Your "Strategy"

[DejaVu2001]

^ If he's coming in the summer, there's a good chance Batman will already be forwards again. Or he may be unlucky enough to miss a coaster that is closed having its cars turned around.

[funkymonkey]

Thanks for all the advice, I do appreciate it. Now I am definitely going to head left and not right for X-Flight. I also won't be too bummed out if I do miss Batman (or namtaB) as I have been on the one at Magic Mountain.

BTW, is Little Dipper worth going on? From youtube vids I've seen, it looks like a pretty tame family coaster. Yet many people are describing it as one to go on.

Thanks again. If anyone is going to CW soon, I can give you my suggestions for the best route.

[DejaVu2001]

^ For Dipper, I wouldn't say it's a must ride. But personally, whenever I go to a new park, I make sure I ride every coaster at least once unless I'm not allowed to ride.

[ThemeParkFan07]

I always start on the left with Superman, then V2, Dipper if I'm in the mood, Batman, and then move to X-Flight. Always works. I don't ride TDK every visit, and I just hit it whenever because the line's never that bad, plus air conditioning and it's indoors!

Cajun I do whenever in the single rider line.

Whizzer later in the day when the lines die down.

Bull whenever because the line moves quickly with three trains.

American Eagle I'll do when both sides open.

Really the only must-rides for me are the woodies, Bull, Batman, Whizzer, Demon, Triple Play, and ERC.

[PfightingPolish]

I also won't be too bummed out if I do miss Batman (or namtaB) as I have been on the one at Magic Mountain.

BTW, is Little Dipper worth going on? From youtube vids I've seen, it looks like a pretty tame family coaster. Yet many people are describing it as one to go on.

Kind of depends on your sentimentality with both.

IMHO, if there's one Batman of all the Batmans in the world to ride, Great America's is it because it was where it all started. The design of the ride is what it is because it had to fit in that small space of Great America first, where it replaced a relatively straight-line coaster in Tidal Wave. The reason it was cloned everywhere was because it was so ridiculously popular when it opened in Gurnee. The theming is still very true to when it first opened, too.

Whether or not that history means something to you is, well, up to you. If it doesn't, then don't waste your time. I've ridden the Namtab at Six Flags St. Louis, and beyond the ridiculous queue path, the disgusting wall o' gum and the whole flipped thing, it wasn't all that different. Didn't even bother at Magic Mountain.

The same goes for Little Dipper. As a ride … meh. It's just a kiddie coaster. There's a tiny little airtime and some headchopper-ish beams. You won't be overwhelmed. But it's got tremendous history in the area since it was a fixture at Kiddieland from 1950-2009. It was rather cool of park president Hank Salemi and Six Flags to invest the money to preserve something with local heritage rather than another sponsorable, could-go-in-any-park ride. Plus, it's very old school: Hand brakes, entry at an end, etc. I think coaster geeks have an appreciation for that stuff.

So yeah, if the history doesn't flip your lid, or you're not "seeking credits," get another ride in on Bull, X-Flight or Revolution and skip the Dipper and Batman. But if that history does make a difference, or if you want to say you rode everything just to say you rode everything, go for 'em.

Oh, and while you're in that section of the park, walk by Jester's Wild Ride, stop, point at it and laugh hysterically. If it doesn't make sense why at first, watch it operate for a little while, remind yourself of the ride's name, and then it will.

[Ilovthevu']

For Dipper, and Batman I guess it really depends on the time you have at the park. I ride Batmans at the other parks because that's one of my favorite rides, but I do ride it less elsewhere. Personally, I think our Batman and the Texas version are the best Batmans. Texas has more theming in the line, and I think it has a trench towards the end of the ride. SFGAm Batman though is one of the more compact type of Batmans. The other ones, they tend to make it to big of an area and miles and miles of lines. Maybe, they needed them the first year of opening, but it's just amazing how many lines they have now. They should build another ride (flat ride) instead the lines at these parks.

SFGAm's theming in my opinion is NOT as special as what it used to be. They took out a bunch of theming things at the end of 2003 I think. SFGAm used to have the junkyard of things on the left of the line (like a refrigerator, I think a bicycle, & such), and graffiti on the wall. The graffiti though to me at least it meant more than just randomness. You had Joker (This you can still see it IF you look at the right angle - They painted over it.), an American flag, Mickey Mouse, and the sports teams (Bulls, Cubs, Sox). I'm not sure about the Bears?? Now, they just painted the walls black. We still have a police car with a fire hydrant busted, but if the city is not in chaos, what's the point really. I have see some of these parks with the Batman have graffiti, but it just looks so terrible. It's like they didn't hire painters to do the graffiti. Probably just save on cost.

So, in my opinion if you want to see a more compact type of line (and contrast between all the other Batmans you've been on), than you should ride Batman at SFGAm. If you don't care, than forget it.

For Little Dipper, I like Little Dipper. I think the Little Dipper at Kiddieland was better though because it was a little more rougher, and I enjoy some of the rougher rides. I also like a bunch of PTC coasters. For the Little Dipper, it's not like you would go off it thinking, this is the greatest ride on the planet. It's fun to me, but it's not a huge coaster. Kings Island has a similar PTC coaster though. I think Kings Island is just a little bit better. Are you into PTC coasters?

EDIT: I guess you are from around Canada's Wonderland. Well, I checked on rcdb, and that Ghoster Coaster looks like the Kings Island one which is essentially very, very close to Little Dipper.

Whether or not to ride something also is about lines for the day. Is it is a crowded day or empty type of day? Are you going 2 or 3 days, or is it just one day? Are you a person that worries about credits? Do you ride any non-coasters? Why not go on Little Dipper if you are going to 2 days, and you only ride coasters.