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Six Flags Great America or Holiday World


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I am heading out for a trip this month and I have never been to either Holiday World or Six Flags Great America and may need some help choosing. They are both within a half an hour difference in driving time, so location is not a big issue here. Let me list the pros and cons of each park to me. I also have no interest in the water parks so those do not weigh either.

 

Six Flags Great America pros:

 

  • Big selection of thrill rides and family rides.
  • Goliath, which would be my first RMC.
  • Close to shopping
  • Offers Flash Pass, allowing me to maximize time

Six Flags Great America cons:

 

  • May not be able to ride Whizzer (single rider)
  • Not well themed (just my impression)
  • Not many "classic" or highly praised rides.
  • Chicago traffic
  • Will cost more.

Holiday World pros:

  • Always wanted to ride The Voyage and The Raven
  • Thunderbird is new
  • Free parking and drinks
  • Interesting theme. (This matters a lot to my significant other)
  • Cheaper of the two options

Holiday World cons:

  • Not much else to do in Santa Claus
  • No fastpass option for maximum timing
  • Not as many rides to choose from
  • Emphasis on water park (?)

Decisions, decisions...

 

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Six Flags Great America cons:

 

  • May not be able to ride Whizzer (single rider)
  • Not many "classic" or highly praised rides.

 

As long as I have been going to the park, SFGAm has always allowed single riders on Whizzer. Also, if you choose SFGAm, a night ride on Whizzer is HIGHLY recommended.

 

As for the lack of "classic" rides, the park has Whizzer, Demon, American Eagle, and Little Dipper. Additionally, the park is one of the very few that still has two Arrow Flume rides. Also, the park has a large number of classic flat rides.

If you do end up choosing SFGAm, get to the park by 9:30 and go directly to Goliath when the gates open. After Goliath, continue around the park hitting Eagle, X Flight, Raging Bull, Viper, and then cut back to Demon. Most days you should be able to make it through all of those before hitting any lines. If you visit on or before August 9th, I'd recommend you purchase a Gold or Platinum Flash Pass online in advance. After August 9th, the crowds let up a little bit and I'd say not to buy a Flash Pass in advance and see how the crowds end up being.

Superman and Goliath have Single Rider lines. For Superman, head up the Flash Pass entrance between the ride entrance and the gift shop. This one almost always results in a walk on. For Goliath, inform the employee at the entrance you are a Single Rider, you will be directed to the Flash Pass entry up to the station. There is usually a short wait, but if that line is coming down the stairs, AVOID at all cost.

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I have had the pleasure to visit both of these parks this summer for the first time.

 

Holiday world (I loved this park!)

 

Coasters: 

Do you like The Beast? because the voyage is better! The Raven is a complete thrill and relentless. The Legend is unlike any coaster I have ever ridden, it is a complete fight with lateral G's every ride and in a good way. The Thunder bird is a better ride than X-Flight (my opinion) and my favorite wing coaster (I have ridden all of B&M's wing coasters in the US). Btw no flashpass was not a problem at all for my weekday trip.

 

The Water Park:

Ride the water coasters if you can! They were the best surprise of my summer and easily as good as the coasters. The water park I thought had great capacity, lines never seemed to stay still. Most of the rides are family rafts and a ton of them were doubles. My girl friend and I had a blast at the water park, even tho I came for the coasters 

 

Theming:

It was a nice touch. But was not as extensive as I expected. But I still enjoyed it.

 

Free,Free,Free:

This I didn't think of much before my visit and thought it was just a good way to get people in the door by the park. But my opinion changed in the park, it was much more. I felt like the park cared about my visit and didn't want to just get all my money. The weather was high 90's and very humid. It looked to be a miserable day, but having Gatorade or Pepsi products around any turn made my day. My girl friend and I couldn't stop talking about how nice it was and were amazed that the park was spotless with all these free cups.

 

Six Flags...

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Six Flags Great America:

 

Cost:

25 dollars for parking! and another 70 to get in the door. I didn't do any preplaning and in the park I learned that I could have gotten half off for buying my ticket with someone who had a season pass. Also met a family that spent less for a season pass than I did for my one day ticket.

 

Coasters:

This park has a ton of them! I spent my whole day only riding coasters and only missed the indoor coaster The Dark Night. I was very impressed with there coasters, they had some great B&M's. Vipper and Whizzer were huge surprises. I really enjoyed Goliath and really wish I could have rode that a couple more times. I absolutely loved superman! I could talk about these coasters for hours and wish this park was closer to home. I'm jealous to who ever calls this their home park.

 

Theming:

I didn't know this park was themed. Even the coasters were very well immersed into their theme. Best example is the station for the Batman is in the Batcave! Some parts of the park were done much better than others but overall I was very impressed.

 

Things In The Area:

There is a lot around the park and made eating out of the park very easy. But the tolls and traffic kinda got to me on the way to the park, I took a different way home but traffic was just as bad. 

 

Other:

Looked like the park had a good amount of other attractions and classic rides, even tho I was there for the coasters. I rode the Whizzer as a single rider so I think that helps with that con. A Flash pass might be a good idea but this park seemed kinda pricey already as a college student. Overall this was a great park for the coasters. 

 

 

summary:

Six Flags for the coasters

Holiday world for a very fun / relaxing day ( and some great coasters)

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There's some good advice in this thread.

 

If you do happen to end up at Six Flags Great America you'll want to make sure that you get there well before opening.  When I was there two weeks ago they actually opened up the front gates at 10 (for a 10:30 opening) so that people could queue up for their first ride - even though the rides didn't open up until 10:30.  Go straight to Goliath, as it is a lower-capacity ride that is very temperamental as far as uptime, so get on it first thing.  As far as food goes, there's a place about a quarter-mile outside the park called Cravings Red Hots.  It's a quick-service place that offers Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, burgers, etc. and is VERY good.  You get a lot of food for very reasonable prices and there are Groupons available which make it even more attractive.

 

http://www.beyondmenu.com/37454/gurnee/cravings-red-hots-gurnee-60031.aspx

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So funny story...

 

My trip to Great America I forgot about the time change and i'm use to getting up at the break of dawn. So I arrived 2 hours or more before the park opened and the gates to the parking lot weren't even open yet. So being that early I had to wait for the: Parking gates, Ticket booths, security gates/ front gate, the park to open, Goliath to open, and the Goliath to reopen after a break down. Then finally a great ride and a very fun rest of the day. I learned my lesson after that trip, a little planning goes a long way.

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I visited Six Flags Great America a few years ago. I purchased a ticket, food, The Flash Pass, and souvenirs. I had a great time and was very impressed.

 

When I got home, the first thing I did was to email the park to let them know that I would've returned for a second day and done it all over again... but I didn't because of the parking charge. Maybe that sounds crazy. At the time, it was $20. I think $20 is a psychological barrier for people. To hand someone a $20 bill, get no change, and get "nothing" in return is very disquieting and totally off-putting. Their position, I imagine, was "they gotta park." And I did. But just once.

 

Had parking been $10, even $15, I would've returned for a second day at the park - upgraded to a pass, another The Flash Pass, another two meals... As it was, I was so turned off by the price of parking that I did not return. There's a valuable lesson in there for Six Flags to learn, and if parking is now an astounding $25, it's clear that they haven't learned it. Which is a shame.

 

A great park. But I was so put off by that somehow that I haven't returned and wouldn't go out of my way to. Maybe shame on me for being such a raging bull-head about it. I'll just never forget that...

 

It's even more frustrating to hear that at some point this year, Terp was able to get - essentially - a Six Flags Platinum Pass for less than the price of two parking spots. It's just silly. Pricing integrity?

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***Before I start this post, I'd like to put some disclaimers out there: The only time I went to SFGAM was in 2008 for two days (well, technically one and a half days). Also, I've never been to Holiday World.***

 

That being said, I loved SFGAM when I went. Some of my faves were Batman, Viper, V2 and Whizzer. Viper has tons of airtime and Whizzer is sort of like a mine-train/terrain coaster with a spiral lift. Raging Bull is fun and Chubasco (tea cups) are amazing as well. Dark Knight is fun, but NOT worth the two hours I had to wait on it's opening year. Iron Wolf is no longer there, and the park is better for it. There's a reason why there was a short line when the rest of the park was jam-packed during that first half-day (Superman was almost full queue that day). Also, Rajun Cajun was fun, but unfortunately, it's now lost to the sands of time. I don't know what hotel you're planning to stay at, but CoCo Key was nice, if only for the tickets that came with the room (I think?). I'd like to go back again to try X-Flight and Goliath and to ride Viper and Batman again.

 

On the other hand, Holiday World has 4 coasters that get good reviews and an extensive waterpark. I'm actually planning a trip for next year and pairing it with a Kentucky Kingdom trip (assuming KK opens next year... alternate plan will most likely be KI). And there's the free stuff, which is always good!  :D

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Without a pass, SFGAm is a very expensive option. You might spend about $30 in tolls just getting there, up to $60ea for tickets (assuming you don't have a pass) $25 for parking, and yes, SFGAm is an extremely busy park. If you plan on visiting, i recommend visiting during a weekday when the kids go back to school. If not possible, i do recommend buying a Flash Pass. BE ADVISED that GOLIATH is only available with the PLATINUM FLASH PASS and you can only use you Flash Pass to ride it TWICE. It can be an expensive trip, but it would be well worth it; SFGAm is an exceptional park.

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You can spend two days at Holiday World easily. Spend the first day riding things and enjoying the park. Spend the next day at the water park and re-riding things. There are also other things to do in the area such as Lincoln State Park (hiking trails, historical stuff related to Lincoln's years in Indiana, a lake with a beach and boat rental), Lincoln Boyhood Home (right across from the state park), Eagles Wings Zipline...). The historic former state capitol of Corydon isn't too far away, nor is the Overlook Restaurant in Leavenworth (spectacular views of the Ohio River).

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Superman and Goliath have Single Rider lines. For Superman, head up the Flash Pass entrance between the ride entrance and the gift shop. This one almost always results in a walk on. For Goliath, inform the employee at the entrance you are a Single Rider, you will be directed to the Flash Pass entry up to the station. There is usually a short wait, but if that line is coming down the stairs, AVOID at all cost.

 

 

Wait... These have single rider lines?

 

Shoot... That would have been nice to know a couple weeks ago when I was at the park and was a single rider...

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Ah. Looks like that puny AAA discount will be what I pay. No big deal. Worth asking. Thanks for your help.

 

Edit: I just went to their site and if I order them online from Holiday World directly, I save a penny off the AAA price. ONE PENNY! Doesn't even buy a Tootsie Roll.

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