I live about 45 minutes from SFGA and I received a season pass for a fund raiser that I did last year, which includes one free meal. On Saturday I decided to go down and activate my pass and enjoy some time at the park. There was rain in the forecast and as I was driving the rain started. It was not a hard rain, but it did not stop. I got there around 1:30 and all of the outdoor roller coasters were not running because of the rain. They did have the flat rides running. I spent about 2 1/2 hours there and made a loop around the park before going home. I was soaked to the bone when I left.
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I hope your next time is a bit drier! Did you like the overall look of the park?
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With it raining and being wet, I did not really notice the park being dirty. In the past I have noticed things like gum on walls and items that had been thrown by guests into waterways, ie. change and hair ties, but I attribute that more to the type of people that go there.
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Have you been back? Iāve contemplated taking my kids as we live about 1hr away. Iāve heard crowds are lower this year than normal.
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Where-ish are you?
My bad. I saw SFGA as Georgia. See itās Indiana. 
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Great America is just north of Chicago in Illinois.
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GoOd GriEf 
Carry on.
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Youāre high in the mountains, things happenš
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No.
I was in a 12-passenger van
Trying not to get car sick
But still couldnāt put the phone down
But not actually using my brain
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Unfortunately, I have not made it back. Possibly I will go again on the 6th of July.
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Oooh, I will be following along as another semi-ālocalā-ish person. Grew up going to Great America yearly, but havenāt been back in 7-8 years. Every winter, we will take the kids to spend a weekend next door at Great Wolf Lodge and every time we drive past I think I need to make an effort to go back.
This was one reason we stopped going. Ruder and rowdier crowds, which lead to dirtier and more rundown park, and worse experiences in waiting in lines. Hopefully things have improved.
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I am going to be signing up for the Coaster Challenge again this year on September 14th at Great America. It is a fund raiser for Special Olympics. 2024 Coaster Challenge - Campaign (soill.org) This will be the sixth year that I have participated in the event. If you love coasters and are in the area, it is a great time.
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Good luck and have great time!
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I have gone about once a month. I decided to go on Saturday July 5th and arrived around 3pm. The lines for the rides were long, so I went on the flat rides and usually waited a couple of cycles before riding. There were a couple of frustrations. The first was \when I was going to get food at the sports bar in the Southwest territory, there was a long line and only one open register. I decided to just leave and found a better restaurant at the Yukon BBQ Pit. The other thing was that they only had one of the water rides open. When I was in line for the Whizzer, there was a family with a young son. While we were waiting the son needed to use the bathroom, so the dad took him over by a trash can and had the son just do his business right there. I just do not understand people. I had not planned on staying for the fireworks, but by the time that I finished what I wanted to do, there was not much time to wait, so I decided to stay.
I went again on August 17th and got there about 3:45 pm. Normally when I go, I will walk around counterclockwise, but this time I decided to go clockwise, and it was a little strange. I started with riding flat rides and once again had some bbq. They had 2 of the 3 water rides open and since the line was short, I rode the log ride. The lines for some of the coasters were long, others were relatively short. I ended up riding American Eagle, X-Flight, and The Demon. I headed over to Raging Bull, but the line was extremely long, so I headed over to the Whizzer. When I got over there, they had closed the line, because there was going to be a concert in front of the train station. They had also closed Tripple Play, so I headed over to Hometown Fun Machine and rode that before closing out the evening on the carousel. Even though I only spent 4 hours there, it was a fun and a complete evening.
My next visit will be on September 14th for the Coaster Challenge. I will be riding the coasters to raise funds for Special Olympics. Special Olympics Illinois (soill.org)
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Unfortunately, due to a family situation, I will not be able to participate in the Coaster Challenge. So, my next trip will probably be at the end of September when my wife is out of town to visit our daughter in Montgomery.
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I stopped trying!
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