Kiddieland Ride Finds A New Home At Six Flags

By Anna Deem in News on Feb 27, 2010 7:30PM

When spring arrives, the empty field between Batman: The Ride and the Bugs Bunny National Park at Six Flags in Gurnee will become the new home of The Little Dipper, a 61-year-old roller coaster that survived the demise of Kiddieland last September. The process of transporting the wooden coaster to Six Flags Great America is being carried out behind closed doors, with mechanics like Andy Adams checking and replacing parts on the original coaster that was built for the Kiddieland amusement park in 1949.

"We want to clean it up a little bit without changing it too much," Adams said to the Chicago Sun-Times as he disassembled one of the ride's four cars. "This one's getting new upholstery--if we can find it." After Kiddieland closed last fall, Great America purchased The Little Dipper at an auction for a reported $36,300. Once it opens, the coaster will be the park's 14th roller coaster and will cater to families with children too young for the Raging Bull rollercoaster.

Great America spokeswoman, Jennifer Savage, told the Sun-Times that the Dipper--with its three-story lift hill and a 700-foot track--will most likely be open sometime after the park's April 24-25 opening weekend. Another attraction set to open this spring is MagiQuest, a video adventure game inside the County Fair Games Gallery area of the park, with interactive stories that can be played in one visit or in pieces over the course of Six Flags' operating season.