Almost one year ago, I posted one of my very first articles about our family trip to teen roller coaster paradise Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. At the time, I promised a follow-up, as we had not had a chance to visit the new water park, Hurricane Harbor. Well, one year later we still didn't make it to the water park (I just couldn't figure out how to manage swimsuits and towels and changes of clothes for our little family), but I did garner a different perspective on the kid-type offerings of Great America. So, for Chicagoland families everywhere, here is the new skinny on taking a 2.5-year-old and a barely 3-year-old to the roller-coaster mecca of the Midwest.
As I mentioned last year, Great America is making great strides toward becoming a family-friendly park by improving the child-friendly attractions. This year, they also completely outlawed smoking in the entire park. Good for them! Their website is a great place to start to find out which attractions would be suitable for a young family. You can sort rides based on height requirements, or find out which rides parents and children can ride together. Before leaving, I spent an hour or so on Great America's website looking at the different offerings for young kids. In the main park theme areas, there are a few rides that can accomodate little ones, and then there are three theme areas created for them: Wiggles World, Bug's Bunny National Park, and Camp Cartoon.
Learning from last year, we didn't waste any time waiting in line on adult roller coasters and then attempting to swap out the kids. Instead we focused on Bug's Bunny National Park, Wiggles World, and a few family rides in the greater park area. Last year, we visited Bug's Bunny National Park just long enough to freak out poor Little Miss on Petunia's Lady Bugz (no adults allowed), and I gave that section of the park a very poor review. This year, however, was a different story. All of those carnival-style rides made for kids to ride alone were a huge hit with the kiddobeans. They rode the Lady Bug ride three times in a row, then moved over to the flying Porky's Buzzy Beez, from which they were torn by Phil after their fourth go-round. The foam-ball mayhem that is the Loony Tune Lodge was so popular that we could only lure them away with the promise of lunch. So, Bug's Bunny National Park is great for kids who are close to 3-years-old and up. If your kid won't ride an attraction alone, as Little Miss had trouble with last year, you will find almost nothing to do. But, a brave and sturdy two-year-old or any kids between about 3 and 8 will embrace the independence (and the noise) and have a great time going from ride to ride with almost no lines. Unfortunately, since Phil and I couldn't even ride the kiddie rides with the kids, we were very much on the sidelines. This portion of the park, which is at least 15-years-old, is showing some wear and needs to be refurbished. Still, it was great to see the kids having fun.
In contrast, Wiggles World maintains its brand-new luster, as it only opened last year. See last years' review for details on the rides, but know for sure that the delights of the Wiggles held up for another year. Almost all the rides are designed for parents and kids to ride together, which is great for the little ones (and fun for the big ones). There is also a stage show going on almost continuously, but our kids are not Wiggles fans (and also have an overwhelming terror of mascot-type costumes), so this was not a big draw for us. Unfortunately for us, the stage show must have been a draw for many families, though, because it was really crowded. We were there at a peak time, right after lunch, so maybe try to hit Wiggles World earlier in the day to avoid the crowds.
From my pre-trip website searching, I knew that the third kids area, Camp Cartoon, was heavily weighted toward older kids. Parents are not allowed on the rides, and the main attraction is a mini roller-coaster that was not appropriate for my little guys. So, we skipped it. We did, however, patronize a couple of rides in the Mardi Gras area of the park. The Big Easy Balloons were a big hit, as it was "just like Curious George" in the hot air balloon. We also road the Jester's Wild Ride, a simple spinning ride for the whole family. The classic Great American Raceway, with antique race cars that the kids can "steer" was very popular with both kids. The iconic double-decker Columbia Carousel didn't disappoint, either. We rode it three different times during the course of the day.
We had a great day, but keep in mind that our tickets were half price through Phil's work, the kiddobeans were free, and lunch was included. It would not have been worth it for us at anything near full price. In fact, we are thinking of making this a special Mommy-Daddy outing for the next couple of years, since we would have to buy tickets for Little Miss and Little Man, but would still find ourselves relegated to the kidddie coasters. If, however, you have cheap tickets like we did, or if you are planning a trip for older kids as well as toddlers, you and the little ones can have a whirlwind of fun in the midst of roller coaster paradise.
