Is This Six Flags' Premiere Park? Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, Illinois)
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- In July, I made my first trip to Six Flags Great America in 4 years. It got me thinking - is this Six Flags' premiere park? These are my thoughts.
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Holy shit someone’s talking about great America this is rare
This is the most correct statement in history
true, most of the parks when you type six flags are texas or california, rearly is the illinois park mentioned and when searching it i have to be specific. but hey, it can be the central midwests little secret gem lol.
Thank you for giving Raging Bull its due. If force is the only thing you care about, then no, it's not for you. But it's just such a complete ride and the second half twister section isn't something you can find anywhere else.
raging bull was my first ever hyper, and it turned me into a full blown enthusiast!
@@jack-gn4yl Me too
Growing up at Great America, I was always jealous of the new additions that the other parks like MM and GAdv got. It's weird to hear that it's now considered one of the best, but since I moved to California they got X Flight (shortly before), Goliath, Joker and Maxx Force. Not sure if those make it a top tier park now but it's definitely a good well balanced one.
As a kid, Raging Bull was the consensus as the best coaster there, and there may be some Goliath fans now, but I'd still go with Raging Bull.
The park is missing that one standout coaster. Goliath and Raging Bull are very good but not A++ rides (tho my opinion of RB is probably a little too high) but as a whole, the park is deep. Great Adventure's depth isnt that great
Raging Bull is great, but Goliath is better as it's non-stop action which helps make up for it being short. The best 2 in the park. The Whizzer is classic, for years and years there were no seat belts whatsoever which was awesome. The park has a height limit, they are not allowed to have any coaster above 200 feet (or thereabouts), the damn people in Gurnee have castrated the park.
@@NMAfreak Really? I never heard of them having a max height restriction.
Goliath's problem is that it's just too short. If it wasn't for that, it'd be a standout.
@@jimgoebel5348 yeah they had to fight the city to get raging bull built, and that is why mostly every coaster built since then has been under just 200 ft
Hard to overstate how instrumental SF Great America proved in the coaster industry.
In 1981, Intamin built one of their first large-scale roller coasters, at SFGAm, with American Eagle.
In 1985, Intamin (yet again), broke ground with Z-Force, the first roller coaster with 4-seat-across trains and the first coaster using the now iconic "box" track shape.
In 1989, SFGAm commissionned the recently-founded B&M's first coaster project with new trains increasing capacity for the Rolling Thunder bobsleigh relocation.
In 1990, happy with B&M's work, SFGAm then ordered the Swiss engineers' first coaster with Iron Wolf.
In 1992, B&M and the park teamed up again to open Batman the Ride (which needs no introduction)
In 1999, Raging Bull opened as one of the first B&M Hypers in existence
In 2012, X-Flight became the first B&M Wingcoaster in America
Six Flags Great America, under the guidance of then-manager Jim Wintrode, certainly helped to shape the amusement industry as we know today. Really glad you're putting this park under the spotlight!
Minor correction:
Wild Eagle at Dollywood opened a couple of months before X-Flight.
Wow that's some interesting info. As I mentioned in another comment, I grew up in Milwaukee during the 70's and 80's so Six Flags Great America was my home park and I absolutely loved it! When they introduced the "Haunted Great America" they really nailed it. From the 🎃👻Halloween👻🎃 theme to the American Eagle's cars sitting in reverse, it was a great idea and damn was it fun! Even the cool temperatures, and even some rain didn't stop us from getting together and spending a day freezing our butts riding 🎢🎢rollercoasters🎢🎢!! So many special and incredible memories happened there. It was really a special place for me.
Max Force is a disappointment?
> Cedar Fair and SeaWorld cancel the 12 Max Force clones they ordered after watching the “What Each Park Needs” videos
Plot twist: They ordered a Dragon Wagon kiddie coaster for every single one of their parks.
@@johnfoltz8183 at least the Dragon Wagon is longer than 7 seconds.
Six Flags has a clear top four, and there are similarities to Cedar Fair’s top four as well.
1: Magic Mountain is clearly the flagship, it’s basically the Cedar Point of Six Flags.
2: Great America is like Kings Island, where some people prefer it to the flagship but even its biggest fans know where it sits in the overall hierarchy of the chain.
3: Fiesta Texas is like Carowinds, with recent expansion pushing it far above its quality and popularity of ten to fifteen years ago.
4: Great Adventure is like Kings Dominion, with Six Flags not investing as much into it despite its popularity and local competition (Hersheypark for Great Adventure, Busch Gardens Williamsburg for Kings Dominion), but it is home to one of the premier roller coasters on the planet (El Toro for Gadv, Intimidator 305 for KD). A recent addition from RMC is hopefully a sign of more attention in the future.
You could make an argument that Great Adventure belongs above Fiesta Texas (Great Adventure is my home park and personal favorite) and also that Canada’s Wonderland should be number four for Cedar Fair over Kings Dominion.
I think Fiesta Texas is more similar to Canada's Wonderland in that both are usually the first to get a new type of coaster. Wonderland got the first B&M hyper in the chain and the manufacturer's first giga, as well as a lot of unique flat rides. Fiesta Texas gets the first S&S free spin, RMC Raptor, and the chain's first B&M dive.
another way Great America compares to KI is the fact that they dont have a definitive number 1 all thoosies agree with, like for CP and MM its steve, and either X2 or twisted colossus. For GA some think its goliath, some think its Maxx force, and some think its Raging bull. And for KI, some think its mystic timbers, some think its orion, some think its banshee, some think its beast, and some think its diamondback.
This a phenomenal comparison. The similarities are legit now that I think about it
I feel like magic mountain is at the top with great America not far behind. Then there’s a small gap till great adventure then another bigger gap till fiesta Texas but then there’s a HUGE gap to the rest of the chain except maybe over Georgia
I never considered SFFT ahead of GADV but I respect the choice. Probably because I have always considered GADV top 1 or 2 until recently.
Do a year-by-year side-by-side history of both Santa Clara and Gurnee parks and how they grew apart by love (Gurnee) and neglect (Santa Clara)
Those last 37 years or so have been very very different lol
That's a good idea
Yep California great America is now going to be gone
I think magic mountain is still six flags premier, consider how they get rides SOO often and the sheer quantity of 20 coasters and soon to be 2 RMCs. I see your point on how it is better but six flags still gives more attention and $$ to MM.
MM being year round is the main reason, I bet Great America would get just as much love if not more if it was able to be open year round. Illinois area really has a lack of theme parks.
SFMM is definitely Six Flags' poster boy park. It's so unfortunate because SFMM is definitely quantity over quality. You have the elite rides like X2, Twisted Colossus and MAYBE Tatsu. Strong supporting lineup with West Coaster Racers, Viper, Apocalypse, Full Throttle, and I would argue Riddler's. Everything else is pretty much filler. Wonder Woman would add to a strong supporting lineup IMO, definitely not Elite if it rides like Jersey Devil.
I also live in Valenica like Airtime Thrills used to and I am RARELY at Magic Mountain unless I need a quick Twisted Colossus fix to be honest. I think my main issue with Magic Mountain is the lack of originality as an amusement park lol. It's just so blandly themed and literally has nothing going for it other than it's coasters and alot of the park is just so "meh" to look at. Atmosphere really adds so much to a park experience. I just wish Magic Mountain would do better.
@@supremefan yeah I’m luck to have fiesta texas as a home park, in Austin we are used to warm winters.
@@Onoitsbroko yeah I see that and it’s honestly a park that is not bucket list because it seems to be filled with clones or filler coasters. Not to mention their trillions of kiddie rides.
He knows MM is #1
Great America is my home park, and boy does it not get the love it deserves. Great America is one of the most well-balanced and decorated parks in the Six Flags chain.
The reason why Demon was closed was because of a broken lift motor. The ride is open back up now though. By the way, I’m happy you made a video on my home park
Considering all it's lights, etc were working during fright Fest makes me think they have no plans to scrap it anytime soon. Still pretty smooth besides the normal corkscrew headbanging issues they all had.
@@supremefan like I said. The ride is operating as normal now so I don’t think we have anything to worry about
This is my home park and no matter what rise brakes down everyone can still find a way to have fun. None of the coasters here are elite, they are all kinda mid to lower tier for their type of ride but in quantity, there is so much. Goliath isn't the best RMC but it's still so good. Raging Bull is like the weakest B&M Hyper but has oneof the best first drops in the world. Maxx Force is short but intense. You will never get bored here.
It’s my home park too and I go once a week. And while none of the rides are ELITE, NONE of them are “mid tier”…there isn’t a weak spot in their lineup top to bottom. One of the most underrated coaster lineups in existence.
Bruh Raging Bull is a top 15 coaster lol. IMO if a coaster is in the top 40 of any list….it’s Elite as it’s the top 5% of what’s in the US.
I went to Great America this summer and raging bull’s drop in the back is insane, definitely the highlight of the park
Goliath back row night ride at fright fest was mine
@@BurgerInATux I was THIS (🤏🏻) close to a night fog ride in the rain during Fright Fest last year…until the train behind us overshot the final brake run because it was too slick and almost ran into as we were putting our seatbelts on. That train got stuck out in the rain and got soaked and we never got our night ride in the foggy rain 😭
So happy to have this as a home park. Demon is still doing good, park staff have actually increased its theming and gave the station a new paint job while it was closed; the coaster looks better than ever.
Yayy glad to hear if gonna check it out this spring :)
This was my first Six Flags in the US and it blew me away. I went two days on a row, friday and saturday. Friday was amazing, it was the first night of fright fest and if it wasn’t for the rain I would’ve knocked every credit between 6 and 11 pm. Even got to ride Demon, which seemed pretty unlikely. Saturday was insanely packed, but I only needed Superman and Maxx Force, so no flash pass was needed. I was out by 6 pm with a big smile on my face. Loved it.
I grew up in Milwaukee during the 70's and 80's. Six Flags Great America was my "Home Park" so to speak. I was very protective of it. My half-brother's wife had a two kids with this lady, and she had three kids from a previous marriage, on of which used to brag about Cedar Point Amusement Park. About the massive 🎢🎢rollercoasters🎢🎢, the amount of 🎢🎢rollercoasters🎢🎢, and how much better it was. It used to really tick me off. To me as a kid, a teenager, Six Flags Great America was the most incredible place to visit, and "Cedar Point" was nothing compared to "my park". Now while Six Flags is a GREAT AMERICA, oops a Great Place, Cedar Point is also a phenomenal park. They have some of the most iconic and incredible rollercoasters ever seen or ridden. So I really owe my step-nephew/half-nephew a huge apology. Again Six Flags IS a really epic place. But Cedar Point has made a "POINT" of building some of the best coasters ever, and they continue to to this day. I've also learned that with as many Amusement Parks around, that they all have something great to contribute. Fans of rides, ALL TYPES of rides can find something, or some park that has what they love. No offense to Disneyland, but after their $10,000.⁰⁰ a weekend excursion aboard their Starship hotel? As well as overpriced and underwhelming rides in Disneyland and Disneyworld respectively. They used to be something special but now they are so insanely priced, and no offense or disrespect but Disney has turned everything that Walt Disney had created and they've turned it into a mockery. Their agendas. Their foolishness, and their destruction of two of the biggest and most beloved Franchises in movie and comic book history, has left a sour/bitter taste in so many peoples lives.
Worked raging Bull this year and it progressed to becoming one of my favorite Rollercoaster period. Think I was working that day, but at a different time.
Unfortunately, it might now regress as management wants to put an additional seat belt on ride as we’ve struggled to dispatch trains at the desired interval. If we speed up in checking the trains, it may be perceived that the rider is not secured enough, but in actuality there are two separate locking mechanisms, and the seats are impossible to escape when they are registered, via the computer, as locked.
Also Eagle can really only run one train as the track, specifically the final helix, has been worn down so much and minimal work can be done on it due to its proximity to the highway
Also they fixed Demon; it’s chain lift motor gave out and had to be replaced once again(it came from Shockwave, a previous Arrow Coaster in the park). I forgot who manufactured the motor, but once they even installed it, it took them a while to get it too mesh with the computer system
The day they put seat belts in at bull is the day that I quite. That is why I love working bull over viper. At bull you just have the clamshell to check. If they had seatbelt you would slow it down so much. I could not imagine trying to run 3 trains with seat belts.
Nooo no seatbelts on RB. Nothing slows ops down worse than that
@@AirtimeThrills yep
@@Galarticuno I do miss shockwave. I always felt it was a vastly underrated coaster.
SFGAm: The Back Seat Park! Where the coasters suck if you aren’t in the back
Edit: if Great America replaces Demon with the single rail, they have to name it Demon’s revenge. An all black single rail with black Jersey Devil/black demon style trains would look insane. Also custom layout to fit the rock work
I've noticed that viper isn't running as well as it has in the past this year. Hopefully the park will fix that in the future.
The chain Hill it rough and the graphite needs to be redone along with new track on the top of the hill needs to be done, sometimes it barely crests the top of the hill
Mannn I rode viper over 20 times in 2021, the ride is rough but not enough that I would care, American eagle is a different story
@@gps-getem3390 I don’t think eagle is that rough it was a little rough but not to bad
@@xlecronnex5625 I thought it was supposed to stop at the top that drop?
six flags great america is such a solid park it’s honestly amazing to have rides like the goliath and raging bull in ur backyard.
Demon has reopened, I think the lift motor gave out.
I was lucky enough to get a trimless back row ride on Raging Bull the last time I was there. Let me say, it was one of the best rides on any coaster I've ever gotten. That airtime hill is actually amazing when the trim is off. And that first drop in the back row is without a doubt my favorite drop, even more than the giga drops I've ridden.
HIGHLY doubt the trim was off because I’ve been to private night events at SFGAm and I even asked the ride ops working during those if they’d ever turn off the trim on RB and it was a resounding “no.” If the trims don’t get turned off for private night events with ERT, than it just doesn’t happen.
I spent two days at SFGAm (weekend in September 2019) and absolutely loved it. Goliath would be the best followed by Raging Bull. Got 15 rides on Goliath and 13 on Raging Bull. First day i had the flashpass but Goliath had a single riders queue surprisingly. The next day it didnt. Was during Frighfest so got nightrides and it was awesome. I agree on your love for Raging Bull, but I think you need to give Goliath a few more rides and love. Actually have it ranked above Twisted Colossus and that's elite in my books. I think the fact I could marathon it helped it's rankings, especially at night with some rain pummeling your face. That diveloop and stall are sensational. Probably the best two elements that flow into eachother on any coaster for me.
American Eagle is a classic and shouldn't be touched in my opinion (rode it for the first time in Summer 2022).. Especially the helix that shakes so much you feel like you are in a runaway mine cart that's going to fly off the track and kill you. The build up in shakiness is the unique part that made it great to my surprise as I learned during my 7 year old daughter's first big coaster park visit. To start the day after a couple warm up rides I took my daughter on Goliath because she wanted to and it was so intense that she got timid on riding big rides. I was sad because it felt like the day was shot and we weren't gonna ride anything fun because I went too big too fast. American Eagle was something I was at first embarrassed to take my daughter on because of it's lack of modernity. We were literally playing in the baby ride section when out of desperation I was like let's go on Shakey old American Eagle and that perked her Attention where she said ok. American Eagle turned out to be the highlight of the day. Each time it ended she begged to go on it again. Five times straight! running jumping empty barriers in line and my old 45 year old butt felt like a kid again with her. We were hollering and hooting during the whole helix that takes forever each time. It was a moment that was so fun and also brought her out of her shell to ride big rides again for the rest of the day. I don't think I'm ever going to forget that memory. On old woodies you actually have time to interact with your riding partner as you're literally afraid the thing is gonna shake itself apart. It's a different experience that makes me imagine what it must have been like back in the day when coasters could literally kill you since they didn't have computer models to design them, just make it bigger and see what happens lol. American Eagle also reminded me of the time when I was my daughters age and my grandma rode the original Six Flags Magic Mountain Colossus with us 10 grandchildren. Now that she is gone we still talk about that moment 40 years later when remembering grandma for being such a badass in our little eyes way back when. If all Six Flags had were modern Hyper Coasters, I doubt we would have had that memory with grandma thanks to the original Colossus or saved the day 40 years later on American Eagle. I'm so glad my daughter reminded me what makes the big old rickety woodies so unique. Sadly I was for the modernization of the Original Colossus to twisted Colossus when they did it, Now I am just beyond sad it is gone because they don't make them like that anymore.
I just got back from my first ever visit here and it was also my first time at a Six Flags park. Over my day and half, lines were not long enough to justify a Flash Pass so I got rerides on all the good ones except MaxxForce as they only had one train going with the other down for maintinance and the line was the longest. Flash surprised me as did the intensity of my first flying coaster in Superman. Raging Bull took the crown for me with Goliath, Superman, Batman, and Flash following to make up my top 5 in the park. None of the water rides were open and neither were some of the big flat rides like Condor, the superloop, and the observation tower. Despite this, I was so pleased with all the coasters being open, how solid the ops were, they had a sense of humor especially at the launch coasters. I have to say I was impressed. Great America definitely made my first Six Flags experience a really good one and I would totally return. I'm looking to start my own new coaster channel and give my thoughts on it as well as show my personal ranking of the coasters.
I finally got back to Great America after last having been in 2012 (home park growing up). Goliath was my favorite and it was the only thing we got to ride more than once over 3 packed days during Fright Fest, and meanwhile I lost my hat on an unpleasant ride on The Dark Knight. Raging Bull still slaps, Demon still gives a headache on the corkscrews, and I'm sad I couldn't get on either Maxx Force or Viper but I definitely plan on trying to find a weekday to go back and rack up time on Bull and Goliath again. The helix on American Eagle made me feel exactly like you described btw, I was thinking they can just smooth it out and it'd be good enough. I think the structure is what's keeping them from running 2 trains anymore so that seems like a much bigger investment they'd have to undertake.
The crowds can really kill that park experience though. Fright Fest crowds this year were INSANE.
I also LOVE Great America. I agree with your comments about American Eagle except for the look of the helix. I personally think that it is one of the prettiest and most impressive coasters to look at. I guess that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. 😊
I'd give the nod to Great Adventure as best in the chain, but Great America is very close behind. My personal favorite is Goliath, but I've found a new found appreciation for Raging Bull after my two back row rides in May. You're right about RB, row 9 only. My rankings of Great America's coasters:
1. Goliath
2. Raging Bull
3. Maxx Force
4. Superman: Ultimate Flight
5. Batman: the Ride
6. Viper
7. X-Flight
8. Whizzer
9. American Eagle
10. Vertical Velocity
11. Demon
12. Dark Knight (it's a great wild mouse but can't rank it too high)
13. Joker
14. Little Dipper
15. Sprocket Rockets
Fortunate to have Great America 15 minutes away. I will say the crowds have been unbearable this year which has made it a challenge to enjoy all the park has to offer. Glad you are a part of the R. Bull backseat fanclub!
Hope you got a chance to go this past weekend- the lines weren’t that long and it seemed like everyone was having fun. It was a bonus weekend and the weather was awesome!
Made my first trip here in June, and I agree with everything you said about Raging Bull. Absolutely blew me away, and it’s my favorite B&M hyper (tho I am missing Mako, behemoth and Goliath). The only one I’ve experienced with true ejector, which is a marvelous sensation with a clamshell restraint
i'm so glad you mentioned little dipper, bc i live right in the area that kiddieland used to be, and that was my first ever rollercoaster!
Glad I found this video. I went back in 2008 twice while I was stationed there for school in the Navy. We got really lucky and they had a military only day. I remember we hit up The Dark Knight and Superman first and because there was no line got to ride them multiple times. Such a great time!
American Eagle is my guilty pleasure at SFGAM (my home park) Its a classic and I will always love it. its also a huge part of SFGAM's skyline. Would love it if it got RMC'd though
I hope they don't touch it. They need to keep a few woodies old school.
Great America is by far the cleanest and best looking six flags park... I would almost say all of my visits had cleaner facilities and pathways than my visits to Cedar Point.
I also very recently rode Demon. Not sure what happened there.
Ayyy my home park
Your breathless reports and reviews are a thrill in themselves, always a blast to watch. My bf and I agree wholeheartedly about Raging Bull and Viper, both underrated. The lack of land in the park forces SF-GA to get creative with layouts, twisting and turning track around itself. The pretzel configurations makes the rides far more thrilling, and force the coaster makers to work extra hard. We all benefit as a result. Lucky to have this nearby, but SF neglects the park’s maintenance. And it appeared this summer that they weren’t matching Cedar Fair’s hourly wage. The result: many rides simply don’t have the proper staff, often remaining closed. With the crowds this park gets, it needs to fire on all cylinders. One example of such a park is Cedar Point, especially this summer. We just pray that Cedar Fair will acquire Great America (or build some competition nearby).
You would know better than me, but from the limited times I've been there I've been impressed with the ops. Then again, maybe it just looks good compared to the horrible ops at other smaller parks
I'm really glad that you agree American Eagle should be kept as it is.
such a well rounded line up
Up until a couple years ago, Great Adventure was my favorite Six Flags park by far. I’ve never been, nor will I probably ever get to magic mountain so I will leave that out… I spent a two day trip at Great America a couple years ago and within an hour or two I knew it would be my favorite park over great adventure. In my rankings, overall everything runs into my rankings. Capacities, employees, shrubbery, coasters, everything… There was just something about the feel of Great America that far out did great adventure. To me Great Adventure seems like just a giant carnival where great America to me seems like a more thought out park. Don’t get me wrong, great adventure has awesome roller coasters, but overall I had such a different feeling at great America. I can’t wait to get back there next year. When I went to the park it was one week before MaxXForce opened, I was bummed.
I went here with a good friend of mine in mid-May 2005, on an overcast day, where it looked as if it might rain, but it never did. This was the absolute BEST TIME I ever had at 6 flags, as not only was school not out yet, hence it was not nearly as crowded is it would've been in the summer, but the fact it was a Sunday, AND it looked as if it may rain, the park had essentially NO LINES!!! We would quite literally exit a ride, then hop the fence to the entrance side (rather than walking through the huge maze where there would normally be a line). We certainly got our money's worth that day! Great times! This was also the last time I had been there, though I did go to Kennywood, somewhat near Pittsburgh, PA, in 2010, or so.
the thing about maxforce is if you arent familiar with the sound of the launch, you spend the whole day wondering what the hell that loud crash sound is. and im grateful for the test seats as they let me know i need to drop weight to enjoy the bigger rides like i want to. and american eagle was the one that hurt me inside. i rode it as a kid and thought, surely i can ride this again...after the long wait in the crazy line...i had to take the walk of shame and that was the inside moment of "i cant believe i let myself get this bad".
and with this being my home park, theres more urge to lose weight to try some of these rides i only watched commercials for as funds for this park in the 90s were sparce. and now that im talking with my wife about getting season passes...i intend to drop at least a few pant sizes to try fitting in the bigger rides. im afraid of heights but goliath and xflight were two i really wanted to give a go. raging bull i was debating because its really tall.
When I went in July Raging Bull was a 3-4 train wait in the front, and next train in the back. Some friends I met there weren't aware about the back row on it. I've converted them in one ride. It's my favorite B&M hyper.
Great vid loved it!
I love Great America! To avoid the crowds, you have to go on an early season weekday. Schools will be there, but they generally leave 1-2 hours before the park closes for the day. Last time i went on a day like this, i waited no more than 30 mins for anything, then like an hour and a half before the park closed, everything was a station wait.
I was at Great America in August 2021 and Demon was running, I believe the lift motor (which was originally on Shockwave, little trivia) broke, they got it fixed. My favorite ride is definitely Raging Bull, it's legitimately in my top 5 of over 200 coasters, it's not just nostalgia from riding it opening year, even this year the airtime on the first drop is legendary. As for a giga, I highly doubt it will come since the park needed a height waiver for the 208 foot Bull, so I can't really see getting 300. Honestly I think the park really doesn't need any new coasters, I think the next addition should be a large scale thrilling flat ride. Like a Giant Discovery or Screamin Swing (they could get the tallest Screamin Swing without needing to break 200 feet)
Hi from Toronto Canada. This park has some great looking coasters. Can't help but think of my own home park. Canadas Wonderland. Nice to see what othervparks around have to offer. Thanks for this fun video.
Thank you for giving SFGAm some seriously overlooked love. It is the best Six Flags park by far for me and my 2nd favorite park overall. Maybe I'm just jaded from growing up there and working there one summer. But they have so many good rides and a nice variety.
0:24:. Best park in the Six Flags chain?
*Confused Six Flags America noises*
*Cries in Six Flags Magic Mountain*
*Laughs in Cedar Point*
As my hp it is great whenever people say good things about it. I do agree that the park is super packed all of the year from early June to October and on my last visit, the cars went all the way out to the back of the parking lot where it was all torn up and weeds were growing through. But it can be manageable by getting there early and on weekdays if possible.
My visit on a Saturday in early September this year was crazy crowded as well. I happened to get into the park at 1015, it opened at 1030, I made my way to Guest Services to move my membership and monthly flash pass to the park, so by the time I got to the flash pass line it was really reeeeeeally long. It didn’t even open until 11!! Then it took 90 minutes to get the pass!! By the time I got off my first ride it was 1pm, 2.5 hours in the park and had ridden one ride! Luckily the rest of the day was incredibly smooth, the rides that didn’t have flash pass (Demon, American Eagle, and Viper) weren’t too much of a wait (at the right time of day) and every other ride was quick until 2 hours before park close where the Queue for the big rides filled up to the point you couldn’t make a reservation. Luckily that last hour the Queues emptied and I got to re ride everything. My one issue was the fact my Platinum Flash Pass only allowed me one ride on Max Force. Seriously? The operations were crazy fast! I did get lucky and got to ride a 2nd time immediately because the line couldn’t keep up with the ops and they had to send a nearly empty train. Win!! Still a disappointing ride though, the launch isn’t nearly as crazy as Xcelerator and the dog tongue is one of the biggest wastes of inversions I’ve ever experienced. Same with he sideways hangtime at the end, it could be so easily improved to be a great ride. Goliath was the highlight for me, but it was running pretty rough in the back and as my first ground-up RMC, I’m not really a fan. My back can’t hang. Still a great ride though, short and very sweet. X-Flight has some nice low to the ground moments and that epic near-miss of course. Some fun inversions but oddly the restraints clamp down on me toward the end of the ride to the point I can hardly breathe. Not cool! Raging Bull is great but that first trim hill really hurts the first part of the ride. What’s the deal? It instantly becomes SLOGGING Bull. The mid course hits pretty hard too, if they minimized these trims, the ride would be fantastic!! Viper didn’t really do it for me, got one ride in the front of the back car and while it’s got a great layout, it was quite rough which scares my back. Maybe next time I’ll sit toward the front. American Eagle is quite breathtaking from the ground, but a bit Jack-hammery at times. I’d love a 100% re-tracking, keeping it as it is. It’s even more stunning at night, all lit up, wouldn’t want it any other way. Demon was kind of great, I grew up at CGA was it was fantastic to finally ride the sister clone of my first looper. Dare I say it was much better? Could have been in my head, but it was hauling. Whizzer was equally great, I had seen pictures from the 80s of the west coast version so this was a major bucket list coaster for me and it did not disappoint. Fantastic surroundings!! Just loved it. Batman was a fun ride as usual, ran quite smooth in the back row with minimal shaking. Hard to believe it’s about to turn 30. Got a great ride on Joker, in fact one of the best I’d experienced on the model. Vertical Velocity was great as well, got some killer air time in the back row and it was its last day of operation for the season so that felt good. Superman = exists. I look forward to riding the original version at SFoG but this and SFGAdv’s Superman do very little for me. Dark Knight truly surprised me! Honestly great ride, just not fun queuing those corridors during COVID. For me, it was a middle of the road park with middle of the road coasters all the way through. I’ll take Great Adventure and Magic Mountain well over it but the nostalgia was what really highlighted the park for me. It looked and felt EXACTLY as my home park Great America did as a kid, which has sadly changed so much it’s nearly unrecognizable. It still has all the same flat rides, names of each territory, both log flumes that drop into each other, and the train!! It was like going back in time. Honestly not a lot of desire to come back until something epic is installed, sadly another clone of Jersey Devil/Flight of Courage wouldn’t do it, but maybe someday soon Six Flags will pretend it’s 2001 again and build something BIG. Yes, we can dream!!
Great America is legendary. And such a wonderfully themed park. I miss when they had looney toons and cartoon network there. That was really big back then until 2012, then I think everyone went DC 100%
I am proud to call this my home park. My favorite ride there is either Reaging Bull or X-Flight, but I enjoy the variety of coaster types that are present at the park.
This is my home park (as if you couldn’t tell by the profile picture). It does have a great ride selection and is way too much to conquer in one day unless you have some kind of Flash Pass. The few downsides are the park does tend to get very crowded especially on the weekends and the wait times for the food lines can be just as long as the rides. Definitely mobile ordering is your friend here. I would love to see this park get a RMC Raptor in the near future. A Giga coaster would be difficult due to the Village of Gurnee height restrictions and the park pretty much landlocked but it would be cool to see.
Yes. It’s my 2nd personal favorite six flags park and as a mallrat, Gurnee Mills is just down the street too. One of my favorite outlet properties. Gurnee is similar to Vaughan, Canada with having a large theme park and a large outlet mall in the same city.
I am a Six Flags St. Louis local and I'll be making my first trip to Great America next year, can't wait!
The demon roller coaster reopened in fall but I believe it was closed during the summer because of maintenance issues and short-staffed but I'm not sure how many years left the Demon has as the lines are very short and the corkscrews are pretty rough though I still enjoy the ride as it's a classic.
I love GA but miss a few of the old coasters like Shockwave. But it’s been probably 10 years since I’ve been there last. But now I’m like 2 hours away. Indiana Beach is much closer now and Cedar Point is only another hour more.
As for my favorite ride, it would be the Eagle, especially when backwards. There’s just something IMO about the old school wooden racing coasters that I absolutely love. I hope they retrack it and keep it in the same configuration
This is my home park. It’s nice to see it getting the attention it deserves. I’ve never been to Magic Mountain so I can’t compare them but I think Great America is probably a top 3 Six Flags park
Raging bull was my first roller coaster here on my first visit and almost craped myself great ride
Love your channel bro!!
Hell yeah man, i live in SE wisconsin 30 min from here, this is our go to park since I was a kid! Ahh the memories!! Fav coaster there is Raging Bull
I went to Great America back in September for the first time in 19 years (which is a big oh boy) and that being my original home park shows I’ve missed that place a lot and I’m glad I came back. I returned and did all the coasters but V2 because that is getting repainted and rethemed to Flash Vertical Velocity.
Other than that and staying there the whole day, it was a great return. Goliath (after doing Steel Vengeance in June) was shorter but nice to do. Felt like it’s best in the park followed by Maxx Force, then Raging Bull. I also did find out American Eagle is going to get retracking because on the red side (to the right) there’s wood spotted there for it. I think Great America was nice to return to after a while and I can’t wait to come back in June of 2022. (Last visit I went to was Save the Whizzer and seeing pieces of track of Shockwave in the parking lot)
Also thank you for giving lots of love to Raging Bull, I don’t understand the hate for it cause it’s that damn good
You must be delusional to rate Maxx Force over Raging Bull! The launch is underwhelming, there's no air time, the "records" are super gimmicky, and it's over in a blink of an eye. You gotta make sure you are paying attention or you might miss the whole ride!
Happy to hear American Eagle is being retracted tho :)
I used to go here in the 80s, my parents got us season tickets every year. Glad to hear the place is going well
I went earlier this year and was able to ride everything that wasn’t a clone. I can say that Raging Bull is freaking phenomenal, as is Goliath and Maxx Force. X Flight’s vest restraints are freaking awful which is weird because I enjoy Banshee’s and Gatekeeper’s, but alas. I thought Viper and American Eagle were honestly really great and I know it’ll probably get RMCed but I honestly wouldn’t mind AE to be kept normal
I hope not, we already have an elite RMC! I'd really love to see something different at this park because it feels like this park is made up of weak coasters, clones, and extremely short rides :(
Plus I agree American Eagle is an amazing ride by itself
I went to SFGAm for the first time since 2004 back in August. Completely agree with you on how underrated Raging Bull is, it's my favorite ride in the park. I spent two and a half days there so that I wouldn't have to get the Flash pass. I rode everything I wanted to except the small kitty wooden coaster. The most rides I got was on Batman the ride because it's my second favorite ride in the park, having been the first invert that I ever rode. I think you're right on that American Eagle was more fun than I remembered as well, although viper was no fun for me at all, I wrote it at the end of a very warm day and it was running so slow there was no air time.
I never been to Six Flags Great America yet. but I was hoping if I can try out going on the rides at that park. I believe it will be very fun!
He's right about Superman and being a parking lot coaster. but at least they cared to plant grass and trees. *cough (Scream Magic Mountain) *cough
Growing up and living in the Chicagoland area I had a season pass every year at Great America until I moved away in 2004. So, I strongly believe that Great America was and still is one of their premier parks especially when six flags headquarters were in Chicago until they moved to Texas. Especially because they were the first to get a lot of everything especially with B&M, they got the very first b&m (and first b&m stand-up) with Iron Wolf, the very first b&M suspended with Batman, the first b&M hyper with Raging Bull, the first complete/full RMC ground up build and so on. Plus I love viper and that was their own in-house design and build.
And to be honest I don't think they're going to get a single rail above 200 ft because they've had enough problems and issues with the city getting Raging Bull, because the city of Gurnee has a variance preventing anything built over 200 ft at SFGAm. Hence why mostly all the other coasters built since then just under 200 feet.
So glad this is my home park!
Fun fact. Little Dipper is one of two of the same coasters in the area. In Marshall Wi, they also have that same coaster and its called the meteor. The park is called Little Amerika. That coaster also has a ton of history as well.
I worked with Great America for the first couple months, but after some complications I had to give it up. But I still stay in constant contact with a friend who’s been there for a couple years, and they’ve been severely understaffed this year
I've only been to Great America, so I don't have much of an opinion when comparing it to other parks, but I have such a good time every time I go. It's always, unfortunately, very busy every time I go though. I love how there's so much variety in the coasters. So many different models that are all very different from one another. Also the mix of history and nostalgia with the big and modern is so nice and makes it such a well rounded park for everyone. We could definitely use a larger scale, thrilling flat ride, but that's about it besides some small renovations and maybe amping up the kiddie areas. There's something for everybody.
My top 5: 1. Goliath 2. Raging Bull 3. Maxx Force 4. American Eagle 5. X-Flight (number 3 and 4 are pretty interchangeable)
Viper is a front row ride and the back is still amazing
I think the back row on Viper's first drop gives the best moment of airtime in the whole park. Maybe Goliaths first drop could be better to some people, but not for me
The fun thing about that front row is how far it dangles over the drop before picking up speed. Less force but very unique - Feels like the train is barely going to make it.
I went to Great America in early September and Demon was open and running well, so hopefully it sticks around for a while longer! Also I found Viper to be unbearably rough in the back. Is there something I’m missing about why you and many other enthusiasts like it?
It was very rough in the back when I went in August. Definitely better towards the front though
@@whitneythatcher yeah it was rough but it felt faster and the first drop is better
Yeah…don’t sit on a wheel seat, prepare yourself for the divot at the top of the second hill, and the rest of the ride will HANDSOMELY reward you 🥰
So since I posted this I've ridden Viper 4 times (all towards the front) and it's gotten better each time! Still not perfect but also not unbearable.
You have to sit in last row to get the full force of the ride. The trade off is the roughness, but for me it adds to the experience.
I honestly don’t complain to much if a coaster does not have enough airtime or is forceless or too short. I’m thankful for what my home park has and I don’t even do all the coasters in a single day just because Great America has so much to offer.
I love that this park is my home park. Raging bull is my child and I always ride it atleast 3 times! Maxxforce is good but short and also here is a tip for this Joker clone the green side flips a lot more! Use this knowledge next time lol. Otherwise hope u have a good day!
I may be biased, but this park has the best mix of thrill coasters and family coasters in the nation IMO.
Definitely super balanced
Thanks for making a great video on my home park!
A few thoughts:
-X-Flight is a completely different experience between the inside and outside seats. I won’t even ride on the outside,
-I’ve never seen seat assignments on Goliath. Sorry you ran into that.
-My opinion of Viper has SIGNIFICANTLY decreased over the last two years. I find it to be really rough and lacking in airtime as compared to 2019.
Ive never seen Goliath without assigned seats, thats weird
@@AirtimeThrills might depend on the time of day and how busy it is or whos operating. I rode early in the day saturday and was able to choose, but rode again an hour before park close and was assigned a row
This was the first Six Flags park I actually made it too. I was supposed to go to Fiesta Texas and Over Texas first but the Texas snow storm happened the weekend of that trip so that was a flop. So I drove six and a half hours to come to Great America to make my diamond membership at least have some use and I gotta say it was worth it.
This park gave me some Kings Island vibes it felt like everyone was having fun when I was there. The coasters were fun if a little too short. The line up complimented itself very well since even tho my favorite ride was Goliath and it is the weakest RMC I’ve ridden. I didn’t really mind this park is just fun and I can’t wait to go back next season
I have a background in mathematics, so perhaps I can shed some light on why a compressed air launch and a hydraulic launch might feel different from one another.
It comes down to how the acceleration is distributed over the entire time of the launch.
From personal observation:
Intamin launches tend to be logarithmic in nature, meaning that the acceleration is very high toward the beginning of the launch and not so much so at later time intervals.
Compressed air launches tend to be a bit more linear. The change in velocity over time tends to be more evenly distributed across all time intervals, hence the difference in subjective sensation.
On a side note, Jason Mons from S&S was interviewed and stated that Maxx Force accelerates to 80 mph in under 2 seconds.
ACE confirmed that Maxx Force accelerates from 0 to 78 mph in 1.7 seconds, and the park president of SFGAm said that Maxx Force accelerates from 0 to 78 mph in 1.8 seconds.
Who to believe??
Thats as good as any explanation I've heard so I'm inclined to believe it
I'm probably biased but I feel like Great America is quite close to the perfect park
Can’t wait for those rankings
So my experience with this park was weird and very cool. I was there a few years back for frightfest. It rained all day but stopped about 30 mins before the park opened so it was literally empty. I managed to ride nearly everything in 6 hrs with the max wait time of about 20 mins. For some reason in my mind this was a mid tier park with about 6-7 coasters, I had forgotten how many coasters this park has since it isn't talked about much in enthusiast circles. What I think sets this park apart is their maintenance crew, their rides run amazingly well.
Maintenance and operations in general throughout the park are generally great at Great America!
I remember when i was a kid in late 2000s before the justice league ride in the back opened, it was an open area where they did a live-action performance with wires and fire(i think?) and having a blast before they closed it down
SFGAm is the last major Six Flags park I have yet to visit. Someday, maybe 2022... it looks great.
I say it's definitely one of them. It's my second favorite Six Flags Magic Mountain and my tenth favorite amusement park overall beating Kings Island by just a little bit. I personally liked it better though when Hurricane Harbor was included with admission but I might be willing to overlook that now as they probably have enough things to do in there for an entirely separate day.
Great America has been my home park my entire life. i always always try to ride in the back row of any coaster. one time i made the mistake of trying raging bull in the front row (during exclusive ride time). i thought i was going to fall asleep! if you aren't riding raging bull in the back row, you're not riding it correctly. The first drop is generally better on any coaster but raging bull in the back row is on a whole new level
My home park. Problem we don't have that standout top 10 ride Great Adventure, Fiesta Texas, and Magic Mountain do. Hopefully soon though! Great video though.
215 coaster creds/29 parks visited. . SFGAM is my home park too. Top coasters in order. Goliath, Xflight, Raging Bull, Maxx Force, American eagle, Whizzer, Batman, Superman, V2, Dark Knight, Demon, Joker, Sprocket Rockets, Little Dipper.
Demon not going anywhere yet, it just got new paint, sound & effects in tunnel, and refurb trains. Buccaneer Battle closed more than 2 years now, so heavy rumor is it's gone and go karts moved which opens middle of park for RMC raptor or S&S Axxis. Also possible a family spinning coaster. Other rumor is to build in employee parking lot( behind flumes) expanding the park , a huge coaster can go back there along with new flat rides to expand DC area or create new theme area. Eagle could use a retrack and reprofile if they were to build the lift hill taller and steeper to bring it's stats into the modern age without totally RMCing it. They need a biggersit down restaurant as food lines are stupid long always. This park needs a Sky Screamer as well as some of the crazy new flat rides out last few years. Park attendance has shot up recent years with new rides. I still rank SFGAM 3rd overall in SF chain.
This has been my home park for 26 years and I know I’m blessed to have this park 90 minutes from me. Definitely top 3 in the chain, but I have SFGAd and SFMM over it for me personally. It’s always nice to see it getting love tho 🥰
Hell yeah, it is!!! Totally underrated park!
What I miss from Six Flags in Gurnee are the huge retro Arcade rooms. I wished they'd keep those retro arcade machines/pinball machines from the 80s. If anything, it was fun playing them again as a walk in the past. I remember one year they had a complete row of Space Aces when they first came out and Dragon's Lair arcade machines. Yes, those were the days.
I came back from Alton towers today and i was amazed by it. my new favorite ride is Th13teen.
I always appreciate american eagle for what it is...I am still holding out for a titan track to smooth it out, and maybe give a different profile on the helix, but I think what it has is a blast. Still love raging bull too
Just like SFDK and CGA in northern Califonia, there is a height restriction in Gurnee Illinois so no gigas allowed for SF Great America without exemption even if SF were crazy enough to splurge for one......NOT!
As a Great America veteran, when you go into the park, go right first. That's where Maxx Force and the Whizzer. Keep going and you'll hit Viper and Raging Bull. Trust me, Raging Bull fills up fast, get there early if you want to ride it. After that, just follow the park around and you'll find the rest. It's an easy layout, but a map will be helpful for first timers.
Personally, Raging Bull is always my favorite above Goliath as my second, and Whizzer in third.
Quick note for the Demon, take your earrings out. I don't wear some, but that ride is rough on the head.
Very well rounded park. Demon reopened something with the lift moter went bad. V2 i think is getting a retheme.
For me, Maxx force is my favorite there. its honestly twice as good if your in front seat compared to anything else, because you can see the track ahead of you, knowing that you could launch at any second, its just more intense in my opinion for front seat.
I've been a Raging Bull fan for years... but I've never been to the park lol
In my opinion, I do think this is my favorite six flags park, even though I only rode 8 coasters here and never went to magic mountain. The thing I did regret about my visit was not riding raging bull in the back row.
PS you can really see the whip on raging bull's back seat drop at 2:14
Great America Gurnee is definitely a great one. I haven't been to Six Flags Magic Mountain in a while and look forward to comparing them myself.