Six Flags Great America, also known as Great America, is a amusement park in Gurnee, Illinois, United States, between Chicago and Milwaukee. As Illinois' largest amusement park, the park features 44 attractions, including 16 roller coasters. The park is owned and operated by Six Flags. In 2024, it was the sixth-most visited seasonal amusement park in North America and the sixth-most visited Six Flags park, with an estimated 3.05 million guests. Located adjacent to the park is Hurricane Harbor Chicago, a separately-gated water park.
In the 1970s, Marriott Corporation planned to build a theme park chain amidst a trend of developing new theme parks, with one in California and the other in Illinois. Named Marriott's Great America, the park was designed by architect Randall Duell and had an Americana theme. Built at a cost of US$50 million, the park opened to the public on May 29, 1976. It was later sold to Six Flags in 1984, which renamed it Six Flags Great America. Following the acquisition, the park expanded under Six Flags ownership. Major additions include Batman: The Ride in 1992, the world's first inverted roller coaster, and Southwest Territory, a multi-phase project in the mid-to-late 1990s that introduced attractions such as Viper and Raging Bull. Since the 2000s, the park has continued to expand through additions such as the Hurricane Harbor water park and major roller coasters like Goliath and Maxx Force, along with new themed areas and operational changes following the 2024 merger of Cedar Fair and Six Flags.
Six Flags Great America is divided into 11 themed sections, with areas based on Americana and DC Comics, along with children's areas. It operates seasonally from April to November, hosting the annual Halloween event Fright Fest in the fall. The park has received several awards from organizations such as the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) and Amusement Today. Three of the park's roller coasters are designated as ACE Coaster Landmarks, a program which recognizes historically significant roller coasters. The park and its attractions have been featured in popular media such as the movie Richie Rich and the web show Run BTS.
History
1972–1984: Marriott era
1972–1976: Development and construction In the early 1970s, the hospitality company Marriott Corporation sought to start a chain of state-of-the-art theme parks in order to capitalize on the trend of rapidly-developing amusement parks throughout the United States that began in the 1960s. Each of these parks would be named Marriott's Great America and themed around American history, and would open in time for the nation's bicentennial. From the beginning, three parks were planned, as Marriott identified underserved metropolitan areas that could support a major amusement park: Baltimore–Washington, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Chicago–Milwaukee.Novick, Steve. "Great America theme park near tiny Gurnee: $50 million playground ready next spring", Elk Grove Village Herald, March 31, 1975. Only the plans for the California and Illinois parks proceeded, while the flagship Marriott theme park slated for the Maryland and Virginia area was cancelled due to local opposition.Zenzen, Joan. "Great America in Manassas", Battling for Manassas: The Fifty-Year Preservation Struggle at Manassas National Battlefield Park, Penn State Press, 2010.Leonard, Kevin. "Marriott theme park, Redskins stadium once planned in Laurel" , The Baltimore Sun, May 31, 2013.
The development of the park was led by David Brown, the vice president of Marriott's theme park division, while veteran theme park designer Randall Duell was the leader of the park's design team. Duell created two nearly identical plans for the Illinois park and its sister park in Santa Clara, California. With an overarching Americana theme in mind, Marriott's designers traveled across the country, observing styles and collecting artifacts to help inform an authentic atmosphere.
Instead of utilizing a spoke-hub design found at other theme parks, the park was designed on Duell's original park layout design named the "Duell loop," a circular path that allowed guests to visit each themed area while employees can work out of sight in the middle of the park. The original six themed areas of the park would be:
Carousel Plaza: the main plaza entrance for the park Orleans Place: representing Southern United States in the mid-1800s Yankee Harbor: a 19th-century New England port Yukon Territory: resembling a town in the Canadian Yukon The Great Midwest Livestock Exposition at County Fair (also referred to as Midwest County Fair): themed on a 20th-century rural county fair Hometown Square: based on early 20th century small towns of the Midwest
Marriott selected of rural land in Gurnee, Illinois, straddling Interstate 94 on August 22, 1972. The land was chosen for its location between Chicago and Milwaukee and direct access to Interstate 94. Purchasers of the land were not revealed to the public during that period, but the Chicago Tribune speculated a new theme park for the land. Marriott then officially announced the Gurnee theme park on January 29, 1973. Of the of land, the theme park would reside on the plot of land east of Interstate 94.
At the time, Gurnee was a rural village with a population of around 3,300 residents and as a result, the project sparked debate among residents. However, Richard Welton, the then-mayor of Gurnee, supported the project. Marriott received approval from Gurnee's village board in April 1973, but the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority rejected a proposal for an interchange to be built to lead directly into the parking lot in June 1973. An advisory referendum in the fall of 1973 concluded that 7 out of 10 residents approved the theme park.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held on Flag Day, June 14, 1974, with Marriott officials and Mayor Welton taking part in the ceremony. In order to make way for the park's entrance and exit roads, 12 homes were demolished and the street the houses were located on, Pine Street (now Six Flags Drive), was converted into a six-lane road. Construction took two years, involved around 700 workers, and cost in total to build the Illinois theme park.
1976–1984: Opening and initial operations The park officially opened on May 29, 1976, two months after the Marriott's Great America in California. At its opening in 1976, Marriott's Great America featured three roller coasters: Willard's Whizzer, Turn of the Century, and The Gulf Coaster. The park had also included other flat rides throughout the park. These attractions included the double-decker Columbia Carousel which is the second-tallest carousel in the world, and the Sky Whirl, a unique, "triple ferris wheel" custom-designed for Marriott. Transportation rides included Delta Flyer and Eagle's Flight, two one-way gondola sky car rides.
From the beginning, the park made use of the Looney Tunes characters as costumed figures to interact with the park attendees. Each themed area had its own set of costumes for park employees, and the design of buildings, shops and restaurants were all unique to each theme.
The park's second season in 1977 saw the installation of several new rides. The Sky Trek Tower was built, offering views of the park, Lake Michigan, and the Chicago skyline. A third gondola sky ride, Southern Cross, was added, which offered a round trip and a higher view than the other two gondola rides. A few new spinning rides were added, such as Big Top, Davy Jones' Dinghies, and Hay Baler. The Gulf Coaster was removed for the 1977 season.
Two new attractions were added in 1978. The park's first children's section, named Fort Fun, opened in the section designated the Yukon Territory. Additionally, Great America's fourth roller coaster, Tidal Wave, a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop, opened in Yankee Harbor. The Pictorium, an IMAX theatre, opened in 1979, and claimed to have the world's largest screen, at 64.5 by 88.25 feet (19.6 × 26.9 m).
The Turn of the Century roller coaster closed and was rethemed in 1980. Two vertical loops were added, along with two tunnels and the ride was re-themed and renamed Demon. The ride featured an original theme song and new demon-themed elements. American Eagle, a racing wooden roller coaster, opened in 1981, exclusive to the Gurnee park. The tracks share a drop of and reach speeds of , totaling of combined track. It opened as the tallest, fastest and longest dueling wooden coaster. The Picnic Grove was added in 1982 as a dining and meeting place for group outings. Two entrances for the pavilion would be located between Yankee Harbor and Yukon Territory.
In 1983, two rides were added: The Edge, an Intamin first-generation freefall ride, was added to the Orleans Place section of the park, and White Water Rampage, an Intamin water rapids ride. White Water Rampage was added to Orleans Place, which required the removal of small rides such as Traffique Jam. The Orleans Orbit was moved from its original Orleans Place location to Hometown Square, and became simply The Orbit, taking the spot of the Bottoms Up spinning ride.
1984–1993: Initial operations under Six Flags By the mid-1980s, the Marriott Corporation was disappointed with the financial performance of its theme park division, with lower profits than the company expected, in part because the third and largest of its Great America parks was never realized. As a result, Marriott decided to focus on its lodging and restaurant division and began searching for buyers for its two amusement parks.
In 1984, Marriott sold the California theme park to the city of Santa Clara, California. Around the same time, Bally Manufacturingthe then-parent company of the Six Flags Corporationoffered to purchase the Gurnee park for on April 26, 1984. The sale was finalized in May 1984, and as part of the acquisition, Six Flags also acquired the rights to use the Looney Tunes characters at all of its other parks. By the time Marriott sold the parks, the company had invested $200 million into both theme parks. The park was renamed Six Flags Great America for the 1984 season."Bally's adds Great America to network", Southern Illinoisan, April 27, 1984. After the 1984 season, the park's gondola rides, Eagle's Flight and Delta's Flyer, were removed. In 1985, Six Flags added Z-Force to the County Fair area, a one-of-a-kind Intamin space diver roller coaster. The Edge was removed in 1986. In 1987, the park received one new ride and a themed area expansion. Power Dive, an Intamin Looping Starship ride was added. It was a ride swung back and forth before eventually rotating a complete 360 degrees a few times. Additionally, the Bugs Bunny Land kids area was expanded. Z-Force was removed from Six Flags Great America after the 1987 season, two years after it first operated. It was relocated to Six Flags Over Georgia.
While operating the Six Flags chain, Bally found that the excess resources demanded and high seasonal fluctuations of the theme park business made it an unnecessary burden on its core interests. In 1987, Bally sold Six Flags to Wesray Capital Corporation and a group of Six Flags managers. Several acquisitions were re-sold or closed, while Wesray moved the company's focus from theming to major attractions. This ushered in an era of major new rides and roller coasters at Six Flags parks like Great America.Clavé, Salvador Anton. The Global Theme Park Industry, CABI, 2007.
1988 saw the first of the new coasters, with the addition of the roller coaster Shockwave, an Arrow Dynamics mega-looper, opening in Orleans Place section of the park on June 3, 1988. Shockwave was the world's tallest roller coaster at the time it opened. In 1989, the park received an Intamin Bobsled roller coaster named Rolling Thunder. The ride was a relocation of Six Flags Great Adventure's Sarajevo Bobsled, which closed at that park the year prior. Rolling Thunder was added between Demon and Whizzer.