All posts by Steven

California’s Great America has opened for the 2009 season! And for Spring Break, the park will be open daily from April 10th through the 19th. For details, check out the park’s operating calendar.

April is filled with special events at California’s Great America. In addition to Spring Break, the park is hosting these events:

• California’s Great America Funnel Cake Eating Championship, Saturday, 11 April
• Easter Egg Hunt, Sunday, 12 April
• Dance Days, 18, 19, 25, and 26 April
• Mission City 5K Run for Fun , Sunday, 26 April

For details on these events, see the park’s events page.

For more information about California’s Great America, visit the park’s web site.

— Steven Wilson

Gilroy Gardens opens for the 2009 Season on Saturday, April 4th. It’s hard to believe, but this will be the park’s ninth season already! For Spring Break, Gilroy Gardens will be open daily from April 10th through the 19th. For more details, see the park’s operating calendar.

With Gilroy Gardens 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 Gilroy Gardens tickets page .

For more information, visit Gilroy Gardens web site.

— Steven Wilson

The ADMISSION FREE Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park has something for everyone! It’s Spring Break time, and that means the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will be open daily from April 4-30, 2009, in both full and limited operation. Arcades, Neptune’s Kingdom, and the Boardwalk Bowl are open daily. For the full operating schedule, please visit: http://www.beachboardwalk.com/calendar/2009/april.html

An extra special Spring Break Party will be held April 15-17, 2009, and they are providing quite a line up of activities and special guests.

Wednesday, April 15th

* Scooby Doo appearance
* Kids Dance Party, sponsored by Arthur Murray San Jose
* San Jose Earthquakes inflatable games on the beach
* Live performance by School of Rock

Thursday, April 16th

* Soccer Clinics happening daily by the Santa Cruz Beach Soccer Club
* San Jose Earthquakes talent appearance
* San Jose Earthquakes inflatable games on the beach
* Come meet former The Ultimate Fighter contestant, and current UFC lightweight Kenny Florian
* Scooby Doo appearance
* Kids Dance Party, sponsored by Arthur Murray San Jose
* Live performance by Zoo Station

Friday, April 17th

* San Jose Earthquakes inflatable games on the beach
* Scooby Doo appearance
* Kids Dance Party, sponsored by Arthur Murray San Jose
* Vh1 Confessions of a Teen Idol talent appearances! Including:
* David Chokachi – appeared as Cody Madison in Baywatch
* Billy Hufsey – you might remember the hit show FAME!
* Jeremy Jackson – remember Hobie, David Hasselhoff’s son on Baywatch!
* Eric Nies – one of the first cast members of MTV’s Real World New York!
* Live performance by Bayonics

For full details regarding the Spring Break Event, please visit: Comcast Spring Break

Hey parents, did you know that now small kids can ride for Free? Children under 36″ can enjoy some rides for free when they are with a ticketed chaperone*? Children under 36″ tall can ride the following for free with a paid chaperone: Speedway, Convoy, Sea Dragons, and Merry-Go-Round. Children under 34″ inches can also ride the following for free with a paid chaperone: Cave Train, Ferris Wheel, Ghost Blasters, Haunted Castle, Riptide, and Sky Glider. *A chaperone is someone the ride operator determines is capable of controlling the actions of the smaller rider.

Looking forward, The lineup for 2009 Free Friday Night Bands on the Beach will be emailed to all Big Kahuna Club members on April 10. Five of the bands in this year’s line up are visiting the Boardwalk for the very first time and they all have a knack for mega hits! And if you enjoyed the Moscow Circus and Chinese Acrobats in past years, you’ll love this year’s new show, which will also be announced on April 10. Sign up to receive the Big Kahuna Club e-Newsletter and get the latest Boardwalk insider news and money-saving tips at: Big Kahuna Club e-Newsletter

Sign up for the Boardwalk’s YouTube Channel “beachboardwalkfun”. Speaking of YouTube, the 28th Annual Clam Chowder Cook Off & Festival was a huge success, raising a record $66,000 for Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation! Good Samaritan Hospital from San Jose was the clear “People’s Choice” winner, their clam chowder MASH unit was a big crowd pleaser. Check out this fun video showing all the clammy fun at: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Clam Chowder Cook-off 2009 video on YouTube

Follow the Boardwalk on Twitter “beachboardwalk”

Add the Boardwalk as a friend on facebook “beachboardwalk”

— Darren R. Besoyan, Brigid Fuller, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Spring Break is the main focus for SFDK in April, with operating hours every day from April 3rd through April 19th. After the 19th hours return to Friday, Saturday and Sunday only.

Animal shows and exhibits are touted as new for 2009, with more interactive experiences than ever. “Odin’s Temple of the Tiger,” the new venue for the park’s lively and water-loving tigers, opens later this Spring.

“Coaster Alley” should be in full swing as well, including favorites like ROAR! and Medusa. Remember the park has eight coasters total, so rack up those ride totals (although if you’re a grown-up you may have to ask someone a wee bit younger to help you do so on a couple of them!).

The park’s summer concert series has been announced. Click on the park’s website at the end of this update for details.

Currently 2009 Season Passes are on sale for $49.99, only $5.00 more than a one-day admission ticket! You can buy and print them on the park’s website.

And, a fun promotion to end this update: pay just $6.00 admission on April 3rd if you dress like Six Flags’ “Mr. Six,” the company’s popular, bespectacled fun-loving senior citizen.

Details for all of the above are at the park’s website, http://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/index.aspx

— Gerry Watt and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

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