We made it to Great America just before 10am, giving us plenty of time to line up and rope drop the first ride of the day, Maxx Force. Ronan met up with us while we waited for the ride to open, and we both realized we will be getting North American Air Launch completion, in one summer. It is an insane ride, the launch is no joke. Maxx Force is easily top 3 at SFGAm.
Ronan pointed out that Whizzer, the classic Schwarzkopf coaster, was right next to Maxx Force, so we went to ride it next. It was so much fun, and I wish I almost went for a reride. We wanted to ride Raging Bull, but it was closed so we went to ride a ride I hadn't heard of before, Viper.
A storm was begining to blow in, and rides began to shut down for lightning, so we went to Justice League, the indoor ride.
In August 2025, I got the opportunity to visit the first of the two Marriot's Great America parks, California's Great America in Santa Clara California. In August 2026, I finally got the opportunity to visit the (much closer) Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. We spent two days, on August 9th and 10th, 2026 at the park, and we had a great day at Great America.
Six Flags Great America Day One
August 9th, 2026
Following my Dad and Steph's wedding the night before, Mom and I woke up at 4am to fly to Chicago. Our flight was at 7am, and we were due to land by 8am. This would give us, after getting the rental car and breakfast, plenty of time to actually get to Six Flags.
Once the storm blew in, we went to watch the 50th anniversary documentary. It was 50 minutes long, meaning we beat most of the storm that crippled Viper.
The storm blew a tree down on the tracks, causing the ride to be shut down while it was cleared from the rails, and inspection work could be done.
Once the storm cleared, we began to go get some more rides in. After (unsuccessfully) trying to ride X-Flight, we went to ride Demon, which was a 1:1 copy of Demon in California. Ronan noticed that American Eagle was open, so we went to ride both sides while it was racing. To best describe this coaster, its like Racer at KI with the Beast Helix in the middle. After Eagle, we walked on Raging Bull, and after a quick break for merch, we went to ride Condor and The Dark Knight.
We went to ride Batman: The Ride, but another storm blew in delaying rides. We stuck it out since the line was covered, and we got a front row ride. We followed with Flash: Vertical Velocity, Goliath, X-Flight, a night ride on Wrath of Rakshasa, and finished off our day with American Eagle on the blue side.
Our first day at Six Flags Great America was amazing. We got to ride almost everything, even with the weather delays. We got lucky several times catching rides as the reopened, meaning we had little waits. We also got to try some limited time food for the 50th, and see the drone and light show to end the night. While we had a great time, another day lied ahead the next morning.
Six Flags Great America Day Two
August 10th, 2026
After a great day at Six Flags Great America, Mom and I went to our hotel and got a good nights rest. After a good breakfast at the hotel, we made it back to Great America at 10am, we decided it would be perfect to get a rope drop ride on Maxx Force.
Our rope drop ride on Maxx Force would wind up being in the front row. It was absolutely insane to experience the launch like that.
We followed Maxx Force by trying to pick up the last 4 coasters in the park, so we went to ride Superman. After waiting 30 min, we went to Joker, but it went down, so we grabbed walk on rides on Little Dipper and Sproket Rockets. Both were fun kiddie coasters, and I really liked the charm Little Dipper had.
We split off from Ronan since he wanted to do his photography, and we secured some rides on Fiddlers Fling, Great America Railroad, Raging Bull, Joker, Batman, and both levels of the Columbia Carousel.
After our rides on Columbia Carousel, we went to try and get a ride on Whizzer again, but a thunderstorm decided to roll in and shut the rides for lightning. It was about 5pm, so Mom and I decided to go to the Gurnee Mills mall to walk around and get some dinner.
We visited Bass Pro Shops, taking some time to walk around the store. We also visited the Lego store, where we got to see some of the new releases from the summer wave. Lastly, we got dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.
As we were finishing dinner, I took a look at Queuetimes and saw that the rides had reopned. We made the decision to leave the mall, and see what we could ride in roughly 1.5 hours.
Mom and I agreed afterwards that our last hour or so was well worth the risk. We walked into a very dead park, walking over to Whizzer to get a ride and walked right onto it. We decided after to get a reride on Demon, since I had gotten a poster for it. We sat in the back, and got ejector on the first drop. I think Demon is my second favorite coaster at Great America.
Mom wanted to reride X-Flight, and Wrath, while I wanted to Ride Goliath and Wrath. Both of our wishes came true, walking onto X-Flight, and only waiting 10 minutes for a reride on Golaith. Both rides were really fun, and I think Goliath is my favorite Topper Tracked RMC.
We felt wrath wrapping up our trip on Wrath of Rakshasa, since we got row 3 a second time. The layout is so much fun, and I like the element choices B&M gave the dive machine.
As we were walking out of the park, I stopped to take some night pictures and to reflect on the trip. I also picked up a 50th anniversary shot glass, and I hope to get a matching set from CGA when I go in September. Mom and I also stopped to grab a funnel cake, to celebrate my birthday before heading home.
Tuesday morning we made a return, only for lightning to strike at 10:30am. We walked in, got a snack, and left for the airport.
But the park is wonderful. I can see this park was a favorite child in the Legacy Six chain, being built up to compete with Cedar Point. The lineups are so similar, especially anything built between 1990 and 2020.
This park is the lost sibling to California's Great America, a park I visited for the first time in 2025. There are so many similarities, and much more differences between the two parks, that it is impressive when you remember one was managed by Paramount/Cedar Fair, and the other was Six Flags. For a first visit, I had a great time. I can't wait for my next visit.