Six Flags Over Georgia (SFOG) Discussion Thread

[ernierocker]

I wish someone got a picture of my brother and I sitting together in the "magic seat" and the rest of the train was completely empty!

[Brandy524]

So if the magic seat is not as rough in it's current state, then it can be concluded that the magic seat will be phenomenal after the work is done. Even more reason to give it a try next year!

[PKI Jizzman]

Awesome, I loved the Cyclone!

[Guy T. Koepp]

^Seriously Zach!? C'mon! Wait... ...if memory serves, you have this weird soft spot for SoB as well. I believe the exact quote was, "I know everyone else hates it, and you will probably as well, but I really like this ride, in all it's bone shattering glory."

 

Which begs the question. Are you a closet masochist Zach?

 

Guy "Of course I'm paraphrasing." Koepp

[QueerRudie]

^Seriously Zach!? C'mon! Wait... ...if memory serves, you have this weird soft spot for SoB as well. I believe the exact quote was, "I know everyone else hates it, and you will probably as well, but I really like this ride, in all it's bone shattering glory."

 

Which begs the question. Are you a closet masochist Zach?

 

Guy "Of course I'm paraphrasing." Koepp

 

BEST. COMMENT. YET.

 

(I have to agree with Guy's comments there... He WAS the only one smiling after getting off of GC...)

[SharkTums]

So...Water Challenge on Cyclone for next years Deep South Bash!?!?

[QueerRudie]

So...Water Challenge on Cyclone for next years Deep South Bash!?!?

 

AAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!

 

I was soaked completely on GASM.... I'll be -drenched- on GC.

[ugaman15]

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[funkeymon]

^Same here. I have rode in most seats and while it was rough, I thought that the insane ejector airtime in the back made up for it.

[Dragon Khan]

I hear from several very travelled coaster enthusiasts this cyclone clone was once the best of them all (I personally like Viper in Guernee very much). Anyone here would confirm this ? If they restore it to its former glory, or even better, then I have one more reason to be envious on those people on New Hotness.

[ernierocker]

^Sure. It was great ride in its early years. It just hasn't aged well, and here's hoping the topper track does the trick to making this an enjoyable ride again.

[dragonskeep]

Last time I was in Atlanta, Georgia Cyclone was new and awesome. One of the best wooden coasters I had ridden at the time, my cousin and I both loved it. I hope they get it worked out as it was a very good ride.

[Dailey Enterprizes]

I am glad to see Six Flags make this effort in reinvesting in their existing wooden roller coasters. This might be the start of an era where I prefer Six Flags over Cedar Fair. Not that the topper track forgives all sins and whatnot, but Cedar Fair's stock has been decreasing ever since Geauga Lake turned into a water park that's not worth crossing state lines for. As for Dorney Park, I'd rather drive past it and go to Great Adventure if I was to travel that far across the state. Go get em' Six Flags!

[Sir Clinksalot]

This is awesome news.

 

I loved my ride on it during DSB in the "Magic Seat", but unfortunately I could only ride it once. I can't imagine how awesome it'd be if you could get multiple rides and still be in one piece.

[David H]

I hear from several very travelled coaster enthusiasts this cyclone clone was once the best of them all (I personally like Viper in Guernee very much). Anyone here would confirm this ? If they restore it to its former glory, or even better, then I have one more reason to be envious on those people on New Hotness.

 

I'll absolutely confirm this. The Georgia Cyclone was easily a top 10 woodie. Especially in the back seats! It's the only time in my life I've tried to pull a lapbar further down during a ride! And Tremors was even better! Neither coaster was ever smooth or gentle. But that's just because they're crazy rides. SImilar to the way in which New Texas Giant isn't smooth, but it's not rough. None of these are rides for the timid!

 

But there seems to be a big misunderstanding in here that the Rocky Mountain treatment is necessary to make older coasters rideable. And that's 100% not true.

 

There are only two things needed to make virtually any wooden coaster rideable and keep it that way:

1) Regular maintenance, including replacing sections of wood regularly.

2) The money to pay for it.

It's really that simple.

 

The problem is that parks are tight for cash, and spending money for an old woodie is usually one of the first things they cut out of the budget. But it's definitely a case of penny wise pound foolish.

 

Think about it this way. Wood is a natural substance. It breathes and gives. And it's sitting outside in all sorts of weather conditions. Now take several TONS of train filled with several more TONS of people and send it over that wood several hundred times per day -- that's tens of thousands of times per operating season! Is it any wonder the wood gets warped? (As a side note, this is why parks often run only one train when it's not so busy, frustrating many of us who have to wait longer in line.)

 

I have a wooden plank under one side of my biggest fish tank because the floor isn't level. After only a few months, it started to warp from the weight on it. And that's not even half a ton of water. And it's just sitting there, not moving over it at 60 mph over it tens of thousands of times per season! In the rain and snow and heat and cold and sometimes flooding.

 

All it takes to fix most wooden coasters (assuming they're designed well) is to regularly maintain the wood all season, walking the tracks and fixing problems as they arise, and doing major refurbishments in the off-season. But that costs money.

 

And it certainly doesn't help when the coasters are built with cheaper wood and other materials. As much as I love CCI's coasters, they had a bad business strategy. They sold their coasters for far cheaper than the equivalent GCI coasters to undercut their price and get more business. They cut costs by using cheaper wood and materials. Parks soon discovered that their cheaper up-front investments came with much greater maintenance costs down the line.

 

But even the best built woodies still need regular investments and maintenance over time, for all of the reasons above. It remains to be seen how much this is true for the Intamin pre-fab woodies.

 

Park have been altering woodies for years now to try to keep maintenance costs down, reprofiling some of the best parts of rides to reduce stress on the coaster, adding trim brakes all over the place, and now adding the topper track. At least this method doesn't actually tame the ride, unlike the others. But it should be understood that in almost all cases, none of this would actually be necessary if the parks would invest in the maintenance that is necessary with a wood coaster.

[daveydo5172]

I really think that in the early years, before SF messed with the trains, that the Texas Cyclone was the best of them all.

[DarkStitch626]

Georgia Cyclone is one of the best yes, The one at SFGAM is a modified ride thus does not truly have the original layout. The GA one is very forceful and I personally LOVE just how out of control it feels.

[deathbydinn]

^ Georgia Cyclone doesn't truly have the original layout either..

[DarkStitch626]

^ Georgia Cyclone doesn't truly have the original layout either..

 

 

Its closer to the original than GAM's is thats for sure, I know it doesn't. I miss living close to NYC for the original.

[sheikramatic2006]

So...Water Challenge on Cyclone for next years Deep South Bash!?!?

 

Yesssssssssssssssssss!!!!!

[joco07]

So...Water Challenge on Cyclone for next years Deep South Bash!?!?

 

Yesssssssssssssssssss!!!!!

Yessss I 100% AGREE!!!

[TheStig]

Georgia Cyclone absolutely destroyed me at DSB! The airtime was INSANE though, but I got off and felt like I had just been punched in the ribs. I rode Mindbender after and after that I almost passed out in the train and sat out the rest of ERT.

 

This ride really needs topper track!

[SFOG]

The 2012 operating schedule has been posted to our website: Six Flags Over Georgia.

 

Before anyone freaks out, the October/Fright Fest schedule is still TBD and will be posted soon!

[chadster]

^ Woohoo! I've said it a thousand times this year, you guys are the best park in the chain, and with the exception of Mexico, I've been to all of them!

[Geauga Dog]

Looking back and reading the past few pages I wish I knew there was a "magic seat" before I went down to SFOG last June. I ended up sitting towards the front and regretted my decision to ride the whole time I was on it. The train just bounced the whole ride. While the ride looks great in its location, especially from the top of Acrophobia, it was the worst coaster on my trip to the South. I'm glad to hear that they are investing to make the ride better.