Newspaper clippings, New Member Here!

Share your memories of working at Marriott's GREAT AMERICA in Gurnee
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EagleMom
Gulf Coaster
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:12 pm
Location: Antioch, IL

Newspaper clippings, New Member Here!

Post by EagleMom »

Hi everybody, I am new here but no stranger to reading through the boards and looking at pictures. I worked at Six Flags last summer in Guest Relations and LOVED it- I plan on returning this upcoming season and look forward to it.
I was browsing through Google news the other day and I'm not sure how I did this, but I was able to locate annual timelines of "Marriott's Great America" (or any other subject I was interested in) and narrow down those searches to specific months and days. Google allowed me gain access to newspaperarchives.com and look at those articles and/or ads in large print, and I found some wonderful scanned images from the Daily Herald.
Has anybody else been able to do this?
On a different note, I'm a veteran of Great America. My first visit was in 1980, shortly after the Turn of the Century was transformed into the Demon. I remember riding Eagle's Flight, enjoying the Tidal Wave, Haybaler, WILLARD'S Whizzer, waiting in line for over 3 hours for the American Eagle (and laughing at the beer stands inside the tent queue line!), seeing the circus show in the same tent before it became a queue line, among dozens of other memories. Wilderness Theatre was wonderful, with real dolphins! I remember when the Pass Processing Center housed arcade games! I remember that neat arboretum by the Sky Whirl too- it was a point of reference for my teenage girlfriend and I! Yes, the place has changed over the years but the spirit of fun is still very much alive at Six Flags!
I will post a neat picture in the future- when I figure out how to do so!
I love the American Eagle, Tidal Wave, Raging Bull, and The Viper. I also always enjoy Triple Play, Sky Trek Tower, and the lovely Carousel to this day.
What a great forum!
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GreatAmerica4ever
Yankee Clipper
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:14 pm
Location: Cudahy, WI

Post by GreatAmerica4ever »

Welcome!!!!

Anything you can dig up would be great! I was just in a car accident and will be laid up for the next 8 to 15 weeks...it is gonna be a long winter!!!! I need to think summer and keep past memories alive of Great America to get me through the day.
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Tech Services 1
Willard's Whizzer
Posts: 114
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 4:19 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Post by Tech Services 1 »

That feature on Google is pretty cool- how great to see those old newspaper clippings! I may have to actually subscribe to the service so I can read the whole articles!

PPG
Technical Services technician
Gurnee park '81 - '86

Eegads, has it been that long?
EagleMom
Gulf Coaster
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:12 pm
Location: Antioch, IL

Post by EagleMom »

I figured out that you have to be a member on Newspaper Archives (I'm pretty sure) to access the actual articles through Google news. I had to log onto NA first then go back to Google to actually pull up the articles. Anyway, it's just neat to see the advertisements and pricing back in the day!
I went back to GA two days ago. I work in Guest Relations during the operating season but right now I'm doing some work up in HR to help out. I had my lunch yesterday in the Administration building and it was really neat- there are pictures lined up along the walls of the park in various stages of development- dating back to 1974 or 1975. I didn't want to look like a super-geek so I kind of breezed by them. The Interchange at 132 was totally bare- no Gurnee Mills or any large buildings whatsoever. It was neat to see where they first poured the foundation, how the roads were paved. I wish there was some way that these pictures could be posted.
I noticed that back in 1976 (in one of the pictures) the parking lot was entirely full- to imagine how long it took to ride a single ride is amazing. I supposed that explains the antiquated, long queue lines for rides like the Carousel and the Sky Trek Tower that are NEVER full now. I do remember being young and waiting for quite awhile to get onto the Triple Play.
A friend of mine and I used to talk about having to wait a long time for the rides, but that was back in the 80's and at that time, it didn't seem to bother us. We always went with a friend and just knew our time would come. We'd talk to keep ourselves busy. Now my own kids complain if they have to wait more than 10 minutes for the Viper! If they only knew...
Thanks for the nice welcome.
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