Top Eight Roller Coasters at Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America, located in Gurnee, Illinois, is considered among the top three best amusement parks owned by the largest amusement park corporation according to properties in the world, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. The park currently has thirteen roller coasters, sits on 304 acres of land, and has an annual attendance of about three million people. In this blog post, I will be counting down the top eight roller coasters at Six Flags Great America. The roller coasters will be placed in order of how good they are, according to my opinion. Only roller coasters I have ridden can be included in this to be as unbiased as possible, and I have only ridden nine of them at the park, so this cannot be a top ten, but rather a top eight because it is an even number.

8. Whizzer

Whizzer opened with Marriott's Great America in 1976, before the park was bought by Six Flags years later. It's a 70-foot tall and 3,100-foot long family coaster that reaches a maximum speed of 42 mph. While its stats aren't impressive because of its family appeal, Whizzer is a very low-to-the-ground coaster that has some intense and picturesque moments, including turns just feet off of the ground and drops over water.

7. Superman: Ultimate Flight

Superman: Ultimate Flight is a trio of Bolliger & Mabillard Flying Coasters that opened at Six Flags Great America, Six Flags Great Adventure, and Six Flags Over Georgia. The first two opened in 2003, and the latter opened in 2002 as only the second B&M Flying Coaster. The one at Six Flags Great America is 106 feet tall and reaches speeds of 51 mph. It is a very enjoyable roller coaster, but after the 78-foot pretzel loop (pictured), the ride is consists of small swooping turns to mimic flight. Although the coaster is considered a star attraction at Six Flags Great America, I feel that it wasn't as good as I had heard it was.

6. Vertical Velocity

As competition in the amusement park industry rose in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Six Flags Great America opened two roller coasters in one year, those being Vertical Velocity and Déjà Vu. While Vertical Velocity is similar to many other roller coasters across the globe, it is still a great ride. It is tied with two other coasters as the fourth tallest and second fastest inverted coaster. It is 185 feet tall and reaches speeds of 70 mph.

5. Viper

Opened in 1995, Viper was the first, (and still is the only), roller coaster built exclusively by Six Flags. It is a mirror image of the Coney Island Cyclone and is the tallest "Cyclone" variant. While the ride is one of the least popular attractions at Six Flags Great America, it is among the best, in my opinion, because of its many track crossovers and airtime moments, including a double down. It is 100 feet tall, 3,458 feet long, and reaches speeds of 50 mph.

4. BATMAN: The Ride

BATMAN: The Ride may not be an original name because it is seen across the globe used for many coasters, but, this BATMAN: The Ride is the original. This particular installation was the first ever inverted roller coaster in the world, where the coaster's track is turned upside down, leaving riders' feet dangling. It was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard and opened in 1992 with an all black color scheme, but it has since been repainted. This coaster has inspired many others because of its G-force, intensity, and compact layout.

3. Raging Bull

Opened in 1999, Raging Bull was the second hyper coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, succeeding Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg that opened just months before. While Raging Bull is tall and fast, it isn't intense, and it doesn't have as much airtime as was intended to occur by the designers of its layout. It's easily one of the best hyper coasters on paper, but, in reality, it's just fun. If the trim didn't create so much friction, it would be one of the best coasters from B&M.

2. X-Flight

X-Flight opened in 2012 as the fourth B&M Wing Coaster in the world and the second in the U.S. It is considered to be among the best Wing Coasters in the world because of its inversions, compact and interwoven layout, near miss elements, and theming. It is currently the only Wing Coaster themed to actual flight itself, and it was the first roller coaster in the U.S. to have a Wing-Over drop. And, I can't forget to mention how beautiful this coaster is. Its red and black color scheme is one of my all-time favorites.

1. Goliath

Ignoring the fact that this Rocky Mountain Construction wooden masterpiece has a generic name, it is, in my opinion, the best coaster at Six Flags Great America. It is 165 feet tall, it drops 180 feet into a fifteen-foot underground tunnel, and it reaches speeds of 72 mph while navigating overbanked turns, airtime hills, and two inversions never featured on wooden coasters before, a dive loop and a zero-g stall. The only bad thing about Goliath is how short it is, but, its intensity makes up for it in the end.

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Six Flags Great America entrance and Viper photos courtesy of themeparkreview.com
Whizzer photo courtesy of parkthoughts.com
Superman: Ultimate Flight photo courtesy of Freddie Ross
Vertical Velocity and BATMAN: The Ride photos courtesy of Six Flags
Raging Bull photo courtesy of rollercoasterphilosophy.com
X-Flight photo courtesy of bleckarchitects.com
Goliath photo courtesy of coastergallery.com