Pictorium Theater

12/18/08

Make Sure to See All that Gurnee Has to Offer

by vivaciousdivah

This Six Flags is like any other you would visit in another state. It offers the same rides and amenities with incredible service. It will take you some time to journey there if you are near Chicago city limits, but once you're there you have the theme park, the Gurnee Mall, and neighboring outlets to get involved with.

11/03/08

Once a great place, now fading fast.

by jimmack

Remember when Great America was owned by Marriott's?

It was a true Diseny-like experience with clean restrooms, friendly employees, great foods, good shows and a wonderful park.

Six Flags has let the park go downhill . Great American is now very second rate. You will see a lot of peeling paint and dirty facilities. The whole place looks worn out and need of repair. The employees are a bit rude and very poorly trained. No one seems to know what is going on or how to handle food properly.

Admission price is high. Food and merchandise prices are sky high. Parking is $15.00! A 20-oz soda is $3.50! Popcorn is $8.00! "Homemade" fudge is made from mix ("just add water") . Best bet: Avoid any food outlet operated by Six Flags - the pizza is especially bad. Burgers are mystery meat. Look for the brands like Papa Johns, Panda Express or Johnny Rockets for places that are cleaner and have better value.

Call ahead - most of the time the kid's areas are not even operating.. When they boast of 35 children's attractions, they include a slide and swing set.

Note: If the day's attendance is low, shops, restaurants and rides will begin to close. Staff will say they are having "electrical problems".

Live shows are dull and uninspired...music is on tape. Some of the shows are just videos of the Country Music Awards. The parade is just a waste of time. Perhaps Six Flags could clean the costumes and repaint the floats. once in a while.

Another tip: Avoid the early season in April and May - employees are completely untrained - and end of season (October) - no one cares anymore.

So go with low expectations....and lots of cash.

• Pros: Roller coasters
• Cons: Very expensive. Dirty and worn out facilities.

07/10/08

Rip Off!!

by usedsteamer

We stayed at Key Lime Cover Water Park across the street and bought tickets to Great America on line for $40.00 (guests of Key Lime Cove can get them for $35.00). We took the shuttle over so we didn't pay the $15.00 parking fee. First thing we went to was the go karts. Could not believe that it costs extra! $7.00 for a single car and $9.00 for two in one car. We told the kids no. Happiness has begun. We then went on the ride that brings you up in the air and you can see the entire park. I was reading the park map and found that to go to Hurricane Harbor and use any ride that includes a "tube" you have to pay extra! I asked the ride operator how much the charge was and she conveniently didn't know. Found out that it was $9.00 for a single tube and $17 for a double! We told the kids since we spent the money to stay at a waterpark we were not going to pay more money....happiness continues. Asked my husband to go put our suits in a locker so we weren't carrying them all day. I was mad when I found out the "small" locker was $9.00! That's outrageous! Now we are all happy! I have back and neck problems so I planned on riding the park benches while the kids enjoyed their day. Problem is they don't take the "gouge" money and spend it on benches! The other ride that costs extra is the one that drops you 150 feet. I understand and accept the fact of a high ticket price given the costs of labor, electricity, gas and so on, but I truly resent being taken advantage of. Don't nickle and dime customers after you trap them in the front door. Charging extra for rides is not acceptable. Charging extra for the tubes to be used at the "included" water park is a disgrace. Not providing park benches for those that can't ride the rides due to health, pregnancy or age is unbelievable. Then the biggest insult is the "Flash Pass". If we had gotten them it w/h cost us $140.00 for our family of 4. We didn't and come to find out they are only good on 8!

• Pros: many rollercoasters to choose from
• Cons: hidden costs for an "inclusive park"

10/22/07

Worst food service ever!!

by luna47

My boyfriend and I went to Great America for Fright Fest on Saturday, 10/20/2007 from 4PM to 10PM. At 5PM and 6:30PM, we walked around the entire park looking for the shortest food line and found that they were all extremely long. We figured the lines must move reasonably fast even though they were long. Several food stands and restaurants were completely closed, despite it being one of the busiest days of the year for the park. We figured the folks behind the counter must be doing the best they could to keep the line moving, so we waited patiently.. For OVER AN HOUR EACH TIME! When we got to the front of the line, we saw that they were completely and totally taking their sweet time, despite a LONG line of hungry, overcharged, tired people waiting in line. I'm fine with waiting a while if the folks behind the counter are doing the best they can, but they were reeeeeeeally taking their time and moving verrrrrrrrry slowly. No sense of urgency whatsoever. None. And the few managers we saw were clearly not telling their employees to pick up the pace. When we were hungry the second time, we thought we got lucky finding a food booth out of the way by the kids land and there was just one lonely nearly elderly woman behind the counter. However, it turned out the line was on the other side of the stand with about 40 people waiting in it. Why would they have ONE person (moving slowly, might I add) working a LARGE food booth? I think that management really just does not care. If they did, they would at least have managers advising employees to move a little quicker. Granted, it was an extremely crowded day, but it looked like they anticipated an extremely slow day, not even an average day. Whoever's job it is to manage these things is either surfing the web all day instead of planning or they are doing it on purpose for some reason, like to keep the lines for rides a little shorter because people are waiting hours just for a water or some food! NOT cool!

• Pros: Great atmosphere for Fright Fest!!! Great rides!
• Cons: Absolutely the worst food service EVER

10/11/06

Stomach-reeling roller coasters and cool rides for kids add up to big-time family fun.

by Elisa Kronish

The Appeal
Great America is a sprawling 110-acre park with themed areas of adventure, thrill rides, live shows and video and arcade games. The main events are the rides--over 40 in all. General-admission tickets include everything except food, drinks, merchandise, special attractions and carnival games.

Facts and Features
Best bets are Superman: Ultimate Flight, Raging Bull, American Eagle, King Chaos, Ragin' Cajun and Giant Drop. For state-of-the-art stomach dropping, get in line for two favorite rides: Vertical Velocity is a suspended spiral coaster on which riders rocket up two vertical towers at speeds around 70 mph in less than four seconds--and then back down. The Deja Vu coaster is the world's tallest and fastest of its kind. Strapped into ski lift-style chairs suspended from above, riders launch straight up backward, then plummet down head-over-heels over the outside of a vertical loop and giant boomerang turn.

10/09/06

PACK A LUNCH, and have a blast

by shecat88

What an awesome park! HOWEVER pack your lunch . I went with a group of five. Fright fest was amazing, but DO NOT get the food, besides being pricey , we ordered hamburgers. . all were over priced and under cooked. My boyfriend had 'problems' (in the toilet) all night after digesitng the "meat" - we should have known but -we were starving - and how can you mess up a burger. But . . . positive speaking - rides are great,. big park- gr8 fun.

• Pros: fun rides, games, and activities
• Cons: food, long lines, expensive ( games and food)

06/23/06

Worst park experience + arrogance

by comengo

This park turned out to be a disappointment. At every turn, especially in The Hurricane Harbor, there is someone telling you what to do, and wouldn't you know it - it is for your own safety. I visited with my five-year-old son and it was an extremely negative experience . We were not allowed to go down some water slides together - and he wouldn't go alone - because supposedly the weight would go over some unnamed limit (our combined weight is no more than 205 lbs). It would have been a little bit more understandable had these restrictions been clearly posted BEFORE one bought the tickets. When talking to a manager I was arrogantly told no refunds were poossible and they couldn't offer any other compensation for the unpleasant experience.

• Pros: Cannot see any.
• Cons: Restrictions not clearly posted before you buy tickets; no refunds.

10/19/05

Very nice

by robb2003

It depends on the day you go. If you go on a Saturday in summer or Fright Fest, it gets PACKED beyond belief. Great America can get very crowded but i'm not going to hold that against them, they have awesome/fast operations compared to other Six Flags parks.

Speaking of Hurricane Harbor it's VERY well themed. The tropical atmosphere, palm trees, music all flow perfectly. Its very nice to walk through.

About Great America, the rides selection is top of the line. They do not have a 'bad' coasters like most parks do, and some of the best coasters in the world like Raging Bull, DejaVu, and Batman. The surprising thing about Great America, most all the rides are open! (very different from other Six Flags parks)...Great America has a wonderful selection of classic and modern flat rides that are a joy and some of the best water rides around.

• Pros: Rides (thrill&mild), Operations/Employees, Value
• Cons: Line misbehaviour, Slow/expensive food

08/01/05

tons o fun

by ingalou

two words "fast pass". You must buy this in order to not wait in line for hours. It is worth it but spendy. This brings you to the front of the line within minutes. The rollercoasters are excellent with raging bull being the best ever. Do not go to the waterpark. Way too many people to enjoy yourself. You end up standing in lines for way too long to go on a slide and receive a horrendous sunburn.

• Pros: clean, great coasters
• Cons: expensive, crowded

07/13/05

Six Flags is Fun For everyone

by sarahfrankiewicz

Often when "rural folk" leave the comforts of city limits they become overwhelmed by the diversity and colour the rest of the world offers. When visiting Six Flags one becomes privied to experience what the rest of the world looks like. If you become tired of possum for dinner come check out Six Flags and experience the time of your life!

• Pros: great rides, good food, interesting people
• Cons: long lines, expensive food, interesting people