Twisted Cyclone at Six Flags Over Georgia is the smallest Rocky Mountain Construction
hybrid coaster out there. This coaster stands just 100 feet or 30 meters tall and has just
2400 feet or 732 meters of track. When this RMC conversion was announced, many criticized the
lack of a third lap and ride’s short length. But is this really an issue? Or is Twisted
Cyclone still one of RMC’s strongest coasters? Find out in this review of Twisted Cyclone.
Georgia Cyclone was one of four clones of the Coney Island Cyclone that Six Flags built.
This one opened in 1990 and was built by the Dinn Corporation. Throughout the 1990s, Georgia Cyclone
was a perennial top 10 contender in annual wooden roller coaster polls. This was my favorite Dinn
coaster. I rode this ride in my first visit to Six Flags Over Georgia back in 2016 and the coaster
had some powerful airtime in the first half. However, Georgia Cyclone developed a reputation
as a rough ride throughout the 2000s. Rocky Mountain Construction replaced roughly 1/3 of
the traditional wood track with their smoother Topper Track for the 2013 season. While these
sections were smooth, they stood out like a sore thumb against the ride’s rough patches.
When I rode it, the first half was tolerable, but the second half was shaky.
Six Flags had to decide whether they wanted to continue replacing Georgia Cyclone’s track
or hire RMC to perform a more extensive conversion. And enthusiasts got their answer in
July 2017 when the park announced Georgia Cyclone would close at the end of July. Combined with the
markings by the coaster, it was clear this ride was going to be the seventh coaster in the Six
Flags chain to get the Iron Horse treatment. Now I actually enjoyed the old Georgia
Cyclone despite its roughness, but Twisted Cyclone is 100% an upgrade.
However, you may not have realized that on announcement day.
After Six Flags Over Georgia announced what very well could have been their best coaster yet,
enthusiasts criticized the ride’s short length. Georgia Cyclone was already
one of the shortest wood coasters to be converted to a hybrid coaster,
featuring just 2970 feet or 905 meters of track. Twisted Cyclone used 20% less track,
but that figure doesn’t tell the full story. What was most striking about Twisted Cyclone’s layout
was that it would only have two laps compared to the three that Georgia Cyclone had.
This shorter length causes Twisted Cyclone to have relentless pacing for the duration of the layout
and finish with a bang. The alternative would have been another Cyclone in the Six Flags chain
that receives a lot of flack. Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England is just a few feet taller
than Twisted Cyclone, yet it features roughly 33% more track. This causes the Wicked Cyclone
to lose a lot of speed by the third lap, which is a major point of contention with that coaster.
I still think most of the elements in the third lap are fun since they tend to offer airtime,
laterals, or hangtime. But there are some duds due to how little speed you have.
For that reason, I completely understand why Six Flags only put two laps on Twisted Cyclone.
It gave the coaster better pacing, lessened the risk of it valleying,
and most importantly, it’s unlikely the third lap would have impacted the overall perception
of the coaster with most guests. It just would have added cost to the project.
Twisted Cyclone opened for the 2018 season and it’s one of the first coasters you see
when you arrive at Six Flags Over Georgia. This attraction is positioned directly to the right of
the main entrance. This causes the attraction to see it’s highest wait times just after the
posted park opening time. However, you can still ride this attraction a few times at the start
of the day with no line. How? Get there early. Six Flags Over Georgia holds people in the Georgia
and Coastal areas in the morning for the rope drop. The latter of these two areas is home
to Twisted Cyclone. Rather than keep the ride closed until the official park opening time,
Twisted Cyclone opens as soon as people are admitted into the park,
which is usually a half hour before the posted opening time. This allows you to essentially get a
half hour of ERT on this RMC to start your day. Twisted Cyclone has a rather small queue.
Even if the entire queue is filled, the wait only takes about 45 minutes.
This ride almost always runs two trains and they look familiar to the other RMC trains out there.
They each seat 24 riders across 6 cars. And they are equipped with the standard RMC lap bar and
shin guard combo. As I’ve said in my reviews of other RMCs, I don’t mind these restraints
since the lap bar profiling is comfortable and they don’t inhibit the airtime. However,
the vehicles can be cramped for taller guests. The are themed to classic cars and they
look great. However, they really don’t seem to correspond to the ride’s theme.
Twisted Cyclone is very lightly themed to a wild beach party during a massive storm.
You have some signage in the ride’s queue and then some artifacts adjacent to the pre-lift.
The theming is about as bare bones as it can get, but I don’t mind since the
coaster looks great with its bright blue track popping against the white support structure.
In terms of seat selection, I strongly recommend the back. Pretty much every
element will deliver airtime or hangtime regardless of where you’re sitting. However,
there isn’t a single element on this coaster that rides better towards the front of the train.
Once dispatched, Twisted Cyclone slowly turns to the left and then heads down a small and
surprisingly steep drop. If you’re in the back, you actually get a very weak pop of
air on this hill. You then bob your way over to the lift to head over to the meat of the layout.
After ascending the lift, you are thrown over a 75 degree first drop. It’s one of the least steep
drops on a RMC, but it’s still a fantastic drop. Those in the back get some very strong ejector
airtime and there are two bonuses as well. First, the drop has a terrifying headchopper with the
support structure for the wave turn. Second, the drop subtly twists to the left which produces a
quick burst of laterals. These two quirks are what makes this my favorite drop on the smaller RMCs.
I know some prefer the barrel roll drops we’ve seen RMC incorporate on
some of their other coasters, but I prefer the traditional RMC first drops. That being said,
Twisted Cyclone offers the best of both worlds. The ride’s second element is a reverse cobra roll,
which is essentially a turnaround consisting of both a zero-G roll and a barrel roll drop.
The first zero-G roll offers sustained hangtime for everyone and then the barrel
roll drop picks up the pace. Those up front still get good hangtime on the barrel roll
drop. Those in the back get less hangtime, but instead get some great whip on the descent.
Then comes Twisted Cyclone’s signature element, the extreme wave turn.
A lot of RMC’s wave turns tilt riders 90 degrees and tend to offer floater airtime. The one on
Twisted Cyclone goes beyond 90 degrees and offers decent, sustained ejector airtime.
The visual of being horizontally ejected from your seat is incredible.
I wish more RMC wave turns were like this one. Twisted Cyclone then charges over a super sharp
camelback adjacent to the station, giving everyone some good and moderately sustained
ejector airtime. Rather than dropping back down to the ground, you then zip around an overbank.
The element occurs in the blink of an eye, but it’s not particularly forceful.
But don’t worry, you rise up another sharp hill and plunge back down to the ground.
Those up front get just a weak pop of airtime on this element
while those in the back are violently yanked towards the sky.
That’s followed by a zero-G roll buried in the ride’s support structure. This element
offers a delightful mix of sustained hangtime and countless headchoppers simultaneously.
Twisted Cyclone then begins its finale. The ride rips over back-to-back bunny hills.
Those in the back get good ejector pops while they’re a bit weaker towards the front.
The ride then zooms around another overbank. Like the prior one,
this one isn’t very forceful but this one at least has a ton of headchoppers
since it’s enveloped in the reverse cobra roll’s wood structure.
There’s one last bunny hill that has arguably the most abrupt ejector airtime pop on the ride.
It really caught me off-guard from its strength. Twisted Cyclone then heads into the brake run.
Usually, this element offers a pop of airtime on other RMCs. Twisted Cyclone
instead has a sharply twisted entry into the brake run with a solid lateral snap.
So what would I rate Twisted Cyclone? I would give this coaster a 9 out of 10. While Twisted Cyclone
is among the shortest RMCs, every element outside of the two overbanks is a winner.
I love the coaster’s mix of strong airtime hills and floaty inversions. And like all the other RMC
hybrids, Twisted Cyclone is immaculately smooth despite the intense elements.
After reriding this coaster in 2021, I do think this is in the lower half of the RMCs. But that’s
not a slight against Twisted Cyclone. It’s more a testament to how great RMCs other coasters are.
So those are my thoughts on Twisted Cyclone, the RMC hybrid coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.
What are your thoughts on this RMC? How do you think it compares to the others out there? I would
love to hear your thoughts about this ride down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!