On a recent day off, I went to Great America in Santa Clara. The park has had many owners. It was owned by Marriot at first. Paramount Studios owned it at one time. Now its owned by a company that owns a chain of parks. The name fails my memory. When Paramount sold the park, they took their ball with them. This coaster was named after the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun. Now its called Flight Deck.
It has been several years since my last visit but was always a much anticipated destination during my teen years. As is true for any teen who have access to a major theme park. One of my favorite rides is in the class of Drop Zone Stunt Tower. These are simple rides that take you high in the air then drop you. A split second of free fall before the brakes take hold and slow you down for a safe landing. The video below gives the vantage point of the ride from the rider's point of view
My second favorite are the coasters. I enjoy the initial plunge of a good steel coaster. The rest of the twists, loop to loops, and corkscrews on the ride are of little consequence to me. Thats why this comes in second to the previously mention ride. A staple of the parks are the water rides as they usually operate during the warm to hot days of summer. Great America has a few of these rides as well as a water park to stave off the heat. I find that as I get older, I am less likely to want to get wet at these establishments
