Six Flags Great America Review

Every year, Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, has Deaf Awareness Day. My husband is Deaf, so we try to go and support this event as often as possible. It's not often such an organization recognizes the Deaf and provides so much access for them. It's a wonderful thing, and that's why we go.

This year, we were super excited to go and spend the entire weekend. It was going to be hot, but we didn't care about that! We arrived early and with plans to head straight to the Superman roller coaster ride. The last time we were there, it was the longest line in the whole park, so we wanted to hit that ride first. We were in the front of the line to get into the park and as soon as that rope dropped to let us in, kids started running. They were all headed to the Superman ride. We got to the ride and we were about three rides out from getting on. They sent the first train off for the day and immediately after that train went out, there was a problem. The ride was shut down after the first group of people got on. We decided to sit and wait it out. It was fixed about twenty minutes later.

After that, we headed over to the Batman roller coaster. We get very close to getting on the ride and guess what? The ride breaks down, but this time, they don't tell us. We are stuck in this very crowded, close corridor of steps that goes up to the landing where you board the ride. Mind you, it's a HOT day. Luckily, I had a park map in my pocket and could fan myself. We were stuck on those stairs for about twenty minutes with no word from employees about why the line isn't moving or the that the ride was temporarily broken down. I couldn't take it anymore, so we left the line and headed out into fresh air again.

A pattern started after that. We got in line for a roller coaster called Deja Vu and that broke down the second we got into line. Later that evening, we decided to try the Superman again. Guess what? It was broken down again!

There were some awesome attractions. They had a Marvin the Martian 3D movie in the IMAX theater. That was pretty cool to see! They also had interpreted performances of things for the Deaf. The best performance we saw with this comedian named Keith Wann. He is a C.O.D.A. (Child of Deaf Adult) and his story telling was laugh out loud hilarious! I was crying in laughter! Check out his link in this article.

The food was pretty good. What we got was burgers and fries. You can't go wrong with that. It wasn't too overly priced for that. About ten bucks a person for a huge burger and loads of waffle fries. Other than that, every other food in the park was outrageously priced. Also, it comes as no surprise that their souvenirs are overly priced as well.

We didn't go over to Hurricane Harbor. That is their big water park. We were focused on rides. That is something that we'd like to do someday, but we're more thrill seekers than sun seekers!

My overall favorite ride was the Raging Bull roller coaster. It has this MASSIVE almost straight down drop that takes you into the ground! Most roller coasters don't freak me out like that one does! My least favorite ride, and probably the most disappointing to me was the Viper. It's an old school roller coaster that is for those with weaker stomachs.

Other than those roller coaster problems, the park was clean and the staff was friendly. Well, most of them were. At the end of the night, we went to get a drink before leaving the park and one stand was out of ice, the next stand was out of Sprite. It was pretty frustrating! I'd give Great America 3 out of 5 Tiaras on the Amy Gayle Scale. Only way I'd go back is if we have either rediculously cheap tickets or free ones!