Six Flags Great America
| Previously known as Marriott's Great America (1976 to 1984) | |
| File:Six Flags Great America Gurnee,IL.jpg Sign at the entrance of Six Flags Great America | |
| Location |  U.S.A. |
|---|---|
| Opened | May 29, 1976 |
| Owner | Six Flags, Inc. |
| General manager | Hank Salemi |
| Operating season | Late April through October |
| Area | 300 acres |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 48 |
| Roller coasters | 12 |
| Water rides | 4 |
| Website | SixFlags.com |
Six Flags Great America is a large U.S. theme park located in Gurnee, Illinois, which opened in 1976 as Marriott’s Great America. Six Flags, Inc purchased the park from the Marriott Corporation in 1984 making it the seventh park in the chain. Today, the park boasts eight themed sections, a 13-acre water park, two specially themed children’s areas, and various other forms of entertainment. Six Flags Great America is now closed until April 2007.
Overview
Located 37 miles from Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Six Flags Great America caters to a large regional population allowing it to attract between 2.5 and 3 million guests a year. Peak visitation usually occurs during the months of July and August, while October weekends also draw large crowds for the park's annual Fright Fest.
Great America employs over 3,000 workers each year 1, which consists significantly of seasonal labor. The majority of its seasonal workforce is made up of high school and college students since most students are out of school during the peak operating season. The park also employs large amounts of international employees from various countries around the world.
Marriott Era
Marriott Corporation began construction on the park in 1974 and opened on May 29, 1976, as "Marriott's Great America". The park was an immediate success due in part to its Americana themes and grand opening during the American Bicentennial. It originally consisted of six themed areas: Carousel Plaza, the first section beyond the main gates; small-town-themed Hometown Square; County Fair with its Turn of the Century rural fair theme; Yankee Harbor, inspired by a 19th Century New England port; Yukon Territory, resembling a Canadian/Alaskan logging camp; and the French Quarter-modeled Orleans Place. A seventh area, The Great Southwest, was planned but was not built until 1996, when it opened as Southwest Territory.
Each themed area had its own costumes, and the buildings, shops, and restaurants were also all unique to each theme. For example, the Klondike Cafe in Yukon Territory served beef dishes in large pans like those used for panning for gold.
Customers were referred to as "guests." Staff members had a strict code of personal appearance and upkeep of the required costume, as well as the trademark sendoff of all ride operators: "Thank you for riding, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your day here at Marriott's Great America."
Rides & Attractions
Originally the park included three roller coasters: Willard's Whizzer, the Turn of the Century, and the Gulf Coaster, with the Tidal Wave being added two years later. The Gulf Coaster lasted only one season, due to a small fire and its unpopularity. The park's other signature attractions were the elaborate double-decker Columbia Carousel; the Sky Whirl, a 110-foot-tall "triple ferris wheel" custom designed for Marriott and visible from the adjacent Tri-State Tollway as well as from miles away; and the two one-way gondola sky car rides, Delta Flyer and Eagle's Flight. Eagle's Flight was a very commercially successful ride and was considered a top 10 ride by Roller Coaster Weekly magazine.[verification needed]
An original 1976 Marriott's Great America ride, the Orleans Orbit, still spins today in Gurnee. While resembling a Ferris wheel, it delivers a far different ride experience. The entire wheel rests flat, just above ground level, to allow simultaneous loading and unloading of all passenger cabins. Once riders are locked in, the wheel begins to rotate. The spinning wheel picks up speed and is lifted on an arm to a nearly vertical position, sending riders upside-down as they go over the highest point. "Enterprise" is the common industry name for such a ride.
Originally installed in Orleans Place, the ride has since been relocated to Hometown Square, occupying the former home of the Bottoms Up ride. It made way for White Water Rampage, now known as Roaring Rapids. The Orleans Orbit is now known simply as The Orbit.
1977 saw the installation of several new rides. The 315-foot-tall Sky Trek Tower opened in Carousel Plaza, while a few new spinning rides were added such as Big Top, Davy Jones' Dinghies, and Hay Baler. The Southern Cross, a third gondola skyride--much taller and round-trip--also made its debut in 1977, with its station located where the Gulf Coaster stood. The park's first kids section, dubbed Fort Fun, opened in Yukon Territory, which caused the Saskatchewan Scrambler to be relocated to Hometown Square and renamed Hometown Fun Machine.
The Tidal Wave, Great America's first new roller coaster, was added in 1978.
The Pictorium, an IMAX theatre, opened in 1979 and claimed to have the world's largest screen, at 64.5 x 88.25 feet (19.6 x 26.9 meters).
The Turn of the Century roller coaster closed and took on a new look in 1980. Two loops were added, along with three tunnels, and the "new" ride was re-themed and renamed the Demon.
In the summer of 1980, the park broke ground for a massive new wooden roller coaster that would come to be known as The American Eagle. This racing roller coaster stands at 127 feet (38 m) tall and reaches speeds of 66 mph (105 km/h). The bottom of the first drop is built 20 feet below ground level bringing the height of the first drop to just over 147 feet. The Eagle debuted in 1981 as the world's tallest and fastest racing wooden roller coaster and still holds that title to this day. The Southern Cross skyride was removed in 1980.
No new rides were added in 1982. In fact, several were removed. In 1983, The Edge, an Intamin AG first-generation freefall ride, was added. Bottoms Up and Traffique Jam were removed at the end of the season in 1983.
Marriott's final ride added to the park was White Water Rampage, an Intamin rapids ride. This ride took over the spot occupied by several rides, including the Davy Jones' Dinghies, Le Bump (a children's bumper car ride), Traffique Jam, and the original Orleans Orbit (although it would re-open the next season in the Hometown Square area simply as The Orbit). Forever known by Six Flags enthusiasts as the "Final Ride of The Crow", Roaring Rapids remains one of the park's premiere attractions.
Bally's Six Flags Era
Marriott sold the park to Six Flags, then owned by Bally Manufacturing, in 1984. Thus the "Bally's Six Flags Great America" era began. It started darkly when a software failure caused the car for the Edge to be stalled at the top of the lift shaft before moving forward into its drop position. The car was stuck in this position for a short period of time before the car dropped back down the lift shaft, causing serious injuries to all three occupants. Despite many attempts to reopen the Edge with installation of anti-rollback devices by Intamin, the ride was never able to escape the stigma of its 1984 accident. The ride was removed in 1986 and sold to Rocky Point Amusement Park before reaching its current location at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (now under new ownership and known as Geauga Lake) as Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall. The ride was dismantled and scrapped over the offseason in 2005.
In 1985, Six Flags added Z Force, a one-of-a-kind Intamin space diver roller coaster followed by Splash Water Falls in 1986 in the County Fair area.
The Power Dive was added in 1987 to take over the spot where the Edge stood. Power Dive was an Intamin Looping Starship ride; it swung back and forth before eventually rotating a complete 360 degrees a few times. Z Force was relocated to Six Flags Over Georgia as part of Six Flags' (now discontinued) Ride Rotation Program. At the end of 1989, the ride went to Six Flags Magic Mountain where it stands (and rusts) to this day.
Wesray Six Flags Era
Many programs and quick acquisitions attempted in the mid-80s were a failure and Bally looked to sell the company. In 1987 the company was purchased by Wesray Capital and a group of Six Flags managers. Several acquisitions were re-sold or closed while a focus was returned to attractions. This ushered in an era of new major attractions at the park and a transformation of focus from the park's themes to its roller coasters.
Most of the original themed staff costumes began to be retired at this point in favor of more modern unisex garments more akin to uniforms -- basic short sleeve shirts with slacks or walking shorts during the warmer months. Some of the costumes survived longer than others with the Yankee Harbor striped crew shirts and clamdiggers pants being retired last. Also the restaurants became more aligned and offered basic fast food cuisine and lost the dishes that were unique to individual themed areas. While a few specialty restaurants survived, almost all were abandoned in favor of cheaper mass-produced food items. Similarly, merchandise throughout the park became homogenized at this point as well.
1988 saw the first of the new coasters with the addition of the massive roller coaster Shockwave, an Arrow Dynamics mega-looper, added to the Orleans Place section of the park on June 3, 1988. Shockwave was the park's tallest roller coaster and featured seven inversions. White Water Rampage was renamed Roaring Rapids.
Rolling Thunder, an Intamin bobsled coaster, was added for 1989 after having been relocated from Six Flags Great Adventure (where it operated as Sarajevo Bobsled from 1984 to 1988). It was built between the Demon and the Whizzer. Rolling Thunder was taken down prior to building Southwest Territory. The ride was stored in the back parking lot (between The American Eagle and Washington Street) from 1996 to 1997 before being relocated to The Great Escape in New York now operating at the Alpine Bobsled.
Iron Wolf opened April 28, 1990, and was Bolliger & Mabillard's first-ever roller coaster. Iron Wolf was a very compact steel stand-up roller coaster that took over Z-Force's spot in County Fair.
The Condor took to the skies in 1991 in Orleans Place next to Shockwave. The IMAX screen was upgraded to allow 650 people to view 3D movies. People said goodbye to their beloved Tidal Wave at the end of the season. Tidal Wave currently operates as Greezed Lightnin' at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky.
Time-Warner Six Flags Era
The major attractions did not come without their cost, and by 1991 Six Flags was close to bankruptcy. Time-Warner, a major influence at Great America since the beginning with the featuring of Looney Tunes characters, and a minority owner in the company, purchased an additional share of the company for a controlling interest of 50 percent. With the purchase came additional prominence of Time-Warner properties.
The first of these was the historic ride built in 1992 -- Batman the Ride, a first-of-its-kind B&M inverted roller coaster to replace Tidal Wave. Batman was unlike any other roller coaster. It was a very tightly squeezed ride but was so popular that lines stretched past East River Crawler (formerly The Lobster, the new name in accordance with a re-theming of the area around Batman), through the bridge to Yankee Harbor and all the way to the bridge near Power Dive (across from Shockwave).
On June 20, 2005, Batman was awarded landmark status by the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) at their annual convention, Coaster Con XXVIII.
The Batman Stunt Show opened in 1993.
Space Shuttle America, a motion simulator ride was built in 1994 near the Sky Trek Tower. "Shuttle" re-created the inter-planetary escapade provided via "Space Shuttle America". Since its introduction, Space Shuttle America has been home to four different films. "Space Shuttle America," "Escape from Dino Island 2- 3:D," "Stargate- SG:3000," and "Superstition," during the yearly Fright Fest Event. The original Space Shuttle America film returned for the 2006 season.
In 1995, Viper, a wooden roller coaster based on the Coney Island Cyclone, was built next to Rolling Thunder, which was removed later that year.
In September of 1995, Rolling Thunder was removed to make way for the new theme area "Southwest Territory." The new western-themed area was originally proposed in 1976 but took nearly twenty years to resurface. Three new rides were added (River Rocker, Chubasco, and TrailBlazer) while Big Top was moved in from County Fair and renamed Ricochet. It opened for 1996. The Rolling Thunder Roller Coaster currently operates at Six Flags Great Escape in New York as Alpine Bobsled. Viper's entrance was moved from Hometown Square to Southwest Territory. Also in this year, the Batman Stunt Show was replaced with a stunt show following the Southwest theme.
Premier Parks Six Flags Era
Time-Warner sold its stake in Six Flags in 1995, and in 1998 Premier Parks had its IPO and became the parent company of Six Flags. Premier Parks opts to follow the trend set by Bally's and begins acquiring more properties.
The Giant Drop, an Intamin second-generation drop tower, and Dare Devil Dive, a skycoaster, were added in 1997. The Giant Drop was located on the west side of Southwest Territory and Dare Devil was added in the Big Top's former location in County Fair. In August of 1997, a hitch bar connecting the third and fourth cars on the blue side of the American Eagle rollercoaster separated as the ride was braking, causing the rear two cars to slam into the front three cars. Several people were injured and sent to local area hospitals. The ride re-opened in time for Fright Fest.
1998 was a big year for the little thrill-seekers in training. Yukon Territory welcomed the brand new Camp Cartoon Network. This area welcomed the addition of 5 new rides including Spacely's Sproket Rocket(Vekoma Roller Skater, along with Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine, Yogi's Yahoo River, Rocky Road's Rescue Service, and Bedrock Boulder Roller. Bug's Bunny Land was re-named Looney Tunes National Park and included various rides and attractions for the little ones. This included the Looney Tooter Choo Choo Train, the Waddaview Charter, Porky's Buzzy Beez, Petunia's Lady Bugz, Looney Toons Lodge Foam Ball Factory, Pepe Lapew's Peak, and the Nature Trail. An accident occurred on the Demon, stranding 23 passengers upside-down on the black train for nearly three hours.
1999 saw the rise of the Raging Bull, a B&M hyper-twister roller coaster. This 202 foot high, 73 mph, and 5,057 foot long monster immediately changed the Great America skyline forever.
Great America celebrated its Silver Season (25th Anniversary) in 2000. This was the last year for the much-loved Sky Whirl as well as the Hay Baler ride. An accident involving a guest occurred on the Cajun Cliffhanger ride, which caused its removal.
In 2001, Great America added two new roller coasters. First was an Intamin impulse coaster named Vertical Velocity. Riders are launched at speeds over 55 mph (88 km/h) up a twisted vertical tower then fall backwards and climb up another straight tower. The ride repeats, but on the second time up the back tower, riders are held facing straight down for a moment before being released. The park's second ride for 2001 was Déjà Vu, a Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang ride to replace Sky Whirl and Hay Baler. On Déjà Vu, the riders are pulled backwards up a vertical tower and are dropped into a cobra roll inversion, followed by a loop over the station and up another vertical tower. The ride then repeats it, only backwards. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the ride debuted on October 7, 2001.
2002 was a quiet year for the park. The highlight was the announcement that the American Eagle would once again run the blue side, backwards. The configuration of Forwards Red and Backwards Blue would stay put until the end of the 2005 season. The parks original Imax film "To Fly" was once again shown in the Pictorium. Also, among major additions to the entertainment department included brand new parade floats. Power Dive was removed due to maintenance problems and the roller coaster ShockWave was removed in October for a new attraction.
Superman: Ultimate Flight took to the skies in 2003 in ShockWave's place and was the Midwest's first flying roller coaster. However, it was a clone of a similar Superman ride at Six Flags Over Georgia, which did not satisfy some roller coaster enthusiasts. Thankfully, the parking lot that Shockwave stood on was out and actual landscaping grased Superman's grounds. The historic Ameri-Go-Round was removed at the end of the season.
The area where the Power Dive and Cajun Cliffhanger stood was transformed into Mardi Gras for 2004. A wild-mouse roller coaster Ragin' Cajun was added along with a HUSS Top-Spin named King Chaos; Zamperla Rockin' Tug named Jester's Wild Ride; and a Zamperla Balloon Race named Big Easy Balloons. Also, a HUSS Frisbee named Revolution was taken from Six Flags Great Adventure and opened in County Fair, replacing Ameri-Go-Round.
After sitting (and rusting) on a hill unused since 2002, ShockWave was scrapped at the end of the 2004 season.
In 2005, Six Flags Great America got its own Hurricane Harbor waterpark. The massive waterpark features several water slides, a large wave pool, a lazy river and an interactive play area. The new waterpark was a huge success and boosted attendance by 24% in 2005.
Six Flags Great America announced the addition of a ProSlide Tornado water slide in Hurricane Harbor for the 2006 season. Great America celebrated its 30th season on May 29, 2006.
Shapiro Era
The Six Flags chain was sold to Daniel Snyder in 2005, who appointed former ESPN employee Mark Shapiro as CEO of Six Flags. Shapiro began to change the parks to make them a more family friendly environment. These changes were very visable in the 2006 season.
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The classic Triple Play ride was dismantled prior to the start of the season because Six Flags over Texas needed a part from Triple Play for their ride; both rides are HUSS Troika rides. In October 2006, at a Season Pass Focus Group meeting, it was confirmed that Triple Play will return for 2007.
The film Space Shuttle America returned in 2006. The previous film, Stargate SG3000 had it's last showings in September of 2005, when the contract with MGM expired. Superstition returned for Fright Fest 2005, followed by Space Shuttle America in Spring 2006. With Shapiro talking about a 4-D film, mentioned in his visit to the park in early 2006, this could be an attraction to watch in the future.
In June 2006, the Tony Hawk BoomBoom Huckjam skateboard tour came to Great America for two days. It was a very popular event and is likely to return in the 2007 season.
On September 14, 2006, Six Flags announced it would replace its sign that sits along I-94. The sign, which had been standing since the park opened in 1976, will be replaced with a modernized sign which will feature a large LCD Screen.
Revolution sat dormant for most of the season. It reopened on October 20th after being down the whole season.
In November, 2006, Six Flags announced a new stunt show for 2007 "Operation SpyGirl" a new original live action adventure show.
The Flash Pass
The Flash Pass, named appropriately after the Justice League character, is a way for guests to skip lines for four of the park's most popular rides for an additional fee. You get a card which you can use at four of any of the following rides: Superman Ultimate Flight, Roaring Rapids, Batman The Ride, Vertical Velocity, Loggers Run, Iron Wolf, Whizzer, Raging Bull, and Giant Drop. The Flash Pass sales center is in Hometown Square, across from the Whizzer and next to the Grand Music Hall. Maximum 1,000 are sold on each operating day.
- Note: Other Six Flags parks use The Flash Pass with a "q-bot" reservation system, Great America does not use this system.
Line management was introduced at Great America in 2000 called "FastLane" where it was a punch card, then switched off from punch card to rip-tickets. For better management of the standby and Flash Pass lines, the system was made electronic for 2006. The name was changed from "FastLane" to "The Flash Pass" for 2006 when CEO Mark Shapiro introduced the Justice League to Six Flags entertainment.
Fright Fest
Halloween arrives early at Six Flags Great America, where some of the scariest ghosts and ghouls come to spook guests at the park’s annual Fright Fest. This seasonal extravaganza, the largest and most diverse of its kind in the Midwest, creeps into town on weekends during the month of October.
To celebrate the event, many sections are transformed into "scare zones". These include Necropolis(formerly the Picnic Grove), Seven Sins Cemetary(formerly Orleans Place) and Area 51(formerly Hometown Square). Other "monsters" roam Mardi Gras, Yankee Harbor, the Orbit area, and the Southwest Territory.
Many rides also operate under frightful conditions. Among these include the Demon with old-school theming, Rue Le Morque(Formerly Rue Le Dodge), the Monster Mash(formerly East River Crawler), Fiddler's Flung(Formerly Fiddler's Fling), Holdup Express(Formerly Scenic Railway), Dead End Drive(Formerly Great America Raceway), Terror Twister(Formerly Chubasco), Snakes on a Train(Formerly Viper), and Superstition(Formerly Space Shuttle America).
The park also offers two haunted house. The Mausoleum of Terror and The Curse.
Designated Smoking Areas
After 45 years, Six Flags has stopped smoking! To make the family environment of the park more comfortable, Six Flags Great America does not allow smoking in the park except for designated areas.
Designated smoking areas are located in Hometown Square next to Triple Play, in Southwest Territory next to the Crazy Buffalo Saloon, in County Fair next to Pizza Luigi, Stickey Fingers and near Splashwater Falls, in Yukon Territory behind Claimjumpers Beef House and near the Mooseburger Lodge patio, in Yankee Harbor near the Batman restrooms, in Mardi Gras outside of the Bayou Grill, and in Orleans Place next to Bourbon Street Cafe. Hurricane Harbors designated smoking areas are near Saltwater Sals and the Treasure Chest.
Crowds
Six Flags Great America is the only major theme park in the Chicago area, which results in large crowds during the summer and during Fright Fest. In 2005, Great America had over 3 million guests. Even though Great America is one of the best parks in the industry with operations, these days can still result in long lines.
The park opened the last weekend in April for 2006. The park usually opens either in the last weekend of April or the first weekend of May. The first few weekends in which the park is open are usually are far less crowded than the weekends during the summer.
Hurricane Harbor usually has a very long entry line on summer days. As the park becomes populated, guests are allowed in until the park reaches 9,000 guests, at which point entry is denied. After waiting to get into the park, guests still have to wait in very long lines for attractions.
In the summer months, weekdays are usually less crowded than weekends, which get very crowded. The most crowded days are Saturdays and Sundays during Fright Fest. The park can get up to 49,000 guests on these days.
Related parks
Marriott also opened a sister park in 1976 in Santa Clara,California with nearly identical attractions and layout. The Santa Clara park is now known as Paramount's Great America. A third park was intended to be opened in Virginia, but numerous problems were encountered with building the park and getting the correct permits, so it never advanced past deep planning stages.
Logos
The park has used several logos over the years.
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The Original Marriott's GREAT AMERICA logo. Used from the park's opening in 1976 until 1985 when Six Flags bought the park.
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The Circle-Star logo was used alongside the Marriott logo. It can still be seen on the center hub of the Orbit ride.
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This logo was adopted after Six Flags purchased the park. The logo is basically unchanged except for replacing Marriott's with Six Flags. It was used from 1985 until 1991 when Time Warner purchased the Six Flags chain.
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This logo was adopted in 1991 and used until the park received its current logo. This logo can still be seen in several locations within the park, such as on the sign on I-94 (which will be replaced in 2006)
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The current logo was adopted in 2001.
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Used in 2006 to celebrate the company's 45th Anniversary. The next logo will be this same one with Bugs Bunny running but the 45th Anniversary banner will be gone.
External links
- Official sites
- SixFlags.com Official Six Flags Website
- Unofficial sites
 | This October 2006's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. |
- SFGAm News Fan Site
- SFGAm World Fan Site
- SFGAm Zone Fan Forum
- Great America Parks Unofficial History Site
- Satellite view of the park
- Six Flags Great America Pictures
- Entry at rcdb.com showing all coasters past and present