I planning on my 1st trip to SFGAm on June 14th, I know its still early, but never too early to get advice.
I recently bought passes to my home park of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and decided that I should use my pass to check out another SF park.
At first, I was thinking about SF St. Louis, but after looking the park over, I decided it wasn't that impressive. Then I was going to pick Worlds of Adventure, but then I found out about the Cedar Fair buyout, so SFGAm here I come!!
The list of coasters seem very impressive & the amount of new rides being added this year is great.
I was wondering about what sort of crowd should I expect on a weekday during June and as far as traffic concerns. Since I consider Chicago a pretty big city and the fact that I would be arriving around rush hour times on a Monday morning, I was concerned about the traffic.
I'm also curious about Hotels available. I was actually checking into a Super 8 motel, I'm looking for something cheap...just basically a bed to rest on after a long drive & a day of coaster riding.
I'm also interested in a general walkthrough of the park, as far as which areas I should hit 1st, for example...when I would visit PKI, I would always hit the Beast because it was the least crowded and then work my way around to Action Zone later on during the day, when that area died down.
Also any info on prices of food at the park would be great as well as nearby spots to eat, or maybe spots of interest that I could check out before leaving for back home.
Plus any other usefull or useless info that you could think of would be great.
Concerning hotels - if you plan on visiting the park more than one day, I suggest one within a mile of I-94. That way, you won't have much of a drive the next morning. There are about 8 and all are nice:
Comfort Inn
Fairfield by Marriott
Country Inn and Suites
Holiday Inn
Baymont Inn
Comfort Suites
Hampton Inn
Extendedstay
Now, onto the park.
Obviously with 5 new rides, it's hard to say what will be most crowded. Some coasters to make sure you ride are:
1. DejaVu
2. V2 - Vertical Velocity
3. Superman: Ultimate Flight
4. Raging Bull
5. Viper
6. American Eagle (a classic)
7. Whizzer (a very unique family coaster)
8. Ragin Cajun (new for 2004)
9. Batman: The Ride
If you can't ride all, these are the ones I would skip first:
1. Iron Wolf
2. Demon (although I would ride it if it is a walk-on, which it usually is)
3. American Eagle (while listed above, it's not very exciting, just a classic)
There are also signs posted when you enter the gates telling you what coasters are planned to be down for the day.
Since the park is in a big circle shape, it's best to ride the coasters in the order you come to them, since it is almost impossible to take shortcuts and cut across quickly.
Also be sure to ride the flats if the lines aren't too bad, and don't miss Stargate 3000 (new for 2004).
A Word From The Wise wrote:Don't pay $3.00 for a bottle of pop that you can't take on the rides! Ask for free water instead! (note: this is not a quote)
Have a great trip! Tell us about it in the Trip Reports!
thanks, by the way is there any way to get any six flags park guides sent to my home, I know PKI would mail some out, but I didnt see anything of that nature on the six flags website.
Even a point to the local tourist info guide would be great cause I'm sure it would have some info about SF and the surrounding attractions including hotels
Be prepaired to pay tolls if you drive on the expressway. Most toll booths are .40 for cars (a few .50 around O'hare).
Parking is 10.00 and you can leave and come back as you please. I would advise bringing food to avoid paying 10-15 dollars a person for a decent meal. There are tons of fast food joints (Subway, McDonnalds, Wendies, Burger King) within 3 blocks of the enterance.
If you like fishing then you can check out Bass Pro shops in Gurnee Mills across I-94. There is a large indoor fishing pond (stocked with fish and all!).
If your from the Kentucky area then you should know what the weather should be, except we get lake breezes later in the afternoon which can drop the temperatures to the upper 50's and increase winds to 20+ MPH. Dress accordingly. Thunderstorms are possible too.
All thoes hotels are basically the same, they are not far from the park (most within 1 mile and walking distance). Try and get a free continental breakfast, It will save you food costs (even the fastfood in Gurnee is marginally more expensive).
Crowds are tough to call in June, but Saturday's are normally pretty busy. Even if it's crowded, they try to always run our coasters a capacity and lines move fast (Raging Bull and American Eagle come to mind as fast movers). I, pearsonally, would head west to Southwest Territory and get Viper and Raging Bull out of the way. Southwest Territory seems to be one of the more popular territories. Check out park maps for a good gide as to how to get around the park. Sometimes it can be confusing and there are few quick paths from one side of the park to the other.
I hope some of this information is at least marginally helpful.
I've never had a bug problem. SFGAm does have quite a few areas of water, but most are treated in some way and I wouldn't be surprised if they did something to preven Mosquito larva from hatching after the West Nile scare. Most of the time your moving around too much for them to be a problem. (Our problem is nowhere near as bad as Cedar Point)
Regarding Rides. Most flats, if your interested will never be very crowded. In June you will probably have to wait one or two spins (Or whatever. You know what i mean).
Coasters.
All day long, Superman and Bulls line will be long. It doesn't really fluctuate it's just long!
After about 7:00, You should hit batman. And after the parade, when everyone has basically left. You can hit V2 and Deja Vu with almost no line.
Most of the other coasters lines aren't a problem unless it's super crowded.
Weekdays in June I'd say:
Note: These will stay this way, basically all day!
Eagle: 5-12 Minutes
Demon: Walk-on-5 minutes
Viper: about 20 minutes
Whizzer: 10-20 Minutes
Superman: 1-2 Hours
Rajin' Cajun: (Figure it out. It's not opening for another five weeks)
V2: 1-2 Hours
Hotels:
There are plenty of hotels in the area. Gurnee was basically built around this park. And everything's cheap. From the Holiday Inn to the Gurnee Hotel To the sunset! There are tons of hotels! I don't think you'll have a problem with that.
And i'm going to say "Shut Up" in advance for all of those magic 8 ball obsessed people.
I went to Kentucky Kingdom once before. I don't know if the park is always not that crowded like it was the day I was their. Longest wait for a coaster was 25min. usually only 5-10min wait for front too. I would expect SFGA to be more busy, but with all the great roller coasters, it is worth the wait in line.
About the 15.00 dollar premium parking, I wouldn't bother with it. You can normally, if you arrive early enough, park closer than the premium parking. It's only good if you want to save 10 min. walking from the overflow lot, or you dont want to loose you car.
info that you could think of would be great.
