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Six Flags Great America · US & Canada · typical hours 10 AM–9 PM
The one-minute version: be at the gate 30–45 minutes before opening and ride Maxx Force first. Waits peak from late morning to mid-afternoon — do shows and meals then. The final hour is often as quiet as rope drop. There is no headline evening show, so the final operating hour is usually the quietest time to ride.
Worth it on busy days: The Chicago season is short, which concentrates the crowds into summer weekends.
See today's live waits free Ready-made touring plansQueues here follow a predictable daily shape. Lines are shortest in the first hour and the last, and peak 2 PM–4 PM — that is the window to spend on shows, meals or indoor attractions rather than headliners.
Typical shape of a Six Flags Great America day, shown as each hour's share of that day's own peak wait. Actual minutes vary by season and day of week — check today's live waits.
| Hour | Typical wait level |
|---|---|
| 10 AM | 30% of the day's peak |
| 11 AM | 47% of the day's peak |
| 12 PM | 68% of the day's peak |
| 1 PM | 86% of the day's peak |
| 2 PM | 97% of the day's peak |
| 3 PM | 100% of the day's peak |
| 4 PM | 95% of the day's peak |
| 5 PM | 82% of the day's peak |
| 6 PM | 64% of the day's peak |
| 7 PM | 44% of the day's peak |
| 8 PM | 30% of the day's peak |
Be at the gate 30–45 minutes before opening and ride in this order. Maxx Force has a short cycle but small trains; Goliath and X-Flight follow.
The first hour is the cheapest capacity of the day — no pass, no fee, and typically the shortest waits you will see.
Red = busiest, green = quietest, grey = moderate.
Expect the year's longest waits during the summer holiday and Fright Fest.
The best value for short lines is May weekdays and September weekdays.
Worth it on busy days
The Chicago season is short, which concentrates the crowds into summer weekends. Buy on a July Saturday, skip it in May.
Price: roughly $40–$120 virtual queue — you wait, just not in line. Prices change often and by date — treat this as a range, not a quote.
Maben Parks shows every wait live with a "vs typical" marker, and your magical fairy will run the numbers for your party and date — including telling you to keep your money when the answer is no.
Check today's waits before you buyPlanning ahead? The free Six Flags Great America crowd calendar scores every day for the next four months, 1 to 10 — no sign-up.
Median posted wait across the rides we track, on moderate days — the crowd level most visitors get. The shaded band is the middle half of readings at that hour.
Detected automatically from the live feed — each of these reported closed all day, every day, for at least three operating days. Observed through September 8, 2026.
| Attraction | Closed since | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Big Easy Balloons | August 28, 2026 | 9 operating days |
| Logger's Run | August 28, 2026 | 9 operating days |
| Roaring Rapids | September 6, 2026 | 3 operating days |
| Attraction | Was closed from | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| River Rocker | August 30, 2026 | 5 operating days |
| Condor | August 28, 2026 | 4 operating days |
Generated from wait-feed observations, not an operator announcement: a long closure usually means refurbishment, but we report what the feed shows rather than guessing why. Always check the operator's own page before travelling for one specific ride.
Every wait we have recorded here, grouped by how busy the day turned out to be. The bold figure is the middle half of what we saw — a quarter of the time it was shorter, a quarter of the time longer. Read it against today’s crowd level to know whether the number on the sign is good or bad.
| Ride | Lightlevel 1 | Moderatelevel 3 | Packedlevel 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| THE DARK KNIGHT™ Coaster | 10–2015 typical | 10–12035 typical | 25–5535 typical |
| AQUAMAN™ Splashdown | 5–1510 typical | — | 20–6545 typical |
| Goliath | 5–3015 typical | 15–3020 typical | 25–6045 typical |
| Maxx Force | 20–4530 typical | — | 35–6060 typical |
| Raging Bull | 15–3020 typical | 20–4530 typical | 30–6045 typical |
| Sky Striker | 5–2520 typical | — | 20–6050 typical |
| SUPERMAN™: Ultimate Flight | 15–3520 typical | 25–3030 typical | 30–6060 typical |
| Wrath of Rakshasa | 15–2525 typical | 30–4530 typical | 35–6045 typical |
| Whizzer | 15–2520 typical | 20–6045 typical | 30–6030 typical |
| JUSTICE LEAGUE™: Battle for METROPOLIS | 0–155 typical | 10–6040 typical | 10–3530 typical |
| X Flight | 10–3015 typical | 15–3025 typical | 25–5035 typical |
| BATMAN™: The Ride | 5–155 typical | 0–205 typical | 10–4520 typical |
| THE JOKER™ Free-Fly Coaster | 10–3015 typical | 20–3020 typical | 30–4530 typical |
| American Eagle Red Side | 0–100 typical | — | 5–4020 typical |
| THE FLASH™: Vertical Velocity | 0–2510 typical | 10–2515 typical | 10–3530 typical |
| Rue Le Dodge | 0–55 typical | 5–3010 typical | 5–1010 typical |
| Viper | 5–1010 typical | 5–1010 typical | 10–3020 typical |
| American Eagle | — | — | 10–3015 typical |
Minutes of posted standby wait, from our own recorded snapshots — up to 4 days per figure. Cells stay blank until a ride has enough observations at that crowd level to be worth printing. Posted waits are what the park displays, which is not always what you queue.
Aim to be at the gate 30–45 minutes before the posted opening time of 10 AM. The first hour consistently has the day's shortest waits, and arriving even 45 minutes late typically costs you two headliners.
10 AM–11 AM and 8 PM–9 PM — the opening hour and the final hour of the operating day. Waits peak 2 PM–4 PM, so plan meals, shows and indoor attractions for that window.
Maxx Force, then Goliath and Raging Bull. Maxx Force has a short cycle but small trains; Goliath and X-Flight follow.
May and September — May weekdays and September weekdays. Avoid June, July, August and October, when the summer holiday and Fright Fest.
The Chicago season is short, which concentrates the crowds into summer weekends. Buy on a July Saturday, skip it in May.