SG Great America is the my home park. Meaning near me. I do love the park but some stuff are a bit extreme.

The Good Side:
Water Park, landscape, unique rollercoaster, semi-theme rides, close to Chicago & Milwaukee

Downside:
Cost, which includes "free water-park", restaurants need a bit of upgrade, and parking option.

As rumors are flying there will be separate admission for water park and theme park in the future hopefully this will lower admission price and don't fell like you need to visit both places to get your money worth. If gas prices are killing you the parking is high as well.

Many people complain about the staff, food and such. Yes this is not a "Disney" park. It's Six Flags!! which who concentrates on coasters, thrill rides, family rides and water parks. Not parades, fireworks, and other Disneyparks.

Still I think it's not a bad place to go. Fun for everyone with a little bit extra cost.

My family goes to Great America every summer with passes my children earn from their reading incentive program at school. Every year I am amazed at how much money we spend even though we pay nothing to enter the park. Oh that's right, there's parking. Something new this year (and extremely ridiculous) - parking in the back lot ($15) or the front lot ($25). A little more of a walk will not hurt anyone. Park in the back lot.

We usually pack lunch to eat in the parking lot and then eat dinner in the park. I think that will change for next year and we will pack both meals. They do not let you bring food into the park but it is worth walking to your car to eat the food you bring (even is you stop and pick up sandwiches from Subway or Jimmy Johns). We got a snack (3 hot pretzels and an order of nachos) that cost $24 for our family (without any drinks). We waited forever and one of the hot pretzels was still cold and one was hard as a rock. Service is terrible. The employees treat the "guests" very poorly. We had dinner at Johnny Rockets. Good food but too much of it and unbelievebly high priced. This meal cost us $56 (for 2 burgers and 3 orders chicken strips - no drinks again). We had to throw out so much food - it made me feel sick. If you plan to eat here, plan to split a meal. We did not know how large the plates of food were and our 3 children (big eaters) could have split one order of chicken strips. We brought a water bottle in with us and refilled it throughout the day. The park will let you bring it in if is sealed. That worked out great for us.

The rides are all a lot of fun. We had a great time regardless of the money we had to spend on food. We have learned some things for next year and we hope this helps you.

My kids & I spent a Monday in July at Six Flags Great America. The crowd wasn't too bad, and most of the lines were a farily short wait (15min or less). The two rides with longer lines were Superman and the new Dark Knight coaster. We decided to try the Dark Knight. From the time we got in line till we got off the ride was 50 minutes. It's way over-rated in my opinion -- a small cart that goes back & forth, has a couple of small drops - all in the dark. My kids enjoyed it though.

My son waited in line for the Superman ride -- about an hour I think..
. He liked the ride, but said it wasn't worth the wait. There were several other rides we enjoyed - the Iron Wolf which was a stand up coaster, plus several carnival-type rides that my 6 yr old really enjoyed. My favorite ride of the day was the Whizzer - a very fun, unique coaster.

Parking prices, food prices, etc. were ridiculous, but we've come to expect that at any Six Flags. We live near St. Louis, so visit the St. Louis Six Flags often -- I have to say I enjoyed Great America better than St. Louis...maybe I'm just tired of the one here, but I thought Great America had more ambiance and a wider variety of rides to suit all of our tastes.

The nice perk is that our Six Flags St. Louis season pass worked here as well, so that made it affordable for us to do on vacation.

My daughter wanted to go to Great America for the first time on her 6th b-day. So we packed up and went. Aside from construction the entire trip to the park, it took at least 1/2 hour to get into the park because you have to pay $15-$25 to park in their cruddy parking lot. By cruddy I mean it needs repaired. We parked in the backlot to save $15. As we were entering the crosswalk, the crossing guard actually waived cars forward. Everything is very commercialized with ads everywhere. Park wasn't disgusting filthy but could be better kept. Many rides backdrops needed repainted. Food is so unbelievably high priced. 4 soft drinks and 1 chicken strips dinner $28...and I waited 15-20 mins to get it. That's not including the time in line to place the order. It wasn't that busy either. Also the reviews posted here about uncaring workers....there's some truth to that. In the cartoon section, my daughters road the boat ride. My 3 yr old was trying to get out herself and nearly fell into the water...meanwhile 4 workers were conversing to the side. I loved this place as a kid....but will not be going back. If you do go...by and ice cream treat at the stroller rental for $2. It's the only bargain in the place.