Photo TR: Six Flags Great America

[LoneRider92]

On this episode of The Adventures of LoneRider, will the LoneRider defeat X-Flight? Will he survive the excruciating heat of a hot June day? And does our hero finally have a riding companion?

 

Well, in that order, yes, yes (mostly), and, eh, for a bit.

 

It took a while, but I finally managed a visit down to Great America this year. My friend JoJo hadn't gone in a while either, so he wanted to come along (yes, I, in fact, was not the LoneRider for once). The day we picked originally had excellent weather and was shaping up to be a great day. Until earlier in the week when the forecast changed to 102*. Luckily it dropped slightly, but it was still a very hot day. Probably not the hottest I've faced at Great America before though, so it was fine.

 

Unfortunately JoJo couldn't keep up with my pace (he nearly hurled on multiple occasions and was crapped out later in the day), so by the end of the day I was back to being the LoneRider.

 

For those of you who haven't managed a trip up to Great America before, I encourage it. Of all the Six Flags I've been to, this is still my favorite. The park is very big with a ton of stuff to do and see. The coaster line-up is strong from top to bottom and there is a nice diversity of flat rides and themed areas (some more themed than others). I am also impressed with the water park; it seems to be above normal Six Flags quality and is a pretty good way to cool off for a bit with some nice theming and good slides.

 

One of the only problems is that Great America is very popular, and lines at times can get quite long. Most of the rides are decent capacity (excluding our collection of wild mice), but on crowded days you might find yourself waiting a long time. That's why I've become a huge advocate for the Flash Pass, especially the Gold version. The initial cost may seem very steep and make you question whether or not it's really necessary (what if the lines are short and I waste a solid chunk of money?). Once you start blazing past hundreds and hundreds of people and wait next to nothing for most of the major rides, you will instantly love it. If you only can visit the park once or have a limited time for your visit, it is almost a must-buy. The longest wait we had all day was around 25 minutes for X-Flight. Speaking of which...

 

I know X-Flight has already been reviewed numerous times and there have been several different view points, but come on guys! Let me have a turn!

 

Word from the Coaster Nerd

 

Wow, good job Six Flags and B&M. X-Flight was great! I rode in the last car, right inside seat and loved it. It was exactly what I was hoping for; something that provides a unique experience to the park with solid intensity and great capacity. Is it teh most amazing ride ever? (Well it has loops, so it must be. ) Actually, it isn't, but it is a very fun, different ride. I thought it was very interesting how, in the back, you get whipped over the first drop and alternate between high intensity and long, drawn out floatiness. The long in-line was awesome; it went on for a loooong time. It was very smooth, but I did notice in the last turn on both rides a bit of flexing action in the train and on the second ride my restraint got pushed down slightly, so the vest was very tight on my shoulders. However, if this is enough to ruin the ride experience for you, you're better off sticking to riding NoLimits coasters.

 

As for my patented coaster ranking system, I organize the rides in this order:

 

=> Category 1 - Must rides (Try your best to hit them) - Raging Bull, V2, Batman, X-Flight, Viper, Whizzer (because I'll catch flak if I don't)

=> Category 2 - Solid rides (Best to at least try, but won't ruin your visit if you miss them) - Superman, American Eagle, Ragin' Cajun, Demon, Little Dipper

=> Category 3 - Up to you (Rides that might not be very exciting. Your choice on hitting these if time is short) - Dark Knight

 

Onto the pics. Hope you have some spare time...

This is JoJo. He will be accompanying me during our invasion of Great America. But can he keep up with me? We'll see.

Waiting in line to pick up our Qbot. Here's the list of rides available today for Flash Pass. I'll reserve a spot for X-Flight as soon as we g- hey, where is it?

Well, that's a bummer. I guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned way.

Here's our little friend. His name was Lyle. Lyle was happy to help us have an awesome day. Thank you Lyle!

Yes, I see you X-Flight. We'll get to you eventually, but we'll enjoy our Qbot a bit first.

As much as Iron Wolfman claims it was his ride, I think I was one of the only other people who liked Iron Wolf. Sure it wasn't butter smooth (B&M had to start somewhere), but it was compact and intense and always worth a shot. I never found it as diabolically rough as others claimed it was. It was a good ride and I will miss it.

Will a sign for something else be here next season? Who knows.

First ride of the day (and season) for me, V2, a personal favorite. And all 3 signs in the picture as well. ^.^

NERD SHOT!

I played around trying to get reaction shots when the ride launches. I think the girl in row 5 is hating her ride from the start. ;D

That moment when everyone's heads are forced back against the seat.

The same shot, only at 70 MPH.

Congrats Batman on 20 years of great old school B&M intensity! We're both getting old, but the ride still delivers. I did notice some 'shivering' by the train during parts, but it's 20 years old!

Hey, for the first inverted coaster in the world, B&M did some awesome work. Short, but VERY forceful and unrelenting.

Another loop shot, now with 25% more tree!

The 0 g roll, taken at a pretty good clip.

Only a couple of rides and JoJo is already feeling it. "You're not *really* going to be taking pictures all day, are you?"

While he catches his breath, I'll just keep snapping pictures. A pretty good loop shot for Derek and other loop enthusiasts out there.

With the East River Crawler currently on vacation, the shot of the first corkscrew looks a little more tidy.

With the temperature soaring today, we became good friends with the misters today.

JoJo wanted a ride for old times sake on the Whizzer. Oh boy, a full queue. What's this Lyle? You can get us past the entire line and all the way up to the station with no wait? Thank you Lyle! =D

Good old Schwarzkopf, still delivering almost 40 years later. (Darn, blur issues already)

Sorry Rudie, I would have gotten more Shwarzporn for you, but this is all I got. =( I'll get some more next time.

Onto Raging Bull we go! [That trim, that trim there can go to heck >=( ]

Oh wow, look at that line. O.o Once again, the Flash Pass absolutely delivers.

If Raging Bull ran trimless, it would be one HELL of a good ride. Still, it's an awesome ride with great floater airtime and some high-speed turns. I also like the compact-ish design.

The trains looked a little more nifty this year. I liked it. =D

I'm not sure how I feel about the sign now. The old one was more cartoony and this one seems to fit a little better. Maybe if they cropped the background a bit.

Raging Bull is a must ride in the back. There are at least 5 moments of great airtime and several other moments of floater air. The drop off the pre-drop in the back is amazing. =D

Nice to see Viper's original sign is back up.

Oh look, another long line. Qbot to the rescue!

Viper seems to have quite the following on TPR, and it is a good ride, but I don't enjoy it as much as other members.

It's showing it's age a little bit, and if you don't have a Flash Pass the line can get a little long, but you definitely should try to get at least one ride on it.

Much like Raging Bull, the backseat delivers one heck of a ride. It never lets up from the double down until the last hill. Try riding it after a dousing of rain for one seriously out-of-control experience. =D

I liked the merch in the gift shop this year. I wonder how many TPR members this could apply to? ;D

I was eyeing up this Raging Bull shirt and adorable little plush guy. Making a note for the next visit...

With JoJo needing another break and us starting to feel the heat, we decided to take a dip in the pool. Like I said earlier, the waterpark is surprisingly good. This was the new addition last year.

After Scorpion's Tail, these slides seemed a little tame. However, with no countdown, the drop was a little more surprising.

This slide complex has some pretty darn good slides in it. The two body slides are particularly fast and intense.

Looking back down the waterpark. Not only is the themeing quite good and the slide collection solid, but it's also fairly big. A nice way to break up your visit if you're getting run down from riding too much.

The nice thing about having a water-proof camera is that you can get some shots that normally other people wouldn't get. For example, an overview of Raging Bull and Viper from another angle.

An overview of Superman (man, a touch of paint would help some rides). If you haven't done a flyer before, give it a shot for the experience or if you REALLY enjoy it. Otherwise you can give it a skip. Superman pulls one of the longest lines in the park due to slow operations, so hit it right away or Flash Pass it.

Hey, I didn't know Great America opened up lakefront parking! Might be a little difficult getting it out of here though... ;D

Just a shot of Tornado. Too bad the line is always so long.

I actually really do like the atmosphere at Hurricane Harbor. While Noah's Ark will always be my favorite (new owners better not screw it up!), this incarnation is very nice.

Looking back on Viper.

Soooo much potential for this hill. Still just a very fun ride. (curse you blurring issues!)

X-Flight still beckoning us. We'll get to you soon...

Maybe I should just build one of these play structures in my back yard. I love these things!

I am definitely a humor kind of guy, so when I see things like this, I am very happy. =D Hehehehe...

A TPR exclusive! We have RiderCam, RapidsCam, and, thanks to a water-proof camera, now introducing MistCam! Oooh! Aaah! Pretty MISTifying, huh? HAHAHA! Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.

 

Don't try this at home kids.

Lift hill shot of the Demon. (Uh oh, a hazing effect. Maybe MistCam wasn't such a novel idea...)

Demon loop THROUGH THE TREES!!1!1!

Is JoJo surprised at the short line for Demon, or thinking "How many more damn pictures are you going to take?!?!" Sorry bud, a LOT more to come.

It may not be anything special, and being an Arrow it won't be the smoothest ride, but I enjoy the Demon. I was really liking that they were playing the original Demon sountrack in the queue. That was very cool to hear. ^-^

For the best ride on the Demon, try the (surprise!) back seat. It is probably the smoothest seat on the ride and the kick of airtime coming off the first drop is REALLY good.

Okay, enough putting it off! Let's see what X-Flight has to offer.

The ride entrance, looking very Apocalypse-esque. (Blur, come on! Beat it!)

There are already several keyhole shots out there. Well here's another! =D

Coming out of the Immelmann.

Looking very majestic and graceful.

I like how the queue interacts with parts of the ride, and I really like how this pic turned out. =D

"It's time to take this mission to the SKY!"

The seats felt a LOT like Superman, but your legs were free. They were comfy enough, but I would suggest trying to get the vest to have has much slack as possible so it lessens the chance that it will get tight during the ride. You won't hear any complaints from me though!

Checking out the X-Flight hair on myself, with a little artistic flair present in my sunglasses.

Hmm, tough break for JoJo. The X-Flight look can expose those receding hairlines pretty well. Don't worry, I'll be there soon enough too.

The first drop can pull some surprising g's in the back. Hooray for B&M awesomeness!

The Great American Raceway remnants.

Let's give the American Eagle a run as well, shall we? Just a word of advice, beware the line. It's quite a hike, so if it's busy, you might not be able to tell until you get to it.

Station shot of American Eagle. If the blue side is running backwards, I would recommend it. Otherwise, the red side seems to win in my book. A slightly smoother ride, more hills, and good airtime. It was pretty heavily braked on this visit though. =(

This view isn't quite the same. =(

Us taking a stroll on Logger's Run. I believe JoJo is asking "Will we get wet?" in sign language. The answer is yes.

 

Out of the two flumes at Great America, Yankee Clipper seems to get you more wet, mainly because of the up-kick at the bottom of the drop.

I finally took a ride on Little Dipper. It was CLASSIC!

Another trip on Batman? Yes please!

Lyle doing his thing again. Around 50 minutes on the right -- no minutes on the left. =D

Be warned of the sewer portion of the queue on Batman; it can get *atrociously* hot in here, even on a cooler day. It can be downright torture on a sweltering day, so plan accordingly. Luckily it was rather comfortable today.

Who is the real Batman? Apparently not me. =(

Me being the LoneRider, I appreciate this sign. =D

If Dave happens to read this; I am building a loyal army of seagulls for you to use at your whim. All glory to Icebat and Dave!

Taki's make what go BOOM, exactly? I'm scared to find out.

Hmm... I am more than a little concerned...

Great American Railway has broken down. Mechanic 1 - heading to fix Great American Railway.

I wanted to get the corkscrew shot, but the bushes up on the ledge were untrimmed and full of thorns. Darn, guess I'm not a true nerd, being unwilling to endure extreme pain to get the right shot. =(

American Eagle THROUGH THE TREES!11!!1! Just missed the shot too...

I can tackle any roller coaster out there, no problem at all...

But there's no way I can do Giant Drop. Or any drop ride for that matter. X-X

Ricochet doing it's thing. Give this one a shot if you have a chance!

At this point JoJo called it quits, leaving me with Lyle and about an hour of free time. The LoneRider rides again!

Another ride on Raging Bull sounds like a capital idea. Here's the cutback after the drop under the lift.

Raging Bull lift hill shot.

This ride op. He was cool. I love it when they fun on their job. =D

Raging Bull makes my hair FANCY! This is a hair style I could get behind Piers doing. (figuratively)

The trash cans this year were very friendly. I liked them. =D

Good news Dave. The Domos have decided to join the seagull army to create an unstoppable force. We are awaiting orders.

Very friendly indeed. Speaking of pizza, that will be later...

Last ride of the day? Let's make it X-Flight.

X-Flight doing it's zero g thing. Throw on a buttload of wooden supports and what do we have? (Silver Dollar City?)

 

More pics to come.

Edited July 29, 2012 by LoneRider92

[Jerrykoala2112]

I'm with you when you encourage more people to come to Great America! While a lot of our coasters can be found at other parks (V2, Superman, Demon, Batman, Raging Cajun, Dark Knight, etc) they fit well at our park! And our water park seems to exceed other Hurricane Harbors probably for the fact that our water park isn't even 10 years old, while other Hurricane Harbors have been around much longer. So our slides are a little more modern than other's.

 

I know SFGAM is very popular. Especially being the only major theme park between Milwaukee and Chicago, they practically have that whole area to themselves. Season Passes are relatively cheap and the park is great! Many people enjoy it. That's why I try to get in as many visits before the summer kicks in because it becomes impossible to get many rides in.

 

I'm glad someone else liked Iron Wolf besides me. I didn't love the ride, I just loved how it weaved in and out through the trees. I hope something worthy replaces it. I think it's amazing that Batman is one of the most popular rides in the park, even if it is 20 years old, it runs really well! And lastly, the only complaint about X-Flight is the restraints. They kill me at the end of the ride because they are super tight, but Superman doesn't have that problem. I know we're not the only ones that notice the super tight vests!

 

Nice PTR! And I'm glad you had a good time at the park

[LoneRider92]

A few more pictures!

(Forgot to throw this pic in before)

 

Another lengthy line, and on a day such as today, the heat can be a killer. Thanks to Lyle, we were able to get on, get soaked, and get off in no time at all. Such a great investment!

 

Popeye's at Islands of Adventure will always be my favorite rapids ride, but Roaring Rapids is fun enough. Watch out for those water jets!

Jeez Great America. The water was pretty nasty in most places, and at X-Flight it is bad enough that it is giving off noxious gas! Please do a little cleaning up. ;D

X-Flight diving through a mess of supports. Plenty of near-misses during the ride as well.

In case you forgot which ride you were waiting for.

This ride op was very cool too. I was happy to see more people enjoying their job today.

 

OOO-WOOP! =D

One more key hole shot because it is a pretty awesome inversion.

With it being near 8 o'clock, I wanted to try to get *just* one more ride on V2. When I went to reserve a spot, however, the wait jumped from 4 minutes to 16! Okay, fine God. I'll skip that last ride and call it a day. I only wanted to fit in *one* more ride.

 

[Oh who am I kidding? I would have probably tried to fit in another ride. Or three. ;D ]

Okay, the thing is that up here in Wisconsin, we don't have any Cici's, which I grew to love on my Kentucky trip. In a mighty show of good will by the Big Guy himself, one opened up in Milwaukee. I remember some TPR members not liking Cici's very much and I was curious why. The pizza is above average and the people who run them are often very awesome, friendly people. There were some I've been to that seemed a little down, then there were others where the employees were very easy-going and asked if you wanted your own pizza. This one was pretty amazing. =D

My first plate, comprised of a slice of mac n' cheese pizza, cheeseburger pizza (complete with ketchup drizzle), breadsticks and a dessert pizza. It's not the *best* pizza I've ever had, but it is quite good and VERY cheap. I also got a kick out of it when JoJo told the owner he had never been to a Cici's, which was followed by a tap on the bell and a chorus of "Welcome to Cici's!" from the staff. If you haven't been to one, maybe just give it a try. It should be an enjoyable visit.

THIS. This is a Cici's cinnamon roll. It is a sticky, sweet, amazing experience. I couldn't seem to get a picture of one without a bite taken out of it. ;D If you take a trip to Cici's, please have one. You will not be dissapointed. JoJo took one bite and gave me a stare that read "Why the hell has it taken this long to have one of these?"

 

That concludes this exciting episode of The Adventures of LoneRider. Please tune in next time for (most likely) a visit to Mt. Olympus to tangle with Hades. Questions/comments/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Edited July 1, 2012 by LoneRider92

[Ed Farmer]

 

I'm glad someone else liked Iron Wolf besides me. I didn't love the ride, I just loved how it weaved in and out through the trees. I hope something worthy replaces it. I think it's amazing that Batman is one of the most popular rides in the park, even if it is 20 years old, it runs really well!

 

 

Second only to Batman while it was here for me. I could kill a good chunk of the day without leaving the County Farm/Yukon Territory area between the two of them.

[deathbydinn]

Wow, great and very in depth trip report. I'm also with you as someone who liked Iron Wolf. I never found it particularly bad, and like Jeremie said weaving through the trees during the second half was great. But it was one of those rides you had to learn to ride, which most people will say is something you should never have to do. Also, it's a bit odd that Viper has a shirt saying "I like it rough," as it's actually very smooth.

 

Hope to see more reports from you soon as you provide a great overview of the park.

 

And BTW, there is one CiCi's in WI, it opened in West Allis in 2010 near the Milwaukee County Zoo. I went to one in Florida, and they are great restaurants. http://cicispizzawestallis.com/

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Great Trip Report. I love CiCi's as well. Hope you liked the Mac N' Cheese Pizza.