Six Flags Great America Chicago

This is Six Flags Great America in Chicago Illinois and our home park (at the time of this review). It has added 11 coasters to our conquered list, American Eagle, Batman: the Ride, Dark Knight, Deja Vu, Demon, Iron Wolf, Raging Bull, Superman: Ultimate Escape, V2: Vertical Velocity, Viper and Whizzer. It's a very good park with very good coasters, however this park has problems. It holds the distinction of being the park that we had the worst experience in the history of our amusement park trips; 3 coasters in 9 hours.

When we moved from Ohio, one of the things we knew we would miss was our proximity to Cedar Point and Kings Island. However, we were we were pleasantly surprised at what a good Six Flags park Chicago has. Luckily, we live closer to this park than any other park before it. It has some great coasters including the first in the Midwest and possibly the best flying coaster we have been on, Superman: Ultimate Escape with one of the best loops (head first, front flip) we have ever been on. Raging Bull is a fantastic hypercoaster with awesome air time and a top speed of 73 mph. Six Flags Great America is also home to the first inverted coaster in the world, Batman: The Ride. This coaster, unlike many "first" innovative coaster types holds up over time and is great fun. American Eagle is a very good out & back, racer wooden coaster. When it debuted in 1981, it was the fastest coaster in the world at 66 mph and is still the tallest, longest, fastest racing coaster in the world. The Viper wooden coaster is a mirror image of the famous Coney Island Cyclone and great fun. Honorable mentions go to Whizzer, Demon & V2.

With all those coasters, you would think this is a world class amusement park. However, Six Flags Great America has some egregious offenses. The first of which is The Dark Knight coaster. The shittiest coaster to ever ride the coat tails of a great movie. The queue themeing is the best part of this ride which should be advertised as a children’s ride to give people a fair expectation. It’s a dark ride coaster that culminates in a Joker less mouse trap of a ride. If this ride has a line longer than 15 minutes, move along. Trust me! You are missing nothing.

Next is the worst standup coaster we have ever been on, Iron Wolf. In a genre infamous for being rough rides, it is, without a doubt, the roughest. So bad in fact, you spend the majority of the ride just trying to limit how much you rattle around in your seat and trying to minimize the pain until it finally ends. I would liken the Iron Wolf ride experience to Son of Beast, with the loop, at Kings Island. It sucks and can ruin an entire day at the park. At the very least, make sure you have some ibuprofen with you. You'll need it when the ride is over.

The final, and probably the worst issue we have with Six Flags Chicago is the ride management and largely the reason we experienced the worst day ever at an amusement park. The line queues are some of the worst we have ever experienced. The staff seems to have no sense of urgency or pride in what they are doing and makes little to no effort to fill trains to capacity. Maybe this is just a testament to the available work force in Chicago but it sucks. In most cases, if you want any chance of getting on all rides during the day, you need to get a Flash pass, and now your ticket just doubled in price. Nothing like spending $100 a person to spend a day in a park not named Disney. As a season pass holder, I can tell you that at Six Flags Chicago, it feels like Al Capone is running the place because if you don't buy a Flash pass, you’re fucked. It feels like a setup.

The most frustrating part about Six Flags Great America is that it has so much potential. Overall it has great coasters, decent food and some good themeing. They just need to find some more people who give a shit to work there. Regardless of our experience and complaints, I highly recommend this park. I'm glad we have had the opportunity to make it our home park while we are here, but it still isn't Cedar Point or Kings Island. I would be remiss if I didn't give Six Flags credit. During our “worst day at the park”, we were sharing our experience via Twitter, as we do during all our adventures. Six Flags took notice and started Direct Messaging me asking for more information about the problems we were having and pledged to forward our comments onto the park. Hopefully it makes a difference but I am a cynic. Also, don't forget the history of corruption in Chicago because depending on the day you go, it can feel alive and well at this park.

Trip Picks & Ride Reviews

Keren's Korner

So with Mark starting the blog – and doing a fantastic job with the videos and park summaries – I kind of felt like I needed to contribute. It occurred to me that I should write about things that I like but that Mark has no interest in. (Trust me, a lot things fall into that category!) This will mostly include reviews on restaurants, movies and books - and so Keren’s Korner was born. (Disclaimer - Mark has seen way more movies that me and will definitely have an opinion - however - his opinions are usually very different from mine.)

The blog should be a great outlet for me, since I normally can’t discuss things like food with Mark (he's a bit picky!) Also it is possible (however unlikely) that someone else might find it entertaining. Because it’s tougher to critique food and movies after you’ve eaten or seen them, I’ll probably start with books. Along the way, I may decide to blog about something else entirely. I’m leaving it completely up to what may be.

Also, I welcome comments or recommendations. I’ll do my best to try / read / see / eat what I can. I hope you enjoy!!

Idlewild

This is Idlewild located in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania and the last stop on the Western PA Trip. It added two coasters, Rollo Coaster and Wild Mouse, to our conquered list and further reinforced that amusement parks aren't always just about the roller coasters.

This park features two very unique attractions. The first being Story Book Forest which features some "life size models" of your favorite fairy tails. Examples include three real little pigs and a shoe big enough live in. The second is Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe. It combines a train ride back into the forest just like the trolley car that takes you to the Land of Make-Believe in the TV show. There you will see animatronics of all your favorite characters including King Friday as they take you on another adventure in the land of Make-Believe. Both attractions are equally endearing and great fun for children & adults who grew up with stories.

The only noteworthy coaster was the Rollo Coaster which is a wooden coaster built from the very trees that surround the park. The track is also placed in a heavily wooded area engulfed by tall trees. Idlewild is surrounded by greenery and the signage isn't very good. We actually drove pass it the first time because if you don't know it’s there, you will never find it. However, this does really add to the overall aestetic of the park.

Idlewild is a really nice starter park for kids with rides and attractions heavily themed for children, but we enjoyed them all the same.

Trip Pics & Ride Reviews

Lakemont Park

This is Lakemont Park in Altoona PA and the 5th stop on our Western PA road trip. It added three coasters to our conquered list including the oldest wooden coaster in the world, Leap-the-Dips, as well as Mad Mouse and Skyliner. This is the park we went to the same day we went to Delgrosso's. We knew that each individually didn't have enough to keep us busy for an entire day so we decided to visit both on the same day. It was a really fun idea.

Lakemont Park is delightful. It's charming, fun and feels like an oasis. It looks like an old swimming hole that a county fair setup shop and never left. At the north end of the park is the home of the minor league baseball team, the Altoona Curve. You can see the ACE award winning Skyliner roller coaster and the rest of the park from your seats in the stadium, just past the outfield.

The parks star attraction is the oldest roller coaster in the world, Leap-the-Dips. The coaster was built in 1902 and was almost demolished twice before it received its National Landmark as well as ACE Landmark status. This is one of the most fun coasters we have been on. We rode it over twenty times that day. If only Mouse Trap coasters were this much fun. Top speed is only 18 mph, highest drop is 9 ft and the ride starts with the station attendant pushing you to the first hill. The coaster is wooden, very smooth and unbelievably fun. This ride alone is worth the trip to the park and would recommend it to all amusement park enthusiasts.

Together, Lakemont Park & the Altoona Curve are a home run, one way or another.

Trip Picks & Ride Reviews

DelGrosso's Amusement Park

This is DelGrosso's in Tipton PA and the 4th stop on our Western PA trip. It's a small, family-owned park that only added one coaster, Zyklon, to our conquered list. Like many parks of its kind, it is admission free, offering the option of buying individual ride tickets or an all day pass.

There isn't much to say about DelGrosso's. It was a nice, clean park. It had many well maintained carnival rides, some with unique themeing. It looks like a great starter park for kids. It took us about 2 hours to get through everything we wanted to see in this park and that's because we dragged our feet. It's also the reason it was the first park of the day. After DelGrosso's we went to Lakemont Park the same day. It was an idea we had that made for a really fun day. This park is a couple of good coasters away from being something really special. Regardless of its limited options, we had fun.

Zyklon is a standard mouse trap type coaster, nothing special and not particularly fun. The only other note worthy attraction is Space Odyssey. It is an original caterpillar ride, inside a building and in the dark, themed to look like the night sky. It's the best use a caterpillar ride we have ever been on and reminded me of Conneaut Lake Park's Ultimate Trip.

Delgrosso's is not a vacation destination but if your in the area and looking for some fun, check it out. The price is right.

Trip Pics & Ride Reviews

Kennywood

This is Kennywood located just outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. It was ranked the 2nd favorite park in Theme Park Magazines "Readers Choice Awards" in 2004. Kennywood was the 3rd stop in our Western Pennsylvania Park Trip. This park added 5 coasters to our conquered list, Exterminator, Jack Rabbit, Phantom's Revenge, Racer and Thunderbolt.

Anyone who has ever visited Pittsburgh will understand why the park is so unique. Due to the geography of the area, Kennywood is essentially built on the side of a hill, a feature they utilize in several of their coasters. The park is visually impressive with quality rides. The Jack Rabbit is a good wooden coaster that uses the hillside to create its infamous double dip drop. Racer is a classic dueling wooden coasters with a winner declared at the end of every ride by the staff. Thunderbolt, their 3rd wooden coasters, has a unique feature in that the first drop occurs immediately out of the station. But the best coaster at Kennywood would have to be the Phantom's Revenge. It's a hypercoaster, top speed 85 mph, biggest drop, 228 ft, but here is the cool part, IT'S THE SECOND HILL, and it goes down the side of a mountain. AWESOME!

Kennywood is just an overall great park, with impressive rides and some kick ass, award winning, French fries. Seriously, have I ever mentioned food on this blog before? This is a vacation destination park. However, I don't know if they have enough thrill attractions to keep the rollercoaster enthusiast entertained for an entire day, unless they enjoy riding the same coasters a few times. Regardless, we loved it and recommend it. Often parks that are given the "U.S. National Historical Landmarks" tag are places that would close if it weren't for this designation. In the case of Kennywood, it's just a well earned honor.

Trip Pics and Ride Reviews

Conneaut Lake Park

This is Conneaut Lake Park in Pennsylvania. It was one of my local amusement parks and the one I visited most as a kid. It's also the place I rode my first rollercoaster so it has a special place in my heart. The park is small; it only added two coasters, Blue Streak and Toboggan, to our conquered list and was the 2nd stop on our Western Pennsylvania road trip. It has good prices, intimate surroundings and is rather charming.

The park has been around for over 100 years and recently has had lots of financial problems keeping the park open. It used to have a bowling alley, a ballroom, roller skating rink and the scariest "rotor" ride ever called the Hell Hole. The signage for the Hell Hole had a 10 foot tall statue of a devil and gave me nightmares as a kid but became one of my favorite rides as a teen until it closed in 1992. They have your standard dark, "scary" ride with glow in the dark pictures, rubber spiders, loud noises, monster mannequins & the ever trashy & disgusting used chewing gum wall. The Ultimate Trip is the best use of a Scrambler ever. It ran for 3-5 minutes, in the dark, with black lights everywhere & loud rock music, but it closed in 2005. Lastly, my first coaster love, the Blue Streak is the 6th oldest coaster in the United States and a classic out & back wooden coaster. The ride starts in a tunnel before getting to the first hill, has a top speed of 51 mph and lasts 1.32 minutes. Unfortunately, those financial difficulties have caused the coaster to not run since 2007.

I wish I could tell you this is a must visit park but it in all honesty, this park is all but dead. Even in its prime, you could get through the highlights in 2-3 hours. I'm just happy I got to share this park, it's rides and all of it's charm with my wife while it was still a shell of it's former self.

Trip Pics & Ride Reviews