Six Flags Over Georgia (SFOG) Discussion Thread

It's been a while since I've logged on, so a recap of the last few pages: I'm super psyched about backwards Batman, personally. I know they've already done it on other Batman clones, but I'm going to pretend they're doing it to make up for removing Deja Vu, which is still to this day my second favorite coaster SFOG ever had (but only because nothing can beat Mind Bender, haha). Also, I wasn't able to go at all last season, so I can't comment on the Cyclone's smoothness or lack thereof, but I'm for sure going this season and I'm looking forward to trying it again. Last time I went on it was right after they added the first of the topper track, and it felt great, so I'd be totally fine with more topper track and not much else.

ALSO! Check out this video I found on YouTube earlier this evening! It's from a Fisher Price series called Terrific Trips, and it was filmed a decade before the USA section was split into USA/Gotham City. If the music wasn't a dead giveaway of its age, the fact that Mind Bender is brown will be. Unfortunately, there's some visual tearing during the Great Gasp part, and whoever recorded it skipped the Air Racers, most of the food montage, and the Western photo booth, but hey, this is at least most of it.

It's funny I was literally thinking about SFOG iron horsing one of their woodies and my thoughts were that it probably wouldn't happen. My thoughts were that the space by Cyclone was pretty tight and like a previous poster stated earlier GASM is a classic from a different time. Who knows what SF wants to do though. It would be nice if they just built a brand new hybrid.

GASM is one of the most beautiful roller coasters to come out of the renaissance era. It's not the smoothest woodie in the world by any means (far from it in fact), but I still really enjoy it in the right seats (middle row of any car). SFOG seems to make it a point to keep it looking great. It's red white and blue paint job hasn't gone bad in the past 10 or so years. SFOG really needs to preserve it the way it is!

I'm really biased though, because I have a huge soft spot for GASM. It was one of my first big roller coasters I rode as a kid.

Just look at it. It's gorgeous!

I really enjoyed GASM when I rode it a few years ago. In my eyes, Mind Bender and GASM are the "defining" coasters at SFOG. I wasn't a fan of Georgia Cyclone, but I rode it before it was retracked. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to come back this year for Namtab, and give it another go.

I am also a GASM purist. I absolutely love it and have always thought it was so beautiful sitting on the lake. I would hate to see them screw that up.

For those that don't think it's all that interesting, I can attest that when it is running well, it has some wonderful airtime (some of it can be quite scary ) I think it just needs to get regular maintenance to keep it amazing. Some years they do a great job of this, others....not so much. But I figure, it is almost as old as I am and has given plenty of amazing rides- so I'm happy with it - even if it has a less than stellar season.

I remember riding GASM the year after the big flood, when they had to replace the track between just about every single hill. The entire ride was smooth as glass; it was glorious. Now it's back to its former self, but I still think it's a lot of fun.

Also, is it strange that I actually really like the sudden stop at the end? It makes me laugh every time because of the reactions of everyone else on the train.

Hey everyone,

I haven't posted in a while, I suppose in years, and since then forgot my original username/password. Just a little insight from someone who used to be within the park, I was the summer Lead at Cyclone last season so I definitely spent my share of time at the ride. Cyclone has been retracked to a certain extent, not near as much as is desirable though, the first drop and second drop have been, after that, its back to pre-RMC track, which isn't getting any smoother anytime soon. That being said though, according to supervisors, managerial and sectional, Cyclone wont be going anywhere. Whether or not it will continue to be retracked is another story, we never talked about that. Just about the possibility of its removal. I feel like if they were going to continue retracking it though, they would have done so though. Since then, they have added Hurricane Harbor, and now they are adding Joker's Coaster and Harley Quinn Spinsanity....you would think if they were going to continue the retracking they would have done so before initiating those projects.

In all reality, Cyclone needs a large refurb, it has the potential to be a great coaster, but let's face it, right now it just plain hurts to ride it. Complete retrack, new paint, refurbed trains would be fantastic (ones that don't require some seats use a manual unlock "stinger" every time it comes into the station), new landscaping around the base of the ride (you wouldn't believe how disgusting it is down there), a louder PA system would work wonders, and from an operators perspective, somewhat remodeling the station to expose the main control panel and do away with the annoying auxiliary panel. I was never informed, nor did I ever understand why we couldn't use the main panel, so if someone is aware, please enlighten me. It works just fine because I operated the coaster from it a few times and in addition, that's where I started the ride and the lift at the beginning of the day, or after weather, or after a breakdown. Also, with the aux panel, I was never able to see if the trouble light had come on if the ride stopped. It was pretty much operating the coaster from two different panels, which got a bit tedious at times, and lets face it, everyone likes a main panel better!

Hey everyone,

 

I haven't posted in a while, I suppose in years, and since then forgot my original username/password. Just a little insight from someone who used to be within the park, I was the summer Lead at Cyclone last season so I definitely spent my share of time at the ride. Cyclone has been retracked to a certain extent, not near as much as is desirable though, the first drop and second drop have been, after that, its back to pre-RMC track, which isn't getting any smoother anytime soon. That being said though, according to supervisors, managerial and sectional, Cyclone wont be going anywhere. Whether or not it will continue to be retracked is another story, we never talked about that. Just about the possibility of its removal. I feel like if they were going to continue retracking it though, they would have done so though. Since then, they have added Hurricane Harbor, and now they are adding Joker's Coaster and Harley Quinn Spinsanity....you would think if they were going to continue the retracking they would have done so before initiating those projects.

 

In all reality, Cyclone needs a large refurb, it has the potential to be a great coaster, but let's face it, right now it just plain hurts to ride it. Complete retrack, new paint, refurbed trains would be fantastic (ones that don't require some seats use a manual unlock "stinger" every time it comes into the station), new landscaping around the base of the ride (you wouldn't believe how disgusting it is down there), a louder PA system would work wonders, and from an operators perspective, somewhat remodeling the station to expose the main control panel and do away with the annoying auxiliary panel. I was never informed, nor did I ever understand why we couldn't use the main panel, so if someone is aware, please enlighten me. It works just fine because I operated the coaster from it a few times and in addition, that's where I started the ride and the lift at the beginning of the day, or after weather, or after a breakdown. Also, with the aux panel, I was never able to see if the trouble light had come on if the ride stopped. It was pretty much operating the coaster from two different panels, which got a bit tedious at times, and lets face it, everyone likes a main panel better!

For some reason Six Flags corporate does not allow the main panel to be unattended for an operator to check restraints. If there is a remote panel, like on most batman clones and many wooden coasters throughout the chain, then the operator can leave the panel and check restraints. I'm sure in your SOP it says that with a certain amount of team members on platform then the main panel is used and not left unattended. It's basically so they don't have to staff one additional person.

I guess their thinking is that if the ride needed to be stopped, if there wasn't a remote panel the operator would have to travel a longer distance and potentially climb stairs to reach the panel.

^The thing is, the main panel never has an operator at it, even if I did have a full staff. It was maintenance that used it or me to start/restart the coaster. It just never made sense. My minimum was 3 (me as the op, a verifier, and a downstairs attendant) and during peak days and hours we had at least 4 (same as previous plus an unloader). While it was 3 I checked one side of restraints and the verifier the other side, so with only 3 attendants I understand having the operator use the auxiliary, it wasn't in the booth (three stairs up and enclosed) and it was more convenient and safely located (right beside the track at the back side of the station. If we were staffed above 3, I never had to leave my aux panel yet was still never allowed to use the main panel. I mean it, as well as the booth looks a little rough, but its an older coaster, its expected. It also probably wouldn't have been fair for me to have an enclosed booth with a seriously awesome A/C unit inside of it while my attendants were burning up . Regardless, it wasn't my favorite coaster to operate anyways. I absolutely loved operating Scorcher though! So many buttons!!

Georgia Cyclone Main Panel

^The thing is, the main panel never has an operator at it, even if I did have a full staff. It was maintenance that used it or me to start/restart the coaster. It just never made sense. My minimum was 3 (me as the op, a verifier, and a downstairs attendant) and during peak days and hours we had at least 4 (same as previous plus an unloader). While it was 3 I checked one side of restraints and the verifier the other side, so with only 3 attendants I understand having the operator use the auxiliary, it wasn't in the booth (three stairs up and enclosed) and it was more convenient and safely located (right beside the track at the back side of the station. If we were staffed above 3, I never had to leave my aux panel yet was still never allowed to use the main panel. I mean it, as well as the booth looks a little rough, but its an older coaster, its expected. It also probably wouldn't have been fair for me to have an enclosed booth with a seriously awesome A/C unit inside of it while my attendants were burning up [emoji38]. Regardless, it wasn't my favorite coaster to operate anyways. I absolutely loved operating Scorcher though! So many buttons!!

You probably handled exit traffic while you were at maximum staffing and stayed at the panel, right? You wouldn't be able to do that from the main panel. I'm sure a few years ago there was a configuration of staffing where it was used but it was probably removed in the past few years. Just a question, did the panel require a key (Ride start enable) to restart the ride or did you only have yo hold the ride start?

At maximum staffing, the unloader handled exit traffic. At maximum my normal responsibilities were operating, paperwork, guest comments/concerns/questions, spieling, managing crew, etc. Who knows, I understand no main panel because of the booth with minimum, but minimum plus or max staffing, it remains a mystery. Y'all do give me some thoughtful insights though. All of the rides at SFOG require a key, but only maintenance has access to them, nothing out of the ordinary. Just to turn on/off the panel/power. On cyclones panel (main and auxiliary, there were ride stop and lift stop, which respectively, turned off the lift as well as closed the brakes, or just turned off the lift. As far as starting the ride. The main panel has lift start and ride start, as well as a lift start button on the lift panel. To start the ride, you don't have to do a ride start and lift start, they are simultaneous. The ride start and lift start buttons are depressed together and then the lift start button on the lift, and the horn sounds. After the horn stops, the brakes release and the lift chain starts. Same process generally on all of the coasters at the park (a few exceptions....Goliath, due to the grade of the lift and height, it requires a supervisor being tethered to scale the lift therefore only requires the main panel to restart the lift). Some of the flats have different processes, for example Acrophobia, I had access to ride start and ride stop, but ride start only worked in the event that maintenance had put the ride in automatic and didn't "start" automatic mode. Then I would just depress ride start and it would be ready to dispatch. In contrast though, if I were to depress ride stop on Acrophobia, I didn't have the power to restart the ride, it required maintenance coming to clear the ride stop and place the operation mode back into automatic. So it was somewhat similar to e-stop, just less abrupt. Sorry for going on a tangent on a simple question I have a few pics of different panels around the park I'm going to post in the control panel thread and then detail what the buttons and switches do! So check that soon if you're interested!

I loved all the gritty ride details over the last page or so. Thanks for sharing! Who else is planning to be there on opening day?

I know it's alittle early but with sfog getting skyscreamer in 2013 and the waterpark in '14 and this year the super looper, is there a pretty good chance sfog will get a quality coaster ex: winged coaster, or launched

And is there any chance to build a 240 foot rmc maybe down near Ninja and gasm

I know it's alittle early but with sfog getting skyscreamer in 2013 and the waterpark in '14 and this year the super looper, is there a pretty good chance sfog will get a quality coaster ex: winged coaster, or launched

 

 

And is there any chance to build a 240 foot rmc maybe down near Ninja and gasm

I would have to say it's unlikely. Space in the park is extremely limited due to the interstate and the river bordering two sides of the park. As well, there is little room for expansion. Also, Hurricane Harbor is said to have more phases to be built with the first being the one that opened in 2014. Ninja would be the first to go if anything, so if a said coaster were to happen it would be in that area. As for greater than 200 feet, it would have to be in that section of the park. The only way they were able to construct a 242 foot SkyScreamer was because of the lower elevation in the back of the park. There is a regional airport just down the interstate that restricts height at SFOG to 200 feet or less at the equivalent of their highest elevation. They can build greater than 200, but it had to be placed at a lower elevation and not be greater than 200 feet would be at the parks highest point. I hope that makes sense.

^I second most of this though I would slightly correct that our Sky Screamer was originally planned to be 242ft, however that was later changed to 227ft.

In the near term, I think our most likely coaster additions are either an RMC’d GA Cyclone or an S&S 4D Freespin. Assuming Batman: The Ride is successful down at SFFT this year, and I do think it will be, I could very easily see a clone or similar ride coming to SFOG that might be placed back where Deja Vu used to be over what is currently parking lot. Though Ninja is almost universally disliked, I can’t see the park replacing it until they have something pretty large for that plot of land, as it currently fills our “big” multi-looper spot.

^I'd be all for giving Georgia Cyclone the RMC treatment. That ride, rough as it is, has the potential to be great.

I know it's alittle early but with sfog getting skyscreamer in 2013 and the waterpark in '14 and this year the super looper, is there a pretty good chance sfog will get a quality coaster ex: winged coaster, or launched

 

 

And is there any chance to build a 240 foot rmc maybe down near Ninja and gasm

 

I would have to say it's unlikely. Space in the park is extremely limited due to the interstate and the river bordering two sides of the park. As well, there is little room for expansion. Also, Hurricane Harbor is said to have more phases to be built with the first being the one that opened in 2014. Ninja would be the first to go if anything, so if a said coaster were to happen it would be in that area. As for greater than 200 feet, it would have to be in that section of the park. The only way they were able to construct a 242 foot SkyScreamer was because of the lower elevation in the back of the park. There is a regional airport just down the interstate that restricts height at SFOG to 200 feet or less at the equivalent of their highest elevation. They can build greater than 200, but it had to be placed at a lower elevation and not be greater than 200 feet would be at the parks highest point. I hope that makes sense.

I know a lot of people give wing riders crap, but I think an X Flight clone in Ninjas spot would be a wonderful addition. Because let's face it outside of Ninja, SFOG has one of the most well rounded collections.. A hyper almost everyone loves, A B&M Stand Up that is arguably the best or second best to most people, Mindbender, The chains only Eurofighter, Batman, Most people think our Superman has the best theming and landscaping that give it the edge over the other two.I really don't think anyone would cry if Ninja was removed, I know people who don't necessarily mind it, but I don't think I have come across anyone that has more than a meh reaction to it.

^I second most of this though I would slightly correct that our Sky Screamer was originally planned to be 242ft, however that was later changed to 227ft.

 

In the near term, I think our most likely coaster additions are either an RMC’d GA Cyclone or an S&S 4D Freespin. Assuming Batman: The Ride is successful down at SFFT this year, and I do think it will be, I could very easily see a clone or similar ride coming to SFOG that might be placed back where Deja Vu used to be over what is currently parking lot. Though Ninja is almost universally disliked, I can’t see the park replacing it until they have something pretty large for that plot of land, as it currently fills our “big” multi-looper spot.

Mind Bender, Dare Devil Dive.

I wouldn't mind a SFOG YoloCoaster

Montu is tied with banshee as my number 1 inverted coasters, I just can not choose between the two.

Thank said, Batman backward is just as forceful as Montu is frontward. Montu is the only roller coaster that makes me weak in the knees each time. Batman does not do that to me frontward. However, when I rode it backward in Chicago I was weak in the knees.

They are getting ready to talk about it on Channel 9 here in Cincinnati.

^I second most of this though I would slightly correct that our Sky Screamer was originally planned to be 242ft, however that was later changed to 227ft.

 

In the near term, I think our most likely coaster additions are either an RMC’d GA Cyclone or an S&S 4D Freespin. Assuming Batman: The Ride is successful down at SFFT this year, and I do think it will be, I could very easily see a clone or similar ride coming to SFOG that might be placed back where Deja Vu used to be over what is currently parking lot. Though Ninja is almost universally disliked, I can’t see the park replacing it until they have something pretty large for that plot of land, as it currently fills our “big” multi-looper spot.

 

 

Mind Bender, Dare Devil Dive.

 

 

I wouldn't mind a SFOG YoloCoaster

While those may be multiple inversion coasters definitionally, I tend to mentally categorize them very differently from Ninja. In terms of ride style, Ninja is far more like Viper at SFMM, Vortex at KI, or one of the several B&M floorless models found throughout the Six Flags chain. My point being that most parks have a more traditional (sit down or floorless) coaster that has at least 5 inversions, and without Ninja SFOG would be lacking in that category. Your point is well taken though. I wouldn’t mind an SFOG YoloCoaster either.

Anyone in the Atlanta area interested in covering the Batman Backwards media day for TPR? It's Friday March 13th. Please email robbalvey@themeparkreview.com and send me a link to your Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter. We'd need you to do an on-camera ride video and a report from the media day. We will email you back if you are chosen.

So it's been a long. LONG Winter here in Chicago.... Thinking of an inpromptu trip to SFOG next weekend... Obviously weather is a big factor, but what are crowds like this early in the season? Also, there is no Flash Pass pricing listed on the Six Flags webpage... I would assume that it's like what we have up here at SFGAm ($50/$75/$100)... Might splurge on a Flash Pass if it's crowded and see what the whole "Fast Pass" thing is all about

Also, how are the hotels on the West side of town along I-20? The Days Inn out by the park is only $60/night, so considering it... Don't need a Ritz-Carlton, but want something clean and usable... Was hoping to stay under $70-80/night if possible... If we stayed closer to downtown Atlanta, how is traffic and the commute to the park?

Also, how are the hotels on the West side of town along I-20? The Days Inn out by the park is only $60/night, so considering it... Don't need a Ritz-Carlton, but want something clean and usable... Was hoping to stay under $70-80/night if possible... If we stayed closer to downtown Atlanta, how is traffic and the commute to the park?

Last time I visited, I stayed at the Econo Lodge across the highway from Six Flags. It was a pretty decent hotel for the price, and walking to the park from the there is about the same distance as walking from Six Flags' parking lot.

I always use the super 8 beside the park.. Its always been clean and cheap.. Nothing fancy but has friendly staff and they will do everything to keep you happy.. I have had no issues with them.. Stayed there enough to earn a free night so 15+ times probably lol

Also as for the flash pass pricing they sent a survey out asking how much I would pay. I have a feeling they are going to toy with the price this summer.. Last year with a coupon on my season pass I got a flash pass standard for two people for $35 total! But it was with a bogo and a coupon I believe

Hey guys, today I was at the media event for Batman Backwards and took a few pics and an rider-cam video with a friend. This is my first trip report ever, and my first media event ever so I was a little on edge, but when I got there I was surprised how chill and relaxed the whole thing was.

The weather was over-cast and on and off rain the whole time. (perfectly ominous for Batman) We got there and rain was pouring down. We checked in, and went to the station to wait for the first ride of the day. It was so weird seeing an empty station, but we rode a few times, did our POV. Then we took a break, took some pictures and ate. In the tent there was BBQ sandwiches, corn dogs, mac and cheese, and some more sides. Then we went back for a few more rides, talked to a local news man and left. Overall the event was relaxing super fun and just awesome.

My overall thought of the ride was that is was very different from its original. If anything its almost less and more intense in different ways. Going forward, I usually grey out on the bottom of the first loop, but it was very smooth, and no grey outs for the whole ride, but it was more intense in that the twists and turns felt more defined, and I guess "twistier", and the feeling in the loops and zero-g roll are indescribably awesome! So here are some pics I took, again this is my first ever photo report, so they might not be the best quality, and we were only allowed to be in the parking lot, so I couldnt get lots of angles. The on-ride video will come soon!

It was WET... all day

Here was the small but awesome tent SFOG set up

So ominous

ooooooo VIP

We were on the first ride of the day, which was much earlier than whats on the badge

It's SO weird seeing the trains backwards for the first time

As you can see WET. Water was dripping from the trains all day onto your head on the lift!

Bad picture, but BATMAN

Zero-GGGGG. The feelings on this ride were so weird, but so awesome

THEMEING

Good southern (theme park) food. With a Photo-bombing corndog

Train full of happy riders

In conclusion, great ride, great event, not the best weather, but it was a great time

Close it off with the money shot