Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[Carrie]

Can someone tell me why all flash passes are grayed out for this week?  I can't get anyone on the phone and I cannot get anyone on chat.  They were there early yesterday, but in the evening, all five days went POOF!  Are they sold out or do they not let you buy the week of?

[Rai Fox]

1 hour ago, Carrie said:

Can someone tell me why all flash passes are grayed out for this week?  I can't get anyone on the phone and I cannot get anyone on chat.  They were there early yesterday, but in the evening, all five days went POOF!  Are they sold out or do they not let you buy the week of?

Can't say for sure, but when I was there a couple days ago they were only offering Flash Passes for a handful of rides, apparently because they didn't have staff to have someone just working the fastpass entrance.  Given the temper tantrums that people were throwing over getting fastpasses and not being able to use them on every ride, it might be possible that they're just not offering them right now.

[AmyUD06]

5 hours ago, Carrie said:

Can someone tell me why all flash passes are grayed out for this week?  I can't get anyone on the phone and I cannot get anyone on chat.  They were there early yesterday, but in the evening, all five days went POOF!  Are they sold out or do they not let you buy the week of?

You can try leaving the question in a comment on one of their FB posts; they seem to be pretty responsive to those.  Or try calling them first thing in the morning when they open.  Use this number: (847) 249-1776.

 

[tndank]

Looks like they are using wristbands during the week due to staffing. Works like Cedar Fair. Buy when you get there. 

 

 

[Carrie]

45 minutes ago, tndank said:

Looks like they are using wristbands during the week due to staffing. Works like Cedar Fair. Buy when you get there. 

 

 

Does that mean you can't buy them online? Every day is grayed out. 

[Carrie]

6 hours ago, Rai Fox said:

Can't say for sure, but when I was there a couple days ago they were only offering Flash Passes for a handful of rides, apparently because they didn't have staff to have someone just working the fastpass entrance.  Given the temper tantrums that people were throwing over getting fastpasses and not being able to use them on every ride, it might be possible that they're just not offering them right now.

How are the crowds this time of year?  Would Flash Passes be highly recommended? I can handle 20-30 min wait...I cannot handle an hour or more. LOL  

[Carrie]

2 hours ago, Mike240SX said:

You can try leaving the question in a comment on one of their FB posts; they seem to be pretty responsive to those.  Or try calling them first thing in the morning when they open.  Use this number: (847) 249-1776.

 

Thank you! I will try both!!!

[AmyUD06]

34 minutes ago, Carrie said:

Does that mean you can't buy them online? Every day is grayed out. 

We get it, every day is greyed out.  Obviously that means you can't buy it online for those days.  No one here, no matter how many times you multi-post or post in other threads, will be able to provide a solid answer to your question of "Why?" unless they work for the park or know someone who does.  I think if either of them were the case you would've had an answer by now.

@tndankgave you probably the best possible answer anyone will be able to provide - they're using wristbands, so get to the park early and buy it on side.

37 minutes ago, Carrie said:

How are the crowds this time of year?  Would Flash Passes be highly recommended? I can handle 20-30 min wait...I cannot handle an hour or more. LOL  

Queue-times.com predicts that crowds on that day will be moderately heavy, but not crazy.  Crowd levels at every park in the country this year are unpredictable, and yes the wiser minds on this board will recommend whatever skip-the-line system a park offers.  You really just need to make a decision for yourself - do you want to take a chance and get to the park right at opening to give you a chance at an on-site purchase, or do you want to schedule your trip for a different day?

Oh, and see what I did there?  That's called a multi-quote.

[Rai Fox]

2 hours ago, Carrie said:

How are the crowds this time of year?  Would Flash Passes be highly recommended? I can handle 20-30 min wait...I cannot handle an hour or more. LOL  

Like Mike said it's hard to predict this year.  I just did a week long tour of 7 parks ending with that one and crowds were all over.  Worlds of Fun (Sunday) was moderate, Silver Dollar City (Mon) was practically abandoned, Six Flags St Louis (Tues) was fairly crowded, Holiday World (wed) was painfully crowded in the morning, before crowds moved entirely to the waterpark later.  Kentucky Kingdom (thursday) had almost no one in the park at all, Indiana Beach (Friday) was very quiet.  On Saturday, unfortunately, I made it to Great America, and on top of them not fully using fastpass (and being sold out before the park opened), most of the park was /packed/  I was able to get in a decent number of rides by racing to the back of the park while everyone else was queuing for Maxx Force, but most of the day was hour plus waits for anything at all.  It doesn't help that almost no flats are running right now to spread the crowds out.

If you're getting there on a weekday I imagine it PROBABLY won't be that bad, but, again, it's unpredictable.  On a weekend, 20-30 minute waits would be asking for a near impossibility, I think.

[IronWolfman]

Hey everyone,

I just took an opportunity to plan a trip to Chicago/SFGAm for pretty cheap, looking at visiting a partial day Sept. 25 and all day Sept. 26. The last time I was at this park was 10 years ago, and I was a 13 (with that timeframe & higher pain tolerance, you can maybe guess where my username came from), so very much looking forward to getting back as an adult. X-Flight, Goliath, Joker, Maxx Force, and Little Dipper will all be new to me as well. I definitely understand the park has been a bit of a mess this year in terms of staffing & what smaller rides have been open, but I'll mainly be going for the coasters, and according to Queue-TImes it seems there hasn't been any major ones down for a long time.

For my full day at the park on Sunday, I'm planning to get the Flash Pass. Does anyone know if the cordoned-off area before rope drop includes the Flash Pass office, or if usually rope occurs before actual 11am opening so that I may be able to get my FP before coasters start accepting guests? After I get it, I may try to wait out the normal queue that's accrued for Maxx Force already so that I can use my one-time (Platinum only) FP entrance later in the day, but I know the line can hit an hour+ pretty quickly.

I know this year is, of course, going to be different than the past, but how/when do crowds usually arrive for these Fright Fest days? It seems for at lot of parks (my local Elitches for example), crowds start to build up later than usual as many guests don't like to show up too early before the Haunts & nighttime activities during FF. Along with that and it being a September Sunday, anyone think it may not be too packed for the first few hours at least?

For the 25th, I'll probably just be there for the last 5 or so hours of the day, and definitely expecting Fright Fest Saturday night lines. Really just gonna try and get the non-FP coasters Dark Knight (just a maybe since I've been on it), Little Dipper, and American Eagle before possibly Demon and finishing with Raging Bull.

Again, really anticipating this return, so any tips y'all can give would be super helpful!

[prozach626]

Bro, I'm not trying to discourage you, but this isn't the year to go. Like it or love it, Pritzker is very strict on COVID mandates. A lot can happen between now and the end of the month. We're one surge away from another full lockdown, with little warning.

I wouldn't distort your fond memories. Busch Gardens Tampa might be a better choice this year...

[JT325]

 ^I'm saving any more big trips for next year myself.  After a week in California back in May, I'm keeping it local.  Plus, I hate wearing a mask at a park (but do follow the rules).

Great America (my home park) was closed all last summer.  On August 20th, nearly every single flat ride was closed.  We have  a LOT of flat rides (a well rounded Six Flags!)  In my experience, SF parks are NOT the parks to go way out of my way for.  Consistent inconsistency in everything and unpredictable changes.  And that when it's not a pandemic.

Busch Gardens Tampa!?  Yeah, go.  I'll take a spin on Whizzer for you, take a ride on Scorpion for me.

[IronWolfman]

I'm definitely keeping my eyes open to expectations, a potential shutdown, visitor regulations, etc., and fortunately have trip insurance for my flights, which were already very cheap & bought with prior flight credits. Nothing else would be bought until I was already there, so no big loss in canceling if there's a shutdown. 

To be fair, SFMM hadn't had the greatest year either under their Covid regulations until those were loosened to what I believe is very similar to what SFGAm is currently operating at, and I managed to make my two trips out there work very well. Though I don't think they've had as bad of staffing issues as SFGAm. Even with the mask rules and occasional distancing I've had a blast at many parks this year, so if it's only mask requirements and many flats being closed by the time I'm going, I should have fun. Would love to visit BGT, but pretty much saving trips to all the SEAS parks until their delayed projects open (aside from SWSA which I visited in March). 

[ilrider]

^I am only speculating of course, but I don't think Illinois will go full shutdown again anytime soon.  Just today Pritzker sounded very optimistic (for him) and said the cases in Illinois hospitals are starting to flatten.  Well over half of Illinois is vaccinated, and even though the delta variant is surging, we are in a better place than last fall. The positivity rate is just over 5% and dropped today, but was around 20% when we went full shutdown last year. I am a public school teacher here, and 4 weeks into the new school year, we have not had one case in our district of almost 4000 students and over 300 faculty and staff.  The schools who are having outbreaks are not usually more than 5 cases per school, I just read this week. 
 

I think the indoor mask mandate will be the height of the mitigations for the time being, and right now that is the only place SFGAm is requiring masks, indoors.  Hopefully you will be okay to take your trip out here.  Have fun if you come!

[tndank]

Just an FYI: V2 is now closed until 2022. 

[ilrider]

^Sounds like it is getting rethemed to The Flash. Probably a new paint job to fit too.

[CaptainUnknown]

Hey, a couple questions now that I'm 2 weeks from my visit on Saturday 9/25 during Fright Fest. Previously visited back in 2009.

-I pre bought Platinum Flash Pass. The email I received about this talks about using it on my phone. Will I be able to get a physical band?

-Any rides with mandatory fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo? Might have a bag/personal water bottle with me depending on this.

-Does the park have bottle fillers? Are they active?

-Recommendations for late-night eats within five miles of the park? Bonus points if Chicago-style deep dish.

-X-Flight is the only ride I really need seat recommendations on

-While it's currently not forecasted to rain, I'll ask anyway: does the park have an asinine rain policy?

-Does Whizzer have a "no single riders" policy?

-Any night rides I should prioritize?

-Anything else I should know?

[prozach626]

Front. You can hang over the inverted drop and the keyhole elements are more effective.

If you ride it again, choose the back row to get whipped (kinda) through the back row.

[ilrider]

1 hour ago, CaptainUnknown said:

Hey, a couple questions now that I'm 2 weeks from my visit on Saturday 9/25 during Fright Fest. Previously visited back in 2009.

-I pre bought Platinum Flash Pass. The email I received about this talks about using it on my phone. Will I be able to get a physical band?

-Any rides with mandatory fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo? Might have a bag/personal water bottle with me depending on this.

-Does the park have bottle fillers? Are they active?

-Recommendations for late-night eats within five miles of the park? Bonus points if Chicago-style deep dish.

-X-Flight is the only ride I really need seat recommendations on

-While it's currently not forecasted to rain, I'll ask anyway: does the park have an asinine rain policy?

-Does Whizzer have a "no single riders" policy?

-Any night rides I should prioritize?

-Anything else I should know?

I’ll answer the ones I can:

No  mandatory lockers. Rides have free storage bins and racks.

Get Chicago deep dish at Giordano’s 5 minutes west of the park on Grand Ave. Check hours ahead though, as some nights I know it closes at 9.

X-flight seats I always like the back, but I always prefer the back on coasters. Row 4 can be used for larger riders. 

Rain policy is generally lightning closes the rides. Most run in the rain. Some rides such as Whizzer close in any rain.
 

You can ride solo on Whizzer.

Any coasters are good at night to me.

Hit Raging Bull or Superman first. Maxx Force, you can come back to a bit later and it should not be too bad. Goliath gets busy pretty fast too, though it is in the very back of the park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AmyUD06]

@CaptainUnknownYou can still get the wristband.  Just bring the voucher to the FP building

[JT325]

You used to be able to ride Whizzer with 3 in a seat!  With no seatbelt, no airgates and 5 trains.  But alas... either way, the ride runs better than new, a true classic (with classic trains).  Ride Demon at night (so's you don't carry the headache, unless you can learn quick how to ride a new Arrow).  2nd to back seat (row 11).  The drop kicks, enjoy.

[Dan the Coaster Man]

On 9/12/2021 at 7:51 PM, CaptainUnknown said:

Hey, a couple questions now that I'm 2 weeks from my visit on Saturday 9/25 during Fright Fest. Previously visited back in 2009.

-I pre bought Platinum Flash Pass. The email I received about this talks about using it on my phone. Will I be able to get a physical band?

-Any rides with mandatory fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo? Might have a bag/personal water bottle with me depending on this.

-Does the park have bottle fillers? Are they active?

-Recommendations for late-night eats within five miles of the park? Bonus points if Chicago-style deep dish.

-X-Flight is the only ride I really need seat recommendations on

-While it's currently not forecasted to rain, I'll ask anyway: does the park have an asinine rain policy?

-Does Whizzer have a "no single riders" policy?

-Any night rides I should prioritize?

-Anything else I should know?

You will still be able to get the physical band. I would highly recommend using your phone though, unless your phone battery wont last all day. The flash pass line is brutal to wait for the physical band.

The park has bottle fillers, but I cant say if they are currently on or off. Normal water fountains are on.

Girodano's is the tourist classic for Chicago deep dish. I prefer Lou Malnati's, which is also nearby. I dont know the hours on the top of my head.

I like front left seat the best. I only really do the left side.

You can ride Whizzer by yourself, and it is insane how much room you have with only the seatbelt!

I recommend Terror Twister II in the night for FF. Not a coaster, but its one of my favorite experiences. Other night rides would be Goliath, AE, Whizzer. Not many bad night rides but nothing like Kings Island where they are a must.

_________________________________________

I went to the park this past Saturday. Not slammed like most Saturday's during FF! I was able to get on 7 rides, two meals and a snack in 6 hours. Not bad, especially considering I waited in Maxx Force's line only to be told I couldn't ride because of my arm cast. Speaking of food, I thought this was the best FF food service I had ever seen at the park. No line at strutters for lunch, no line for ice cream for snack, and spent ~30 mins at Chop 6 for dinner. Terror Twister II was slightly disappointing, music seemed really low compared to past years. Maybe because I did not ride at night?

[Bob325]

On 9/12/2021 at 11:14 AM, ilrider said:

Sounds like it is getting rethemed to The Flash. Probably a new paint job to fit too.

The Flash retheme (basically) confirmed!

Pictures taken at the park yesterday.

[bert425]

^ um. .those are Shazam's colors too. . . .


(tho, granted, I believe the sign noting it's closed makes some mention of "back in a Flash in 2022" right?)

[thrillseeker4552]

Looks very nice. I'm happy that Six Flags is breeding new life into these Impulse coasters, especially after Wicked Twister's demise. Although the one at SFDK literally never operates ever so maybe "life" is a bit of a stretch.