SIX FLAGS GREAT AMERICA
Chicago, Illinois
Six Flags Theme Parks
 Park News - (1/15/2026) I had not heard this one before, but apparently a guest at Six Flags Great America has now filed a lawsuit against the theme park company after they report to have fallen while trying to get out of the Superman: Ultimate Flight roller coaster. The story claims that the coaster did not enter the unload area properly, and the rider fell getting out and injuries their knee.
The odd thing is that this is a B&M Flyer style coaster, and the things bothering me here that was not described in the report is exactly what went wrong with the unloading. Unlike B&M Inverted coasters, the Flyers don’t typically feature a platform that rises and lower during loading/unloading, and instead the seats themselves raise up into a flying posture before dispatch and lower back down into a regular inverted seating style posture before unload. There are some oddities, such as restraints that lock around the riders ankles as well, so if a rider tried to get out while a leg was still restrained, that could obviously cause an issue, but I always thought those restraints were connected to the release of the main restraint, so that all would open at the same time, or none would open.
2026 - 50th Anniversary Celebration - (8/23/2025) Screamscape sources tell us that the planned new kids area for Six Flags Great America will likely be delayed as part of the announced CapEx reduction for next season, and is now on deck to come in for the 2027 season. The 2026 plans for the park will now focus entirely on 50th Anniversary celebration plans featuring some in-park improvements and entertainment options.
Speaking of which, we’ve been hearing about work taking place on The Demon behind the scenes. Whispers about new lights in the tunnels, the return of music in the queue, and more. I don’t know if this is intended for next year’s anniversary celebration or if we might see some of this come back to life for Fright Fest. Regardless, it has been noted that a team has been working in the park to restore a lot of lost theming over the past year focused on restoring the Batman: The Ride queue and The Dark Knight’s pre-show and effects this season. So The Demon is rumored to be their next point of focus. So stay tuned… because The Demon is Gonna Getcha!
2027 - New Kids Area - Planned / Delayed - (8/23/2025) Screamscape sources tell us that the planned new kids area for Six Flags Great America will likely be delayed as part of the announced CapEx reduction for next season, and is now on deck to come in for the 2027 season.
(11/14/2024) As part of an early announcement in late 2024, a press release from Six Flags today mentioned that the intention for the 2026 season for Six Flags Great America was to have a celebration of the park’s 50th Anniversary and ‘debuting a new kids’ area, commemorative events and park enhancements”.
2027/2028 - Giga Coaster / Project Rocket - (11/16/2025) The rumor mill is buzzing now about plans that were leaked for a little something called Project Rocket at Six Flags Great America. The leaked plans show off a very large coaster layout that is thought to be a proposal for a GIGA style coaster for the park. As you recall from last month’s update, a Giga Coaster was an option a park survey sent out last month along with other concepts to get feedback on. Obviously a huge roller coaster was going to get a lot of attention from something like that, so now we’re getting another look that includes the location of that project proposal, which places the coaster near the front of the park, essentially running a giant lap around the Superman: Ultimate Flight coaster, out into the parking lot towards Six Flags Drive and back again.
Now, the real question is… just how serious is Six Flags about building a coaster like this and what’s the timeline? A reader sent in the leaks plan image to Screamscape to share and tells us that this initial footprint plan had to be created for the park to make their initial zoning proposal to the city, which sounds about right based on how other big coaster plans have been forces to reveal their hands a little early when showing off the initial plans to the Village of Gurnee.
Of course the exact final layout and such can change between now and whenever Six Flags is ready to make the official announcement, but this does give everyone a good idea of the kind of ride we can expect in principle. If they’re talking about this now, timeline wise, I’m guessing the earliest we could see this happen is 2027, so stay tuned!
Oh… and this is in no way the official ride layout or animation, but fans are already hard at work creating their own interpretation of what the ride could be like online. This one is a good example, where the experience itself looks kind of like a cross between Fury 325 (Carowinds) and Orion (Kings Island), offering a tall Giga coaster experience that may be a little shorter than the fans were hoping for, leaving Fury 325 safely in place as the king of the Giga Coasters.
???? - New Attraction Guest Survey Concepts - (10/18/2025) Six Flags has begun sending out surveys to select guests to get feedback about possible future addition concepts that may be in the works. Keep in mind that not every concept they pitch for any given park may actually be intended for that particular park, as sometimes the chains will pitch ride concepts to other markets as well to gain some broader feedback on certain concepts. With that said… let’s dig into what is currently being pitched for the various parks.
The survey sent out to Six Flags Great America guests has suggested ideas such as a new “Family Thrill Launch Coaster” suitable for the younger guests as well as the whole family that would include some “themed storytelling, immersive elements” and more. So this isn’t a kiddie ride, and if they tap Vekoma for something like this, then anything remotely like Big Bear Mountain that was added to Dollywood last year would be a big winner at just about any park they would want to bring it to.
Another concept pitched for Six Flags Great America would have likely been right at home inside the park’s former IMAX / Pictorum theater building which was demolished to make way for Maxx Force a few years ago. So it seems Six Flags is asking guests how they feel about adding a Flying Theater to the park. This may also be due to the popularity of the great “Flyover” Flying Theater ride that was just added to Chicago’s Navy Pier in 2024.
While the first two concepts are clearly trying to find a way to bring more families to the park, the last concept is for thrill seekers, as they propose a Giga Coaster concept.
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