Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[LoneRider92I think Intamin should make a donkey!]

Wow, that was very cool to see. Interesting to see how the ride and the park have changed over the last 2 decades.

[GayCoasterGuyWhen I grow up, I want to breed donkeys!]

Woke up very early yesterday and decided to go to the park at opening. Why I decided to go to Great America on a super hot day, in the summer, on a Saturday, alone - I will NEVER know. Those are things I would rarely even laugh about doing.

But I went! Got the park just before opening, and I'm still tired from the day - so I'm gonna keep this short but sweet. Rode Whizzer, Demon, Eagle red (2x - yay for their policy "if the seat is empty, you can probably ride in it" policy), Little Dipper, Logger's Run, Yankee Clipper, Whriligig, and Sky Trek Tower.

I took a break to cool down at the mall in the afternoon, then raced back to the park to use my lunch "Season Dining Pass" by the end of the 'lunchtime window' of 3:30. When I got my food, I realized my geeky ziplock "pouch" that I keep my car key, money and cards (season pass, driver's license, credit card) was GONE. I always lock my pockets with safety pins, but somewhere in the rush of getting my food, I must have somehow dropped it.

Ran all around the park for about 90 minutes; to and fro between Lost & Found, security, my car, Guest Relations the whole time. I left my car windows opened a crack due to the heat, and I was able to manually winch a window down with my hands. I'm lucky the thing didn't break. So I got in my car to get my phone. Called mom asking her to come get me to take me home - where I would dig around for a spare car key. It was a fiasco. The cheap, blister inducing flip flops didn't help (they are being returned this week). The heat rash on my legs was killing me and the chafing on my inner-thighs was at me too (which is another not-so-friendly reminder that I really do need to loose weight.)
At the time, I didn't know if I lost the *pouch* or if I threw it in the car trunk before I came back into the park.

Back to Lost & Found one last time - they had found my geeky ziplock pouch! I called mom (who was on her way up to the park from downtown) to tell her the good news and to go back home.

The day really turned out great despite this fiasco. I gave compliments to all those involved with returning my stuff (even thought they couldn't tell me the name of the employee responsible for turning it in; company policy - they cannot take rewards, either.)

Even though they were stacking 3 trains, it's hard to complain when you are able to ride Whizzer:


He's gonna getcha getcha getcha:


This level of coolness usually only happens at places like Knoebel's:


The hat was on tight:


Kudos for low height requirements:


Goodnight Sweetheart:

[the_rock401“Fear can make a donkey attack a lion”]

So I'm going here tomorrow. I haven't been there since 2007 so I'm a little rusty. Couple of quick questions:

Just how stupid busy is the place going to be?

At rope drop, is it still "Proceed directly to Superman, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. " or is "Proceed directly to somewhere else?

Where exactly is this new technological terror? Iron Wolf's old spot?

Anyhow, if any of you want to meet up tomorrow, let me know.

[attack7Does Jeff Johnson count this donkey as a credit?]

Hi All -

^ Along the same lines, are the crowds horrible on July 4th? I imagine so, but with a FlashPass I assume it can be manageable?

Thanks for any advice,
Matt

[GayCoasterGuyWhen I grow up, I want to breed donkeys!]

So I'm going here tomorrow. I haven't been there since 2007 so I'm a little rusty. Couple of quick questions:
Just how stupid busy is the place going to be?

I have no clue, but you are probably headed to the park now, as it is "tomorrow." Monday wasn't bad at all. Most of the time I go to the park late afternoon/early evening. By that time, plenty of folks are tired from a long hot day and are headed home. Sure - the waterpark closes then and all those wet fiends head into the ride park, but plenty of folks are leaving so it works out.

On Monday, most of the stuff I went on had a 15 minute wait maximum.

July is usually a very busy time at the park, but today is a good day - I think tomorrow (July 4th) will be packed to the gills. The busiest I have EVER seen the park, however, is during Fright Fest. It's much worse then b/c the waterpark is not open to suck up some of the guest volume.

At rope drop, is it still "Proceed directly to Superman, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. " or is "Proceed directly to somewhere else?

I'm not sure I understand, but I'm rarely at the park at rope drop. It's probably the same as the other "big" parks. If you want to get to the new ride first, be at the front and be prepared to aggressively mow down other peeps. Or, just take your time heading to the not-as-popular big rides like American Eagle, Viper, Demon, etc... and enjoy X-Flight later in the day. After about 8pm, the crowds drop fast. After 9, many rides are a walk-on.

Oh yeah, Eagle has been racing, but not until after 1pm and only one side is open later at night Beggars can't be choosers!

DO NOT MISS a front seat ride on Eagle.

Don't forget - the best night rides are Whizzer, Eagle and Demon. Not only do you have short (or no) wait, but those coasters take on a different personality at night. I am biased, of course.

Another don't forget - if you find an empty seat - by all means jump in! The park is pretty relaxed about re-rides if the seat is empty. Just don't throw a fit if there is a random employee that says "no re-rides during the day" or something like that. Just get in, and act dumb.

Anyhow, if any of you want to meet up tomorrow, let me know.

That would be great - but it's already tomorrow! Doh! I was thinking about going up to the park tonight, message me if you would like to meet up.

Have fun! Don't miss Fiddler's Fling - it's the fastest damn ride in the park (they don't make em like that anymore!) Again - better at night with all the crazy head/tail lights.

Flash Pass is lame... I mean, if the park had great ride efficiencies, I wouldn't be as against it. I don't think you need it - and only "Platinum" (or whatever the highest level is) is good for ONE ride on X-Flight (I think...)

I'm always dumfounded by the folks walking up the Flash Pass entrances to ride that have NO wait. Must be a superiority thing...

[Ed FarmerThe only thing better than a naked woman is a naked donkey!]

I'm always dumfounded by the folks walking up the Flash Pass entrances to ride that have NO wait. Must be a superiority thing...

I see this happening way more often than you would think. Flash Pass is an excellent option to have in many cases. I'm planning on a visit to Hershey Park this summer, and between the horror stories about how crowds get and the likelihood that I won't be back anytime soon- I would pounce on a Lo-Q type system if it was available. Still, there are days that it just looks absurd and pretentious to be using one. You can't blame the park, they're only doing what they ought to be doing to make money... Eh, whatever. Who's to say they aren't just rushing to catch their charter to Paris for their early dinner reservations at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée?

[GayCoasterGuyWhen I grow up, I want to breed donkeys!]

I would pounce on a Lo-Q type system if it was available. Still, there are days that it just looks absurd and pretentious to be using one. You can't blame the park, they're only doing what they ought to be doing to make money...

I kinda *do* blame the park. A couple years ago at Six Flags Over Georgia, I was waiting in line to ride Georgia Cyclone and a guy and his daughter had a "platinum pass" so they got to ride the first seat 2 times in a row. I think they were only running one train. Either way, the park was dead. I told the guy, politely (after a ride operator nearly accosted me for moving towards that seat) that not only does the park diss me for making me have to wait extra time b/c he payed to cut, but also they dissed him b/c he clearly didn't need the pass that day.

They *could* do a sort of thing like "you really don't need this pass today..." on a slow day, but I digress... It's somehow OK to have low integrity for some big companies (and people, in general).

Again, I'm not totally downing the whole 'pay to cut' thing. There is a place for it - if implemented properly. In other words, it would be nice to see parks *first* get high capacity efficiencies, and then consider such a plan.

[deathbydinnI eat bugs.]

I'm always dumfounded by the folks walking up the Flash Pass entrances to ride that have NO wait. Must be a superiority thing...

But with how the flash pass, atleast at the lowest level, works you don't know the wait time for when you load. When they reserved the ride it may have had an hour wait, but by the time they actually go to load it could be a walk on.

As for people using them on dead days, the person could have already bought it online, or they could be visiting a park for the first and only time and want to make sure they get on everything a lot.

[brneff99I Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

Hit the park yesterday with our kids for the first time since my wife and I were kids and shortly after American Eagle opened...heat was tolerable, crowds were tolerable, day interrupted with lightning and rain for awhile but overall a great visit. Park is in very nice shape...such a great collection of flats and the theming in some areas remains outstanding...best themed drop tower I've seen although the ride was so so...

Highlights: X Flight was tremendous...no bad rides...line moved quickly and there is so much still to come with this type of coaster. One question/concern: One of the trains already has numerous seats closed/shut off...why is this??
Raging Bull was great and I can't say enough for the Ride Ops on this one as they were cranking out 3 cars the entire time (are you listening SFMM??)...line moved very quickly. Has the brake always been on the 2nd airtime hill??
Since it was overy 100, the Buccaneer Battle was a lot of fun...maybe because we've never been on one before but we all had a blast...and our kids are not young!
I was surprised at how much I liked Viper...I had really not heard that much about it and it had some great air time in the back.
American Eagle seemed to be running very well...we loved the rides in the back on both sides.
We all enjoyed Superman even though I know its not a fan favorite and its definitely no Tatsu...but again, the Ride Ops were cycling the trains pretty good early in the day...much better than I've ever seen at SFMM.

No real disappointments other than the jarring and unpleasant ride that Demon gives out...ugh...I can't even say anything too negative about the Dark Knight experience.

Spending a day at this park and last week at SFStl makes us realize that although we have a very nice collection of thrills at our home park of SFMM, sadly it sorely lacks in the overall experience and atmosphere that we had at either of the parks on our visit.

[GayCoasterGuyWhen I grow up, I want to breed donkeys!]

^No Whizzer?

Had a great time at the park tonight. Got there around 530 and rode:

Viper (front seat!) - running incredible, fast and smooth in the cooler temps/less humidity. I wish more PTC ratchet bars had the special *hook up* (return shocks) that this badboy does.

American Eagle - front seat - then nabbed the back seat as it was about to go out empty. Great as always, racing too! (Are you listening SFMM?)

Logger's Run... Yankee Clipper - so glad we still have these "70s classic" rides. I'll never get enough of these.

Demon - front seat. Great demonic fun, as always. They were running red and yellow trains, black is sitting in transfer waiting for a busy day.

Whizzer - front then nabbed back as it was about to go out empty. Like Viper, running like a "bat outta hell" after warming up all day, and in the cooler temps. This classic ride never gets old, aside from the slower operations and seat belts - running like it did when it opened in 1976 (are you listening SFMM???)

Dark Knight - 2x. This is probably the most aggressive ride in the park (along with Rajun Cajun).

The more I go to my home park, the more I'm grateful it's my home park. Had a blast with my buddy, did all that and had time for a pit stop at the Dairy Queen down the road.