Opinions Of The Scream Machine at SFOG

So Im just a little curious to hear what everyone has to say. Im approaching this from an objective standpoint. For those of you who have ridden the Great American Scream Machine in the last 8 years, what do you think about it ? The layout for a classic wooden coaster is quite enticing. But I feel the ride may be past its prime as it has become increasingly rougher in my observation. When I was there in 2010, I noticed the back seats had been harnessed off. Was that because it was too rough in the back? Again, just curious to see what others have to say about the ride. Write back at your leisure.

I enjoyed the ride. It is nothing spectacular but it was fun. The layout is your classic typical out and back which is always ccol.

To me, it's very re-ridable.

It was a decent ride, but the air was strange. It hurt my man-bits. And that was back in 2000.

It has been about 3 yrs since my last visit there. I still loved the ride! It comes down to the park maintaining the ride. Most wood coasters have "off" seasons. For example, Screamin' Eagle at SFOStL is normally a terrific ride. This summer, not so much. It was needing much trackwork. I trust the park will have it running better soon.

As far as seats being roped off, that might have been a problem with restraints. We see that all the time at CP. Why shut a ride down for an extended amount of time for a couple of seats. Just rope them off and fix at end of night after closing.

Prior to the RMC'ing of Georgia Cyclone - according to management at event gatherings, SFOG's maintenance plan called for one off-season of "rehab" on Cyclone, then one year off-season rehab of GASM...alternating every year.

My last laps on GASM were last fall, and it was running pretty well. But I will say that the coaster has had an enormous number of "swings" in my rankings - possibly due to that rehab schedule. Had many really good rides on it, and some really poor rides on it. Not always in synch with the rehabs, but in general.

We'll have to see whether GASM gets more love now that SFoG isn't spending quite so much time fixing Cyclone...

Wasn't GASM the immediate predecessor to The Racer? I think so, they certainly have the same groove going on. I think it's an ok ride, much like KI's, but like most of the woodies of that era there's a thrill factor that these days would be considered missing.
My last trip to SFOG was in 2007. We rode it once to get it done and sat in the front which I consider the best seat on rides of that type. It was ok, nothing too good or too bad. I was with 2 others that had never been on it before and they thought it was kind of meh. It certainly has a beautiful setting.

Here's an anecdote involving the ride that just came to mind. One time years ago we were waiting in that queue house for quite a while without moving, it seemed, then everyone's attention was finally drawn to a confrontation on the platform that apparently was causing the delay. There was a man and his son, and the man was being belligerent about the fact that his son wasn't quite tall enough to ride. He got loud and threatening, and insisted that they weren't moving until his son was permitted to board. People in line were starting to yell at the guy, turning the situation even uglier. The operators finally gave up, let the man and his son get in, lowered the lap bar, and sent the train out. Nobody could believe it. Then once the train started up the lift they shut down the motor and sent the cops up to get the guy outta there and take him away. An odd, but effective way to handle it. And in the end kind of funny, with everyone in line suddenly not minding the extra wait.
Poor kid, though. Not so funny for him... he's probably still damaged.

Edit: to apologize for misuse of the word predecessor. Racer was first, so it was the predecessor to GASM, not the other way around. oopsy.

I rode the GASM just once during two visits to the park in 2006. I thought it was okay, but perhaps a little boring. The line was even short, but decided to keep moving along.

The ride could have been enchanced by being placed in a wooded area as opposed to a lake (ie. Mind Bender and Screechin' Eagle in Six Flags St. Louis). I am not to particularly fond of coasters placed over a lake, just the neighboring Ninja.

I'm weird. I have a weird taste in coasters. GASM was my biggest surprise when I visited SFOG. It was really smooth and had excellent airtime. In fact I rode it and Mindbender more than any of the other coasters in the park. Who knows, maybe I hit it on a good day.

I'll echo the last comment. Was at SFoG in May this year, rode GASM, had a few awesome laps, nice air and no excessive roughness. Rode in back row of course for all my laps.

Cyclone was awesome as well, both rides were far improved from what I remember about 8 years ago. However this was to be expected with Cyclone's recent love and attention.

I like the ride a lot. I last rode in June. And now that Cyclone has been rehabbed, it's nice to have 2 good wooden coasters in ATL.

Is the Cyclone rehab "finished" already? I thought this was year 2 of a three-year project...

I dunno, but I know they said they were finished with adding topper track. It was only for first drop and first hill after drop.

I had a bunch of totally awesome rides on G Cyclone, downright scary in fact, a number of years ago. (I think it was an ACE event, spring conf or something, and the ride was trimless. Yikes!)

On my last visit (and again, I was with 2 newbies) we hit that ride first, and what a rattle trap. We got offa there and my friends, who were holding their necks and backs, just looked at me like I was trying to kill them or something.

I'll look forward to my next ride with some topper track.

I last visited SFOG this May and thought GASM was great, running better than my previous visit in 2006. I love the last few hills, great airtime. The final hill gives great air and as you go on to the break run the roof gives a nice head/arm chopper. I like the location of the ride, very scenic.

Cyclone let me down a bit. I felt it was much rougher and heavier trimmed than I remembered. I still in general enjoyed it, riding in the back the ride has a few moments of absolutely terrifying ejector air combined with flying through the support structure that are fantastic despite the bumpy ride.

I had the exact opposite experience in June. Smoother than ever (though not B&M Smooth, definitely felt like a woodie), and with major ejector air over the hills. It went from my bottom 10 to probably top 20 for me.