Day 6 (the 9th) - Six Flags Great America - Gurnee Illinois
Pulling into the parking lot for Great America… I was over excited...
and disappointed at the same time… From the lot… I saw something that
made my jaw drop… I could see DEJA-VU RUNNING! AND IT HAD PEOPLE ON
IT!.... But then I could see what looked like 20,000 school buses and
100,000s of kids….. CRAP!
Once I got into the park... I RAN to Deja-Vu… thinking I would be in
line for 3 hours……. But wait…What's this!... THE LINE WAS IN THE
STATION ONLY!.... AND! There was a free seat for the front row! After
last summer going to SFOG 3 times and not getting to ride Deja-Vu… I
was getting my chance… And it would be in the front row!
Déjà Vu
Type – Steel
Year – "2001"
Kind – Giant Boomerang
My God….. Deja Vu is one of the greatest coasters I have ever been on…
If they were open more often I really see them as ranking in the top
20 on coaster polls…. I sit in the seat and pull down the funny OTSR….
The ride starts… Going out of the station backwards up the vertical
lift hill... My body hanging in a Vekoma made restraint…. I just let
my arms and legs hang down… going up on déjà vu is one of the coolest
parts of the ride… once you get to the top the train just drops and
for freefall back down into the station then fly into the big cobra
roll.. That does NOT head bang you... then you go into the big
vertical loop… and then up the second lift hill… This IS the best part
of the ride… you take this lift fast... but once you get to the top
you just fall backwards on your back floating all the way down….
Greatest feeling ever! After doing the loops backwards you fly back in
and then out of the station and go almost all the way back up the
first spike... then come to a dead stop… that "hold" is a lot cooler
then what you feel on an impulse coaster… Going backwards almost full
speed to a dead stop and falling into the OTSR and just hanging over
100 feet up… AMAZING!
After my amazing ride on Déjà Vu I ran around and still the line was
just in the station... I jumped in the first seat I saw... it was in
the back car... The ride is still great in the back…. But not as good
as the front seat…
After my 2 rides on Déjà vu I walked to the back of the park and went
on Iron Wolf. Getting to ride Iron Wolf for me was almost like going
to Mecca I guess. Getting to ride the very first B&M coaster ever
made. And also the first Stand-Up with a corkscrew… Woo!
Iron Wolf
Type - Steel
Year – 1990
Kind – Stand-Up
Iron Wolf didn't have a line as it's in the back of the park... And
the park had just opened... (Also most of the kids from the 20,000
buses were in the water park)
Just from looking at the ride you can tell it's old as the ride looks
much different then newer B&M coasters even the supports are funny
looking… The ride itself is very fun and force full it's also smooth
and only bangs in 1 or 2 places. I don't see why people seem to hate
it… It's just like a less compact GAS…
After that I walked down going to V2 so I could get on it before lines
would get to long... On the way I walked past the kiddie land and
jumped in the for Spacely's Sprocket Rockets... I have heard you had
to have a kid to ride… But got in line anyways… Well I got into the
station and saw 6 girls that seemed to be 15-16 all getting on... So I
just jumped on….
Spacely's Sprocket Rockets
Type – Steel
Year - 1998
Kind – Kiddie
I don't even remember the ride... I just wanted to get my "point" and
be off to v2… I do remember the girls in back of me were screaming
because they were really scared on the ride... In line one had said
she had never been on a coaster before…So they all sat in the back
seats… Letting me get the front... Woooooo
Yeah... So after that I made my way down to V2… Its line wasn't too
bad. (It filled up later in the day) It was just on the steps into the
station and in the station itself…
Vertical Velocity / V2
Type – Steel
Year – 2001
Kind – Impulse
V2 is one of the rides where even if the front row line is long...
It's worth the wait... So you get the full twist on the front spike...
and then the good view on the hold spike… After waiting7 loads... I
took my front seat... Deka showed up and sat next to me... and we were
off… The first launch isn't to good… going up the front spike you only
twist a bit… going up the back spike you don't go up far… Launch 2…
This time you make it to the top of the twisted spike and float back
down it spinning... Then you go to the back spike... and go all the
way up… and then stop…. The hold is cool... But as I said Dejas is
better. After the hold you drop back down and go a little up the front
spike once more and then its over.
After my only ride on v2 for the day we went over to Batman The
Ride... It had the longest line of the day... But it moved... This was
also one of the "Mecca" moments… First inverted coaster ever! It's
also one of the 2 coasters I feel put B&M "on the map" (the other
being Kumba)
Batman The Ride
Type – Steel
Year – 1992
Kind – Inverted
Deka got mad because in the station we were in line for row 2... It
was the shortest... But when it was our turn to ride… The front row
had 1 free seat... So I ditched Deka for it

. The ride itself is
nice but doesn't feel as powerful as SFStls or SFOGs. The rides
setting is nice. The corkscrew part is over a little pond so you get
close to the water. It might not feel as powerful but it's still an
amazing ride and I will always love the layout…
After that we headed to the first of the 2 lines I feared of for the
day….. Ragin' Cajun… After seeing photos of the ride with what looks
like hour long lines… And only 2 or 3 cars on the track… This was `one
of the 2 rides in the park I really didn't care if I skipped… The
other being Superman - Ultimate Flight…
Ragin' Cajun
Type – Steel
Year – 2004
Kind – Spinner Mouse
The line didn't seem THAT bad... so we jumped in… The line even if its
not long moves slow... and its all outside in the sun... So I got a
bad sunburn in the line… In the station… Me and Deka both took a few
photos… the op over the PA system said "No cams on the ride"….We were
still in line at this point... then in the station itself… I took a
photo of the car... once more the op said "No Cams on the ride!" we
then sat down in the train… and for the third time… "NO CAMS ON THE
RIDE!"… As someone checked our lap bars… the op said for the FORTH
TIME! "NO CAMS ON THE RIDE!!!" and then she walked over to us and said
"IF WE SEE YOUR CAM OUT ON THE RIDE WE WILL STOP YOU"…LMAO…We both had
had our cams away in our bags... in the bag hold way before they even
said no cams the 3rd time…... what losers……. The ride itself was good
and we had some good spinning on the lower part.
After that we had to ride 3 more coasters so Deka could make bull her
200th coaster… We went over to Superman... The line didn't look to bad
so we jumped in line.
Superman - Ultimate Flight
Type – Steel
Year – 2003
Kind – Flyer
Having been on SFOGs superman the summer before I knew I was in for a
tame ride…We got to the station... The park has a line just for front
row riders… with a sign "45mins from this point" and it was full!...
What loser waits for the front row on a flyer!.... YOU LOOK DOWN! It
doesn't matter what row you're in……….. Me and Deka just took the
shortest line we saw… and rode. The Pretzel Loop is the only fun part
of the ride... After that its just turn turn turn... let me off… yay
it's over.
After that we walked over and went on the sky tower ride. I like tower
rides because of the views and it's good for photo taking. But I like
the "deck" style better like at PKD/PKI where you can spend all the
time at the top you want…. After a fun ride on the tower we walked
over to the Stargate ride. It was really hot and sunny out... So going
on the indoor sim ride seemed like the thing to do…It had no line at
all… We walked right into the preshow. The sim itself was ok... But
the ride system was old and outdated… it was the big boxy row and was
very rough... It gave me a headache …But it felt good to be in the
cold dark room and not in the 95* sun….
After that Deka still needed 2 coasters before we could ride bull...
So we got in line for Whizzer….
Whizzer
Type – Steel
Year – 1976
Kind - Speed Racer
Whizzer is one of only 2 "speed racer" coasters left. It's also the
only one in its original spot. The rides lift hill is a spiral so
that's cool I guess. Once you get to the top you start into a long
shallow dive the train picks up some speed part way down the turns on
the ride are fun and low to the ground. The ride is also in and around
the trees in a very nice setting. I wish I had took more then one ride
on it but I never got around to it…. Oh well…