Visiting California’s Great America: Family Fun

I have a confession to make. Out of the 29 years I have been alive/lived in California I have never been to Great America in Santa Clara. Shocking right? When I told my husband that, the look on his face was all the words he needed to say. You see, growing up he went there often, probably a few times a month, so you can imagine his shock. However this made him even more excited that we were going to go because it was not only my first time, but my kids as well.

The day we chose to go couldn’t have been a more perfect day. The weather was warm (but not too hot) and Great America wasn’t too packed at all! Being it was a weekend, I had expected to easily wait in lines for around 40 minutes, but because school had just started again, many people probably decided to stay home and go school shopping, etc. The longest we waited in line was probably around 15 minutes and that was my husband waiting to get on Drop Tower. Not having to wait in a long line made visiting an amusement park easy with a toddler.

We grabbed a map right when we got into California’s Great America and decided we would visit Planet Snoopy first.

Both my kids love The Peanuts characters are were very excited to see what rides they could ride and which characters they would meet.

Once inside Planet Snoopy my toddler immediately noticed huge pumpkins he could ride on. So we hopped on over to “The Pumpkin Patch” where he could ride on some spinning pumpkins. He loved the ride so much that he rode it three times in a row! The rides at Planet Snoopy were perfect for the little ones. Even my seven year old enjoyed some on the rides.

One ride in particular my oldest was really looking forward to riding was Woodstock Express, however it wasn’t running that day so we decided to try another kid-friendly roller coaster  in a different area called Psycho Mouse. This was his first real roller coaster ride and it was a fun one at that.

After riding several rides throughout California’s Great America we decided it was time for a rest so we headed back to Planet Snoopy to watch a show. Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy put on an amazing baseball game and we were even chosen to sit in the dugout! My kids couldn’t have felt more special as Charlie Brown passed the baseball back and forth with them.

Our experience at California’s Great America was one that we will never forget! The kids and I had a lot of fun and we will definitely be making our way back soon. In fact, they have some exciting events planned for Halloween! We can’t wait to check out Snoopy’s Trick-Or-Treat Festival which runs from now until Oct. 27 (Fridays-Sundays).

Guests 12 and younger can race through a hay maze, decorate pumpkins or watch the Fun House Express video in the action theater. Of course, the younger set will enjoy wearing their costumes to Great America and trick-or-treating with Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. And you can’t forget to have the little ones visit their giant talking pumpkin that will interact with kids throughout Snoopy’s Trick-Or-Treat Festival. Tickets can be found online at www.cagreatamerica.com for as little as $34.99.

Whether you are visiting California’s Bay Area for the first time, or live here, you will have to plan a visit to California’s Great America!

Huge thank you to Ca’s Great America for hosting my family’s visit. Opinions are all mine.