open spaces. Paramount's downfall unfortunately was the way they redid the themeing (if you call it that) and the removal of iconic rides and buildings. The old Yukon Territory/Yankee Harbor area where all the old buildings are now painted bright neon colors because of the Nickelodeon Central area look awful and dont make any sense. Also before the boom of Silicon Valley, you were able to see the park from the outside on the main parkway with the old Triple Wheel & Demon sticking out, but now with Yahoo & other buildings popping along the side of the park including ATI which took some land on the parking lot, the only sign there is a park there is the Drop Zone & Sky Tower sticking out. I'm hoping with Cedar Fair in charge, Great America will become a "theme park" again and not just another noisy amusement park. Just my 2 cents.

[PGA ROCKS]

^I do hope that Cedar Fair can do something good with the park. Unfortunately, I hear that C.F. does not do theming. I've even heard rumors that Top Gun may lose its theme!