My Rip Roarin' Rampage Returns Trip Report! (Sandwiched Between Two Pieces of Georgia)

Hello :}

Welcome to My Rip Roarin' Rampage Returns Trip Report! 

It was an exciting night for all in attendance, and one I can't wait to share with you! If you'd like to get straight to the meat of this sandwich, scroll past the next ten pics and meet us at Alabama Adventure's boat sail-laden entrance! 

If you've got some time and feel more inclined to start from the beginning, let's start right here. At the beginning. :}

WOOHOO! FUN JUNCTION!

Fresh from the Atlanta airport, two of my dearest coaster buddies, Mat and John, have flown in from Chicago for Rip Roarin' Rampage Returns! 

But they couldn't pass up the chance to ride a  new coaster, which I was fortunate enough to ride for my first time last month. :}

Mat and John gave it their seal of approval!

Remember, if you're in the Atlanta area and are looking for a good (and cheap!) credit, Fun Junction's got you covered!

After our rides, I figured I'd escort them through the park's…um…interesting landscaping.

If you're a go-kart fan, Fun Junction has you covered in that respect as well. :}

As we were walking to the indoor portion of Fun Junction, we made a very special discovery:

 a kitty! :D

And he was a very sweet and social kitty. <3

Bye-bye Fun Junction! I'm sure I'll be back again with more coaster nerds at some point.

Now's when the REAL story begins!

If you're like me, you've probably never visited Visionland/Alabama Adventure/Splash Adventure. And, if you're like me, your primary excuse for not visiting Alabama's only regional amusement park was that their signature coaster, the 1998 CCI-built Rampage, quickly deteriorated from its original state of loveliness to a point of near-unridable-ness. When Alabama Splash Adventure opted to close the rides side of the park and go strictly water park in 2011, the future of Rampage became uncertain.

Fast-forward to this past March; the Koch Family of Holiday World-fame buys Alabama Splash Adventure and immediately gets to work on Rampage! Eight months of extraordinarily detail-oriented rehabilitation now culminates with the return of Alabama Adventure's regional ACE event, Rip Roarin' Rampage! 

How does the evening unfold? And how is the NEW Rampage???

:}

First let's say hello to the welcoming committee! Our amazing ACE Southeast Regional Rep Josh Herrington, the fabulous Kim Fowler, and a couple of lovely Alabama Adventure representatives. ;}

(When Pat Koch welcomes you to her amusement park at the front gate, you know you're in for a day of immense joy!)

AND you know your event is off to a spectacular start when Pat Koch's son Dan (the other half of Alabama Adventure's owner/operator dynamic duo) enthusiastically greets you in a suit that would make even Willy Wonka blush with envy! :}

The sun may be setting on Alabama Adventure, but the adventure is only just begun!

Mat, John, Steve, and I were treated to a guided tour of the Splash Adventure water park while we waited for the evening's events to commence.

If you've never ridden one before, Boomerango slides are bangin'! :}

Splash Adventure is quite lovely. It's home to quite a few more trees than your average water park. 

It's almost time to get started! Let's head over to where the action is!

Here we have Byron (Pat's personal assistant and a very dear friend of mine :} ), Pat, and Josh welcoming us to Alabama Adventure and Rip Roarin' Rampage Returns!

The event opened with lovely presentations, good food, and a Q&A session. Then Pat read us a poem that she wrote about how excited she is to be here at Alabama Adventure, and how happy she is to have us with her! As an English Major, I was particularly appreciative of the poem, which warmed my heart a great deal. :} 

If you've never felt theme park love strong enough to lead to a poem written by the park's owner, I suggest you put Alabama Adventure on your 2015 calendar and come join in on the love. <3

  

Oh! And did I mention there was delicious cake? :}

Oh! And also this amazing NEW Rampage coaster! ;}

Time to cut the ribbon and take some inaugural rides!

Byron just loves his job at Alabama Adventure! Everyone is all smiles around here!

Josh Herrington saved me a seat in the back of the train for my first ride! I can barely contain my excitement! :D

  

It's not exactly easy to make heads or tails of Rampage from the first few rides; the easiest piece of knowledge to come away with at first is that the ride is simply marvelous. The more you ride, however, the more easily one can see why the ride so marvelous.

Photos don't do the best job of capturing this ride's size; it's HUGE! The first drop is a mighty 120ft that hurls most of the train out of their seats. The first and second airtime hills flank one of the ride's turn-of-the-century-CCI-signature wavy turnarounds, which made many of us nostalgic for how other CCIs used to run when they were all still in their prime. 

Leading into the second wavy turnaround is where things get interesting; an unexpected jolt of air right before the deceptively sharp first half of the turnaround had riders getting a little closer to their riding partners than they might've bargained for. It's a great way to make friends. :}

After the second turn around is *my* favorite part of the ride, a exceedingly-bouncy airtime hill that somehow manages to stuff two moments of air into a single parabola. I'm sure there's a reason for this phenomenon, but I would go ahead and attribute it to a little Koch family magic. ;}

The third turnaround marks the threshold of Rampage's wildest stunts; a series of sharp airtime hills and transitions that might make you wonder how it is a ride this thrilling could have possibly been allowed to sit dormant for three years. Rampage then crash-lands into its first set of brakes, up-stop wheels a-blazin', only to then fly into the station via a series of wild drops; a finale that caught many Rampage first-timers, including myself, completely unawares.

I rode Rampage 27 times. I rode this ride more times consecutively than any other roller coaster I have ever ridden. I would greatly recommend that you head over to Alabama Adventure and ride Rampage 27 times yourself, but if 27 doesn't seem like a reasonable number of rides to you, might I suggest 40 or 50? :}

  

Can't forget about Centi-Speed, Alabama Adventure's new Wacky Worm!

#credit498!

As we walked back to Rampage, we saw parts of kiddie rides in storage for the winter. :}

In an attempt to get more pictures of Rampage in the dark, I ended up with a couple of shots that look like night vision. Better than nothing, right? lol

Me and John on Rampage!

Me and Mat on Rampage!

More night vision! I'm sure I'll be back soon to take some daytime pics. :}

The party kept rollin' as each train of satisfied riders flew into the station!

Me and the man himself, Dan Koch! Thanks for riding with me, Dan! Thanks for EVERYTHING! 

Watch out, world! Rampage is back with a vengeance! Alabama Adventure will be the one to watch over the next few seasons; in a place like Birmingham, with people like the Kochs at the reins, this park is destined for greatness.

Byron and his partner Donald Ricky opened up their home for us to stay during the event.

Did I mention that Byron and Donald Ricky have an Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel in their back garden?

Good morning, Byron and Donald Ricky's Ferris Wheel! Can you guess where we're going today?

It's Six Flags Over Georgia!

Feels like we were here just last month. :}

Unlike our last visit, we'll actually be riding Goliath. But not much else. lol

*sigh*

Scorch, you need a bath or something.

We only have about 6-ish hours here today, and it's going to be buuuuusy. Good thing we've got good company and gold season passes. ;}

<3

First stop: John's favorite and my favorite! It's Georgia Cyclone!

The obvious favorite of those far and near at Six Flags Over Georgia is Mindbender, but John and I just have to be different! ;}

Speaking of which, Mindbender's been having a difficult year. Last month it ran one train; today it runs not at all. It's possible Mindbender's season has now ended. Here's to two-train operation in 2015!

Sorry, Goliath. You're just 3rd in command at Six Flags Over Georgia!

I take this exit path picture every time I come to Six Flags Over Georgia. I changed it up this time by backing up as far as I could to expand the shot as much as possible. :}

Better watch out, Cyclone! A pretty stellar woodie just opened up 3 hours down the road!

Like Rampage, Georgia Cyclone is no stranger to fresh track.

And like Scorcher, Cyclone would really benefit from some fresh paint. And some new trains. Fresh PTCs for Cyclone, and floorless trains for Scorcher!!! ;}

With Georgia Cyclone under our belts, it's time to head over to Goliath!

We planned on coming back for a ride on Georgia Scorcher, but that never happened. Next time!

Under the lattice we go!

A part of me is still recovering from my 20 rides on Goliath last year, so getting on it is never a top priority when I'm at the park. Still one of my favorite hypers, though. :}

#vonrolllove

A very popular show was taking place near the train station behind Goliath! 

I appreciate the style and voice in Grouchy's writing. :}

We also skipped Dahlonega because nobody wants to stand in that cluster flux of a station.

We did, however, decide to take in a drop on Acrophobia!

The best part about waiting in line for Acrophobia is getting pictures of Georgia Cyclone. :}

And there was plenty of time to take pictures.

Not just because of Acrophobia's line, mind you.

But because Acrophobia broke down! 

People were loaded into the seats, but then they were shoo'ed out because the ride was having some kind of technical problem. They did a few test runs, let the people back in, and the shoo'ed them out again. After the second time we decided to try something else. lol

We may not have gotten our ride, but I got to take pictures of Georgia Cyclone from this great vantage point. ^_^

(Georgia Cyclone broke down as we were leaving. I think the park is ready for some downtime. lol)

Can you guess what ride we're on? You probably wouldn't see this kind of vernacular phrasing on anything built in the last 30 years.

That's right! It's the Sky Buckets, with Steve, Jorge, and Donald Ricky!

Next stop: Great American Scream Machine! 

From the exit of the Sky Buckets, the station for the now-closed Whistlestop train ride is clearly visible. I'm not sure why this thing closed or what they're going to do with it, but I hate to see rides just sitting closed for years on end.

Nope. Definitely still not happening. 

Ninja! Remember, I will always love you. Even if no one else does. lol

Wanna know how crowded it was? Look closely! Ninja ACTUALLY HAS A LINE. 

Takis train rap still going strong this season. :}

I just can't get over the loveliness of having two excellent white-washed woodies in one park. 

Ninja may be having one of the busiest day of its season, but since I'm the only one in my crew who likes it, we passed on it.

See?! There's that line I was talking about! IT'S THE END OF TIMES!

That afternoon sun is already starting to set on us! 

Can you guess what happened right after I took this picture?

That's right! Great American Scream Machine broke down! >.<

Also, I didn't notice until I looked at this picture, but for whatever reason Ninja was not running the front seat of this train. 

I'm pleased to say that the turnaround for GASM's breakdown was fairly quick, and we soon got our rides in this majestic classic. ^_^

Moving right along.

By this point in the day, we were hungry, tired, and sick of the crowds. Not to mention having some long cross-state drives ahead of us and work/school for everyone in the morning! Time to call it a day.

We walked back through the spooky lattice tunnel at just the right time! What a great natural effect!

Bye Six Flags! I know I didn't ride much today or the last time, but NEXT time I promise to ride everything! :}

Hoo! What a great weekend! Thank you again to the Koch family and everyone else involved for putting together an amazing Rip Roarin' Rampage Returns! And thank you to everyone who appeared in this report, and everyone reading! Thrillography <3s you!

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See ya soon. :}