Day 11 - Six Flags Great America
Day 11 - Six Flags Great America
Paul Greenwood
Six Flags Great America - what a massive park. I'm completely exhausted! Thank goodness the heat has let up a little or it would have been quite hard... A great ERS on Raging Bull to start - still a lovely coaster but shame about the trim brakes. The other favourites are the wooden Viper and the Schwarzkopf Whizzer (thank goodness Six Flags didn't remove this one as once planned). A great day but now I need SLEEP..!!!!
Mats Hummel
A little bit cooler today. The ERS on Raging Bull was great (just make sure all employes get the correct information about the use of lockers or not). To see a park doing advertising with a racing racer and not run it the proper way is totally sad. A wide selection of coasters, I now know that B&M coasters can be very rough. Viper the woodie was nice and had an enthusiastic ride op, good. Schwarzkopf Whizzer really cool. Dark Night just a long queue line and a disappointing ride.
Ole Bredesen-Vestby
Huge park, many rides, little crowded, nice weather (normal temp). Did a lot of rides on Raging Bull at the morning ERS. Did manage to squeeze in the rest of the coasters during the day, plus the soaking-tidalwave-log-flume, and returning to a final run on Raging Bull in the evening. Among the other coasters, a quite few very painful, but the Whizzer stands out as a nice little coaster.
Cal Jones
Back at SFGAm after a nine year break. The weather was a bit cooler (as in more tolerable) which was nice. Dark Knight was very underwhelming - the queue line was more interesting than the ride. The Superman flying coaster was decent. The park was very busy for a Tuesday so I was thankful I could take it easy and just ride the new rides and a few old favourites. Nice to see Viper is still running very well but they are still not racing American Eagle. What's the point of having a racing coaster that doesn't race? My other quibble was trying to find food that wasn't either deep fried or full of wheat was next to impossible. More healthy options please.
Andy Dewar
I was glad to get to SF Great America, I really enjoyed the park, highlights for me were the Raging Bull ERS and Viper which stood out a lot for me as a well maintained and thrilling coaster with really enthusiastic, fun ride ops.
Matthias Pies
Toller Park auch wenn es echt voll war. Enttauscht war ich von Raging Bull, Die Bremse vor dem Airtimehugel bringt jedes Coasterherz zum Weinen. Gefallen hat mir american Eagle und Viper.
Eirik Erstad and Jonas Aastroem
Six Flags Great America: More flags, more annoying games, more noise, more rules and regulations, less fun? I know the rules and such are there for our safety and enjoyment, but I have never before been told to throw away my chewing gum before going on a coaster... Most of the RIDES are good, though. American Eagle's my favourite.
Paul Orsmond
SFGA was certinately the biggest Six Flags park on the trip and had the most coasters on offer, however I still came out a bit disappointed. Raging Bull was fun, but seemed very force less, American Eagle was good, but only running one train so there was no racing, Viper was perhaps the highlight of the park and was very enjoyable. The biggest disappointment was Batman Dark Knight which was big on effects, but low on excitement. Overall not a bad day, but could have been better.
andycoasterboy
Raging Bull was a good start to the day - it would be a great coaster if a little less trimmed. Dark Knight = standard mouse in a box!! v.poor addition to the park.
Then the kids arrived and the queues got longer and the Six Flags effect kicked in. Enjoyed some downtime in the waterpark and a few more rides before departing on our coach of doom for a wobbly journey to our next hotel !!!
Stuart Cosgrove
Started with ERS on Whimpering Bull. I am sure they didn't have a trim brake on the second hill 3 years ago! This is a great coaster spoiled by overbraking. The Eagle was running better than last time I rode it, probably due to less trim after the helix. Nice air all through the train. As for Dark Knight, it still is for Great America cause they aint seen the light yet when it comes to dark rides.
Gordon Taylor
Like Steel Eel this mornings ERS on Cajan Bull hit the spot, fun but not intense after a breakfast & an early(ish for me) start. Very good ride but slow after the cold night. W-A-Y S-L-O-W-E-R than I recall. Oh well, still a load of fun. Less said about Dark Knight the better. Superman was really great, loadsa fun, Viper had a surprisingly good bit of airtime and the Whizzer was what you would expect from Mr S. Wonderful. Skipped American Eagle, Iron Wolf, Batman, Demon (sorry) as wanted to hit the water park for about 4 hrs. A nice balanced chilled out day.
Adrian & Lorna Dade
Great ERS on Raging Bull Great operatives, Demon & Iron Wolf were rough coasters. Managed to ride spacelys sprocket Rocket coaster without a child. Great Lunch.
The Frenchies
Pour continuer cette derniere semaine, le parc Six flags great america, qui, pour notre part, est d'ici le plus grand, avec un nombre important de coasters (Racing Bull, Iron wolf, Superman, Batman etc...).En gros, une belle journee a ajouter dans nos memoires. Le mot clef de ce jour = ET C'EST PARTI !!!!!!!!!!! Biz a tous en France.
Jeppe Nygaard
I dag var den sidste kaempe park paa turen, Six Flags Great America ved Chicago. Vi startede med ERS paa parkens, og en af turens, stoeste rutchebaner, Raging Bull ( B&M Hypercoaster ) Fantastisk coaster, virkelig behagelig at koere paa.. Man kunne nemt tage 20 ture i traek. Perfekt konstrueret, for perfekt vil nogle sige.. Der var rigtig mange gaester i parken, saa koerne var lange.. Malcolm og jeg valgte at investere $40 hver paa et Flashpass Gold.. En dims hvor man kan vaelge mellem parkens mest populaere attrationer, og saa booke en tid i stedet for at staa i lange koer, saa for os var det Walk On.. Rigtig god investering :-) :-)
Det var stadig varmt i dag, vi var i parken i 11 timer, men ikke saa varmt som tidligere dage, og meget mere taalelig luftfugtigthed.
Knus til Johanne, og en stor hilsen til jer derhjemme...
Malcolm Marr
Rode Raging Bull, then Raging Bull, then Raging Bull, then Raging Bull, then Raging Bull, then Raging Bull. It was orange and big. Then rode Dark Knight, it was dark shite. Then rode Superman; undergoing open heart surgery whilst on the ride would be less painful on the chest than the pretzel. Then rode Vertical Velocity; it was yellow and went up and down (just like a bowl of custard in a lift). Then rode Batman, it was well....like a Batman. Then rode Ragin' Cajun; it was the most spinningingest coaster since Han Katten. Then lunch; it was ish. Then rode Iron Wolf.........When I came around I rode the kiddy coaster without a kid. Then rode American Eagle; only one side was running and the first half was like those electric chair things with loads of vibrations. Then rode Demon; the lights in the tunnel were the best part. Then rode Whizzer which was fun if hard to photograph. Then rode Viper which was pretty decent for a Six Flags run wooden coaster. Then rode most of the rides a second time. Hurrah for Fast Pass. Ended the day back on Raging Bull totally abusing the queue jumping power of Fast Pass. It was still big and orange but running rather well at the end of the day with all 3 trains on the go. SFGA was a pretty decent park but if I could make one change to the park it would be to add an SLC and a Boomerang ride to their list. Then it would be perfect!
Darren and Mary
Raging Bull was a great ride even I rode it more than once, the whole park was superb with not only the roller coasters but lots of interesting smaller rides, we managed to do all but one at least once. The ride operators were some of the best we have come accross in any Six Flags park and we met Amy and David who were as hyper Heather in Texas. Great day very tiring but slightly cool.
Kim Varde Lassen
Six Flags Great America is not one of their best. Actually it's quite average in atmosphere and rides. The new dark ride was disappointing to put it mildly. Zooming by million dollar special effects in a painful mouse kind of way is offputting.
I didn't do all of the rides but the best was Superman and Viper. Love the pretzel loop on Superman. Raging Bull is a beautiful coaster to photograph, but it's boring. No airtime because of oddly positioned trimbrakes...really a shame. Weather was nice... hot enough for a trip in the waterpark.
Steve Fagin
Plenty of rides to do today, some decent ride ops, and a rather good waterpark with a deceptively powerful wave-pool. Some good stuff. Sadly, the park as a whole seemed to be lacking a bit in 'zap'. Their new ride, Dark Knight, which carried front billing on the 2008 map, was no more than a crappy wild mouse in the dark. The words 'HA HA' were painted on the inside in stylised graffiti, but I think it was an ironic comment from the designers. Superman was great, with an unusual pretzel loop. The Schwarzkopf was wholly unremarkable, although I'm sure many will disagree.
Lars Soerensen
Great America had some good rides, but the whole park seemed very strict. The ERS on Raging bull was pretty good. I went into the water park, they had some pretty cool water rides, especially the bowl ones.
Nick Christensen
Wow, what a great park Six Flags Great America is. They have some very good coasters and rides, and i've got all the 13 credits, and my first flying coaster, which was a awesome coaster. One thing I have to share with you all is a funny thing i experienced in the line for batman the ride. I was just getting in the line for the front row, when two teenage girls got up by my side, and the first one wanted to ride in the front, but then the other girl wanted to ride in the back row, and said it was because it was faster, which i had a good laugh at :-) The new Mack wild mouse, The Dark Knight was actually really fun and good, especially with the very good special effects, when you think about that it is in a Six Flags park.
Nina Kleppe
Had a great day at Six Flags Great America. The day started of with ERS on Raging Bull, a very good Hyper B&M. Used most of the day queing to get the all the 12 credits. Missed one credit because one side of the American Eagle was closed. Had time for a nice lunch, and a pizza later in the day. Not so warm today. Nice.
Mette Doving
Are quite tired now after a long day in the park. To many yellow buses there today so the park was packed. Nice ERS on the Raging Bull. A lot of the time was spent in lines for the coasters. The new coaster of the year was quite a dissapointment. Was expecting a little more after that long line. Fun to try the Superman, my first of those flying things. The V2 was also good, first time on one of those as well. Not so hot as it has been before.
Dirk Lather
Ein Saugeiler Park war das heute. Great America hat eine riesen Auswahl an Coastern. Unser Tag begann mit einer ERT auf Raging Bull. Hier hatte B&M anscheinend ein Sonderangebot: "buy one Coaster with 1 Trimbrake, get 2 Trimbrakes free!!". Leider fehlt es diesem Riesenteil an schnellen Richtungswechseln, da ist Silverstar eine Rennmaschine gegen. Trotzdem hat die ERS viel Spass gemacht. Aber auch der alte Schwarzkopf "Whizzer" war genial. es w�re wirklich schade, wenn diese Anlage demontiert wird, bevor ihr sie euch ansehen konntet. Der Park war sehr voll, so probierten wir das erste mal einen flash Pass aus, hat super funktioniert und war sein Geld wert.
Christof Muehlan
After the ERS, it took me from 10a.m. to 6p.m. to ride all the other coasters in the park. I should really get myself another job.
Chris Hull
A busy day at Six Flags Great America starting with a fun ERS on Raging Bull. 11 more coasters followed over the course of the day. The original Batman The Ride proving to be as good now as it was in 1992 when it premiered as being the first inverted coaster. Quite a landmark that started a revolution. However Iron Wolf (B&M's first coaster) proved they went on to improve the design and ride with later stand up coasters! ;) Dark Night offered a lot of potential for the launch of a new ride but failed to live up to expections. It is after all just a normal mouse coaster in a dark and fairly poorly themed indoor setting. An enjoyable day though with more than enough time to get all the rides completed.
Steve Gzesh
Our fourth Six Flags park in just over a week, and I got to add another coaster credit with Dark Knight, a fun indoor mouse ride with heavy theming, but I'm afraid a rather anti-climatic ride considering the long wait we had to get on it. But the other rides in the park were rather good, including Raging Bull and Viper. It was also a relief to be at a park with pleasant temperatures and fairly low humidity! Hard to believe there are just four more days left on our adventure, but plenty of good coasters to come!
Paul Hindle
The day started with childish security, and then an ERS on Raging Dull (yes I did spell that with a D); one of the less interesting big coasters on the planet. Even less can be said for Dark Knight - what a waste of time and space! a massive hype followed by a very ordinary mouse in the dark. Matters improved with Superman and Vertical Velocity, and the two woodies were excellent. I hit my 300th coaster today too.
David Elvy
Today, for the first time, the crowds hit. We had an ERS on Raging Bull, which I found dull. I managed to ride all the coasters, but not many repeat rides today. The Dark Knight Coaster was very poor, it could have been so much more. The best ride at the Park for me was American Eagle, a racing wooden coaster. While it was not racing today, it was an awesome out and back, with a twisted section. An amazing ride.
Mark and Jenny
Good day again. Raging Bull is a great ride, but smooth and controlled. Dark Knight is a good ride, although the budget couldn't have been high. The problem with the ride is that everyone thinks it'll be a thrill ride. We heard many members of the public complain that it was a let-down and it didn't "go upside down". Loved both woodies. I have to say that we enjoyed all the Six Flags parks on this trip.
Yvonne Janik
SF Great America is a lovely park with its large variety of coasters. The other 3 Six Flags parks on our trip made the day so special for us and went out of their way in generosity and hospitality. We did appreciate the ERS on Raging Bull.
Martin Valt
Once upon a time................................................ Kind of relieved to see that I'm not the only one completely underwhelmed by Dark Knight, although to be fair this V2 seemed to have a bit more "content" than V1 at SFGtAd. Huge thanks to Honourable Justice Moltz for the guided tour and good company.
Bob Clark
A massive SF park redeemed by its 2 woodies - American Eagle was stunning. Very interesting and probably unique Schwarzkopf Speedracer was a real treat.
Owen & Alan Rees
Huge park, lots of variety. ERS on Raging Bull was a disappointment simply due to lack of speed. Looked good, smooth as silk, but... ZZZzzzzzzzzzz. American Eagle was good fun and got several visits - Viper was a good ride too. And young Owen assures me that the Water Park is well worth a visit - excellent slides.
David & Susan Ellis
At last a day with "normal" temperatures, with highs around 80F and not in the 90s! We started with an ERS on Raging Bull, running as well as it did in 1999, the last time I was at the park - shame about the harsh trim brakes. After the ERS we had the full day to explore the other 11 coasters, which we did successfully despite the queues. Viper was the star coaster of the day, with some nice airtime and running as well as it did 9 years ago. Myself and Chris Simon finished the day with 3 goes back to back on Viper and the ride operator was coming up with some very imaginative chants for the ride! Iron Wolf and Demon were as bad as ever, and shame they were only running one side of the racing coaster, American Eagle, which is only half the fun without a racing partner. At least it was running well. Tomorrow we have three parks to look forward to...a nice way to celebrate our six year wedding anniversary.
Andy Costin
Today we visit our final Six Flags park, Great America. Security was such that we might as well have worn orange overalls! Once past that, we were treated with some good hospitality with an ERS on Raging Bull, an excellent B&M hypercoaster, and a nice lunch. The park was crowded with queue times 45-60 minutes, but we managed to get in all the coasters. The new ride, Dark Knight, was merely an enclosed Mack Mouse with lighting effects. The weather was comfortable and was sunny. A long day at the park (10.5 hours).
