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Six Flags Over Georgia (SFOG) Discussion Thread


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So interesting enough I will probably be moving to Georgia in the next couple of months so my new park will be SFOG. I just want opinions how it feels to Carowinds. I went to SFOG long ago and just looking for some honest thoughts about the park. I appreciate it. I have been reading the post for this for a long time so I get the gist of it all. But just want some more feedback

 

I recently visited both parks literally back to back. Went to Carowinds on Friday and Saturday, then SFOG on Sunday and Monday. You said you wanted honest thoughts...

 

SFOG is nice and definitely better than other SF parks, but I still think Carowinds is a vastly better park. It's more than just rides: Cedar Fair parks are just more well-run. The food lines are actually manageable, food service is always good and efficient, the food itself is better (ya'll have Harmony Hall!). Operations are better at Carowinds. You can pretty much expect all coasters to be running at Carowinds any day throughout the summer. I greatly prefer Carowinds and honestly almost every other Cedar Fair park to SFOG, expect maybe Dorney or CGA.

 

However, I do think SFOG's ride line-up is more well-rounded. At Carowinds, there is a pretty large drop off after the "big 4." There are several bad coasters at Carowinds: Hurler, Vortex, Nighthawk, Cyclone... they're all mediocre-to-bad coasters. At SFOG, I don't think there is a bad coaster in the park. I enjoyed all of them and they have some excellent "underdogs" like Mind Bender, DDD, and Blue Hawk (I'm sure you read my post above). There are some slight advantages to SFOG, but overall I would much rather visit Carowinds again. It's just a less frustrating experience. Six Flags does some things well, but a lot of their operations and services just make you roll your eyes and say "I wish I were at Carowinds" lol.

 

Sorry if that seemed negative. You asked for honest. I really do like both parks, but Carowinds is just so much less stressful to visit. And, well, Fury. Yeah. Fury...

 

Luckily the parks aren't *that* far from each other! (at least from the perspective of us west-coast people)

 

No i appreciate it, It does help

 

And you could also argue that as coaster enthusiasts, all that really matters is the top 3-4 anyway. It would be awesome if there were parks out there that had 8-9 top tier coasters outside of CP and SFMM, but for the most part, if you're lucky, its a few awesome coasters, with a bunch of kiddie coasters, aging older generation coasters, and coasters that missed the mark. And as an enthusiast, you can still make a great day out of it by collecting all the credits, and focusing on getting re-rides on the top tier coasters (and checking out the quality flats, flume, drop towers, shows, and other stuff if you wish). If you do all that, you probably don't have a lot o f time to get re-rides in on a park full top tier coasters. And once you go back to parks, at least I usually focus on the top 3-4, and maybe occasionally ride the lower tier stuff again.

 

So its fair to give Carowinds the edge if its top 4 stacks up with SFOG and the experience is obviously superior.

 

Its been years since I've been to Carowinds, but I just finished up with a trip to SFOG this weekend. The ride list itself is actually pretty good and under the radar. Pretty well balanced and tons to do. But it does have that Six Flags ickiness feel to it.

 

If you don't buy the Flash and you go on a Saturday or otherwise crowded day, you're looking at some pretty long lines to get on anything as the Flash takes up a lot of the capacity. But if you do buy the Flash and nobody goes, its worthless, as it only gets you up to the station, and the row lines get out of control. The employees just lack urgency and professionalism overall. The rides were constantly breaking down (one day I think every ride broke down at least once) and many of the issues were probably due to the employees not knowing how to operate the control panel. The food lines were out of control, and the one employee who would dish out food would just disappear unexpectedly. And they have that absurd bottle policy, where to get the free soda that you paid for with your pass, you need to lug around that comically oversized bottle the whole day, and climb over people to put it to the side every ride. I gave up and preferred being able to hawk empty seats to the soda. So to get ice water, you have to wait in line for a tiny cup.

 

All in all, I do enjoy the coasters there a lot. I just feel like when you go you're putting up with a cheap, Spirit Airlines type of experience for it. I completely agree that while CF doesn't necessarily have better rides than SF, it just feels more luxurious and you get a Delta or Jet Blue experience.

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Has any demolition been done yet on Splashwater Falls? I ask because, here at Over Texas, they've already begun tearing ours down. Supposedly, either OG or OT may receive a Mack Power Splash as a replacement, but it's still speculation at this point. Apparently, SF only has one MPS in it's possession, which was originally headed to Dubai, but will now go to either of these two parks.

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And you could also argue that as coaster enthusiasts, all that really matters is the top 3-4 anyway. It would be awesome if there were parks out there that had 8-9 top tier coasters outside of CP and SFMM, but for the most part, if you're lucky, its a few awesome coasters, with a bunch of kiddie coasters, aging older generation coasters, and coasters that missed the mark.

 

What you describe is the epitome of some former Paramount parks like Carowinds. They have "just OK" wooden coasters, large kids' areas, and were early adopters of innovative coasters that didn't age well like the Vekoma Dutchman, S&S thrust air prototype, B&M stand-ups, a Zamperla Volare, and originals like Son of Beast and Volcano (whew). Can't say that they didn't swing for the fences back in the day! Those lineup needed work, and Cedar Fair then added big B&Ms and other new attractions, leading to a quality gap like you described.

 

Those parks are doing a nice job of updating and rounding out their attractions now. It's always nice to call RMC and turn a clunker into a headliner. I still like Kennywood or Hershey's quality distribution, where I'm smiling on more than a dozen rides and look forward to zany fun on the undercard. I'm a coaster enthusiast first, but give me a Monster Mansion. When it's just top coasters without quality depth, that's when I see "we grabbed the credits and left" trip reports, and those always feel like missed opportunities for parks.

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Has any demolition been done yet on Splashwater Falls? I ask because, here at Over Texas, they've already begun tearing ours down. Supposedly, either OG or OT may receive a Mack Power Splash as a replacement, but it's still speculation at this point. Apparently, SF only has one MPS in it's possession, which was originally headed to Dubai, but will now go to either of these two parks.

 

Other than some of the hardware and boats removed earlier in the season it's been a Ghost Town down there.

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I was at SFOG over the 4th weekend a couple times. Oddly enough, walking over to Superman we passed by a maint. guy driving in the Splashwater Falls area. He parked next to the station, got out of his truck and went over to the lift hill. Started looking at the electronics. Seemed a bit weird. Probably pulling parts for something else?

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^ I was thinking the same thing when I read that St. Louis is re-opening theirs. Plenty of spare parts available now

 

Went yesterday with my little guy. I didn't realize that he was allowed to drive the Antique Cars (Hanson Cars.) After the log flume I think this is is favorite ride and I "got" do do it 5 times in a row. This is after three times on the kiddie coaster, twice on the log flume and a ride on the Sky Buckets.

 

David

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According to the website listed below, Six Flags Over Texas will be receiving a Mack Power Splash.

 

This is found in shipping archives, and is known to be accurate. It has been confirmed by industry insiders.

 

Should be a fun edition! I believe SFOG could receive the same.

 

https://panjiva.com/Six-Flags-Over-Texas/2136796

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^ SF only has one MPS in their possession, that one is headed to SFOT. It is not known if they plan to purchase any more of these since they cost close to 10 million dollars a piece. The one headed to SFOT was originally intended for Dubai, but that didn't work out, so now it's headed to OT. SFOG is rumored to be receiving an S&S 4D in place of Splash Water Falls.

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^I really hope that isn’t gonna be what we get next year. I feel like SFOG (being one of the first Six Flags parks) should get something out of the ordinary to replace such a classic ride in the park. We have all the other ‘cloned’ attractions at this point - even one other parks dont have (Superman). With the removal of Splash, we are missing another major water ride. BUT a good, compact launched coaster would round out our coaster lineup. I guess we’ll find out in a couple of months.

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Yeah, how dare they add a cloned water ride to replace such a "classic"... uh... cloned water ride.
Pretty sure Seddy directed that at the S&S 4D not the MPS.

 

But anything is better than a defunct, non-operational ride.

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While this park is one of the only SF parks without a launched coaster - and such a ride would be a great fit, I do not believe the space currently occupied by SWF would be the most ideal for a launch coaster. An S&S 4D would fit there while a launcher would be better suited for the back of the parking lot adjacent to Pandemonium. Whatever does get built in the former SWF location will be part of ScreamPunk District. It looks like this underdeveloped theme area will be getting the most attention in the coming years.

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I agree that a S&S Free Spin seems like the most likely addition there. However, every Six Flags installation of these coasters so far has come with a DC theme, and while the entrance to SWF does/did come back to where the edge of Screampunk District now is, the coaster itself would be nestled right in between DC Super Friends theming, and Metropolis Park theming, and I suspect that it will be DC themed as well. Especially since they place big logos right on the coaster for whatever the DC character is, it would fit in very well there with a DC theme. They can either leave the entrance where it was for SWF, since it's not far from either the DC Superfriends entrance, or the trail on the backside of Carousel Hill, or they could potentially create a new entrance closer to the actual ride. I don't think that's really necessary though, and they'll probably leave it as is. There are already three different themed areas in that junction area there, including the DC Heroes Store right around the corner, so I don't think it'd be a stretch to have it there, and not have it be a part of Screampunk District. I do agree a launched coaster (perhaps a Maxx Force clone, or something like it) will likely come soon, in a couple years or so, and be a part of Screampunk District.

 

As for the theme? If an S&S Free Spin is the way they go, and it's DC themed, it's obviously not going to be The Joker or Batman at SFOG, so I honestly think they'll go with Wonder Woman, like SF did for their Mexico installation. Not only would it be a character that didn't have a major ride at SFOG before (I suspect they'd just re-theme the Flyers to a lesser DC character, such as Shazam - Shazam's Flight School would fit right in with the movie's plot as well!), it would pretty much coincide with the next Wonder Woman movie coming out the beginning of June 2020. It'd be the perfect storm of marketing for SFOG!

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SFGAdv has DC themed rides in the "DC Section" but also:

-2 in a carnival/military base area.

-1 in a western themed area.

-1 in the main midway/lakefront area.

 

Surrounding theming means nothing to Six Flags.

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Either way, the ride that you’re replacing is a cloned ride... and it’s a cloned ride that sucks.

 

Isn't that the SF way? I certainly don't think of SF for original, one of a kind rides. Or even custom versions. I've surprised at the variation with the Cyclone conversions.

 

But a water ride to replace a water ride would be better than a dry ride.

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Either way, the ride that you’re replacing is a cloned ride... and it’s a cloned ride that sucks.

(Not that it ever matters if something is a clone anyway because 99% of park guests don’t care)

 

What didn’t suck was the ability to get wet on a hot Georgia summer day, without having to wait in line. I have memories from my years as a youth - standing on that bridge with a big smile on my face as the boats approached the drop. Im sure there are several long-term Georgia residents who have the same memories. No other ride in the park offered that experience. It may have been a ‘cloned’ ride but it was a ‘cloned’ ride that satisfied - Which is why it was there for as long as it was. Im sad to see it go.

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What didn’t suck was the ability to get wet on a hot Georgia summer day, without having to wait in line. I have memories from my years as a youth - standing on that bridge with a big smile on my face as the boats approached the drop. Im sure there are several long-term Georgia residents who have the same memories. No other ride in the park offered that experience. It may have been a ‘cloned’ ride but it was a ‘cloned’ ride that satisfied - Which is why it was there for as long as it was. Im sad to see it go.

Actually the park has done pretty well giving guests a way to get wet on hot days. I remember in 2003, the park did the unthinkable for Splashwater Falls when they installed splash deflectors on the boats, presumably to protect the adjacent Dahlonega Mine Train wooden supports from damage as well as the wooden observation bridge itself. It sounds crazy but that was the explanation I was given from then park management. This brought an end to that glorious splash on the bridge and forever ended my interest in this ride. But - fast forward to 2005 when the park added "Skull Island" (now "Paradise Island" inside Hurricane Harbor), guests were given an instant way to cool off without waiting in any line. Although the rest of Hurricane Harbor would not be added for another nine years, I spent many hours cooling off in this standalone water play structure. If anything, our park would be smart to add water sprinklers around the park like SFoT has. This would fill the need for guests not wanting to enter the water park or for after hours when only the 'dry' park is open.

 

I know many here complain about cloned rides but quite frankly, I would much rather get an off the shelf model of something which has been tested and is reliable versus some prototype first-of-its-kind ride that wows the media but may or may not be a hit or may or may not function reliably. (Batman & Robin: The Chiller anyone?)

 

Right now, my money is on an S&S 4D Free Spin for 2020. If they give it a Scream Punk Theme they might use the previously discarded "Total Mayhem" name and have 'gears' on it, similar to Pandemonium. Otherwise if they go with DC, they could use Cyborg or the previously suggested Wonder Woman theme.

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I feel like SFOG (being one of the first Six Flags parks) should get something out of the ordinary to replace such a classic ride in the park.

 

Six Flags St. Louis would like to have a word with you.

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Hello Everyone! I will be going to SFOG on Saturday, September 14th.

 

Does anyone have a suggested touring plan if I will be arriving late? The park opens at 10AM but I will likely get there at 10:30AM once I drive from the airport. Also, any suggestions for places to eat? I have a season dining pass, so I can get lunch, dinner and a snack.

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Dare Devil Dive and Superman get the longest lines - since you can't rope drop one of those if you aren't getting a Flash Pass just plan to wait a while. Twisted Cyclone moves pretty fast but will get a line as well.

 

Give yourself time to ride Mindbender a few times as it is awesome! Don't miss the Monster Mansion as it is super quirky and fun. I usually eat at JB's as the food is good and you get good portions.

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