GREATAMERICAparks.com

During the early Marriott years, Great America had a sponsorship arrangement with AMC (that's the now defunct American Motors Company for you youngsters). I expect the AMC sponsorship developed because AMC had a manufacturing plant in nearby Kenosha, WI. AMC also made JEEP vehicles before Chrysler b...

Does anyone remember what the 1976 park admission prices were? Somehow I think it was $7.95 + tax for Adults and that was for the entire day other than parking, food, games and souvenirs. It went up $1 each year for the first couple years. And these low prices were during Marriott's greatest years.....

I worked in the Gurnee park from 1977-1982. During the Marriott years, I do not recall meeting any foreign-national employees. Most of the 3,000+ employees came from within 15-20 minutes of the park...the large majority lived between Gurnee and East to Waukegan; West to Round Lake Park; North to Ken...

I'm sure someone is wondering why I picked MGA1 as my username. Well, MGA1 was the radio signature for whomever was the current Park Duty Manager for the day during the Marriott years. It was always either the park's General Manager or one of the Directors...the really big shots. Sadly, I never made...

Who remembers the annual events when jealous employees from Six Flags over Mid-America (St. Louis) would come visit Great America and sneak in multiple bottles of Mr. Bubble and empty them into the flume rides at the top of lift #2 (the top of the really high lift belt). They could do it with comple...

I started as an Area Host in Gurnee in 1977 (Marriott year 2). I remember the freezing restrooms. I also remember having to clean those restrooms...yuck. The restrooms originally had a through-the-wall mounted window air conditioning unit. It was located on the rear wall of the restrooms to the left...

Both parks had nearly identical Consulate Lounges. The Consulate Lounge was located on the second floor of what was originally called the "Mardi Gras Emporium"...the largest gift shop in Orleans Place. This building is the first building on the left side when you enter Orleans Place from C...

Hi, well I'm new to this group but I was wondering if anyone else has had the opportunity to work at both Great America parks? It was really interesting to see how what started as two nearly identical parks had started to morph into two very different parks. I worked in Gurnee from 1977 to 1982 thro...

Does anyone have a digital copy of the "Merry Mardi Gras Parade" theme music? It was one of the two songs written by Gene Patrick specifically for the Great America theme parks. I still remember the tune & most of the lyrics. If anyone remembers them, please feel free to correct what I...

As I remember it from my supervisor days, the background colors on the name tags in Gurnee from 1977-1982 were: White - seasonal costumed employee Yellow - seasonal costumed employee under 16 years old Blue - seasonal costumed supervisors Red - permanent full-time management Green - non-costumed emp...