SFOG1991

Just wait until you get a little age on you... That seems to change perspectives. Time is the great equalizer. I've ridden it with a few guys in their 50s (one being my father) and they all loved it too. I do understand why many don't but from my experience and those I've ridden with, there is no issue other than a few rough spots that really don't hurt or anything. We were all similar in height and build if that is it. Something about Arrow trains are very height and bone structure specific it seems. I think it is more dependent on height, build, and just what one considers uncomfortable more so than age.

Our local fireman's carnival had one of these up until about 2 years ago. So much fun. The actually still have the ride in storage and plan to bring it back some time in the future. That's good to know! Where is that exactly? I wonder how many of these are still hiding in storage but operational.

I will forever support and love Vortex. It may be my favorite coaster at the park (along with the obvious contenders of course) and I hope it lives on forever.

Sorry your day was not that as awesome as most Dollywood days are. Regardless of how busy the park is they seem to usually run 7 trains on Mystery Mine, which is very frustrating because they only use the first loading dock and have the second closed, so once you finish your ride you have to wait for 4 or 5 other trains to unload/load before you can get out. I love Dollywood and the ops are quick but having more than 4 trains on Mystery Mine is pointless at the moment.

^That makes me happy to see honestly! I really don't want them messing up the Cotton States Exposition theme (they already removed the sign when you are coming from Lickskillet, which frustrated me) so the fact that it looks like the entry plaza will be inside Metropolis Park makes me very happy! This could be a really well placed addition. (Side note - Six Flags PLEASE bring Superman back to dual station ops and fix all the system issues to go along with this addition. Superman will only experience more traffic. Oh and some nice touch up to Cotton States Expo and GASM would be appreciated too!)

Silver Dollar City! They will be open until midnight so many night rides are to be had.

What about a non-sketchy prostitute? Downtown ATL has a few. A very limited specific part of downtown that people aren't afraid of being in after dark has a few. Not speaking from experience

^That's very interesting. I've never heard of a completely smoke free park. Usually they have designated areas so people don't just smoke where ever they want. My college became smoke free this year and now people just smoke anywhere they want because of it, which is frustrating when they don't at least try to find a spot away from others. I'm not one to talk as I am a light smoker but if I want to smoke in a public place I make sure I am alone or in a place that allows it. I doubt the average Iowa smoker is that courteous though. (Also, note to other smokers, STOP throwing cigarette butts on the ground. They are plastic and not biodegradable and are just as much litter as anything else)

Like others have said, the hotels right along the park are decent and not that expensive, but if they are sold out or if you want to save more money I would suggest staying west of the park along I-20. Keep in mind, SFOG is literally 10 minutes from downtown so anything to the east is close to the city. The area immediately east of the park is VERY ghetto and I would not suggest staying anywhere east of the park. I had to stop for gas once off the exit just east of the park and I had a group of unfortunate looking people eyeing me and as soon as the cop that was present left, one came over and asked me if I was looking for sex or drugs. So unless you need a sketchy prostitute or drugs, I would avoid staying in that general area.

Magnum Youth XL I don't know what's funnier, the name or the literally triangular hills.

^"Closed for the Day"

Superman has been on one train ops for years. I recall them using both sides in 2006 or so, but never since then. I am pretty sure they have cannibalized the third train, so it really only has two trains now and with the number of issues the ride has I wouldn't be surprised if they are totally down to one functioning train. The restraints often have to be locked and unlocked manually with the key tool, the ankle restraints often don't shut with the OTSRs, and when the train moves into fly position, it slams pretty hard now. The entire thing needs TLC. They invested so well to make the ride a capacity monster so it is sad to see one station ops. Even when they have two trains running, the line is frequently two hours and slow moving (all while standing in the hot direct Georgia sun might I add). Now would be a great time to get it back to dual station ops, preferably with three trains, but even dual station with two trains would help prevent stacking and get the line moving...

I am so happy about the profit turn around. Keep in mind they still aren't profiting overall, but the fact that summer operations are making money now is a huge step towards being profitable as a whole. I was shocked to see they often bring in over 200 people in the water park. Right now it is literally just a lazy river and a lounge deck. The entire area looks really nice though from the overhead pictures I saw. I know the local community LOVES the water park, and I think any investments in new rides should be in the water park. Between the water park, expanding Camperland, and if they do end up adding an indoor go kart track, I think they can work towards further profitability. They aren't going to find profits in the dry park alone. I also wanted to mention, the separate admission between the dry park and water park seems to really be working in their favor.

That's probably my favorite wooden coaster (along with El Toro, Phoenix, and Lightning Rod) lol.

Great TR. I'm enjoying a new Old Town TR considering it is much different there now. I went to Old Town around 7 years ago now, and it was just as ghetto then. A weird and oddly entertaining experience.

Great TR! I still am excited to finally visit Darien Lake in the future (possibly next summer). The water park looks like it has really found its place, but the dry park still seems neglected and a bit awkward. Nice park but hopefully they can really fix it up going forward. I love flats though so it's definitely my kind of park.

In no particular order... Hersheypark: Skyrush + Storm Runner Dollywood: Thunderhead + Lightning Rod Cedar Point: Maverick + Magnum Knoebels: Phoenix + Twister Great Adventure: El Toro + Kingda Ka SFOG: Goliath + Mind Bender Holiday World: Voyage + Raven Out of all the parks I've visited I really can't think of any other One-Two punches. I guess it's more of an elite group than I thought.

I'm glad you enjoyed the park so much overall (It remains my favorite park in the chain as well and I'm happy it's my home park). It sounds like between how much you enjoyed the park, how surprisingly empty it was, and how cheap your flight was, it was a perfect trip! I'm jealous! When did you book the flight and where do you look for those kinds of deals? I've been trying to do the same thing and would love some advice. As for DDD, if the line is to the bottom of the ramp it is two hours usually from my experience. When the entire queue fills it must be literally 6 hours. I can't even imagine. The capacity has been cut to about 60 people per hour. It's awful. I'm glad you loved Ninja and Cyclone! I adore them both as well! Mind Bender is one of my favorite coasters in the world and I adore it, but to each his own. Sorry about your experience on Great American Scream Machine. I ride it all the time and never find it very rough except in the wheel seats. I actually rank it really high because it is fairly smooth and produces some killer airtime. Hopefully the do some work on it soon because it really is a stand out classic. I've also never really had an issue with Acrophobia but I know many guys do. For me it just doesn't hurt or really invade that particular part of my body that much. Did you by chance try Thunder River and Monster Mansion?

Great trip report! I appreciate seeing the atmosphere and flat rides in trip reports. In regards to Tornado... NEVER sit in the third row of any car on a wooden coaster with the three row PTC trains. I have been on many and on every single one, the middle row is fine (and usually the front row of any given car is fine too) but the back row of each car is just terrible. I wish that wasn't the case because that means one third of riders get a bad ride when in fact it is a solid coaster.

Out of curiosity, what GCI(s) do you like more? I've enjoyed every GCI I've ever ridden, but Gold Striker is by far the best for me. I know this question isn't for me, but just to jump in with my opinion... I've been on American Thunder, Gold Striker, Gwazi, Kentucky Rumbler, Lightning Racer, Roar (SFA), Roar (SFDK), Thunderhead, White Lightning and Wildcat, and out of all those, I would say the only ones that are in the same league as Gold Striker are American Thunder, Thunderhead, and White Lightning ...and Gold Striker is probably slightly better than all three of those.

That makes a lot of sense, although I think there would still be plenty of appeal to the family aspect even if there was one slide or one complex that didn't offer riders to go together. They could always add a body slide complex like the one below too, which allows up to 6 people to face each other and make it both an anticipation bonding experience leading up to the floor drop, and a racing experience seeing who wins at the end:

Is that really true? At waterparks I've been to, the tube slides have terrible lines and the body slides are usually walk ons... It depends what type of slide I think. Take a look at KI's waterpark. It might have been the day I went, (only been once), but their body slides had at least 20 minute waits, and some tube slides did too, but some were also walk on. I'd actually be interested to see a capacity for something like a Proslide tornado vs one of the trap door slides. If you are referring to their new body slide complex, it was probably just because they were new. From my experience, body slides always have shorter lines than tube slides (unless a park has 95% tube slides and just one stand out body slide or something). I'm sure there are exceptions but I feel like Holiday World would be fine if they added a body slide complex. The line couldn't be longer and slower than the line for Mammoth gets.

Nice who did you see? & exactly! I've always liked Dorney. We go there every year for Halloween Haunt too. Basically every ride was a walk on! Georgia Force here in the Atlanta area. I don't recall who they played against. Sadly, Georgia Force folded a few years ago. I have a love hate with Dorney. It makes me sad that most of the parks history is completely gone, and yeah they don't have any super intense impressive standout coaster, but the park is still very nice, they have a solid lineup of decent coasters (hey I like Hydra, don't get the hate), and Demon Drop is one of a kind now basically. At the end of the day, they are basically the largest park to not have bad lines so it really is a hidden gem in that respect.

I went to an arena football game a few years ago and it was a blast! Under rated sport. Dorney looked fun as always. The park gets a lot of crap but you have to love a park with tons of coasters and never any lines. You won't get that at Great Adventure or Hershey.

The park entrance is not inside the parking toll booths, and is actually right off the interstate. You can be dropped off at any time. They may not let you pull right up to the gate but you can be dropped off within a 30 second walk of the gate easily. The parking booths often don't open until an hour before park opening, but that won't matter for you. Atlanta traffic can get very bad so I would suggest just heading over early and waiting outside. If you have season passes or print your tickets online, you can wait at the front gate for opening, and won't be stuck in the long line that forms prior to opening (and they can be very slow and getting people through security at the gate). If you are buying tickets at the park (don't do that, its much more expensive) the ticket booths will not open until 30 minutes prior to park opening). If you are sitting at the entrance to the park an hour before opening, you will be close to first in line. The gates usually open a half hour before park opening and usually Cyclone and Scorcher are already running. The rest of the park is roped off. You can usually get one or both credits and still be ready for rope drop at the tunnel beside Scorcher. At rope drop, go immediately to Dare Devil Dive (if it is open, it is often delayed). If you don't ride it first thing, expect a two to three hour line to form quickly and it will remain like that until closing. Since you are going on a weekday most other rides won't get long lines, but Batman, Joker Chaos Coaster, Mind Bender (if it is one train ops), and Superman do get a long wait even on weekdays. Thunder River can get busy too. If you get there before opening you probably won't need a Flash Pass, but you will possibly encounter a few hour long lines. I would just play it by ear and if you feel the lines are too long, get a Flash Pass. Goliath is best in the back seat. It has impressive airtime for a B&M hyper. Better than the rest in my opinion. The first drop is average but the rest of the ride has great air time, crazy positive gs in the helix, and what some would consider ejector air over the last run of bunny hops. Front is still worth a try too and is very good. Mind Bender is just as much a standout as Goliath really, so you will probably want to ride it multiple times. Any seat is good but I prefer front of the back car for the air time on the drops. If it has one train ops the line will be long and slow. It has been going back and forth from one to two trains a lot this season. Don't miss Monster Mansion, Acrophobia or Thunder River. All the coasters are worth a ride, and even Joker Funhouse Coaster has some punch (it actually has kiddie ejector air time on the first drop in the back lol).