SFGA, the good ol’ days

[favabean1982]

Hey all!
During my annual Six Flags trip yesterday, I couldn’t help but think back while standing in line for Batman and Raging Bull. The image I have of Great America is one of the park from the 90s, when you’d walk in and the first thing you’d hear is, “The Entertainer, “ being played. In fact, every area had its own themed music, not this pop/dance mix we hear all day (I especially enjoyed Southwest Territory’s twangy bluegrass). I remember the restaurants, how each one was different from one another-unlike today, where EVERY pizza place is a Papa John’s. I remember how getting there early meant you could usually ride a number of rides right away, and staying late meant you could ride over and over again as the crowds thinned out. I remember that old recording studio, where my friends and I used to record terrible karaoke versions of Offspring songs. I even remember the old TVs they had in the cueing lines, which would show Looney Tunes shorts and the occasional Alanis Morisette video.
Anyone else remember this? More importantly, anyone think the park has even the slightest chance of reclaiming this image?
Reminisce here!

[Ilovthevu']

^Honestly, the themed music doesn't really bother except for Superman, Batman, and Hurricane Harbor. I don't like how Superman is now just techno music instead of all of the Superman music they had before. I remember the Karaoke place in Orleans Place, and thought that was just annoying. For the old tvs in line and the stuff they played, yes I did like the Looney Tunes, and Batman cartoons they played along with music videos, but they needed to update more cartoons once and awhile instead of the same old same old. For the standup on the tvs, that was just dumb. I remember in Demon line in particular where I couldn't even see the picture on the screen because of the glare from the sun.

For every restaurant being the same, I think that has to do with people wanting food that they know is going to be good. You bring "better" food into the park, and people won't eat out of the park is I think the idea. Does that bother me at all? No. It's not like I think Papa John's is that great anyway. Seriously though, to me I never heard of Johnny Rockets, or Cold Stone Cremery till they came into Six Flags parks. I think maybe even the Panda place I haven't heard of until it came. For Papa John's I heard of, but they were always closing down where I knew of there locations.

Honestly, do I want I things to come back? I would love to see more cartoons on the tvs instead of music video, generic ads, and than Six Flags ads of the same thing they showed when they first installed the tvs - 2 years ago. Oh, yeah I remember Scooby-Doo cartoons, but they were really, really short. Have Looney Tunes again, Batman, Scooby-Doo, Superman (as they did before also), Flinstones, Jetsons, and I guess they could put newer cartoons of today's kids would watch. I guess what I would want for music would be to bring back the 80's, 90's, and whatnot music they had. I loved the music when I was waiting for Deja Vu - Walk like an Egyptian, 2 Tickets to Paradise, Maniac Monday, Call Up Jenny song, Came from a Land Down Under, I wish that I had Jessie's Girl, Pure Energy, and so on.

[scipiomask]

^ What?? You'd never heard of Cold Stone Creamery or Johnny Rockets before Six Flags? Must be a NJ thing.

[tillenterprises]

You should have been there when Marriott's ran the joint! Every territory has it's own theme music- like sailor's nautical music in Yankee Harbor, etc. All the employees also dressed the part, depending on which territory they worked in, too! That must have been a pain when they needed to move employees from one part of the park to another- they'd have to go change costume!

I did kind of like what they did a couple years ago, when they had the music in each territory from a different decade- 80's in County fair, 60's in Hometown Square, 70's in Yukon, etc.

[Ilovthevu']

For the uniform thing, the ones I thought were the best were Space Shuttle America, and the train. Other than that, I didn't see a really point in them. This was still Six Flags though - not Marriott. I guess it's like Fantasyland to me at Disney World. Some goofy getup they have in that section that doesn't help with the area itself in my opinion compared to Space Mountain which uniform is just so awesome.

I guess just in general to me, space and train, they have real costumes like that in real life. For Logger's Run area, wasn't the costume just like brown? That seems just kind of unoriginal. However, I wouldn't find stuff like cowgirls and cowboys in Southwest Territory. For Mardi Gras, the women can have white nevermind. lol

[w00dland]

Themed uniforms, music, and areas in the park would make our park great again. Unfortunately as corporate became more and more "corporatized" it meant branding every park so they looked exactly the same. If everything is the same corporate has more control and will save more money.

I've said this many times, but I think if Six Flags allowed each individual park to stand out and be individuals we would all have better park going experience. It only starts with things like music and food, it could be so much more. Former management wanted to brand the parks for families, but all they did was brand them to look like Times Square.

To sum things up, I miss The Entertainer too.

[neil]

I liked back when County Fair had a distinguisable theme..... a county fair. Now, it looks like a hodge-podge of random themeing thrown together. Back in the mid 90s, they had Sky Whirl, Hay Bayler, and the Ameri-Go-Round, which added to the theme. Sadly, these rides are all gone . When Sky Whirl was removed, it really, in my opinion, symbloized the end of the good ol' days, and the beginning of the new era. Not to say it is bad now, it is just totally differant than it was 15 years ago.

[Ilovthevu']

For County Fairs today, you would see none of the type of stuff they have at our park in them. They have tons of animals at County Fairs, they have stands that are portable, they have all carnival rides in which there is not one carnival ride we have in County Fair, they have duck races, demolition derbies / Monster Trucks, dog competitions, Magic Shows, a place where they are selling random stuff, and whatnot. You can add county fair queen, and concerts also. If our park wants the theme County Fair, almost the whole area should be gutted. The games is the closest to a County Fair, but now they put Magi Quest there.

Even the old rides like Splash Water Falls, Fiddler's Fling, and Demon doesn't make much sense, and for American Eagle -what does county fair have to do with just being American? The Hay Bailer is the closest to being at County Fair today (like a Thunderbolt, Tidal Wave, Music Fest, Flying Bobs)

[6Flags4Evr]

I really don't remeber much of countyfair's good old days but I do remember riding sky whirl, Ameri-Go-Round, and HayBailer. Man do I miss these rides.

[sfgam1]

Hey all!
During my annual Six Flags trip yesterday, I couldn’t help but think back while standing in line for Batman and Raging Bull. The image I have of Great America is one of the park from the 90s, when you’d walk in and the first thing you’d hear is, “The Entertainer, “ being played.

I remember the entertainer! I'm 15 and I remember those days when I was younger and every time I went it was just a great experience. Compared, these days aren't like those days. I honestly miss those days.

[Ilovthevu']

Here if you want to listen to some Great America music, just open this page, and listen. It will eventually start playing. It's not a bad page or anything either. It's a fest for Braidwood, IL, but they play Great America music. http://www.braidwoodlionsclub.org/summerfest.htm

[Coastermonkey61]

The fact that The Entertainer no longer plays at the entrance saddens me more than a simple song should.

[Viper 88]

Hell yeah the gool old days are definately gone. There is no more real food just processed fast food garbage. Ok I have a special place in my heart for the funnel cake and cotton candy but they used to have all that and real food options. They used to sell Looney tunes merchandise, home goods, leather jackets, bottles of sand you create yourself, better clothing options. More cartoon Characters walking around, shorter lines for the rides due to no flash pass and more cars and trains open. log rides that actually got you wet. More shows, ripping out a perfectly good theater to put in a ride that is over in a min and a half was ridiculous, they did afterall have the SSA area to put that in. Not having the fireworks after the parades. removing the themed costumes for ride operators as well as the rides or not even bothering. Not actually having the park manager walking the grounds. The RIDICULOUS OVERCHARGING ON THINGS. Man (i know there is a thread on this but I dont care I'm gonna say it) If I ran that park it would look so much better and run so much more efficiently. But what are you gonna do right?

[david]

Umm... I don't know what your talking about. Hank, Dameon, and quite a few other 'significants' in Great America management are always walking around. Hank is always saying hello to people, and cleans up.

[RandallDuell]

This is an interesting post, and really smacks me in the face about how old I am! The good ole days of the 90's!!!! Wow.

Things change, and while it's great to go to a page like GreatAmericaParks.com and remember how it used to be - I realize that it's tough to fight change.

That said, one thing that BLEW me away (last week when I visited the park for the first time in about 5 years) was the amount of audio noise EVERYWHERE. It really is tough to find a spot where you can carry on a conversation without screaming - especially if you're trying to talk on your phone. From the lines to the restaurants to all of the music playing, loudly, everywhere - it's quite an attack on the audio senses!

Looking at that Battle ride, I do long for Sky Whirl and Hay Baler. It's so strange seeing the Eagle tent full of bright kids rides. And I agree that any sort of theming (that Six Flags HAD done a pretty good job of maintaining from the Marriott days) is slowly dying. It was quite a thing to see an employee from, say, Yankee Harbor walking through the Orleans area....they just looked so out of place. Now it's hard to tell if someone is a ride op or a sweeper.

Believe it or not, a lot of the younger members here will be looking back at current day Great America with this same "oh man, it was so good way back when" in about 10-15 years.

[monsterfan99]

Believe it or not, a lot of the younger members here will be looking back at current day Great America with this same "oh man, it was so good way back when" in about 10-15 years.

Best line in this thread. People long for the days of their childhood.

[Viper 88]

Umm... I don't know what your talking about. Hank, Dameon, and quite a few other 'significants' in Great America management are always walking around. Hank is always saying hello to people, and cleans up.

oh I did not know that, in all my trips to the park I dont think that I ever saw any of them, or maybe I did and I didnot notice, It would be cool to meet them

[neil]

Rolling Thunder. Now there was a good family coaster. I have long missed it.

[david]

Interesting factoid: Rolling Thunder operates B&M trains!

[Ilovthevu']

Believe it or not, a lot of the younger members here will be looking back at current day Great America with this same "oh man, it was so good way back when" in about 10-15 years.

Best line in this thread. People long for the days of their childhood.

This is so true. People before are going to say Power Dive was the best upside down flat ride the park had, and than the people today are like King Chaos is so darn awesome. I liked Power Dive better, but yet it wasn't that great of a ride though. For the 2000s and comparing it to the 90's, the park had no waterpark, it had no Deja Vu, and no V2, and no Superman. I think we got some great things for the the 2000s, but than Shapiro came. lol

For the 90's the park had Space Shuttle America, Batman the Ride, Iron Wolf, Condor, Viper, Giant Drop, and Raging Bull, and the rest of Southwest Territory. I personally like Rolling Thunder better than the whole Southwest Territory, and I would rather have seen the Big Top stay where it was, and it not turn into uglyness it is in Southwest Territory. I feel Batman the Ride is a much better ride than Tidal Wave even though I don't remember Tidal Wave that much. Giant Drop I won't go on anymore after multiple incidents of cables breaking from those rides - Yes SFKK, but than there were 2 other ones in which nothing happened, but still. Condor is fun, but nothing special. Space Shuttle America was quite fun, and I tried to get on that ride almost everytime I came to the park except for Battlestar show which stunk. Viper I really enjoyed it when it first came out along with Raging Bull, but I don't know what happened. Those rides, just aren't fun to me anymore, but a much more old ride like Batman the Ride is still tons of fun. Maybe, it's because I been to other parks that have rides in those order, and they were much better than those two in my opinion. They could've moved Hay Bailer into Southwest Territory, and found a spot for it, but they didn't want to.

Than, there was a time when I used to go on Whizzer, and than I just stopped going on it, but now I go on it again. Maybe, why I started to go on it again is because it reminds me so much of other parks mine train rides, but for the Whizzer it doesn't have that drop at the end, but I like Whizzer definitely.

[BigTopSkyCoaster91]

I, for one, would have loved to see Hay Bailer go to southwest. I recently went to Indiana Beach for the 1st time and rode their version of it and remembered why I miss it so much. I just think we need a flat that goes backwards... or anything [cough...Eagle Blue... even though I know it isn't plausible].

[NightRider785]

Does anyone know the year the original audio came out?
My question is based around Southwest being added in the 90s, but still sounds similar to the audio (instrumentation) used in places like County Fair. Was County Fair made in 76, with the same people later making the SW stuff? Or did it all come out when SW opened?

Also kind of curious who made/recorded the area audio.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

[BabyDinosaur]

X-Flight Has Those Uniforms?

[nick42085]

When it comes to me and singing..."you gotta keep em separated" (offspring pun) but honestly being new to six flags I don't remember this stuff. Karaoke sounds cool though....and yes, sweet Jesus mother of thread revival.