Six Flags Great America Gurnee, IL

We visited the park from the UK on 18th August. The first shock was the $35 parking charge, this is more than Disney charge. More worrying however was the fact that the person taking the charge for parking disappeared into his booth with my credit card and took the payment with the card both out of my possession and sight. This might have been nothing sinister but in terms of cyber security and card protection it is a no no. I have frozen the cats as a precaution. Entering the park was a long and slow process simply for the time it was taking to scan barcodes using the staff mobile app, the scanner didn't always register the first time. We managed to get three rides in before all major attractions shut down due to weather. This can't be helped, of course but it was extremely disappointing. We were left to use our pre purchased dining and drink bundle which caused us some confusion. The ticket terms started the every 90 minutes we could get an entrée and a side, first stop was ChopSix where we informed that we could have the rice bowl entrée but not the side. Ok, not that bothered, the rice bowl was sufficient. After this we used the Six Flags app to filter on the map for places were the dining pass could be used, this left 33 options. Unfortunately, a lot of the displayed options were not suitable as many were considered as desserts, and not meals, so chargeable separately. It would have been nice if the meal outlet clearly showed on their menus what items, if any could be included in a meal pass. This is a failing of the app. Other failings are the new ride not being on the map, every navigation away from the map meant that the filters reset to the default options not those set before clicking away to look at menus etc. The app also crashed a few times, and once had me in the water park next door, even though the GPS clearly showed me in the centre of the main park. Niggles? Yes. Iirritations? Yes. Show stoppers? No. Theme parks should always be rated on the quality of the rides as the main measure of the overall experience. In this case we simply didn't experience enough rides to call the day a success. At a total cost of over $100 per person, without an option to come back if weather stops play. As it was the rides stopped around 15:00 and the park closed officially at 18:30, in truth most things had closed well before the final bell. In summary, it was a disappointing day but likely if more of the park had been available to us I could have given a better appraisal. Sky Striker was pretty awesome.

I thought at the end of last year some money was going to be invested into the park. It doesn’t look like it, in fact the upkeep was bad. I find it hard to believe that someone couldn’t take a pressure washer and clean the town square with the train. Remove some of the weeds. A fresh coat of paint would have done wonders. Looks like a run down old neighborhood

Everything was going well until a security guard asked me to put my backpack, which has wheels, on my back. I calmly explained to him that my back hurts, which is why I'm not carrying it, and that my backpack has wheels. I've been to many other parks and have never, ever, ever been asked to carry my backpack. He rudely told me it was a rule to wear it. I told him I was going to customer service to explain. Of course, my child was in a ride, so I had to wait. I saw another security guard, #2, and I went to ask her about the rule, which I didn't see in their website. She told me her boss had asked her about it, but she'd never seen it as such. The other security guard, #1, came rushing towards me, talking into his radio, saying he'd just seen me still rolling with my backpack. I explained to him that I hadn't even taken 10 steps to go see the other security guard, #2. He rudely told me again that I had to stop or he'd escort me out of the park. I asked to speak to his supervisor. He arrived, and I didn't even have time to explain that he jumped on me, asking, "What are you still rolling your backpack around?" I saw my employee tell you earlier. I stayed calm. And I tried to explain that it was because my back hurt. He didn't want to hear of it. He also told me he would escort me out of the park if I didn't stop. All this happened in front of people. Lots of people. I was ashamed. I was humiliated. I felt like a criminal. And for what????? For a backpack?????? What's the difference between my mini backpack and a wagon where children sit, or even a children's stroller ?????? I'm not hurting anyone.

Lots of fun rides. Easy to navigate. Great shade for the most part when waiting in lines. Easy re entry. Friendly staff. There were some rides closed and it's to bad that the water parks not included. Also, parking is expensive. So is the food for what you get. They were selling grandma's cookies for $5.99 that you can get at a gas station for like $2.

This is the third different Six Flag park that we've visited so far. It has a few good things going for it. 1) Spacious 2) most of the rides were open 3) clean 4) places open for food and drinks spread out across the park 5) it has a new thrill ride 6) helpful employees Cons: 1) skip the line benefit for being a pass holder doesn't work for the new ride. 2) a lack of Six Flags Great America merchandise. 3) lack of security It's located around one hour away from Chicago. There are several hotels in the area. We did not have the time to visit Hurricane Harbor so I will not comment about it.