A few months ago Sam and I did a multi-state, multi-park trip starting in Missouri and ending in Kentucky. Although we visited so many bucket list places, along with a few favorites, the most anticipated stop of that trip was to Silver Dollar City (SDC). It was the park we intentionally planned to visit twice whereas all the other parks would be one day stops.
On this trip with Jen, we also had a highly anticipated stop in Six Flags Great America (SFGAm). Like with SDC, SFGAm is a park I have had on my bucket list for way too long. And with the size of the park and all of its coasters, one day would not be enough. But lucky for us, we had some friends to show us around – Steven & Rocco from Thrill Maxx.
Meeting Up With Friends Again, Finally
A few years ago I had the chance to finally meet Steven and Rocco when they made a swing through our neck of the wood. They visited Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) and Kings Dominion. I was able to head down and meet up with them during their visit to Kings Dominion, along with Kaylee, Chris, and Carrie. We had a blast up until the incident on Intimidator 305. I won’t get into that here, but if you’d like to read about that, check out that day’s trip report, “Kings Dominion – A Day of Appreciation & Thrills.”
With it being almost four years since that meet up, I was looking forward to seeing Steven and Rocco again. Steven told me numerous times that if I were able to make it out to his home park, SFGAm, to let him know because he wanted to give us the grand tour. And boy did he ever!
I was shocked at how big and how stacked SFGAm’s ride line up is and I had no idea how to go about riding everything. Our plan was to get Flash Passes for Day 1 and then take our chances on Day 2. The park was crowded, but apparently that’s the norm for this park.
Raging Bull
We kicked things off with a ride on Raging Bull. I’ve long been a fan of B&M Hyper Coasters ever since my first rides on Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) and Apollo’s Chariot at BGW. The floater airtime and the views still hold up all these years later.
In more recent years I have added numerous other B&M Hypers to my credit list including: Diamondback (Kings Island), Thunder Striker (Carowinds), Goliath (Six Flags Over Georgia – SFOG), and Candymonium at my home park, Hersheypark. From everything I’ve heard though, Raging Bull is like none of them with its twister layout elements. I couldn’t wait to ride and see for myself. We went directly to the ride and to the back row at Steven’s recommendation, no… insistence.
Okay… Wow! This ride delivered. What a way to start off our visit. The airtime was amazing and the layout felt like nothing I was used to with all those other B&M Hypers. I had to ride it again and just like that first ride, it came in the back row and was amazing!
Goliath
As much as I love a B&M Hyper, a chance to ride a brand new RMC is something I wasn’t going to pass up. Before this visit, my RMC credits included: New Texas Giant (Six Flags Over Texas – SFOT), Iron Rattler (Six Flags Fiesta Texas – SFFT), Twisted Timbers (Kings Dominion), Steel Vengeance (Cedar Point), Wind Chaser (Kentucky Kingdom), Wicked Cyclone (Six Flags New England – SFNE), Twisted Cyclone (SFOG), Lightning Rod (Dollywood), Jersey Devil Coaster (SFGAdv), Wildcat’s Revenge (Hersheypark), and most recently Outlaw Run (SDC).
While that’s quite the list of amazing coasters, I’ve had my eye on Goliath for years. The biggest reason being that infamous moment of hangtime. I love me some good hangtime and I’ve longest see if Goliath’s POV’s could live up to my expectations.
Well, after two rides I can say that it did. My biggest complaint about the ride is the one that every other person has – it’s short. Other than that, this ride rocks! I loved the airtime and how smooth this topper track woodie felt. It was much smoother than Lightning Rod (when it was still wood) and the rides I had on Outlaw Run a few months ago. When we return to the park for Day 2, I wanted to ride this a bunch more.
American Eagle
If you came here expecting me to talk about the newly opened Wrath of Rakshasa or Maxx Force, you’ll have to wait until I post the trip report for Day 2. While I did get two rides on Maxx Force that I absolutely loved, Wrath needs another experience or two since our Flash Pass had only one use for the day.
Instead of those two headliners, I want to talk about one of its former headliners – an iconic ride in American Eagle. As we made our way throughout the park, the large wooden coaster at the rear was constantly on my mind. I rode some amazing woodies with Sam a few months ago, along with some stinkers. How would American Eagle fair? I couldn’t wait to find out.
And great news… both sides were running! Hell yeah!
Okay, first things first. The walk back to this ride rivals that of The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis (SFSL), but that is where the similarities end. American Eagle, both sides, were both hell of a ride. I loved them with my nod going to Red as my favorite of the two. We even returned again later for another lap on both, but only Red was running at that time. Good thing we got both in earlier.
I can’t put my finger on what I adore about this coaster other than the fact that I had a ton of fun riding it. Does it need to be more than that? I say no.
Final Ride Counts
American Eagle: Blue (1)
American Eagle: Red (2)
Batman the Ride (1)
Dark Knight (1)
Demon (1)
Flash Vertical Velocity (1)
Goliath (2)
Joker (1)
Justice League Battle for Metropolis (1)
Logger’s Run (1)
Maxx Force (2)
Raging Bull (2)
Viper (1)
Whizzer (1)
Wrath of Rakshasa (1)
X-Flight (2)
Doing it All Again Tomorrow!
Although we managed to get in 21 seperate rides on Day 1, there are still several coasters that we missed – most notably, Superman: Ultimate Flight and Little Dipper. This is exactly why I wanted a second day at the park. Well, that and I wanted to make sure we got in re-rides on our favorites. So far those favorites include Maxx Force, Goliath, and Raging Bull. That being said, however, I also wanted to jump back on Batman the Ride, Viper, Wrath of Rakshasa, and X-Flight.
Man… what a stacked line up! After one visit, this park might just be my favorite vintage Six Flags park. I’ll get back to you after tomorrow’s visit and let you know for sure.
Six Flags Great America Photo Gallery - July 1, 2025
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CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): American Eagle: Blue, American Eagle: Red, Batman the Ride, Dark Knight, Demon, Flash Vertical Velocity, Goliath, Joker, Maxx Force, Raging Bull, Viper, Whizzer, Wrath of Rakshasa, X-Flight
Jen
Admiral
New Credit(s): American Eagle: Blue, American Eagle: Red, Batman the Ride, Dark Knight, Demon, Flash Vertical Velocity, Goliath, Joker, Maxx Force, Raging Bull, Viper, Whizzer, Wrath of Rakshasa, X-Flight