Marriott's Great America first opened in Gurnee, Illinois, on May 29, 1976. Located midway between Chicago and Milwaukee, it was the second of two Marriott Corporation theme parks. Great America was created to be a place where families could have fun together while gaining an appreciation for United States history. The park's five authentically themed areas based on America's past included the best in family and thrill rides, restaurants, specialty shops, artisans, and games. First-rate live entertainment included Broadway-style musicals, bands, parades, a circus, and the Warner Bros. characters featuring BUGS BUNNY. In 1984, the park became Six Flags Great America when it joined the Six Flags family of theme parks. Since then, the park has continued to innovate and expand. Today, including its 20-acre Hurricane Harbor water park, Six Flags Great America is one of the country's finest theme parks. Since 1976, the park has entertained more than 100 million guests.

In 1984 America celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the first successful roller coaster device: La Marcus A. Thompson’s switchback railway, erected at Coney Island. Robert Cartmell examines every phase of roller coaster history, from the use of the roller coaster by Albert Einstein to demonstrate his theory of physics, to John Allen’s use of psychology in designing one.

The Roller Coaster-the Cyclone at Coney Island, the Racer at Pittsburgh's Kenywood Park, the Blue Streak at Sandusky's Cedar Point-icon of the midway, capable of reducing even the strongest of grown men to screaming, white-knuckled hysterics. During the early decades of the 20th century, daring designers pushed the limits of these high-speed thrillers, reaching hundreds of feet in height and thousands of feet in length, with ever more miles of winding, twisting, lurching track dominating the landscapes of America's amusement parks. Most of the roller coasters from that golden age are gone today. Thankfully, they live on in memory, preserved in vintage postcards that provide a lasting record of the magnificent wooden structures that thrilled our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.

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