Patriot at California's Great America
Floorless nowit started life as a stand-up 28 riders a train

California's Great America, Santa Clara, California

Patriot

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“Smooth with some nice airtime.”

POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
Flight Deck's younger brother
What riders love
  • It's glass smooth, yet still very intense and re-rideable.
  • The ride is pretty smooth and there wasn’t much headbanging.
  • For being one of the first B&M coasters ever built, this one has aged remarkably well!
  • It’s great for younger kids getting into roller coasters that are a little bigger and go upside down.
  • Solid, enjoyable coaster. Smooth with some nice airtime.
  • The corkscrew at the end is really fun and gives some upside down airtime in the back left seat.
  • It has snappy transitions and I love the vertical loop that you later helix through the center.
Patriot Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Patriot Front Row (HD POV) California's Great America

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

Patriot Back Row (HD POV) California's Great America

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

2022 Patriot Roller Coaster On Ride Ultra HD 4K POV California's Great America

youtube.com › ShagWZan

Patriot (Off-ride HD) California's Great America

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

Patriot Review, California's Great America B&M Looper | Was the Floorless Conversion Worth It?

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Very Full, Very In-Depth Patriot REVIEW - California's Great America - RREC ep. 18

youtube.com › Mostly Coasters

Patriot Review: Does it still stack up after 30 years? (California's Great America)

youtube.com › Gridiron Coasters

Patriot - California's Great America - Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) - "Stand-Up Coaster" Floorless

youtube.com › Ride View

Performance

Vs. other coasters at California's Great America

Smooth with some nice airtime.

Duke Howard

Patriot is surprisingly smooth ride, besides the intensity and duration of the ride not being very great it’s not bad.

Josiah

I feel like this ride has a the right balance of intensity and smoothness without hurting my head too much.

David

I cant really rate this any lower since it is still a smooth, fun ride, its just that there isnt much in it.

Kevin Li

While this is without a doubt, my least favorite B&M Floorless Coaster, it still is a fun ride, and definetly an improvement over Vortex, since the ride is definetly much smoother now.

Incredible Coasters

The headbanging is a bit normal on models like this, but I didn’t experience as much pain as I did on the more intense versions.

Max S.

I rode this when it was still a standup coaster and it was painful as hell 😂

@gissneric

It does have some good force-full moments like the first loop and I can definitely see how this was a stand up before it got changed to a floorless.

Lightning Productions

It’s glass smooth, yet still very intense and re-rideable.

Reed Dutton

It looks way more intense than it really is, it is weird to look at the coaster go and expect a fun intense ride and then experience ride comparable to standing in fast elevator.

Vojtech Mašek

It’s great for younger kids getting into roller coasters that are a little bigger and go upside down.

Josiah

It’s quite a bit shorter in height than I’m used to with their other floorless coasters, but it still has great speed with a couple of nice inversions.

Max S.

Its smooth and the loops are ok but its pretty slow.

Will Anderson

It just crawls around the track, just meandering.

Dylan JM

The capacity on this one is also solid, and it never had a line all day.

Max S.

I have visited this park on days when the premier rides had hour plus waits yet Patriot was still a near walk-on.

Canobie Coaster

Operations on this were very slow for whatever reason and I wouldn’t wait long for it.

Shmee

Despite the short queue, operations for this are basically glacial.

Marshall Bradley
Worth the queue

And it’s certainly not worth the wait either.

Marshall Bradley

This ride is completely forceless, boring and not worth the wait.

Tony C.

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

91 ftHeight
108 GoldStriker 106 RailBlazer 102 Demon 102 FlightDeck 91 Patriot 91 Grizzly
45 mphTop speed
Grizzly55 Gold Striker54 RailBlazer52 Demon50 Flight Deck50 Patriot45 055 mph
2Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Smooth rideShort waits

Criticised for

Too shortOverratedSlowed by trimsHead bangingWeak layout

I cant really rate this any lower since it is still a smooth, fun ride, its just that there isnt much in it.

Kevin Li, Captain Coaster review

While the original standing restraints are polarizing, and standing coasters as a whole falling out of style worldwide; the true failing of these rides are the layouts.

Evangelion Martini, Captain Coaster review

It does have some good force-full moments like the first loop and I can definitely see how this was a stand up before it got changed to a floorless.

Lightning Productions, Captain Coaster review

In fact, I think the tightness of the corkscrew makes it one of the best ones I’ve experienced.

Gibson Williams, Captain Coaster review

This was my first floorless conversion, and it was honestly disappointing.

Erik C., Captain Coaster review

It’s quite a bit shorter in height than I’m used to with their other floorless coasters, but it still has great speed with a couple of nice inversions.

Max S., Captain Coaster review

Photos

Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot from Eagle's Flight
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot from Eagle's Flight
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot from Eagle's Flight
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0
Patriot at California's Great America
Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History

March 9, 1991Opened

A stand-up coaster, built by Bolliger & Mabillard, designed by Ing.-Büro Stengel.

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Height requirement: California's Great America. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, incrediblecoasters.com, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California (CC BY 2.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

Quote at the top of the page: Duke Howard, Captain Coaster review.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Gibson Williams, rider review on Captain Coaster: “One of if not the smoothest ride I've ever…”; Reed Dutton, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It's glass smooth, yet still very intense and re-rideable.”; Ryan Hanna, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The ride is pretty smooth and there wasn’t much…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “For being one of the first B&M coasters ever…”; NorCal Coaster Media, rider review on Captain Coaster: “A great first looping coaster for younger audiences.”; Josiah, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It’s great for younger kids getting into roller coasters…”; Duke Howard, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Solid, enjoyable coaster. Smooth with some nice airtime.”; Eli Lassiter Michael, rider review on Captain Coaster: “And while this ride gets a reputation for being…”; Shmee, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The corkscrew at the end is really fun and…”; David, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It has snappy transitions and I love the vertical…”; Ryan Rotzin, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Flight Deck's younger brother, but he is still an…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: coastercrutchfield's back row POV, Patriot Back Row (HD POV) California's Great America (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.