| Six Flags Over Georgia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Statistics | |
|
Location |
Austell, Georgia, USA |
|
Opened |
June 16, 1967 |
|
Owner |
Six Flags Over Georgia, Ltd. |
|
Operater |
|
|
Size |
290 acres (117.36 Hectares) |
|
Official Website |
|
Six Flags Over Georgia is a theme park located in Austell, Georgia. The park has a collection of eleven roller coasters.
History[]
It is one of the original three parks opened by Six Flags. The park opened in 1967 after the success of Six Flags Over Texas.
In 1961, Angus G. Wynne Jr. opened the very first Six Flags park, Six Flags over Texas. He built the park in Arlington, Texas, to entertain and educate visitors on Texas' history. After the success of this first park, he then went on to the Southeast to build another theme park just outside of a growing city looking for tourism, Atlanta, Georgia. So, Angus went out and built Six Flags over Georgia throughout the mid 1960's. The park was complete with sections based on Georgia's history: Britain; Spanish (now Bugs Bunny World); USA; Confederate; a sleepy mine town called Lickskillet; Jolly Roger Island (now Gotham City); Carousel Hill; Cotton States; and the state itself, Georgia. In 1967, Six Flags over Georgia opened to the public with a collection of state-of-the-art attractions for the time.
One of the original attractions included the classic Arrow Dynamics mine train, the Dahlonega Mine Train, named after the mining town Dahlonega, Georgia, which was home to the US' first gold rush. The ride itself contains many dips, and jerky turns with tunnels. The park also had a smaller version of the mine train by Arrow Dynamics known as the Yahoola Hooler (renamed Mini-Mine Train and removed in 1993 when the Spanish section became Bugs Bunny World.
A number of other attractions opened with the park including the historic Riverview Park Carousel, a national historic landmark saved from the late Riverview Park in Chicago. An oil-fired powered train traveled the perimeter of the park as the Six Flags Railroad. The Log Jamboree Log Flume (now known as Deer Park Plunge), also from Arrow Dynamics, took riders on a wet ride through the woods of Six Flags over Georgia. Other rides included Great Gasp, a rare Intamin Parachute ride with a 225-foot-tall structure; a swinging ship called the Flying Dutchman (later removed for Batman: the Ride); a dark ride based on the Okeefenokee Swamp (later rethemed to Monster Plantation) and many flat rides.
As Six Flags over Georgia proved a success, the 1970's brought more thrills to the growing park, most notably two coasters during the era. In 1973, the Great American Scream Machine opened as one of John Allen's last coasters and the classic Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters ride became the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. Located in one of the most beautiful sections of the park, the first drop swooped over the Cotton States section's lake before taking riders on a thrilling, airtime-filled experience that would make it one of many enthusiasts' top rides.
Later on in the 1970's, the south's first vertically-looping coaster arrived when Six Flags contacted Intamin and in-house designer Anton Schwarzkopf to design a rare, unique ride. In 1978, MindBender opened, boasting the title of the first "triple-looping coaster" (the alleged third loop being an inclined helix). MindBender would have a share of paint jobs starting out with a shining silver structure before becoming a brown color, and lastly, shades of green to fit a Riddler theme when Six Flags rethemed Jolly Roger Island over the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
The 1980's came and the Okefenokee Swamp dark ride was rethemed as it became the family and fan favorite Monster Plantation in 1981. The classic dark ride tells about a gathering of friendly monsters having a picnic in the mansion until the sheriff comes and warns guests not to go into the dark swamp. Despite the scary ending, families still have fun on this classic. The next year, Six Flags over Georgia introduced another state-of-the-art attraction, an Intamin river rapids ride called Thunder River, in which no two rides are the same while rapids and waterfalls ensure that passengers come off soaked. Now, Six Flags needed a new thrill ride more for the older crowds than families, so in 1983, Six Flags over Georgia got an Intamin First Generation Freefall, simply called Freefall.
In the 1980's, Six Flags experimented with a new ride rotation program for their coasters, and Six Flags over Georgia received one of these in 1988, Z-Force, from sister park Six Flags Great America in Illinois. The only Intamin Space Diver in existence, the ride was located by a lake near Great American Scream Machine (where Ninja now stands). After a short life at Six Flags over Georgia, Z-Force was moved to its current location three years later, California's Six Flags Magic Mountain.
The 1990's came and Six Flags was investing in wooden coasters based on the famed Coney Island Cyclone. Six Flags over Georgia received one in 1990 and called it Georgia Cyclone. As a sign at the top of the lift said, "The most a coaster can beeeeeeeee!!!!!!," and it soon became a fan favorite with some of the most airtime found on a coaster. Soon after, 1992 came and Z-Force's empty spot got a new, yet relocated, coaster. A custom-made Vekoma creation, Ninja's compact layout was erected over a lake. Formerly known as Kamikaze at the late Hunt's Pier park on the Jersey shore, Ninja delivered an intense and unique ride with its looping twister layout.
1993 Came and the park's Mini-Mine Train was removed as Six Flags themed the Spanish section into Bugs Bunny World. This area boasted a wide variety of kiddie rides and interactivity for the younger crowd, and brought some of Six Flags' mascots, the Looney Tunes, to the park. Change was in the air as the old Six Flags over Georgia gradually transformed into a model of Six Flags' 1990's theme park.
In 1995, the Cotton States saw a third relocated coaster, a classic Schwarzkopf shuttle-looper also from Six Flags Great America called Viper. Viper boasted more theming and a simple, yet forceful ride. A sixty-mile-per-hour launch took riders through a loop and up a reversing spike, then back down in reverse. After traveling through the loop backwards and up another reversing spike, the train would come back to stop in the station. Viper became a hit, but would be removed later on in the park's history.
Soon enough, the 1996 and 1997 seasons came and the park's Jolly Roger Island section changed forever as the existing flat rides were removed in favor of Gotham City. MindBender was repainted and, though plans to rename the coaster Riddler's Revenge fell through, the ride received a Riddler theme. But more importantly, a trademark Six Flags coaster arrived when Bolliger and Mabillard's Batman: the Ride came to compete with the south's first inverted coaster, Busch Gardens Tampa's Montu. With some of Six Flags' best theming, the cookie cutter coaster became a hit with the general public.
With 1999 came a stand-up coaster in place of small complex of waterslides at the front of the park. Codenamed Jezebel, her firey personality became the Georgia Scorcher. The final stand-up coaster built by Bolliger and Mabillard, the Scorcher boasted a forceful ride with two inversions among many twists and turns taking advantage of a compact space to create a hit for the park. The new millennium was near and more changes would come. When 2001 came as one of Six Flags' biggest spending years, Six Flags over Georgia got two major new thrill rides. The first of these was the first Intamin Gyro Drop with stand-up, floorless seating: Acrophobia, with a 200-foot tower and appropriate slogan: "High Altitude Attitude!" Also, the park got a new coaster, Deja Vu, a Vekoma Super Invertigo. Deja Vu is like your average Boomerang coaster, only inverted and taken to the extreme, with vertical spikes and heights of nearly 200 feet. But later that year, Viper was removed so that another DC Comics superhero could come and fight evil with Batman soon.
The year 2002 brought the first Bolliger and Mabillard flying coaster in the US, dubbed Superman: Ultimate Flight. A smooth inverted flying coaster, Superman was the original version of a layout that would later be cloned for two other Six Flags parks. Boasting a 115 ft tall height and a forceful pretzel loop inversion, swooping turns, and an inline twist, Superman became a hit and made it possible for anyone to fly like the Man of Steel. Though after many new additions and extreme thrills, Six Flags still needed a family coaster since Mini Mine Train's 1993 removal. Such coincidence, in late 2004, a Chance Mini Mine Train model was built in Bugs Bunny World and called Wile E. Coyote's Canyon Blaster. With Looney Tunes theming and a custom layout, families and enthusiasts alike can enjoy the ride for its appearance of more than just your average family coaster.
The following year, 2005, brought a small waterpark-like attraction to the park. Skull Island was added. Manufactured by White Water West, Skull Island is a massive water playground, including a volcano that shoots out a geyser of water shooting over guests every few minutes. The attraction also includes small water slides as well. Also in 2005, markers were rising up everywhere throughout the front entrance and in the parks USA area. Two of the park's rides seemed endangered with the weird markings in their area. The first, Looping Starship, an Intamin Space Shuttle flat ride that was installed in 1985 and the longtime icon of the park and nearby Interstate 20, the Great Gasp. Fans were saddened with the rides removal, with the ride being one of three left in the United States. Luckily, the park gave enthusiasts the last chance to ride it on August 14th, 2005 before the tall tower that dominated the parks skyline for nearly thirty years was gone. What was to replace it? Something bigger...
That something bigger came a few weeks later on September 1st, 2005. Six Flags over Georgia announced their new addition of epic proportions, Goliath. Coming as the park's fourth coaster from B&M as one of their Hyper coaster models.
Location[]
Present roller coasters (11)[]
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batman The Ride | Bolliger & Mabillard | Inverted | 1997 | Open |
| Dahlonega Mine Train | Arrow Dynamics | Mine Train | 1967 | Open |
| Dare Devil Dive | Gerstlauer | Euro-Fighter | 2011 | Open |
| Georgia Scorcher | Bolliger & Mabillard | Stand-Up | 1999 | Open |
| Goliath | Bolliger & Mabillard | Hyper Coaster | 2006 | Open |
| Great American Scream Machine | Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters | Wooden | 1973 | Open |
| Mind Bender | Schwarzkopf | Sit-Down | 1978 | Open |
| Ninja | Vekoma | Sit-Down | 1992 | Open |
| Superman - Ultimate Flight | Bolliger & Mabillard | Flying | 2002 | Open |
| The Joker Funhouse Coaster | Chance Rides | Sit-Down | 2004 | Open |
| Twisted Cyclone | Rocky Mountain Construction | Hybrid | 2018 | Open |
Past roller coasters (4)[]
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Closed | Relocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Déjà Vu | Vekoma | Shuttle | 2001 | 2007 | Mirabilandia |
| Mini Mine Train | Arrow Dynamics | Mine Train | 1967 | 1988 | No |
| Viper | Schwarzkopf | Launched | 1995 | 2001 | Kentucky Kingdom |
| Z-Force | Intamin AG | Sit-Down | 1988 | 1990 | Six Flags Magic Mountain |
External links[]
- Six Flags Over Georgia official page at Six Flags
- Six Flags Over Georgia at Logopedia
- Six Flags Over Georgia at the Roller Coaster DataBase
- Six Flags Over Georgia at the Six Flags Wiki
- Six Flags Over Georgia at Wikipedia