Rain, rain and more rain ….. I finally arrived in Austell after a very wet drive down from Charlotte. The rained stopped and the skies cleared as I pulled into the hotel parking lot, but all I wanted to do was get settled into my room and enjoy a relaxing evening … would I regret that decision ?
1) Sunday morning dawned … and it wasn’t raining …… :) The hotel was within easy walking distance of the front gate. I’d bought a season pass, so once I’d got my receipt exchanged for a hard-card, I made my way into the park.
2) I thought Carowinds was deserted Friday afternoon/evening, but opening time at Six Flags made it look like a busy day. Admittedly people were beginning to arrive, but for a Sunday it was strangely quiet. It was only when I reached the station on Twisted Cyclone that I realised there were actually other people in the park. Would this be another opportunity to wander a park and enjoy no wait times on every single ride ?
3) Six Flags over Georgia is an OK park, and yes I know, I’m spoilt by the Orlando parks, but it has that scruffy and unkept feel about it. Cracked and broken walkways, rusted railings and benches, peeling paint on a lot of structures, the list goes on. I didn’t see one person wandering round picking up trash either, and sadly it showed. I was disappointed with Six Flags as a park, to be honest.
4) On the plus side ….. considering I was walking round a very quiet park, fair dos to Six Flags for having all the main attractions up and running. There were a few smaller rides not working, but I was able to do everything I wanted, so it worked out well. Admittedly most rides were only using one train, but it didn’t matter, as the longest wait time was a single cycle. When I left at 4:30, the park was somewhat fuller, but for a Sunday I’d still describe it as deserted. Credit where credit is due though …. great job Six Flags, for having all of the major rides working, and from what I saw, they were running all the time as well.
5) Most coasters are average at best …. except for Twisted Cyclone. Now that’s a superb RMC, and I put it above Twisted Timbers, but below Steel Vengeance in my list of RMC’s ridden. Even though it’s a relatively short ride, its layout is awesome, and the transition between elements is very smooth. No jerkiness as in TT, and no repetitiveness as in SV. 2020 will give me chance to ride #4, and if they make Gwazi an enlarged version of TC, I’ll be very happy.
6) The next best ride was the new Pandemonium. It’s been a while since I’ve been on Maxair at CP, but it felt just as good, maybe even better. It’s certainly a great addition for 2019. Although I don’t understand why people cling on for dear life on those rides. The whole purpose of that type of ride is floater air time, and you don’t get that if you white knuckle while gripping the hand supports. Finnegan’s Flyer was just the same. And scream ….. holy crap, just insane.
7) My #3 ride at SFOG ….. maybe a little surprising, but I liked Dare Devil Dive. Because it’s made by the same manufacturer, I had visions of another battering similar to what I experienced on Saw-The ride at Thorpe Park, but no, it was really good, and not once did I feel as if my old body was being tortured. Maybe being built 2 years after Saw, DDD was built to ensure the same mistakes weren’t made again ?
8) I wished I could say the same for The Great American Scream Machine. OMG …. what an absolutely awful ride !!!! And I thought Grizzly was bad at Kings Dominion. Lay the poor thing to rest, burn it whatever, but it definitely needs to carry a health warning. Give those people a medal for bravery who sat in the back seat !!
9) I had one more day in the park, and once again it was pretty much empty. Does the park ever get busy ?? So, plenty of ride time on Twisted Cyclone and Pandemonium ….. :) I don’t get the chance to purchase Looney Tunes gear down in Orlando, so my little Grandson will be wearing Marvin, Bugs and Daffy gear for a little while. Oh, and of course, Batman and Superman too. I think they took a rather sexist turn on one T-shirt though. “My Dad is Superman” …… Come on Six Flags, let’s have a “My Mom is Wonder Woman” or Supergirl T-shirt as well …. :) How am I going to explain that to my daughter-in-law …….? LOL
10) Tuesday saw me at the Georgia aquarium. What a wonderful place to visit. The 5 areas were superbly presented, and the dolphin show was on par with Dolphin Days, but more educational, and I liked that. The sea lions were fun too, and it just goes to show they don’t need to go to high school to showcase their skills and intelligence. Of course Ocean Voyager was the highlight of the day, with the Manta Rays and Whale Sharks the stars of the 6.3m gallon show tank. That giant viewing window is as awe inspiring as the residents. It’s a bit pricey, but I was there 5 hours, so for me it was well worth it. 2020 sees the opening of the shark tank, and if it’s anything like Ocean Voyager it may well be worth a return visit. Hopefully by then, SFOG will have a new ride as well.
………. and so another multi-park trip comes to an end. It’s been a great experience, and I can add 28 new rides and 3 new parks to my “been there, rode that” list. BGW was by far the best park I visited, but it’s sister park in Tampa holds all the aces for next year, and I’m guessing for many years after that …. :) Certainly exciting times ahead for us Floridian theme park goers. And yes, once again …… all we need now is a Giga ….. !?!?
Having ridden Fury, MF and I305, these days a hyper of any sort has to be outstanding for me to sing it's praise, and in my opinion Goliath just slotted along side Intimidator, Diamondback et al. Although I have to say Apollo's Chariot was really good, but nothing will move me away from having Mako as my #1 hyper.
I liked Goliath though, for it being a mid-2000’s coaster it's still pretty smooth and the number of air time hills was surprising, along with the helix, and the fact parts of the ride are actually outside of the park ??
I have to admit I didn't try Acrophobia. It wasn't working all the time, but it was certainly 'dropping' people during some parts of the day. Having been on the drop tower at Kings Dominion, I didn't see anything special in the SFOG tower that made me think I need to ride it. I didn't do the Starflyer type ride either.
I read about the possibility of a giga at BGW, but it's way to early to say if there's any substance to those rumours. If SWE puts a 300+ coaster into BGW then I think I can say farewell to my hope of one in Florida. I'll take the RMC Gwazi anyway, and if it means another trip to Williamsburg in the future, then I'll be very happy to make that trip.
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You didn't mention Goliath. I'm sure it can't hold a candle to Fury 325, but I'm curious what you thought of it riding it shortly after Intimidator. I rode it quite a number of years ago when there were only a handful of B&M hypers in the world (I think I might have rode it in its first year in 2006), and thought it was an interesting layout but ultimately unsatisfying compared to the likes of Apollo's Chariot and Nitro.
Also, like Fury 325 compared to Goliath, Acrophobia probably can't come close to Falcon's Fury, but I wonder if the original Intagin gyro-drop is still working well. I know that it was down for a number of years, and was only operating intermittently recently, but SF is still listing it on their attraction list with the tilting function still prominently described.
In case you were wondering, some news broke the other day about Busch Gardens getting approval from James City County to build a roller coaster that is 355' tall on the old Drachen Fire site. If the new coaster is indeed that height, it kind of seems illogical for it to be the multi-launch pseudo-shuttle coaster that had been rumored for Festa Italia. BGW might be getting the giga you so desperately want for Florida.