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Cold, Rainy and Foggy day, but a great day to be at Six Flags Great America
I got to the park at around 9:10 and found only about 2 cars in the parking lot. After parking we went to the entrance and waited until 9:30 when they began to let us in the park. At this time there were only about 10 people waiting to get in the park, so I knew the park wasn’t going to be that crowded. While waiting for the chain under the bridge to be opened up at 10:00 I met a fellow enthusiast and he ended up riding with us the rest of the day. At 10:00 they opened the chains and there were only about 50 people waiting on our side to get in the park at this time.
When the chain dropped I ran to Raging Bull, there really wasn’t that many people to beat to the ride so after I got into Southwest Territory I was able to walk and still be the first one in line. I got the front row and had a awesome ride, the front and back (which I usually ride in) give almost 2 different rides. Any hill you don’t get airtime in the back on you get it in the front which is cool. The ride felt like it was running very fast and as always very smooth. We ended up going on Raging Bull twice in the morning but that was just a preview of things to come later in the day.
After Bull we went to Giant Drop which was walk on, we had the option of staying on but choose not to, deciding to get to the rest of the park before it got crowded. So after Giant Drop we decided to head over to ride Eagle Backwards. On our way over there we got to see Deja 2 volleyed. I say Deja 2 because it seems they have added a second train, j/k. Actually the train was in 2 parts they had half of the train still in between the loop and the cobra roll while the rest was in between the loop and the tower.
When we got to American Eagle we found out that only Red was running at the time, so we rode American Eagle red. Wood Coasters are great when they are wet and this is no exception. They had the trims on light and we had an awesome ride. When we arrived back in the station from Eagle Red, Eagle Backwards was open. So we went all they way around and got in line for it. It turned out being about a 10min. Line while they put the second car on the track and it ended up being the longest line we would wait in all day! We rode Eagle Backwards, I love this ride backwards and am really happy they are keeping it this way the rest of the year. The end of the helix really surprised me going Backwards and it was great to have that come out of nowhere.
Next we went to Iron Wolf we rode 2nd row and this has too be the roughest coaster at Great America, the turn after the Corkscrew really slams you into your harness. So one ride on it was enough for that time of the day and it was onto Vertical Velocity next.
So far every ride we rode was walk on and we were scared that we might see Vertical Velocity with a line, however that would not be the case. The line was in the station. The first ride I rode in the back car and it is a great feeling getting launched up that back spike wondering when your going to stop. Very awesome ride so I decided to ride it again in the Front. We rode in row 2 and after both those rides I think the best ride on this ride is the back row, you can really feel the launch on the back spike and that’s what is great about this ride.
Next we went on Batman The Ride, we rode in back row and had a good ride so we decided to ride it again but in front. After a 2 train wait for Front I had one of my most intense rides on Batman too date. It had started to rain a little harder than the light mist we had so far that day. And riding in front it felt like hitting your face. I could barely keep my eyes open. So after that we decided enough of Batman and lets check out Shockwave.
Shockwaves experience was even worse, from the first drop to the midcourse brakes we were pelted hard with raindrops. We decided to see how long we could last on the ride so we ended up going 3 times before our faces were num. After Shockwave we decided to go to Viper.
On our way to Viper we saw Rue Le Dodge so we went in there, these Bumper Cars are so slow. But it was still fun. After Rue Le Dodge we headed to Viper and it was walk on like all the other rides. We rode Viper 7 times without getting off, we had to change seats a few times but other than that we never left the train. This ride is a airtime machine! The hill after the double down is the best airtime hill on the ride I think if you ride in car 2:1. I was out of my seat from the bottom of the hill to the bottom of the hill on the other side pretty much. After 7 rides on that we started getting hungry so we decided to ride Bull 2 more time and then we went on Demon.
While I was riding Demon we saw Orbit testing, I had seen it testing in the morning too. Im guessing it is awaiting inspection from the state because it was running fine. After a ride on the Demon, we saw Whizzer back open since it was closed when we went by it on our way to Viper. So after a ride on Whizzer we went to my car and ate lunch.
After Lunch I we came back in the park and felt cold since we were in the nice heated car so we decided to do some indoor things. I went and checked on Space Shuttle America. This ride is still as bad as it was the first time. I think they should have left Dino Island II 3d in there, it was much better or got a whole new 3d film. Next we went on Sky Trek Tower and looked at the park and I looked at the spot I noticed on opening day between Viper, Whizzer and the Imax and there is defiantly enough room for pretty much any type of coaster there.
After that we decided to go the opposite way around the park that we did in the morning. We rode the following rides in this order with no waits. Rue De Lodge, Batman, Whirlgig, Vertical Velocity 2 times, Spacleys Sprocket Rockets, Iron Wolf, American Eagle Red 3 times, American Eagle Backwards, Great America Raceway, Demon, TrailBlazer and Chubasco.
After Chubasco we were a little dizzy and still had about 2 hours left so we decided to marathon Raging Bull. We rode 16 times without getting off the train, we kept switching seats every time someone was in our gate though. It was pretty funny because the one time the whole train was full and they didn’t even open the gates yet! Then they finally made everyone get off and they started running the red train (which I was on) empty the rest of the night. We rode it 1 more time on the yellow train in the back car and then decided to finish of the night on Viper. We got 9 more rides on Viper until the park closed and they made us get off. We had a big “one more time” chant going as we came back into the station and the ride op stalled like he was going to give it to us. But then said “Thank you for riding the last Viper ride of the night” Awesome Ride at Great America after getting 68 rides in one day, it was one of my greatest days ever at Six Flags Great America. The weather was pretty good compared to what the forecast said it would be. It was a light mist almost the whole day, and foggy. If anybody was there I was wearing a black Nike T-shirt if anybody saw me.
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Top 5 Coasters
1.Deja Vu(SFGAm) 2.Raging Bull(SFGAm) 3.Millennium Force(CP)
4.CornBall Express(IB)
5.Viper(SFGAm)
Wow, it sounds like you had a GREAT day. I've been going to Great America for the past 20 years and I've never had a park as empty as you described.
Kyle
Mothers day + crappy weather = ONE EMPTY PARK.
Its not surprising the park was empty. Wanted to go but mom would not have been happy with me. :)
I hope this Thursday is just as dead. First day of daily operation. Playing hooky from work to go. :)
Nice TR coasterdude316. That is heaven on earth to have a park that empty on a weekend.
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""To be the man, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!, You got to beat the man""!!!
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Top 5 Coasters
1.Deja Vu(SFGAm) 2.Raging Bull(SFGAm) 3.Millennium Force(CP)
4.CornBall Express(IB)
5.Viper(SFGAm)
*** This post was edited by CoasterDude316 on 5/13/2002. ***
Sounds like a great day! I love it when it rains like that because the park is so empty. If I go with family or friends, we always seem to pray for a rainy misty gray day. This way we know that we will be riding alot. Glad to hear you had a great one!!
Cedar Point 1- You should have relatively light crowds unless it is a high school physics day. Everyone is still working and most of the high schools in the Chicagoland area are still in session. So enjoy!!
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X Looks Awesome! Oh Yea!!
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Top 5 Coasters
1.Deja Vu(SFGAm) 2.Raging Bull(SFGAm) 3.Millennium Force(CP)
4.CornBall Express(IB)
5.Viper(SFGAm)
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