Six Flags Great America: Go Late (In The Year)

A tip to my Chicago readers: if you’re planning to head up to Great America, the time to do it is right before Labor Day.

At first, it seems like a tradeoff: they’re only open from 10-6, rather than 10-9 p.m. or so. But it turns out they only get tiny crowds — yesterday they said they had 1,500 — so you walk onto every ride. I got in a total of 15 roller-coaster rides in just under six hours (we got there at noon), which was so many in such a short time that I had to slow it down towards the end lest I lose my overpriced hot-dog lunch. G managed a full 20 rides, including four in a row on the Raging Bull. For three of those, she didn’t even have to get up from her seat before riding again.

So for those wanting to hit up some bankrupt corporate roller-coaster action, be sure you do it right before Labor Day. Just watch out when you compress two days’ worth of rides into six hours — clearly, as No. 9 on this list would indicate, I’m an old dude.