While Lex and I were still Six Flags Gold Pass holders, we figured we would take advantage of them and visit our new Six Flags “home” park, Six Flags Over Georgia:
As we trekked the 400-some miles up to Atlanta, it was refreshing to see that a autumn-like atmosphere does exist somewhere close to Florida! The weather had the feel of an early-fall day in the Northeast, temperature in the low-60’s with leaves changing colors. In case you hadn’t noticed, Six Flags Over Georgia was celebrating their Holiday in the Park event!
As you make your way along the meandering walking path around the perimeter of the park, Goliath shows his dominance.
You also get to look at the Georgia Scorcher, which looks like it needed a new paint job about five years ago. Come on, Six Flags! This is an easy way to bring up the first impression of the park for incoming visitors!
As we waited at will-call, the views of Goliath only got us more excited. I had been to this Six Flags park in 2012, but this was Lex’s first visit. I always refer to Six Flags Over Georgia as my favorite Six Flags park, so she had expectations for this place.
Main Street looked great for Holiday in the Park. Kudos to Six Flags Over Georgia for the preparation they put into this event!
There are plenty of light displays for Holiday in the Park. This one was probably our favorite, though. Normal lights are always enjoyable, but bringing them to life by syncing them with classic Christmas music is even better!
We passed by Georgia Scorcher as we entered the park because we felt our time would be better spent elsewhere. Unfortunately the line filled up later on in the night, so we did not put our feet to the fire on this B&M Standup.
We started our day with a fun coaster that has pretty low capacity, Dare Devil Dive. There were decorations hanging all over the lift hill for the holidays!
This Gerstlauer creation opened in 2011 and has been a park favorite ever since.
The unique layout features a 95-foot vertical lift, 3 inversions, and plenty of twists and turns. The ride ran great on our visit. Glass smooth with nice hangtime on the final heartline roll.
Capacity is an issue with Dare Devil Dive, though. With 3 trains of 6 people running, the hourly capacity on this ride is, at best, in the low-400’s in terms of throughput per hour. Be sure to hit this ride first if you are getting to the park early! It is a fun coaster that should not be missed.
While in line for Dare Devil Dive, we got some pictures of Gotham City.
We also got to view Six Flags Over Georgia’s newest looping coaster: Joker. Oh Six Flags, you continue to insult enthusiasts everywhere with these marketing campaigns. Looping coaster? What a joke(r)!
Continuing into Gotham City, the park continued to impress with their holiday decorations. Gotham City looked absolutely awesome at night!
Gotham City also has some flat rides to appease guests of all ages. Who doesn’t like a good swing ride? They also have the brand-new Harley Quinn Spinsanity (Tilt-a-Whirl) which is also a timeless classic for families.
If you continue to explore Gotham City, you will encounter an actual looping coaster! Not only that but it is a Schwarzkopf looping coaster, Mind Bender!
We were lucky to get a night ride on Mind Bender about 30 minutes before the park closed. This is one of those coasters that is just an absolute pleasure to ride. Mind Bender is 37 years-young and still rides as smooth as the best of them.
The unique terrain surrounding Mind Bender allows this ride to gradually gain speed throughout its 3253-foot layout, eventually hitting speeds of 50mph.
The second loop packs a punch and immediately sends you into a tunnel before sending you into the brake run.
Mind Bender is a must-hit attraction when visiting this park. Take the time to appreciate a ride that has withstood the test of time flawlessly up to this point, which is not something that can be said for most other coasters that are 35+ years in age.
Right next to Mind Bender is Batman: The Ride. The wait was a little bit too long for my liking, so we decided to pass on it. These are always fun, intense rides, but for us it wasn’t something we wanted to give 45 minutes of our night to.
We did, however, have time to dedicate to this monster.
Goliath is, without a doubt, the best coaster this park has to offer. Opening in 2006, this 200-foot beast features 4480-feet of track and a top speed of 70mph.
The ride dominates that park’s skyline and can be seen from almost anywhere. It features a plethora of airtime and forces.
Tons of floater airtime on the first camelback that immediately sends you into a high-speed turn into the second camelback.
One of the many shining moments on Goliath is this insane 540-degree helix. It offers loads of lateral forces and a great pop of airtime at the apex of the hill leading into it.
Goliath also features a horseshoe, which is a unique, highly-banked turning element.
The bread and butter of Goliath, though, is it’s airtime. The return trip to the station features 3 straight bunny hops, each with a delightful mixture of floater and ejector airtime. Goliath is easily a Top-20 Coaster for me and is my favorite of the 8 true B&M Hypers I have been on (excluding Fury 325 and Leviathan). I am a Nitro fanboy, so it saddens me to say this, but I think Goliath is the better overall coaster.
After taking a few spins on Goliath, we continued to walk around the park to see all of the lights. This area of the park was incredible with the beautiful white-light wraps on the trees. I always feel like the professionally wrapped trees have such a clean look to them.
This was a breathtaking display later at night! Well done, Six Flags!
I am also going to give Six Flags Over Georgia a ton of credit for their 2016 additions. They are opening two themed lands: Bugs Bunny Boomtown and DC Super Friends. I am a bit biased since I now am fortunate enough to work in the themed entertainment industry, but I feel like these themed lands help create a much more cohesive guest experience.
Here is the site of one of the themed lands. I am assuming this is where DC Super Friends will be, but please correct me if I’m wrong.
The other themed zone will be a little walk up the hill. I remember when viewing the “New for 2016” announcement video that Six Flags makes annually, that I was most impressed with the additions Six Flags Over Georgia was making. Sure the coaster enthusiast in me wants a beastly new coaster for the park, but in terms of overall guest experience, I think these two zones will set a new movement for Six Flags parks across the country.
Another reason I loved Six Flags Over Georgia is because they have a unique dark ride!
Monster Mansion has an extremely weird, perverse story-line, but it is unique nonetheless. It also has a ton of charm since it is has been operating for 30+ years. It is incredible to think about how far dark rides have come in such a short time span. Rides like Monster Mansion need to continue to exist so people can appreciate the technology advancements the amusement industry has made!
More incredible lights that pay homage to “The Peach State.”
Dahlonega Mine Train is the park’s Arrow Mine Train coaster. Opening in 1967, it is the oldest operating coaster in the park. It is also comically underwhelming. Usually these mine trains have at least one “hey that was cool” moment, but from my previous experience with this ride, this one didn’t. At least it looks pretty!
Speaking of pretty, what is this beautiful structure protruding 200-feet into the Georgia sky?
Why, it’s Acrophobia, Six Flags Over Georgia’s floorless, tilting gyro drop. That is a fancy way of saying that it forces you to look at the ground while you are plummeting back down to earth.
Needless to say, Lexie hated it (which is why I absolutely loved it). This is an incredibly fun drop-tower ride. The forward tilt is a unique touch that really adds to the sense of height. Enjoying this ride as much as I did makes me really want to head out to Busch Gardens Tampa for Falcon’s Fury!
Through the tunnel of string lights we go! There is something terrifying in the background, though.
Ouch. Just looking at this picture brings back the memories of pain endured on this wooden coaster. Georgia Cyclone is one of those rides that has not withstood the test of time at all. In fact, it is 12 years younger then Mind Bender, but the ride experience is miles apart.
I am not one to complain about rough coasters, but this one may take the cake in my experience. It was one of the few rides that we were begging for it to end. Of course we got a good laugh out of it, but it was a brutal ride experience.
There were noticeably smoother parts of the ride thanks to Rocky Mountain Construction adding Topper Track to a good chunk of the coaster in 2012, but overall I really do not think this ride can be salvaged unless it gets the full iron-horse treatment.
Overall, Lexie and I had an extremely enjoyable trip to Six Flags Over Georgia. The Holiday in the Park event was very well done and I still think it has the best park atmosphere in the Six Flags chain. Goliath and Mind Bender really stand out as the elite attractions in this park to me, but there are rides for everyone to enjoy. Acrophobia, Dare Devil Dive and Monster Mansion are all unique enough attractions for even the most seasoned park enthusiast to make frequent visits. I definitely want to make a trip up in the summer to check out the new themed zones and to see what all the rave about Six Flags Whitewater is about. For more information regarding the 2016 additions, check out the website by clicking here.
For information regarding park operating hours, events, and more attraction information, check out the Six Flags Over Georgia home page by clicking here.
Thanks for checking out our trip report! We hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season and we are very excited to see where 2016 takes us! Please continue to connect with us on social platforms by clicking the logos below!
I am a huge travel and roller coaster enthusiast. I have ridden 504 unique coasters across the world and do not plan on stopping anytime soon. I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and am now working with a creative firm in Orlando, Florida. 
