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Six Flags Great America
vs
The Great Escape

Side-by-side queue times, ride counts and opening hours for Six Flags Great America and The Great Escape, with a straight recommendation.

See both right nowCompare other parks

02 · Right now

Both parks, this minute.

Live queue times at both parks. These fill in as soon as the page loads, and keep updating while you are here.

Six Flags Great America and The Great Escape compared on live queue times
Right nowSix Flags Great AmericaUnited StatesThe Great EscapeUnited States
Average wait right now --
Rides open --
Opening hours today --
Longest queue --
Shortest queue --

These keep refreshing while this page is open. A closed park posts no waits, so its rows read as dashes rather than zeroes.

03 · Choosing

Which one is your day out.

Every line here is earned by one of the figures above - nothing is a generic sentence with a park name dropped into it.

Pick Six Flags Great America if…

  • Wrath of Rakshasa is on your list - it is Six Flags Great America's longest typical queue at about 48 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Six Flags Great America's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick The Great Escape if…

  • You want The Great Escape's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America sits in Gurnee, Illinois, between Chicago and Milwaukee. The coaster line-up includes Maxx Force (with one of the world's fastest inversions), X Flight wing coaster, Goliath (a Rocky Mountain Construction wooden coaster), Raging Bull, American Eagle duelling wooden coaster, and Batman: The Ride. A Hurricane Harbor water park is included during summer.

Illinois and Wisconsin school holidays, Chicago-area weekend visits, and the popular Fright Fest event drive Six Flags Great America's busiest periods. Weekdays in May, June, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Maxx Force and Goliath on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date for shorter queues.

Six Flags Great America live queue times

The Great Escape

The Great Escape sits in Queensbury, New York, near Lake George in the Adirondack region. The park has been running since 1954 and combines older classic rides with a newer Ghost Town themed area. Headline coasters include Comet (a rebuilt classic wooden coaster, originally from Crystal Beach Park), Steamin' Demon, and a Ghost Town coaster. A Great Escape Splashwater Kingdom water park is included with admission.

The Great Escape has a short operating season (roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day, plus Fright Fest weekends) with peak crowds on summer weekends and US school holidays. Weekdays are usually very pleasant. Check live wait times for Comet on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit - the Lake George location pairs well with a full Adirondacks holiday.

The Great Escape live queue times

05 · Questions

Six Flags Great America or The Great Escape?

Which is better, Six Flags Great America or The Great Escape?

Neither is better across the board - it depends whether you are optimising for shorter queues or for the rides you actually want. This page puts live queue times, ride counts and opening hours side by side so you can judge on your own priorities.

Which has shorter queues, Six Flags Great America or The Great Escape?

Queues change hour by hour. The typical figures above are the fair answer for planning; the live table answers today. Mid-week visits outside school holidays give the shortest queues at either park. See Six Flags Great America best time to visit and The Great Escape best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Six Flags Great America and The Great Escape in the same trip?

Yes - both parks are in United States, so a two-park trip is realistic over a long weekend. Split the days so you start at whichever opens earliest and drive to the other in the evening.

How many rides does each park have?

See the tables above for ride counts - or jump to Six Flags Great America and The Great Escape for the full ride lists.

Is Six Flags Great America bigger than The Great Escape?

Park size is less useful than how many rides you can actually get on in a day - that comes down to queue times and opening hours. The comparison above shows ride counts and wait times for both.

Then pick
the quiet day.

Both parks have a crowd calendar with six weeks of forecast and the best day left to go.

Six Flags Great America calendarThe Great Escape calendarCompare other parks
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