Deep South Bash Weekend 2012: Photo TR

[Jhcbiinoc]

I'm finally able to get this started after a few days to get caught up and recover from the weekend, but I wanted to post a Photo TR from this past week, as well as begin getting caught up on all of the other Photo TRs I have been wanting and meaning to do. I have to preface this by stating that my camera somehow seemed to have eaten some of the photos I took so there are not as many here as I actually took, so I will piece the rest together with text.

 

I had been looking forward to this year's Deep South Bash after attending the first one in 2011 (which I also have pics for, but will save for another time) since last year, and after a very hectic and rough past couple of months, I was glad that the weekend had finally arrived. Unfortunately, I left a bit later than I had initially planned or expected to on Friday the 10th and took off out of the small town in Central Alabama I live in around 8pm, and right into what I think is one of the worst Thunderstorms I have ever driven through (however spectacular the lightning show was) for the entire duration of the drive-one which normally takes about two hours but this time took about four.

 

Ended up getting to my HI Express room in Douglasville at about 1am, and although I was exhausted, snapped awake and was unable to get back to sleep at 4:30am. So I grabbed some coffee, hit the elliptical in the hotel gym for a while, grabbed a shower and some free breakfast, and then unfortunately got caught up in a phone call resolving a minor family crisis that caused me to get to the park JUST in time to make the registration cutoff at 7:50am.

 

Unfortunately, we were informed that Goliath suffered some problems due to the storm and that it and MindBender would not initially be open for the morning ERT, but that they were working to get both coasters up ASAP. Fortunately, no one's spirits were dampened and we filtered into the park.

 

Having not had a huge breakfast, I still had room for one of the tasty donuts the park offered as part of the breakfast set up over in front of Dare Devil Dive, which I had planned to make my first stop of the morning. I had my donut and some water, and headed to Dare Devil. I was just about to ride when they experienced some technical difficulties; rather than wait, I opted to make my way over to the Monster Mansion tour which I had an 8:45am time for. There was a bit of a glitch with us being escorted to the start point of the tour at the scheduled time, but the park handled it extremely well and we got there.

 

I will start by saying that this has to be one of my favorite dark rides of all time. As a very young child I lived in Fayetteville, GA, I rode this ride when it was the original "Tales Of The Okefenokee" (somewhere buried in old photographs I still have one of the singing watermelons) and as a teenager, living in St. Louis and visiting family out here, I enjoyed it as "Monster Plantation". Now in it's third incarnation as "Monster Mansion", SFOG has done an exemplary job keeping this classic alive with updated effects that do not detract from any of the original charm. Thanks to SFOG for the exclusive tour where they had all of the effects running for us as well-as you can see they gave us a complete look at the entire attraction!

 

I am going to stop here and do the photos for this portion, with part two coming soon.

Event Pass in hand and ready to go!

Headed for the exclusive tour

I'm not certain whether this creature is a he or a she and what exactly they are coaching

Sheriff Billy Bob Fritter and his dog, Fritter Bitter poised to welcome incoming boats to the picnic

She seriously needs to cut back on the collagen injections.....

When they told him he could be in the band, he was thrilled-until it dawned on him that he was the guitar

I thought these were supposed to be the friendly monsters.....they invited us, yet we see this? Disturbing.

I'm not sure what the "G" stands for. Could it be a nod to Gary Goddard, who was behind the makeover of the ride to both Monster Plantation and Monster Mansion? Or does it just stand for "Goon" or something?

Must have had some of those hot wings I had at a TPR Party once...once....they were good, but "hot" was an understatement!

"Oh! Hello." This guy cracks me up every time I ride. I took some video of him, as well as a couple of the animatronics and of the "face" effect as you go into the Marsh, but have not gotten those done yet.

"Man, this stuff is jest obscenely good!"

"Shore is! Why else do you think they call it 'triple x?"

Stuff getting real in the Marsh. Side note: Once while on some heavy pain meds, I had a horrific nightmare of a 200 foot tall version of this creature snacking on screaming handfuls of people like M&M's. I stopped taking it the next day.

I have always found the length to which this creature's mouth extends to be unsettling.

Scary tree guy off in the background

Another one of the big bad monsters with a freakishly large head

Yeah, this guy is nightmare fodder.

"There's something in the mist! Something took him and I heard him screaming!"

Obscure movie references aside, I thought it was very cool of the park to have the effects turned on for us. They really do add to an already cool ride.

In a theme park Deux Ex Machina, Billy Bob and his faithful...err, dog, I guess (whatever he is) rescue riders from certain doom with "this here cannon they found", although it looks like the back blast has taken it's toll on them here!

And there was much rejoicing.....well, aside from the green guy whose tongue is being strummed like a zither and the poor little pink guy he's using as a living maraca.

Now there will be no more posting of the song on MisheardLyrics.com.....and good luck getting the tune out of your head for the next few hours!

Obligatory shot. Buzby saying, "Have a great day-and now prepare for your boat to be swallowed by a huge monster!" Even though I am sure this photo will end several TRs, I have more to come! Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon.

Edited August 16, 2012 by Jhcbiinoc

[Jhcbiinoc]

After the Monster Mansion tour, we had some more coasters open as part of morning ERT, so I went to partake of those. While waiting on the Monster Mansion tour, I ran into Chris (Chroniq) who I had met at the Wild Eagle opening weekend I had attended and he joined me for a few. We rode Superman: Ultimate Flight (my current second favorite coaster at SFOG, Goliath is still my favorite) a couple of times, Scream Machine (which was riding amazingly well even towards the back of the train) and Dahlonega Mine Train once (which has gotten a bit rough but is still IMHO one of the better mine trains still in operation and a great family coaster). He left the park for a while, I headed over to Gotham City before it got too crowded. Stopped briefly for a smoke, then surprisingly was able to get a walk on ride to the front row of Batman, which was a great ride as always. Afterwards, I headed over and caught a ride on the Crime Wave wave swinger, and had planned to get MindBender in as well, but a combination of those two rides back to back + lack of sleep the night before + the heat got to me a little and I felt a bit green, so I had to go sit down inside of the pizza place in front, get a Diet Coke with one of my two drink coupons (another great perk!) and take it easy. Once I did, I got a locker for the day.

 

Feeling better, I made my way back in the direction of Goliath to see if it was up and running, and saw a test train going up! I hung out for a few, and managed to get on right when it opened for a fantastic ride in the back row left (one of my two favorite places to sit on the ride, the other is front row right) and once I got off I was feeling much better-and the queue had filled up quickly. I walked around for a bit, got my camera from the locker, and then headed over to the picnic pavilion for lunch.

 

Lunch was very good-the chicken was good, but the BBQ sandwiches were very good, and once I was done with that and one of the ice cream bars they had for dessert, I filled up my Diet Coke and was entertained by the unique way Robb did the raffle for the Boneyard Tour, with the "Ask Robb a Question". I did not get called on, but I thought of some great questions for next time if this happens at another TPR event. Melinda Ashcraft, the Park President spoke for a few as they passed out questions for her to answer during the evening reception.

 

After lunch it was time for the backstage tour, which was really an all access VIP tour, IMHO. Some great photo ops, I just wish more of them I had taken had come out! As soon as I can, I will post the older ones from last year as well, but for now, here are the ones I took last weekend.

Scream Machine coming around the bend as you can see some of the great photo ops we had on the tour.

One of my favorites I took. Side note: I was at SFOG the day this opened and my Dad waited in line for hours to ride. I was too short and too scared at that time, although I would come to love this coaster later.

Snapping photos. You just don't get better vantage points than this often.

If you ever want to send a letter to S:UF, here is the address!

Another vantage point most people cannot get-up on the side of the hill.

Still the best part of the ride to me. It's not as intense as the one on Tatsu but it still packs a punch every time!

This pic didn't come out as clear as I had hoped, but it was still cool to get it from this angle.

"Far from Skid Row...I dream we'll go...somewhere that's green."

Another obscure movie/musical reference aside, it was cool to see the extensive landscaping department behind the scenes. This is one reason why this is such a great looking and well kept park!

If you've ever been uncertain of your orientation, just follow the signs!

We never had cool food trucks like this in any of the places I ever worked.....

Rode the Six Flags RR many, many times as a young child.

Good sound advice for everything in life!

Later in the day, after the tour I had tried to make the 4:30 show for I-luminate but just missed it. I have many fond childhood memories of the Crystal Pistol where they used to have Sid And Marty Krofft puppet shows in the 70s.

The address for Monster Mansion!

More great photo ops of my favorite coaster at the park.

B&M track heaven with Goliath and Scorcher intertwined. I love the overbank on Goliath, very creative placement and a great element.

The very first log flume I ever rode as a kid

"The Money Shot" of Goliath-the first drop head on. Here they come......

....there they go!

Dare Devil Dive from the other side. I enjoy this ride, very smooth and unique, plus the restraints are very well done.

It just rolls through the inversions like glass.

The WTF? moment of the ride, and one of the best. Serious hang time.

Very odd sensation on this...

Next on the tour: a coaster classic. I remember when this opened too, back in the 70's and the theme song in the "Land Of Screams and Dreams" commercial which said, "the only triple loop in the whole United States"

Coming down the first drop

This was our final stop on the tour, and where we ended up having a group photo taken.

You can't get much closer to the ride than this!

Final shot I took on the tour. Unfortunately, I did not get to ride this coaster this visit because of my timing, but will enjoy a ride when I am at the park sometime next month! Part three coming up soon.

[thrillerman1]

I remember that Mind Bender tv commercial from the 70's. As I recall it had a knight in armor riding the coaster and at the end the knight lifted his helmet to reveal a kid. I've searched the interwebs to find it with no luck, but I would love to see the commercial again. Great photos of what is still my fav Schwarzkopf.

[Jhcbiinoc]

Once the tour was finished, there was some time to kill before the dinner at 7pm. I was by myself at that point, and both the lack of sleep and heat had me kind of feeling in slow motion. I took my camera over to the locker, and then went to check the show times on I-Luminate and had plenty of time. I grabbed my second free drink from the Pretzel Place over by the Mine Train-I never realized they had fresh baked pretzels there and they smelled great! I wasn't hungry but plan to stop in there and get one next visit.

 

I actually wished that I had stayed at the Wingate, because a short rest without having to drive to my hotel 12 miles away would have felt good then. Having never been over to the Wingate, I left for a few and went to see how much the rooms were (as it turns out, 10 cents more than the hotel I stay at). I wished I had had my camera, as there are some great photo ops of Goliath's crazy hill over the lake and the helix, but did not think of that.

 

Headed back into the park and having some time, I elected to wait in the shaded queue for Monster Mansion, which took over an hour. Unfortunately, I just missed the final seating for I-Luminate. I checked out a few lines but everything was packed, so I made a few calls and then bought a Diet Coke and waited for another back row ride on Goliath, which took up all of the time prior to dinner. I got my camera and headed over.

 

Dinner was excellent, lasagne, breadsticks and salad and ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Although I do not drink, it was good to see beer and wine offered as well as free all you can drink water and soda. Once dinner was over, it was time for the evening reception, with a few salty snacks and delicious fried pies (although I was so full I could not finish mine).

 

Then came the evening presentation: Park President Melinda Ashcraft did a fantastic Q&A session. She is truly a person who seems to love her job and does it very well, and I liked her honesty in responses as well as her sense of humor and genuinely being interested in what we had to say. No hints for 2013 were given-we have to wait until 8/30 to discover what they have planned (although I am holding out hope for an X-Flight clone or in my wildest dreams, an X2 clone to make it to the park.) I thought her presentation was very well done and enjoyed it. She and the park truly do understand Southern hospitality. She even took part in TPR Quest later on!

 

Speaking of-it was time for TPR Quest! I don't remember everything that happened aside from a few highlights: bonus points for bringing up a Park President, the beer chugging competition at the end, and how rapidly some people got bras up there. I didn't volunteer to play this time as I have a few times before at past bashes, but I had a lot of fun watching.

 

Finally-Robb made some announcements regarding tours for 2013, and Robb, Melinda and Brad handed out an awesome custom SFOG/DSB mug for us, commemorating the event, which I thought was really cool, and it was time for night ERT! Although Acrophobia was down for the count, everyone was having such a great time that hardly anyone batted an eye.

 

I put my camera in the locker, and got a solo ride on Canyon Blaster first - had the whole train to myself - before proceeding to first get a front row night ride on Dare Devil Dive, a back row night ride on Goliath, and a ride on Georgia Scorcher. Cyclone was a little rough on me on my last trip to the park a few months back, so I sat out the water challenge this time and spent the rest of the evening on Goliath.....all of those front row rides were nothing short of absolute bliss, and bumped Goliath up a few notches in my top ten coasters. Plus, the ride op was great with trivia, obviously being a coaster fan himself! Great job. I was on the second to last train of the night and loved every ride I took.

 

All in all it outdid the first Deep South Bash, and was easily the best time I have had at SFOG in a long time, if not ever. Thanks so much again to SFOG and TPR for an awesome event, and here's looking forward to 2013!

A pic I shot of B:TR through the trees of my favorite part of the ride

Another shot from the entrance.....this has to be the longest queue I have ever seen in my life!

Shot this in the candy shop. Nothing quite says "Let's Party" to me like assorted flavors of jelly beans. Okay, that didn't work. Insert a funnier caption where I couldn't think of one.

Only at Deep South Bash! (This sign was one of the prizes in TPR Quest)

Melinda Ashcraft answering questions. I still wonder what in the world the questions were that were NOT read because they did not make the PG13 rating. Or do I want to know?

The final challenge: Chug A Lug! In my drinking days years ago, I would have so done this. Parts 3 and 4 in Atlanta and the drive home coming soon!

[simon8899]

Great pics!

 

I love what they say about Mind Bender on the Six Flags site:

 

State-of-the-art German engineering

 

[Jhcbiinoc]

After getting caught up on my rest and sleeping in on Sunday, hitting the hotel gym again, showering and partaking of a good breakfast, I had the entire afternoon ahead of me. Although I considered going back to SFOG, I had already had such a great 18 hours there the day before and I did not relish being out in the heat again a second day, so I thought it would be cool to go down and check out Pemberton Place and the World Of Coke and maybe the Aquarium since I had never been to any of the above.

 

Driving past SFOG it looked packed, so I punched World Of Coke into the Garmin and went that way. Parking was quick and only $10, and it was a short walk to where I was going. This entire park is such a far cry from anything we had out in LA, very, very nice. The Aquarium was a bit more expensive, had a huge line, and I did not want to be rushed, so I decided to start with the World Of Coke and then see if there was time and money remaining after.

 

As a young kid, I had toured the Coca Cola Bottling Plant several times, which I guess this replaced. For $16, this was a fantastic deal! I was a little surprised that they sent you through a metal detector on the way in, but I understand why. I ran into a few TPR people on my visit, including Robb in the gift shop, which was cool as I never got to say thanks for all he did with Deep South Bash in person the night before.

 

All in all, I would rate World Of Coke as a must-do for visitors taking an extra day in town and I want to bring family here sometime. Very entertaining and a great way to spend a few hours on a hot summer afternoon, a refreshing pause, so to speak.

 

I will add my comments on this part of the TR under the pics.

A shrine to what is arguably the world's most popular soft drink. Now, truth be told (and I know I will get some flak for this) I am more of a Diet Pepsi person than a Diet Coke person.....but, I love both. And Coke was my drink of choice as a child, I literally grew up with it.

The secret to life? The secret to happiness? "The Secret" Itself? They make a huge deal of the fact that the "Secret Formula" that began the entire Coke empire is here.

This is part of the "pre show exhibit". You listen to the guide for about 10 minutes, and then enter the "Happiness Factory" movie theater. I enjoyed the movie, it was entertaining and had a good message. After the movie, you are let out into the two levels of exhibits and the tour becomes self-guided.

My first stop was the "Vault Of the Secret Formula". There are some very cool interactive exhibits prior to the dramatic reveal of this. The staff insists that the actual "Secret Formula" is in fact inside this very vault-often imitated, but never duplicated.

Next up was the rather retro-titled history exhibit, 'Milestones in Refreshment". Here we see a replica of an old time soda fountain.

It astounds me to see what things used to cost (I can vaguely recall when a coke was a quarter). What in the world happened?

One of the many well put together exhibits in this section.

Also in this area-some cool retro vending machines and a ton of memorabilia-you could spend hours in here.

Next up-the world's smallest operating Coke Bottling Plant Tour.

They show you all of the steps, and the machines used on a smaller, yet still operating scale-this is water processing.

The magic ingredient-syrup. Not maple, or chocolate, but the special stuff.

Looks nothing like any blender I have ever seen-but this mixes the syrup and the water.

This robot unboxes the bottles.....

...which proceed to a machine that someone had to make up this professional sounding technical name for.

The bottles get a bath. Side note: I kept expecting to see Marc Summers and hearing the theme from "Unwrapped" to play the entire time I walked through this part-the font on these signs even looks like the Food Network font.

Into the filler and capper.....

Close up.

After being filled and capped and laser coded, the bottles disappear on a lift to level 2 (we'll see those again later.....)

They even have a mini QC lab in this miniature plant. The monitors show how fast and how much larger a scale it happens in the real plants.

Random kid learning the Coke production flow.

Also on Level 1: get a friendly mauling from the Coca Cola Polar Bear!

My first stop on Level 2, while waiting for the next 4D movie, was the "Pop Culture Gallery". Here we see random creations. I love the harp.....

The one huge marketing disaster Coca Cola has ever had, the debacle that was "New Coke"-one that they eventually resourcefully turned around to their benefit quite well.

An entire wall of classic Norman Rockwell Christmas prints with the iconic Coke Santa.

And yet more memorabilia, almost as big an empire in and of itself as Coke is. Also in here you can submit your own personal anecdotes regarding memories of Coke. I returned to this exhibit following the 4D movie and submitted one.

Okay, the 4D movie: I have to admit, it was very creative. But the 4D and the syncing of some of the effects could have used some work. Don't get me wrong, it was okay. It just wasn't up to the level of the rest of the attraction. Still a fun little diversion, though.

Next to this was an exhibit regarding Coke's involvement in the Olympics.....

...and the other exhibit upstairs was the "Perfect Pauses" theater, showing the vast catalogue of commercials in Coca-Cola's vast advertising machine. True story: somewhere in all of my old records I have the album of "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing".

I watched two ads, and then decided to move on to the Tasting Room.

Here come the bottles from downstairs!

They had every flavor you could imagine. This row had some of the best.....

...but THIS was absolutely the WORST (although I heard there was some vegetable based one that was worse in the Asia machine.) Seriously, this was just vile. I had thought everyone was exaggerating but I kept an open mind. The girl behind me wanted to see my face when I tried it. I wish I had had her take a photo because when that aftertaste hit, I must have had a grimace. People actually DRINK this?

Fortunately, this stuff-the best I tried-helped get the taste of Beverly out of my mouth. I'm surprised people named Beverly haven't organized some kind of campaign to rename Beverly to something else.

This one had some really good samples.....

...as did this one. The grapey "Delaware Punch" was my favorite on this row.

I love this stuff.....drink it all the time pre-workout.

Before the days of Diet Coke and Aspartame, there was TAB. TAB was what made many people shun diet soda; there are some who still like it, I personally place it only a few notches above Beverly as far as taste.

These were interesting, although I prefer the Diet Coke without added flavors.

My favorite product Coke makes.

As you leave the Tasting Room, the bottles descend.....

...and you get your very own bottle to take home. Mine is unopened on the shelf; I don't drink sweetened soda but wanted to keep it.

Exit through the gift shop...ran into Robb and some of the folks winding up the New Hotness tour in here.

And this was what I bought......just a magnet and a history book about the company.

Right outside, you see the world HQ that made it all possible in the distance!

I stopped by the Aquarium on the way back to the car, and although they had stopped selling tickets and were about to close, I did see that a one day ticket was only $29.95 (I had heard they were $60), so I will have to catch this some other time.

And finally, on the way to the car I saw this place. If you like seafood, this place is one of the best IMHO (I have eaten at the ones in Boston). Unfortunately, I wasn't hungry and it was not in my budget for this trip. That's all for this part, stay tuned for the final (short) epilogue.

[crazydaveh]

Great stuff! I too grew up at SFoG and seeing Scream Machine always makes me want to go back there. Thanks for posting great pics.

[Jhcbiinoc]

Since it was early, and still light, I thought I would drive out to see if I could see the first house I ever lived in as a child down in Fayetteville, GA and then take the back roads home the way we used to go to visit my grandparents when I was really young. So I set my Garmin with the address of the old house, filled up on gas in Riverdale, and drove into Fayetteville. I drove past the park that used to be called Dixieland-it's named something else now-but did not have time to stop and it looked like they were closed. So I just took some quick photos of some childhood memories.....

I went to grade school with the daughter of this family, still in the real estate biz.

The very first house I ever lived in as a kid, when it had just been built. The top right window was mine.

The Dairy Queen where I would stop after school for ice cream or a shake. Hasn't changed at all aside from them adding a drive through.

Downtown and the turn to drive the back roads, and I do mean the desolate back roads, home.

Somewhere back there is the church I went to as a little kid.

This used to be a grist mill, but it's a restaurant now

No white water today; creek and waterfall were dried up; how it was dry after that rain Friday, I don't know.....

After crossing the state line into Alabama, the first city is Rock Mills. We always used to stop here as it was the halfway point. It's an old yarn mill by a waterfall.

Top of the waterfall

We had not had a ton of rain at that point, so it was looking a bit puny Sunday

It's nothing like you'd see in Yosemite or the Smoky Mountains, but it's impressive when there's a lot of water.

It's pretty big, too; great place to stop for a picnic. Also, one of the few things to see on this route.

This is downtown Alexander City, the last city I pass through before getting home. Most stuff looks exactly as it did years and years ago, and it's two lane highway the entire drive. It was fun to see all of that after a few decades, but not a drive I would make in the rain or after dark.

Random addition: if anyone has not tried these, these are awesome. If you're like me and like potato chips but can't handle fried stuff well, these are a great alternative.

The front of the very cool gift Six Flags gave us as a memento of Deep South Bash......

...and as the final pic of this TR, the back customized with TPR and the date which I thought was a great touch! That's it for this time, and thanks for reading, but now that I have gotten started I plan to post some other TRs from Dollywood/Pigeon Forge and a couple more here in the near future!

[Jhcbiinoc]

Great stuff! I too grew up at SFoG and seeing Scream Machine always makes me want to go back there. Thanks for posting great pics.

 

Thanks.....I am back here after over 30 years now. Although I miss So Cal, it is awesome to have such a great home park with so many memories attached!

[simon8899]

Having no Spezi - which MezzoMix is the CocaCola variant - is one of the major things I miss in the US.

 

Spezi was originally created somewhere around WWII after german manufacturers didn't get Cola done - so they added some Lime- and Orange-Juice and this way its quite popular until today. It's often called "Drivers Beer" as its the drink of choice for the designated driver.

 

On the other hand: I totally miss CherryCoke here!

[BeemerBoy]

Legal Sea Foods in Boston FTW.

[shivtim]

Thanks for the TR!

 

That's a great shot of Atlanta.

[coasterbear30]

John, great pics. I am glad you had fun at DSB. Sorry we couldn't make it this year. We were gearing up for our California trip. Hope to see you soon!

[jynx242]

Thanks so much for the pictures. I, too, grew up at SFoG and remember Tales of the Okeefanokee along with the Mindbender opening! My first job was there in 1986 and 1987 (still the best job I ever had )

 

David

[RoCo]

Great report, and the look inside the Coke tour is awesome! MUST get to that tasting station.

 

(P.S. "The Little Shop of Horrors" movie is one of my favorites.)

[Jhcbiinoc]

Thanks all for the compliments on the pics! In re the pic with the Atlanta skyline, I had not even realized that the skyline turned out that well, as I was just trying to get the museum! I still have pics from DSB 2011 and from multiple visits to SFOG and Dollywood and some random adventures in the Smoky Mountains that I plan on getting posted as soon as I can and then once I get caught up, staying current on the ones I do.

[Kyle Coleman]

I used to like going to our world of coke here at home before they closed the museum and tasting room parts of it. Now its just a big store. Glad to see at least atlanta still has a good one. Need to make it out there one of these days.

[tiger01]

They have the testers at Epcot and I must say the Italian one was not pleasant. Our favourite was the Israel one. Although I always felt ill afterwards, why do you put so much Syrup in your soft drinks?

[vacoaster09]

I felt the same way about the in line twist on DDD. Awesome that you felt the same. Surprisingly serious hang time.... it made me scream because I thought I was falling out. My favorite part on that ride aside from the drop.