celebrating the history of the Marriott's GREAT AMERICA parks
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Six Flags Great America
California’s Great America
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In 1976, the Marriott Corporation opened two Marriott’s GREAT AMERICA parks. The two parks represented the state of the art in theme park design and attractions at that time. First to open was Marriott’s GREAT AMERICA in Santa Clara, California. Shortly after the Santa Clara park began operations, Marriott’s GREAT AMERICA in Gurnee, Illinois celebrated its grand opening. A third park in the Washington, DC metropolitan area was also to have opened in 1976. Local opposition, however, at two proposed sites prevented the third park from becoming a reality.
Simultaneously building two major theme parks and opening them just over two months apart was an unprecedented achievement in the theme park industry. The Marriott’s Great America parks were designed and constructed with great dedication to authentic theming that was reflected in the rides, entertainment, food, merchandise, and more. The goal was to provide a top-quality theme park experience for families to enjoy together.
View a selection of Marriott’s Great America press releases:
Amusement rides were the key ingredient for fun at Marriott’s GREAT AMERICA. In the rides section of GREATAMERICAparks.com our focus for now is on all the rides from the Marriott years.
Marriott’s GREAT AMERICA put a lot of emphasis on shows and performers. There were lavish musical shows, parades, marching bands, street performers, and even a circus. Here we will take a look back at the variety of shows and performers featured at Marriott’s GREAT AMERICA.
Visit the Circus Fantastic photo album.
Visit the Grand Music Hall photo album.
Visit the GREAT AMERICA band photo album.
Visit the Merry Mardi Gras Parade photo album.
Visit the Theatre Royale photo album.
See photo albums of Great America submitted by site visitors here. If you’d like to submit photos for a Great America photo album, please send a message via the contact page.
The discussion forms have been set to read-only during site transition. All of the posts have been preserved for you to see.
Terrible news for the Santa Clara park. Not this again! Stay tuned. Text from Cedar Fair press release today: CEDAR FAIR CAPITALIZES ON OPPORTUNITY TO SELL ITS LAND AT CALIFORNIA’S GREAT AMERICA AMUSEMENT PARK June 27, 2022 Cedar Fair will continue operating Great America under a long-term lease agreement as part of an eventual wind-down …
The day kicked off with an opening ceremony that took place on a platform set up at the front of the Columbia Carousel’s reflecting pool. Speakers and special guests included J.W. “Bill” Marriott Jr., the park’s designer Randall Duell, and Mel Blanc. Marching bands from nearby high schools lined the sides of the reflecting pool while hundreds of balloons took to the sky above the Columbia.
March 20, 2021: On this day forty-five years ago, the very first Marriott’s Great America park opened to the public for the first time. That morning, growing crowds, pictured above, gathered outside the front gates eager to be among the first experience this new Country of Fun in Santa Clara, California.