The Six Flags Great America (SFGam) Discussion Thread!

[traincrossinWisconsin Dells Fanatic]

^For certain rides, like Demon, yes. For Raging Bull they would just hold up the normal line and let a bunch of people with Flash Passes go. It all depends on how integrated the Flash Pass line is. For most rides it works fine, others not so much.

[KevinMI know quite a lot about Donkeys!]

^^Traincrossin is pretty much right. Unlike most of the SF parks, Great America actually merges the flash pass queues just before the station on most coasters. That's the same system you would see at Disney. Demon, however, enters up the exit, which is the way many other SF parks use. The Flash Pass staff member at the merge point generally takes the place of the person at the station that controls the flow of guests into the station (which are rarely used anymore...). They hold up the regular line, and add in the flash pass users. If there is a big chunk of people, they will let a lot of them in. Then the Flash Pass user is free to go where ever they want in the station with everyone else. It's a much nicer system than say, Evel Knievel at SFSTl, where the flash pass riders come in from the exit and take any row they like, holding up the people next in line for that row. Even Deja Vu at GAm had a merge point line, but I don't recall Deja ever using Flash Pass/Fast Lane.

[gforce532I'm a know-it-all about donkeys!]

Hey guys, I am planning my first ever visit to the park in late august of this year. Right now I have Mon Aug 23 as my date. And I was wondering what the crowd levels might be like. Assuming with the park closes at 8 and I think that most of the schools there are going to be back in by then that it will be less than average levels. I was going to be there when the park opens at 10 and stay all the way till closing plunging as many rides and re-rides as possible. And I am not planning on buying Flashpass.

[monsterfan99I own the website www.donkey.com]

^You should be able to get every coaster done that day for sure. For re-rides and throwing in more stuff, it can be hit or miss. Just make sure to hit Superman, Ragin' Cajun and (when it opens) Little Dipper first as those lines get awful fast.

[ZingomanI just made a donkey in No Limits!]

Anybody notice the control panel?? No levers it seems. Sorry Kurt.

[G$ KurtI know quite a lot about Donkeys!]

^ Sad face....

[kumba830"Hi my name is Jo, and I want to make love with Iron Wolf!"]

For those of you who though Whizzer looked bad. I bet you will enjoy this...

Oh, I've had this gum before and it's nasty.

Photo by: John Revelle

[netdvnBonafide Donkey Expert]

^ It would probably suit the ride better if it were 5 gum instead of Stride since 5 has a black background...

But IMO Stride is one of the best chewing gums around.

On another note...

VILLAGE OF GURNEE
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS AGENDA

DATE: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
TIME: 7:30 P.M.
PLACE: Gurnee Village Hall, 325 North O’Plaine Road

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Approval of March 17, 2010 Joint Plan Commission & Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Minutes

4. Public Hearing: Variation at 542 N. Route 21 (Six Flags Great America Park), for Great America, LLC
(Great America, LLC has submitted a variation petition to exceed the 125 foot height restriction to allow for the construction of a new roller coaster ride to a maximum height of 150.17 feet that will be located in the Space Port area. The subject property is the existing Six Flags Great America Park (located between Grand Ave and Washington St and Rte 21 and the I-94 Tollway) and is zoned C/S-1 Outdoor Recreational District.)

5. Adjournment

I found this on a TPR member's Facebook page earlier today and thought I might share it with everyone. This could mean that Chang (or something around that height) is coming to the park.

Update for May 22, 2010

Today the park was packed with school and choir groups, so lines were long for nearly everything. At around 3, nearly every coaster had an hour wait, with some, including American Eagle, having waits of over 90 minutes. Even with the crowds, the staff still worked had with efficient operations, although running the red side of Eagle would have been nice, and the ride ops looked for riders to fill up a train.

Also:

-Whizzer ran three trains, something I don't remember happening in a while, if ever
-American Eagle was awesome. It was fairly smooth, except for the second half of the helix, and it had plenty of airtime.
-Viper also ran really well
-Even for being pretty crowded, the park staff managed to keep the park very clean


Little Dipper is coming along nicely, and it looks like they should be able to open next week. I was skeptical on my last visit a month ago, but the park has pulled it off. It was even noticeable the amount of work they got done while I was there, such as putting up railings in the queue. The ride is looking great, although it doesn't look like it'll have the neon lights. Hopefully I'm proven wrong on this too though.


So even though it was a fairly hot and crowded day, I still had a great time

Now onto the photos:

[deathbydinnI eat bugs.]

Little Dipper looks awesome! I really like how the sign says "Keeping the History Alive" and I hope that they add some other signs or pictures about the coasters past.

Edit: Chang is 154 ft yet the proposal has height of 150 ft. I'm assuming this means there would be trenches at various points throughout the ride.