Ride With Us!
Welcome to the March 2009 edition of ACE NorCal News!
In this issue:
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Behind-the-Scenes Tour II Event
California’s Great America, March 2009 update
Gilroy Gardens, March 2009 update
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, March 2009 update
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, March 2009 update
— Steven Wilson
Our first regional event of 2009 was a big success! If you attended, you know what I mean.
Eighty-one members and guests registered for the Behind-the-Scenes Tour and Friday Night Social. Forty-eight people purchased mini-golf tickets, and nine teams of four competed. Team “Wild Mice” won the mini-golf tournament, Congratulations go out to Aaron Browne and Stephen Lesh from Sunnyvale, Paul Asente from Redwood City, and Chris Head from San Francisco. The Wild Mice had the combined winning score of 169, and won a combination of hard cover editions of “The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – A Century by the Sea” and the 100th Anniversary DVD donated by Darren R. Besoyan and the Santa Cruz Seaside Company.
Saturday morning ERT was attended by 60+ members and guests, and the Giant Dipper was surprisingly flying for morning ERT. Thankfully, the threatening rains held off until Sunday, and all enjoyed a day of fun, sun, food, and rides at the 102-year-old historic seaside amusement park.
Look for the full story and photos in the April issue of ACE NorCal News.
— Darren R. Besoyan; photo: Steven Wilson
New wooden roller coaster project update: After postponing a decision on the coaster to a February City Council meeting, the decision has now been pushed out until April. Doesn’t it make you want to SCREAM???
To stay up to date on developments at the park, remember to visit our friend Al Garcia’s official blog: Inside Track with Al Garcia.
Get ready! California’s Great America’s 2009 season opens on Sunday, March 29th. Now would be a great time to pick up your season passes: http://www.cagreatamerica.com/shop/shopping_season_pass.cfm
For more information, visit California’s Great America’s web site.
— Steven Wilson; photo: Steven Wilson
Remember that Gilroy Gardens will open for the 2009 Season on Saturday, April 4th. With the park under Cedar Fair management, you have a variety of options when it comes to enjoying Gilroy Gardens on a season pass. If you buy season passes from California’s Great America (CGA), admission to Gilroy Gardens is included on both Gold and Platinum season passes. Neither of these CGA passes include parking at Gilroy Gardens. If you buy a Gilroy Gardens membership, you enjoy a full season of admission to the park as well as special benefits at Gilroy Gardens not included on the CGA season passes. In addition, Gilroy Gardens memberships are fully tax deductible! For more information about Gilroy Gardens memberships, go to http://www.gilroygardens.org/tickets.html .
Gilroy Gardens’ web site: http://www.gilroygardens.org/
— Steven Wilson
Ride the world-famous Giant Dipper roller coaster and enjoy the spectacular beachfront setting on beautiful Monterey Bay. The ADMISSION FREE Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park has something for everyone! Rides and attractions are open weekends and holidays. Arcades, mini-golf, and bowling are open daily.
The Beach Boardwalk is using Twitter! Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Join today to start receiving Beach Boardwalk’s updates: https://twitter.com/signup?follow=beachboardwalk&commit=Join+today%21
Add the Boardwalk as a friend on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/srch.php?nm=beach+boardwalk
Twenty (20) plus events are listed on their events page: http://beachboardwalk.com/01_events.html
— Darren R. Besoyan and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk; photo: Steven Wilson
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has already opened for the season! Get out to the park on March weekends to get your 2009 coaster season rolling into high gear. The operating schedule and upcoming events are here:
http://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/events/CalendarEvents.aspx
To get the park’s email newsletter, go to http://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/footerNav/ENews.aspx to join the Six Flags Funatics.
For full Six Flags Discovery Kingdom information, go to:
http://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/
— Steven Wilson