Six Flags Great America

Gurnee, Illinois, United States

Home
Theme Parks
North America
United States
Six Flags Great America

Twin park to California's Great America, Six Flags Great America is located near Chicago and boasts one of the largest collections of rollercoasters in the world.

Opened	29 May 1976
Season	April to November
Owner	Six Flags
Attendance	3,000,000 (TEA 2023)
Website	www.sixflags.com/greatamerica/
Nearby	Bay Beach Amusement Park (150 miles) Cedar Point (277 miles) Kings Island (283 miles) Adventureland (290 miles) Holiday World (298 miles)

The Columbia Carousel

Six Flags Great America originally opened in 1976 as Mariott's Great America, sister park to the similarly named Mariott's Great America in Santa Clara, CA, which is now known as California's Great America.

Both parks took American history as their overarching theme, and were opened in time to celebrate the United States Bicentennial. Upon opening, both parks had copies of several attractions. These included the Carousel Columbia and the pool leading up to it, which form the spectacular entrance areas to the parks to this day.

The Illinois park was sold to Six Flags in 1984, and renamed Six Flags Great America. The theme park has grown rapidly since then, and can now claim to have one of the largest collections of rollercoasters in the world. Ride highlights include Goliath, an RMC hybrid coaster; Raging Bull, a superb B&M hyper coaster; and American Eagle, Intamin's first ever wooden rollercoaster, which opened in 1981.

As one of the larger Six Flags theme parks, Great America is amongst the best parks in the chain in terms of ride selection and general park atmosphere.