Spring Fling '13 at Six Flags Over Georgia Trip Report

Hello and welcome to Thrillography! 

............

LOOK YOU GUYS! I have a BLOG!!!


About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to start posting my trip reports somewhere new; somewhere that wasn't Facebook. Why? Because Facebook chews up high-definition photos and spits out server-friendly edits. Also, my photo captions were getting out of hand. I decided it was time to make this JUST as much about words as it is about photos. The story-telling aspect of trip reporting is more important than dinky photo captions would suggest, so here we are on Blogspot. Now you get photo captions AND additional commentary. Aren't you just teeming with joy?? lol


First trip of 2013 was ACE's Spring Fling at Six Flags Over Georgia. I cannot tell you how pleased I am to launch my new blog on a trip report filled with crumby, gray photos taken during Atlanta's record-breaking rainfall monsoon.

Bare with me, here.

Let's begin, shall we?

Michael and I are eager to take on the park on this, the loveliest of days.

Michael, my companion in this endeavor, shows up a lot in this report. He's always power-walking his way to the next coaster & I'm always lagging behind to line up a camera shot. Sometimes I'd yell "Ok, smile Michael!!" and he'd turn around look pretty for a picture. I think I did this about 11 or 12 times that day. He was a good sport about it.

We were a little concerned about whether or not we would be able to ride...well...anything that day, but Georgia Cyclone and Goliath both appeared to be cooperating.

Here we have a bunch of cold, wet ACErs picking up their registration packets for Spring Fling.

I AM CYCLONE. HEAR ME ROAR!

After we got our packets, we folded them up into our trusty plastic baggies (for safe keeping against the rain) and moseyed on over to season pass processing to get Michael's season pass.

We admired the park entrance as we walked by. It was having a lovely shower this morning & would continue having one for about another 30 hours.

I didn't tell Michael to look at the camera this time, apparently.

Ahh, Season Pass Processing. Such a special place. A magical place. A place where flattering paint schemes and flattering identification photos don't exist.

We came out of Season Pass Processing to more rain & more Goliath!

Because this is ACE, the first order of business once inside the park was to get food. Our Exclusive Ride Time for the morning included Georgia Cyclone, Georgia Scorcher, Goliath, and Mindbender.

What delicacies await us??

Hey! It's Ronny and Richard! Save me some cheese danish, guys!

After breakfast, I got bored and started taking pictures in the dining room.

Finally it was time to venture out into the park for our first ride. Stop #1 was Georgia Cyclone. Over the last couple of years, Six Flags Over Georgia has been doing some track work on the ride in an effort to make it feel less like riding a wooden crate down a staircase. 

Georgia Cyclone is my favorite ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. I've been seeing a few psychiatrists about that.

Here we are in the bustling station of Georgia Cyclone.

FABULOUS ride. The combination of that fresh track & riding in the rain made for an excellent first coaster of the season!

After we got off Georgia Cyclone, we headed to Georgia Scorcher, but then we realized it was almost time for our behind-the-scenes tour of Monster Mansion, so we headed in that direction.

This is by far the prettiest....umm...whatever this thing is...that I've ever seen! Michael agrees.

I don't think Six Flags Over Georgia gets enough credit for its aesthetic. The natural beauty of this park rivals that of the more manicured parks whose grounds are more lauded.

The surprisingly un-amusement-park-looking Monster Mansion. One would never guess that its corridors are populated with Six Flags's critically-acclaimed answer to Disneyania.

Frolicking in the lush, squishy landscape of the Monster Plantation we find all sorts of fluffy creatures committing shenanigans left and right.

Here we see Michael & others not only committing shenanigans of their own, but enabling the shenanigans of others!

It's technically not hooking if it's free, right?

I love this game.

The river was drained for our walk-through. The boats were all bottomed-out at about half way through the course.

DON'T GO INTO THE MARSH. DO NOT GO INTO THE MARSH! OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

The marsh is full of scaaaaaaarrrrry monsters! Not the friendly monsters frolicking in the Monster Mansion!

*is scared*

OHH MY GOD IT'S....IT'S.........Oh! It's only Michael. Phew!

We made it out of the Marsh alive!

We decided to go get some more rides on coasters before any other monsters tried to kill us.

Off to Goliath!

As you can see, Spring Fling was highly-attended this year.

Goliath was running awesome in the rain. Great airtime as usual, but maybe just a *little* bit more swiftness. We got 3 rides in the back seat without moving. On the 3rd ride, we felt on our faces the sting of the rain becoming more solid.

Nothing about this pictured turned out right. You can't see Michael, I look constipated, Richard's lap bar is up, and Ronny isn't even paying attention.

All subsequent self-shots were taken with the iPhone. It's better this way. After Goliath, we attacked Gotham City.

Mindbender was superb in the rain. Once again, 3 consecutive rides in the back seat without having to move.  Rainfall somehow made the ultimate smooth ride even smoother.

(^^) The Ride was also giving kick-ass rain rides. 

Riding roller coasters in the rain is really a unique experience. I've ridden all of these coasters many times, but riding them in the rain definitely amped up the intensity.

I wasn't planning on any of these pictures turning out particularly well, but I'm actually pretty satisfied with some of these given the circumstances.

I'm not sure what possessed me to give this picture a B&W filter, but I like the way it turned out. I have the color version of the picture to, but it looks kind of lame. 

See? Lame. B&W for the win!

We also did Gotham City Crime Wave. Normally these kinds of rides are great for drying off after getting soaked on a water ride. Riding them in the rain kind of defeats the purpose.

By this time, the general public had started seeping into Gotham City. We dashed over to Georgia Scorcher to get a ride before it got too crowded. By this point, the rain was getting progressively stronger.

Train wraps are GONE! I liked the Georgia Natural Gas wraps, but I've missed the old train scheme! They need a little TLC now, though.

About half way through our ride, a the rain graduated into  downpour. Despite feeling like we were being pelted with stones, its was another excellent rain ride. VERY squirrelly during the back half. We rolled into the station dripping wet. 

We sought shelter in the gift shop near Goliath. Much merry shopping was to be had. I collect keychains, so I bought a couple that were new this season & stuffed them into my cargo pants. I also called my mom because I'm a momma's boy. I told her all about our sopping-wet adventure thus far. Still dripping wet, Michael and I headed back out into the monsoon to take on the rest of the park.

Because we didn't get enough monster shenanigans from our walk-through, we decided to check it out again the old-fashioned way.

After Monster Mansion, I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that blowing on my camera lens would be the most efficient way to rid it of raindrops.

Bad idea. 

Oops.

So yeah. I put the camera away for a bit to wait for the evil condensation to subside. The rain had let up a bit by this time. Michael and I rode the Dahlonega Mine Train, but sadly, I have no photo documentation of it. :(

Here, have this crappy picture of SkyScreamer. 

We stumbled upon the water test dummies during their daily yoga session.

Ninja was being possessed by evil sprits and would not be operating for the rest of the day.

Just kidding! It's just a crappy picture of Ninja. 

My camera's lens was improving, but the conditions in the park were not. Great American Scream Machine was closed as well.

The train was still open, but things weren't looking too hot for a lot of the other outdoor rides.

"Let's ride the Carousel!" said Michael.

After our carousel ride, it was time for our catered lunch at the Crystal Pistol. We got to have a Q & A session with Six Flags Over Georgia's current & former general manager! (And no, they could not make the rain go away.)

The Crystal Pistol still has its original red wallpaper & Delta Airlines sponsor plaques.

After lunch we returned to the back of the park to see if the any of the coasters would open.

We basically putzed around in the covered games area for over an hour, watching the coasters like hawks for any signs of life. We wasted time in the Superman gift shop & gawked at prizes in the various claw games scattered about.

Sad Skull Island is sad.

Because there was nothing else to do, we got in line for the bumper cars.

Did I say bumper cars? I meant Atlanta Rush Hour Traffic: The Ride.

After the traffic jam was cleared, Michael and I rode the bumper cars & then retreated to the front of the park to look for more rides that were actually open.

While waiting in line for our 2nd ride on Monster Mansion, the skies ripped open and the rain fell so hard that we almost couldn't hear each other. 

Oh look. More rain. Awesome. You know it's bad when they close Monster Mansion on a count of rain. We stood under the awning near the station & visited with people while waiting for the weather to calm down a bit.

Eventually we decided to head back to the front of the park and hide out in the large stores. We waited around inside the dining room of Primo's Pizza, ringed out our wet socks, and hoped for better weather. Unfortunately, the rain never subsided and the park announced its closure at 5pm. *sigh*

While the ending to our day was lame, Michael and I at least got our several awesome rain rides during Exclusive Ride Time and the first few hours of public operation. 

The next morning, the weather was much more agreeable, so I decided to get some out-of-park shots because I'm an insatiable nerd. 

So close, but so far away.

Acrophobia, which was showing no signs of life the day before, was now alive & well.

I keep giving Georgia Scorcher the shaft. I didn't take any good pictures of it on my last trip, and I failed to do so once again. However, unlike last time, I actually remembered to ride it. When we left the park last time, we walked by it & I was like "Oh sh*t. I knew I forgot something".

Goliath was getting a lot more patronage than it did during Spring Fling ERT.

Bird: "I wish to ride the Georgia Scorcher."

Goliath: "No! You cannot, for you are only a bird. Plus you haven't paid for admission."

Bird: "Oh, crumbs."

Georgia Cyclone sure rides great, but it looks rough. Hopefully they'll re-paint after they complete the trackwork.

Here, on the last photo of this update, I just realized that I forgot to mention the status DareDevil Dive (that little stump at the bottom of Goliath's drop). Roller coasters like DareDevil Dive ("Gerstlauer Euro-Fighters") don't play well with rain, so it was totally dormant the entire weekend.

So my Six Flags Over Georgia trip didn't go exactly as planned, but those rain rides were awesome! I'd say I at least broke even this time around. Goodbye, Six Flags! See ya next year!

As for you, my valued blog reader, I hope you enjoyed this trip report of crappy gray photos and snarky commentary. 

Next time on Thrillography: ACE's Spring Conference, Featuring Glenwood Caverns, Elitch Gardens, Lakeside, and general Denver shenanigans! Stay tuned!

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