Six Flags Great America
Gurnee, IL 60031
Phone: (847) 249-1776
- Cross Street:
- Six Flags Drive
- Directions:
- Take I-94 or I-294 West. Exit Grand Avenue (Rt 132) East in Gurnee, IL
- Hours:
- Summer: Daily 10am-10pm
Editorial Review for Six Flags Great America – by Elisa Kronish
The Appeal
Great America is a sprawling 110-acre park with themed areas of adventure, thrill rides, live shows and video and arcade games. The main events are the rides--over 40 in all. General-admission tickets include everything except food, drinks, merchandise, special attractions and carnival games.
Facts and Features
Best bets are Superman: Ultimate Flight, Raging Bull, American Eagle, King Chaos, Ragin' Cajun and Giant Drop. For state-of-the-art stomach dropping, get in line for two favorite rides: Vertical Velocity is a suspended spiral coaster on which riders rocket up two vertical towers at speeds around 70 mph in less than four seconds--and then back down. The Deja Vu coaster is the world's tallest and fastest of its kind. Strapped into ski lift-style chairs suspended from above, riders launch straight up backward, then plummet down head-over-heels over the outside of a vertical loop and giant boomerang turn.
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Insider Tips
Save TimeTo combat lines, head immediately to the County Fair area or to the back of the park--most people start with rides near the entrance.
The ExtrasYounger visitors may enjoy the Bugs Bunny National Park and the Camp Cartoon Network, located on four acres with rides and games for children.
User Reviews for Six Flags Great America
07/10/2008 Posted by usedsteamer
We stayed at Key Lime Cover Water Park across the street and bought tickets to Great America on line for $40.00 (guests of Key Lime Cove can get them for $35.00). We took the shuttle over so we didn't pay the $15.00 parking fee. First thing we went to was the go karts. Could not believe that it costs extra! $7.00 for a single car and $9.00 for two in one car. We told the kids no. Happiness has begun. We then went on the ride that brings you up in the air and you can see the entire park. I was reading the park map and found that to go to Hurricane Harbor and use any ride that includes a "tube" you have to pay extra! I asked the ride operator how much the charge was and she conveniently didn't know. Found out that it was $9.00 for a single tube and $17 for a double! We told the kids since we spent the money to stay at a waterpark we were not going to pay more money....happiness continues. Asked my husband to go put our suits in a locker so we weren't carrying them all day. I was mad when I found out the "small" locker was $9.00! That's outrageous! Now we are all happy! I have back and neck problems so I planned on riding the park benches while the kids enjoyed their day. Problem is they don't take the "gouge" money and spend it on benches! The other ride that costs extra is the one that drops you 150 feet. I understand and accept the fact of a high ticket price given the costs of labor, electricity, gas and so on, but I truly resent being taken advantage of. Don't nickle and dime customers after you trap them in the front door. Charging extra for rides is not acceptable. Charging extra for the tubes to be used at the "included" water park is a disgrace. Not providing park benches for those that can't ride the rides due to health, pregnancy or age is unbelievable. Then the biggest insult is the "Flash Pass". If we had gotten them it w/h cost us $140.00 for our family of 4. We didn't and come to find out they are only good on 8!
Pros: many rollercoasters to choose from
Cons: hidden costs for an "inclusive park"
10/22/2007 Posted by luna47
My boyfriend and I went to Great America for Fright Fest on Saturday, 10/20/2007 from 4PM to 10PM. At 5PM and 6:30PM, we walked around the entire park looking for the shortest food line and found that they were all extremely long. We figured the lines must move reasonably fast even though they were long. Several food stands and restaurants were completely closed, despite it being one of the busiest days of the year for the park. We figured the folks behind the counter must be doing the best they could to keep the line moving, so we waited patiently.. For OVER AN HOUR EACH TIME! When we got to the front of the line, we saw that they were completely and totally taking their sweet time, despite a LONG line of hungry, overcharged, tired people waiting in line. I'm fine with waiting a while if the folks behind the counter are doing the best they can, but they were reeeeeeeally taking their time and moving verrrrrrrrry slowly. No sense of urgency whatsoever. None. And the few managers we saw were clearly not telling their employees to pick up the pace. When we were hungry the second time, we thought we got lucky finding a food booth out of the way by the kids land and there was just one lonely nearly elderly woman behind the counter. However, it turned out the line was on the other side of the stand with about 40 people waiting in it. Why would they have ONE person (moving slowly, might I add) working a LARGE food booth? I think that management really just does not care. If they did, they would at least have managers advising employees to move a little quicker. Granted, it was an extremely crowded day, but it looked like they anticipated an extremely slow day, not even an average day. Whoever's job it is to manage these things is either surfing the web all day instead of planning or they are doing it on purpose for some reason, like to keep the lines for rides a little shorter because people are waiting hours just for a water or some food! NOT cool!
Pros: Great atmosphere for Fright Fest!!! Great rides!
Cons: Absolutely the worst food service EVER
