I just got back from the new theme park in Gilroy, Ca...yes the Garlic Capitol of the world has its own theme park now!!
It's called Bonfante Gardens Theme Park...and its a beautifully laid out set of gardens with some rides. There big draw to the gardens are trees called "Circus Trees". Which are trees with oddly shaped trunks. Some have a "basket weave", some have 4 "legs", or an "arch". Quite interesting how they graft two or three trees together to get the look. It also very unique.

The rides are not so exciting. So its not a place where a 13 or 14 year old kid would want to hang out. But I took my 3 girls with me (ages 10 1/2, 15...and has Down Syndrome, and 17 1/2). Although the weather was sweltering today (our car said 113 degrees when we got into it at 3:00pm)...we enjoyed the quietness of the park. It was almost empty...being a Tuesday. But it was calming and relaxing walking through beautiful gardens and riding on quite rides that were themed with the gardens...For example: in the childrens area, a swinging ride was shaped as a banana...and called a "banana split". There were spinning garlic bulbs, or artichoke cups. They had swan and duck shaped paddle boats. A giant Mushroom held the swings (like the Orange Stinger at DCA...only this went much higher!).

The grounds and the rides were so imacculent (course that could be because it just opened back in April). But I have never seen such a cleaner park. And the gardeners were everywhere tending the the plants. I even saw several handicapped workers there (which pleased me). The park was nicely laid out...and handicap assessability was great.
All in all, for an hours drive for us (we live by Stanford University), it was a nice day. If you want to spend a day out...enjoying a nice, clean, calm, family type theme park in the Bay Area...Bonfante Gardens Theme Park might be a nice idea.:)

Glad you enjoyed it. I saw a website that had many many pictures of that park as well as some videos of the rides. It seemed very gorgeous and serine. The rides seemed okay as you said but I still think I want to visit. Thanx for your review. It's going to help with my decision.

Originally posted by Ralph Wiggum
Glad you enjoyed it. I saw a website that had many many pictures of that park as well as some videos of the rides. It seemed very gorgeous and serine. The rides seemed okay as you said but I still think I want to visit. Thanx for your review. It's going to help with my decision.

Good...I hope you'll enjoy it. Like I said, the rides are not exciting, but are apropos for the park.

Since I was visiting the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago, I had the
occasion to visit Bonfante Gardens in garlic-stench ridden Gilroy, CA.

It was sort of nostalgic driving out of the mass of grossness known as
San Jose into the country to the still small and still relatively
undeveloped Gilroy. Yes, the town does smell like garlic, and no, you
don't get used to it. We stayed in a small, non corporate motel called
the Forest Park Inn. Clean, nice pool (which we used) and next to a
Lyon's and around the corner from a Chevys. I felt like I was in
Anaheim in 1960.

To get to the park you take a two lane country road past a couple of
small wineries and a couple of seed farms into the hills. Then, out of
nowhere, is the sign for Bonfante's. This park appears to have been
designed by the editors of Sunset magazine. It's nestled into the
hills, and uses the natural topography to good advantage.

The entrance is spectacular. You cross a wooden bridge past the ticket
booths which is surrounded by incredibly lush, very expensive looking
gardens and landscaping. The much advertised Circus Trees almost
escaped our attention what with all of the greenery, waterfalls,
flowers, and whatnot. Every inch of this place is landscaped to the
hilt. It is far more beautiful in that regard than any park I've ever
visited.

The architecture of the park buildings is sort of a casual "town and
country moderne"; subdued, discreet, and a bit pretentious in its
understatement (like everything else in the park).

The place is laid out in a loop, with a lake in the middle. I won't
give a blow by blow, but instead give some general impressions.

The attractions? Mostly typical amusement park fare, but gussied up
somewhat with an agriculture/food theme. For instance, the pirate swing
is a giant banana, and manages to reach almost beyond vertical. The
wave swinger is a giant mushroom. The teacups are spinning garlic
cloves. On another kiddie spinner the cars are artichokes. They have a
beautifully restored old carousel, a heavily wooded kiddie coaster with
snake trains, a typical Balloon Race (just like the one in Camp Snoopy
at Knott's), a train (miniature, not DL sized), a ferris wheel, a
cutesie "animatronic" show featuring singing lettuce heads and tomatoes,
a round boat ride through an absolutely spectacular garden, swan paddle
boats, a small monorail (still not open-no trains I guess), and a large
number of kiddie type rides.

Unfortunately, the kiddie rides are hindered by a bewildering array of
age and height restrictions that had us guessing all day long. Under
3? Forget it, unless you plead with a ride operator who then lets you
on anyway. Don't plead? Don't ride. I hate this; either have rules or
don't. I prefer don't. On the Carousel they wouldn't let mom ride on
the horse with the 16 month old. Instead, she had to stand next to
him. I have never seen this on any other Carousel anywhere. A small
playground area allowed Jr. to run off all that energy he had built up
pointing and crying at everything he didn't get to go on.

A neat rock maze had me flashing back to Tom Sawyers Island. Their
vintage auto ride is better than the new Autopia in my opinion. A
standard amusement ride, run by electricity with no speed control for
riders, meanders through yet another spectacular setting featuring
bridges and a tunnel. There is even a primitive animatronic highway
patrolman who shakes his head at you and blasts a siren and flashes a
red light as you go past. They apparently run two tracks, one 20's
autos, the other 50's. The 50's was the only side open on the day we
went.

The main attraction in the park is the mine train coaster, Quicksilver
Express. Several very loud animatronic critters reside above the
entrance, and can be heard hundreds of yards away. This is a cool
little coaster; just my speed as I am a ***** when it comes to
coasters. At one point there is a brief fog effect as you enter a short
tunnel. The helix near the end is cool, and offers a great photo
opportunity for non-riding guests.

The food appeared to be a cut above standard park fare, but service was
very slow and disorganized. In fact, much of the park operations
appeared disorganized. I can't tell you how many times we stood in a
queue only to have the ride dispatched with half empty vehicles. In
general, the older employees (the much discussed volunteers) were
universally Disneyesque in their friendliness. The teenagers were
universally sullen and lackadaisacal, with one auto operator even dozing
off at his control panel! Oddly, in the store named Gilroy Garlic, the
giant cloves on sale read "Product of Mexico". Several food locations
had signs indicating beer and wine was available, but it wasn't. Of
course it was mega-expensive Sierra Nevada beer; which I will gladly pay
a dollar for in a parking lot at a Grateful Dead show, but not $4.50 in
an amusement park.

There is also an indoor greenhouse sort of affair called Monarch
Garden. This led many to believe this was one of those ubiquitous
butterfly houses. The plantings were amazing, but nary a butterfly to
be found. The stupidest thing we encountered was at the outdoor
amphitheater waiting for the animal show. An Icee cart is set up
directly at the theater's entrance, and many families dutifully lined up
to get their drinks for the show. As the rope was dropped, everyone
with a drink was stopped and advised "no drinks allowed". It's just
concrete and benches, for cryin' out loud. No sign warning about this;
instead a drink stand at the entrance to a no drinks allowed venue.
Dumb. The 10 year old wanted a manager.

The train ride went past a hilly area that appeared to be under
construction. My best guess was a raft/rapids type ride. They also
have a classy game area with games you can actually win, and some
homegrown characters wander around scaring little kids. One appeared to
resemble Wiley Coyote, and I heard several guests refer to him in that
manner. Another park chain might be sending a harshly worded letter
recommending a costume modification. The stores appeared to be trying
to sell a more sohisticated, nature based line of merchandise. Think
Discovery Channel store. Several "Learning Sheds" show educational
movies. These were packed with the very large number of school and day
camp groups.

Overall, it was a very pleasant day in a very pleasant park. The
operations issues will be addressed as time goes on, after all the place
is brand new. It's not for thrill seekers, but for those with kids over
three who are into plants and nature, I would recommend a visit.

QuikQuote™: Gilroy's Bonfante Gardens abruptly closed Monday,
13 weeks ahead of a scheduled winter break, and an official could not
guarantee the park will reopen in spring. Marketing director Lynda Trelut said her brother, park founder Michael Bonfante, was not able to replace a key investor who had pulled out of the project, but is continuing to seek needed financing.

To read the rest of the item, here's a link to the San Jose Mercury News story (http://www0.mercurycenter.com/front/docs1/bonfante0918.htm).

Andrew, thanks for the article.
It's sad. I wanted to take some family and friends down to the new park.
It's beautiful and well laid out. Something different in this world of newer, faster more exciting rides...and who has got the best and the biggest.
It was a nice, relaxing day to enjoy the beautiful gardens and unusual circus trees.

I hope they get their financing. Unfortunatley, with the market and financial status of the U.S. the way it is because of the current events...who knows if this will happen.
I wish them luck.