Why Six Flags Great America is Incredibly Underrated!
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- Опубликовано: 14 июл 2024
- I finally got out to visit Six Flags Great America in 2021. This is a park that I had wanted to visit for many years but never made the trip. I knew it would be a pretty good park based on some of the roller coasters I'd seen. I never knew how good this park really was until my recent visit. Over the years I've heard so much about Magic Mountain, Great Adventure, and Fiesta Texas but Great America seems to never get the attention it deserves as one of the best parks in America. It has without question one of the most complete coaster collections you will find anywhere.
Thanks so much for watching!
00:00 Intro
02:28 Day 2
06:35 New Plan
08:25 The Collection
09:15 Some History
Yeah this park isn’t nearly talked about enough, I’m so glad lots of the coaster RUclipsrs are making it out here. Maybe there isn’t a stand out ride but the quality and quantity is amazing
Absolutely not
@@Starlit43 You seem to really hate Great America but I will respect your opinion. Did you have a bad visit the one time you went there? Just curious.
@@tigerrocks503chase8 I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll say that the park's main strength is its main weakness, which can kill the experience for some people. The solid coaster collection draws the largest crowds of any park I've been to, and lines are always insanely huge. On one of my 4 visits, it was 45 for a high, rainy all day (no lightning so most rides were open), on a weekday, and lines were still over an hour. Some people are okay with getting only 4 or 5 rides done in a day and don't mind waiting in 2-3 hour lines. For other people, that is a recipe for the worst day ever. Not entirely my case, as I figured out ways to manage the crowds and get a decent amount done, but I can understand other people not liking this park because of the crowds.
One of my strategies on my last visit was to get a ton of rides on Goliath early, before the crowds made their way back there. I should've thrown in a couple on X Flight early as well. Since Maxx Force has a 1-2 hour line well before park opening, skip it early, then come back to it midday, when the line is even a bit shorter than it was early on.
@@OklahomaCoasterFan yea, go on days in early may when rain is in the forecast, most of the time it just sprinkles and they still operate rides. last time i went, i marathoned raging bull and goliath at least 5 times each
@@ultimatecoasters2992 One of my visits was a Friday in May. That was the 45-degree rainy day I mentioned. Lines were still an hour for everything. That's still better than 3 hours though.
Love the love for my home park! I think a lot of enthusiasts overlook SFGAm because it doesn't have a truly "elite" coaster. But when you look up and down the park's coaster offerings, I think Great America has one of the most-well rounded lineups in the country.
Congratulations on 7K!
I completly agree its a very well rounded collection. Most people that visit this park seem to really enjoy it a lot. It kinda caught me by surprise because I just don't see many people make the trip out and I rarely see content like I see for SFMM, SFOG and Great America. Such a good park
Best supporting cast of coasters in the chain
I went to this park earlier this month and it's now my favorite Six Flags park of the 14 I've been to. The roller coaster lineup has quality and quantity and I loved everything about the atmosphere.
Yeah I really enjoyed my visit too! I agree so many great rides!
This is my home park, and I come here literally weekly. I love the praise, and it is my personal happy place, for it has my first inversion, Demon, my first woodie, Viper, my first RMC, Goliath, and my first B&M hyper, Raging Bull!
I adore how Raging Bull has a longer line for the back. Although most coaster nerds would prefer a shorter wait and understandably so, I just love how the general public and coaster nerds are on the same page about what makes Raging Bull great.
Raging Bull in the back is the only place guaranteed to get you more than one pop of airtime, so I'd say the 3 extra minutes is worth
Raging Bull is above average even when your not in the back. Still a back row ride gives me the same smile I had after my first ride on Steel Vengeance. I’m willing to conquer Everest for a ride in the back.
I mean for the feeling im looking for in a ride idk where id rather be on any ride.
This is my home park and it was all my life, I’ve been here over 100 times and I love the collection of coasters, it truly is great.
This is my home park and I try to take my family at least every weekend. Was 11 when batman the ride premiered and now 40 with kids of my own seeing their smiles on rides is priceless.
fun fact, SFGAm is not only the home park for Chicago, but the Milwaukee area too. It's literally right in the middle between the two so it's perfect for both metro areas
This is my home park, I have memberships and flash passes for my whole family. We're at this park at least a couple times a month during the season, and never gets old.
hmm, do people really think "What even is this?" about the helix in American Eagle? This is maybe the only feature of the park that makes me cheer as the coaster picks up speed. It may be a bit old-timey but for me American Eagle is THE quintessential rollercoaster and I even love the epic, comically long queue line. All iconic, and I didn't even mention the drop.
this park is near and dear to me, its my childhood park, it's 30 min from my home in WI, it will always have a special place in my heart
Cool to see some love for my home park! It may not have an "elite" coaster, but for me, the depth and variety of fun rides more than makes up for it. The history behind the park and rides is the cherry on top.
Great America is my home park and it's great to see all these RUclipsrs finally go to that park and give it the respect it deserves.
That helix on the American Eagle is a ton of fun when the two tracks are racing
This is my home park I got on everything in one rainy day it wasn’t really rainy I love this park whenever I see somebody talking about it my face just lights up I feel like it’s very underrated
Oh yeah I only missed the joker
It sounds like you definitely picked a busy couple days to come to the park. So mad props for sticking it out early! It was tough this year with high attendance but pretty low staffing. That low staffing was particularly why they don't open half the rides often until about hour after the park opens. And Demon was getting it's lift motor replaced (It's an old girl to run too like whizzer)
I always love the quality of your videos! From the cinematography, to the editing of the video, to the script, it’s all fantastic! Always love when you post a video
Six Flags Great America is my original home park and man great memories there. Went back to it last year in September for the first day of Fright Fest after my last visit prior was 19 years ago. That had that special place in my heart and it was nothing but an amazing time to be there. (Yes I was there when “Save the Whizzer” was a thing)
Incredible video!!! It’s awesome to see that you got to experience most of the coasters in just a single visit… it’s my home park and I still can’t find a perfect strategy to fit every coaster in one day without a flash pass
Dude I swear you have better video and production quality than Hollywood. Your scripts are so smooth and perfect yet also so very human and positive. I love every video everytime.
Wow Thank You so much!!!
I was in a similar situation. I only had one day at Great America, and had to leave the park by 6. And it was SLAMMED. I missed a bunch of credits, but prioritized waiting in line for the 7 rides most important to me. That turned out to be a great decision! I was lucky enough that everything was up on and running. It really is an awesome park, with arguably the most complete lineup in the world!
Viper was built in house (the only coaster ever built by six flags), not by PTC. It just uses PTC trains. Other than that, I'm glad you were able to pack in all those credits in one day! Some visits recently it's been so packed that without skip the line passes you really only have time for 2-3 rides-of course if you factor in waiting 30-40 minutes sometimes for food as well.
I've been here twice (2015 and 2021), and I've had great experiences both times. They have one of the most well-rounded coaster collections in the world, and even though they don't have a coaster on the level of say Fury, every ride is pretty solid. Last year it was also packed, and also laughed so hard with American Eagle; that helix is so rough that I was bouncing up and down in my seat😂
Amazing filming, story, and editing. Well done my man, brings light to me every time i watch your videos. Hopefully I’ll ride gwazi soon and see your experience. Thanks for the incredible videos!
I love ur content! U are my new favorite RUclipsr for roller park info!
I am grateful for what my home park has and I don’t care if it does not have that “stand out” coaster. Each of the 15 coasters are special to me in their own way.
You do an amazing job my dude, keep it up. With SFGA being my home park it is nice to see it get some recent praise
I love your videos there so well edited and I appreciate how much work into them.
this literally brought tears to my eyes. This park being my home park. I love your words and footage you got / for the park. I’m actually moving back home to chicago in a week and a half and i’m gonna activate my membership again. being away in denver co i realized how much i actually love roller coasters and i can’t go another year without riding Goliath.
I’m happy to see you cover this park! I’m planning a trip there and wanted to know more about it.
Absolutely phenomenal video bro! I also feel a lot of the similar feeling about Great America. Before Orion, I put it on the same level as KI. Such a great park, lots of amazing flats too which I really like. If only Great America still had Shockwave!
totally missed your narration man. glad to see this upload
Great video as always! Great America is super high on my bucket list, I gotta get out there!!!
This is my home park. My first park I ever went to seeing you talk about brogns great memories. Ot all the coasters there are 5 stars but because of all my favorite memories there it will always be a 5 star park to me. ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️
Such a great park!
that was almost an emotional video...love it, and glad you had fun, too bad with the long waits tho. if you can get it on a slow day its a blast to just run from coaster to coaster
Believe it or not American Eagle used to have even more queue. The area where they have Kitzopolis used to be the entrance for Eagle.
Yes! This is my home park and I'm lucky. This park is amazingly well rounded.
The park president Hank Salemi passed away last month and I thank him for the years of improving and evolving this park. I even got to meet him last year and I even got a photo with him, he was such a nice and humble guy. R.I.P. Hank “Charles” Salemi 1964-2022. 😢 🌹 🇺🇸
Great video on my home park. Your videos are top notch
I’m glad you enjoyed your visit to great america! But wanted to shed some light. During the 2021 season I was the Unit supervisor for demon and the ride was down waiting for a lift motor rebuild. We didn’t get the ride back and running normally till the end of July-ish
That slo-mo at XFlights inline twist was a killer shot! I click on your video’s with high expectations and I’m never disappointed!
I’ve never been but it looks amazing, the collection looks really deep
This park wasn't on my radar until a few days ago but after doing some research, I'm gonna try and take a quick trip out here sometime this year.
Also, your Deep South is showing by pronouncing "Illi-NOISE" lol
Remember the s is silent
My mom is from Chicago. She made sure her kids knew the s is silent from a very young age.
Great video. Loved the birds in the last shot as if they were released at the right time in the narration.
Love the videos! Every single one is killer! Keep it up!
Amazing video and love for my home park. Great America doesn’t seem to get too much attention from the roller coaster enthusiast community because none of the coasters it has is S tier. I think the reason for that is because Six Flags historically treats Great America as it’s testing ground; it gets a lot of firsts. Because it gets a lot of firsts, it’s doomed to never have the best; almost everything after the first is bigger or improved. Having said that, it’s collection is definitely world class.
bro this is the only theme park I've visited but it's amazing. people think "oh it's too crowded" or "it's too expensive" even though the flash pass is $50 the park is just the funniest place I've been
Great video as always, hope you revisit Florida soon for Iron Gwazi.
Great video, I was there July 24-25, Raging Bull was never more than an hour wait, Demon was down as well. Maxx Force broke down that Sunday as well. Great and underrated park
Awesome, I haven't been here in ages but it's my home park. It's too bad you didn't get to ride Viper, that ride is one that really ignited my love for coasters as a kid. Glad you enjoyed Raging Bull. This park def has a unique atmosphere imo.
Yeah I really hope to get Viper on my next visit
I think Whizzer is actually the very last "Speedracer" model still in operation. It has a similarity to Schwarzkopf's Jet Star family, especially from Jet Star 2 onwards, but they are all much smaller and transportable, while Whizzer is park coaster. I hope they keep it around for as long as possible.
There is actually another Speedracer still left in South America, it’s the relocated Zambezi Zinger from Worlds of Fun.
@@coasterchaos1866 Cool, I should have checked on rcdb first, I thought this one had been scrapped like the one at what's now California's Great America. Thanks!
Save the Whizzer they said, and Shockwave became chopped liver.
Indeed that is what a Fright Fest tombstone says
This was my home park for about 20 years and although I now live in SC with Carowinds as my home park, I was disappointed that very few enthusiasts seem to be making content about SFGA. Now in the last few years it's finally getting some well deserved attention. I have been to better parks but few parks have, as you mentioned in the video, such an impressive variety of coasters. Although my one complaint with the video is you didn't talk about Shockwave which not only held the inversion record when it opened in 1988 but it was also the tallest full circuit coaster, period. That's one of the other things that SFGA has done so well over the years. The park really went out of their way to break records and took extraordinary risks to become a proving ground for new coaster concepts.
I can't wait to get down here this year!
Man, I am so happy you finally made it to my home park.
Come back when you can, viper is legit
Glad to hear you liked this park
Damn, I live in Ontario and I've been back and forth whether to go to Great America or Hershey for my road trip this summer. I was thinking Hershey, because it's 4 hours closer, but I really want to go here more. I've done Cedar Point, Six Flags New England and Kings Island over the past few years. I liked your commentary about spending multiple days at a park, planning wise. That's what I do. I'd rather spend 2 - 3 days at a park to truly experience it, get multiple rides, experience the waterpark, and plan for rides being down. Great video, as always!
Kings dominion is my home park!! The loss of volcano is upsetting, but I have been going to this park for 35years!! And went on smurf mountain before volcano lol. And the safari ride before it was torn down. The funny thing is I never got a ride on xlc ever took a break from parks. And the hurler/ hurter I'm glad they rmc the thing
My home park!! It really does have an amazing coaster lineup, one of the best. It can get extremely crowded though. Get there on a weekday right when the park opens.
your positivity is fantastic
Bro I throughly enjoy your videos 💯❤️
From what ive seen at other parks to compare my home park just seems to have a perfect balance. Nothing thats s tier but nothing below average. Just a solid collection with a bit of everything
I grew up with SFGam. Whizzer was my first coaster ever in 1986. Demon then Tidal Wave were my 2nd and 3rd coasters ever ridden. I was there when Shockwave first opened, and of course Batman and Raging Bull. Waited FOREVER for Batman and that Batman song was stuck in my head for about a year afterwards! But I have lived in Florida for 20 years and experienced many other parks around the country. SFGam is one of the better Six Flags parks hands down! Maybe it's my age, not sure, but I keep shaking my head when I keep hearing about Raging Bulls first drop. Without question, it's great, but not the best on a B&M hyper at all. The angle of decent is only 65° and provides good airtime in the backrow only. But the first drop in the backrow of say Mako destroys Raging Bull and I was and still am a huge fan of SFGam. The lineup is very solid. Several clones as typical. I hate the crowds the park gets and makes for not always fun days.
About Whizzer, watch Coaster Studios’ video on Six Flags Great America’s coaster operations. As the train on Whizzer is pulling out of the station, you hear this one guy go “OOF!” As someone who has to sit in the back seat, I feel his pain.
In terms of a varied, well-rounded, and historic coaster collection, there are really only a few parks in the world that measure up to SF Great America. I'm pretty grateful to have grown up within (negotiable) driving distance - I got to ride a lot of these coasters dozens of times over a few years of having season passes and going once or twice a week all summer. I hope they see the value in keeping their classic rides around as long as possible, I think more people would like American Eagle if it were given some track work and allowed to race. They used to run the blue train backwards when I was going there in middle/high school so there was a good reason to get in line twice, and even though that line feels like a mile long nowadays it would actually fill up and spill out when it still ran smooth enough for the average guest to enjoy.
First time watching your channel but I like your video style a lot!
Happy to have this as my home park
Two hills I'm willing to die on: the Batman inverts are the greatest coasters ever created, and Raging Bull in back row is the best first drop.
Waiting on your west coast trip!
I also love the sound of those LIM launches, not just on those Intamin impulse coasters, but also on the old-school Premiers. You probably did not visit on the busiest day of the year. That sounds like an average day. This park is always crazy slammed with huge lines every day, even in the rain, even in the cold, every day of the week. That's the only bad thing about the park. It's the only big amusement park to serve the massive population of Chicago-Milwaukee. I wish there were other parks to spread crowds out better, because it is a great coaster lineup. I agree with everything you said about Raging Bull & B&M hypers.
Yeah i've had a lot of people tell me it stays very busy at this park
KD is my other home park too! I'm closer to BGW (40 minutes versus 2 and a half hours.) Great video, as usual! 🙂
This is my home park and I love this park if has such a great collection of rides
Finally some love for my home park
Another okay coasters upload? I’m here for it
SFGAm has always been my home park. Definitely one of the best parks in the country. Although it's been tough seeing corporatized over the years.
About Demon, the lift hill motor (which used to be the lift hill motor on Shockwave, an Arrow mega looper that stood where Superman is now), had broken and they were waiting on a replacement part from Vekoma.
Man, Okay Coasters makes Friday so much better.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Great America, but I’m planning on buying the season pass this summer. I’m in college in Madison WI so I’d like to go once with friends after the school year ends, at least once with my family, and maybe a time or two alone to just hit as many coasters as possible. Super excited!
My first visit was pretty much the exact same as yours with huge lines preventing getting a ton of rides. It took me 2 visits to realize that the best way to grab all the credits is to knock out the whole left side of the park in a row first, starting with superman. These are the lower capacity rides, but first thing, you can get walk ons on all of them before the huge lines build up. I got on dark Knight, Joker, V2, Batman the Ride, Little Dipper, sprocket Rockets, and Goliath all in about an hour
The soundtrack is so beautiful sounding
FINALLY SOMEONE IS ADDRESSING IT
American Eagle is a quality coaster, it just can't duel, as I've been told, for it's putting too much strain on both the track and final helix. Most GP like blue train as it goes faster most of the time, but red actually has more bumps for airtime.
Fun fact about weight times, 9/10 times we just BS them as we can't really see the queue from the station. We can predict the weight time for Raging Bull mostly from which queue houses are open and how many trains are we running that day. The weight times also only really get updated on the hour
"illinoise" rolls eyes***
Man, let me pay for your fast pass next time you go to a park like this you haven’t been to yet. This park deserves it and I almost think I have more fun watching your amazing coaster videos than I do going to them. Much love.
Pay for mine too please! 😂
I love that park!
As a home parker, I believe the three hour waits for Raging Bull where actually pretty commonplace this year for the 5 visits I got. The park was so packed that on one day I went during freight fest, and we had to park at the very back of the overflow lot at the back fence. It’s been a very busy year for the park.
One thing I’ve noticed is people rave about Kings Island having 5 woodies. This park has 5 as well & I think they’re second behind the amount of woodies in track length behind kings island
Yes we are second to KI. Until they built Mystic Timbers we held the record.
Little Dipper will forever have a place in my heart as it was my first ever coaster, I was 5 years old back in 2009 when it was in kiddieland and although I have no memory of riding it there my mom as confirmed that I did and it was my first ride, I rode it a few times back in 2013 but i haven’t been on it since, I love sfga
It benefits is also one of its drawbacks. The amazing collection makes this park packed. Every day it is packed.
Seems to me to be one of the better parks in the Six Flags chain the coaster collection is incredible
I went here earlier this year, and yeah, I only was there for 2 hours (An impromptu visit after Michigan's Adventure) and I tried to get on as many coasters I didn't ride during my first visit (Holiday in the Park 2017), I got on Goliath, American Eagle, Viper and Whizzer but... none of them really stood out to me, not to mention my Canadian debit card wasn't accepted at the front gate so I had to pay more for an online ticket, I spent $100CAD just for 2 hours! I thought of it as a wasted effort, though I was proud of myself for driving to Chicago for the first time by myself, though I clearly wasn't ready cause of how lonely I felt coming back, Since then I made a solo trip out to Kings Dominion, 11 Hour, 1060km drive, felt no loneliness, but that may have been because I was going down to see a friend I knew too, Michigan's Adventure and SFGAM was completely solo, minus the calls to my mom to keep my company. And no, I did not get to ride Maxx Force, the single rider line was not moving an inch due to groups in it not wanting to split up, or, terrible ride ops. That was another thing, the ride ops were TERRIBLY SLOW!!! This was the same year I revisited Kings Island after first going to it in 2011 and it was a night and day difference! I'd even wager the Ride ops at Michigan's Adventure were actually faster too
Lol you were thinking about Goliath at over Georgia and accidentally said Goliath, for some reason I found that so funny
I grew up at this park. My favorite park in the world.
Ragin Bull is my favorite!! I’m always in the front seat 🙌🏻 wooooo!!!! Ha ha American Eagle 🦅 is my favorite!!!! Well, they’re all my favorite!! When V2 was new 21 years ago 😳 my friends and I waited 3 hours to get on ha ha totally worth it. I can’t leave the park until I get on my Ragin Bull!!!!
i miss the old Six Flags Great America in 1993 all the way up to 1999 the 90's where awesome back in the day
they had Batman Stunt Show ran for 1992 to 1994 W.B. Western Stunt Show ran for 1996 to 1998 then it was butch cassidy and sundance kid stunt show only ran for the 1999 season
Ayy my home park, made 25 visits last year. Never get bored there
My home park! Also, Viper six flags built.
No shot our man said Illi-noise lol
I'm pumped to go to Six Flags this summer
back row on raging bull is unreal
I love this park can't wait to agian in 2 days
Love six flages Great America my home park live 20 minutes away the second best six flages for roller coaster collections the first of course is magic mountain plus so many beautiful women at six flags great America awesome park
You should make a Six flags Magic Mountain video I think it would blow up! Its also my home park