Okay, we did it again. After finishing up at Gilroy Gardens and getting something to eat, we were headed back to our hotel and decided to go back to California’s Great America (CGA) for a few hours before close. It worked out nicely for us yesterday after our plane landed. Why not do it again and see what we could get in this time?
If anything we could try for Flight Deck and maybe get in some extra rides on Gold Striker and/or Railblazer with all those rides at the front of the park. And if we had enough time, I also wanted to see if Mass Effect: New Earth was running. We missed that one yesterday and I have heard it’s not always open.
Whatever We Got, We Got
While we didn’t get in as many rides as we did our first go around with this idea (due to having less time), we still managed five rides before park close. That was still worth the visit to us. It was better than anything else we could think of doing in the area or just going back to the hotel and doing much of nothing. And not only did we get in our ride on Flight Deck and Mass Effect, we did get to ride Railblazer and Gold Striker again too.
Flight Deck
I always wanted to ride this B&M Invert. I heard it was short, but seeing this ride’s layout made me realize that this would be one intense coaster. That finale down by the water also looked awesome everytime I watched a POV or saw someone’s photos of the ride.
We made Flight Deck our first ride. It was our last remaining coaster credit. Well, technically for Sam. I didn’t fit on Woodstock Express yesterday due to being too big for its seatbelts. Oh well.
So did Flight Deck live up to its perceived intensity? It did. It reminds me a bit of a Batman clone, but with a unique layout. It was whippy and I felt the blood rushing down to my legs and feet numerous times. I enjoyed this ride and was looking forward to riding it again in a few days.
Mass Effect: New Earth
Sam and I tried to do Mass Effect: New Earth toward the end of our night yesterday, but there was a malfunction and we would have to wait for another show cycle. There was a line and we weren’t even sure if we’d have to wait for yet another showing. We decided to to go ride something else.
This time there was no line this time and a show was coming up. We entered the line, waited for a bit and um… Yeah. Experienced Mass Effect: New Earth. To be honest, I could barely understand what our live actor was saying through the entirety of the show. The movie didn’t really do much for me either as the whole premise was not clear to Sam or myself. We got off saying, “Well, we did it.”
I had shared some photos of the building and props by the entrance doors with Eric back home. He is a huge fan of this game franchise and he wanted to know what I thought of the ride/show. When I told him, he too was bummed for us. I don’t think he would have cared much for it either.
Railblazer
After thinking about my rides on Railblazer overnight, I really wanted to experience it again. I thought I’d have to wait a few days for our full day at the park, but I was getting another chance one day later.
This ride was certainly better. I also realized that the plastic around the over the shoulder restraints slides up and down the straps. I slid them up and they no longer dug into my collarbone. That alone made for a nicer experience, especially during those strong ejector airtime moments, although I still do stand by some of my overall complaints about this ride model that I discussed in the previous CGA trip report.
With this ride and yesterday’s in the books I can confirm that I do enjoy this model of RMC Raptor more than that of Jersey Devil.
Final Ride Counts
Flight Deck (1)
Gold Striker (2)
Mass Effect: New Earth (1)
Railblazer (1)
Not a Lot of Time, But Enough
Although we entered the park with only a couple of hours left in operations, we secured ourselves some great rides once again. Having a hotel so close to one of the parks this trip has come in handy twice in two days already. I’m not sure if our plans will allow us to do this again this trip, but that’s totally fine. We got to ride every major coaster at the park over two short visits already. When we spend our full day here later this trip, we can focus on the rides we really enjoy or want to try again. Maybe we can squeeze in some flat rides too?
I do have my camera with me, so I know I’ll be blanketing this park with photos during our full day like I did earlier at Gilroy Gardens. The photos you’ve seen in both of CGA’s trip reports so far have been taken with my phone. Since we only had a few hours each time, I was more focused on rides, naturally. That won’t be the case next time. I’ve already been eyeing up potential photo spots and I think Railblazer will be a very photogenic coaster.
California's Great America Photo Gallery - May 31, 2026
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): Flight Deck
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): Flight Deck