Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[OrlandoGuy]

I rode Goliath 5 times back-to-back today using their single rider line. They handed me a pass each time at the entrance and it was collected by the grouper. My 6th time, I was instructed to wait through the overflow queue before receiving a single rider pass. This doesn't make sense... why am I waiting in half the line while watching trains go out empty? I thought single rider lines were there to maximize capacity. It's a confusing system, I wish they would just stick with using the Flash Pass entrance.

 

I obviously can't tell you what they are thinking, but it could be that other guests waiting in a line for an hour or two get upset when they see somebody riding 5 times back-to-back (even if that person riding 5 times back-to-back didn't make their line any longer). Even if it seems dumb to you, the park has to balance the enjoyment and fairness to all guests.

 

On a related note, it could be that they have a vested interest in not making it easy to keep riding, because they want you to buy a Flash Pass. They might not want to give anybody ideas.

 

Really? Those people can go in single rider line if they want to. They choose to wait longer, sorry if someone who is taking advantage of a totally fair perk gets to go more often. This is a terrible excuse, if that's what Six Flags is thinking theyre even more poorly-run than I thought.

[Woodie Warrior]

Hey everyone!

 

My family is planning a trip to the Dells and are planning on stopping at Great America either on Monday the 21st or Friday the 25th. We wanted to know which day would be the least crowded. We may be forced to go on Monday anyway, so hopefully the crowds won't be too harsh then. We are thinking about getting Gold or Regular Flash Passes, and using our Gold passes to enter the park early. That way we can rush to Goliath and ride until lines get long, and then pick up the Flash Passes and use that the rest of the day. Is this a good plan or will we not need the Flash Passes?

[TunaSled]

Hey everyone!

 

My family is planning a trip to the Dells and are planning on stopping at Great America either on Monday the 21st or Friday the 25th. We wanted to know which day would be the least crowded.

By all means any Monday should be better than any Friday.

rush to Goliath and ride until lines get long

So, one ride then...

[GoBears]

Just a warning for those visiting the park this summer on a weekend or weekday, get there at least 40 minutes before the park opens at 10:30 otherwise you're in for a long wait for Goliath. Ever since the ride opened, they let people into the park about 30 minutes early to head on over to Goliath and wait in line until the clock hits 10:30 and the rides officially open. Although, yesterday they started operating Goliath 10 minutes (10:20) before the park actually opened to get the line moving. Not sure if they've been opening the ride early the last couple weeks as well since I've only been there a couple times since Goliath opened. Yesterday was a Wednesday and the entire queue including most of the overflow queue block in the County Fair midway was filled up (at least a 2+ hour wait) before the park technically opened at 10:30.

 

After riding it a couple times in a couple different places, I have to say that every part of the train is thrilling and very smooth. I know Goliath is brand new and uses polyurethane wheels and Outlaw Run uses steel wheels and had been operating over a year when I rode it, but Goliath is noticeably smoother. Although, OR is more out of control so that is expected. Not calling OR rough in anyway as it may be the 2nd smoothest wooden coaster on the planet right now, but Goliath is a bit more re-ridable and comfortable. With that said, OR still beats it out but Goliath is the best possible coaster that could've been added to that narrow plot of land at the back of the park that Iron Wolf once occupied. I applaud you RMC and Six Flags Great America. Well done.

[ale2011]

I have a situation and could anyone give me some more info on it

 

When I was living in NJ, I bought a season pass online via the Six Flags Great Adventure website. I paid for it, printed out the voucher but never had a chance to go to Six Flags to process the voucher and get my Season Pass card/ID.

 

Now that I just moved to Chicago, can I use my printed voucher and get the Season Pass card at the SF Great America?

 

Reason that I asked is because on the voucher, the instructions say the following:

 

"You must show a photo ID matching the name on voucher (except young children)

 

Season Pass provides unlimited visits to Six Flags Great Adventure or Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor NJ. After processing at Six Flags Great Adventure or Six Flags Hurricane Harbor NJ, your ID can be used at other Six Flags Theme Parks.

 

In-park discounts and free admission for friends (on select days) will be available on your first visit in 2014."

 

I don't know if they would be able to scan my voucher (which I got from SF Great Adventure), process it, and give me a Season Pass card at SF Great America. Obviously I don't want them to say that they can't do it here and I need to do it back in NJ .

[robbalvey]

So now that the ride has been open a few weeks, how exactly does the single rider line work? (or not work if the case may be.) And is it consistently open?

Edited July 10, 2014 by robbalvey

[DJeXeL]

^Also, Is there a grouper staffed in the station?

[ilrider]

^Yes, there is, though he let us pick a line when I rode.

[robbalvey]

Still doesn't really answer my question of how the single rider line actually works. Where do you even go to get into it?

[GoBears]

Still doesn't really answer my question of how the single rider line actually works. Where do you even go to get into it?

 

I believe some who have asked have entered through the flash pass line. I asked yesterday and the attendant at the entrance of the ride said he had no knowledge of a single rider line and everyone must wait in the regular queue.

[DJeXeL]

Sounds unorganized......

[WildStangAlex]

Still doesn't really answer my question of how the single rider line actually works. Where do you even go to get into it?

 

When there "is" a single rider line, you go through the Flash Pass Entrance. But there is no consistency in when they offer this line, and many employees don't seem trained enough to give a valid answer.

[DJeXeL]

SF employees not properly trained?! Here's my shocked face!

 

[ArgoZ]

I have a situation and could anyone give me some more info on it

 

When I was living in NJ, I bought a season pass online via the Six Flags Great Adventure website. I paid for it, printed out the voucher but never had a chance to go to Six Flags to process the voucher and get my Season Pass card/ID.

 

Now that I just moved to Chicago, can I use my printed voucher and get the Season Pass card at the SF Great America?

 

Reason that I asked is because on the voucher, the instructions say the following:

 

"You must show a photo ID matching the name on voucher (except young children)

 

Season Pass provides unlimited visits to Six Flags Great Adventure or Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor NJ. After processing at Six Flags Great Adventure or Six Flags Hurricane Harbor NJ, your ID can be used at other Six Flags Theme Parks.

 

In-park discounts and free admission for friends (on select days) will be available on your first visit in 2014."

 

I don't know if they would be able to scan my voucher (which I got from SF Great Adventure), process it, and give me a Season Pass card at SF Great America. Obviously I don't want them to say that they can't do it here and I need to do it back in NJ .

 

Season passes are different prices at different parks. The perks are also park exclusive and not transferable. Unfortunately you will need to go back to NJ to get your SFGAd pass processed and then you can visit other parks, just like you already mentioned.

[DirkFunk]

Still doesn't really answer my question of how the single rider line actually works. Where do you even go to get into it?

 

When you arrive at the main entrance of the attraction, you'll find an attendant and a security guard occupying the space between where the temporary queuing to the left and the permanent queuing to the right exist. Also occupying this space along with both individuals is a test seat. To use the single rider line, you walk past what, if any line exists jutting out of the temporary queuing back into the midway, walk through those people, and request to use the single rider entrance from the security guard. If they don't know about it, hopefully there is a manager or a ride attendant stationed there whom you can request the security guard ask about the existence of a single rider line (this was what I had to do).

 

You may then be requested to use the test seat SFOT style. I suggest telling them you've been on it already - apparently then they don't check. I did this myself after watching someone else do it earlier. Note as you walk against the flow of traffic in temporary queues which cut off the water fountain from the guests waiting in long, barely moving, uncovered temporary fencing how miserable they look. Also note that the permanent queue line has barely anyone in it, in large part because the bottleneck back at the mandatory seat check is so astonishingly long. You'll eventually be shown up the stairs and into the old Iron Wolf station via the Flash Pass line, where you will be matched with someone. Or no one, if the grouper up there hasn't forced enough people to take empty rows and instead has allowed a 20 train wait for the front seats. Prepare to be admonished if you attempt to lower your lap bar on your own, and begin looking at the shadows of surrounding trees to time the crew. But most of all, have fun!

[robbalvey]

Still doesn't really answer my question of how the single rider line actually works. Where do you even go to get into it?

 

When you arrive at the main entrance of the attraction, you'll find an attendant and a security guard occupying the space between where the temporary queuing to the left and the permanent queuing to the right exist. Also occupying this space along with both individuals is a test seat. To use the single rider line, you walk past what, if any line exists jutting out of the temporary queuing back into the midway, walk through those people, and request to use the single rider entrance from the security guard. If they don't know about it, hopefully there is a manager or a ride attendant stationed there whom you can request the security guard ask about the existence of a single rider line (this was what I had to do).

 

You may then be requested to use the test seat SFOT style. I suggest telling them you've been on it already - apparently then they don't check. I did this myself after watching someone else do it earlier. Note as you walk against the flow of traffic in temporary queues which cut off the water fountain from the guests waiting in long, barely moving, uncovered temporary fencing how miserable they look. Also note that the permanent queue line has barely anyone in it, in large part because the bottleneck back at the mandatory seat check is so astonishingly long. You'll eventually be shown up the stairs and into the old Iron Wolf station via the Flash Pass line, where you will be matched with someone. Or no one, if the grouper up there hasn't forced enough people to take empty rows and instead has allowed a 20 train wait for the front seats. Prepare to be admonished if you attempt to lower your lap bar on your own, and begin looking at the shadows of surrounding trees to time the crew. But most of all, have fun!

Amazing...

[cfc]

Still doesn't really answer my question of how the single rider line actually works. Where do you even go to get into it?

 

When you arrive at the main entrance of the attraction, you'll find an attendant and a security guard occupying the space between where the temporary queuing to the left and the permanent queuing to the right exist. Also occupying this space along with both individuals is a test seat. To use the single rider line, you walk past what, if any line exists jutting out of the temporary queuing back into the midway, walk through those people, and request to use the single rider entrance from the security guard. If they don't know about it, hopefully there is a manager or a ride attendant stationed there whom you can request the security guard ask about the existence of a single rider line (this was what I had to do).

 

You may then be requested to use the test seat SFOT style. I suggest telling them you've been on it already - apparently then they don't check. I did this myself after watching someone else do it earlier. Note as you walk against the flow of traffic in temporary queues which cut off the water fountain from the guests waiting in long, barely moving, uncovered temporary fencing how miserable they look. Also note that the permanent queue line has barely anyone in it, in large part because the bottleneck back at the mandatory seat check is so astonishingly long. You'll eventually be shown up the stairs and into the old Iron Wolf station via the Flash Pass line, where you will be matched with someone. Or no one, if the grouper up there hasn't forced enough people to take empty rows and instead has allowed a 20 train wait for the front seats. Prepare to be admonished if you attempt to lower your lap bar on your own, and begin looking at the shadows of surrounding trees to time the crew. But most of all, have fun!

Amazing...

 

Sheesh! Do they have a secret-single-rider-line handshake, too?

Edited July 11, 2014 by cfc

[Woodie Warrior]

Since the park lets guests in 40 minutes early to get in line for Goliath, does anyone know when the toll booths to the parking lot open?

[JamesMC]

I hope I am not bending a rule here, but I recently posted this to the "Ask Alvey" forum, and I think that it has merit in this thread...

 

Here are the six completely different responses I received when I asked six different employees about how to find the single rider line.

 

1:) We no longer have the single rider line. Everyone except Flash Pass has to wait the same amount of time.

2:) We are not offering single rider lines today.

3:) Yeah, the single rider line, there's no rhyme or reason. Sometimes we have it, sometimes we don't. It's not an option today.

4:) It depends on the "lead" in the station. If they need single riders they'll let you do it.

5:) Yeah, you can do a single rider. You have to wait in the line until you get to the Flash Pass entrance (from the overflow queue), but when you get there, just tell them you are a single rider and they will let you in." Which they DID not! At this point it did not matter because the ride went down due to a power outage at the whole park.....everything stopped.

6:) If we are only running one train we 'always' have a single rider line......

 

 

At this point I asked again, when does the single rider line function....I was very polite and I proceeded to tell them that I know that they don't make the rules for the single rider line, but my question was, when does it actually exist? Absolutely none of them could give me a valid answer.....all the ops just said "This is what we were told" and I believe them.......it's just not consistent.

[jetsplumber]

Sounds unorganized......

 

sounds typical the way six flags runs things. BAD TRAINING if employees don't even know about it

[rcoaster10]

Here's a PTR from the trip I recently took to SFGAm:

 

I’ve wanted to go to Six Flags Great America for a long time and Goliath was the last incentive to get me to go. I went for the first time on Wednesday and Thursday, July 9 and 10, with my mom, sister, and her friend. Since a 1 day ticket was $45, we got Thrill Passes for $65 instead since we would be there for 2 days. I arrived at the park around 12:00 and it took about a half hour to get through parking and the gate. The park looked insanely packed and it turns out it was pretty packed.

 

I went to Raging Bull first and waited about an hour and sat in the back row. I was a little disappointed in this ride. It was a fun ride, just not very intense at all. The first drop was pretty good, but the rest of the ride was very gentle, but fun. There was one valley that had a rattle but other than that it was a smooth ride.

 

After this, I headed to Goliath, but noticed it had a 2 ½ hour wait so I decided to skip it for now hoping it would go down later in the day. Spacely's Sprocket Rockets had no line so I decided to get the credit. Plus I got amazing views of Goliath.

 

I headed to V2 and it said it had a 1 ½ hour wait but it didn’t look very long at all. It was a pretty slow line and ended up being an hour. It was a fun ride. The initial launch is pretty intense but it only lasts about a half a second. I really liked the straight backwards spike vs the twisted on Wicked Twister. I wish the holding brake worked though.

 

Everyone in my group was hungry so we went over to the food court and waited in more lines for some food. We were going to ride Whizzer but noticed it was down so we went to activate our Thrill Passes since there was a huge wait when we first arrived. After that, Whizzer was just opening back up and we only had to wait about 10 minutes. It was a really fun ride, but had some really weird and uncomfortable seats. It was a great family ride and had some great close encounters with nearby trees.

 

We made our way to the front of the park to ride Dark Knight. I waited about an hour for this. The whole ride experience was really fun and I don’t get why people hate this ride so much. It’s a great family ride with some “minimal theming” but it’s still better than nothing. This became my favorite Wild Mouse coaster just due to the dark element of it.

 

After conquering one of the two Batman coasters, we decided to go after the other. The line for Batman: The Ride said 90 minutes but it only ended up being 30. I rode in the middle and it was an okay ride. It’s a very intense ride. I thought it was like putting Raptor into about 30 seconds. It got me dizzy a little but still pretty fun. If I had to rank it amongst the other B&M inverts I’ve ridden (Raptor, Silver Bullet, Banshee), it’d come in last. Still much better than a Vekoma SLC though.

 

We continued around the park, looking at Goliath again. Still a 2 ½ hour wait. Nobody else wanted to wait that long, although I would have. We agreed that we would run to it first thing tomorrow morning. Instead, we got in line for American Eagle. It was a 30 minute wait and I rode second to back. It was a decent coaster with some good moments of airtime. One thing bad I noticed was the amount of trim brakes. Whenever you would start getting momentum, you’d slow down right away. The racing factor is always fun, without that, it would be a very “meh” coaster. I rode on the blue side and we won.

 

The next ride we came across was X-Flight. We waited about an hour and I rode in the back right. It was a lot better than I expected it to be. Everything about it was better than both GateKeeper and Wild Eagle. It was a lot smoother than the other two, it had a better progression of elements, it had some theme, the keyholes were a lot closer, and that roll provided awesome hang time. It was a great ride.

 

Since everyone (besides me) was ready to leave, we decided to only get one more ride in before we left. That ride was Giant Drop. I waited about 15 minutes. The entire loading system was very confusing and there was no organization as to what seat you would be sitting in. As soon as the gate opened there were people running about trying to find a seat. The ride itself is absolutely amazing. I love drop towers and this is definitely one of my favorites. You sit up there what feels like forever and finally you drop. The freefall feeling you get in your stomach only lasts about 2 seconds and ends right before you hit the brakes, which feels like it’d never end on towers like the Larson/ARM ones or Demon Drop. After Giant Drop we left the park, unfortunately, without riding Goliath. Luckily, I had all day tomorrow.

 

The next day, we got to the park around 10:00 and sped through parking and the metal detectors. We went to the right when we got in and waited under the train overpass. From what I’ve heard, that was a mistake since they were letting people on the other side straight to Goliath. We thought we were going to get there with only a few people ahead of us. We were wrong.

 

The rope dropped and everyone was running every which way. We passed most of them and we thought we were going to be one of the first ones there. When we arrived at Goliath, there was a 3 ½ hour wait posted… WHAT???? The line was totally filled through the queues set up and went back to the Yukon Territory entrance. We were extremely disappointed and confused as to why the line was so long already. Nonetheless, we got in line. Luckily, it only ended up being about 2 ½ hours. I got into the station and got the very back row. I was so excited to ride this, more than anything else this year. This was also my first RMC coaster. After the attendant stapled me in, we were off.

 

The first drop is absolutely insane. The ejector really caught me off guard and I was not expecting it to be that extreme. The drop felt like it lasted forever. The overbanks were awesome as well as the airtime hill. The airtime hill surprised me as well as it was also ejector air and from the videos I watched it didn’t look like it would be that intense. The dive loop and zero g stall are amazing as well. It’s so weird having nothing below you. One thing I noticed that I never saw mentioned were the laterals coming into and out of the zero g stall. The rest of the ride is pretty much positive and negative gs but you get thrown side to side entering/exiting that element. It’s super fun and adds to the “wooden” coaster feel. It really feels nothing like a wooden coaster though. But it also feels nothing like a typical steel coaster either. It’s a strange experience that really can’t be described. I just know that I hope every single park gets a coaster by RMC because it blows everything else at Great America out of the water.

 

After this insane experience, we got some food and headed off to Viper. I waited about a half hour and it was a really fun ride. I sat in the back and some of the hills gave some really unexpected airtime. The ride was also pretty smooth, but still had that woodie feel to it. It was a great ride, not too extreme, but not too boring.

 

Everyone else wanted to do Superman: Ultimate Flight so we headed off there. What a mistake that was. I never had much of a high interest in riding it and didn’t feel like waiting forever to ride it, but we did anyway. The posted time was 90 minutes but this queue was absolutely full and I knew this ride had slow dispatches. By the time we got through the holding pen area, 1 ½ hours had gone by, and we still had to go all the way to the station. It ended up being another hour, for a total wait time of 2 ½ hours for a Superman: Ultimate Flight clone. I didn’t mind waiting 2 ½ hours for a brand new RMC piece of amazing, but this? NooOOooOO. It was literally the most painful wait ever, knowing I was waiting this long for what’s considered to be the worst B&M flyer. I timed one dispatch, 5 minutes!!! It was so slow and I don’t understand why it’s that hard to load a flyer. They’re so similar to wing coasters and they were dispatching those every 45 seconds. It doesn’t take that long for the seats to rotate back either. We finally rode and it was a very “eh” ride. The pretzel loop was literally the only fun part. I probably would have liked it more if I didn’t have to wait as long. At least I had almost ridden everything else prior to this.

 

Everyone needed a break after that so we got some snacks and watched Goliath and a show at the Yukon Territory Stage. It was a much needed break. At this point, I only had 2 remaining credits. Demon and Little Dipper. We went to Demon and waited about 30 minutes. It was an average Arrow looper with an awesome tunnel and a horrible corkscrew transition.

 

We all rode the top deck of the carousel before everyone else left. It was around 7:30 and I really wanted to stay at night since I didn’t the day before. I stayed and went straight to Goliath. I asked if there was a single rider line and was told “Yes, you must wait in the overflow queue first and when you get back to the entrance point, you tell us you’re a single rider and we’ll send you up the Flash Pass stairs.” The overflow queue was about an hour long back to the entrance point and from there it was an extra 30 minutes since they weren’t filling up the permanent queue. So by using the single rider line, I cut off about 30 minutes and had to wait an hour. I got in line and about an hour later I was back at the entrance point. I told the lady there that I was a single rider and she said, “I don’t care, you still have to wai... let me check real quick...” She talked to the security guard there and he explained to her about the single rider system. She came back and gave me a lanyard that said single rider on it. She told me to go up the Flash Pass entrance and then they would assign me a seat up there. I walked up the stairs and the guy at the top gave me a row to myself, kind of defeating the purpose. I was in the second car to the back, really close to where I would have sat anyway. It was night at this time and Goliath is an amazing night ride. I was just reassured on what an amazing ride this is, plus it was nice only waiting an hour this time.

 

After I got off, I met back up with my mom and we rode Little Dipper since it was the last credit I didn’t get there. It was quite fun actually and I loved the string of lights along the track. We started heading towards the front gate, when I noticed it was 9:56 and V2 had zero line. I ran up real quick to the station and rode in the back. It was a great ride at night. When I got back to the station, they announced there would be one more train and if nobody was in your row, you could ride again. Nobody was in my row, so I got another ride in. It was a perfect way to end the night.

 

Overall, I think it’s a pretty nice park. None of the employees were particularly friendly, and many of the guests definitely weren’t. The atmosphere was a lot different than I imagined it being. There’s a nice well rounded collection of rides as well. There's a ton of advertisements, but that's expected for a Six Flags park. I still wonder what the 2 Great Americas would be like if Cedar Fair owned the one in Chicago and and Six Flags owned the one San Francisco.

 

Total ride count:

Goliath (x2)

V2 (x3)

Raging Bull

American Eagle

Giant Drop

Dark Knight

X-Flight

Superman: Ultimate Flight

Batman: the Ride

Viper

Demon

Whizzer

Spacely's Sprocket Rockets

Little Dipper

 

The first inverted coaster

"Raging" Bull

The amazing Goliath

Raging Bull is quite photogenic. Demon is too.

[Invertalon]

Was at the park yesterday for the first time... Called for storms all day long, but it only rained at points and no rides shut down until the big storm rolled in right at closing. Due to this, the park was not busy thankfully. Our ride total for the day:

 

Goliath 2x

X flight 10x

Viper 2x

Demon

American eagle

Raging bull 5x

Batman

Whizzer 2x

 

Goliath also had single rider open a portion of the day. When we tried to use it again, but they said line was too short so no longer going to use it... ok...

 

Got to close the night on XFlight without getting off. They kept letting us re-ride until the storm shut the park down at 10pm. Good timing!

 

Loved Goliath, but overall preferred Bull and X Flight I think. Goliath was my first RMC and it was amazing, but a bit short. Whizzer and Viper were great rides as well. The park had a solid lineup and probably one of my top parks now. Amazing day at the park, we really lucked out crowd wise for a Saturday. To give an idea, we had exit passes and did not even use them (no need to). Good problem to have.

[glouthan]

Went to the park yesterday, for the Goliath passholder ERT event. The line was very short for the event - I'm talking like 15 minutes! So, I ended up getting about five rides on it which was great! I think my favorite row has to be the back because of the whip throughout the coaster's elements. Goliath is definitely a solid coaster that deserves a spot in anyone's top ten list.

 

On a side note, the ride operators were very immature , annoying , and unprofessional. The Raging Bull crew really stood out to me as the worst. The operator working the mic was singing "Elmo's world" for quite some time, which was really annoying. However, that wasn't the worst. To quote him: "Okay guys let's play a game. How many people have died on the Raging bull?" That just really stood out to me as a big no no because you should never joke about ride safety when you are an operator.

[jetsplumber]

Went to the park yesterday, for the Goliath passholder ERT event. The line was very short for the event - I'm talking like 15 minutes! So, I ended up getting about five rides on it which was great! I think my favorite row has to be the back because of the whip throughout the coaster's elements. Goliath is definitely a solid coaster that deserves a spot in anyone's top ten list.

 

On a side note, the ride operators were very immature , annoying , and unprofessional. The Raging Bull crew really stood out to me as the worst. The operator working the mic was singing "Elmo's world" for quite some time, which was really annoying. However, that wasn't the worst. To quote him: "Okay guys let's play a game. How many people have died on the Raging bull?" That just really stood out to me as a big no no because you should never joke about ride safety when you are an operator.

 

A ride operator joking about deaths on any coaster should be fired immediately. just my opinion

[DJeXeL]

^Agreed.

 

^^I would've gone immediately to a manager. That is absolutely unacceptable. And by "Unacceptable," I mean Six Flags.