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Six Flags Great America PTR

Tony

Hyper Poster
Well I was going to Chicago for a week at the end of August so I was going to spend a day at Six Flags Great America as well. I chose the Thursday 27th to visit the park which unfortunately turned out to be a VERY wet day :( . I kind of expected rain due to the forecast but hoped it would clear early like the day before.

I initially assumed there would be a direct bus to the park from Chicago but a few weeks ago I found out there wasn't which put the trip to the park in jeopardy. I quickly looked for alternatives and found the best way was by Metra train to either Waukegan or Libertyville and get a taxi from there to the park. I have to say the Metra website was very easy to use, all I had to do was type in Six Flags Great America and it told me how to get to the park and a list of train times.

So we left for Ogilvie train station in Chicago at 7.45am for the 8.35am train to Waukegan. The train took around 1h 20mins and we quickly got a taxi straight away.

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We arrived at the park around 10.20 to a near empty car park :--D . Sadly the rain hadn't stopped so I feared they wouldn't open the coasters in the wet weather. We proceeded straight through the turnstiles with our online tickets and as I walked straight through I was stopped straight away as I didn't even notice they had metal Detectors... first time i seen that at a themepark!

We were greeted by allot of friendly staff at the entrance plaza and got a photo taken with Mr. Six himself :p .

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Due to the terrible weather and with Illinois schools back that week, crowds were extremely light that day with all rides being walk-on! :shock: First stop was:

Superman: Ultimate Flight
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This was my 2nd Ultimate Flight clone (the other being SFGadv's) and my 3rd B&M flyer overall. I took the back seat for my first ride and wow, the Pretzel loop was INSANE. I don't remember it being that intense on Gadv's but maybe the wet weather made it run a little faster? This version also has nicer landscaping with more trees planted around the layout. The drop was fun and the pretzel loop was fantastic then it was a bit average after that.

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Overall I think I slightly prefer Air as Superman just dies off after the pretzel loop and Air has nicer landscaping but Superman was still a great ride and I love the flying gimmick.

8/10

V2:
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This was my first Intamin Impulse coaster and I was a little excited to ride it. It's awesome watching the ride launch in front of you as you wait which got me excited.

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The initial launch is pretty weak but still fun and the boost as you speed backwards through the station was awesome. The holding brake isn't on (or working?) this season but it was still quite fun.

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7.5/10

Batman: The Ride
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This is B&M's first Inverted coaster and my 3rd Batman clone. Fun as always but definitely not as intense as Madrid's version. It has a few bumps here and there but nothing major and was generally quite smooth. I found it to be more intense in the middle of the train than at the back.

8/10

Raging Bull
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My 2nd B&M hyper and I read allot of negative reviews so I wasn't expecting too much. I took my first ride in the back row which provided great airtime on the first drop.

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Fun so far through the turnaround then......TRIM :evil: !!!!! And it was on bloody hard too killing allot of speed which meant no airtime over the first hill. The back provided slight floater on the drop out of the hill.

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Sadly the following banked hill over the station was taken far too slow as was the next turnaround ruining the pacing of the 1st half of the ride. Then up to the MCBR and surprisingly it flies through it! I'm surprised it didn't bring it to a near stop :p . So there was some nice airtime on the drop out of the MCBR and on the following airtime hill and the small hills provided a nice little pop of floater then another TRIM! It wasn't on as hard as the first but still took away from the final helixes.

While I knew it had 2 trims its quite annoying how much they affect the ride bringing the first half to a near crawl! It's a fun ride and provided a few pops of airtime in the back but it would be a really great coaster without the trims IMO. The 1st trim was on extremely hard but luckily it ran a little better later on in the day and was quite fun overall.

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Not as good as Nitro but still a fun:

8/10

Viper:
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I haven't heard much about this woodie before but it was alright. Not too rough and provides some nice lats and a little airtime but with a little more speed over the hills it would have been allot better.

7/10

Iron Wolf:
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B&M's first ever coaster and my first stand-up! I was expecting the worst after reading all the reviews and it sort of lived up to them. It was only rough in a few places but those few places had allot of head banging which ruined the ride. Luckily I didn't have a headache after but my ears were still sore.

By far the worst B&M I've done and the stand-up gimmick is pointless!

4/10

Demon:
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It was alright nothing amazing, not too rough the tunnel with lights is cool but meh.. oh and wtf is with that transition into the corkscrews?

5/10

American Eagle:
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The surprise of the trip! I was expecting a rough old woodie like Rolling Thunder but I found it to be allot of fun. It was pretty rough in places and the top of the massive helix is trimmed to death but it gains allot of speed throughout the helix and the last half of the ride has that out of control woodie feeling and was pretty awesome.

8.5/10

Giant Drop:
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Basic drop tower, nice view of the park and decent drop. Compared to Hurakan Condor it was nothing special.

7/10

Sadly due to the weather combined with the very light crowds the following rides were closed:

The Dark Knight
Rajin Cajun
Whizzer
One side of American Eagle
The Rapids
The Flume

I wasn't too bothered by these being closed except maybe Whizzer as it looked like fun but I've done Dark Knight at Gadv and I've done plenty of crappy Wild Mouse coasters. It was far too wet for any water ride but Buccaneer Battle was still open even though I didn't see anyone riding it all the day.

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All coasters were running 2 trains except V2(Obviously) and Superman but they later took off the 2nd train on Batman but it was still walk on! While it rained most of the day except for 2 hours it kept the crowds away so I wasn't bothered by it. Luckily I didn't purchase the Gold flashpass online before I went as I would look like some idiot :p .

Ride Count:
Superman x3
Batman x3
V2 x4
Raging Bull x3
Viper x2
American Eagle x1
Demon x1
Iron Wolf x1
Giant Drop x1

The park looks very nice with some nice theming. They have music playing throughout the park which sets off a nice atmosphere and I wasn't bothered by the amount of advertising. But I have to say, I know themepark food is overpriced but bloody hell over $30 for a chicken strip meal and a burger meal with a drink is ridiculous!

Overall park rating: 8/10
 

peep

CF Legend
Nice trip report. Shame about the weather, at least you got most of the rides done and that you didn't have to really queue (always a bonus).
 

Snoo

The Legend
You didn't miss out on anything buddy.. although TDK was clearly the best. :)

Batman = best ever.
 
Aww sucks about the bad weather but hey, looks like you had a good time anyway. As long as rides remain open, rain can definitely be a good thing. I have to say I disagree with you about like, V2 being good for example, and I wasn't super keen on American Eagle because it had no airtime. Glad you liked Raging Bull though since like you said, most people don't, and nor do I really.. Viper was a good surprise for me.

Shame you missed out on Whizzer though (one of my favourite things in the park, and not just because I got to sit on Marcus' lap, haha), that's a fun ride, and while I didn't ride SFGAdv's BTDK, I hear this one is loads better, and it was actually pretty good.

Batman = best ever.

Nah, Vampire then SFSTLs, THEN this one, then Gadv's.
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
Superb report. I visited the park in June 2007 and can't remember much due to being really hungover....so this report has filled in some blanks!

I agree with your reviews of the rides. And full credit for you for not doing Spacely's Sprocket Rockets for the credit. I remember doing it and getting some disapproving looks from some families :lol:
 

Jake

Strata Poster
^ But, it's just a roller skater, they're not even that small. Adults can easily ride roller skaters, sit next to eachother and not look weird riding it. It's not like a Dragon Wagon, Minor Mike or a Miller, which ARE tiny and embarrasing (I still don't care though :p)!


Nice TR etc :).
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
^ Yeah, I've done about three or four roller skaters with no problem, but the glares from parents at SFGAm made me feel uncomfortable.
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
^ & ^^ I rode it with Taylor (and we got a few looks as well, even though Aidan was with us). One of my few kiddie credits. :lol:

And Taylor is right about Whizzer. It's so unique and a real shame that you missed out on it. I also agree about the Dark Knight coaster. I might not have liked it, but after riding the piss poor one at SFGAdv I actually enjoyed this one. :)

Nice PTR & I'm glad you enjoyed the park in spite of the weather and missing out on some of the rides.
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
Great PTR Tony. You must have a had a fab day with all them walk-ons, what ever the weather!

Was this the park that was used in Beverly Hills Cop III?
 

Rush

Giga Poster
Nice TR. SFGAmerica looks like one of the nicer Six Flags parks (even in the horrid weather) and the coaster selection doesn't look half bad.

Glad you liked Raging Bull though, after it's been slated quite a bit and it was interesting to hear about the woodies there which you hear about a lot.

Looks like there's enough to satisfy and I'm pleased you had a good time. :)
 

Tony

Hyper Poster
Was this the park that was used in Beverly Hills Cop III?

I think it was California's Great America used in that film.


I see why allot of people wouldn't rate Raging Bull so high but I'm kind of basing my opinion on one of my better rides on it and I enjoyed the 2nd half... it would be SOO much better if they just turned off that 1 trim though :p .
 
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