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Six Flags Great America

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File:Six Flags Great America Gurnee,IL.jpg
Six Flags Great America theme park

Six Flags Great America is a theme park in Gurnee, Illinois that features roller coasters, small rides, shows, and other attractions. The park is located between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

History

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Columbia is Great America's signature double decker carousel.

Marriott Corporation began construction on the park in 1974, and opened it in 1976 as "Marriott's Great America". It originally launched with only a few coasters, Willard's Whizzer, Turn of the Century, Tidal Wave and the Gulf Coaster. The Gulf Coaster left only a few years later in the Gurnee park due to a small fire and from being very unpopular.

1977 saw the addition of the locally well known Sky Trek Tower, a 300 foot tall observation tower made by Intamin AG. Also built was the Southern Cross skyride and the park's first kids section.

The Tidal Wave was added in 1978 and was Great America's first new roller coaster. In 1991, The Tidal Wave was made even more famous by the activities of two regular season pass holders: Keith Bell and George Martin, when they established a new record of riding the illustrious coaster 42 consecutive times. At such time, Messrs. Bell and Martin remarked in the Chicago Tribune, "This is truly a great moment for both ourselves, Six Flags and all roller coaster enthusiasts alike. Not only have we conquered the record established by our fellow coaster enthusiasts, we set a new standard by which all future rides will be measured." Soon following the record broken by Bell and Martin, the Six Flags Corporation decided to transfer the existing roller coaster to Six Flags Over Georgia, located outside Atlanta, GA.

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 a tunnel and the "new" ride was rethemed and renamed to the Demon.

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The American Eagle's lift hill and helix.

In the summer of 1980 the park broke ground for a massive new wooden roller coaster called the American Eagle. This racing roller coaster stands at 127 feet (38 m) tall and reaches speeds of 66 mph (105 km/h). The new ride broke the world record for tallest roller coaster. The ride opened for the 1981 season and was a hit. It still stands today and is still extremely popular. The Southern Cross skyride was removed this year.

No new rides were added in 1982. In fact, several were removed, but in 1983 The Edge, an Intamin AG freefall ride was added.

Marriott's final ride added to the park was the White Water Rampage, an Intamin rapids ride. This ride took over the spot occupied by several rides including the Southern Cross and a car ride. Forever known by Six Flags enthusiasts as the "Final Ride of The Crow", Roaring Rapids remains one of the Park's premiere attractions.

In 1984, an injurious accident occurred on the Edge and the ride was shut down. The park was purchased by Six Flags Corporation, becoming the 7th Six Flags park. Six Flags' first new addition to the park was the Z Force in 1985, a one-of-a-kind Intamin space diver roller coaster.

In 1986, the Edge was removed and was sent to a carnival on the east coast before going to Geugea Lake in Ohio. Splash Water Falls was added in the County Fair section of the park.

The Power Dive was added in 1987 to take over the spot where the Edge stood. Power Dive was an Intamin Looping Starship ride, in which 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.

1988 saw the addition of the massive Shockwave Rollercoaster, an Arrow Dynamics mega-looper added to the Orleans Place section of the park. Shockwave was the parks tallest roller coaster and featured several inversions. White Water Rampage was renamed to Roaring Rapids.

Rolling Thunder, an Intamin bobsled coaster was added for 1989 and was built between the Demon and the Whizzer. In September of 1995, Six Flags Great America Theme Park Rides Lead George Martin ordered the removal of The Rolling Thunder after a successful run in favor of the newly introduced "Southwest Territory". Following the removal of the Rolling Thunder in favor of the more profitable "Thunder", Mr. Martin was promoted to Rides Lead and Auxiliary Supervisor of County Fair Operations in 1996, where he successfully lobbied for the introduction of future rides such as "Giant Drop" and other successful rides. The Rolling Thunderhas since been relocated from Six Flags Great Adventure.

The Iron Wolf was built in 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 the Shockwave. Under the management of Rides Lead David "Patrick" Bolin, regular ridership of "The Condor" increased significantly, and was introduced with a new theme of "Awww Yeah.. The Condor!". While the name, "Awww Yeah.. The Condor!" only remained a formal name for 3 years, the popularity of the ride remains ubiquitous with the Six Flags "experience" to this day. The IMAX screen was upgraded to allow 650 people to view 3D movies. People said good-bye to their beloved Tidal Wave at the end of the season.

A historic ride was built in 1992. Batman the Ride, a B&M inverted roller coaster to replace Tidal Wave. Batman was unlike any other roller coaster on Earth. It was a very tightly squeezed ride but was so popular the lines stretched past the Lobster ride, through the bridge to Yankee Harbor and all the way to the bridge by Power Dive, across from Shockwave.

The Batman Stunt Show opened in 1993.

Space Shuttle America, a motion simulator ride was built in 1994 near the Sky Trek Tower. Within the creative vision of Rides Supervisor Eric Roney, "Shuttle" re-created the inter-planetary escapade provided via "Space Shuttle America".

In 1995, Viper, a wooden roller coaster based off the Coney Island Cyclone was built next to Rolling Thunder, which was removed later that year.

The area Rolling Thunder occupied was transformed in 1996 into the SouthWest Territory, a western themed area. A ride in County Fair was relocated to the new area, along with two new rides. See previous notations for additional information.

The Giant Drop, an Intamin drop tower, and Dare Devil Dive, a skycoaster, were added in 1997.

The park's original kids area was modified, and a new kids rides were added in 1998. An accident occured on the Demon, stranding 23 passengers upside-down for nearly three hours.

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Raging Bull was added in 1999. Also visible are Deja Vu and Hurricane Harbor

1999 saw the rise of the Raging Bull, a B&M hyper-twister roller coaster. It became the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world and once again made Bolliger & Mabillard famous in the ride industry.

Great America celebrated its Silver Season (25th Anniversary) in 2000. A fatal accident involving a park employee occurred on the Cajun Cliffhanger ride, which caused its removal and began a dark time for the Orleans Place section of the park. This was the last year for the much-loved Sky Whirl.

In 2001 Great America added two new roller coasters. First was an Intamin impulse coaster named Vertical Velocity. Riders are launched at speeds over 60 mph (100 km/h) up a twisted vertical tower, then fall backwards and climb up another straight tower. The ride repeats, but on the second time on the back tower, the ride holds the train for a few seconds before releasing the train. The park's second ride for 2001 was Deja Vu, a Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang ride to replace the gentle Sky Whirl. On Deja 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!

2002 was a quiet year for the park. Power Dive was removed due to maintenance problems and the Shockwave Rollercoaster 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.

The area where the Power Dive and Cajun Cliffhanger stood was transformed into Mardi Gras for 2004. A wild-mouse roller coaster was added, along with a HUSS Top-Spin, Zamperla Rockin' Tug, Zamperla Balloon Race ride and a HUSS Frisbee that was relocated from Six Flags Great Adventure.

After sitting and rusting on a hill since 2002, ShockWave was scrapped at the end of the 2004 season.

Six Flags finally added a water park in 2005 called Hurricane Harbor. The massive new 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 up by 24% in 2005.

The current rumor about a 2006 attraction is a ProSlide Tornado for Hurricane Harbor, construction has been seen on weather webcams on top of Sky Trek Tower of this possible new attraction.

Marriott also opened a sister park in 1976 in Santa Clara with an identical layout and attractions. 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.

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