Great America

They have flyers though! And palm trees, so it's not all bad.

Flight Deck is short, but packs a punch with the best of the old school B&M's. I still enjoy Demon myself, and I was very surprised they still have a skyride (at least when I was there in 2007), long after the other California parks got rid of theirs.

Vater said:
I rode what used to be Stealth last year. I've never been to PGA, but I'd like to think that the removal of that coaster would make a park ascend to mediocrity, or possibly greatness.

Indeed. I've had the (mis)fortunate to ride all the Vekoma flyers to date in all their locations. It's less than a mystery to me why more parks are not in line to purchase them :)

I actually don't mind the Vekoma flyer ride experience at all (having ridden all of them in all locations except Firehawk). It's the capacity, reliability and all the other nonsense that makes them big losers.

The sad thing about Great America is it was one of the first major stateside parks that I went to and I remember loving Tidal Wave, Top Gun, Invertigo, and Vortex. We had a blast on them. Why is that sad? Because that was in 98 over 10 years ago and there hasn't been a huge change in the lineup since.

ApolloAndy said:
I actually don't mind the Vekoma flyer ride experience at all (having ridden all of them in all locations except Firehawk). It's the capacity, reliability and all the other nonsense that makes them big losers.

You're not missing much with XFireHawkFlight. Compared to a B&M flyer its a joke. I find it hard to ride only because my legs always feel like they are going to fall out, the helix at the end kills me and when I get flipped over on my back at the main brake run I feel like Im going to hurl.
I willl say however it IS nice to see the long lines for Firehawk at least it is getting some loving since it's move. As for the OSU paint job..that's something else.

Looking forward to riding Tatsu again next week..now THATS a flyer! :)

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2175 :)

Long lines don't necessarily mean popularity. It could just be terrible operations.

That's what I thought when I read it, Andy.

However I do find it nice that the ride is getting riders.

I lived in the bay area about ten years ago. Eventually went to PGA with some friends who grew up in the area. We all found the park to be dull and those that grew up with it were frustrated and a bit angry by how boring it had become. SFDK and SCBB are much more entertaining choices then CGA.

Man, when they had the great period music playing, Imax theater running, Whizzer, train, trolly, Tiday Wave, Demon effects, Yankee Clipper, Lobster, and Journey playing the Redwood Amphitheatre, it was the BOMB! :)

And the Giant three arm ferris wheel!

janfrederick said:
Man, when they had the great period music playing, Imax theater running, Whizzer, train, trolly, Tiday Wave, Demon effects, Yankee Clipper, Lobster, and Journey playing the Redwood Amphitheatre, it was the BOMB! :)

It's nice that the Chicago Great America still has most of that.
Imax(still open but not an Imax theatre anymore.)
Whizzer
Train
Trolly during parade and special events
Demon effects
Yankee Clipper
Lobster (now East River Crawler).

Glad the Gurnee park has kept alot of the original stuff intact. Brings back the Marriott memories.