Six Flags: Great America (10/11/2025)

Preamble:

I’ve never been to a Six Flags park. Despite being a coaster enthusiast for decades, I was slow to visit a single park in the chain, mostly due to how negatively the coaster community has reviewed the experience, particularly when compared to parks owned by Cedar Fair and Herschend. Still, there were Six Flags parks that were often praised and there were coasters I’ve always dreamed of riding (I’m looking at you, Viper at Magic Mountain). No longer feeling the need to stay loyal to Cedar Fair, I decided to use the All Park Passport to visit my first Six Flags park and who better to join me than my good friend and fellow Coasterbuzzer, TylerWS, another enthusiast who has been my co-conspirator in quite a few trips this year. Originally, we were supposed to venture out to SFMM, but work and cost were a factor, so Tyler suggested Great America instead.

Great America is always a park I forget about. Maybe because we tend to focus on the other “Great” Six Flags park. SFGA offers a similarly impressive coaster lineup full of surprises. I’ve visited its long-lost sibling park in California after the two were adopted by different parents, so I was excited to see how SFGA grew up over the years under a different chain. Tyler and I left Ohio around 3 p.m. on Friday and visited the park Saturday.

The Park:

I finally understand the criticism behind the shoddy theming at Six Flags, though I didn’t get it until later in the day. The park has themed areas where the buildings and decor match the section’s name. But then you have rides that absolutely don’t fit the theming of the area they’re located in. What the hell are Superman and Batman doing in Orleans Place? How does the theming of X-Flight go with County Fair? Everything felt slapdash. The park renamed a few of their rides for Fright Fest, and some of the signs didn’t cover the original ones.

Even still, I thought it was a beautiful park that was well maintained. I never noticed trash on the ground, and the bathrooms were clean. The park layout is my favorite kind: a circle. It means you can pick a direction and eventually see everything there is to see (with one exception at SFGA). And the park never felt big. Walking to the front of the park never felt like a great deal of work like it does at Cedar Point.

One last thing about theming… the park (and chain) could go either way. You can absolutely see a version of SFGA with no DC theming whatsoever. From there, rides could match their area, and the focus could be on beautifying the park. Or they could lean into the DC universe and change building facades to look like Gotham or Metropolis. I understand why we have the current clash, but it would be cool to see the park go one way or another.

The Staff:

The staff experience overall was pretty good. I was confused as to how Flash Pass worked, and the guy who helped me out was really cool about explaining it. Sure, there were workers who looked like they wanted to be somewhere else, but not once did I feel like we were dealing with folks who weren’t good at their jobs. Operations were pretty decent, given the crowds. I noticed that a few of the coasters lacked seatbelts, which made loading and unloading much easier. Overall, no complaints.

Skip-the-Line:

Flash Pass works differently than any other skip-the-line pass I’ve encountered so far. The lowest tier allows you to wait in a virtual queue for the posted wait time. When that time has expired, you can get into the Flash… lane (?) and ride. The second tier cuts the wait time in half. The highest tier allows you to just jump in line. It does seem like only a certain number of people can be in line because when the park got really busy after dark, a few rides weren’t available for queuing, but only temporarily. Tyler and I got the top tier at $250, and while expensive, it was likely the only way we’d be able to ride all of the coasters in the park. I thought the crowds were heavy during the day, but it only got more packed as it got darker out. Flash Pass allowed us little to no wait on all rides it was available on.

Although we got the highest tier, I am a big fan of the three different options. The ability to wait in line for one coaster while virtually waiting in line for another is still valuable. And limiting how many people can be in the queue means never having a very long wait to ride the major coasters. I wish this tiered system could be used instead of just moving to Fast Lane. It gives pricing options for folks on a budget but who have a little money to splurge. Ah well…

The Food:

Tyler and I split an all-day meal plan, which meant we could eat every 90 minutes. We had a tasty but very spicy bowl at Chop Six that was so massive that I’m glad we split it. We visited Yukon BBQ Pit for some tasty brisket and smashed potatoes. And we ended the night at Maw & Paw’s Trail Grub for their tasty but generic chicken tenders and fries. We also snacked on soft pretzels, and Tyler got his usual Dippin’ Dots. From what I understand, the food at Six Flags has improved since the merger, and I’d say this is at the quality of every Cedar Fair park I’ve been to.

The Rides (in order):

• Maxx Force (station wait): Our guts told us to ride Maxx Force first due to low capacity, slow ops, and potential breakdowns. All of this was true. In the short time we spent queuing for the ride, the line got very long (this will be a trend). Maxx Force is a fun, punchy launch coaster. The launch is obviously the star here, and while it doesn’t feel as intense as Intamin’s hydraulic launch, it still took us by surprise. Because the ride moves so quickly, it was hard to notice the rest of the layout because by the time you blink, you’re coming to the end. I really enjoyed this one but wouldn’t want to wait more than 40 minutes to ride it.
• Viper (walk-on): This is a great step-up woodie. I joked with Tyler that we likely didn’t need any kind of restraints because there weren’t all that many forces, but damn, was it a lot of fun. Because it wasn’t as forceful, the laterals were actually quite comfortable, and that’s good because there is no banking on this one. But this is easily re-rideable.
• Raging Bull (5 min): Tyler and I agreed that this was the best coaster in the park. I realized that many of the B&M hypers I’ve ridden are all out-and-back airtime machines, and while that is fun, it becomes a bit uninteresting after a while. Raging Bull diversifies its elements and gives such a great combination of airtime, positive Gs, low-to-the-ground turns, and a few surprise elements here and there. It reminded me why I love Fury 325 over Orion. Airtime machines are fun, but I think I like hyper twisters far more.
• Giant Drop (station wait): Tyler likes drop towers, so he obviously needs therapy. But he noted that Giant Drop is a 2nd-generation Intamin drop tower, and as much as I ****ing hate these things, I do love the history of older rides. Without fully understanding why, I got in line for it. Giant Drop is a great drop tower, but it also reinforced my fear of them. Seriously, drop towers are the only rides I get nervous about riding, and getting off of this thing was a relief. Still, the sustained negative Gs are just incredible.
• Justice League: Battle for Metropolis (station wait): This was a pleasant surprise. I expected a run-of-the-mill shooting ride, but the cars actually moved side-to-side and in a spinning motion reminiscent of Spider-Man at Universal, but don’t expect that level of immersion. The graphics aren’t all that good and the screens don’t do much to immerse you like the Hogwarts ride at Universal, but the physical props look great. Our final score never displayed, but Tyler beat me…again (we are currently 2-1 for park shooter rides).
• Demon (station wait): Pretty standard Arrow with some cool theming. Loved the rock-work put in between the loops and corkscrews. The lighting effects in the tunnel were a nice touch, both on-ride and off.
• X-Flight (5 min): If you’ve seen any of my reviews, you know I am not a fan of wing coasters. Don’t get me wrong, people are valid in finding them fun, but I don’t. Still, X-Flight is a lot of fun. I think these coasters work better with a tighter layout where their elements aren’t as broad. X-Flight has some decent near-miss moments that I really enjoyed. Theming was pretty good, even if it didn’t match the area we were in.
• Superman: Ultimate Flight (station wait): And now we’ve reached the biggest disappointment of the trip. I was looking forward to riding Superman because I’ve never been a fan of Vekoma’s Flying Dutchman. I figured B&M’s model would be substantially better, but boy, was I wrong. On paper, the B&M solution makes sense. It takes their inverted model and updates it for flying. You spend almost all of your time in the flying position, which is good, right? No. Being in the flying position going up the lift hill is uncomfortable because all of your weight goes to parts of your body that shouldn’t have it. And God help you if trains are stacking because you’ll be stuck in that position until you get back to the station. Vekoma’s solution of keeping you on your back when you’re not on the main course was, in retrospect, smart. The actual course is fine except for the out-of-nowhere intensity that came with the pretzel loop. I know coaster enthusiasts LOVE intensity, but this hit so hard and so abruptly that it felt like it was meant for a different coaster. The unexpected whip was so jarring that I figured if I were to ride again, it definitely wouldn’t be in the back. Once we were done, Tyler finally told me how much he didn’t like the ride. I love the man for not spoiling it for me beforehand so I could make my own determination. But yeah, I see why there aren’t too many of these around.
• The Dark Knight Coaster (walk-on): I’m usually not a huge fan of wild mouse coasters (because I don’t love unbanked turns), but this one was pretty solid. In fact, I think these work well as indoor roller coasters, and they likely could up the theming. Definitely a fun coaster.
• Batman: The Ride (10 min): Batman was another pleasant surprise. While there isn't a ton of theming, there is far more than I expected. The lights, props, and sounds really set the mood for the 90s film series. The ride itself...awesome. It's got all the traits of early B&M...fast, snappy, but ultimately comfortable. I was shocked that there was no head-banging whatsoever and the layout was jam packed. I see why they cloned this layout so many times. It just works.
• Vertical Velocity (station wait): I’ve ridden a version of this impulse coaster at Dorney Park, and it was how I knew TT2 would be epic. The backward spike is just so much fun. We rode in the back and had a good time. The launch left something to be desired.
• Wrath of Rakshasa (walk-on): Unlike wing coasters, dive coasters have really grown on me over the years. Wrath was a great addition to the park. The drop was fun, but I really loved the layout. There’s a really fun element that seems to be similar to the demonic knot of another dive coaster at Heide Park that was my favorite part of the ride. Oddly enough, this wasn’t as shaky as some B&Ms have been recently.
• The Whizzer (walk on): I've wanted to ride a Jumbo Jet style coaster for years and this one was so good. Tyler and I initially were going to ride together (him in front since I'm bigger than him), but we weren't sure if we'd fit in a seat together (in retrospect, we could). Although not intense, this was a smooth and surprisingly dynamic coaster. I loved that this one went through the trees a bit instead of sticking to the same areas like other Jumbo Jet models. This was one coaster I wish I had ridden more than once.
• Goliath (5 min): Another massive RMC. Goliath was just so damn fun, especially the first drop and stall. It has all the trappings of an RMC coaster, but it ends way sooner than I expected… a bit too soon. Iron Gwazi leaves you wanting more, but even if that’s the only ride you get, you feel satisfied. Goliath feels like it should be a bit longer, especially given the speed at which it hits the brake run. Still, I rode this one twice and had a blast.
• American Eagle (20 min): I’ve wanted to ride this coaster for years out of pure curiosity. When you see photos of it, it just looks massive, but given that I’ve ridden a lot of twin out-and-back coasters, I figured it’d be a pretty predictable ride. I was very wrong. The airtime on this thing was incredible, especially as you approach the turnaround. Let’s talk about that turnaround because it is absolutely out of control. It’s rough in the best way possible. Unlike other “rough” woodies, this one never quite gets uncomfortable, and because the turn is consistent, you can really brace yourself comfortably as the train speeds up. I would have gladly ridden this one for a second time, but there was no Flash Pass entrance. Bummer.
• Sky Striker (10 min): When I looked at the list of rides available for Flash Pass, I was shocked to see a pendulum added. Don't get me wrong, I love the Giant Fresbees at Cedar Point and Kings Island, but those rides aren't popular enough to need to skip the line. Apparently that's very different in Chicago. Sky Striker stands about 30 feet taller than MaxAir and you feel every foot of it. At full swing, you cannot help but to scream as you come out of your seat at the apex. And the ride time just seems to go on and on, absolutely giving you your money's worth. The lights package on it was very cool too.

Overall:

Six Flags Great America had so many pleasant surprises, and I’m glad it was my first Six Flags park. Their coaster collection is quality, navigating the park was easy, and the ops were… fine. Given that it was only a six-hour drive from where I live, I can definitely see myself making a trip up there if I find myself in Chicago. Maybe next time it won’t be during Fright Fest, though.

Edit: Added Batman: The Ride and The Whizzer

When they gave you 3-D glasses the Justice League ride was pretty terrific; without the 3-D effects it's meh. (I've ridden the one at Great Adventure - I assume they're the same.)

And the pretzel loop on the B&M flyers is a killer. You are not alone in your opinion.

I wish you could have experienced the joy of Great America back in the 1980's. The themed areas made sense back then and the rides fit into that theme. Jim Wintrode was the longtime park GM and ran an exceptional operation comparable to Cedar Point at its best; these two parks were competitive in that regard since the full-timers all knew each other. Overall it sounds like a decent day at SFGA so glad you seemed to walk away with positive thoughts about the park. Of all the legacy SF parks it really has the best opportunity to get back to what it once if corporate would focus on that.