DAN-EL's SFoG review! (long)

I just returned from my trip to Ohio by way of Atlanta. On the way home home I again passed through Atlanta. But this time I nearly missed my flight from Atlanta to D/FW. My flight from Toledo to Atlanta was 45 mins late arriving due to technical problems on the ground in Toledo. My flight from Atlanta to D/FW was scheduled to leave at 4:15pm. Now here's the problem. My flight from Toledo didn't arrive until 4:00pm. Some passengers were cursing because they had already missed flights that had left while they were waiting to get off the plane. The guy sitting next to me had to be on another flight that departed at 3:55pm. Needless to say it had already left by the time our flight from Toledo landed. As for me, I still had about 10 mins left to get to my next flight. Problem...the Atlanta airport was HUGE and my next flight was at an entirely different terminal! As I came off the plane I literaly sprinted down the long concourse, down the escalator and into the special train that carries passengers between terminals. The train made it's way to the next terminal rather fast, Thank God! I again sprinted down the concourse to my departure gate just in the nick of time as the final bording call had already gone out! I got to the gate huffing and puffing from my run. The ticket clerk took my ticket and said "Brother, you cut it close! This plane was about to leave without you!" "Tell me about!" I replied as I started down the ramp to the plane to find the stewardess closing the door! "Just one second please!" I called to her as I ran towards the door. I apologized for being late and explained that my other flight had arrived late. She let me on board with a pat on the back. "Nice run." she said. "If you made it here that fast!" "Yep" I replied and took my seat.

So now you know what I had to go through to bring you this trip report. Now, on with the report.

SFoG......

I drove through the densly forrested Atlanta suburbs until I found the highway to SFoG. Upon arrival I noticed that there weren't too many parking ticket booths like at SFoT. I made my way into the park with my SFoT season pass and rented a Q-bot. Best 20 bucks I ever spent. This amazing little device let add every coaster in this park (including Deja Vu) to my track record on a crowded day in only 5 hours. This left time to ride S:UF one last time.

With my Q-bot in hand I made my way around the right side of the park. I came to Acrophobia and put my Q-bot in the slot. It vibrated and told me that I could ride Acro in about 45mins. I next went to Deja Vu and noticed well over an hour wait. Needless to say I used Q-bot again and went on to the park's newest sensation, Superman: Ultimate Flight!

The wait for S:UF looked to be in excess of an hour and the Q-bot terminal hadn't yet been installed on the ride. So I decided to save it for last. I went on to the park's best woodie. The Georgia Cyclone. Only a 10 minute wait.

Georgia Cyclone: Dogleg woodie..
This ride is fast and furious with good air on the hills. Good head choppers after the trunaround. Dogleg layout made for an almost twisting style as opposed to an out and back. A bit rough, but not too rough. A good fun airtime filled hunk of wood! Rating 8 (on scale from 1 to 10)

Next up was the Mine Train.

Dahlonega Mine Train: A rather boring mine trian ride. I really didn't like the layout at all. Too herky-jerky at times and not very intense. I suppose it's ok for the kiddies though. Rating 4

I had just gotten off DMT when my trusty Q-bot started vibrating. It informed me that it was time for a ride on Acrophobia. As I went up to the ride's Q-bot entrance the lady op told me that there was one seat left on the next ride. I took it. Now, before I can say anything else I must first tell you that I was wearing my Titan T-shirt from SFoT. One of the ops noticed my shirt and began bombarding me with questions about Titan and SFoT. In fact, this nut of a ride op kept yelling questions up at me even as the seats were on their way to the top of the tower. When the seats reached the top and leaned foward for the drop, I could see the op down on the ground waiting for me to come back down so he could continue bombarding me with questions. When I got back down not only did he continue asking me stupid questions but this time he even got all the other Acrophobia ops to join in the fun. I answered a few of their questions as I made my way towards the exit. As soon as I reached the exit I excused myself and hurried away from the ride!

Acrophobia: Intamin Gyro Drop...

HOLEEEEE CRAP!!!! This has to be the scariest thing I have ever been on! You are seated on a small bicycle seat like the ones on stand up coasters, only smaller! You are then carried up over 200 feet to the top of the tower. When you reach the top the seats lean foward so you are forced to look at the ground below. This causes you to shift foward on your bicycle seat giving you the utterly terrifing sensation that you are going to slip out of your seat and fall to your doom. My crotch was actually resting against the seat belt which attached the seat to the reatraints! You are left hanging there for long agonizing seconds as you ponder what's to come next! Then it happens! You plummet towards the ground causing your stomach to feel as if it's tearing out of you! The ground comes rushing up and it looks as if you aren't going to stop! Closer and closer the ground comes, PLEASE STOP!! Then you come to a sudden stop at what looked like only a coupla feet from the ground! The most utterly terrifing ride I have EVER been on! Rating 10!

Afterwards, I headed for the parks stand up coaster, the Gerogia Scorcher. I noticed there was a pretty good line so I Q'ed up. I also Q'ed up for rides on Batman and Mind Bender. I decided to get a bite to eat while waiting for my next ride and went in to the Mcdonalds. No sooner had I finished my Big Mac than my Q-bot vibrated and announced "Deja Vu, Next ride soon!" I hurried down to where the ride stood in the Lickskillet section. (Lickskillet?!!!) As I entered the Q-bot line I noticed that quite a few others with Q-bots were also waiting. I ended up waiting about 30 mins, but nothing compaired to the 3 hours I would have waited otherwize.

Deja Vu: Vekoma Giant Iverted Boomerang: Man, what a ride! It's a shame this ride has so much down time. I was fortunate that it was open the day I visited. I would like to point out that I don't think would ever have had the time to ride this if not for my trusty Q-bot. The ride itself starts with that climb straigt up 90 degrees backwards. Leaving you resting against your restraints. A sensation similar to Acrophobia. Then you drop back through the station into the Cobra roll and vertical loop and back up another 90 degree lift. Another drop, backwards this time, through the courst again. Excellent g's through the elements. I detected a bit of head banging, but nothing to serious. The ride has good speed and is very intense on the foward leg. The backwards leg seems less intense but fun nonetheless. Rating 8

Next, in order. came Georgia Scorcher, Mind Bender and Batman.

Georgia Scorcher: B&M Stand up: I'm sorry, but this ride hurt too much to be any fun. I understand now why stand ups are considered a dying breed. What's more, the ride ops did a terrible job of helping people get in the right position for riding. The op locked the seats while my knees were still bent. I wound up riding on my crotch throughout the course, which consisted of a vertical loop, a number of banked turns and a helix. These elements might have been fun if I weren't hurting so much. Rating 5

Mind Bender:Intamin Shwartzkopf classic. This coaster is billed as having three loops. But I could have sworn that last loop was a helix, oh well. The ride itself seems to lack any intensity through the two vertical loops. The intestity does, however, pick up in the nearly horizontal loop (I still say it's a helix). Furthermore, the ride doesn't have one hint of airtime. Aside from the loops it consists of nothing more than several banked turns. I much prefer the Shockwave at SFoT to Mind Bender. Rating 6

Batman:TR. I had an eerie feeling as I rode this clone. The track is black as opposed to yellow on the SFoT version. A park employee had been kicked in the head while stand in the restricted area of this ride. I still felt as if his ghost was haunting the ride. Maybe it was just something I ate. The ride itself was fast and intense. Typical Batman clone. Rating 8

I decided to go to Ninja next since it was a walk on.

Ninja: Vekoma looper: 5 inversions, yep 5 painfull headbanging inversions. Rough as hell, tear this thing down! Rating 1

One last coaster to hit before hitting the big S.

Great American Scream Machine: Out and back woodie:
I'm sorry, but this woodie suffers from two main problems, roughness and absolutely NO airtime whatsoever! The hills are dull and boring with not the slighest hint of air, and the roughness doesn't help. Not much speed either. The only headchopper seems to be the roof over the end run. I was actually able to reach up and touch it as the train entered the station. Too bad this woodie is such a dud. Rating 2

Next up Superman:UF!!!

Superman: Ultimate Flight....B&M Flyer:
As I entered the line I noiced that they were running 2 trains. Despite this, the line seemed to move very slowly. When I got to the station I saw why. The ops were very slow in getting the trains loaded and dispatched. This is a new type of ride so I assume that in time the ops might become more efficient at dispatching the trains, lets hope!

I waited for the front car. As I was pulled up into flying position, I realized how comfy the restraints are with leg supports that fit snugly around the shins. We started up the lift hill face down as opposed to face up into the sun on X-Flight at SFWoA. Now down the first drop, swooping around to the right over the hill. The flying effect seems best achieved when your close to the ground. Another swooping turn into the best element on this or any other ride. That fantastic Pretzel loop. There are simply no words to describe the power of this element. You begin at the top and then dive down foward to the ground on your back and then back up again picking up speed as you go. I felt as if my lungs were being pushed out my back. It's that powerfull! There are simply no words in the english language to describe how awesome this feels. The ride then takes another turn around the hillside diving down close to the ground and into a tunnel. Back up again and another turn into a leasurely barrel roll and finally into the brake run and station. I like the twin stations on this ride but the ops simply must do a better job of loading and dispatching the trains. I had another 2 hours to kill thanks my Q-buddy so I went around and got back in line for S:UF. This time I rode towards the back. The back offers a bit more intensity, especally in the Pretzel loop. But don't like having to look at the bottom of someone's shoe while riding. S:UF is one amazing ride. Rating 9

Overall park rating 8

The park seemed clean and well themed. But the ops were less than stellar, especially on Scorcher and S:UF. Get rid of Ninja and Gasm and replace them with something decent. Maybe a nice floorless or an Impulse.

Well, that's about it for SFoG. Next up, CP!

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TITAN RULES!
*** This post was edited by DAN-EL on 6/15/2002. ***

*** This post was edited by DAN-EL on 6/15/2002. ***

Great TR! Does Q Bot really cost 20 Dollars! That is a ton!

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X-Flight World's Only flying coaster!
Batwing World's only flying coaster!
S:UF World's only flying coaster! Don't you love SF ?

Yep, 20$ and worth every penny.

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TITAN RULES!

It costs $20 for one person and $10 dollars extra for each additional person (up to 6 can use one) and SFOG season pass holders recieve a 50% discount (at least that is what an email I got from them said).

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SiX FlAgS FiEsTa TeXaS was great!

Wow, the highest rating you gave was a 10 for Acrophobia! Sounds like I need to find an Intamin Standing Gyro Drop near me, oh wait, SFOG is the only one.

I think you are right about the 3rd "loop" on Mindbender. I remember seeing it on some show a long time ago, and that's a helix.

Good report, and I like the way you were able to do this on a layover for your flight! Genious.

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

drayton manor in england has a stand up intamin drop ride if thats closer than georgia!!

Actually, Soggy lives in California. I would think that Georgia would definaltely be closer than england.

As for bieng able to do this on a layover.... If it hadn't been for Q-bot I could never have ridden all the coasters in the park. Most definaltely not Deja Vu.

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TITAN RULES!

I was outat SFot yesterday(14th) and It was thier 2nd day to have the Q-bots and they were free !!! When I found out from a worker my friend and I hauled butt over to get one.

I think its worth the money on a crowded day, but they were not that crowded(except for Mr.freeze) so that is pretty much what we used it on, everything else was short but we still used it on each ride to save some time and keep from walking through the entire queue.

It was a lot of fun !! I'll do it again soon.

Good TR. Believe it or not but Scream Machine used to be one awesome ride. This season it is lagging behind and not up to its usual standards while the GA Cyclone is awesome this season. Also, i would have to agree with the park that mindbender has a horizontal loop and not a helix. IMO, that looks nothing like a helix and is all horizontal loop.

Nice TR, sounds like you had a good time!

I think Mindbender's airtime and loops are extremely intense...that's very odd. Lots of airtime in the front, very intense loops in the back. I also like the airtime on GASM, but it's not nearly as much as Cyclone. Great TR.

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My two favorite coasters are named Superman.

I rode near the back and the loops didn't seem very intense to me. I got no air at all. On Shockwave at SFoT the two loops are back-to-back making them much more intense. On MB the loops come one at a time. Also, Shockwave has a series of drops and airtime hills after the loops. All of wich are full of airtime. I don't remember anything like that on MB. As for the argument of helix vs loop...I still say it's a helix and the only intense part of the ride. But, whatever...

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TITAN RULES!

Speaking as the one-time foreman at Scream Machine, all I can say is that for the roughness, something does need to be done about that. It's getting to where even I refrain from riding. As for the airtime, it depends on the day, really. Sometimes the train runs slow (the panel has a cycle time readout) and sometimes it runs mad fast. Obviously you hit it on a slow day (and I will be the first to say it sucks slow). but I've been on it on the fast times too, and you get stand-up air. Sorry you didn't get to experience it.

As for the Mindbender, it has three loops. ;) I personally think the loops on Bender are the most intense inversions I have been on. No air in the back, but in the front you get nice pops cresting the hills.

Cyclone is always good if you sit in the back. ;)

As for the SUF loading time, you;d have to work there to understand. A lot goes into it, and a lot of people don't know how to use the restraints so they have to be checked and rechecked. The ops are moving pretty fast, the ride is just a slow loader by nature.

I'll agree on somethings but disagree on others, GASM is a killer ride, I can't belive you say it is not fast nor has no air, It has a decent amount of air, and De JaVu' is in the only ride in the park faster then it. (beleive it or not this is true, chech out rcdb's stats on the ride.)

As for Schorcher, maybe the ops didn't give you much time to get ajusted, but it is a killer smooth standup, just like all standups you have to get ajusted, I have meet very few rough B&M's.

As for Ninja, It deserves a less then a 1, that thing is such a POS. That is the only reason it is ALWAYS a walk, everyone who has rode it once won't ride it again.

De JaVu' (when it works, it has been SBNO for the last 6 weeks), Cyclone, and Batman all rock.

Acrophobia is the S***!!!

and the Mind Bender (which I prefer in it's origional tan and black color scheme, but was repaintied to green for gotham, when the got batman in 92') is a good peice of Anton's work, but I'll agree it is a helix and not a vertical loop, even though this is my home park (I live 15 minutes away to the west).

Have fun on the rest of your trip.

Sorry I went so hard on GASM. I'm sure it's had better days than the day I rode it. MisterX is probably right, I just caught it on a bad day. I may have caught Mind Bender on a bad day as well. Lord knows these coasters can be tempramental.

As for Ninja, I have a feeling that every day is a bad day for that thing.

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TITAN RULES!

Ninja is an odd creature. Last year I went to SFoG twice and the first time I rode Ninja it was horrible. I had a headache the rest of the day. The second time I rode it the roughness wasn't near as bad and I actually enjoyed it. This ride has some of the most amazing headchoppers. If this thing were a little smoother I think it would be a hit.

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Syntax Error

Ninja is ok, if while going up the lift hill slam your head into the back of the headrest (making an indention for your head) and keep it there no mater the cost.

DO NOT let your head remove itself from that headrest or you will know, fear, and you will know pain. (Then you will Die, have a pleasent flight (for all those B5 fan out there, and major bounus points who can nam the episode))

The B5 quate was...
G'Kar "You will know, pain."
Na' Toth "and you will know fear."
G' Kar "Then you will die, have a plasent flight."

EP # is bonus points....

About ninja, if anyone has ridden it in the past month, would you agree with me with saying it is running significantly smoother? I had my hands up the whole ride both times and experienced no headbanging. I was surprised and the rides were a lot of fun. I think that if the ride continues to run like that for me it will be such a better coaster.

It is also smoother in the front than the other rows.

See, it was totally different for me. We were riding safety checks one morning before the ride opened. I rode in the front and in back, the back was not that bad, the front was terrible though.