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Holiday In The Park Discussion Thread

Talk about anything that has to do with Six Flags Great America and Hurricane Harbor here.
Postby Goku1910 on November 27th, 2018, 4:34 pm
cliffhanger wrote:
Ilovthevu' wrote:I wonder if the Buccaneer Battle area is blocked because if we have 8 inches of snow, you have to think if a plow comes in that park, where are you going to put all that snow?


BB is blocked off, along with the area between The Lobster and Demon. There are also fences around Daredevil Dive, Kidzopolis and part of SWT.


Most likely serves as areas to push snow into as well.
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Postby Iron Wolf 90-11 on November 29th, 2018, 2:00 am
I was at the park on Tuesday and they actually just pushed all of the snow into big piles within the park. One of them was in the middle of the pathway right before the bridge into Southwest Territory from Hometown Square by the restrooms and game. There were many spots with ice as well, especially in the square part of Hometown Square and in Southwest Territory.
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Postby coasterlove on December 2nd, 2018, 5:36 pm
I have some questions about the Holiday In The Park event that I couldn't easily find answers for on their site.

How busy has it been?

How long are the shows in the Grand Music Hall;Wonderland At The Grand, Looney Tunes Christmas?

What restaurants are open, food options? It's going to be very cold the day I'm likely going and curious where and what places can I duck into to warm up to besides the two indoor shows.

Thanks to anyone for any information.
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Postby WaltDatedWorld on December 2nd, 2018, 7:51 pm
coasterlove wrote:I have some questions about the Holiday In The Park event that I couldn't easily find answers for on their site.

How busy has it been?

How long are the shows in the Grand Music Hall;Wonderland At The Grand, Looney Tunes Christmas?

What restaurants are open, food options? It's going to be very cold the day I'm likely going and curious where and what places can I duck into to warm up to besides the two indoor shows.

Thanks to anyone for any information.


I was also wondering if they have all the regular restrooms open or only certain ones.
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Postby anewman35 on December 2nd, 2018, 8:08 pm
Wonderland at the Grand was about 45 minutes. All the restrooms are open I believe. All of smaller food carts and Coke kiosks are closed, but most permanent food places are open, I think you can see a list on the website (or on a PDF of the map for sure). And at least last Friday, it wasn't very crowded, a lot less than I expected for a pretty nice day...
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Postby Ilovthevu' on December 3rd, 2018, 12:24 am
Just to offer some advice in case it happens again when it's raining in the cold, in my opinion the best 2 outdoor coasters to not get pelted in the face are Superman, and the Joker. Superman is absolutely the best outdoor coaster in regards to rain in the park because the ride protects you from most of the rain. The Joker is good because it's not that fast, and it's not that tall plus you are going upside down a bunch of times. So, if you go on Raging Bull, and you are pelted in the face, and vow to not go on another coaster during the cold rain, I will tell you, you have Superman, and Joker. In my opinion, the best outdoor coasters for rain & cold.

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My 2 favorite types of decorations for this Christmas in the Park are the tinsel decoration. They are in the order like this: http://northernlightd.wpengine.com/?page_id=815 They have Candy Canes going to Fiddler's Fling. They have lots and lots of Bells around Rue Le Dodge (maybe 10). They have about 3 Snow people faces near Condor. They have Mardi Gras masks wearing Saint Nicholas hats. It's weird. This is by Big Easy Balloons. Than, they also have soldiers all over Hometown Square. They all have lights on them. The Mardi Gras ones are just a little to weird for my tastes though - to me the worst, of them..

My 2nd favorite / unique decoration is by the Go-Karts. They made it look like where all the reindeer pens are - Dasher, Dancer, etc with some reindeer statues in front of it.
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Postby coasterlove on December 4th, 2018, 12:36 am
A few years ago I went to Cedar Point for their Halloweekends and it was probably in the high 40s, possibly low 50 but drizzling throughout much of one of the days there. It scared many people away and most rides were walk ons. I rode Millennium Force 3 times in a span of ten minutes and wished I could have endured more but it was rough. 93mph in very cold rain in the front row at least once was a challenge. A fun challenge but still pretty rough. :D
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Postby Muck Finnesota on December 9th, 2018, 6:27 pm
Finally had the opportunity to make it out to the park for this event last night (Saturday). It was a blast, despite some bad luck with breakdowns- which are to be expected in conditions like this. The park looks fantastic lit up (it reminded me of Electric Forest Festival).

Arrived at about 4:30, stayed until 7:30. Wanted to kick it off on Raging Bull, but it was down when I got there, and I figured it would be for the rest of the day. I was pleasantly surprised to see it back up and running later in the day; although by the time I was a train or two away from riding, it went down for the night due to weather. First few laps of the day ended up being on X-Flight. This was my first time riding in conditions like this, so it was memorable. The highlight of the day was planting my ass in a last row seat on Batman for a roughly half-hour marathon. It was ended prematurely due to breakdown, but how could I complain? Also ended up stuck on Superman prior to our train being dispatched. When I eventually made it back (after the fruitless wait for Raging Bull), it too, was down for the night. All in all, I ended up getting two laps each on V2 and X-Flight, and the mini-marathon on Batman. Probably could have done more, but I was in no hurry. I mostly wanted to savor the novelty of mid-December coaster riding in Chicago- and it was surreal to be able to do so in these conditions.

The introduction of this event was a huge factor in my decision to hold onto my membership, and I'm very satisfied with it. I look forward to another visit or two before it's over, and hope the event is a success for the park.
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Postby CoasterRiderSC on December 11th, 2018, 5:33 pm
Muck Finnesota wrote:Finally had the opportunity to make it out to the park for this event last night (Saturday). It was a blast, despite some bad luck with breakdowns- which are to be expected in conditions like this. The park looks fantastic lit up (it reminded me of Electric Forest Festival).

Arrived at about 4:30, stayed until 7:30. Wanted to kick it off on Raging Bull, but it was down when I got there, and I figured it would be for the rest of the day. I was pleasantly surprised to see it back up and running later in the day; although by the time I was a train or two away from riding, it went down for the night due to weather. First few laps of the day ended up being on X-Flight. This was my first time riding in conditions like this, so it was memorable. The highlight of the day was planting my ass in a last row seat on Batman for a roughly half-hour marathon. It was ended prematurely due to breakdown, but how could I complain? Also ended up stuck on Superman prior to our train being dispatched. When I eventually made it back (after the fruitless wait for Raging Bull), it too, was down for the night. All in all, I ended up getting two laps each on V2 and X-Flight, and the mini-marathon on Batman. Probably could have done more, but I was in no hurry. I mostly wanted to savor the novelty of mid-December coaster riding in Chicago- and it was surreal to be able to do so in these conditions.

The introduction of this event was a huge factor in my decision to hold onto my membership, and I'm very satisfied with it. I look forward to another visit or two before it's over, and hope the event is a success for the park.


You went on Superman?? Based on your profile picture I thought you totally hated the ride!?
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Postby Muck Finnesota on December 11th, 2018, 11:19 pm
Superman isn't my cup of tea, but I'll grab a token lap on it here and there- especially when it's the middle of December. A coaster is still a coaster.
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Postby CoasterRiderSC on December 13th, 2018, 5:41 pm
Muck Finnesota wrote:Superman isn't my cup of tea, but I'll grab a token lap on it here and there- especially when it's the middle of December. A coaster is still a coaster.


Agreed! I have to be honest I haven't ridden it "as much" since they closed the SRL. But I still do enjoy the ride. I've actually come to appreciate the first drop now!!
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Postby _FuryBull_330_ on December 13th, 2018, 6:59 pm
Saturday was cold... but I feel like I got a better experience.

- For some reason in the area Home for the Holidays I didn't notice an area that had stables for reindeer, which I thought was pretty neat.

- I got a remix that wasn't Mariah Carey this time on PS (Peppermint Swirl) I got Jingle Bells.

- I tried the hot chocolate which was pretty decent, but not that special.

- I decorated my own cookies with my little brother, it was great except for the part where he got sprinkles on my face :lol: .

Overall another great experience for me and a little more out of this trip than the last one (except this time less coasters).
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Postby Ilovthevu' on December 16th, 2018, 12:35 am
Sat - Dec 15th. It was packed. People were surrounded by people in a lot of places, but the ride lines (except the Tea cups & the carousel) were not that long. Ok, Raging Bull maybe 20 minutes. The carousel was in the switchbacks. Still though, it wouldn't have taken that long to get on that carousel, but I don't think I've ever seen the carousel in the switchbacks for a long, long, long time. Didn't ride the other indoor rides, so I don't know about bumper cars, Justice League, etc. I think it stems from you have a lot of families at the park, and you don't have a lot of their rides open such as Triple Play, Condor, Ricochet, swings, balloons, Whizzer, train, Sky Trek Tower, so no wonder why the carousel was MOBBED. I would say their were a lot of "walkers" (types of people) rather than a lot of riders. THey probably were getting food, and seeing shows too, but the rides would be way more packed if all the "walkers" would be riding those rides. It felt as packed if all the "walkers" went on rides, they would each be a hour+ line. That's how packed the park was.
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Postby SaveTheWAVE on December 16th, 2018, 3:57 am
I was at the park yesterday, December 15. I arrived at 2 pm. Rode Bull 4 times before going for a walk around the park. Hopped on TDK around 4 pm, its line was 45 minutes. Came back to Bull around 6 pm-the line was 15 minutes max, however there was a suspected guest in Bull's ride area. Kalightescope was stunning in person. Park looked great overall.
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Postby Ilovthevu' on December 16th, 2018, 11:11 am
^For that ride also (Batman - indoors), you had some thing about dressing up as Saint Nicholas, and than you get ert from 2pm - 3pm yesterday. So, basically that ride was closed for 1 hour which would back up the line (when it opened), I'm sure. Also though, the 45 minutes proves a lot of families at the park.

After 6pm, Raging Bull 15 / 20 min (with 2 trains running)
Superman - walk-on
Batman (outdoors) - walk-on
Joker - had about 2 switchbacks - 30 min
etc

The teacups, the guy said up to 1 hour, and all the switchbacks were full + you had a line out of the actual line (out of the door). They have a door they open and close for the light show.
Last edited by Ilovthevu' on December 18th, 2018, 2:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby SaveTheWAVE on December 16th, 2018, 5:41 pm
I should mention that from about 2-4 pm Bull was a walk on. I could have have marathoned it 10+ times, easy, as the ride ops let people stay in the train if there was no one in the station waiting for their row that was greater than the number of people already on the train.
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Postby JT2002 on December 31st, 2018, 4:27 pm
Went on Saturday night (29th) and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of everything. Food had very short waits and most rides were walk-ons even though there seemed to be a decent sized crowd in the park. I was glad to see that even in the event's final days, everything was still operational (except for seeing Santa of course). Once it started snowing, everything had an extra level of magic added to it! Better than FF in my opinion and will definitely look forward to it again next year! (If they keep Maxx Force open for the holidays next year, then it would be a great opportunity to get in multiple rides with such short and fast-moving wait lines)
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Postby Ilovthevu' on December 31st, 2018, 11:06 pm
I don't understand the idea that the park was supposed to be open for a whole 6 hours today, but yet they close it in 4 hours. This is just dumb. Why make customers upset by not being open another 2 hours. It's just another 2 hours out of an only 6 hour day. During the summer, they open from 10:30 am - 9pm which is a 10 1/2 hour day. It just makes no sense. This is not a 10 hour day, and than let's say they cut it to 7 hours. This is a whole 6 hour day which is hardly anytime. Plus, they don't even have all the rides open. Seriously, how many of the rides are closed; so they are saving money on staffing. Today, they didn't even have V2, Joker, and the Hometown Fun Machine open. So, that's another -3 rides of staffing.

Yes, I deal with it, but it seems to me to be all about the corporation rather than the customers anymore with them.
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Postby MrsTaxi on December 31st, 2018, 11:12 pm
Ilovthevu' wrote:I don't understand the idea that the park was supposed to be open for a whole 6 hours today, but yet they close it in 4 hours. This is just dumb. Why make customers upset by not being open another 2 hours. It's just another 2 hours out of an only 6 hour day. During the summer, they open from 10:30 am - 9pm which is a 10 1/2 hour day. It just makes no sense. This is not a 10 hour day, and than let's say they cut it to 7 hours. This is a whole 6 hour day which is hardly anytime. Plus, they don't even have all the rides open. Seriously, how many of the rides are closed; so they are saving money on staffing. Today, they didn't even have V2, Joker, and the Hometown Fun Machine open. So, that's another -3 rides of staffing.

Yes, I deal with it, but it seems to me to be all about the corporation rather than the customers anymore with them.

I could be wrong, but we had some freezing rain/snow in the forecast....that may have had something to do with it.
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Postby Ilovthevu' on December 31st, 2018, 11:22 pm
^It's a numbers game with them. If they would have had so many cars that the backlot was full, they would have never closed the park early, even if was snowing, or it being sleet. It does not matter. I was at the park when the park was open till the end time it said, and they had 5 rides open. Walmart, movie theaters, bowling alleys, museums, or basically any store / restaurant doesn't say we are open to 10 pm everyday, and just randomly say, no today we will close 5 hours early because we can. The only days they make exceptions are on holidays, but everyone knows what times Walmart closes because it's posted. They get away with it because they can, and they do.

Still though, it just was such a short time they could have just stayed open (till 8pm) instead of shutting it down. It's only 2 hours more.
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Postby JaminOut on January 1st, 2019, 2:11 am
Ilovthevu' wrote:^It's a numbers game with them. If they would have had so many cars that the backlot was full, they would have never closed the park early, even if was snowing, or it being sleet. It does not matter. I was at the park when the park was open till the end time it said, and they had 5 rides open. Walmart, movie theaters, bowling alleys, museums, or basically any store / restaurant doesn't say we are open to 10 pm everyday, and just randomly say, no today we will close 5 hours early because we can. The only days they make exceptions are on holidays, but everyone knows what times Walmart closes because it's posted. They get away with it because they can, and they do.

Still though, it just was such a short time they could have just stayed open (till 8pm) instead of shutting it down. It's only 2 hours more.


That’s because all of those places are indoors, Great America is not. They don’t open until two for demand and weather purposes, and they may close early because a majority of rides need to shut down to do impending weather. Great America is far more lenient than most other amusement parks when it comes to these inconveniences and I rather they take a chance and open the park rather than not be open at all.
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Postby ChicagoCoasters on January 1st, 2019, 2:57 am
JaminOut wrote:
Ilovthevu' wrote:^It's a numbers game with them. If they would have had so many cars that the backlot was full, they would have never closed the park early, even if was snowing, or it being sleet. It does not matter. I was at the park when the park was open till the end time it said, and they had 5 rides open. Walmart, movie theaters, bowling alleys, museums, or basically any store / restaurant doesn't say we are open to 10 pm everyday, and just randomly say, no today we will close 5 hours early because we can. The only days they make exceptions are on holidays, but everyone knows what times Walmart closes because it's posted. They get away with it because they can, and they do.

Still though, it just was such a short time they could have just stayed open (till 8pm) instead of shutting it down. It's only 2 hours more.


That’s because all of those places are indoors, Great America is not. They don’t open until two for demand and weather purposes, and they may close early because a majority of rides need to shut down to do impending weather. Great America is far more lenient than most other amusement parks when it comes to these inconveniences and I rather they take a chance and open the park rather than not be open at all.


Agreed, although it isn't all about the crowds. As SFGAm always says, "Safety is our number one priority." Rides don't operate well in cold conditions. Also V2 has been closed since Friday or Saturday and it had a sign saying it was done for the year.
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Postby CoasterRiderSC on January 1st, 2019, 5:26 pm
^^ I understand your frustration. But as the others have said, this is winter and the rides don't run well in the cold!! I went on 12/22 and my 8yo and I got on 24 total rides! So I was pretty satisfied with that day.

We should all be thankful that the Holiday in the Park lasted as long as it did and they made their best effort to have a good selection of rides operating.
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Postby anewman35 on January 1st, 2019, 11:01 pm
I feel like the park got lucky to have their first Holiday In The Park in what's been a pretty mild winter so far. In some other years we might have had a lot more closures for cold or snow. It'll happen some year, but at least they've seen it CAN work...
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Postby Tardis1972 on January 3rd, 2019, 1:08 pm
^ That’s a good point actually. A good example would be Dec 28th. It was snowing most of the day yet the park didn’t close early nor did any of the rides close(as far as I know). The coasters were even running with two trains most of the day. They could of easily closed the park early that day.
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