Another Visit to Six Flags Over Georgia

On my second-ever visit to SFOG, I was twice as old and had twice the fun despite facing uncooperative weather.

Recap of my Previous Visit

I visited SFOG with my family for one day in July 2010. I rode all coasters at the park (including the original Georgia Cyclone) once, plus the river rapids ride and log flume. It was a very hot day! I had awful experiences on both Ninja and Great American Scream Machine. Goliath was my first B&M hyper, and I loved it so much that I put it in my top 5. Having ridden over 150 new coasters since my first visit, I was curious to see if and how my original impressions of the park and coasters changed.

Overview

I spent the entire day at Six Flags Over Georgia from 10:30AM to 9PM by myself. The park was empty for the first two and last two hours of operation. It was busier midday, but wait times were still very reasonable (less than 15 minutes for every coaster except Mind Bender and Dare Devil Dive). My ride totals were 12 on Twisted Cyclone, 9 on Goliath, 2 on Dare Devil Dive, 1 on Batman, 1 on Mind Bender, 1 on Superman, 1 on GASM, 1 on Georgia Scorcher, and 1 on Blue Hawk. It rained very hard three times on the day of my visit. All single rider lines were closed, but the park wasn't crowded enough for guests to benefit from them. Six Flags Over Georgia has character, and is cleaner than the other Six Flags properties I've recently visited. All employees and guests I encountered were polite. This park could use a launched coaster, perhaps on Blue Hawk's plot of land.

Coasters

Goliath's layout was even better than I remembered it. It has powerful airtime, especially in the finale. The downward helix was very forceful and a great positive-g moment on an airtime machine. I loved gliding over trees, walkways, a pond, and a road. Those B&M clamshell restraints were comfy as always. The line for Goliath was very short; usually a 2-train wait. I much preferred sitting on the left side, as it was pretty smooth. However, Goliath is shakier in seats on the right during the first few valleys. From the left side, I prefer this coaster to Mako. From the right, it's a bit better than Diamondback. Therefore, I decided to keep Goliath at #18 in my rankings, where it was prior to my 2022 visit. I only wish that Six Flags would repaint this awesome hyper coaster, and do something about its few rough spots. Even though this coaster isn't as tall as similar B&M's, its layout is stellar and that separates it from others that are more repetitive like Behemoth, Intimidator, Diamondback, and Goliath at La Ronde.

My second-favorite coaster at SFOG is Twisted Cyclone, my first "mini" RMC. Although this is the slowest and shortest RMC I've ridden, it still packs a punch. I loved the drop and three inversions. However, this ride has a lot of quick ejector moments that weren't my favorite. They were especially unpleasant in the back car. Therefore, row 10 was my favorite. I still got tugged through the drop and reverse cobra roll, but all those "speed bumps" didn't hurt as much. Twisted Cyclone's wave turn wasn't as aggressive as the one on Iron Gwazi, but it was still so much fun and a highlight of the ride. Although this coaster is my least favorite RMC, it still makes my top 50. I would've liked less ejector instances. They all felt similar and made my legs sore. I never waited more than one train to ride Twisted Cyclone. At one point in the evening, I rode 5 times without moving seats.

Batman the Ride is one of the best B&M Batman clones I've ridden. It's still very smooth, powerful, and to me it seems faster than at least 5 others. I appreciate the theming in the queue/station, and shade on the brake run. This roller coaster model has really grown on me in the last two years. When I examined my rankings this year, I bumped up the Batman clones several spots. Their pacing is ridiculus, and most run very smooth. I'm thankful that Six Flags installed these clones at so many parks.

Six weeks after riding Manta, I was excited to compare that experience to re-riding Superman Ultimate Flight. Unsurprisingly, Superman was quite dull. I rode in the front row by myself with only 3 other guests on the train a few rows back. Sitting (or "flying") in the front wasn't any different view-wise, as riders have to strain to look forward rather than down. As usual, I loved the pretzel loop, but wished for a more interesting layout beyond that element. I still enjoyed this ride a lot, and appreciate it for being my first flying coaster.

Gerstlauer's Dare Devil Dive had long lines all day, and broke down at least twice. This coaster has similar stats to Iron Shark, but I prefer DDD because it is a more complete ride. The inversions are better too, and it's the smoothest Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter I've ridden. I rode in both the front and back row and thought the front was better for the view. My favorite elements on DDD were the drop and heartline roll finale. I liked Six Flags's efforts to theme this ride and make its plaza look nice.

Riddler Mindbender, which I still call Mind Bender, was about how I remembered it, even with the recent refurbishment that coaster enthusiasts loathe. It has a couple decent drops, two sweet loops, and a great woodsy setting. I still prefer Mind Bender to Shock Wave because its airtime is more comfortable. This classic Schwarzkopf is charming, and a good intermediate coaster for thrillseekers.

Well, Great American Scream Machine is no longer one of my least favorite coasters! Its recent track work greatly improved its smoothness. GASM is just an alright coaster though. It is a long ride that has some decent airtime towards the end of the layout. I'm not a fan of its pacing or abrupt stop on the brake run. GASM is ranked near Jack Rabbit at Kennywood and Blue Streak. I love that Six Flags fixed the roughness of this ride!

After enjoying my ride on Georgia Scorcher in 2010, I was left disappointed this time. This coaster was much rougher than I recalled. Additionally, my seat locked a notch too high, so I was uncomfortable for the whole experience (waiting about 3 minutes before dispatch in the station, riding for 1.5 minutes, and waiting another 5-10 minutes on the brake run). I used to love B&M stand-up coasters almost as much as their other looping models, but my recent experiences on Vortex at Carowinds and Georgia Scorcher have me aligning closer to the majority of the enthusiast community which thinks they're OK at best. For now, I'm keeping my high rankings for Chang and Riddler's Revenge because I got immense enjoyment from those coasters. However, Georgia Scorcher dropped more than 30 spots after my most recent ride. I hope that Six Flags considers using floorless trains for this coaster.

My least favorite coaster at SFOG is still Vekoma's Blue Hawk. The facelift that this coaster received a few years ago did not greatly improve the ride experience for me. It's a bummer, since the layout and location are great. I rode Blue Hawk in the back row, and got a large dose of headbanging both when I leaned my head forward and attempted to anchor it to the headrest. The jostling I got this time wasn't quite as bad as what I remember on Ninja, but still makes for one of the worst rides of all time for me. I probably won't ride this coaster again after having two very rough experiences 12 years apart.

Other Rides

This time, I only rode coasters at Six Flags Over Georgia. Both water rides that I rode in 2010 were typical. I've heard that this park has some good dark rides. Some of their thrilling flat rides looked intense, like Catwoman's Whip.

Food & Merchandise

I had lunch at Primo's Pizzeria for $15 and dinner at Johnny Rockets for $21. Both meals were average quality. I also paid $12 for three water bottles throughout the day. I already have several generic Six Flags t-shirts, so I opted not to buy another one on this trip.

Cost

I purchased my one-day SFOG ticket for $38 through AAA tickets. Typically, I would buy directly through Six Flags, but after taxes and fees it would've cost almost double. Hooray for AAA discounts! The cost of my entire trip to Atlanta was $5.

Photos

These photos were taken by me. Please credit this website if used. Check out my photos page for pictures of SFOG from 2010.