Let me warn you now–you’re going to want a blue raft. If you don’t rent one, you’ll spend the day wishing you had.
Because at Six Flags Great America’s massive new Hurricane Harbor waterpark, renting a blue raft–which allows you to float in Castaway Creek as long as you want and skip long lines of people waiting for the free yellow rafts–is a key to surviving the day.
And we are talking survival, people. Real survival. Hurricane Harbor is not for the faint of heart, the fair of skin, the easily frazzled or the short of fuse. It’s for the strong, the wily, the patient and the heavily sunscreen-coated.
Here’s why: The place is mammoth. We’re talking 25 waterslides, a 560,000-gallon wave pool, a 100,000-square-foot water playground, a half-mile “adventure” river, 80 palm trees, six wooden boats, one 18-foot (fake) shark and 3,000 lawn chairs.
Three thousand lawn chairs. Think about that.
Add to that thousands of kids, ‘tweens, teens and adults running around in their bathing suits and flip-flops as Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” dances through the humid, hot air and what you have is a madhouse that will either be a migraine factory or a total blast.
And a total blast is possible, as evidenced by the enormous grin on Magdalena Montena’s 11-year-old face as she exited the Wahoo Racers super-steep waterslide on a recent deadly hot, cloudless Monday afternoon. “It was kind of scary,” Montena, who lives in Northlake, said, sort of bouncing from foot to foot in her orange and red swimsuit. “Then it was really fun.”
So here are tips to ensure you have fun, and lots of it. But just in case, pack the Excedrin too.
Those blue rafts
Let’s start with the rafts. Everyone has free access to the yellow rafts, which are used on a number of the waterslides and in Castaway Creek, the river that snakes around the waterpark. But you’ll have to wait in line at each attraction that requires a raft to snag one of these.
Instead, rent your own blue raft at the start of the day and skip the lines for the free rafts so you can jump right into line for a slide. And they allow you to plop into Castaway Creek without waiting. Plus you’ll get to float in the river as long as you like. Yellow rafters have to get out after one time around, then wait in line again for a different raft to get back in.
Because wait times can get long–on the day we were there people reported waiting 15 to 30 minutes for slides and to get in the river–carrying a blue raft saves valuable time. Single-person blue rafts rent for $7, two-person rafts rent for $9.
Don’t forget the sunscreen
There’s not a whole lot of shade at Hurricane Harbor. Most of the lawn chairs sit right in the sun, as far as we could tell, though some tenting, especially around the water playground, provides a bit of shade. The palm trees, while cool to see in Illinois, don’t provide much relief from the broiling midday sun. So bring the sunblock, SPF As High As You Have, a hat, sunglasses and clothing to cover up, too. All of these things can be purchased in a store on the park grounds, but you’ll pay a premium.
Bring aqua socks, if you have them
Aqua socks are your best bet at the park. They are the only kind of footware allowed in the adventure river, and they are far more practical than your soon-to-be-sodden sneakers, which will soak up some of the waterpark’s 2.1 million gallons of water (100 swimming pools hold that much) as it gets tracked and splashed onto decks and walkways. So, if you don’t have aqua socks, bring flip-flops.
You can’t wear any shoes on the waterslides (bare feet only), so the inevitable dilemma is–what do you do with your footwear before you launch yourself down Riptide? Park officials suggest holding them as you slide, which is allowed.
And by all means, leave the heels at home. There’s a lot of standing in line and running from slide to wave pool to slide to river, so wear something comfortable.
Count on renting a locker
This is probably a must with thousands of people running around and nowhere truly safe to stow your sunscreen, hat, clothing, wallet, car keys, digital camera or iPod for free. The park offers three lockers of varying sizes that rent for $6, $8 and $10 a day.
Starting in July, you’ll be able to rent private cabanas, not a bad option if you want a home base for the day. At press time, Six Flags had not settled on pricing for the cabanas, but they will likely be pricier than the lockers.
If you have small kids, opt for the water playground
If your kids are toddlers, head straight for Skull Island, the park’s “water playground” with 500 gadgets that spew, spray and spritz water on bathers. With just 6 inches or less of water, a whole section is designed with really young children in mind. Nearby are a number of lawn chairs under suspended tenting. This is an area that requires no waiting in lines, no blue rafts, and offers plenty of shade. This little oasis is one of the most pleasant places in the entire waterpark.
The wave pool is fun, but don’t expect to do any bodysurfing there
Coming off the speedslides on a recent weekday afternoon, 10-year-old Samantha Humphrey of Round Lake Park said she and her friends were headed for the wave pool, a decision made by hundreds of others too. The slide–she rode Paradise Plunge–was a lot of fun, she said, but “seemed really short.”
Humphrey estimated that she waited 30 minutes in line for the slide, so the wave pool, with its lack of lines (you can charge right in), masses of fellow kids and rolling surf, held a ton of appeal.
The pool, known as Hurricane Bay, generates 3- to 5-foot waves on and off throughout the day, but don’t count on honing your surfing skills there. On the day we visited, it was one of the most popular places in the entire park, so crowded the best any swimmer could do was bob in place, hoping not to be bumped by other bathers.
Also, make sure you grab lawn chairs if you’re going to be in the water for any length of time. Every 45 minutes, lifeguards clear the pool completely to give swimmers a rest. When that happens, you’ll want a place to camp out for the 15-minute resting period.
Bring a picnic and save some money on food
Six Flag forbids guests from bringing their own noshes and drinks into the park (except baby food, which is OK), but there is an area with tables and grass outside the gates where you can picnic. So load up the cooler with sandwiches and cold drinks and plan on lunching outside the grounds if you want to save some cash. Guests are allowed to leave the park and re-enter, so it’s easy to head for the car around lunchtime for a picnic and then return for the afternoon. Otherwise, there are plenty of places to buy food inside the park.
Season passes are a good deal for some (depending on how tall your family is)
A one-day pass–which includes admission to both the amusement park and Hurricane Harbor–runs $44.99 for anyone 54 inches tall or more (basically, adults), $29.99 for folks shorter than that (children), with kids 3 and under entering for free. A two-day pass is $54.99 no matter how tall you are.
With that in mind, if you’re planning to go more than a few times this summer and several family members are more than 54 inches tall, you’ll save money with season passes, which cost $94.99 each if you buy one to three online, or $84.99 a pass when you buy four or more.
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HOW FAST DO YOU GO?
At Play rented a Bushnell Velocity radar gun and speed tested sliders as they finished.*
25 m.p.h.
PARADISE PLUNGE AND RIPTIDE
Whip through dark tunnels and sharp turns, with some sliders reaching top speeds of 40 m.p.h., according to Six Flags.
24 m.p.h
WAHOO RACERS
– Fly head-first on a mat through twisting tunnels before being dumped onto a steep, straight 60-foot plunge.
20 m.p.h
HAMMER-HEAD AND BARRACUDA
Zip over hills and dips on a raft pushed by flumes of water from a height of five stories.
11 m.p.h
TYPHOON AND VORTEX
Grab a raft and whoosh around tight spirals of tunnels before crashing into the water five stories below.
Note: Our reporter is not a physicist and the sun makes her woozy, so speeds may be lower than actual top velocities reached on the slides.
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The park basics
Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor
On Grand Avenue, off Interstate 94, Gurnee 847-249-4636 or www.sixflags.com/parks/greatamerica
Attractions: The Great America theme park side has roller coasters, free-fall rides, a double-decker carousel and other thrill rides. The waterpark has waterslides, a wave pool, an adventure river and a water playground. Guests are welcome at both parks.
Amenities at Hurricane Harbor: Restrooms and food vendors abound. Rental lockers are available at $6, $8 and $10, depending on size. Private cabanas will be available this summer for rental (prices unavailable at press time).
Admission: A one-day pass–which includes admission to both the amusement park and Hurricane Harbor–runs $44.99 for anyone 54 inches or taller; $29.99 for folks shorter than that; kids 3 and under enter for free. A two-day pass is $54.99 no matter how tall you are.
Season passes cost $94.99 each if you buy one to three online, or $84.99 a pass when you buy four or more. Also, check the Six Flags Web site, Jewel-Osco and Coca-Cola cans for special discounts.
Guests can exit and re-enter the park if their hands are stamped as they exit the main gate near the Columbia Carousel.
Estimated price for family of four: Including parking, admission (without discounts) for two people over 54 inches tall, two shorter children, one large locker, one double raft rental and two single raft rentals: $192.96. Add more for food and drinks.
Hours: The theme park and Hurricane Harbor are open daily through Sept. 5. Hurricane Harbor opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. all summer. The theme park opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. through June 26. From June 27 through Aug. 21, the park will stay open until 10 p.m. From Aug. 22 to Sept. 5, theme park hours will vary.
Parking: $10 per vehicle.
How to get there: From Interstate Highway 94, take the Grand Avenue East (Illinois Highway 132) exit. The entrance to Six Flags will be on the right.
— T.T.
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ttsouderos@tribune.com
