Photo TR: Six Flags Great America and Wisconsin Dells

[saginawhxc]

I've written a few trip reports before but I really like the photo trip reports that seem to be popular here. I like photography almost as much as I like roller coasters and theme parks so I am excited to give this a try. Any feed back on how to make these better in the future would be appreciated.

 

We hit Six Flags Great America on Saturday May 1st and Wisconsin Dells on Sunday May 2nd. The weather was okay on Saturday. It was overcast but only sprinkled a few times. Sunday was beautiful.

 

I found Great America to be a very nice park with decent ride operations for a Six Flag park. My only complaint was that American Eagle was running both sides as single train operations causing it to be one of the longest lines in the park.

 

Wisconsin Dells should of been amazing but is a place I would recommend skipping this time of year as only a few rides were even open. The website showed the park as being open but that was definitely misleading.

I like the American flags flying over the entrance. Nice touch.

Very pretty flower lined pool with the two story carousel in the background right inside the entrance to this park.

We headed straight back to Raging Bull which turned out to be a very nice steel coaster.

It had some very nice graceful twister style elements. Made for a nice ride, but possibly not as good as I was hoping for.

Headed back to the front of the park to hit Superman Ultimate Flight before the park filled in. That loop provides some very intense G's.

The Dark Knight was a kind of fun little themed dark mouse ride.

Not sure how I found myself on back to back mouse rides, but this time it was a spinning mouse which was a first for me.

I find these impulse coasters kind of fun, but they aren't really that photogenic.

I like the theming on these Batman rides better than I like the rides themselves.

DO NOT CROSS THE FENCE!

I'm guessing that whoever was driving this car got arrested and banned from Six Flags. They should of read the sign and not crossed the fence.

While I banged my ears a little on this, I find these Batman rides to be nice compact little inverts.

The Little Dipper construction in progress.

From my understanding this thing is being rescued from Kiddieland.

One more because I'm a sucker for construction photos.

Don't you hate when you have that feeling that you aren't gonna like a ride before you even ride it?

It's not that I didn't like it, but my ears hated it. After getting my ears boxed two rides in a row I was ready to finally get on the first woody of the day.

Much better than the clothing line.

The wall in my bedroom is cluttered with black and white 8x10's of shots just like this. They never get old to me.

I wish more of this ride was accessible for photographs than just the lift and the back helix.

Because nothing says Demon better than letters that look like they were made out of play dough.

Not sure what the mountain theming had to do with being called Demon, but it looked sharp.

It was actually a nice looking little ride.

Someone told me to make sure I rode this while here so I got in line.

I was super exited to see a spiral lift hill.

Then to top it off it had the most unique trains I've ever been on. They were like little lazy boys. I want one in my living room.

I had heard very good things about this ride. I'm a sucker for woodies so I was exited to finally make my way back around to this thing.

It definitely was as good as I heard. Great airtime for a ride of it's size. Finished out the day with a few nice rides on this.

Kicked the next day off with a ride on Mt. Olympus's indoor mouse ride.

There was some cool Greek theming on the outside of the indoor section of the amusement park and on the shops walking in from the hotel.

I see Hades!! At this point I was quivering with joy. I have wanted to come out here and ride this thing very badly for the last several years.

Oh no! I hope that's not what I think it is...

Yup. I waited for years, drove almost nine hours, and it's currently being re-tracked.

I've now assumed the fetal position and am firmly sucking on my thumb for comfort.

This place is like a little woody heaven.

Except only two of the four woodies were running. Pegasus was closed too.

A nice shot of Zeus where it runs through Hades lift hill. Cyclops, Zeus, and Hades were all intertwined making for some woody photo bliss.

This one is actually running? Cool, let's ride.

Huh?

This drop may not look like much, but ride it once in the back seat and it will explain the sign.

For the first time in my life I honestly think the seat belt saved me from plummeting to my doom.

Not my kids, but they sure look tough. Photo ops were all these kids could do here though as this was also closed.

It looks like a nice little drop right out of the lift station though.

Where does it go?

Oh it comes up way over here by the entrance to the parking lot.

All in all I think this would be an amazing little park if visited a little later in the year. Off to Timber Falls to ride Hellcat.

Except guess what....?

You probably guessed it right. Also closed.

This thing looked amazing though. The girl at the counter said it opens Memorial Day through Labor Day.

[larrygator]

Bummer that you missed Hellcat it's one of my faves, good thing you will be returning.

 

Good job for your first trip report with photos.

[ArizonaGuy]

Nice TR and pics. A lot of good shots. That sucks you didn't get to ride Hades. Looks like a great coaster to miss.

[downunder]

Really nice report, some of the colour you get in those shots is excellent, especially the flags one and I liked that batman shot with the police car in it.

 

Sorry you missed out on Hades, I rode it in the back at night and it was amazing, the drop from the station and the track before the lift hill are a ride in themself. Glad to see you took the Cyclops challenge.

[deathbydinn]

So Hades did end up getting the fins. At least they aren't as bad as Eagle's.

[saginawhxc]

Yeah the Dells are only 8 1/2 hours away so there is little excuse for it to have taken me this long to get there, and Mt. Olympus alone impressed me enough that when they get Hades up and running I'm coming right back out. I made it to Holiday World three times last year and thats only 30 minutes closer. Plus I really want to ride Hellcat. I fell in love with it just walking around and snapping pictures. Great America makes a nice half way stop too.

[Erik Johnson]

Great trip report. Sorry to hear that Hellcat and Hades were not running, I guess it is a good excuse to go back later.

[mcjaco]

Yeah the Dells are only 8 1/2 hours away so there is little excuse for it to have taken me this long to get there, and Mt. Olympus alone impressed me enough that when they get Hades up and running I'm coming right back out. I made it to Holiday World three times last year and thats only 30 minutes closer. Plus I really want to ride Hellcat. I fell in love with it just walking around and snapping pictures. Great America makes a nice half way stop too.

 

There's a car ferry from Michigan to Milwaukee so that might be a different way to go. I think it takes a little less time (but not much), but I've heard it's enjoyable, and you avoid Chicago traffic!

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

^ It's $109 per person round trip, and $59 each way for your car.

 

So even if you're rolling solo it's gonna cost you $227. If you add more people into the equation, it jacks the price WAY up. I looked into it when I headed over there a couple summers ago. Totally not worth it in my opinion.

I just left MI at night and drove through Chicago at like 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and traffic was no issue.

[larrygator]

^thanks Brian - I was going to post something similar, as I also looked into this option a couple of years ago..

 

Lake Express Schedule

[sixflagsguy5]

That's too bad that you missed three wood coasters. I would suggest making the trip in the summer if you can and adding on Valleyfair. The Dells don't really get a lot of visitors until the waterparks open up.

[mcjaco]

^thanks Brian - I was going to post something similar, as I also looked into this option a couple of years ago..

 

Lake Express Schedule

 

Just throwin' in out there.

[coasterbilly]

nice report but wow that would hurt A LOT to be there for those 2 rides and they end up being closed. That happened to me 2 years ago, went down to BGE to get on Griffon and it also was closed for a week to repair a part on the lift hill, the only reason I went down. But I did return that next spring and rode 3 times and it was amazing, so go back later on and you won't be disappointed!

[Kingsislandfreak]

Great TR it looks like Little Dipper is going along nice

[deathbydinn]

Is the Catapult open at Mt. Olympus yet? If so do you remember what kind of ride it is?

[zztop]

Hades is awesome, is that a new sign on cyclops i havnt seen it before

[deathbydinn]

^ The Cyclops sign was there last summer. The front of Pegasus is new though.

[itsasamccormick]

Can someone explain why you have to be 18 to ride in the back of that one coaster? I have never heard of such a thing....

[traincrossin]

Can someone explain why you have to be 18 to ride in the back of that one coaster? I have never heard of such a thing....

That drop is intense, very very intense.

[zztop]

they don't even check it one time i was there and i rode it, i think that was when i was 13

[Steelinwood]

Whenever I go to new park at least one good coaster is closed... Don't sweat it. Great Report too!

[themeparkologist]

I'm a sucker for woodies

 

Nothing wrong with that, intentional or not!

 

Anywho, it looks like you had a great time! The pictures were great too! Are you a professional photographer?

[redfoot12]

This is somewhat off-topic, but why did they rename Avalanche to HellCat?

[traincrossin]

This is somewhat off-topic, but why did they rename Avalanche to HellCat?

I don't think anyone really knows why, they just did. The old Avalanche signage is still up everywhere.

[saginawhxc]

I'm a sucker for woodies

 

Nothing wrong with that, intentional or not!

 

Anywho, it looks like you had a great time! The pictures were great too! Are you a professional photographer?

 

No I'm not a pro, but I think the question made me blush a little. It's just always been a hobby of mine. Other than posting stuff to facebook and stuff this is the first time I've ever shown people my pictures and I was kind of nervous about posting them, so to anyone who has complimented them... thank you.