I had the pleasure to visit Atlanta for work last month, and finally a good excuse to climb aboard ArieForce One as part of a long weekend stayover. SFOG visits were also merited, albeit on a very hot weekend!
Fun Spot Atlanta
Having wrapped up work obligations and picked up a visiting friend at the airport, we headed out for Fun Spot ATL on what we expected to be a quite ratchet expedition (if other Fun Spot experiences are to hold forth). And boy - were we still correct!
After having passed by a Chik-fil-A Dwarf House, a replica of the original chicken sandwich chain that includes a sit-down dining option, we headed for Fun Spot just a few additional clicks down. We knew we had arrived, not only because of the hulking behemoth of ArieForce One, but complete lack of entry aesthetic, a cop car straddling a curb, and open gravel lot parking with no organization nor decorum. The place is a wasteland of concrete and barely has enough rides to qualify as a funfair - juxtaposed to Florida Fun Spots which are a smidge smaller in footprint, making them not wastelands but smaller barrenness in their own right. The place is a dump, but gratefully we aren't here for the theming.
ArieForce One
Since we only have a two-horse race on which roller coaster to ride (the kiddie cred was down during our visit), the choice between an RMC and EF Miler is rather easy. We quickly made our way to the back of the park and jumped aboard our first-of-many trains for the evening.
Ride Experience
Well there's no simpler way to put it than easy top 10 bangers territory. The ride is a simple out-and-back design concept, and it is true what they say about all elements having amazing delivery and flow. My particular favorites were the outer banked turn (taken at far greater speed than most others, with a longer sweeping drop that creates significant sustained airtime) and the "whatever dumb name they came up for it" roll on the way out, taken at incredibly high speed, transitioning into an outer banked turn - that all just works brilliantly? Eat your heart out, Mosasaurus Roll.
Other Ride Notes
Well well well, we meet again Hi-Miler. Seriously these E&F Miler contraptions are death machines, that technically count as "roller coasters" because they have wheels. Did I have a fun time riding it? Sure. Was I laughing hysterically on turns that felt like the wheels were about to fall off? Yes. Do I wish for more of these roller coasters to exist in the world? No, and I think Hurricane Sandy was a great idea, claiming them into the sea.
By the end of the day we had racked up 18 passes on ArieForce One across all parts of the coaster. It has now nestled in at #5 for my overall park rankings, to the detriment of Storm Chaser which got knocked down some pegs. In earnest, it does what Storm Chaser started - small footprint RMC - but a lot better.
With Fun Spot in the books, let's focus on our next two days at Six Flags Over Georgia!
Six Flags Over Georgia
I was excited to revisit SFOG after a long hiatus. This was actually my first Six Flags park visit as an enthusiast (save earlier childhood visits to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure), and I was most interested in riding those coasters that I would have only experienced when my coaster count was in the dozens.
To get the day started right, we headed to the coaster which had highest chance for longest lines and downtime:
Superman: Ultimate Flight
My first B&M flyer <3 It was a thrill to hop back onto this coaster, in the back row no less, to get a stern reminder of how good this Superman model is. While other Supermans (fun in their own right - they're B&M flyers!)) give a fun ride, the SFOG model is built into the hillside, with emphasis on close-to-the-grounds speeds rather than a high-in-the-air flying sensation. It is done so well, and I absolutely loved getting another shot on the ride.
Blue Hawk
This was a coaster we purposely skipped on our first visit in 2008. As exciting a proposition was to ride a Vekoma head basher, it was an easy choice back in the day. But we had to give it a whack on the recent retracking work - and glad we did! A little train rattle and shuffle to note, but the overall ride experience was great, with (dare I say) pretty smooth track design and transitions. In all conclusion, the coaster has been upgraded from dumpster fire to "aggressively mediocre" - but improvement!
Great American Scream Machine
I was particularly excited to get back on this coaster, having last ridden it on a wheel seat that rattled to the bone. The coaster has had some recent track work and had a couple of great runs throughout the day as we continued to pass by, wooden-filled airtime galore.
Georgia Scorcher
Is there any better-branded roller coaster than this? Still frozen in its 1990s greatness, this coaster continues to deliver a near-perfect (and one of few remaining) B&M stand-up design. Seriously, I love this ride, even though the layout is a simpler B&M variety to squeeze it into the hillside. Like, do you remember that Georgia Scorcher has a wave turn, the thing we now celebrate!?
Goliath
Yooooooo, I am glad I have never moved Goliath in my coaster rankings. While a lot of new hyper/giga designs feel trite and contrarian, this still stands out as a "woah, you can actually build novel layout design!" Phenomenal airtime, gorgeous sweeping views of the park and surrounding... highway? But absolutely merited a number of rerides to keep soaking it in.
Twisted Cyclone
Why has everyone been sleeping on this coaster to me? I remember when it was first opened, reviews felt lukewarm at best, with a general critique of the coaster's slower speed, smaller count of elements, and relatively short layout. But I am hear to say - these all can be good things! Since Twisted Cyclone has less height to start with than average RMCs, I quite enjoyed the opening horseshoe-roll-with-more-rolls being taken at a slower speed, as it gave a sensation of winding/rewinding the train rather than focus squarely on AIRTIME SENSATION. Very cool inversion. And the follow-up wave turn element is chef's kiss
in execution, giving a great, long-sweeping lateral flow. packing in a few airtime hills and a surprise corkscrew inversion - this is a pretty winning RMC layout. And what's best - with no queue, easily reridable! Not the best RMC, but also far from the worst.
Dahlonega Mine Train
While there are no bad Arrow mine trains - only best mine trains - this one is definitely of the earlier design variety, when things like "hills", "speed", or "something actually enjoyable" were still new and nascent concepts. But what it lacks in layout, it carries spades in lift hills! It is definitely interesting to ride in the present day as the new Georgia Surfer construction is underway, which surprisingly eats into a good corner of Dahlonega's layout and will change a reasonable amount of its sightline.
Dare Devil Dive
Holy crap what is wrong with ride. Gerstlauer has produced some fun Eurofighter-style (we call them infinity, right?) coasters subsequently, but man was this a rough start. Awkward inversions, track profile that doesn't transition well, and coaster train designs that bring weird shuffling just all detract.
Batman: The Ride
What are you expecting? B&M classic goodness. <3
Riddler Mindbender
Ahhh yes, the B&M train tweak thing they did to an otherwise perfect Schwarzkopf for "improvement". The new train does nothing of actual value, save adding more complexity to ride loading and reduced seating comfort, and of course removes an extra car of capacity. The rattle rumors are also sadly true, which makes Riddler's a little bumpier of a ride. This coaster is such a classic though, even bad train purchase decisions can't ruin it.
Flash Cosmic Kid Coaster
Also checking in on the rattle department - a new contender! This Skyline pasghetti dueler is so enigmatic - such a clever layout design and honestly thrilling idea of a kiddie coaster, yet with quite an uncomfortable and rattling track-and-train design, all with one of the greatest ideas for a lighting package that has ever existed on a roller coaster. Gratefully it's meant for kids and families that aren't going for glass smooth, and will be easily enthralled. (POV is San Antonio, but gives good visual of lighting!)
Other General Attractions
We were sure to give a whirl on some other non-coasters to break up the day:
Fun Spot Atlanta
Having wrapped up work obligations and picked up a visiting friend at the airport, we headed out for Fun Spot ATL on what we expected to be a quite ratchet expedition (if other Fun Spot experiences are to hold forth). And boy - were we still correct!
After having passed by a Chik-fil-A Dwarf House, a replica of the original chicken sandwich chain that includes a sit-down dining option, we headed for Fun Spot just a few additional clicks down. We knew we had arrived, not only because of the hulking behemoth of ArieForce One, but complete lack of entry aesthetic, a cop car straddling a curb, and open gravel lot parking with no organization nor decorum. The place is a wasteland of concrete and barely has enough rides to qualify as a funfair - juxtaposed to Florida Fun Spots which are a smidge smaller in footprint, making them not wastelands but smaller barrenness in their own right. The place is a dump, but gratefully we aren't here for the theming.
ArieForce One
Since we only have a two-horse race on which roller coaster to ride (the kiddie cred was down during our visit), the choice between an RMC and EF Miler is rather easy. We quickly made our way to the back of the park and jumped aboard our first-of-many trains for the evening.
Ride Experience
Well there's no simpler way to put it than easy top 10 bangers territory. The ride is a simple out-and-back design concept, and it is true what they say about all elements having amazing delivery and flow. My particular favorites were the outer banked turn (taken at far greater speed than most others, with a longer sweeping drop that creates significant sustained airtime) and the "whatever dumb name they came up for it" roll on the way out, taken at incredibly high speed, transitioning into an outer banked turn - that all just works brilliantly? Eat your heart out, Mosasaurus Roll.
Other Ride Notes
- The campy space theme is pretty cute and tasteful for the ride, and harkened back to old Disaster Transport space theming.
- Ride ops were friendly... too friendly. Dispatch times took 4-5 minutes (to be expected for small parks, quiet nights), but this sometimes included giving riders waaaaaaay to much leeway in getting into trains, stapled by restraints, etc.
- The shin bashing I had been warned about didn't happen for me on the airtime hill returns, but did for my friend. I have started to notice this can be very ride-by-ride in phenomena; Iron Gwazi for instance wrecked my shins despite all attempts to change seating style, and yet I came through squeaky clean on ArieForce? It's super weird.
- Last note, and of most importance - by the end of the night, it had become clear there was a solid 40-50 coaster enthusiasts grinding our way through constant rerides of this coaster. It's not uncommon to see so many enthusiasts, but it felt uncommon that is was only enthusiasts. Given how much of a dump the rest of the park is, I would absolutely believe if, years later, an economic case study proved ArieForce drove an enthusiast-only economy to boost park sales.
Well well well, we meet again Hi-Miler. Seriously these E&F Miler contraptions are death machines, that technically count as "roller coasters" because they have wheels. Did I have a fun time riding it? Sure. Was I laughing hysterically on turns that felt like the wheels were about to fall off? Yes. Do I wish for more of these roller coasters to exist in the world? No, and I think Hurricane Sandy was a great idea, claiming them into the sea.
By the end of the day we had racked up 18 passes on ArieForce One across all parts of the coaster. It has now nestled in at #5 for my overall park rankings, to the detriment of Storm Chaser which got knocked down some pegs. In earnest, it does what Storm Chaser started - small footprint RMC - but a lot better.
With Fun Spot in the books, let's focus on our next two days at Six Flags Over Georgia!
Six Flags Over Georgia
I was excited to revisit SFOG after a long hiatus. This was actually my first Six Flags park visit as an enthusiast (save earlier childhood visits to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure), and I was most interested in riding those coasters that I would have only experienced when my coaster count was in the dozens.
To get the day started right, we headed to the coaster which had highest chance for longest lines and downtime:
Superman: Ultimate Flight
My first B&M flyer <3 It was a thrill to hop back onto this coaster, in the back row no less, to get a stern reminder of how good this Superman model is. While other Supermans (fun in their own right - they're B&M flyers!)) give a fun ride, the SFOG model is built into the hillside, with emphasis on close-to-the-grounds speeds rather than a high-in-the-air flying sensation. It is done so well, and I absolutely loved getting another shot on the ride.
Blue Hawk
This was a coaster we purposely skipped on our first visit in 2008. As exciting a proposition was to ride a Vekoma head basher, it was an easy choice back in the day. But we had to give it a whack on the recent retracking work - and glad we did! A little train rattle and shuffle to note, but the overall ride experience was great, with (dare I say) pretty smooth track design and transitions. In all conclusion, the coaster has been upgraded from dumpster fire to "aggressively mediocre" - but improvement!
Great American Scream Machine
I was particularly excited to get back on this coaster, having last ridden it on a wheel seat that rattled to the bone. The coaster has had some recent track work and had a couple of great runs throughout the day as we continued to pass by, wooden-filled airtime galore.
Georgia Scorcher
Is there any better-branded roller coaster than this? Still frozen in its 1990s greatness, this coaster continues to deliver a near-perfect (and one of few remaining) B&M stand-up design. Seriously, I love this ride, even though the layout is a simpler B&M variety to squeeze it into the hillside. Like, do you remember that Georgia Scorcher has a wave turn, the thing we now celebrate!?
Goliath
Yooooooo, I am glad I have never moved Goliath in my coaster rankings. While a lot of new hyper/giga designs feel trite and contrarian, this still stands out as a "woah, you can actually build novel layout design!" Phenomenal airtime, gorgeous sweeping views of the park and surrounding... highway? But absolutely merited a number of rerides to keep soaking it in.
Twisted Cyclone
Why has everyone been sleeping on this coaster to me? I remember when it was first opened, reviews felt lukewarm at best, with a general critique of the coaster's slower speed, smaller count of elements, and relatively short layout. But I am hear to say - these all can be good things! Since Twisted Cyclone has less height to start with than average RMCs, I quite enjoyed the opening horseshoe-roll-with-more-rolls being taken at a slower speed, as it gave a sensation of winding/rewinding the train rather than focus squarely on AIRTIME SENSATION. Very cool inversion. And the follow-up wave turn element is chef's kiss
in execution, giving a great, long-sweeping lateral flow. packing in a few airtime hills and a surprise corkscrew inversion - this is a pretty winning RMC layout. And what's best - with no queue, easily reridable! Not the best RMC, but also far from the worst.Dahlonega Mine Train
While there are no bad Arrow mine trains - only best mine trains - this one is definitely of the earlier design variety, when things like "hills", "speed", or "something actually enjoyable" were still new and nascent concepts. But what it lacks in layout, it carries spades in lift hills! It is definitely interesting to ride in the present day as the new Georgia Surfer construction is underway, which surprisingly eats into a good corner of Dahlonega's layout and will change a reasonable amount of its sightline.
Dare Devil Dive
Holy crap what is wrong with ride. Gerstlauer has produced some fun Eurofighter-style (we call them infinity, right?) coasters subsequently, but man was this a rough start. Awkward inversions, track profile that doesn't transition well, and coaster train designs that bring weird shuffling just all detract.
Batman: The Ride
What are you expecting? B&M classic goodness. <3
Riddler Mindbender
Ahhh yes, the B&M train tweak thing they did to an otherwise perfect Schwarzkopf for "improvement". The new train does nothing of actual value, save adding more complexity to ride loading and reduced seating comfort, and of course removes an extra car of capacity. The rattle rumors are also sadly true, which makes Riddler's a little bumpier of a ride. This coaster is such a classic though, even bad train purchase decisions can't ruin it.
Flash Cosmic Kid Coaster
Also checking in on the rattle department - a new contender! This Skyline pasghetti dueler is so enigmatic - such a clever layout design and honestly thrilling idea of a kiddie coaster, yet with quite an uncomfortable and rattling track-and-train design, all with one of the greatest ideas for a lighting package that has ever existed on a roller coaster. Gratefully it's meant for kids and families that aren't going for glass smooth, and will be easily enthralled. (POV is San Antonio, but gives good visual of lighting!)
Other General Attractions
We were sure to give a whirl on some other non-coasters to break up the day:
- Zamperla Discovery - their model is not what I remembered riding in Kennywood. Extremely long ride cycle that takes many reps to get to full height (and back again). At least for now, I'll gladly take the Huss models thank you.
- River Rapids Ride - in the high heat of the day, we thought a quick splash would be a good idea. It would have been, if we ever got wet on the ride.
- Starflyer - A fun layout, built at a lower part in the park which gives greater height perspective on your ascent.