You know I was thinking since my drive is going to be atleast 6 hours long. I would have to leave at like 3 or 4 in the morning to arrive at the park on time. Since I normally go to bed at midnight or 1am, that would leave me with ZERO sleep on a day of coaster riding...that wouldnt be good.
So what I'm thinking is driving up there Sunday after about 4pm and get a hotel room for 2 nights...of course it would cost more money, but atleast I would have a better experience.
Do you think you can do the entire park in a whole day?? I was thinking about spending half a day there on Tuesday and then driving back home.
What do you guys think??
Anyone on this forums ever drove a long distance to a park....this is my longest car drive by myself...well including my g/f....I'm alittle nervous thinkin what if my car breaks down or if I get lost...hehe
I suppose I need to plunk down the 60 bucks for the AAA membership and get a triptick pack with maps and what not. Plus atleast that way if I break down they would be able to tow my car and I could get a rental...
|
||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Planning my 1st trip to SFGAm
88 posts
• Page 2 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4
Considering your going in July i'd stay for 2 days.
June...
its either June 7th or June 14th which would both be a Monday I wouldnt think the park would be that bad on a Monday early June
First off, i would like to say welcome ot six flags great america. Also Kentucky Kingdoms a great park.
Hows the eagle not exciting. Just for your information the eagle is a racing wooden coaster and you get lots of airtime on it. Blue side is backwards.
Ummm....yeah. I've been a season pass holder for quite a while now and have ridden it many times. I think I know which side is backwards. And you must be crazy if you put American Eagle above Raging Bull or Superman. I didn't say to skip them, I just said that if it's so crowded and you have to choose, those would be the ones to skip.
He's telling Tek, not you.
how does the Eagle compare to the Racer at PKI
Taller and Faster. American Ealge is the tallest and fastest racing wooden rollercoaster. Hop that helped.
Anyone know any good places to get maps, either online or offline.
Just about a month away!! I know AAA is really the best, but I dont have a membership and the price of 60.00 is alittle out of the budget with the upcoming trip and all.
You want to be able to scout out the park before you even get there heh? Pretty good idea though... Damn I can't think of any off of the top of my head... Sorry about that
Anyways try the eagle backwards and fowards(sp?) so that way you can get the full expierience.  "No, Viper does not have any loops."
I suggest starting with Viper an moving on to Raging Bull. If you look at a park map, you can zig zag through the whole park, so like after SWT do a U turn and go to Deja Vu and Demon....and so on and so forth in a zzig-zag pattern. Its always worked for me!
hehe, I was actually talking about road maps...like mapquest or what not...sorry bout that
Since your going in June i'll bring this topic back and make a suggestion.
See the show in front of Columbia! It's at the top of every hour up until 3? I think. Really builds up charector of the whole area and is a great attraction in my opinion  .
Okay, here's how you should navigate the park. Get to the park early and hit Deja Vu first. One train and several minute intervals... waiting is hardly fun. RIDE IN AN OUTSIDE SEAT! Inside seats are horrible in my opinion. Any outside seat is good. Then, hit Raging Bull in the back row. Back = Fantastic airtime. After Bull, head over to Viper... ride near the front, either row 1, 2, or 3. I usually head to row 3 because it has a hidden line so the wait is usually minimal. Head out and over to Superman, it's a hike but the earlier the better. Superman IS A BACK ROW RIDE. Good god, make sure you ride it in the very back. Work your way over to V2 then, try to hit an end.. I perfer back, some perfer front. Your choice. Then Batman, every row is good. Continue to Iron Wolf, ride in back, and watch your head. You'll pass Spacely's on the way, if you're a track record whore like me, go and hit it. After Wolf, you may want to check out "Fiddler's Fling", a crazy rare Schwarzkopf flat ride, feels like a scrambler on crack. Hit Revolution next if you want, then American Eagle. Make sure you ride both sides, because in my opinion, the red side is the superior side.. but blue is backwards. Either way, decent ride. Next up you could hit Demon, usually doesn't have much of a line. It's a good back row ride (First drop is a bit suprising). After that, I can't give you advice... the day is yours. Check out Giant Drop, and don't forget to hit Whizzer sometime. Also, the new Mardi Gras section should be up... but lines shouldn't be all that bad there. Other points of advice... like others said, DON'T EAT IN THE PARK. Right across the street, within walking distance, there's plenty of food for a much more reasonable price. As far as hotels go... http://www.priceline.com. Save yourself a lot of money. PM me if you want some priceline advice... at this time I'm not sure of any amazing deals but my friends always use it (Example... Hyatt Regency Miami overlooking the Ocean... $200some a night usually, I got it for $30.) It's worth checking out. Any other questions, feel free to PM me.
Track Record - 330something
Hail to the THIEF
Yeah we are driving up Sunday the 6th and then hitting the park Monday morning and spending a half day Tuesday...then driving back
I believe we are staying at the Super 8 Motel which is only 4 miles away. I just hope I dont get lost on the way up there and back. And as far as Iron Wolf doing any head banging, remember I'm from Louisville, Kentucky and SFKK is my home park....also home to T2....if I can ride that and only puke a few minutes later then I'm sure I can handle Iron Wolf...
^^um lol ^^
Iron wolf does bounce you around. I found that if you ride in train 2, row 1 it is a little smother (infact it goes from painful to fun just by riding in that row). You will know if it is train 2 by looking at the car number on the side, 21. I agree with most everything that EVOed8 said. I personaly would hit either Deja Vu or Superman first. Those two seem to have the longest, slow moving lines in the park. V2 is also a long line but i don't wait in line for that. Since you have not been to the park before I might say you should get to the park pritty early so you can be at the head of the line and then ride S:UF first. Then head straight for Deja Vu. Or you could just hit Superman and then ride Vu just before you leave. Vu's line seems to clear out the last hour or so, where as superman seems to stay a little longer. The other thing you could do is just wait till Tuesday morning to ride one of them. Up to you. I always hit Vu first since that is my favorate ride. As for maps, I use AAA first, but my second choice is http://www.mapquest.com. Mapquest is almost as good as AAA. They don't have all the add on attrations, food, and such but you can still get the directions with "by turn" maping which helps alot. We used it when we went from IL to SFWoA to CP and then home. As far as the drive, I am sure that everything will go fine. But make sure you have an emergancy roadside service number with you just incase. Anyone know the emergancy number for IDOT roadside help? It is a good idea to drive to a hotel the first day. When we went to SFWoA we drove through the night (about 9.5 hours) and got there just at opening. It made for a long day and I know that we would have had more fun if we would have spent the extra money to get a hotel and drive in the day before. Thats what I think!
Myself,Chitown and probably Aero737 and Coasterdude have driven long long distances for a park before. I infact have driven to SFKK and PKI this offseason, My suggestion would be this> Get an oil change before you leave, get your brakes checked and also get a tune-up (Depending on how old your car is etc.) Now, your route: If your drving through Indiana and then heading into Illinois via 80/94 instead of i-55, I suggest leaving at 5 AM Eastern Time, There is a Time change of minus one hour as you enter Indiana. This way the 6 hour trip will get you to the park exactly on time. One quick not, do not use MAPQUEST!!! buy a RandMcnally Road Atlas from K-mart or Wal-Mart. About break-downs, In Indiana there are Gas Stations/Phones/Rest Areas usually with in 10 miles of each other. In Illinois There are whats called "I-DOT Minutemen" which will assist you free of charge. In Indiana i believe these road rescuers are called "I-DOT Road Helpers" In anycase, bring a CELL PHONE!! and dail *999 for assistance. If you have anyother questions PM me 
Hey Galvan316,
Just wondering why you say "don not use MAPQUEST!!!"? I use it all the time and I have never had a major problem. (Although I do use always have a map along too) Thats what I think!
The one real 'road trip' I used it for the highways were all confusing (considering they wanted to go on I-94 then merge onto 41 then something else then I-94
 ) but it worked but whatever.
Hey both vuman & galvan have been extremely helpful.
I just got a oil change on the car, getting new tires put on today...it should be ok for the drive. Its a 2001 Chevy Malibu with only 30,000 miles on it. Now if I was driving my old car which was a 91 chevy camaro with the 165,000 miles on it, then I might be more nervous, hell I didnt even drive that thing up to Kings Island. We will have a cell phone, and I have a AAA atlas somewhere in my closet... * looks at the mess in the closet * whew...hehe I have to jump in there sometime soon and dig that thing out. Actually I plan on using both, the atlas and mapquest....but pretty much it seems pretty simple. Just hope the Super 8 Motel is easy to find.... I definitely would like to hit Superman 1st...but my g/f seems to be scared of death of that ride...she doesnt like the feeling of your weight laying on the restriants. So if I had it my way....I would definitely hit Superman 1st....but we prob head to Deja Vu and I get her warmed up on that. She rode Face Off before, so that shouldnt be a problem... Also if anyone plans to be at the park on the 7th or the 8th let me know and we will try to meet up. It is a trip for our 4 year anniversery together, but the more the merrier. 
I would never trust Mapquest if I was going on a road trip. That site is known for giving horribly wrong directions.
Yes but Face Off doesnt have a vertical lift like Deja Vu If your girlfriend is scared of her weight laying on the restraints she will have the same problem with Deja Vu
I would actually suggest for your g/f do deja vu first but not in the first row. All you can see is the car infront of you and I feel a bit safer on DV than Superman. And DONT rest your feet on the car infront you
I found that out the...well....easy way.
I am pretty sure I know which Super 8 you are staying at. It's in Waukegan which is the next city east of Gurnee and is on Greenbay Rd. It's very easy to get to from the park. The park entrance is on Grand Ave. Just continue past the park entrance on Grand Ave. until you reach Greenbay Rd.. Make a right and it will be immediately on the right hand side next to a McDonalds. Screw online maps. Bring the ol' reliable Road Atlas as Galvan mentioned and you will be fine. From Louisville to SFGAm is simple. I-65 north to 80-94. From that point just follow the Wisconsin and Milwaukee signs and you will see the park on your right off the tollway. Have fun. I finally retired the Sarah Palin signature because she is now 100% irrelevant.
I dunno, I'd feel a lot safer in a B&M train than I would a Vekoma train... Top 5 wood-5-Goliath 4-Ravine Flyer II 3-Phoenix 2-Voyage 1-El Toro
Top 5 Steel- 5-Velocicoaster 4- Maverick 3- Fury 325 2-Steel Vengeance 1-X2 Coaster Count: 444
88 posts
• Page 2 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4
Return to Six Flags Great America Forum Who is onlineUsers browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||