Nov. 25, 2009 (Gurnee, Il.) -- Six Flags Great America announced today the purchase of a vintage wooden roller coaster, The Little Dipper. The coaster operated at Kiddieland Amusement Park from 1950 until September of this year when the amusement park closed. The coaster will retain its original name and become the 14th coaster in Six Flags Great America's impressive line-up of roller coasters.
The Little Dipper was designed by Herbert Schmeck and built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1950. The family-friendly coaster features a three story tall lift hill and is designed as a figure eight track which runs 700 feet in length. It has been honored with the ACE Coaster Classic award by the American Coaster Enthusiasts.
"The Little Dipper has been a fond family tradition for over 50 years," said Hank Salemi, Six Flags Great America's park president. "We wanted to preserve this important piece of Chicago history for families to experience for many more years to come."
Guests can create a season of memories on The Little Dipper with a 2010 Season Pass which is on sale now at sixflags.com for the low price of $64.99. Season Passes include admission to the best water park in the nation, Hurricane Harbor; as well as discount-packed value book with more than $500 dollars worth of offers including four Bring-A-Friend-Free tickets.
Six Flags Great America is located between Chicago and Milwaukee and offers fun for the entire family with heart-pounding roller coasters including Raging Bull, a free 15-acre water park, spectacular shows and parades, three children's themed areas including Wiggles World and meet and greets with Six Flags' world-famous cast of characters, including Mr. Six.
I cannot express how great it is that SFGAm has purchased Kiddieland's Little Dipper. It may not be taller then Eagle, or faster then Raging Bull, but what makes it great is the fact that it is a piece of history, and we will now have it at our home park.
I tip my hat to Hank Salemi and the entire team at the park for keeping history alive.
2010 will be a GREAT year at Six Flags GREAT America.
[quote="BrianPlencner"]I cannot express how great it is that SFGAm has purchased Kiddieland's Little Dipper. It may not be taller then Eagle, or faster then Raging Bull, but what makes it great is the fact that it is a piece of history, and we will now have it at our home park.
I tip my hat to Hank Salemi and the entire team at the park for keeping history alive.
2010 will be a GREAT year at Six Flags GREAT America.[/quote]
^ spelling and grammar were never one of my strong points. Its a good thing that firefox has a spell checker! As far as a grammar checker...I'm still looking!
American eagle is NOT counted officially as 2 as even on their website it does not say American eagle 1 and American Eagle 2. yes, there are 2 sides. technically it is the same coaster just one that races...man I would never count it as 2 since if you do not like one side chances are you will not like the other and say This American eagle is awesome!
Who really cares how the park counts it. They count it as 2, doesn't mean you have to. Since we're not going for the record, this really seems like a non-issue to me.
[quote="onyxhotel08"]American eagle is NOT counted officially as 2 as even on their website it does not say American eagle 1 and American Eagle 2. yes, there are 2 sides. technically it is the same coaster just one that races...man I would never count it as 2 since if you do not like one side chances are you will not like the other and say This American eagle is awesome![/quote] I'm that guy. I hate the blue side but enjoy the red side a lot.
Ditto, I usually ride blue side once a year, and ride red side several times a visit. Blue tends to be boring with the long straightaway and single hill after the barrel. Red usually runs with less brakes and does alot more between the barrel and the final helix.
I just got an update from a friend at NoCoaster and SFGam has confirmed that the Little Dipper will go into Bugs Bunny National Park and some rides will be moved around.
They also said that the ride will continue to use the Hand Break.
if this was any park besides Six Flags Dipper would be ready at least a month sooner...how fast has Cedar Fair put up rides recently? And those were 20X bigger and longer. Dipper is not only small but so far 2010 has only brought us one snow storm and temps have been consistantly in the 30's recently with the forecast saying early spring is on the way.