 With Bay Area schools back in session, we thought it would be a great time to check out some of our local parks. With the news of Patriot coming to California’s Great America in 2017, we decided to check out the final week of Vortex’s operation and to make my first visit to Gilroy Gardens for their Lumination festival. Check it out! Written by Andrew Cunningham  We started the day at California’s Great America to say our (not so tearful) farewells to Vortex!  You have until the end of operating day on September 5th (Labor Day) to get your last ride on Vortex. Clearly I will not be missing the standup trains.  : Vortex actually has a really compact, snappy layout. Hopefully the floorless conversion will make the ride smoother while keeping the fun transitions and intensity.  With one week of operation left for Vortex, there were no noticeable signs that things were changing. There was nothing posted in the park to indicate that the ride was closing, or that Patriot was coming in 2017.  The ride itself actually has some pretty scenic spots throughout the park! Can’t wait to see this thing shine with some much needed paint.  One last shot of the standup trains before moving on!  We took a quick spin around the park before leaving. I gotta say, the double down log flume is still a favorite mine!  After wrapping up at California’s Great America, we took a trip down to the Garlic Capitol of the World: Gilroy, CA!  Gold Passes for California’s Great America also act a season pass for Gilroy Gardens. This is a fun little bonus from Cedar Fair, since you usually need Platinum Passes to jump between Cedar Fair parks.   Gilroy Gardens is owned by the City of Gilroy, but is operated by Cedar Fair. While the park is definitely geared more towards families, the scenery and theming is all very nicely done and warrants a visit.  New for 2016, Gilroy Gardens debuted Lumination! This is a separate ticket nighttime event with Chinese lanterns and scenic displays throughout the park. Check out this amazing dragon that is made entirely of plates!   For a $20 upgrade, you can add on a dinner show to your Lumination visit. The show included a few different entertainers that performed right next to your tables  The food itself was a pretty basic Chinese buffet. Definitely not the most authentic Chinese food you can find in the Bay Area, but not terrible for a $20 theme park buffet that includes entertainment.   After dinner we had time to wander the park and check out the displays before the nighttime entertainment begins.   Gilroy Garden’s greenhouse was converted into a bamboo forest filled with glowing baby pandas. This was definitely a favorite!   Once the sun went down, the park puts on a Lumination show that includes various acrobats and choreographed routines. The face changing routine was really cool!  After some final wandering throughout the park, we decided to call it a night. It’s worth noting that the park’s train is the only ride that operates during the Luminations festival. We definitely recommend night rides on the train, as certain portions of the ride become pitch black and spooky!  Goodnight Gilroy Gardens! Thank you for such a fun evening! Be sure to check out the full press release for The Patriot coming to California's Great America in 2017.  Related Updates:
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