Lotologist492

Today's visit to the park was a pleasant surprise. The weather was perfect, crowds thin, and the new "Coastal" themed area looks fabulous! There have been many photos posted here of the new Twisted Cyclone which looks amazing. Equally noteworthy is how the park has really stepped up their game with the bright, vibrant, cheerful beachy theme surrounding the new RMC. I am absolutely loving the colors! Did I mention there's a couple of live palm trees in front of the queue house? Awesome...awesome...awesome.....

I am not a fan of a monthly payment plan a.k.a. 'membership' either. This requires giving a corporate entity access to your bank account or credit card with a complicated cancellation process. Hopefully season passes will remain an option otherwise anyone without access to credit or to anyone on a strict cash-only lifestyle will not be able to buy a membership unless they buy one of those Green Dot cards, etc. Having said all of that, I can see where offering memberships looks good on paper and makes some business sense. Going the membership route will mean better profits for the chain (which we hope they invest in their parks!) There may also be a very positive side effect. Corporate is well aware that off seasons can hurt membership sales. It is my understanding that Fiesta Texas is exploring the possibility of a year-round weekend operation starting next year. Other parks in warmer climates like Over Georgia and even Over Texas could look into that as well. Of course Magic Mountain is now 365 but I have to believe other dominoes may fall too. Our park has really added to the operating calendar these past few years or so, including Holiday as well as the weekends in November. With the chain aggressively promoting year-round memberships this seems to be a very real possibility - and that March 3-4th, 2018 may have been the last scheduled closed weekend. Nonetheless, it will be a very interesting year, especially around Labor Day - and what type of deals are offered.

Last year GASM, Sky Screamer and Blue Hawk were all OPEN weekends in November, before the start of Holiday. I cannot say for sure it will happen that way again this year but it has been that way for the past few years. Weather in November is a mixed bag; could be chilly or summer like. Park is very un-crowded in November, even on the Military Appreciation Day which is typically the weekend closest to Veterans' Day. Lines were short, even for food. One caveat: the park is only open until 6PM on those days. Holiday begins the weekend before Thanksgiving. The park hours extend until 10pm but that aforementioned section of the park closes for winter maintenance. If you want to get the most ride time November is best. On the other hand, the weekend after Labor Day the water rides and Hurricane Harbor remain open. Happy and safe travels!

SFoT has always been an enjoyable park. Like you my home park is Over Georgia. My very first SFoT visit was in 2001 for their Holiday in the Park! Since then I have been hooked. Nowadays me & my friends make an annual Texas trip to both Over Texas and Fiesta. NTAG was my first RMC - as it was also the SF chains' first. The experience holds up well no matter the RMC's that have come after it (Iron Rattler at Fiesta is GREAT). You are right about the park layout being weird. Being the very first Six Flags and having had additions for nearly six decades make the park an easy place to get lost! This is a sharp contrast to the circular layout at SFoG. While there are other parks in the SF chain with somewhat bigger and more thrills (I have been to eleven SF parks, including a couple now defunct), SFoT is a very special park with lots of history and an ambiance you cannot get at most parks. I guess that is why we make the I-20 journey every year!

It would be a no-brainer to go all the way with Diamond Elite. I still would prefer to pay for a full year up front as I like to pay cash rather than give a credit card or access to my bank account. It is a wait and see as to how the chain moves forward on this and if they eventually offer that option to pay all at once. (Anyone without a credit card might be out of luck.) Also - the tiers with the unlimited soft drinks would diminish the value of the Premium Dining pass - also with unlimited soft drinks. It will be a very interesting Flash Sale later this year for sure. At any rate I am very happy the chain is trying new options.

I for one am reserving all judgement on the new TC until I actually ride it. Regardless of what it will have or not have, it will no doubt be an awesome addition to the park. I will also add, as this thread comes down from orbit and back to earth, I am eager to see all the other changes SFoG has in store, not just the new Coastal them8ng but also the "Piedmont" theme replacing the French section. Oh, and lest we not forget GASM sdrawkcab! We're really not all that bad at having a good time

Yes, the new "Coastal" section theming is almost as exciting as the centerpiece Twisted Cyclone! Now the early teaser sign boards referencing Hurricane Harbor make a little more sense now! I hope they go all out with tropical (or more accurately, coastal Georgia) theming. The new Piedmont area should be interesting too.

SFOG is a 6 hour drive from Orlando. Nobody feels bad for you. Yeah... Sandusky says hi. Home of being closed from November till mid May. Who said anything about needing sympathy...geez you guys are negative. I hope your day is amazing. Speaking of amazing, the SFoG app already has the 2018 calendar loaded. They are on top of things this year for sure. Last year the calendar was not filled out until March.

We went for our last visit of the '2017' season as well. As one could imagine, the park was empty with only the three aforementioned coasters operating. Batman actually stopped on the lift hill while we were on it so clearly the plummeting temps were taking their toll on the operation of the rides. Justice League was a walk on too, which was surprising given the warm escape to the frigid outside that ride offered. In spite of the cold we had a great time. Now the agonizing nine-week wait begins. With the new Twisted Cyclone and the announced transformation of the area (including a remodeled Johnny Rockets) I will be eager to see the progress on March 10th. This winter will seem just a bit longer than usual!

GREAT pics of the new blue track! This is going to be a l-o-n-g winter waiting to ride that masterpiece

When the park is open 4-10 pm, the dinner and snack are in effect from open to close. (You can utilize your meal and/or snack right up 'til 10pm - there is no lunch though) I am not sure about other operating hours but I do remember seeing a sign on the door with the special HitP dining pass hours. The park has been very accommodating with the dining pass hours during Fright Fest and HitP. The participating food/bev locations have not changed although there are a few special up-charge options added, including a turkey dinner! Another noteworthy seasonal offering: Johnny Rockets has peppermint milkshakes available - and you can use your snack pass to get one! Hope this helps.

This ride will look awesome. It is actually teal track as opposed to the deep blue of Blue Hawk. Also any similarities in color scheme won't really matter since the two coasters are so far apart. Grey will be a nice change. Also the trains will really stand out as a pop of color.

Generally speaking, the park is nowhere near as crowded as during Fright Fest. Also, the earlier your visit to Holiday, the less crowded. (Thanksgiving week is a great week to go.) Overall if you can endure iffy and sometimes chilly weather, ride lines are not much of a factor. My very first visit to HitP was at Over Texas in 2001. It was extremely cold but I got my first ever rides on their coasters with almost no wait. Other than being cold, it was a great visit.

In spite of the weather, I decided to visit on Sunday. The light rain had ended leaving a chilly damp day but it was a great day to visit! Every coaster was a walk on, even DDD. Justice League was about a 10 minute wait (no wait for the single rider line). I took advantage of the ultra empty park and got lots of rare photo ops, particularly the juxtaposition of Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park decor. Most FF stuff was gone but not all of it. I also got some shots of completely deserted open areas with the right timing as the crowds were non existent. I made sure to get final rides on Blue Hawk before it closes for the season. I don't know if it's just me but that ride seemed smoother and faster in the chilly weather. Too bad they cannot keep Lickskillet open for HitP as this area has good rides and would look really nice with Christmas decorations. Now I wait Saturday and the official arrival of Santa and the elves. The Crystal Pistol show will be the same "Because it's Christmas". Hot chocolate HitP cups are blue this year. Work on Twisted Cyclone is coming right along. Over all a chilly but great day!

Gotta give credit where due. It's really nice to see the park offering more accommodating hours for the dining pass! During my visit to Fright Fest yesterday, I noticed dinner and snacks valid until 11PM on Fri, and 10PM Sat/Sun. Signs have been placed on most eating establishments. Park was not very crowded on this day, which was surprising as the weather was nice and fall-like (finally!) All paid haunts were walk-ups. No lines on any major rides except Justice League, which was plagued with tech difficulties for some reason. Overall, I see this year as a big improvement for Fright Fest. There are still not many scare-actors roaming but the haunts themselves look like they had more effort and detail put in. Casa De Muerte (Formerly Fearman's Manor) was a pleasant surprise. The 3D effects look so much better than prior years. Witch's Hollow (formerly Bayou Bloodlust) was not at all scary but scored high on the eye-candy chart. The park did an outstanding job with the theming on this one. Camp Slasher (formerly the exit haunt for the Terror Train) was probably the weakest link. This is a very short haunt but what it lacks in length is made up in graphic gore. They could have done more with this one, particularly the intro and transition from 'happy camp' to horror which made little sense. ZX1 is a solid haunt, largely unchanged from last year. Terror Train has been replaced with a ghost-story based ride which seems to play tribute to the park's ongoing 50th anniversary celebration. There is no up-charge to ride the train this year. I am hoping to make at least a couple more visits to FF before it ends, Tuesday October 31st!!!

The closest thing SFoG has had to a launched coaster was Viper (1995-2001), which was a decent but very short ride. After my first rides on Mr Freeze, I have been hoping our park would eventually get a LIM coaster but I have also heard somewhere that the power grid would not allow for it. Not sure if that is true but that is what I heard. I would not expect to see another coaster added for a few years (after a Hurricane Harbor expansion and hopefully a giant discovery) after our RMC gift next year. I certainly do not see the improvements to Blue Hawk as a waste. That coaster was nearly unrideable and now it is halfway decent again. If the park would upgrade and rehab all their existing rides, think of how much better it would be. I strongly believe the SF chain is headed down the path of reinvesting in their current attractions, which is not a bad thing at all.

I know right? Why does everybody bash on Six Flags? They add something to EVERY park EVERY year. And there hasn't been a Six Flags park yet that I haven't loved. And all the additions seem really great and will add to the parks that they are going to. And Twisted Cyclone looks like so much fun! It may not have as many airtime moments as other RMCs but it still looks like it will be a blast! SFoG could install a 500-foot uber-coaster and some would still find a way to complain. Geez....us enthusiasts look like the most miserable folks on the planet...first world problems for sure

This may be a short ride but it looks to pack a whallop! What gets lost in the conversation about the short ride length is that while it will be a short duration, it will also be a very high capacity 'people-eater'. I remember when Viper opened (yeah, that ride) in 1995. It was an extremely short(er) ride cycle but it was still a fun coaster. After the 'new ride hype' wore off that season, it was almost always a walk-on as it had an efficient operation and high rider capacity in spite of a single train operation. After a year or two, I predict there will be hardly any wait for TC except on really busy days. I have nothing but praise for SFoG for this project. The teal track is amazing. The ride logo is cool! The ride will no doubt rock!

Both the name and the ride concept are used in Atlanta (but at different parks)! While SFOG's HH has 'Tsunami Surge' (the slide in the photos), SF White Water has a 'Typhoon Twister' slide with a different layout but the same ride logo! This one opened in 2014.

Here we are...the calm before whatever 'storm' is being announced in just over 24 hours - coming to replace cyclone. I still think it will be 'Hurricane: Force 5' RMC and something added to Hurricane Harbor. The teaser videos have been little more than mind games albeit clever. The powers-to-be at SF know how to play around with us and I am sure they enjoy reading all the enthusiasts' speculation. It's all in good fun. Hold onto your hats - this forum (along with all Six Flags related threads) will be lighting up big time in the next couple days!

Actually the Six Flags chain has been posting record profits and in their quarterly reports they attribute much of that to season pass sales and season dining passes. I do agree the food selection (and especially service) needs vast improvement. The food is not all bad though - the Macho Nacho is actually really good - and you get a lot of food. One of my biggest gripes is the lack of adequate seating at food/bev locations. JB's and Lickskillet pavilion are the only two decent seating areas. Everywhere else you have a dozen or so HUGE tables. And you're right about all the closed locations. Makes no sense on busy days....

I remember Cobb County spilled the beans last year on the Justice League addition. It was funny to see that the county went back and changed it to read "2017 project", but it was tooooo late!

Wow...I cannot wait to see the next teaser. If it has anything to do with DC Super Friends or Bugs Bunny, you will get the gold star for detective work! I have to believe that in the board room, they know us 'enthusiasts' know good and well what's coming next year but that won't stop them from messing with us a bit! I don't think you got what they were saying. They were saying the things they were showing in the video are of things they have ALREADY put in the park since 2014; not what is coming. Yeah, and I don't think you got what I was saying either...DC Super Friends/Bugs Bunny Boomtown (2016) were next sequentially, after the Joker/HQ/Batman Backwards in 2015, and HH in 2014. Re-read my comment and you'll see I know exactly what was stated.

Wow...I cannot wait to see the next teaser. If it has anything to do with DC Super Friends or Bugs Bunny, you will get the gold star for detective work! I have to believe that in the board room, they know us 'enthusiasts' know good and well what's coming next year but that won't stop them from messing with us a bit!

Visited the park today - the crowds were non-existent; most rides were walk-ons and re-rides (rode Batman 2X without getting off). Only Justice League had any kind of a line. Very uncrowded in Hurricane Harbor as well. A few notes: Two pieces of construction equipment on site at Cyclone - one larger crane and a smaller one (I could not get a clear enough view to see if "RMC" were on either). It does not appear any real work has taken place there yet. Additional survey paint has been applied to the parkway road area, most notably a green painted dotted line near the walkway. A great deal of Fright Fest props have already been brought out, particularly in the USA section, including that 'Tunnel of Love' scare zone, used in the past few seasons. Also - the grassy hill near Acrophobia has already been transformed into a cemetery (gulp!) Part of the area outside the Rabun Gap RR station is now walled off, presumably for the Terror Train attraction. Thunder River is still closed but at this point I believe the work has started on converting it to a haunt, so that ride is likely done for the year. The Observation deck / Freestyle was also closed. Hard to believe Fright Fest is just around the corner. Hopefully the park ups the ante this season as last year's event was watered down and not at all scary.