From August 3rd to August 6th, 2025, my mom and I visited Michigan's Adventure and Six Flags Great America!
After a day and a half of fun at Michigan's Adventure, we ventured off to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois the following morning. After a four hour drive (with a time zone change), we arrived at Six Flags Great America around 11am CDT, 30 minutes after the park opened for the day.
I was excited to be back at Six Flags Great America as it was a park my mom and I greatly enjoyed during a road trip two years ago! Since our previous visit, two new rides have been added to Six Flags Great America consisting the new for 2025 Wrath of Rakshasa dive coaster and Sky Striker, a giant frisbee ride that opened in 2024!
Also during this visit, I was finally able to ride the Whizzer and the Demon as they were both closed during my visit two years ago. I was excited to ride these classic roller coasters as they date back to the park's opening in 1976! Both were really fun and ride amazingly for their age!
We had a great two days at Six Flags Great America and were happy to be back! Be sure to check out my photos below! 🙂🎢
August 5th:
Since our visit in July 2023, the entrance to Six Flags Great America was redone, with the addition of this beautiful security screening area.
Here's a look at the iconic double carousel, Columbia Carousel as you enter the park.
I was so excited and happy to finally be able to experience the Whizzer as it was closed during our visit two years ago!
Whizzer opened with the park in 1976, originally known as Willard's Whizzer, named after Willard Marriott, the original owner of the park. Six Flags acquired Great America from Marriott in 1984.
Whizzer is located in the Hometown Square section. It was manufactured by Schwarzkopf and is the last remaining Speed Racer/Extended Jumbo Jet roller coaster operating in North America and one of two remaining in the World! A total of four units were built by Schwarzkopf.
Whizzer is a perfect roller coaster for families and guests of all ages as it features many swooping drops and turns!
A ride on the Whizzer starts off with a journey up the 70 foot tall spiral lift hill. Each car is equipped with a motor that makes contact with an electric hot rail to propel the train up the lift hill.
The Whizzer operates with two, four car trains that can hold up to 24 passengers per train featuring in-line seating.
The swooping drops and winding turns are what make the Whizzer very fun!
The majority of Whizzer is surrounded by many trees.
Here's a look at the station for Whizzer.
After enjoying a ride on the classic Whizzer, I was looking forward to riding another classic roller coaster at Six Flags Great America that was also closed during my visit two years ago.
But before I got to it, I captured some photos of the new-for-2025 Wrath of Rakshasa! Here's a look at the 180 foot tall lift hill and holding brake!
While not the tallest of Dive Coasters manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard, Wrath of Rakshasa does feature five inversions, making it the most inversions on a dive coaster!
The other classic coaster I was looking forward to riding is the Demon! The entrance for the Demon is now hidden below the Wrath of Rakshasa. Before riding Wrath of Rakshasa, I got in line for the Demon.
While not the most thrilling of roller coasters by today's standards, the Demon has a historical significance at Six Flags Great America as it opened with the park in 1976 as Turn of the Century. When Demon operated as Turn of the Century from 1976 through 1979, it originally featured two airtime hills and two corkscrew inversions. For 1980, the Turn of the century and its identical sister coaster at California's Great America were transformed into the Demon! The two airtime hills were replaced with vertical loops for an added thrill. The track was painted black and tunnels were added.
The Demon rode very well for a roller coaster of its age. The inversions weren't quite as jarring as other Arrow looping roller coasters I have been on.
It is kind of surprising to see an Arrow looping coaster without a station house. Luckily there are some large trees that provide some shade.
The vertical loops of the Demon peek out from behind the surrounding trees.
The tunnels and rock work along the track of the Demon are really neat. Although it would be awesome to have experienced the tunnel after the loop with its red lights flashing! I imagine that would have been a bit disorientating!
After getting rides on two classic roller coasters, it was time to ride Wrath of Rakshasa, the newest roller coaster at Six Flags Great America! Since the Wrath of Rakshasa was built in the County Fair section, it is themed to a travelling show presented by the Ornelas Brothers, featuring the mythical beings of Rakshasas.
The first drop is beyond vertical, with a 96° angle!
I love how compact the Wrath of Rakshasa is with its 3,239 feet of track consisting of five inversions flying over the pathway of Country Fair!
The compact layout and snappy inversions are a winning combination! Of note, Wrath of Rakshasa features a bin system similar to the one first designed for Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland in 2019!
Off-ride video of Wrath of Rakshasa:
The flag atop the Sky Trek Tower was flying in the wind.
Up next was a ride on the Lobster, another classic ride at Six Flags Great America. I always enjoy riding rides such as this as the rising, spinning, and lowering motion is so much fun!
Off-ride video of The Lobster:
Here's a look at the 2025 park map for Six Flags Great America.
Up next was a ride on the Sky Trek Tower.
Sky Trek Tower is now 48 years old and still offers some great views of the park! Here's a look at the Wrath of Rakshasa.
Here's a look at the iconic Columbia Carousel.
You can get a great view of the Whizzer from the Sky Trek Tower.
There's another train of riders on the classic roller coaster!
Sadly Maxx Force was closed during this visit. But I am grateful to have rode it during my visit two years ago! Later in the day, I managed to get rides on Raging Bull, Viper, American Eagle, and Giant Drop, all pictured.
Once back on the ground, I joined my mom for a ride on the iconic Columbia Carousel.
We hopped onto two rabbits!
For lunch we headed to Strutters. I ordered a crispy chicken sandwich with a side of waffle fries. Both were quite good. I am looking forward to next year when my all-parks all season dining plan will work at all Six Flags parks. I did use my 35% off discount on my legacy Six Flags membership though, which brought my meal down to a more acceptable price.
After lunch, I headed over to the Southwest Territory to ride Viper, a fun wooden roller coaster! Viper was still riding amazingly well like it had two years ago!
I really love the theming of the Southwest Territory. It features some wonderful old western themed buildings and Mexican architecture.
After Viper, I got in line for Raging Bull. Unfortunately it was down to operating with one train due to maintenance. But the wait was worth it as this Hyper Coaster is really fun!
I had forgotten how fun and intense Raging Bull is!
I love how forceful the turns are!
Here's a look at Sky Striker, a 172 foot tall Zamperla manufactured frisbee ride that opened at the park in 2024. It replaced the Revolution, an older Huss Frisbee ride.
After I enjoyed some of the rides in the Southwest Territory, we made our way over to the back of County Fair to ride American Eagle. On our way over, I captured this photo of the yellow train going through the one of two corkscrew inversions on the Demon.
The American Eagle is a fun, dual out-and-back wooden roller coaster with a 147 foot drop, airtime hills, mid-course helix, and a finale helix. I really enjoyed this one in 2023 and enjoyed it again during this visit.
After a thrilling ride on American Eagle, was a ride on the relaxing Great America Scenic Railway.
Here's my mom and I on the Great America Scenic Railway.
It provides a relaxing journey around the park with various Looney Tunes characters lining the track.
You can also get great vantage points of the park's other rides from the Great America Scenic Railway.
Here's another shot of the Whizzer!
Here's another train-full of riders about to take the plunge on the Wrath of Rakshasa!
After taking a full ride on the Great America Scenic Railway, I took a spin on another classic ride at the park, Fiddler's Fling! This Schwarzkopf Calypso is very forceful!
Another ride that wasn't open during my visit in July 2023 was the Logger's Run log flume. I was happy to see it operating during this visit!
It is a classic Arrow manufactured log flume that features a double-dip drop. It was really fun!
After Logger's Run, I took headed over to Flash: Vertical Velocity. These Intamin twisted impulse coasters are always great fun, especially in the front or the back of the train!
The Condor was the last ride to tick off my list of rides that were closed during my visit in 2023 that I looked forward to riding. Thankfully it was open this visit! This is now the fourth Huss Condor ride that I have been on to date. They're a fun ride as they're like a scrambler in the sky! The Condor opened at Six Flags Great America in 1991 and had previously operated at Six Flags Great Adventure from 1988 to 1990.
My final ride of the day was on the Giant Drop, the 230 foot tall drop tower!
Here's a look at the Columbia Carousel before heading out for the night!
My mom and I had a great day at Six Flags Great America!
August 6th:
Our second day at Six Flags Great America started off quite sunny and breezy!
Once the park and rides opened for the day, I headed straight for Superman: Ultimate Flight! I really enjoyed my rides on both this one and the one at Great Adventure in the past, so I was looking forward to riding it once again! The pretzel loop and in-line twist are so forceful!
After flying like Superman, I took a ride on the indoor Dark Knight Coaster. This coaster is ridiculously fun as you ride the tight turns of the wild mouse coaster track in near darkness!
To cool off, I decided to ride Roaring Rapids. It seemed more drenching than it did two years ago, which is great!
I noticed The Joker had a fairly short line, so I decided to line up as I have always enjoyed the intensity of the flips that the cars make along the track!
I am happy to report that the original Batman The Ride is still riding amazingly well!
Aquaman Splashdown is a fun Arrow Hydro Flume that features a soaking finale!
I can never pass up a ride on a Wave Swinger! DC Super-Villains Swing is located in the DC Universe section of the park.
While passing through Yukon Territory, I decided to take a spin on the Winner's Circle go karts as I had a free ride to redeem thanks to my legacy Six Flags membership.
Here I am getting ready to go!
Funnily enough, I ended up being the only one riding the go karts when I went around on this cycle! The cycles before and after me had many riders! I can safely say I won the race after 7 laps!🤣
After a fun drive on the Winner's Circle Go karts, my mom and I had lunch at the Yukon BBQ Pit restaurant in Yukon Territory. The dry rubbed wings, smashed potatoes, and corn bread balls were really good!
It is a really nice and clean dining facility!
After lunch I rode Goliath! This ground-up RMC wooden looping coaster rode a lot better than I recalled, which was a nice surprise! Maybe I caught it on a bad day in July 2023?
After Goliath, my mom and I took another ride on the Great America Scenic Railway.
From the train, here is the yellow train on the Demon going through one of two vertical loops.
We got off in Hometown Square so I could ride Triple Play and Hometown Fun Machine. Troika rides are always so much fun!
I feel like many visitors of Six Flags Great America walk by the Hometown Fun Machine as it is tucked away behind a building. It is a fun Scrambler ride with a decent ride cycle.
Next to the Hometown Fun Machine is the Whizzer.
After a ride on the Hometown Fun Machine, I took a ride on the Whizzer, followed by a spin on the Lobster.
The Demon was calling my name for another ride through its four inversions! It is such a fun classic looping coaster!
Afterwards, I ventured over to the Dole Whip stand near DC Universe for a pineapple-mango Dole Whip. With my 35% off discount thanks to my legacy Six Flags membership, it was a really great deal for the amount of ice cream you get!
After finishing my pineapple-mango dole whip, I took a spin on the Big Easy Balloons in the Mardi Gras section, off of Orleans Place. It is a relaxing ride great for visitors of all ages!
I then took a spin on Rue Le Dodge bumper cars for smashing good time! I forgot how fast and how hard these bumper cars bump! 😂
Afterwards, I took a ride up the Sky Trek Tower. Two years ago, they played the original Great America theme song from the Marriott days throughout the entirety of the ride. Now they play a spiel about the attractions at the park followed by a half playing of the Great America theme song.
Regardless of the audio, you still get great views of the park!
Here's Superman Ultimate Flight completing another flight.
The Condor stands approximately 100 feet tall, but looks small from the 300 foot tall Sky Trek Tower.
With just under two hours until Six Flags Great America closed for the day, we headed back over to Southwest Territory. While there, I rode the Chubasco spinning tea cup ride. Sadly, the disco show appears to be gone that the ride had two years ago.
Up next was a ride on Ricochet. While in line, I captured some photos of the second loop on Demon.
The Immelmann loop on the Wrath of Rakshasa is framed by the loop of the Demon.
Ricochet is a fun Huss Swing Around ride!
My final ride of the day was on Sky Striker, the new for 2024 Zamperla Giant Discovery frisbee ride that swings riders 172 feet above the ground!
While waiting in line, the lights came on, making for quite the show!
The ride is both thrilling and beautiful as the sun goes down!
The lights alternate colours throughout the duration of the ride.
Once I got off Sky Striker, Six Flags Great America had already closed for the night! Wrath of Rakshasa looks quite stunning during both the day and night with its blue and gold paint scheme!
Here's my mom and I as we were walking to the park exit. Wrath of Rakshasa makes for a nice backdrop!
As we were heading to the park exit, the Sky Trek Tower's cabin was going to the top of the tower for the night!
Here's one final look at Carousel Plaza! The centerpiece, Columbia Carousel is quite stunning at night!
The moon made an appearance at around 9pm as we were walking across the parking lot to my car. A very nice way to end a great two days at Six Flags Great America! Thanks for following along!🙂
