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I arrived in Atlanta late Friday night (around 11:30), to find temperatures in the 30's. After a bit of confusion at the airport, I finally located my friend Aaron, and we were off for a late dinner at "This Is It!" Or something like that - I can never get the name right, but they have the best fish sandwiches ever, and I had to get one before I left Atlanta.
On to the park-
We got a late start on Saturday, and didn't make it over to SFoG until 1:00, but the lot didn't appear too full and all seemed well. We did note that Deja Vu was not running, and were not terribly surprised. After never seeing one operate smoothly, I've come to expect it.
We picked up our season passes, and proceeded to processing (ah, alliteration) where we were told the computers weren't working today. Now, this wouldn't be a big problem, unless you're me. I live in Chicago, and don't know when I'll be able to get to Atlanta for processing again. I also would like to use my pass next weekend at SFKK. "Have no fear," I was assured by Guest Relations that SFKK would happily honor my voucher if they called SFoG to verify the situation, and I would be able to get a pass at SFKK for no extra charge. Ok, works for me.
On to the rides -
Mindbender - 1 front seat, 1 random middle seat.
I love this ride. It is easily my favorite in the park, as it has everything I am looking for: great positive and negative g's, some good laterals, and a great setting. Aside from one train operation, the ride was running great, and continues to be a winner.
B:TR - 1 front, 1 middle, 3 consecutive backseat rides at the end of the night.
It's Batman, enough has been said about it by now, but it's a great ride.
Ninja - 1 lap in the front.
I got conned into riding this again, and it is still not very fun.
Georgia Scorcher - 1 lap back seat.
Out of the 3 B&M stand-ups I've been on, this is my favorite. It' compact, it's intense, and it's also very smooth. I really love the air in the back on the first drop, and coming out of the turnaround after the loop. It also looks briliant at the front of the park.
Deja Vu - 1 towards the back, outside seat.
We had been experiencing trouble with our Q-Bot(s), and found out that Deja Vu started running around 3 o'clock. The Q-Bot rep that had been dealing with our problems was a really great kid, and gave us a pass for Deja Vu to make up for our troubles. Our pass was for 3:15, so we high-tailed it over to the ride. Deja Vu was running one train with riders, followed by 2-5 "test runs" in between trains. We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, around 5 pm, we were allowed to board.
I found the ride itself to be pretty good. The pull up the first spike is by far the best part, as I actually found myself frightened for the first time in many, many moons by a ride. Having all of your body weight resting on the restraints while looking straight down is pretty unnerving. After the first spike the ride was just ok. I really didn't think that it was too special, and wouldn't wait more than 30 minutes to ride again.
Cyclone - 1 lap, back seat.
On my previous trip to SFoG, I was dissapointed by the Cyclone. It was probably the ride I was most looking forward to, but it just didn't do anything: no air, it was sluggish, and just plain "blah." Given the generally positive reviews it gets, I was sure that I had hit it on an off day.
Well, I found out that I had indeed hit it on an off-day. Whoah, this ride rocks! Stand-up, rugged and raw, ejector air on every drop. I'm a believer. The only thing holding the Cyclone back are the trains. They are so uncomfortable. If they ditched the hard, high, narrow divers, the Cyclone would be pure bliss for me.
We skipped the Mine Train due to time constraints. We also skipped Acrophbia as it was running on and off all day, and we had ridden the last time we were at the park, and weren't overly impressed. I found the seats to be very uncomfortable for a drop tower, and would rather ride Drop Zone at PKI.
Overall, this was a great day. I would have preferred to have gotten in more rides on the woodies, Mindbender, and Scorcher, but we opted to wait for Deja Vu. SFoG is a really pretty park, and I have had a blast on both of my visits.
EDIT: S:UF looks really good, much more impressive in person. The paint job is vibrant, and the "Pretzel Loop" is much larger than I thought. It also looks like the view of GASM, the midway, and the lake from the turnaround after the PL will be cool, as well. I din't notice any trains testing, but there was a lot of work being done in the station, and in the transfer area on the trains.
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"you're better off talkin bout your wack puma sneakers." -KRS ONE
*** This post was edited by chris on 3/25/2002. ***
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