Six Flags Over Georgia's Hurricane Harbor Media Day + General Park Meanderings Trip Report

Hey :}

Who wants to get wet???

Welcome to the Six Flags Over Georgia's Hurricane Harbor Media Day! After being postponed one week, Hurricane Harbor is now ready to provide guests with a summer of fun-filled water-type shenanigans!

Let's get started!

First I'd like to thank Six Flags for providing free premier parking. And for all the other free stuff, of course. :}

Good morning, you! 

By the time I showed up, the park had been open for 15 minutes. Looks like these people decided to start their day with some "Georgia Torture."

Actually, in all seriousness, I like this ride. Stand-ups just aren't as comfortable for me as they used to be. #tallpersonproblems

Goliath is here also.

Woohoo! SFOG party!

If free parking and admission wasn't enough, we even got to bypass the turnstiles!

After receiving our media packets, we were directed to the farthest possible place from the entrance, which is now home to the NEW HURRICANE HARBOR!

It is also home to GREAT VIEWS OF GREAT AMERICAN SCREAM MACHINE!

In addition to the area's preexisting Skull Island (now "Paradise Island") play area, Hurricane Harbor's attractions include 2 slide complexes, a wave pool, and one pissed-off shark.

Six Flags Over Georgia park president, the wonderful Dale Kaetzel, is excited to have us all here!

And I must say I was pretty excited about it myself. It's not every day a park lets you in for free and then serves you free booze. :}

Banzai Pipelines are Hurricane Harbor's trio of solo and double inner tube slides, one of which features a bowl. :}

Operations on all of the park's slides were friendly and uncomplicated. It's nice to see that guests can use single or double tubes for all 3 slides. 

Skull Paradise Island received a nice facelift and looks brand new!

The Calypso Bay wave pool looks marvelous alongside the cabanas,

but the star of Hurricane Harbor is the one-of-a-kind Tsunami Surge!

Tsunami Surge is the first waterside in the world to combine one of these...

…with one of these! It's a great combo!

You start by snaking your way around to the bowl,

After which you plunge down into the "Tornado Wave" element! 

If you've got some weight in your clover, you can catch some serious air!

Tsunami Surge also provides some nice views. 

Neither of these guys got any rides from me last season! It'll be time to fix that soon!

Thanks to Great American Scream Machine, Hurricane Harbor has a distinct boardwalk feel. 

As you can see, Great American Scream Machine's had some track work done!

By this point in the day, Hurricane Harbor was getting ready to open to the public, so I made my way onto dry land.

One last GASM view from Hurricane Harbor!

Good show, Six Flags! Hurricane Harbor is on point!

We better check on Ninja and see how it's holding up.

But first, a classic!

In the two years since my last ride, GASM has continued to age gracefully.  There's nothing like coming home to those buzz bars!

Better get a ride on Superman too before the crowds get to it. A 20 minute wait for this guy would end up being the longest line of the day!

Ninja is now sponsored by Takis, which, as a fan of Takis, I completely approve of. If you've never tried Takis, they're these little taquito-shaped corn chips covered in chili powder. They'll put hair on your chest, that's for sure. 

As for Ninja? Still going strong, I'd say. As someone who's 6'1, I had no head banging whatsoever, but I could see some of the shorter individuals getting knocked around pretty bad. 

Still, I'm partial to any ride with a unique layout and an interesting history.  Hopefully Ninja will be around for a while.

Speaking of being around for a while, let's check out Six Flags Over Georgia's original flagship attraction!

I've never really gotten any pictures of the Dahlonega Mine Train before, so I decided to make a point of it today.

Splashwater Falls is here too! These boat chutes are starting to disappear, however. Let's see how long Splashwater lasts with Hurricane Harbor in the picture…

The Dahlonega has been a favorite of kiddos big and small for 47 years!

The many faces of Six Flags Over Georgia.

The Wile E. Coyote Canyon Blaster is a pretty elaborate kiddie coaster, so the line can get long quick. I think Six Flags Over Georgia needs to steal one of Six Flags Magic Mountain's smaller kiddie coasters to help even things out.

I don't think Six Flags Over Georgia gets enough recognition for its natural beauty. 

Let's stay for a while. :}

While most parks built during the late 60s / early 70s regional park boom were built on flat, undeveloped patches of land, Six Flags Over Georgia was built on a plot that was clear in the front and forested in the back. The forested area would provide the setting for the Dahlonega Mine Train, the Spanish Fort, the 1908 PTC Carousel from Chicago's Riverview Park, and other various attractions. The park quickly grew beyond the forested area, building attractions such as GASM and the Lickskillet area near the natural pond at the back of the property. With ample room around the perimeter of the park to build massive rides, Six Flags Over Georgia has never needed to compromise any of their forest for development, thus keeping the area largely unchanged from its original 1967 condition.

Name that ride!

Easily the biggest change this part of Six Flags Over Georgia has seen since its grand opening has been the progressive maturation of the natural foliage. 

I decided to go for a ride on this "roller coaster type ride," and when I rolled back into the station, they let me ride again! There weren't a lot of people in line.

Peachtree Square, the area surrounding the mine train and Acrophobia, is another lovely part of Six Flags Over Georgia, which features large manicured gardens. 

#wallpaper!

Had myself a nice ride on Acrophobia. The ride op was having a field day taunting the riders moments before the fall.

Now it's time for some Georgia Cyclone action! 

After a 4-year track rehab process, Georgia Cyclone now tracks magnificently. Between the 8 or so Six Flags parks I've been to, It's definitely still my favorite woodie in the chain*.

*I understand that this will likely change in 2015 when I go to Six Flags Great Adventure.

The ride's trains are in the best shape I've ever seen them in, too. Every car has fresh seat backs and lap bars! :}

I'm pleased to say that drop #4 (after the second turnaround) is one of the most balls-out insane moments of airtime I've ever had on a woodie. Just look at the people in cars 4 and 5!!

These guys look like they're having a great time!

Here they are in human child form.

I adore Six Flags Over Georgia's log flume. It has that classic, small-scale feel that generally only log flumes from the 60s have.

"Georgia Scorcher: Putting awkward pressure on your shoulders and crotch since 1999."

Goliath is a bit more all-body friendly.

On this, my 9th visit to Six Flags Over Georgia, I discovered some bathrooms that sit directly beneath the first drop of Goliath. Naturally I was overjoyed by the discovery.

To me, the beauty of having a solo day at a park is getting to stand in one place for 20 minutes and take pictures. :}

Can't forget about our modern German lovely, DareDevilDive!

The park was so quiet that I actually had to wait for more people to ride in my car. Running fuller cars helps prevent valleying. :}

My final rides of the day were split up between Mindbender, Batman, and Goliath. I rode Mindbender 5x, but one ride on Batman about had me on the floor. The forces are so intense that my feet and cheekbones actually hurt when I got off. Awesome ride. :}

Batman, I don't know if your gradual increase in aggression is good or bad. Are you going to start beating people up soon??

On my way out, I visited Six Flags Over Goslings. 

^_^

This extended family of Canadian Geese have great taste in roosting spots!

Thanks for the great time, you two!

You guys better behave!

Peace out, Six Flags! Time to head back to Tennessee.

Thank you, Six Flags Over Georgia, for hosting such a stellar media event! Hurricane Harbor really delivers, and I can't wait to see what's in store for the future!

Also, a special shout-out to all of the park associates that I talked with while I was at the park. Every last park employee I talked with was cheerful, kind, and enthusiastic. Way to go, Six Flags Over Georgia!

***

COMING SOON!

MY BODACIOUS COASTER CON XXXVII TRIP REPORT!!

Join me for a totally gnarly ride on the wildest roller coasters on the West Coast! Surf's up in just 2 short weeks! Bring a snorkel. :}