This is by far my favorite rollercoaster on Earth, and it is especially amazing in the rain. It's one of the longest drops on any wooden rollercoaster anywhere, because the first drop goes down into a large hole that was dug into the ground, so the drop is actually longer than the ride is tall. I have been on it hundreds of times in my life, and I appreciate that it's thrilling but isn't rough on your body, so even with my aches and pains and arthritis, I can ride 10 times in a row without slowing down or taking a break. I have a very low threshold for rough rides, and this is one of the smoother wooden rollercoasters out there (let's not talk about Viper). Wooden rollercoasters will always have some amount of rickety-ness because that is the nature of the material. If you want a glass smooth ride, try a steel coaster (or Goliath, which has steel track). I find The Beast at King's Island to be a rougher experience than The American Eagle. It's a much better experience when it is racing, but Six Flags, unfortunately, only races the ride on super rare occasions. It is the tallest, fastest, racing wooden rollercoaster in the world. I wanted to address the review claiming that their train derailed: If this ACTUALLY happened, it would have been in the news. This has literally never happened in the entire life of this coaster, and is super rare in the industry as a whole. Ride derailments are big news, and would not go unreported. They are also nearly impossible due to the upstop wheels that run along the bottom of the track. No one has ever been injured on The American Eagle. Every off season, sections of track are removed and replaced, and every morning, the ride is inspected to ensure that it is safe to operate, then test cycles are run to be sure that the ride is safe. A maintenance team member walks the entire track every single morning. They say that once you build a wooden rollercoaster, you never stop building it. Wood is constantly being replaced. Track is being replaced. Safety is taken extremely seriously in the amusement industry because no one wants that kind of bad publicity, and because no one wants to get sued. The ride is well maintained, just needs a coat of paint. The white paint is cosmetic, and is not a structural component. I'm hoping to see some cosmetic work on The American Eagle now that the new corporate management has been making cosmetic improvements throughout the park. The dark brown hardware cloth to prevent graffiti, for instance, is an eyesore, and could be replaced with white in order to match the station wall it is attached to. There has never been a guest fatality at this park (or most parks) related to ride malfunctions. This information can be easily looked up and confirmed. read more

I love six flags however this ride is so bad they need to take it down immediately. The ride is so broken and falling apart. It seems like it will fall apart at any minute and it seems as if it was built 500 years ago. It makes for a dangerous and terrifying experience. My whole cart was derailed and almost flew off the track. It seems as if there is always something broken on it. It would be much better to knock it down before someone dies. They have no safety on this ride at all. Shameful. read more

YOU'RE MY BOY, BLUE! #redsidesucks Even when it's not running backwards, the blue side of the eagle is still superior. Better return run back to the platform, and having the outside of the huge 540° helix yields more lateral G's. The station operators make an effort to race the two sides, which is very cool of them. Eagle is--and always has been--one of my favorites at Great America, delivering amazing ride after ride on an annual basis. It's the summer of 2015, and the red side is offering double rides. 2x the rides means 2x the wait. Avoid this silly gimmick folks, it's not worth it. Stick with the shorter wait and single ride. But make sure you include American Eagle on your trip to SFGAm, just be prepared for a rickety out-and-back adventure. "" Roller coaster storytime funsies! "" On 8/22/15, I got stuck at the top of the red side's lift hill for about 10 minutes. No biggie, I've been on enough coasters where this has occasion to happen (in fact, I was on one in New Jersey that dropped back a notch on the lift hill and being in the back row, I nearly pissed myself). A charming station worker by the name of Patty walked aalllll the way up to the top to console the rest of the riders who were practically in hysterics. Not me of course, I was cool as a cucumber, cracking jokes to boost train morale ("somebody get out and push", "at least the view up here is nice", and so forth). I even snapped some decent photos while stranded up there. Eventually we got going again and our train got a huge round of applause back in the station. I gleefully requested 'triple rides' for the inconvenience, but to no avail. The upstops (wheels underneath the car) are the only thing keeping the trains affixed to the track as it crests the short hill immediately preceding the helix. If you listen closely, you can actually *hear* the sound of the train crashing back down on the running wheels (main ones on top). Yeah really. And the way the trains pick up speed in that massive helix is a beautiful thing, I never get tired of those lovely laterals. American Eagle: a true blue classic. Here's to hoping you never change. read more

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So the ride was fine, but the age has shown. There is good news for people who don't like rough wooden coasters. A possible retracking will probably happen after this year (not announced yet as of making this post). But looks like it'll stay which is cool cause I love it but man it was rough read more

The American Eagle - Amusement Parks Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

I'm giving the American Eagle five stars even though our side had a mechanical error which caused us about another 30 minutes of waiting in line. The five stars is probably because we sat in front. I have never sat in front on American Eagle and it made it 100x scarier. This ride normally doesn't have that long of a line so I'd recommend waiting a little bit longer to get a front car. Of course the drop is the best part but there's a few quick turns and little drops that caused me to scream. Also, this roller coaster is iconic. It's the first thing you see driving along the expressway and just a classic wooden coaster. read more

An oldie but not goodie. I heard this was built by Intamin, but for some reason it was rough if i can recall. The racing was pretty fun though as I remember the operators were very insistent of having the cars leave at the same time to race. It was pretty fun, but you can tell it is showing it's age. I would not mind if they do the RMC treatment on this one as well. read more

"I'm gonna rise up, gonna kick a little ass. Rock, Flag and Eagle!" - Charlie Kelly American Eagle is definitely the best looking coaster at Great America, cutting a striking profile at the back of the park - and when you drive up on the Interstate. I remarked how great the paint job looked, and sure enough Eric S said they had just given it a fresh coat this year. I'm a sucker for a good racing coaster, so naturally, even with limited time and some lower tier coasters left unrode, we had to ride AE twice, once on the blue train and once on the red. We hit up the blue first, and it looked like it was going to be a short wait, as we made our way to the station pretty rapidly. Then, as fate would have it, somebody blew chunks on the train and Six Flags workers had to clean it up. They got the coaster decent again, and four rather, shall we say, rotund fellows stepped forward to occupy the front of the train. Three sat in the first three rows, each needing an empty seat next to them as their bodies spilled out well into the adjacent space, and the fourth got walk of shamed off. Well, that uneven weight distribution must have knocked something askew, cause what do you know us blue riders had to stand around and grumble some more while the red train whisked carload after carload of riders onto an unfortunately race-free coaster experience. A mechanic who looked remarkably like the dad from Juno walked out to the bottom of the blue side lift hill, did some work, and eventually we were off and running, with Eric S and myself in the front row. So Six Flags did a good job getting the blue side running again, but a crap job syncing us up with red. We didn't get to race though I would gladly have sat in the station longer to get that experience. We waited long enough for that downtime, so what's a minute or two longer to race? We got up onto the lifthill right where Juno's dad was working and the train made this quick, startling motion with a loud KA-CHUNK! like it halfway jumped off the tracks. Well, obviously we made it back to the station safe and sound as I'm sitting here writing this review, and fortunately there were no other moments like that on the ride, but it was off putting enough that I didn't hold my hands up on my maiden voyage on American Eagle. The first drop was awesome, and this coaster has probably the biggest helix I've been on outside of The Beast at King's Island, but it didn't have quite as much airtime as I expected. King's Island's Racer also probably has AE beat on that count, though it's been quite a few trips around the sun since I've ridden it and that memory doesn't stand out like that mammoth helix. American Eagle from the front was a bit rough, as is to be expected from an old wooden coaster, but it was still very much in the realm of fun roughness, or at least it would have been had it not been for that disquieting incident at the bottom of the lift hill. American Eagle has that awesome almost out of control feel that makes roller coasters such a blast, but the fear that it might ACTUALLY go out of control kind of had me on edge. By the time we got to the bunny hills on the way back I was pretty sure we weren't going to die and was genuinely having a good time. Later in the day we rode in the back row of the red train. Once again downtime struck when we were in the station, but this time my boy Eric S made sure Six Flags synced up the two warring sides so we could have a proper race. The trains of American Eagle seem to be a bit farther apart than those of Gemini, my favorite racing coaster, as I didn't see anybody slapping hands from across the divide between the two trains and knew it was a futile effort to attempt it. Still, the race was on, and this time I put my hands in the air like I just didn't care. AE gave more airtime in the back but the roughness crossed a little over the line back there for me. I probably would have been fine if I was holding on the lapbar, just like I would have been fine if I held my hands up in the front. It wasn't brutal or anything, and I wasn't about to complain to my companion lest he think me soft, but it was enough to keep AE out of five star range for me. And enough that when we walked over to Viper next I requested the front row. (I can't hold those technical problems against the ride or park. I have an old truck and I know shit breaks down sometimes.) American Eagle is definitely a gem, but it may have lost just a little bit of it's luster in old age. Still, I would definitely say this is a must ride coaster at this park. And I really appreciated the way the first hill was lit up with a spotlight at night. This thing really is a beaut! P. S. Blue beat red, just barely. read more

The American Eagle - Should flicked the first hill but here's the queue - Amusement Parks Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

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A classic coaster at Six Flags! Any time you visit this park, you MUST ride this ride. It's been around for forever! Sometimes the lines can be long, but usually there are fun things to look at while you wait: During the summer, you can watch brave humans partake in "skydiving" (and they're brave not only for the jump, but also because they have to pay like $15 to jump on top of their initial ticket price), and during autumn, there's usually a haunted house nearby so you can hear the music from that and get a little sneak peek into what's happening behind the scenes. From the first drop the entire ride is rickety and fast, so make sure to hang on to your belongings, but it's well worth the wait and it's well worth being a little bit scared. 0:) Ya gotta go, like I said: it's a classic! read more

I've ridden this ride multiple times throughout my youth, I finally came here to ride it again but I really wanted to go on it backwards... Which didn't happen. The ride itself is still amazing and runs really well and full of excitement that makes me reminiscent of a time I was younger. The line to get through this line is very very wacky still in my opinion. read more

There have been new rides at Six Flags lately, but the American Eagle is a classic coaster. The American Eagle was once the tallest and fastest wooden coaster. It's a wooden racing coaster. That record is not there anymore. At 63mph and 163 feet, it's still very thrilling! The airtime on this wooden beast is really good! In the 80's, you would've waited 3 HOURS for the Eagle. My only problem is that it's a bit rough. This is especially after the first drop. All in all, very fun coaster. If your going for less of a line, go for the red side! I think it's a tie if it goes the same time. Choose your team- Red or Blue? read more

The American Eagle - A train on the red side zooms by! - Amusement Parks Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

American Eagle is an old classic in the park and it's imposing white painted superstructure has loomed large over I-94 for a long time. And it's not officially Halloween in Chicagoland until the giant spider goes up. But this ride is starting to show it's age with peeling paint and a rather rough track. Racing coasters are always fun (Go Team Red!) but it seems like Six Flags often has just one train running. Maybe it's because ridership seems to have declined over the years, which is a shame because it means people are missing out on a great first drop into a tunnel, lots of airtime, and one of the best and biggest banked helix turns anywhere. Maybe it's time for RMC to work their magic on smoothing out this old girl's wrinkles. But if they do, I hope they keep this a dueling racer and keep it true to it's original spirit. Maybe just a simple retracking instead of giving it the full Goliath treatment like they did with Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain. read more

New rides come and go, but this classic is a must at the park. I recall being about 15 and finally getting enough courage to ride it back in the 80's. My daughter took her first ride when she was about 7 and my son when he was 8. This past weekend, when lines were short, we didn't have to wait at all to get on the ride and it always brings back good memories. read more

PICK A COLOR Are you blue or red? As you are standing in line, that is a choice you will have to make. Yes this is a dual track coaster with the red train and blue train racing each other. I must admit that my side always wins so follow me. Ha! Actually the trains were designed to finish in a tie but there a few factors that play in this finish. One of the first things is weight. The more weight in the train, especially in the front, will cause the train to release sooner and go faster down the first drop. So all of the larger riders in the front if you want to win. The American Eagle first opened on May 23, 1981 and held several coaster world records. Currently it still holds 4 World Records: fastest racing wooden roller coaster, longest racing wooden roller coaster,tallest racing wooden roller coaster & largest drop on a racing wooden roller coaster. It is not often you get to experience something that is record setting. Over the years The American Eagle has lost a few World Records too. For 19 years American Eagle was known as the Fastest wooden roller coaster. In fact, for 7 years it was the fastest roller coaster until 1988. It was also the tallest wooden roller coaster until 1985. And had the largest drop on a wooden roller coaster until 1989. I'm proud to say I rode on this coaster while it had all 8 world records. So that is cool. This is a long ride, in fact the coaster takes up almost one side of the park. It is really impressive to see this coaster from the Interstate. If the site of the American Eagle doesn't make you want to pull of the road and ride it, then you just aren't a coaster person. The ride lasts approximately 2 minutes and 23 seconds which is worth the wait in line. I know I've waited a while to ride on this a few hundred times in my life. The track is 4,650 feet in length with a top speed of 65 mph. Also be warned that this is a wooden roller coaster, so there will be shaking going on. The American Eagle is not the smoothest ride, so be prepared for the rattle. Listening to the kids talk really cracks me up. They expect every roller coaster to be smooth. I wanna break into my old guy speech...."when I was your age we were lucky to have a lap bar to hold us in..." In fact, this ride use to only have one lap bar shared between two riders. Currently there is a personal lap bar per rider and an individual seat belt. See they didn't care if I flew out of my seat in 1981 because it was all part of the thrill. What do you think about that kids? The American Eagle reaches a height of 127 feet with a drop of 147 feet. This is the same for ether side of the track. There is a great view of the park from up here. My favorite time to ride is right at sunset, so I can enjoy the whole park. If you happen to be reading this review in line, then I've got some fun facts for you during your wait. The American Eagle has 129,720 bolts, and 30,600 pounds of nails. And if your really bored you can start counting them. It also would take 9,000 gallons of white paint to cover the 1,360,000 feet of lumber, Yes that's a lot of wood to paint. Currently the American Eagle could use some of that paint because it is looking a little dated. The entrance to American Eagle use to be under the big top tent which is currently the Kids area (formerly Wiggles Land). This area was always packed with switch back after switch back of people waiting to ride the American Eagle. The current entrance is located to the right of the Kids area. A little bonus feature: look over the railing and you will see some of the old track along with several cars left from the old racetrack attraction. When X-Flight was built the racetrack was taken away. I'll never forget you race cars. So are you Red or Blue? It really doesn't matter because the American Eagle is going to thrill you. The first big drop is amazing and you will love the view as you are free falling down to Earth. It's also fun to yell at the train next to you too. Everyone gets into the competitive nature of the race. In the end it doesn't matter who finishes first, all that matters is you had an amazing time riding the American Eagle. read more

Great, fun coaster - it was a record breaker when it opened and it still runs well 33 years later. I wish they'ed run Blue side backwards all the time, it adds a lot of fun to it, even having rode this literally hundreds of times. read more