Plus sized riders at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois

For my first ever blog post, I am going to discuss some of the rides at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. I went for the first time ever in the beginning of July, and kind of forgot that I was a plus size. Now, I’m a very awkward plus size. At the time of writing, I wear a size 20 pant but a 22W in dresses. I basically look like a block.

Anyways, it didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t fit on some of the rides. I am 5’4″ and about 240 lbs. and for anyone that wants to come on here and fire shots, screw off bc this post is for people that genuinely need it. So let’s get moving.

At first, things were okay. We started on Superman. Superman was an easy fit for me. It’s an over the head harness thing orwhatever those are, and they lock in. There was no additional seatbelt or anything. I fit on that one without any issues. American Eagle and Viper are both classic wooden roller coasters secured by a lap bar and seatbelt. I think viper just had the lap bar. Those were both good fits. They’re both a tight fit when you sit next to another person, but it worked. The seatbelt had a few exta inches for me and the lap bar went down pretty far. We also did the Raging Rapids Raft Ride and that was a lot of fun. There’s lots of seatbelt room and I fit well there with my best friend who is about average sixed. (PSA: YOU WILL GET SOAKED)

Next we’re going to talk about V2 (Vertical Velocity), X-Flight, and Raging Bull. I did not fit on V2. It’s an impulse coaster, however, the seats are not made for plus sizes. V2 is secured by one of the over-the-head restraints and the restraints then buckle into the chair. The buckle did not have enough room. The restraint was fine, but there justr wasn’t enough inches on the buckle, so I had to opt out of V2. X-Flight was a very tight fit. I have been told that X-Flight has a row with “big boy” seats with red seatbelts. They are either in row 4 or 5, but I’m not positive. I rode towards the end of the car, so I was in a regular people car. X-Flight is secured by an over-the-head restraint with an extra belt to attach it. This one required some help from the ride assossciate. It was a lot of sucking in and him pushing to get the belt in, but it was really close. I was super relieved that I was actually able to go on it. I think it was one of my favorite rides. Also, X-Flight is a ride that has a height requirement. If you’re too tall,you can’t ride it due to the keyhole slot part of the ride. And a piece of advice, when the line splits off, try and get into the left line. You will end up on the right side of the track and it will take you right over the water that’s by the ride. Very scenic. Raging Bull seemed okay. Raging Bull is only secured by a lap bar, and I got into that relatively easily. The ride assossciate came buy and told me to pull as he pushed on the restraint, but I think it was just to secure it. Definitely don’t count on fitting in that one if you are much bigger than me. Also a tip for this one: stay away from row 8 on the yellow train for the seats are for some reason substantially smaller.

I did not get to go on either of the Batman rides, or Goliath due to long wait times. Goliath was only running on one car for the majority of the day which made it ridiculously hard to get on. However, I have heard from my other plus size friends that there is plenty of seatbelt and a good lap bar on that one so we should fit, I haven’t found anyone that’s had an issue on goliath. I did read that the Batman ride (the bigger outdoor one) is harder to fit on and that the seats are similar to V2, but I’m not sure how much truth there is to that.

RIDES YOU PROBABLY CANNOT COUNT ON:

Vertical Velocity (V2)

Revolution

King Chaos

Giant Drop

Batman the Ride (Not sure about the Dark Night)

Also, I cannot stress enough that in front of many of the rides, there are test seats. USE THEM. It will definitely save you the embarrassment of getting on the ride and then getting kicked off. I learned that the hard way. Moral of the story is that for us plus sizes, things are a lot more difficult to fit on or in. This advice definitely won’t work for everyone, especially considering I’m short as hell and look like a block. People wear their weight differently. It’s just a fact. SO! If you go to Six Flags, ENJOY YOURSELF! It’s a lot of fun. Just be prepared for what might happen. (: Be safe!

xoxo

-Jen