page_title: Six Flags Great America
section_title: Operation under Marriott (1976-1984)
hierarchical_section_title: Six Flags Great America / Marriott era (1972–1984) / Operation under Marriott (1976-1984)
caption_attribution_description: English: Columbia Carousel at Six Flags Great America.
context_page_description: Six Flags Great America is an amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area. Originally opened in 1976 by the Marriott Corporation as Marriott's Great America, Six Flags has owned and operated the park since 1984. The park features nine themed areas and seventeen roller coasters, as well as a 20-acre water park called Hurricane Harbor. Over 3 million guests visited the park in 2017, ranking it among the top 20 amusement parks in North America for attendance.
context_section_description: At its opening in 1976, Great America featured three roller coasters:
  Willard's Whizzer, originally named after Marriott executive J. Willard Marriott and later renamed simply the Whizzer,
  Turn of the Century, now re-themed and renamed Demon, and
  The Gulf Coaster, which lasted only one season, as it proved unpopular and suffered a small fire.
  The park's other signature attractions during its first season were:
  The elaborate double-decker Columbia Carousel, which remains one of the tallest carousels in the world,
  The Sky Whirl, a unique, 110-foot (34 m)-tall "triple Ferris wheel" custom-designed for Marriott and visible from miles away, which operated until 2000.
  Delta Flyer and Eagle's Flight, the two one-way gondola sky car rides. Eagle's Flight was a very commercially successful ride and was considered a top 10 ride by Roller Coaster Weekly magazine.
  The Orleans Orbit (later renamed simply the "Orbit"), an Enterprise-type ride which operated until 2016.
  Rue Le Dodge, a bumper car ride which became the world's largest after California's Great America retooled its copy of the ride into a one-way traffic ride in 2005. Rue Le Dodge has a floor area of 51 feet, 9 inches by 124 feet, 9 inches, or 6,455 sq ft (599.7 m²). Six Flags Great Adventure's Autobahn is larger, but has not operated since 2008.
  The park's second season in 1977 saw the installation of several new rides. The 310-foot-tall (94 m) Sky Trek Tower opened in Carousel Plaza and today is one of the few rides to still operate under its original name. Sky Trek Tower was built as and still remains, the tallest freestanding structure in Lake County, Illinois. Also added was Southern Cross, a third gondola sky car ride which offered a round trip and a much higher view than the other two, whose station replaced the removed Gulf Coaster. A few new spinning rides were added, such as Big Top, Davy Jones' Dinghies and Hay Baler. The park's first children's section, dubbed Fort Fun, opened in the section designated the Yukon Territory, which caused the Saskatchewan Scrambler to be relocated to Hometown Square and renamed Hometown Fun Machine.
  Great America's fourth roller coaster, Tidal Wave, was a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop that opened in 1978 in Yankee Harbor.
  The Pictorium, an IMAX theatre, opened in 1979 and claimed to have the world's largest screen, at 64.5 by 88.25 feet (19.6 × 26.9 meters).
  The Turn of the Century roller coaster closed and took on a new look in 1980. Two vertical loops were added, along with two tunnels and the "new" ride was re-themed and renamed The Demon. The ride featured an original theme song and new hellish theme elements, some of which were removed following a backlash from those who thought that the ride's theming was too "demonic".
  The American Eagle, a racing wooden roller coaster, opened in 1981. The tracks share a drop of 147 feet (45 m) and they reach speeds of 66 mph (106 km/h). The bottom of the first drop is built 20 feet (6.1 m) below ground level. When the American Eagle first opened, it had the longest drop and fastest speeds of any wooden roller coaster in the world. It remains the tallest, fastest and longest twin racing wooden coaster.
  The Picnic Grove was added in 1982, allowing for more company outings and corporate events to take place at the growing theme park. No new rides were added that year, and several small rides were removed in the last years of Marriott ownership.
  Southern Cross was removed in 1983. That same year, The Edge, an Intamin first-generation freefall ride, was added to much fanfare. Bottoms Up, a Chance Trabant ride and Traffique Jam were removed at the end of the 1983 season.
  The last ride Marriott added to the park was White Water Rampage in 1983, an Intamin-built rapids ride that was later renamed "Roaring Rapids" and remains the park's most popular water ride. The ride was added to Orleans Place, which required the removal of small rides such as Davey Jones' Dinghies, Le Bump (a children's bumper car ride), and Traffique Jam. The Orleans Orbit was moved from its original Orleans Place location to Home
caption: Columbia Carousel is Great America's signature ride.
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