Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[RaceBoarder]

It could be different since different parks but I just processed my membership at Great Adventute 3 weeks ago. They scanned our voucher at the toll booths no problem and when we got to the front gate there was a "redeem vouchers" line or something like that. We hopped in that line where they scanned our voucher, took our fingerprint, handed us our passes and we were good to go. It was a 7 second process and I was surprised that was all we had to do. We didn't have to go to the processing center at all.

 

The season pass processing line used to be the 7th layer of hell and I bought a membership and paid way more for it just to avoid it. 3-4 hour waits were typical. A few years ago they started with this new system which is honestly really awesome.

 

Thanks, guys, for the encouraging information! I'm looking forward to getting on my last coasters of the season tomorrow, even if the waits are long, and getting my second RMC under my belt as well!

 

Hope you enjoy the park!

 

Just curious if you could provide a comment on the crowd levels today at some point? I get off work at 2pm and am wondering if it'll be worth the 60 minute drive for 3.5 hours at the park. Perfect weather has me wanting to go, but I believe I'm not alone in thinking that. Thanks in advance !

[hazelgreen]

I'm curious to see how the crowds are as well today.

[9Armgeddon4]

For anybody who was hoping this weekend wouldn't be busy, don't get your hopes up. I'm there right now and it's very packed. It's safe to assume that having a BAFF (and the nice weather) the last weekend is the cause of this. Which makes me wondering if this was a good/bad decision by the park. I won't be making a TR for today but I will one tomorrow for the last operation day no matter what.

[storms555]

Im going tomorrow actually. I was hoping since its going to be a sunday,a shortened day,and the last day it wouldnt be so many people. Im going with a friend but we wont be able to get there until 2:30ish because she has things to do before that. Hopefully we can get at least a couple of rides crammed in. Im going as a "free friend" on her season pass so at least it wont be a total waste if we cant get on many rides. I dont have a pass this year but im most likely gonna get one for next year.

[Airboss]

I'm going tomorrow also. I really hope I can cram a lot of rides in, but sounds like it's a little more crowded than anticipated.

 

And ^, I'm pretty sure the free friend thing is only valid on certain days during the season.

[RaceBoarder]

Im going tomorrow actually. I was hoping since its going to be a sunday,a shortened day,and the last day it wouldnt be so many people. Im going with a friend but we wont be able to get there until 2:30ish because she has things to do before that. Hopefully we can get at least a couple of rides crammed in. Im going as a "free friend" on her season pass so at least it wont be a total waste if we cant get on many rides. I dont have a pass this year but im most likely gonna get one for next year.

I arrived today just after 3pm today and it's been an ok day. Viper, Raging Bull, Giant Drop, X-Flight (Front Row), Batman, and in the que for Superman now. About a 45 min. wait avg. today.

[RollingCoasting]

Sucks. (Though I wasn't expecting a Halloween repeat) Hopefully tomorrow there will be slightly less of a crowd being a Sunday

[JRice92]

Still 20 minutes until the park opens, we might have a busy day today.

[RaceBoarder]

Still 20 minutes until the park opens, we might have a busy day today.

Yea, this is a product of the excellent weather. Hope you're enjoying things despite the crowds.

[RollingCoasting]

As expected, today was very crowded (Took 50 minutes for food at JB's, parking lot was past Superman 60, etc.).

 

Not the greatest of days (I only rode Chubasco and River Rocker XD), but it was still pretty neat getting to visit the park one last time.

 

Also, candy was 50% off! F*ck yes

[storms555]

Just got back. Yes it was pretty crowded only got on 3 rides. However it was still fun. (i was on my friends "bring a friend day") We didnt get there until 3ish anyways. We went on Goliath,Raging Bull,and the 4D Justice League ride. Goliath and Raging Bull are my two favorite coasters there anyways. Just glad i got to do my two favorites

[9Armgeddon4]

Final operation day TR

I got to the park at opening and stayed until closing which was moved from 6 to 7.

It was busy today but I was able to ride a good number of rides.

Ride Totals (in order that I rode).

V2

Goliath

Raging Bull

Giant Drop

Chubasco

Viper

Batman

Revolution

Superman

Dark Knight

King Chaos

Raging Bull

Columbia Carousel (my final ride of the year and I'm proud of it)

Overall it was a great year for me and I'm looking forward for opening day next year. This is my final TR of this year.

A few notes from this year

1. We got a JL ride that I only got to ride twice

2. VR announced for RB which is later changed to Demon

3. Raging Bull valleys in July (I still would like to know how it valleyed)

4. Joker 4D free Spin announced for 2017.

[RollingCoasting]

2. VR announced for RB which is later changed to Demon

 

Had something to do with a storm I believe

 

I heard from a ride-op back in 2013 that Raging Bull can't run in rainy weather because it has 3 trains

[9Armgeddon4]

Did you mean to quote number 3? I can understand that but still a summer valley is still very rare. A lot of people were saying it was the trime of course and that it should be turned off or removed. Maybe once we get HITP were get to experience a tirmless RB ride .

[CaptainUnknown]

Possibly looking at a trip in early/mid-August next year. Spend 2-3 days at the park. How busy should I expect it? Visited back in July 09 and crowds were ok. Though a blackout at the park caused me to get stuck on Iron Wolf's final break for 45 minutes.

[RollingCoasting]

1. Early August is a terrible time to visit the park. Read to Suckceed crowds will cause the parking lot to become 95% full and all coasters will have at very least an hour wait.

 

2.

Though a blackout at the park caused me to get stuck on Iron Wolf's final break for 45 minutes.

 

You lucky bastard xD

[DILinator]

First off, apologies to RaceBoarder for not getting back with you at all. I didn't even get on TPR while at the park, and just saw your comment now. Had I seen it, I would have probably advised you to stay away, or at least suggested you exercise caution.

 

I anticipated that the combination of beautiful weather, the last operating weekend, and the BAFF promotion would lead to high crowds, and I was certainly not wrong! Thank goodness we hit Goliath, the only coaster I hadn't been on yet, first thing, before the wait got REALLY long! In spite of healthy waits for everything we did, we got to do all of the main coasters we wanted to, and really enjoyed our time at the park! The only downside was the atrociously long waits for food, which led to us simply not eating anything the entire time we were at the park, since every restaurant and stand had at least a 30 minute wait. And while others on TPR have talked about there being peak times, and lighter times, and not being stupid enough to try to eat during peak times, that was not the case Saturday. ALL DAY was peak time, as the food lines were never really short, other than maybe the first hour or so the park was open. Hopefully this was just a product of the heavy crowds, and not something that is always a problem at SFGAm!

 

So, here are my thoughts from the day (besides avoiding BAFF days next year!)

 

-Goliath is SO freaking awesome!!! Given the fact that it's regularly considered the "worst" of the RMC's, I tried not to get my hopes too high. It definitely exceeded them, however, and proved those correct who have said even the worst RMC is better than most coasters! SO much fun, and my only regret of the day was not getting a night ride, due to leaving early due to the crowds, and being ridiculously hungry! I'll have to be sure to do that one of my visits next season! I was fortunate to be assigned the front row on it for our ride, and it was amazing to take it all in from that vantage point! I'm sure it's even more wild and crazy in the back, so I'll be sure to try and ride it there next time. However, I think I'm glad I was in the front for this first lap! It immediately jumps into my Top 10 coasters, though I still prefer Storm Chaser more, among RMCs. Oh, and that whole "stall" part of the coaster...

 

-Justice League: Battle for Metropolis was fantastic, and immediately became my favorite dark ride/shooting ride! Seriously, I would ride that over and over, if the line weren't so ungodly long! To top it off, I was the high scorer for our vehicle, and was Top 20% . I'm sure that's child's play to some of you, but given that I'm usually not the greatest at winning these types of things, I was very pleased! The immersive story-line through the queue was a great way to distract from the wait, and then the way the motion simulating felt SO real, like we were really going upside down, and zipping all around, was very well done! I like the non-screen effects as well. I don't know how the SFGAm installment compares to the rest of them, but I was very, very impressed, and think it's a fantastic addition for every SF park that is getting one!

 

-Raging Bull gets far too much crap for how great of a coaster it is! Yes, it may be one of the "worst" B&M Hypers, but then I like that type of coaster across the board, and I feel RB is still an excellent ride experience! It's also so unique, compared to the rest of the B&M Hypers, and if it weren't for the one miserable trim, would likely get more love across enthusiast circles. Even factoring that one frustrating part in, I still consider it my second favorite coaster there (not sure yet if I prefer JL:BFM as a ride or not) behind Goliath, and will marathon that in a heartbeat, whenever the line isn't long!

 

-I'm still trying to figure out where exactly Joker is going next year... It's obviously using part of the old Ragin' Cajun plot, but it's going to be far too big for just that footprint. Given the removal of East River Crawler, and Jester's Wild Ride, I'm guessing The Joker is going to span where the current pathway is now, and the pathway will be moved elsewhere. From eyeballing it, and some very "MacGyvered" measuring utensils, it would appear that it would fit there in the old RC footprint, and the current pathway, with the end that hangs over being above Roaring Rapids. I suppose the part that hangs over could be over the new pathway (and presumably, the replaced covered "bridge", which will essentially be where the two removed flat rides were. Is this what everybody else is thinking for placement? Or does anybody here actually know? Wherever it goes exactly, I'm definitely looking forward to finally getting on one next year!

 

-X Flight was the first B&M Wing Coaster I went on, the year it came out, and I was impressed then. Having now ridden a couple of the newer ones (GateKeeper, Thunderbird), I must say that X-Flight still holds up very well compared to them! I prefer both of the newer models still, but X-Flight brought elements to the table that keep it fresh, and fun, even compared to its bigger and "sexier" cousins!

 

In closing, we all had an enjoyable day, in spite of the crowds, and I very much look forward to returning next year, most likely on school days early in the season when wait times should be lower! SFGAm is no Cedar Point, but it's certainly no slouch of a park either, and I will enjoy going there more frequently in the future, now that I have my SF Membership!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Possibly looking at a trip in early/mid-August next year. Spend 2-3 days at the park. How busy should I expect it? Visited back in July 09 and crowds were ok. Though a blackout at the park caused me to get stuck on Iron Wolf's final break for 45 minutes.

What I would do is to budget for Platinum Flash Pass one day. From my experience, the rides that are on the Flash Pass are basically the ones that get long lines. Otherwise, you can really get right on just about anything. All this is assuming you're going on weekdays, and also assumes no SRL and 1 reservation limit for Joker.

 

Day 1:

Go to Goliath first, immediately, before getting your Flash Pass. Use Single Rider Line, immediately board. Then go get your Flash Pass, observe queue time for Justice League (remember to multiply by 10 to get standby queue time). If it's short, then reserve Raging Bull and go standby for Justice League. If it's long already, then be very glad you have the Flash Pass because this day is going to be extremely crowded. Just proceed around the park in some reasonable order and remember to reserve your next ride immediately after they scan the last one.

 

Obviously there's no way to know queue lengths for Joker yet, but expect long waits there. You may want to standby for Little Dipper while your Qbot waits for Joker. It's very much worth it, and the queue can get to 30-45 minutes on busy days.

 

Day 2:

If any high profile rides were down the day before, go to them first, especially Joker, Goliath, Superman, or Justice League. If you got to ride everything yesterday, awesome! In that case, go to Joker first then Goliath SRL. Ride any non-Flash Pass rides you want; they have lots of flats. Once you're good there, hit the waterpark; it's really fantastic.

 

Hope that helps.

[RaceBoarder]

First off, apologies to RaceBoarder for not getting back with you at all. I didn't even get on TPR while at the park, and just saw your comment now. Had I seen it, I would have probably advised you to stay away, or at least suggested you exercise caution.

No worries

 

Saw what we were getting into based on the Coaster Queue website. Went anyway and had a good time... Glad you enjoyed the park!

[Ed Farmer]

Also went this past Sunday. Got there around 1 and stayed until close. The realization that it was going to be crowded had already sunk in based on what I read about Saturday, so we went in knowing that, got a Flash Pass (which malfunctioned late in the day as crowds were thinning anyway, resulting in a voucher for 2 next year), and had a good visit. Got on Goliath, Raging Bull, Batman twice, and X-Flight four times, two of which were re-rides to close out the season. I hope they bring Holiday In The Park to this place for next season.

[B&MGuy35]

Holiday in the park unfortunately will not happen next season as it would have already been announced with the new attractions in September. We'll have to wait till at least 2018

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[livai]

it's not for sure . HIP in over georgia / great adventure / america / st louis. it was announced in April.

there is still hope;-)

[9Armgeddon4]

When HITP does happen I wonder what areas of the park and rides would be open.

[coasterbill]

This is how I'd do it.

 

Superman and Batman run like champs in the cold, we know that from Great Adventure's event. Joker is running at Great Adventure's HITP too. The left side is basically set in stone since they need to get the kids area open. The right isn't but I'm sure they'd want to get to Justice League.

 

 

I left Viper out because it's so easy to close. I have no clue if Whizzer runs well in cold weather so they can close it if they want. It's almost a guarantee that Sky Tower would look like this.

[Jason Maier]

For those that have done the Justice League: Battle for Metropolis 4D Dark Ride . . . . .

 

What's the ride like?

Did you like it?

How long did you have to wait?