Antinos' 2018 Thread (2018 Wrap-up: Six Flags Over Georgia)
- Thread starter Antinos
- Start date
Snoo
The Legend
DelPiero
Strata Poster
Screw new creds in Cali or wherever, this may have to be my next US priority.God, I need that ride at night. One year I'll join you, one year.
Snoo
The Legend
So.. yes. This should be. Yes. 100%.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Yeah...don't do that again...or post on my behalf...or post without thinking if it is a value add or not...or send me pointless messages about my upcoming trips. This is just outright obnoxious.
Alright, looks like we have the October US Live set: Holiday World it is!
I've been to Six Flags Great America three times prior to this trip. The first visit was during a Wednesday in June in 2006(?) and it was ****ing packed. The second visit was on a Sunday in late summer in 2012 and it was ****ing packed. The third visit was an entire weekend at the beginning of August in 2014 and it was ****ing packed. To be honest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to visiting just to process my 2019 pass...but I made it happen. The lady and I were at the gate before opening, we rode all we desired to ride, and were out of the park after an hour and fifteen minutes.
Joker - Hey, a +1! And it was an enjoyable +1! We only took one lap on this short ride, but I was giggling like a schoolgirl from the top of the lift all the way to the brakes. I do think we got hosed a bit with the amount of flips we received - only two that I remember. Much of the ride was a hilly rocking back and forth while thinking "what happens next" but in an exciting sort of way. The ride was also extremely comfortable! There isn't really a point on the ride where one can end up balanced upside down and the trains are designed to prevent that. Also, whether they've seriously refined the design of the seats and rotating mechanisms or whether the free-spinning of the aspect attributes to this, Joker didn't suffer from the rocking seats and calf slapping that X2 chronically exhibits. I'm excited to ride more of these!
Batman - It's the oldest B&M invert and it still packs one hell of a punch! I think the only Batman clone that's more intense is Vampire at La Ronde. Batman ran through its circuit dealing out some absolutely vicious positive Gs. Fantastic!
Goliath - Daddy G. To be completely honest, I was a bit scared that it wouldn't hold up to the eye opening experience that it was when I popped my RMC cherry and that it would fall below The Voyage in my top 10. Although I knew what to expect this time around, Goliath fortunately lived up to its memory and delivered an outstanding ride (and reride). It's just completely ludicrous. I'm still at a total loss as to how they incorporated airtime into a ****ing overbanked turn...TWICE. How...And then that stall...sploosh! I don't understand how apparently many people don't care for it...the ride, like their opinions, is completely ridiculous! Sorry, Voyage - you can only rise so high. Goliath's overbanked turn and stall edge it out.
X-Flight - More like Sex Flight amirite? It's a small wing coaster, but what it does, it does so well. The two 0-g rolls are perfectly maneuvered and the immelmann and turns even add some positive Gs to the whole experience. AND it's low to the ground AND it has all of its near miss moments. I'm not sure how one can't love it.
Viper - I didn't get to ride Viper during my last two visits to I made it a point to ride it this time since I remembered it being a pretty decent woodie. The ride completely held up! It's not a forceful ride by any means, but it does have a bit of airtime in some spots and it does have some nice laterals in many of the corners. The ride is also packed with directional changes, headchoppers, and other interactions with its own superstructure, which really adds some excitement. And one of Viper's brightest characteristics is that it's a decently smooth woodie.
With Whizzer shuttered for Maxx Force's construction and every other coaster being mediocre faff that I've wasted too much time riding during my past two trips (looking at you, Raging Bull****), it was time to head out. To be honest, the park was pleasant when it was empty! Hopefully I have similar luck on my next visit!
So what did we do with the rest of the day? We went downtown. Here's some shots:
And there it is.
Roadmap:
- Dollywood (mid-November, and probably with a couple other +1s in the area)
DelPiero
Strata Poster
I can't make it over in 2019 but you can seriously count me in for 2020.
Gah, Goliath looks so good. My next 'real big' USA trip will be through the Chicago area, so maybe that's not too far off.
Near-ish Holiday World.
In the autumn.
Uh oh...
That big trip I mention above? That's going to be in 2020.
Near-ish Holiday World.
In the autumn.
Uh oh...
DelPiero
Strata Poster
Gah, Goliath looks so good. My next 'real big' USA trip will be through the Chicago area, so maybe that's not too far off.
That big trip I mention above? That's going to be in 2020.
Near-ish Holiday World.
In the autumn.
Uh oh...
Snoo
The Legend
Gah, Goliath looks so good. My next 'real big' USA trip will be through the Chicago area, so maybe that's not too far off.
That big trip I mention above? That's going to be in 2020.
Near-ish Holiday World.
In the autumn.
Uh oh...
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Well here we are...part one of TWO (surprise!) of the season finale!
Dollywood! It's my favorite park, as well as the favorite of much of my company over this past weekend. Although I can more or less see @Snoo and @pkiknex25 on any given weekend, we've been more ambitious over the weekend before Thanksgiving such that we can get together with @tomahawk and a few other enthusiast friends that we tend to see less than we'd like. It's a good time!
This is our third year in a row doing a trip like this - we visited Dollywood last year and Silver Dollar City the year before. We chose to revisit Dollywood because Lightning Rod is such a good ride and also because many of us were more willing to spend the money to fly to Atlanta and drive the rest of the way. (to be honest, this didn't really save me, the lady, and our friend Dan much time from Detroit, but at least we weren't sitting in a car for eight hours)
Thunderhead - I'm going to have to write a more detailed post for the Top 10 topic, but Thunderhead has made me realize just how unbelievably subjective roller coaster rankings are. During our first ride (first of the day), Tom and I sat in the front. Our ride was quite smooth but not as wild as I remembered from the year before. The rest of our posse rode in the back and they came off with a lackluster opinion of the ride. Later that day, I saw a post on Facebook post from someone else who happened to be at the park that day claiming that the ride was incredibly rough. We all took another lap on the coaster just before closing and all had a more positive opinion about the ride. After a full day of operation, Thunderhead was finally as rambunctious as I remembered from the year before. Apparently this beast just takes some time to wake up and can transition from rough to smooth like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Whistle Punk Chaser - I didn't ride, but @Snoo did!
Drop Line - We didn't get an opportunity to ride it last year as high winds kept the ride closed most of the day. Drop Line is an interesting gyro drop tower that sports one absolutely impressive view of the breathtaking Smoky Mountains. The carriage drops as soon as it reaches the top, but the drop itself is...well there are a lot of better drop towers out there. But it's worth it for the view alone.
Firechaser Express - Yep. Still love this little thing. The ride is basically gentle turns and hills, but its location on the side of the hill and interactions with the various structures around the ride make for such a fun experience. The initial launch and reverse section add a bit of a punch to the ride as well.
Wild Eagle - I personally think the ride is a bit lackluster since the other three American wing coasters do more interesting things during the ride, but it is a beautiful blue coaster and it's quite smooth, albeit gentle. Certainly not a bad ride at all.
Train - We made it a point to hop on the train this year and it was well worth it. Dollywood has a beautiful steam engine and they are rightfully proud of it. It's a proper locomotive on a full scale railroad that takes riders on a 30 minute round trip ride through the park and up and down the hill behind the park. The train tracks also serve as the boundary for their future expansion so we were able to grab some fantastic shots of Wildwood Grove.
At this point in the day, the park started to get a bit crowded so a few of us headed back to the cabin for a nap while the rest of us went to grab a snack...AND The Drunk Riders got a pedicure!
Blazing Fury - Man...I wonder how this ride would be while drunk...
Tennessee Tornado - Woah. The last Arrow looper was bookin' it tonight. After a giant dose of sustained ejector on the first drop, each element provided positive Gs with increasing intensity. It was a good reminder that it's a bummer that Arrow went out of business a few years after this ride opened - they were just figuring things out.
Mystery Mine - Tom, Dan, and I headed there in an effort to get Tom the +1 as it was a walk on at this point in the evening. After attempting an inside seat and then swapping for the outside seat with me, the ride op directed Tom to "keep pulling down the restraint and don't breath until the coach is moving - the check light will flicker if you don't." As unnerving as that direction was, we were dispatched and Tom got his +1! I had the inside seat as opposed to the outside seat I rode in last year and although this past Saturday's ride was an improvement, Mystery Mine still wasn't very good. Basically, the trestle and twister section between the two lifts is just slow and the tight transitions are too much for the wide trains, which causes discomfort with the old restraint design. Meh.
Alright...so where's the Lightning Rod review? Well, Lightning Rod decided to throw a temper tantrum all day on Saturday. I love Dollywood and maintain that it's a great park, but they REALLY need to get this ride's **** together. Way too often do I see somebody in the Church of the RMC Facebook group posting about how the ride is down and Saturday was no exception. The ride was closed for most of the summer...what in the actual hell is wrong with the damn thing now?! I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the park and the time shared with such a fantastic group of friends...but we all spent a few hundred dollars for airfare, rental cars, lodging, park entry, and food. Lightning Rod was one of the reasons for returning to Dollywood this year and we all left a bit disappointed that we didn't get an opportunity to ride it again. (Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be all boo-hoo we didn't get to ride...the downtime that this ride exhibits is excessive and it needs to be addressed)
But, like I said...we still had a wonderful time and love the park. We'll all certainly revisit many more times...hopefully with a more functional Lightning Rod...whether our group is together or not.
I mentioned that there was another part. I'll write about Six Flags Over Georgia tomorrow!
Dollywood! It's my favorite park, as well as the favorite of much of my company over this past weekend. Although I can more or less see @Snoo and @pkiknex25 on any given weekend, we've been more ambitious over the weekend before Thanksgiving such that we can get together with @tomahawk and a few other enthusiast friends that we tend to see less than we'd like. It's a good time!
This is our third year in a row doing a trip like this - we visited Dollywood last year and Silver Dollar City the year before. We chose to revisit Dollywood because Lightning Rod is such a good ride and also because many of us were more willing to spend the money to fly to Atlanta and drive the rest of the way. (to be honest, this didn't really save me, the lady, and our friend Dan much time from Detroit, but at least we weren't sitting in a car for eight hours)
Thunderhead - I'm going to have to write a more detailed post for the Top 10 topic, but Thunderhead has made me realize just how unbelievably subjective roller coaster rankings are. During our first ride (first of the day), Tom and I sat in the front. Our ride was quite smooth but not as wild as I remembered from the year before. The rest of our posse rode in the back and they came off with a lackluster opinion of the ride. Later that day, I saw a post on Facebook post from someone else who happened to be at the park that day claiming that the ride was incredibly rough. We all took another lap on the coaster just before closing and all had a more positive opinion about the ride. After a full day of operation, Thunderhead was finally as rambunctious as I remembered from the year before. Apparently this beast just takes some time to wake up and can transition from rough to smooth like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Whistle Punk Chaser - I didn't ride, but @Snoo did!
Drop Line - We didn't get an opportunity to ride it last year as high winds kept the ride closed most of the day. Drop Line is an interesting gyro drop tower that sports one absolutely impressive view of the breathtaking Smoky Mountains. The carriage drops as soon as it reaches the top, but the drop itself is...well there are a lot of better drop towers out there. But it's worth it for the view alone.
Firechaser Express - Yep. Still love this little thing. The ride is basically gentle turns and hills, but its location on the side of the hill and interactions with the various structures around the ride make for such a fun experience. The initial launch and reverse section add a bit of a punch to the ride as well.
Wild Eagle - I personally think the ride is a bit lackluster since the other three American wing coasters do more interesting things during the ride, but it is a beautiful blue coaster and it's quite smooth, albeit gentle. Certainly not a bad ride at all.
Train - We made it a point to hop on the train this year and it was well worth it. Dollywood has a beautiful steam engine and they are rightfully proud of it. It's a proper locomotive on a full scale railroad that takes riders on a 30 minute round trip ride through the park and up and down the hill behind the park. The train tracks also serve as the boundary for their future expansion so we were able to grab some fantastic shots of Wildwood Grove.
At this point in the day, the park started to get a bit crowded so a few of us headed back to the cabin for a nap while the rest of us went to grab a snack...AND The Drunk Riders got a pedicure!
Blazing Fury - Man...I wonder how this ride would be while drunk...
Tennessee Tornado - Woah. The last Arrow looper was bookin' it tonight. After a giant dose of sustained ejector on the first drop, each element provided positive Gs with increasing intensity. It was a good reminder that it's a bummer that Arrow went out of business a few years after this ride opened - they were just figuring things out.
Mystery Mine - Tom, Dan, and I headed there in an effort to get Tom the +1 as it was a walk on at this point in the evening. After attempting an inside seat and then swapping for the outside seat with me, the ride op directed Tom to "keep pulling down the restraint and don't breath until the coach is moving - the check light will flicker if you don't." As unnerving as that direction was, we were dispatched and Tom got his +1! I had the inside seat as opposed to the outside seat I rode in last year and although this past Saturday's ride was an improvement, Mystery Mine still wasn't very good. Basically, the trestle and twister section between the two lifts is just slow and the tight transitions are too much for the wide trains, which causes discomfort with the old restraint design. Meh.
Alright...so where's the Lightning Rod review? Well, Lightning Rod decided to throw a temper tantrum all day on Saturday. I love Dollywood and maintain that it's a great park, but they REALLY need to get this ride's **** together. Way too often do I see somebody in the Church of the RMC Facebook group posting about how the ride is down and Saturday was no exception. The ride was closed for most of the summer...what in the actual hell is wrong with the damn thing now?! I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the park and the time shared with such a fantastic group of friends...but we all spent a few hundred dollars for airfare, rental cars, lodging, park entry, and food. Lightning Rod was one of the reasons for returning to Dollywood this year and we all left a bit disappointed that we didn't get an opportunity to ride it again. (Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be all boo-hoo we didn't get to ride...the downtime that this ride exhibits is excessive and it needs to be addressed)
But, like I said...we still had a wonderful time and love the park. We'll all certainly revisit many more times...hopefully with a more functional Lightning Rod...whether our group is together or not.
I mentioned that there was another part. I'll write about Six Flags Over Georgia tomorrow!
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
Sounds like you all had a lovely time over there. Sucks that LR was down, but what can you do? Dollywood does look spectacular this time of year with all those lights. I wish I were able to head down there during this time of year.
Looking forward to SFOG!
Looking forward to SFOG!
Lori Marie Loud
Giga Poster
Bad luck it seems. We were there that weekend, and LR was open Sunday night. Now it's my favorite coaster.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Alright, let's wrap up the year, shall we?
We spent one more night in Pigeon Forge before @Snoo and @pkiknex25 and their wives parted ways with us - they headed north while we headed back to Atlanta. We were ambitious - we wanted to visit the Georgia Aquarium before running through Six Flags Over Georgia. We left later than we should have and our lunch stop was longer than we would have liked, so we decided to head straight to the park instead. Oh well - we'll get to that darn aquarium sooner or later.
Twisted Cyclone - Alan Schilke was recently interviewed by Coaster Studios where he stated that the biggest challenge with Twisted Cyclone is that there was so little structure to work with. After driving past the ride on the way in, I can completely understand why. Twisted Cyclone is TINY, but looks are deceiving. This ride is proof that RMC has been able to continue sprinting after they really hit their stride back in 2016. The pre-lift section is entertaining and the first drop is unbelievably good for its size and angle of descent. Both barrel rolls into and out of the turnaround provide perfect weightlessness and rotational velocity. The wall ride hill (it's not really a turn, so I'll refrain from calling it a wave turn like Lightning Rod or Outlaw Run) is the highlight of the ride - it provides the most bizarre sensation of ejector airtime in such an unusual orientation. While the remainder of the ride may not be quite as standout as the beginning, it flows incredibly well with a healthy mix of hills, turns, and one more barrel roll. The hill into overbanked turn into hill sequence, which is also used on one of Joker's turnarounds, is flawless and the following barrel roll feels perfectly placed next to the lift. Although those who haven't been on it may complain that it no longer makes three rounds and those who have ridden may say it's a bit short, I felt like it was a good length. The ride did not meander at the end, but I also wasn't left wanting more either. I wouldn't want the ride longer than maybe one helix to send you off. Excellent ride!
Georgia Scorcher - Had parks been a bit more creative with their layouts in the 90's, the stand-up fad might have lasted a bit longer. Scorcher is easily the best due to its unique layout. Both inversions and every turn provide plenty of forces, but not too many. The ride even exhibits some airtime in a few of the transitions. Hopefully the park plans on keeping this gem around for quite a while.
Goliath - I had some conversations with folks after I rode Goliath last summer where they stated that they did not enjoy the ride due to its rattle. Yes, Goliath has that B&M rattle present on many of their rides from the mid 2000s, but I don't let that bother me. Goliath is simply excellent - every hill (nine of them?) is chock full of floaty goodness and the helix turnaround and overbanked turn provide ample positive Gs. The ride's setting in front of the park and traveling over Scorcher and its unique layout give it a ton of personality that some of the other B&M hypers just don't have.
Mind Bender - I gassed it up. For the past year, I've talked about how much fun this ride is...and that held true for me. Both loops provided crushing positive Gs and the diving helix was quite a rush. Unfortunately, @tomahawk and Chris, who gush over Mind Bender's sister coaster Shockwave, were disappointed. I guess this just means that I have to get my ass down to Six Flags Over Texas to figure out what they're on about.
At this point, it was starting to get late and to our surprise, the park was much more crowded that we thought it would be for a Sunday night due to Holiday in the Park. We elected to reride Goliath and Twisted Cyclone before heading to the airport to catch our flights. Luckily, we're all in agreement that Six Flags Over Georgia is a pleasant park with a totally stellar ride lineup. I'm sure we will all be back at some point - Tom, Chris, and Dan still need most of the creds and they're rumored to receive a few more coasters in the next few years. Can't wait!
(didn't ride Batman or Dare Devil Dive but here is a collection of photos of them as well as the rest of the park while lit up at night)
So that concludes my coaster season. I managed to visit 10 new parks and ride 39 new coasters. I spent nearly a month at parks this year - 27 days with a park on the calendar, and visited a total of 25 parks this year. I rode a new favorite; Steel Vengeance, and rerode numerous other favorites. Most importantly, I visited plenty of these parks with some of my best friends: @Snoo, @tomahawk, @Youngster Joey, @pkiknex25, @Hyde, and @Hixee while also meeting a few new awesome faces - @DelPiero, @davidm, @Howie, and @Hutch! Thanks for making our park visits so memorable!
We spent one more night in Pigeon Forge before @Snoo and @pkiknex25 and their wives parted ways with us - they headed north while we headed back to Atlanta. We were ambitious - we wanted to visit the Georgia Aquarium before running through Six Flags Over Georgia. We left later than we should have and our lunch stop was longer than we would have liked, so we decided to head straight to the park instead. Oh well - we'll get to that darn aquarium sooner or later.
Twisted Cyclone - Alan Schilke was recently interviewed by Coaster Studios where he stated that the biggest challenge with Twisted Cyclone is that there was so little structure to work with. After driving past the ride on the way in, I can completely understand why. Twisted Cyclone is TINY, but looks are deceiving. This ride is proof that RMC has been able to continue sprinting after they really hit their stride back in 2016. The pre-lift section is entertaining and the first drop is unbelievably good for its size and angle of descent. Both barrel rolls into and out of the turnaround provide perfect weightlessness and rotational velocity. The wall ride hill (it's not really a turn, so I'll refrain from calling it a wave turn like Lightning Rod or Outlaw Run) is the highlight of the ride - it provides the most bizarre sensation of ejector airtime in such an unusual orientation. While the remainder of the ride may not be quite as standout as the beginning, it flows incredibly well with a healthy mix of hills, turns, and one more barrel roll. The hill into overbanked turn into hill sequence, which is also used on one of Joker's turnarounds, is flawless and the following barrel roll feels perfectly placed next to the lift. Although those who haven't been on it may complain that it no longer makes three rounds and those who have ridden may say it's a bit short, I felt like it was a good length. The ride did not meander at the end, but I also wasn't left wanting more either. I wouldn't want the ride longer than maybe one helix to send you off. Excellent ride!
Georgia Scorcher - Had parks been a bit more creative with their layouts in the 90's, the stand-up fad might have lasted a bit longer. Scorcher is easily the best due to its unique layout. Both inversions and every turn provide plenty of forces, but not too many. The ride even exhibits some airtime in a few of the transitions. Hopefully the park plans on keeping this gem around for quite a while.
Goliath - I had some conversations with folks after I rode Goliath last summer where they stated that they did not enjoy the ride due to its rattle. Yes, Goliath has that B&M rattle present on many of their rides from the mid 2000s, but I don't let that bother me. Goliath is simply excellent - every hill (nine of them?) is chock full of floaty goodness and the helix turnaround and overbanked turn provide ample positive Gs. The ride's setting in front of the park and traveling over Scorcher and its unique layout give it a ton of personality that some of the other B&M hypers just don't have.
Mind Bender - I gassed it up. For the past year, I've talked about how much fun this ride is...and that held true for me. Both loops provided crushing positive Gs and the diving helix was quite a rush. Unfortunately, @tomahawk and Chris, who gush over Mind Bender's sister coaster Shockwave, were disappointed. I guess this just means that I have to get my ass down to Six Flags Over Texas to figure out what they're on about.
At this point, it was starting to get late and to our surprise, the park was much more crowded that we thought it would be for a Sunday night due to Holiday in the Park. We elected to reride Goliath and Twisted Cyclone before heading to the airport to catch our flights. Luckily, we're all in agreement that Six Flags Over Georgia is a pleasant park with a totally stellar ride lineup. I'm sure we will all be back at some point - Tom, Chris, and Dan still need most of the creds and they're rumored to receive a few more coasters in the next few years. Can't wait!
(didn't ride Batman or Dare Devil Dive but here is a collection of photos of them as well as the rest of the park while lit up at night)
So that concludes my coaster season. I managed to visit 10 new parks and ride 39 new coasters. I spent nearly a month at parks this year - 27 days with a park on the calendar, and visited a total of 25 parks this year. I rode a new favorite; Steel Vengeance, and rerode numerous other favorites. Most importantly, I visited plenty of these parks with some of my best friends: @Snoo, @tomahawk, @Youngster Joey, @pkiknex25, @Hyde, and @Hixee while also meeting a few new awesome faces - @DelPiero, @davidm, @Howie, and @Hutch! Thanks for making our park visits so memorable!
Youngster Joey
Strata Poster
wonderful report. It was a pleasure to spend time with you as always this summer. Until the next trip!