Six Flags Over Georgia is the Atlanta metro area’s premier theme park and it’s one of the best thrill
parks in the entire southeast. This was one of the few parks Six Flags actually built themselves
and it’s one of their strongest, featuring a strong collection of rides and an underrated
appearance. Find out why this Six Flags park should get more attention in this review.
After the success of Six Flags Over Texas, which was the original Six Flags park,
the owner wanted to build a second park. He targeted a location in the southeast United States
and settled on Austell, Georgia, which was just 10 miles west of downtown Atlanta. The park would
be built on the site of a former dairy farm. The park was originally going to be named Georgia
Flags, but they instead chose Six Flags Over Georgia. Upon opening in 1967, Six Flags became
the first theme park chain in the United States. No other company owned multiple parks at the time.
Six Flags was a trailblazer in this area since the industry today is dominated by chains.
And this wouldn’t be the only Six Flags park in the Atlanta area. In 1999,
Six Flags purchased both American Adventures and White Water, which were 20 miles north.
American Adventures was a smaller children’s park much different than the others in the chain.
Six Flags sold the park in 2008 and it closed in 2010.
They still own White Water, which is a 69 acre water park. The presence of this park is one
of the reasons Six Flags Over Georgia didn’t get their own Hurricane Harbor until 2014.
Upon arriving at Six Flags Over Georgia, you can park in one of two lots.
One is by Twisted Cyclone and much closer to the main entrance. The other is located
behind the Gotham City section of the park and a half mile walk to the main entrance. I prefer
the Twisted Cyclone lot if it’s open, but it isn’t always. While the other lot is a long walk,
you do get a neat entry experience. The park’s largest roller coaster in Goliath travels over the
roadway. Seeing that massive coaster roaring overhead really gets you hyped for your day.
I usually recommend arriving early to theme parks, but that’s especially
the case with Six Flags Over Georgia. This park tends to open both Georgia Scorcher and Twisted
Cyclone a half hour before the posted opening time. You can usually get a few laps on either
coaster with no wait during this time. Then when most guests enter around official opening time,
they’ll flock to these rides, which enables you to beat the crowds deeper into the park.
Crowds can be heavy at this park, particularly on summer weekends and during Fright Fest.
I’ve had really good luck on summer weekdays, but these days typically have had threats of
thunderstorms. The park offers the Flash Pass skip-the-line system for $45-$100
depending which tier you select, which can be a major timesaver on busy days. It’s not uncommon
for the coasters to all have 30-60 minute waits. With 11 coasters and several notable non-coasters,
this park easily requires a full day. Even on a crowded day, you can hit all the major
rides in one day, but it can be tricky to have enough time for rerides on these days.
My recommended touring plan at the official park open is to start with Dare Devil Dive.
This Gestlauer Eurofighter has terrible capacity. Some others I recommend hitting early are Goliath,
which is their most popular roller coaster, Superman Ultimate Flight, which has super
slow dispatches, and the two dark rides. Ride availability is usually pretty good at
Six Flags Over Georgia, but there are two that tend to have more downtime.
Acrophobia is a prototype Intamin drop tower and it has only been open in half my visits.
Then Joker Funhouse Coaster can’t run during or after a rainstorm due to the drive tires.
Blue Hawk and Great American Scream Machine have also been known to close due to staffing
if you visit in the quieter periods. Six Flags Over Georgia’s layout has
both pros and cons. On the bright side, I love how much shade this park has.
It really helps on those hot summer days. On the down side, this park is very hilly.
You have a shockingly steep hill into Gotham City and I pity anyone with a stroller that needs to go
down there. And it’s a dead-end, so the hill is unavoidable if you want to see this area.
You also have a few smaller hills towards the front and another sizable one leading
to the back of the park. This is the hill that holds a few family rides
like the classic Riverview Carousel and the Hanson Cars antique cars.
In general, I think this park looks pretty good. All the greenery really helps.
You have the aforementioned trees, but you also have an ivy canopy over the midway at one point.
And some rides are nicely landscaped like the Thunder River rapids ride and Mindbender. I’ve
also never found this park dirty. Plus you have some theming. It’s pretty standard for Six Flags
with some DC properties and western facades, but it does add a little to their respective areas.
The staff at Six Flags Over Georgia are a mixed bag.
Some are good. The crews working both Goliath and Batman the Ride were super efficient in 2021.
But other crews can be significantly slower and a few employees seem flat out disinterested.
A few do go above and beyond. For example, the employee working guest relations was
super knowledgeable and was able to help us find the nanocoasters…because they were in
the last place we’d look. They weren’t in a ride gift shop. Nor were they in the main gift shop.
No, they were sold at the photo booth near the front of the park.
Moving onto the ride lineup, Six Flags Over Georgia has a really strong coaster lineup.
You have a mix of major thrill coasters, family coasters,
and an above average junior coaster. The coasters cover most major genres
and they compliment each other well. And many of them have interesting settings too.
For airtime, you are covered by the top two. Goliath is the best coaster and a floater
airtime machine. This is easily one of the best Bolliger & Mabillard hypers. It has such strong
pacing. There is no mid-course brake run and essentially no trims, so you haul start to finish.
Every hill delivers very good floater airtime and the far helix may be the best turnaround
B&M has ever created. I have a separate review going into more detail for this one.
If you prefer ejector airtime, Twisted Cyclone is for you. This may be one of the shortest
Rocky Mountain Construction creations, but it has strong elements. The first drop and
bunny hills really launch you out of your seat, but the signature moment is sideways
ejector airtime on the giant wave turn. Then you also have three inversions loaded with hangtime.
I also have a separate review for this ride if you want to hear more.
You also have some airtime on the classic wood coaster in Great American Scream Machine.
This ride is historic, as it opened as the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster. And
the ride looks pretty on the water, but it is rather bumpy. Avoid a wheel seat if possible.
For inversions, you have several options and ride styles. Many parks have a Batman the Ride clone,
but the one at Over Georgia seems to run faster and is subsequently more intense than the others.
This B&M invert felt like it would rip my legs off and it was a dizzying display of force.
Next door is Mind Bender. I haven’t ridden this Schwarzkopf since it’s refurbishment and I heard
it runs slower now, but it used to be a great ride with some nice pops of airtime plus two
forceful vertical loops. The ride is also really smooth and it has a cool setting on the hillside.
Dare Devil Dive may have a dreadful throughput, but it is a solid ride.
The beyond-vertical first drop gives good ejector airtime and the twisted layout
includes some solid inversions, particularly that super slow inline twist at the end.
This one also has unique lap bar only vehicles that result in a smoother ride experience.
I go into more detail in its own review as well. Georgia Scorcher was the final B&M stand-up ever
built and it’s much more comfortable than the others. It’s smoother
and it doesn’t destroy your legs with the positive Gs. The layout still has two fun
inversions and some interesting turns though, and I talk about it more in a separate review.
Towards the back of the park, you have the original Superman flying coaster. Unlike the
others, this one is a terrain coaster, so the graceful turns in the second half are a lot more
exciting as you hug the terrain and even shoot through a tunnel. But as always, the highlight
of this B&M flyer is the extremely forceful pretzel loop. The sustained Gs are breathtaking.
Blue Hawk is an older Vekoma looping coaster. For many years, it ran as Ninja and was a
notoriously rough ride. But it received new trains with vest restraints a few years ago
that transformed it into a much more enjoyable experience. It still has some jerky transitions,
but the butterfly inversion is a greyout moment and the layout is filled with near-misses.
Dahlonega Mine Train is the largest family coaster. This was the second Arrow mine
train and it does show its age. The first 2/3 are pretty slow and the ride has jerky turns.
But the final drop into the underground tunnel does have some good pull in the back at least.
I actually like Joker Funhouse Coaster more.
This Chance junior coaster has a unique layout that circles around the DC Super Friends area.
The drops have some laterals and there’s even a helix through a tunnel.
The DC Super Friends area is a newer kid’s area with a series of family rides that can be
comfortably enjoyed by kids and adults together. Bugs Bunny Boomtown is another kid’s area nearby
and it’s the older of the two. The rides here are meant exclusively for children. The downside
with this placement is that 3/4 of the park doesn’t have any rides for the youngest guests.
There is a good flat ride collection though. Carousel Hill has an antique carousel
that’s a National Historic Landmark and it was relocated from Riverview Park.
SkyScreamer gives a speedy bird’s eye view of the park from 24 stories in the air.
Pandemonium is a Zamperla giant discovery that offers solid positive Gs on the downswings
and lots of floater airtime on the max swings. This ride is another one that can get a lengthy
wait though due to its long cycle and throughput. Acrophobia is one of the world’s best drop towers.
The rotating seats and placement give awesome views. But most importantly, the unique stand-up,
floorless riding position is downright terrifying. Especially since you tilt at the top. The visuals
are incredible and the drop is gut-wrenching too, as I talk about in a separate review.
The other flat rides are pretty standard and are found in clusters throughout the park.
One of the things that separates Over Georgia from the other Six Flags parks is the presence of
not one, but two dark rides. The better of the two is Monster Mansion.
This classic boat ride was previously known as Tales of the Okefenokee and Monster Plantation,
but it has run it its current form since 2009. The ride has a catchy theme song and
robust scenes filled with animatronics. This is easily the best dark ride at any Six Flags park
and it’s a shame there aren’t more like it. The newer of the two is Justice League,
an interactive 3D shooting dark ride. The ride uses the DC source material well and has plenty
of screen-based targets to fire at. And I also like the few physical sets in between scenes, most
notably the awesome Joker animatronic. These two rides also have coveted air conditioning.
Alternatively, you try the water rides. I’ve had bad luck on Thunder River, but comparable
Intamin rapids rides across the chain are usually soaking. Then there’s the Log Jamboree log flume.
This is one of the earliest and smallest ones from Arrow, so it had a mild drop and splash,
but I do like the wooded setting. Then I haven’t visited the Hurricane
Harbor water park myself, but there’s a small selection of water slides and a giant play area
if you pack your bathing suit. So do I recommend Six Flags Over Georgia?
Absolutely! This is in the upper half of Six Flags parks.
You have a deep ride lineup with two true standout coasters and a well-rounded coaster lineup. Plus,
you have some special non-coasters like Acrophobia and Monster Mansion. These rides are not to be
missed! This park has something for everyone and aesthetically, it’s a nice looking park too.
So those are my thoughts on Six Flags Over Georgia, Georgia’s biggest theme park. What are
your thoughts on the second Six Flags park? Do you think it’s one of the better parks in the chain?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you
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more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!