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Park News - (5/1/13) Screamscape sources tell us that Six Flags Great America may be considering running two more of their coasters “backwards” for a limited time during the 2013 season. If the rumors are true, they are said to be looking into turning the last few rows of X-Flight backwards, similar to what Thorpe Park did to The Swarm this year. If true, look for this to happen sometime in the second half of the Summer, after Batman is returned to run only forward once again. Then in time for Fright-Fest, I’m told we can expect to see American Eagle also run one side backwards, which I think was last done briefly at the end of the 2011 season.
    (11/8/12) ThemeParkOverload has a report on new ride lockers system, finding a photo showing off some of the old locker system change machines removed from their location and set in a pile with other items like old trashcans, recycle bins and more at Six Flags Great America.
    (10/2/12) Negative-G has put up a new trip report from Six Flags Great America this week.
    (9/19/12) Fight Fest fans going to Six Flags Great America are going to be a little disappointed this year as the park’s announced on Facebook that their Fright Fest mascot, Tiny the giant spider, had passed away after 21 years. A Funeral will be held at the park on Sept. 29th. Tiny’s three babies will remain in place on the American Eagle. I wonder how Tiny’s cousin who hangs out on Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain took the news.
    (9/4/12) The cost of parking at Six Flags Great America has now increased by $2 to $22 for general parking.
    (8/6/12) There’s nothing like theme park employees having a little fun and making silly videos in their parks. Check out the latest sing-a-long video shot at Six Flags Great America by the employees who just want to have a “Good Time”. After years of observing the amusement industry, a clear sign of having a good staff is the sight of a lot of smiling and happy employees when you visit a park. After all… the whole point of their job is to help people have a good time, and smiles are infectious things.

    (7/26/12) ACE’s website has announced that they will hold a dedication ceremony at SFGAm on Friday, August 10th for present Whizzer with ACE Roller Coaster Landmark status.

2013 - igNIGHT - (8/31/12) Six Flags Great America will celebrate the end of each evening with “igNIGHT – Grand Finale”, a musical and effects spectacular. “The groundbreaking new high-tech show — the most advanced show in the park’s 37-year history! — plays on all your senses, taking you on a wonderfully wild journey to a beautiful never-before-seen world. Watch in wonder as igNIGHT illuminates the dark night, magically bringing to life a phenomenal bright and vibrant multimedia universe filled with music, singing, dancing, laser lighting, and pyrotechnics right before your very eyes. Guest interaction along with advanced audio, enhanced video projection, and special effects round out the brand new show that is sure to stun and delight audiences of all ages.” Look for igNIGHT to kick off in Summer 2013 each evening right before park close.

    (8/30/12) If the rumors are true Six Flags Great America’s new addition to going to shock a few people. The park will attempt to put on a big night party style event similar to Cedar Point’s Luminosity, which itself is based on Disney’s successful events in California: ElecTRONica and Mad T Party. I’m told the working title for this event is “IG-NIGHT!”, which is interesting, but if they don’t have fireworks or some kind of pyro, I call foul. As such, the park is apparently dying to find a way to re-brand one of their existing steel coasters as a new attraction by running it backwards: like we saw with Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast at SFOT and SFSL.  The choices are a little slim here however, though I do have to wonder about the confirmed reports of Batman: The Ride running backwards early one morning at the St. Louis park over the summer.
    (8/23/12) Frustrated with the rumors and lack of good info on what may be on the way to SFGAm in 2013, I decided to querry the Magic 8 Ball. Will Six Flags Great America build a new ride for 2013? “IT IS UNLIKELY”. Something may be added... but apparently it wont be a new ride. More on this as I uncover it. 
    (7/24/12) The latest rumors from SFGAm seem to involve possible plans to merge the park’s remaining kiddie rides together, possibly into a new themed land. Possibly a new one themed to the Looney Tunes characters.
    (7/9/12) According to the Screamscape Spy Network, we will see a few more Sky Screamers added to various Six Flags theme parks in 2013. We’ve already seen a confirmed proposal for one at Six Flags New England, and if I had to guess where Six Flags would drop in a few more, I’d look to Six Flags Great America, Six Flags over Georgia or even Six Flags over Texas. SFGAm may opt to wait for another year since they just added the large budget X-Flight coaster in 2012. Keep your eyes peeled… I’m sure we’ll hear more very soon.

2013 - B atman Backwards - (5/6/13) Batman Backwards opened to guests at Six Flags Great America this weekend and a few pictures were sent in by readers who tried it out. It looks like a blast (see the video) but for some reason they had to only use 7 rows of seats instead of 8, cutting the overall capacity down a bit. Reports in so far claim the line was about 60-90 minutes long all day on opening weekend. Six Flags also posted a reverse POV view of the experience as well. Enjoy!

    (2/22/13) Six Flags Great America has confirmed on Facebook and Twitter that Batman: The Ride will be running backwards for guests for a limited time starting on May 4th. While I don’t know quite how long this will last, rumor has it that special trains have been produced for this little stunt, and the longterm plan from Six Flags is to move these trains from park to park over the next several years as a temporary promotion for this special feature.
    (1/21/13) Looks like the rumor we reported several months ago may be coming true in 2013 after all. I’m hearing that the plans are approved to go ahead and run Batman: The Ride BACKWARDS for a limited time at SFGAm, starting on the opening day of the season. No word on just how long this will last… but I’m guessing it could depend on the public response to the experience. Based on the comments sent in to Screamscape after the concept was tested on park employees in the off-hours at Six Flags St. Louis in 2012, the ride experience is said to be intense… possibly even too intense for the general public. I guess we’ll soon find when SFGAm opens for the season on May 4th.
    (9/18/12) Screamscape sources report that pretty much like we heard from Six Flags St. Louis over the summer… the ride mechanics at Great America have been doing a little Frankenstein work with Batman during the off-hours. They too are said to be testing the concept of backwards facing seats on Batman: The Ride as a sort of  extra “new” attraction they can promote for the Summer 2013 season.

2014/2015 - New Roller Coaster - Rumor - (2/4/13) I’m hearing early rumors that Six Flags Great America may be looking to add a launched roller coaster to the park’s lineup and has been looking over some ideas with Premier Rides. I’ve got a feeling the success of this may involve just how successful Full Throttle is at Six Flags Magic Mountain, so stay tuned.