OK, I am not done this report just yet, about half way there, but I figured I would post what I had and then the rest when I get it done (sometime next week probably).
Spring Fling
Six Flags Over Georgia
April 22, 2006
Rain early, then sun
All photos can be found here:
http://cyclonic.smugmug.com/gallery/1399111
Finally, after years of thinking about it, I have headed on down south to visit Six Flags Over Georgia. I had been told it was one of the nicest parks in the chain, and it did not disappoint. It is in a beautiful setting, well themed across most of the park, and a great collection of coasters, though it is weak in the flats department.
I was excited to see that a few months back, when this event was announced, it had been moved to late April. Finally, a date I can work with and that would offer the chance to visit Lake Winnie the next day, as it would now be open for the season.
Originally I was going to drive down and stay with my friend Joe (1), however, plans kept changing and I ended up flying down. So, hats off to Joe for putting up with me and driving me all over the place.
We got to the park extra early to help out with registration, handing out lanyards to everyone that needed one. Relieved of that duty at 8:30, we headed into the park and up to the USA section. The only thing running thus far was Shake, Rattle and Roll, an indoor Scrambler.
The ride had a decent show, but the cycle was far, far too short. It seemed like it had only just gotten started and then it was over. This seemed to be the case with most all of the parks few flat rides.
Goliath had a line forming and seemed to have no life, so we headed down to the back of the park where we got a few rides on the Great American Scream Machine.
We caught several rides on it, and it seemed to be running pretty well, with loads of airtime on the last few hills, though it was jackhammering a bit too.
Ninja next door showed no signs of life, but Superman was running, so we headed over there.
WOW, a B&M Flyer that I actually like. This ride actually uses the terrain of the park, something they neglected to even attempt here at SFGAdv, and it makes the ride much, much better. It seems faster, and has some great ground hugging effects. It is really a fun ride.
We were about to ride again when the rain came, and they shut everything down. Now here is the one sticking point I have with the park, why did they shut the rides down? I have ridden countless coasters in the rain, including some that shouldn?t be ridden in the rain, like Nitro (2). I don?t understand why the park is brought to a standstill by a little wet whether. It makes no sense to me, but it seems to be common, because no one else seemed to care. Well, this pretty much ended ERT, and at 10:30 the park opened up.
The rain was still coming down when we decided to head up the hill to the Riverview Carousel, which was now running.
This is a gorgeous machine, well cared for, with some excellent figures. And, it is big, five rows of horses, four chariots, all expertly carved. We took a ride, on which they actually made us buckle up, and then I took some photos.
The rain started to subside a bit now, and the crowds were starting to drift to the back of the park. We headed over to Monster Plantation before the line got too long and took a ride.
Monster Plantation is a dark ride with animatronics. They are dated looking, and well worn, but I kinda liked the ride. It had that Disneyesque feel to it, even if some of the monsters have seen better days. As we exited the ride the rain once again came down by the bucket load, and we sought shelter in a nearby giftshop with about 100 other folks.
Before I go any further, I was just wondering, how much would you pay for this sign?
Just wondering.
Anyway, within a few minutes the rain subsided and that would be it for the day. At this point The Dahlonega Mine ride was running, so we hopped on. This Arrow mine train was not too bad, I?ve been on better and worse, this fit right about in the middle. Arrow mine rides are interesting to me. I think they were marketed most ingeniously. It is like they were marketed by saying that they are supposed to be rough with bad transitions because it makes for a wild, out of control ride, when really it is just typical bad Arrow design when it looks like the rails where put together using a sledge hammer.
Making our way to the front of the park, we were over run by mobs and mobs of kids, so Joe decided this would be a good day to use his free Q-bot coupon. There was a sizable line, but they moved quickly and he had a six person Q-bot in about 10 minutes. We went over and queued for Goliath, and then noticed something truly remarkable, Dejavu was running, with people on it none the less.
There was already a sizable line for this, so we queued for it too, and roamed a bit until it was time to ride Goliath.
I am going to save that ride review for a little bit later, but let?s just say, the first ride was not all that great, the ride was running a bit sluggish and felt rough.
The Q-bot was giving us an indeterminable time because Dejavu had, of course, broken down, and as we headed down that way, we found the train stuck at the bottom of the second spike, so we decided to go to lunch instead.
Footnotes
1. Joe is a local to the park, living about 30 miles away. We know each other from themeparkcritic.com and meet for the first time last year at SFGAdv. Joe runs the site coasterenthusiast.com.
2. On Nitro it feels like you are being hit in the face with nails while riding in the rain. It is probably not the smartest thing to be doing, but hey, when the line is short, you gotta take advantage of it.
Topic: Spring Fling at SFOG (Read 1389 times)
