Photo TR: Boldy's Beer and Airtime Adventures

[bert425]

^ HAHAHA. . that's an awesome report (especially your comment on Vapor Trail's trains).

 

glad he had such a fun trip, and I see you smiling in the pics too.. you loved it also.

 

seems the weather kept the crowds away. . . best times to go.

[michaellynn4]

Awesome report, man! BTW, you can really see how much weight you've lost in the photos! Looking good, keep it up!

[boldikus]

Thanks guys!

glad he had such a fun trip, and I see you smiling in the pics too.. you loved it also.

Totally. I did. He's such a great kid, I love hanging out with him especially when there are rides around. I am totally that guy that's always "I hate kids. I'm never having kids. Why would anyone want kids? Kids are terrible." But my nephew? He's like the best kid ever. It's funny how that happens.

BTW, you can really see how much weight you've lost in the photos! Looking good, keep it up!

Thanks! This was also in late August, I've lost more since!

[coneyislandchris]

Wacky Taxi is LEGIT. I know I said it before in the other thread but it's an amazing coaster for people who hate coasters (like my poor wife). I'm just hoping we can figure out how to graduate her from a pseudo-kiddie woodie like this to, say, something like InvadR or Mystic Timbers without her getting too freaked out.

 

As always, great reporting!

[coasterbill]

Great report! I feel like one day we’ll probably bite the bullet on this place when we have a kid to go with (meaning like a nephew or something because fuck that ).

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! After riding Wooden Warrior and Roar-o-saurus, I knew Oscar's Wacky Taxi would be awesome and totally worth the embarassment of going to that park without a child.

[RCjunkie]

Fun trip report, thanks for sharing. If I didn't know the back story I would see all those pictures of you and just think ......'Credit Whore'.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ Saying Sesame Place is a credit whore stop disrespects Oscar's Wacky Taxi if you ask me. That ride is legit. It's in my top 25 wood coasters.

 

Sesame Place pre-2018 was a credit whore stop if you didn't have kids. And I may have gone.

[boldikus]

That ride is legit. It's in my top 25 wood coasters.

 

 

I'd say its sits somewhere around:

 

El Toro

White Lightning

Wild One

Lightning Racer

Oscars Wacky Taxi

Jack Rabbit (KW)

Racer 75

Blue Streak (CP)

Invadr

Great White

 

I don't have a ton of wood credits, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but I love all of those a lot.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

This park does look really great...with kids. That rusty rockets whip ride is good, we have one at Worlds of Fun. My five year old loves it.

[boldikus]

I think this was posted here, but ICYMI:

. Check it out.

[Nrthwnd]

I missed it! Thanks for (re)posting it!

 

What a wild wild little coaster! Definitely a hit, for families.

 

And for those of us, who need......milder "just-as-wilder" thrills?

[jedimaster1227]

Wacky Taxi looks like a great addition to the park! I really think that once I have kids of the right age, a trek to Sesame Place will be in the cards!

[cfc]

Nice report from a park that we don't hear much about. Oscar's Wacky Taxi looks like a lot of fun.

[boldikus]

Reunited and it feels so good.

[bert425]

Nice pic of all of y'all.

 

I loved Dominator!

[boldikus]

Cheers!

[boldikus]

I’m lucky enough to have a sister that went and moved down south on us, and as you might recall from my 2016 trip report, that allowed me to squeeze in a first time visit to Six Flags Over Georgia - widely considered to be one of the best parks in the chain - and after a day of getting to know the place, fell hard for it.

 

What’s not to love? The park is built into a hillside under a canopy of tall, lush trees, and features surprisingly gorgeous landscaping completely with green tunnels and babbling brooks and a collection of rides to boast about: a standup Intamin drop tower, a meticulously maintained old school dark (boat) ride that nicely compliments their modern, and added-since-my-last-visit Justice League clone, a medium-sized star flyer, and a seriously solid collection of roller coasters.

 

Let's talk about that for a second. A classic Schwarzkopf, a revered and relentless B&M hyper, the best of the Superman clones, a Batman clone, a long & terrain-hugging Arrow mine train with 78 lift hills, a revamped Vekoma looper, the classic out and back woodie, the better of the B&M standups, and now they went all Pimp My Ride on their Cyclone-clone. I didn't get to ride Ninja (at the time being transformed into Blue Hawk) or Georgia Scorcher (just down for the day), but I left wondering if I had actually just visited a Six Flags and vowed to make it a regular visit. And while I did visit Georgia again in 2017, it was for Big Sis' big wedding and try as I might, could not conceivably shoehorn in another visit.

 

One takeaway from my 2016 visit was that while I didn’t hate the Georgia Cyclone, the parks 1990 wood coaster, the RMC rumors has already begun by that point, and I had no issue with the park potentially giving it the treatment. I predicted they would (should?) go with blue iBox track, and was thrilled when in midsummer 2017 we got the announcement the conversion would be taking place but also that they’d be going blue. I also had no issue with the park cutting out an entire third of the ride, and momentarily reveled in enthusiasts everywhere collectively losing their shit.

 

With a vague idea of a plan to head down South in September...ish (aiming for between Labor Day and Fright Fest), at the beginning of the summer I spotted a ridiculously great sale Southwest was having, allowing me to snap up a round trip from Philly to Atlanta and back for just under $150, all told. What a score! By mid-August I had my basic itinerary set - visiting the park on Saturday Sept 8th for a full day of fun, then heading to my sisters in Athens the following day before flying home late Monday night. Since I wouldn't be driving, I needed a place to crash near the park, and having stayed at the slightly-above-average Wyndham next to the park in 2016, I saw a cheap room and grabbed that as well.

 

Flying out of the storm

With any long term trip planning comes worrying about how the weather would turn out and this trip was no different - the forecast for my planned Saturday bounced all around but a few days before it settled and looked to be pretty warm, but no rain. Unfortunately the weather in Philly when leaving that morning would turn out to be miserable, and as someone who loathes flying, I was not looking forward to that. Turns out we made it to Georgia and I'm still alive to tell you about it. My flight took off @ 6:30am and landed right on time @ 8:30am. The timing, in theory, was perfect since the park was opening at 10, and rumor had it they opened the gates and started running Twisted Cyclone around 9:30. I would have no problem getting over there by that time, since the airport is only about 20 minutes away.

 

There may be blue skies in the south, but I'm heading for a Cyclone.

Once I touched down my plan was basically the same as my visit in 2016 - land, hop on the Plane Train down to the Marta station to buy a card and load it up for the weekends transit needs, then make my way outside and find an Uber over to to hotel/park. Atlanta airport is huge but its so simple and easy to navigate, I actually love it. The first part of my plan went off without a hitch, but when I popped outside of the terminal to where I got an Uber two years ago, I found a construction site and a bunch of cabs. I pulled up Uber, and for some strange reason the app started directing me across the parking lot to the "Ride Share Pickup Area". Errrrrr OK. I followed the directions and started walking across the lot. And walking. And walking. 10 minutes later I came to an eight foot tall fence, with a highway on the other side. The directions on the app were essentially telling me to climb and cross. No f*cking way.

 

I walked alllll the way back the way I came and found an airport employee to ask what the f*ck I needed to do to get an Uber. She instructed me back into the terminal, turn a bunch of times, down some steps, turn again, and again and follow the signs. Alrighty then. Luckily she knew what she was talking about and despite my frustration I managed to not get lost and joined a horde of people who were clearly headed in the same direction, and after another 10 minute walk through a different parking lot, finally found some sort of Uber/Lift pickup area. With only a small handful of cars hanging around, I pulled the app back up... and it crashed. Noooooooo. Restart the app. Crashes again. Restart my phone. App won't start. Just when I started to consider finding a number for a taxi service, likely meaning a 10 minute walk back to where I just was, I gave Uber one last try and it worked! I had wasted so much time at this point I was sure I would not be getting into the park by 9:30, I didn't even care - a car was finally on its way. Just like two years ago, I just had my driver drop me off at the hotel so that I could quickly drop off my backpack and take the 5 minute walk over to the front of the park. Naturally, the blazing sun couldn't help but remind me I was down South.

 

Morning

But what a sight to walk up to. The brand new RMC hotness was already running with passengers but I must have hit the sweet spot between the 9:30 "opening" and the actual park opening of 10am, because I had absolutely zero wait at park entrance and in no time was queued up on the steps leading up to Twisted Cyclones' station. The small indoor section of the queue was well done, though I was disheartened by the Jimmy Buffet soundtrack being pumped in. That sh*t is the bane of my existence.

 

Went broke on the new coaster so no weed wacker this year, guys.

Goliath was also doing its thing, though I think it was just testing at that point.

 

For my first ride on the new RMC I couldn't help but go for the back seat. I've been really into riding in the front seat of coasters this last year or so, but the back has always been my go-to. As with any far-away park trip, I had full intentions of buying Flash Pass. From what I understood from here, the website, etc was that the platinum Flash Pass was only good for one use on Twisted Cyclone but I was hoping to squeeze in a couple laps here before the masses showed up.

 

I'd only ridden two RMC's before this - Wicked Cyclone, then Twisted Timbers earlier this year. I pref WC just a hair due to its straight drop and a more varied layout. That's no slight on Timbers, I have plenty of appreciation for that low-to-the-ground airtime assault. I was stoked to ride a third RMC to compare. What first surprised me was how much oomph those pre-lift bunnyhops had to them, at least in the back of the train. While the ride doesn't have much in the way of themeing, the battered storm warning signs up the lift are a nice touch.

 

Was blessed by non-stapling ride ops this morning, so my first yank down the first drop was horrifying in the best way possible. It's a short drop, but I felt like I was being launched into downtown Atlanta. Every single time I ride an RMC for the first ride, I'm immediately taken by how smooth they are. I think my subconscious sees the wooden lattice structure and prepares this old body for a rough and tumble, but we soared serenely through the first valley and up into the pleasantly twisted barrel roll, before twisting again to the right and into a second, downward roll. Just when you thought this thing would nothing but twists, here comes the coasters' crown jewel - the wave turn. Between Wicked Cyclone and Twisted Timbers, I've felt a lot of interesting sensations, but there is just nothing like this element. Being thrown sideways and then rocketed out of your seat is an incredible, incomparable feeling. It's nice to finally know what all the Lightning Rod fans have been raving about.

 

Following this are two of the most powerful moments on the ride - the ungodly pop next to the station that leads you into the rides' second turnaround, and then the pop as you exit the turn. Hoooolllyyy sh*t. RMC airtime is truly mind-blowing. The remainder of the ride is a rapid-fire succession of varied elements: a ground-hugging barrel roll, two modest yet (not surprisingly) ejector producing bunnyhops, before you dart into the structure underneath the first two barrel rolls for a tight cutback into yet another violent thrust, then tearing through a small s-turn and popping into the brakes.

 

In a word: spectacular. Screw a third lap, the strength of this one is its brevity. Not a moment is wasted and you plow into the final brakes. Since I'm sure people are wondering - after a few months to think about it, all three RMC's I've now ridden are all top 10 rides for me, but I do rank them right behind one another. Wicked Cyclone is near perfection - a straight drop followed by a tangled but varied mess of elements, and definitely my favorite of the three. It's also the first I'd ridden so that may play a small factor. I'd rank Twisted Cyclone just slightly above Twisted Timbers, for a few reasons: mainly that f*cking unbelievable wave turn, but also because it felt much more varied than the unrelenting succession of airtime hills on Timbers, and after the turn under the structure, I feel like Timbers putters out a little bit, whereas Cyclone ends while its still flying at maximum thrill.

 

Can you feel the airtime?

Now is the part of the trip report where I got greedy. Instead of heading for Flash Pass HQs, I decided to try my luck at one more ride, this time in the front. It was early enough that the queue house was still empty, with only a wait halfway down the station stairs, so it theoretically shouldn't have been too long. Once finally in the station I queued up in the front with maybe 5 trains worth of riders ahead of me, and while the crew was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and seemingly cranking out trains, the line for the front was barely moving. Hmmmm. Well, if you have been closely looking at the photos of the red train I'd posted up until now you might have noticed...

 

Hey Six Flags! Why you always gotta Six Flags?

They had the front row roped off. Oh no! Already having spent 10 minutes waiting, I wasn't going to get out of line now. I waited it out for another 15-20 minutes and finally got a ride in the black train in the front row. Yes I wasted over a half hour of my day waiting when I could have just gotten my Flash Pass and enjoyed my ride at a later time, but no big deal. It was still very early and the wait was absolutely worth it.

 

I can't say that I necessarily liked the front better or worse than the back, they're obviously very different rides with the back feeling a little more wild and out of control, but the front feels faster and the airtime even stronger in spots. After exiting, I peeked in the queue house and it was still empty, but I decided I'd wait until later before riding again, and instead popped over to pick myself up one of these fancy new Flash Pass watches the park has now. Interesting that when I was here in 2016 I also got a platinum FP and paid $110, while today it only cost me $80 (with my membership discount).

 

My first reservation: Georgia Scorcher. Not only was it relatively close by, but it was one of the few credits I missed in 2016 as it sat closed all day during my visit. Also, I'm not one for standup coasters, so let's rip the bandaid off and get this out of the way early. I had preemptively taken Advil earlier in the morning knowing this moment was likely inevitable. After I climbed up the hill to the entrance, found the reservation on my quickly-becoming-cumbersome FP wristband, instantly got notification that I could ride, walked up to the attendant for her to "scan" my watch, and the entire thing just died. Confused, the attendant instructed me to go back to Flash Pass for a new wristband. Seriously?

 

Back down the hill I trudged, explained what happened, and they gave me a new unit. Back up the hill and this time I had no issues. What I hadn't realized up until now was that the flash pass entrance for their standup coaster leads you right into the back row. Was I really going to do this to myself? A short wait, I managed to get on quicker by buddy-ing up with a group of 3 that were ahead of me. This is when I was presented with a hysterical problem: I happened to wear a pair of really light/loose shorts that are basically a cross between basketball shorts and a bathing suit. The main reason I wore these was because they have multiple zippered pockets, but they're also light for the hot weather but also dry really fast if I go on water rides. The problem was they are really loose in the crotch, like hammer pants loose. So here I am straddling the stupid bicycle seat trying to not rip a hole in my shorts while frantically making sure the seat wasn't too low or high before they locked them into place all while trying not to sit on my balls. Good times.

 

I didn't take any photos of Scorcher, which turned out to be for the best. Not only is the ride ugly, its an experience I don't think I want to remember. (foreshadowing)

Once locked and loaded I began to regret my decision. Its been about three years since I'd ridden a standup coaster and I don't like em one bit. A lot of people say this is one of, if not the best of the bunch, and I'm inclined to agree but its still a standup coaster and still an absolute travesty that felt like it was never going to end. Sorry not sorry.

 

Just like Twisted Cyclone, my platinum pass got me one ride a piece on Batman and Dare Devil Dive. I got two rides on DDD in 2016, both in the front and back, and while I wasn't blown away by it, I really enjoyed it. Lapbars, a beyond-vertical drop, lots of funky inversions, and smooth as butter. At this point it was approaching noon and the Georgia sun was blazing, with temps expected to reach close to 90 degrees. I reserved DDD, got an immediate confirmation and made my way up the exit ramp where I was greeted by the op who welcomed me to sit in the front of the loading train. This is why you save up some extra pennies for platinum, kids.

 

What I recall about this part of the day is how insanely hot it was sitting in the front row heading up the vertical lift, seemingly right into the sun itself. Great drop, ridiculously smooth coaster with lots of funky elements. That final, excruciatingly slow barrel roll where you’re literally hanging on by your lap is just the tits. Shame the capacity is so awful, it’s a fun little ride. Hands up all the way. Upon exiting I attempted to reserve Mind Bender only to see it listed as closed for the day. What?!? Other than Twisted Cyclone, Mind Bender and Goliath were the other two rides I was looking forward to today and this was a huge bummer.

 

I guess Goliath it is? It is no secret I am an enormous fan of B&M hypers, I find them all incredibly fun and almost relaxing experiences. Somehow Goliath bucks that trend with a more aggressive unrelenting layout. I rode it a dozen times on my last visit and until today considered it the best ride in the park. Which, in a park with a classic like Mind Bender, is saying something.

 

Thanks to the mostly (so far) light crowds and it being a high capacity B&M, there wasn’t a line to speak of but I still used the FP queue and was boarding the back row in a moment. While the first drop feels relatively small and shallow, things kick into high gear on the first large camelback as the ride heads out of the park and rockets around next to the parks' entrance. These large hills provide plenty of strong sustained floater air and are followed by the absolutely demented downward helix, pinning you into your seat and sucking the blood out of your skull. No midcourse? No problem. Goliath continues to rip through another camelback and tight right turn, followed by a final run of glorious bunnyhops taking you back into the park, before tearing around what could possibly the wonkiest turn on any B&M ever, when the coaster finally plows into the brakes. Not to be that guy but I did notice a slight barely noticeable rattle in the valleys, but god I love this ride. I have a hard time ranking B&M hypers as they’re all so good. I don’t think I can say Goliath is my favorite of the handful I’ve ridden but it’s absolutely a diamond in this park and worth going out of your way for.

 

What next? I thought about back tracking to Batman and scrolled through my “watch” and what’s that I see? Looks like a certain classic Schwarzkopf is back to bending some minds. Same story as Goliath, Mind Bender didn’t have any sort of wait so I spent a couple extra minutes waiting for the front.

 

This ride is coaster nirvana. It's a shame Mind Bender is right next to the parking lot as that sucks away a tiny little bit of its charm but there is still so much to love about this coaster.

 

For one its unbelievable smooth for a ride built in the 70s, the restraints are small little unobstructive lapbars, the loops are insanely forceful, and the tops of the turnaround provide very real, very scary air, and besides the backdrop of an endless maze of parked cars, the setting is wonderful: the track traversing a tree filled valley between the park and the lot, through a tunnel, and over a waterfall.

 

I still don't get this idea that the ride has three loops but honestly its so good who gives a sh*t. Six Flags has apparently always been Six Flagsin', even back in the 70s.

 

For some reason I decided to skip Batman for now and head further into the park. While I'd technically ridden the big Vekoma looper well before it was ever erected south of Mason Dixon line, I did miss it during my last visit, as it was during its transformation from Ninja to Blue Hawk. Also closed that visit was the family coaster now known as Jokers Funhouse Coaster, the anchor of the parks newish DC Friends area, also under construction during my previous trip.

 

But first things first. It was already after 12 and you know what that means!

 

On my way back here I did swing past the Macho Nacho but the line was spilling out of the entrance so I kept moving and tried JBs where the line was half as long. In 2016 we had lunch here, and the food was decent. Then I had food from the JBs @ SFNE last year and it was some of the best food I've ever had at a Six Flags. Now on all the Great Advenutre surveys I get I go off on tangents about them converting Best of the West to a sit down full service JBs. Lucky for me SFOGJBs had the same buffalo tenders I got @ SFNEJBs, so I got them again here. With waffle fries. While finally paying for my order, I tried to order a beer based on the fact that they had cans of beer all over the counter and beer listed on the menus, but they told me they didn't sell beer and directed me to some sort of mythical outdoor bar I didn't recall from my last time here. I took my grub and moseyed around the side of the building to find this cute little outdoor bar.

 

The bartenders out here were completely awesome and the ones who explained I could have just ordered my food here instead of wasting away in those switchbacks inside. The beer selection wasn't amazing but they had Sweetwater 420 and Shock Top so not all bad. My food was pretty slamming. This photo does not do it justice as I was half done when I thought to take a pic, but it was just enough to fill me up without feeling stuffed and unable to keep moving.

 

I liked the bartenders so much I sat and had a second beer. One had connections to Pennsylvania, so we got to talking for a bit. I am pretty sure one was a 'Latanya', but I can't remember the other girls name and regret that now. Not for nothing, I could have just sat here all day, occasionally visiting Twisted Cyclone and then hanging with my girls over @ JBs, but I had to pull myself away from all that awesomeness to ride all the pieces of sh*t in the back of the park. (kidding... kinda)

 

With a nice daybuzz going my next stop was right around the corner: Jokers Funhouse Coaster. For a kiddie/family coaster this one actually looked pretty cool. Not only is it nicely rethemed/painted but its also not some crap little figure 8/wacky worm deal. Its got a custom, terrain hugging layout with a couple of tunnels for added pleasure.

 

Also, this was the first ride I'd come across all day with any sort of real line, but with my FP I skipped all that nonsense and was in the third row of the next train. In a normal situation I may have felt like a little bit of an assh*le skipping past a sizable line of parents and their kids to jump - alone, mind you - onto such a ride, but the ladies at JBs had taken care of that for me.

 

I thought the coaster was actually pretty cool. It felt a little short and would maybe be cool if it went around the course twice, and its a little weird they designed the station so that there needs to be a second lift at the end of the ride, but otherwise it was probably one of the best family coasters I've ridden. That may have just been the beer talking?

 

There was absolutely no rain in the forecast, but...

Moving along right passed Skyscreamer, not because I have an aversion to these things, I actually love them but I'd ridden this one and just wasn't in the mood, and after 28 years (ouch, that one hurts) I was finally reunited with that hulking Vekoma looper in the back corner of the park.

 

Finding the coaster a complete walkon, following the advice of friends I queued up for the first row of the last car and strapped in. I'd only ridden this as Kamikaze maybe 5 times, and purposely hadn't watched any POVs leading up to this trip, but as soon as we turned out of the station it all came flooding back to me. Riding this now - not only as a seasoned enthusiast but a fragile old person also, my reaction was one of indifference. It's not a bad ride by any means, but only really noteworthy in that either Six Flags managed to keep this thing in such good shape and/or how much that rehab improved this old mangle of metal. It's got some funky inversions, some cool headchoppers, and it was pretty damn smooth with almost no headbanging, but it was... just... kind of... boring.

 

Really perty, innit tho?

Checking my FP I found Great American Scream Machine and Superman both temporarily closed, but Justice League would have me wait 5 minutes, my first wait of the day. Actually, it was just enough time for me to walk over there, try to find the flash pass entrance which I thought was through the exit/gift shop, and then finally find the correct way in via a small separate path up the front entrance. I was directed to the front row in car full of a family who very quickly reminded me I was down South. I love these rides, but as usual the subway scene gave me major vertigo. In spite of that I had the highest score in our car, much to the chagrin of "Dad" next to me who... lets just say got really into the ride.

 

By now GASM was accepting reservations but I found out I didn't need one anyway as the wait was zero minutes. The attendant gave me the option of the last 4 rows, so with trepidation I hopped into the new (old) Cyclone trains in the front row of the last car. I loved this coaster in 2016, definitely one of the surprises of the day. I certainly enjoyed it much more than the old Cyclone, it was smooth, had lots of fun air, and the setting over the water is phenomenal.

 

My god what have they done to this ride? What a tragedy.

 

Not since those fateful moments on Grizzly after I felt and heard that crack have I so badly wanted a ride to end. Some of the most horrifically strange vibrations and jackhammering I've ever experienced on any ride. It truly felt like the trains were shaking themselves apart. I spent the entire ride bracing myself and holding on for dear life. I'm sure riding that tensed up wasn't helping matters but that's the closest I've come to an actual high speed car crash. SIX FLAGS! FOR LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED AND HOLY PLEASE DEAD THESE CRAPSH*T TRAINS.

 

All of these photos were taken before my ride. After my ride I sprung into a light jog to get away from that mess as fast as possible. Naturally, thoughts of more beer danced in my head but I figured I'd hit the last coaster back here before I headed back to the bar and the excellent RMC-B&M-Schwarzkopf triple threat up front.

 

Even though I felt like I'd just done a belly flop off the Golden Gate Bridge, I was kinda stoked to ride the best of the Superman clones. I skipped a sizable line here to only have to wait maybe three trains for the front row, but remember that nasty looking cloud in that Skyscreamer shot earlier? Well it was bright and sunny again by now. Yet... as soon as I made it under the cover of the station, with just two trains of guests in front of me, the sky opened up. A soaking, drenching 20 minute sunshower. The main queue cleared out but the folks like me under the station roof waited it out... since where else was I going to go? Out into the rain?

 

The folks in front of me cleared out at some point so I got on the next loading train after a few test runs. Though it did feel like a bit of a waste of part of my only day here, it was a break I probably needed after the GASM fiasco. Superman was running really well.

 

I don't hate Superman at Great Adventure - its fun, and I always say that inversion is the most forceful inversion in our park, but the use of the terrain down here in Georgia is really the rug that ties the room together. It's not just about the pretzel loop and the flying gimmick, the entire ride clicks. I gotta say, this ride makes me super jealous of you SFOG locals, only because ours is so crap in comparison.

 

By now it was a little after 3, which meant I was able to head back to the hotel, grab my bag, and check in. Knowing the park was only open until 8, I figured this would be a good time to charge my phone, stretch my legs, chug some water, freshen up, etc. Heading back in you get some great views of Goliath.

 

I spent a little over an hour on my hotel break and was back in the park around 4:15. Forum mod AJ and I had talked about linking up as he was planning on spending the day at the park Sunday, but was driving up today and would likely get there early, but I had some time to kill, and he wouldn't be getting Flash Pass so I hit thought to hit up Twisted Cyclone again to use my one reservation.

 

I went for the back again this time and boy oh boy is this not the best ride in the park, if not the state. Upon exiting I planned to grab a beer and hit Monster Mansion, which I assumed would also make good use of my FP.

 

When I went to make the next reservation a funny thing happened - Twisted Cyclone came up again. Interesting. Being the opportunist I am, I walked right back up the Flash Pass entrance and the attendant gave it another scan. It worked. As I'm queued up I check for Dare Devil Dive, and sure enough its gone. So I took another excellent spin in the back of Cyclone, and when I got off the same thing happened but I wasn't going to push my luck at that point.

 

I popped over to say what's up to Latonya and grab another Shock Top when I got a text from AJ saying he was in the park and to let him know when I was headed his way. I chugged my beer, said farewell to my favorite barmaids and quickly headed over to another can't miss.

 

As expected, Monster Mansion had a bit of a wait, but I got thrown right in the last row of the next boat, with a small family filling the first two rows. I stretched out and took it all in.

 

I loved this impeccably maintained and totally strange dark ride during my previous visit - and I don't know if it was that beer or what but this is like the best dark ride ever.

 

I attempted to take a few photos and failed miserably, but managed to find a few worth sharing. The entire ride is just one big WTF.

 

I don't care if you're just a coaster dude or what, if you don't ride Monster Mansion you didn't actually visit SFOG.

 

AJ texted me that he wanted to hit Goliath so I agreed to meet up and wait with him, and headed in that direction.

With his bright red hair and matching shirt he was easy to spot and we waited in a 20 minute queue and eventually hopped in row 2 for AJs first ride on this beast. The rattle was still there but we had a great floater filled lap around the front of the park.

 

AJ wanted to hit Scorcher before trying for a hopefully shortish queue @ Cyclone right before closing, and I wasn't going anywhere near Scorcher, so I pulled up my FP and tried for Cyclone again, and it worked. The queue was fairly short now, just down the station steps, but I got two more laps in using the Flash Pass before I returned it. I'm not one to brag about taking advantage but I've since talked to a few other people who visited the park this summer and had the same experience as me with getting as many Cyclone reservations as they wanted, so maybe the parks advertising is wrong?

 

Anyway, after my two solo back row rides, I returned my flash pass as it was just a bit before closing, and AJ met me at the entrance and we got in line at the bottom of the steps. While AJ was coming back tomorrow and would have all day to ride, this was special. You see - AJ hadn't ridden an RMC yet. Once I found that out I was on a mission to ride it with him before the day was out. Of course the ride went down with only a few minutes til park close but amazingly maintenance did their thing and got the ride running. We waited a bit extra time for the front and wound up getting the the last train of the night.

 

To the surprise of absolutely no one, AJ loved his first RMC as much as I loved my last ride of the day on this amazing little machine. Which is to say - a lot! We were hoping for a night ride but since this time of year the sun was setting a little after 8 we got what I'd say was a wicked twilight ride. AJ was heading back to his car to an airbnb he way crashing at up the road, and I took off up the street back to the hotel to take a shower and pass the hell out. I'd been up since 3am and had to be up and out by 10 to make my way to Athens.

 

Damn though, I already loved this park and with this RMC I plan to make this an annual trip. I had a fantastic day but missed a few things - notably Batman and the Mine Train, though I rode them both last time. Acrophobia never opened. I never went back to Mind Bender. But I rode Twisted Cyclone a f*ckton and really enjoyed the whole day. That bar @ JBs is where its at.

 

Total Tally:

Twisted Cyclone: 7x

Goliath 2x

JBs x2

MindBender

Superman

Georgia Scorcher

Dare Devil Dive

Blue Hawk

Monster Mansion

Justice League

GASM

 

Sunday and Monday I spent over in Athens hanging out with my sister and brother in law mostly eating drinking and bullsh*tting, so to end this report with a bang, here's a big blast of photos from the following two days.

 

My view from the bus stop heading to Athens Sunday morning.

Best or worst bus stop ever?

Just got here and already

That's Buster aka Mr. B

Yep

Burgers

Front porch hangs

Ludacris' Chicken & Beer @ ATL

Thanks for reading. On deck: Final Flitzer Rides and An Autumn Weekend in Virginia. Stay tuned!

Edited November 22, 2018 by boldikus

[bert425]

that's a great report, and glad you had a good time at SFOG.

 

I was there for the first time on the TPR USA trip a few months back, and I loved it too - tho Acrophobia was down during our visit.

 

I actually really liked Scorcher, but hated DDD.

 

Agree with you on Goliath, Twisted Cyclone, and Mindbender. . rode those multiple times. I also really loved Batman.

 

I thought Superman was just OK, and tho didn't have a *brutal* ride on GASM - I rode in the front both times, didn't get any airtime on it. so yeah, the trains are killing it.

 

Blue Hawk? erm. . that I did not care for. . LOL. . let's just leave it at that.

 

disappointed to see pics from Monster Mansion but not Kissyface! she's the star of the show

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! SFOG really is one of the best Six Flags park and it has a very underrated and excellent coaster lineup.

 

I found Great American Scream Machine brutal even with the old trains. It's a shame since the ride is beautiful and has plenty of airtime; it's just impossible to enjoy with that much rattling. I actually find it sort of impressive they've managed to let an out and back coaster get that rough.

 

The sign at the Flash Pass store didn't list Twisted Cyclone as a one time only (I think only the website does) and the employees confirmed it was an unlimited option. I find it funny that the new hotness allows unlimited rides while a 20 year old Batman doesn't (though the Flash Pass set up is wonky there).

[coasterbill]

No Sky Bucket, no flume and no love for Jimmy Buffett? What even is this?

 

Seriously though, great report.

[boldikus]

Was waiting for that.

[xVicesAndVirtues]

Nice report!

 

I used to love GASM, too. With the old trains, you could middle-row the back car and get treated to Phoenix levels of airtime on every hill, especially on that return leg.

 

Twisted Cyclone is such an incredible ride. While I'd give the edge to Twisted Timbers, it's really hard for me to compare the top-tier RMCs, they're all just so good

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Yay for Platinum Pass, nothing like just going up to a ride whenever you feel like it. Boo for technical problems though. Another reason why Fast Lane is better, just show your wristband and go.

 

I appreciate your thoughts on Superman, maybe I'll like that one better than the other two. Monster Mansion looks like something right up my alley. I loved Wildwood's WTF tram car acid trip ride, and this cannot possibly be weirder than that, but please let it be even weirder.

 

We've recently seen Sweetwater up here, and their 420 is a really good one.

[larrygator]

Wear some Big Boy pants (literally) next time and ride the glorious Georgia Scorcher!!!!!!!!