DLA

Ok, I should clarify: It is not yet known just how widely available the book will be, but Amazon.com should be carrying it, as well as the book's publisher, Arcadia.

Just to alert fans of Six Flags Over Georgia, there's a new book debuting this Fall celebrating Six Flags Over Georgia's 40th Birthday, written by author Tim Hollis. I got a chance to see an early version (I contributed a photo or two) and it looks like it will be something really special. It primarily focuses on the early years of the park, and it is amazing how much the place has changed over the years. There are a lot of behind-the scenes photos and images of memorabilia from the park. Look for it at Six Flags Over Georgia, or if you live in the south, at your local bookstore.

My brother and his family live in Winchester, Virginia, and from my visits there during the winter, I have to assume that this park would have been either Seasonal or operating only the indoor attractions during the very cold months. I remember seeing some big stories on the park in some magazines years ago (I especially remember the photo of the "Industrial Revolution" rollercoaster). The park seemed like a cross between Epcot and Disney's California Adventure----not sure if locals would have enjoyed it or if tourists would pay to see recreations of history when actual historical sites are right in the area.

Great TR, Julie! I just returned from meeting at a Barnes and Noble with author Tim Hollis, who is working on the Anniversary book for Six Flags Over Georgia as well as exhibits displaying photos and merchandise of the park. This guy knows the park in and out, so he will do a fantastic job. He brought a lot of photos to show, and a fellow theme park enthusiast overheard us and joined in on the conversation---very fun! Anway, Mr. Hollis had a lot of photos of the old Okefenokee ride and Monster Plantation. Yes, I wish they'd get the ride back to its former self---I went on it when I was a little kid in 1982 when it was still new and pretty. I got to see photos of concept art and the models used for some of the characters, as well as clear photos of the marsh monsters. I gave Mr. Hollis copies from the Monster Plantation Postcard Book (which has awesome illustrations) that the park was kind enough to send me free years ago when I wrote them about getting the coloring book----they were out (anyone willing to sell a copy?). Hopefully he can use the copies for one of the memorabilia displays they are planning. Mr. Hollis also showed photos of Walk-around monster characters the park used to have. I never saw those! They were of the Strongman Monster, the Tennis Monster, and the Marshall. Maybe we'll see them again someday. By the way, the little girl on the cover of that National Geographic World (which I still have) with the monster is the daughter of Roy Moore, who is still with Six Flags and works with the parks' animatronics.

The Dragon's Tower ride was a different kind of coaster than Dueling Dragons-----The Disney ride would have been more like Top Gun or The Bat at Kings Island (a lot like The Bat----the cars were bats!). The ride was indoor/outdoor and would have featured a very large animatronic dragon. I was lucky enough to see a picture of one of the models and it was pretty darned impressive. I haven't been to Islands of Adventure, but I don't think the two rides shared much in common except for a dragon theme. But both Disney and Universal have Dinosaur rides, so that shouldn't really be an issue. I think cost was the biggest concern. Even folks within Imagineering aren't sure if the ride will ever be built.

With an outside company (Landry's) set to spend some major money on a new restaurant (Asia) it does seem like Animal Kingdom could see something big on the horizon. It seems like the goal is to keep the park open at night. Will Everest be enough to keep so many people around at dinner? Would Landry's question this as well? I guess only time will tell. (No doubt they would also like to eventually add their T-Rex restaurant to Dinoland as well). The dragon is still on the Animal Kingdom logo----maybe this will see the light of day after all. Hopefully any new additions would have some indoor activities as summertime at Animal Kingdom can be brutal (most of the animals must agree as they go into hiding during the broiling afternoons).

I'm pretty sure Six Flags Over Georgia had the Roadrunner, but some little hellion beat the (female, I believe) employee up, and destroyed the costume. Characters at Disney parks are so often abused, I just can't imagine what the poor Looney Tunes are in for at Six Flags.

Shari, I'd love to see pictures of the old Hanna Barbera Enchanted Voyage-----I've only seen a few on the Internet. I grew up Birmingham, Alabama, so the park my family would go to was Six Flags over Georgia. My grandparents live in Indianaoplis (and now my parents live in Louisville) so we made a couple trips to King's Island over the years. My parents got the two parks mixed up, and on our 1988 trip, they were upset that the Smurf ride replaced the Okefenokee Swamp Ride (the Okefenokee Ride was actually at Six Flags and had been replaced by the Monster Plantation years ago-----they were very confused).

The Last photo I could find... Gargamel, creator of Smurfette

Here's another photo....... Going up the "Lift Hill" for the 5-foot drop.

I found one of my photos. I'm trying to post it----

Sorry for the rambling----if I can find my pictures, I'll post them.

Hello! I've enjoyed this website for a while and finally registered so I could reply to this topic. I remember this ride----I went to the park back in 1988 and it rained all day long. This was a boat ride, kind of like "It's a Small World", and the loading station was one of those turntable platforms that are common on rapids rides. The load was outside, and the flume went inside a showbuilding (you entered the building through a tunnel with colored lights and Papa Smurf greeting you with "Have a Smurfy Day!). The Smurfs themselves were simple figures----sort of like the character animation used for displays at the Disney Store. The Smurfs were doing all kinds of things, and of course, we run into Gargamel (a large figure). There was no mouth animation on any of the figures----I remember not being very impressed by this ride. We did take pictures, but for the life of me, I don't know where they are! There was a tiny drop at the end. This ride was originally a Hanna Barbera ride, which I never experienced. I have read that the "drop" in the old ride was in a carnival section of the old Hanna Barbera ride. By the time I got around to revisiting King's Island (1996, I think) the park was renamed "Paramount's King's Island" and the Hanna Barbera stuff really took a backseat to Nickelodeon (I loved the Hanna Barbera stuff as a kid, so the park did not feel the same anymore to me). The Smurfs were gone and the non-Hanna Barbera "Phantom Theater" dark ride replaced it (now, of course, Scooby Doo resides there and Hanna Barbera Land is no more).