New Years Coastin' Eve 2016/2017

One thing on my bucket list was to hit up a park on New Years Eve. I hadn’t really planned on it for this year, and even when making plans for the end of the year, this wasn’t the original idea, as we had discussed Savannah, Charleston (S.C.), or just staying in Charlotte, which is what I’ve done most years down here.

We woke up and headed down to the dirty south early Saturday morning from my house, arriving in Atlanta around 11:30, with our first stop being lunch at The Vortex in Little Five Points (#ifyouhaventeatenhereyouneedto). After amazing burgers and beer was had by all, we killed some time whilst heading over by Turner Field so I could take pictures. We were way early, so once we got to Six Flags, we had more time to kill. This was the only time I’ve never ran in to really heavy traffic in Atlanta, but I’ll put that on the Peach Bowl and it being New Years Eve.

Once we got to the park, we wondered, with the weather, if rides would run. Basically, every thing in the front 2/3 of the park was scheduled to be open, but obviously this was weather permitting. I’ve been to the park when a little rain and mostly clouds shut everything down, so I was trying to think of alternative options. However, it would end up not being necessary as the park was running all of the major rides at the front of the park, and that was good enough for me.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

We headed in to the park, without much of a line, and headed directly over to our first coaster, Cyclone. The last time I was there, it was running very well, but it can be notoriously bad. Thankfully, the ride was running the best I’ve ever seen it. Around the 5th or so drop in the back, I was stood up and terrified because of the airtime. And this was with my lap bar as far as it could go and a seat belt. The ride was running well, and man did it deliver.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

Georgia Scorcher was testing earlier but it wasn’t open yet, so we headed over to see if Dare Devil Dive was down. It was not. There wasn’t anyone in the station and it looked closed off. That’s okay, I didn’t expect everything to be open, and Acrophobia was also pretty silent. So we went to Goliath instead, and got a back seat ride. Goliath, as usual, is one of the best B&M speed coasters around, and was running very well. That was two for two, and Isaac and Tyler loved them as well.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

I wanted to head back towards Gotham City, but I got a little lost which was okay, because we ended up at Monster Mansion. Isaac and Tyler weren’t as excited after it was over, and unfortunately the ending song wasn’t playing everywhere towards the end, but I still love Monster Mansion. The new DC section looks fantastic, as does the refurbished Bugs Bunny area. Batman was definitely running, so I found our way back to Gotham City.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

This is by far the best Gotham City in the chain. I know they got a lot of flack for the SooperLooper ride form Larson, but it looks great. I don’t ride them because they make me sick, but it is another flat ride, as is the Harley Quinn Spin. But we had bigger fish to fry, as usual, and Isaac was really excited (as was I) for our next coaster, which he’d been eying all year round, Mindbender. Little to no wait, and we ended up on near the back. Mindbender is still a great, classic Schwarzkopf coaster, and his 3rd this year (he’s a fan). Inversions, laterals, and airtime combine to make the ride really fun.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

We did Batman The Ride next, and this just happens to be my favorite of the lot. I do want to try one backwards but missed my chance here because it wasn’t backwards very long. Next we headed up on the mountain so I could get a look at the new construction for the new dark ride, and a glimpse at the remade Bluehawk nee’ Ninja. But of course the back half will have to wait till spring. We did ride the carousel before heading back down and taking a roll on the Von Roll Sky Buckets. Of course, with the back half of the park closed, you basically just stayed on the ride back to the front.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

We walked around and, I had some sweets, and and we saw that Dare Devil Dive was open. Once we got in line, it closed, but reopened a few moments later, and we got on. The ride is still really fun and smooth. I missed it last time. We headed over and did the mine train at some point, another fun ride, and eventually we got re-rides on Mindbender and Goliath. At that point it was getting dark and lights were coming on, with the park getting a bit more busy. Next up on the agenda was heading to the front of the park and getting a ride on Scorcher, which was running well (Still my favorite stand up), and then another back seat ride on Cyclone.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

We left the park, headed to the Hilton in Midtown, cleaned up in our room, then walked in to town to find food, which ended up being at a really great Turkish restaurant. Town was electric because Alabama just won the Peach Bowl, and the downtown area was filled with fans of the winning team. That night we had a lot of fun hanging in Atlanta. It is still one of my favorite cities.

Six Flags over Georgia 2016 by C. E. Beavers, on Flickr

The next morning(ish), we headed to World Direct World Market before heading home.

My wife and I went to Hersheypark on New Years day. Last day of their operating season. Their hours were strange. Noon to 5pm. We had wanted to see the Christmas lights in the dark since the other several times we went for Christmas Candylane were mid day. We did get a chance on our way out at 5 to see some lights.

Wildcat is running extremely well. Not sure what they did but I was able to ride in the back of the train. I hadn't done that in years because it was so rough. Now it's not. You can see sections that have been retracked, so that must have been the reason. It was really smooth up front.

We also got rides on Laff Trakk, Wild Mouse, and Sooperdooperlooper. Weather was almost in the 50s. Good day to go.

I agree with you Atlanta is one of my favorite towns to visit. I love little five points. So many good places to eat. The people are typically friendly.

We need to get back to SFOG. It's been a long time since I've been.