Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[The username]

Does anyone know why Demon and Whizzer are down?

[tndank]

Probably because they don't pay enough to have full staff every day.  Or think it's not necessary. Neither appears to be down for mechanical reasons. 

[The username]

Makes sense. Hopefully they'll be open tomorrow.

[prozach626]

Whizzer has a 36" height requirement, so I'm not sure why they wouldn't want to prioritize that. It's one of the reasons we're going during a late August weekend, so I hope it's open.

Fun fact: There are three coasters at this park with only a 36" height requirement. That, and other rides like Log Flume, their swinging ship, and the raft ride. This place rocks for kids!

[tndank]

Whizzer is open today. 

[Johnlloyd]

5 hours ago, tndank said:

Whizzer is open today. 

I am glad to hear it reopened today. Unfortunately it was closed the last two days, which were the two days I was at the park for my very first time. Maybe I will be able to ride Whizzer in the future. Just a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to ride this classic and rare coaster. But I still had a great time at Six Flags Great America regardless of Whizzer being closed both days! 

[prozach626]

We're going to the park next month. Are Whizzer and Little Dipper at all rough? Our little girl is 37" tall, but the two roller skaters we've been on at HW an SDC have made her afraid of roller coasters. They're total garbage and absolutely rough. She calls them "too bumpy" and after her last ride her legs were shaking she was so freaked out. She keeps asking me if those rides are "bumpy."

I'm hoping to restore some of her faith, or I'm going to start puking on all of the spinning rides I've been subjected to.

[RandallDuell]

Whizzer was open just a bit after the park on 7/21. Demon, however, didn't look like it had any plans on being open anytime soon (weeds growing up through the track coming out of the tunnel....lost of visible rust (that usually seems to at least get patch painted).

 

As far as roughness for Whizzer/Little Dipper, I'd say neither are rough - but the lean on Whizzer can be surprising to little ones. The good news is the seating arrangement, as you can have her sit in front of you and easily hold her/assist her through those sections ... this was the first "big" ride for mine, some years ago, she she did great. While the seating isn't quite as helpful on Little Dipper, the cars are small and I'd say the only rough part is the turnaround (when you're on the roof of the station) and something you can again assist her with. I don't know the current ops, but the couple of times I've ridden it in Gurnee it's only had one train running .... with 16 people each, an even short looking line can take a bit (when it was at Kiddieland they were able to unload/load one train as the other was zipping through the course so the line moved a lot quicker).

 

Overall the park was fine - the theming of the old Marriott days continues to slowly become just a distant memory....with a few physical remnants to help trigger those. The deadness felt between Buccaneer Battle (fence up) and Demon (seemingly SBNO) was real, especially when you consider the old foliage covered walkway that used to run in the Demon/Sky Whirl/Hay Baler area. It was amazing to soak in the changed skyline from the top of Giant Drop. The choice between theme park and thrill park is clear from that vantage point. I guess, if anything, we were spoiled that they bothered to hang on to the theming as long as they did, really.

 

Raging Bull, btw, wow that thing still kicks ass (after nearly 25 years)!

[prozach626]

^It has the most underrated back seat first drop.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Ed Farmer]

Took a visit to my home park last Sunday- first of the year. Not going to lie- I was bracing myself. Six Flags is in the pits, and more bad news than good has been coming out of this place lately... The day ended up being wonderful. My friend and I got a flash pass because neither of us have the patience anymore to spend even a fucking second with a bunch of dumb fuck idiots tiktoking their existence away. That was a wise decision, and I think I'm at the point where I will never visit a park again without a skip the line pass. We were able to hit just about everything that we wanted to. I've been riding Raging Bull regularly since it came about, and I love the ride, it was my first hypercoaster, but have been of the opinion that it is pretty much an extended layout dive machine sans 90* first drop (great first drop and after that...pfffff nothing fluff). This was the best Bull ride that I've ever had. Everything about it hit. Something about it has changed. Wow. Go ride it. 

So yeah- can't wait to go back, actually. 

[ilrider]

8 hours ago, RandallDuell said:

Whizzer was open just a bit after the park on 7/21. Demon, however, didn't look like it had any plans on being open anytime soon (weeds growing up through the track coming out of the tunnel....lost of visible rust (that usually seems to at least get patch painted).

 

As far as roughness for Whizzer/Little Dipper, I'd say neither are rough - but the lean on Whizzer can be surprising to little ones. The good news is the seating arrangement, as you can have her sit in front of you and easily hold her/assist her through those sections ... this was the first "big" ride for mine, some years ago, she she did great. While the seating isn't quite as helpful on Little Dipper, the cars are small and I'd say the only rough part is the turnaround (when you're on the roof of the station) and something you can again assist her with. I don't know the current ops, but the couple of times I've ridden it in Gurnee it's only had one train running .... with 16 people each, an even short looking line can take a bit (when it was at Kiddieland they were able to unload/load one train as the other was zipping through the course so the line moved a lot quicker).

 

Overall the park was fine - the theming of the old Marriott days continues to slowly become just a distant memory....with a few physical remnants to help trigger those. The deadness felt between Buccaneer Battle (fence up) and Demon (seemingly SBNO) was real, especially when you consider the old foliage covered walkway that used to run in the Demon/Sky Whirl/Hay Baler area. It was amazing to soak in the changed skyline from the top of Giant Drop. The choice between theme park and thrill park is clear from that vantage point. I guess, if anything, we were spoiled that they bothered to hang on to the theming as long as they did, really.

 

Raging Bull, btw, wow that thing still kicks ass (after nearly 25 years)!

Little Dipper is always one train at this park, at least for as long as we have been riding it, which is for many years.

[prozach626]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:02 PM, Ed Farmer said:

neither of us have the patience anymore to spend even a fucking second with a bunch of dumb fuck idiots tiktoking their existence away.

Why don't you just tell us how much better you really think you are?

[Ed Farmer]

I guess that did come off as pretentious.

Apologies.

[prozach626]

All good, bro. Story of my (internet) life.

[JT325]

On 7/30/2023 at 5:06 PM, prozach626 said:

^It has the most underrated back seat first drop.

 

Thanks for the info.

After Demon, of course

[prozach626]

American Dad review:

Went to the park last weekend. Bummer.

The objective was to get our 37.5" (not that I'm keeping track...) three-year-old daughter on Wizzer and Little Dipper. Huge fail.

I think I pushed her a little too hard prior to this. Log Flume at Holiday World. Howler (Roller Skater), which fucking sucked. Pilgrim's Plunge and Grand Exposition Coaster (Roller Skater). The Roller Skaters were terrible introductions. She hated Howler, because it thrashed her around. She wanted off after the first lap. She said it was too bumpy. I really hoped Grand Exposition Coaster would be different, which was really stupid on my part. Same result, only three laps. After that, she was afraid every ride would be bumpy.

But, I showed her videos of Whizzer and Little Dipper well before the trip. She couldn't get enough of them, but too bad since we limit her TV/Screen time... She said she would go on them, but asked if they were bumpy. I told them they may be a little bumpy, but not like the other roller coasters, which we had previously dubbed, "trash." She talked about roller coasters so much leading up to the trip, Saturday. (She still does...)

As soon as we got to the park at opening, we went straight to Whizzer. She threw a freaking fit and refused to go near the queue. Started screaming, crying, and ran away. She cried and said it was too bumpy. I was disappointed, but I didn't force her to go.

I grabbed my only two coaster rides of the day on Raging Bull, in the back row. I made sure to sit on the outside to wave to my daughter and my wife as I went up the lift. Both rides were one train waits. Both of them were worth the trip itself. Not riding many coasters at this point in my life really makes me appreciate the rides I do get so much more. Raging Bull was no exception. I still hold that the first drop is one of the best in the industry, while screaming into the deafening tunnel.

My wife and daughter rode Chubasco next to Raging Bull during my second ride. Then, they went to the carousel for two laps before I got there. My daughter wanted a third, so she and I hopped on the upper deck. She graduated to wanting to ride the horse herself, and wanting me to ride next to her. That's an achievement in the books, and was much more fun than standing alongside her.

When we went by Little Dipper, she wanted to watch it, but she also got really scared and said it was too bumpy. Later, when I told her we were going on it, she tried to jump out of her stroller. (Probably the last year with that bulky thing, thankfully.)

I blame her fear of big rides two things. First, myself. I pushed her too hard, too soon. Second, the Roller Skaters. I firmly believe these are a terrible introduction to roller coasters. At the very least, I can attest to them being unsuitable for princess'ish type little girls. Bravery isn't her strong suit, but neither was mine at that age.

Just as our second day of Silver Dollar City in July, I absolutely did not make her ride or do anything she didn't want to. I'm following her own comfortability path. Sure, I'll nudge her toward rides and slightly try to convince her, but forcing it with her personality will not work. 

Self parenting reflection aside, we did a lot of the kids shit. I had a massive headache I couldn't kick for most of the day, so I really didn't ride anything else. Mediocre chicken strips and fries helped out later in the day. I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was.

 

My wife and daughter did everything in the old Wiggles Land, except for the pirate ship play structure, which was closed. And by everything, I mean she even ate shit on the splash pad in an area which was slimy and needed power washed badly. I watched three other kids do the same, while sitting on the bench nursing my headache. They were tougher than our princess, so I laughed on the inside. Eventually, they put up slippery when wet signs in that spot... Classy.

I had a lot of time to observe the area. Everything looked terribly run down. The tarps didn't exist anymore, but the rusty wires remained. Paint was peeling and chipping off of everything else. It was no match for our earlier trips to Holiday World and Silver Dollar City.

In fact, visually, nothing was. I saw a ton of overgrown weeds. The "all new area" just looked awkward and half baked. Paint on rides was faded. Several of the airplanes on Red Baron wouldn't fly. SBNO Condor and Demon looked terrible. Other rides were closed.

The Chevrolet display was over the top and blocked an entire pathway. The quick money grab went a little too far and it looked like shit among the southwest themeing. The arcade games shoved in the abandoned game booths looked like total trash. They need to trim back some of the trees/weeds/bushes around the train. You can't see shit.

On top of that, some of the clientele were terrible. I usually have no issued with people, but the frequent smell of weed and fruity vape juice was ridiculous. We kept smelling weed in the kids area near the SBNO splash battle. We figured out where it was coming from when we saw some women sitting on the ground using our fucking stroller to block the view of them. I went and got the stroller. I stood over them for several seconds just looking at them, making it as awkward as I possibly could. What can you say?

Part of the frustration came from something awesome that happened earlier in the day. When I walked from Raging Bull to meet up with my family, some kids were walking toward me in the opposite direction. Some chubby short teenage fuck put his hand an inch away from my face, said some slang shit I couldn't understand, and kept walking all in one motion. I stopped, turned around, said some things I shouldn't have. Neither him, nor his friend ever even looked back. Probably a good thing.

WTF though. To be an invincible teen these days... Must be nice. The end result of any confrontation would just end up with me being banned from every Six Flags park, regardless of the situation. (Is that such a bad thing?) If it turned physical, even if I wasn't the aggressor, I'd probably lose my job and end up in jail. Totally messed up world. Adults are totally helpless in those situations.

We also had to deal with constant swearing in front of our kid. We experienced more than usual people not moving out of the way in groups 10 wide. Again with the vaping and weed. (On a side not to that, as someone who has never smoked or vaped anything, I actually think it's fair that the park has a couple designated smoking areas. Parks and chains not making this small accommodation is ridiculous.)

Six Flags employees were being Six Flags employees. The service was a far cry from Holiday World and Silver Dollar City. As one example, some dude's card wasn't working in front of me when I went to buy some water. He left for quite a while after yelling at the female he was with to "get the other card."

Meanwhile, the kid at the register just waited and didn't say a word to me. Instead, he was gossiping with a manager about personal/work crap. Finally, after seeing what was probably my unconscious defeated unintentional completely blank look on my face, he addressed me and explained he'd be with me in a minute. That's all the common courtesy I wanted, bro. Seriously.  Of course the dude with the maxed out card didn't apologize, like I would have done in his spot. He actually picked up a couple more items from the shop while I waited.

I hadn't been to this park in years and I was looking forward to it. Unlike other parks I visit, I almost always have at least one WTF experience with service or a client. The weed thing and the hand in my face were the two most fucked up things I've experienced at a park since an employee refused to serve me a beer after insisting my Driver's License wasn't mine. Later, she shut me down after two beers over a few hours. (That story is buried in this thread somewhere.)

I feel uncomfortable at this park. I avoid drama at all costs and at this park it's almost always unavoidable for me. Why should I even bother since I have SDC, KI, WoF, IB (yet to go), KK, and other parks within hours of me? (SFSTL is my home park, but it's... SFSTL)

I won't be back for a while. I still haven't ridden Maxx Force, but even with a couple of my favorites like Raging Bull and Goliath, the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Anyway, I want to end this with some positives about our short Friday evening - Sunday morning Chicagoland trip.

The Raging Bull crew was top notch killing it. Operators with that kind of energy at opening is rare. They dispatched before the countdown timer, for the four trains I saw. A-team for sure. Great job.

Despite no big rides, the girl was great and further graduated to riding a lot of the kids rides by herself. My knees were thankful. I was bummed she didn't raise her count to five coasters, but having four parks under her belt at three-years-old is pretty good. She had a lot of fun.

Malnati's didn't disappoint. The beer was cold, the pizza was delicious, and the waitress was top notch. She made sure our daughter's food came out ASAP, which parents will understand.

Hyatt in Deerfield continued to be great. We've stayed there a few times. We got upgraded to a suite due to our kickass "globalist" card status.

Badaya Sushi in Deerfield was excellent. The servers were the best with our daughter we've ever experienced. They interacted with her stuffed animals, talked to her a lot, and constantly entertained us. It was almost the point of awkwardness, but our daughter was very entertained, which is what counts. Apparently I'm a "Yelp Elite" member, so I left five star reviews and large tips for both places.

Outside of the park, everyone was really pleasant. I know a lot of trash talk is thrown around about Chicagoland rudeness, but honestly every time we go up there we usually have great interactions with non-park people.

So basically... aside from Six Flags, everything was great...