What is so great about Georgia Cyclone/Viper?

But GP, it *did* get a re-track this past year, right?

Both the wood coasters undergo track work on a year-round basis. Little pieces here and there get replaced. I very much doubt it got a full retrack.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

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rollergator said:

...MY Bucs destroy this poor SF team.... Whoot!

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Oakland will stop that nonsense eventually. ;)

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Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.

I have only ridden Viper so I can't say which is better but Viper is insane. The amount of air on that ride is tremendous. I had not heard anything about the ride before going so I did not expect too much, boy was I suprised. I loved the second half of the ride. The huge air is only multiplied by the amount of wood surrounding the track. It is also a very smooth coaster. Top ten on my list, should be on more lists.

GA Cyclone is by FAR the best of the three! GA Cyclone is probably one of the most extreme wood coasters operating today, with extremely steep drops and extreme airtime. There aren't many other wood coasters that are that wicked, and its easily a top ten wood coaster. Ride the GA Cyclone in the back seat with a very loose lap bar at night, and I DARE you not to be grabbing for anything on some of those drops! They are that good.

Viper is a decent coaster, but nothing like other Cyclone clones. It's profile is very much "profiled out", gentle in comparison to other Cyclone type coasters. I don't even like to think of it as a cyclone type coaster since it doesn't ride like one at all. It a a fun, smooth ride, with some very good front car airtime, but the back is only good in the 2nd half of the ride. The first few drops pale in comparison with the GA Cycloneoe or the Cyclone and are very tame.

I have no first hand info on the TX Cyclone, I haven't ridden it, but I've heard it is ok, but not great and the Morgan trains hamper it quite a bit. I have riddne the Psyclone at SFMM, and it is not a very good ride, but I can see a great ride just wanting to come out! It has some decent drops, but is usually too slow and rough. If it had its orginal profile and ran PTC trains then I suspect it would be good.

I suggest that if anyone gets a chance for nighttime rides on GA Cyclone, or even better..an ERT, then do it! You won't regret it.

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General Public said:
"Nothing has changed on Ga. Cyclone since it opened--it's always had trims, and the drop is the same as the day it opened.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

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Not true, the GA Cyclone has been slightly re-profiled, at least once, maybe more. The first drop was re-profiled slightly after the '98 season I think. I last rode it in '98 amd it was awesome, and I hear it still is!

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**Rollercoaster Fanatic**
ansley@usa.com

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Pink Floyd Fanatic said:
"Viper is weak in the first and second drop in the backseat when I rode it"

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That's because you rode in the wrong seat .. Third from the front is THE best seat on Viper, best seat in the entire park!

Cam.

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Cameron Silver

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Pink Floyd Fanatic said:
"Viper is weak in the first and second drop in the backseat when I rode it"

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That's because you rode in the wrong seat .. Third from the front is THE best seat on Viper, best seat in the entire park!

Cam.

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Cameron Silver

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Not true, the GA Cyclone has been slightly re-profiled, at least once, maybe more. The first drop was re-profiled slightly after the '98 season I think. I last rode it in '98 amd it was awesome, and I hear it still is!

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Incorrect. Nothing has changed since it opened. The layout is the same. It has has some part is track replaced like any wood coaster does (and the track lasts longer than most people think). The park has no reason to change it, so they haven't.

Ask around and you'll find that little has changed in the coasters since they opened, aside from new paint.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

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General Public said:
Nothing has changed on Ga. Cyclone since it opened--it's always had trims, and the drop is the same as the day it opened.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

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No, it has changed. The first and sixth drops have been reprofiled (not sure about the rest). They both had a 'flat section' or 'straight track' after the break over, and now they are smoothed out and more parabolic. If I had the inspiration, i'd search for pictures. But that ride has definitely changed. I think as early as 1993 it was changed, maybe 1992. There were even pictures after the 'work' where it wasn't painted and all butchered up.

The carpenters and mechanics have told me in the past (after intense questioning) that neither GASM nor Cyclone have had any reprofiling or siginificant trackwork done. The only major work done to either was the installation of a new control system to GASM and the removal of its trim. Cyclone remains unchanged. Why is it that so many enthusiasts thing because it's made of wood it's easy, cheap, and common to do this?

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

*** This post was edited by General Public on 1/13/2003. ***

GA Cyclone is my #9 woodie, but I haven't ridden the other two. CI Cyclone is my #2...and now that I think about it, I only rode in the front car on GA Cyclone. I have a feeling it would climb a bit in my top 10 if I ride in the back, as that is exactly what happened to CI Cyclone. Fun in the front, but spectacular in the back. Perfect combination of positive, negative, and lateral Gs...in other words, it threw me all the hell over the place.

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-Vater

The Georgia Cyclone is one of the rides I was lucky enough to experience in its' first season, I will always remember it because it was my first ever new wood. The first season, I got to ride it with my father. Scared both of us to death. The second half of the ride was just nuts, it even smelled like smoke, fire, and hell as I can remember it. The second half was so wild we were just glad to be on the ride when it was over. Other than MAYBE they've clamped down some with trim brakes in a more stronger fashion, I've never even heard about major changes to the ride or noticed anything when I did make it there. I think everybody just decided that something happened to it. It's always been the most moody ride I've ever experienced. One ride is mild, you stay in the same seat, after the second ride, it's time to take a break;).

Anyhow, I think there was a leftover rumor that a bunch of stuff was supposed to go on with the GC that was completely fiction, such as the switch to two bench, no headrest trains, a complete retracking, all kinds of made up stuff. A little of that sunk into somebody's head & the residual gets mixed up with the regular great maintenance work that really happens in some of these parks.
If anything has ever been done to the GC, I'd love to see it, she's always been a favorite since my first scary experience.

Q: 'What is so great about Georgia Cyclone?'

A: Violent, out of control airtime.

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'I feel it coming on again just like it did before. They feed your pride with boredom and they lead you on to war.' - The Soft Boys 'I Wanna Destroy You.'

*** This post was edited by chris on 1/13/2003. ***

ah, simplicity....gotta get me some of that....;). Thanks chris!

The Georgia Cyclone is NUTTY - ride that backseat and you'll understand why - doesn't even seem safe

About that NUTTY backseat, don't look down while you're on the thing or you're going to see the seatbelt holding you in by parts they couldn't have been designed for, as in your knees sometimes, really makes you feel daring, LOL when you actually notice the air you can get. Seatbelts the primary restraint for the GC PTCs, ;), I seriously(sarcatically) doubt that......

But, then again, I've gotten on in the back & had my butt planted after being thrown hard on previous rides.

The "near death" GC rides are always fun to hear about, most people sooner or later end up with them.

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General Public said:

The carpenters and mechanics have told me in the past (after intense questioning) that neither GASM nor Cyclone have had any reprofiling or siginificant trackwork done. The only major work done to either was the installation of a new control system to GASM and the removal of its trim. Cyclone remains unchanged. Why is it that so many enthusiasts thing because it's made of wood it's easy, cheap, and common to do this?

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No matter what the carpenters say, experience has proven otherwise.

GASM had a major change with the control systems in that they removed the trim brakes from the course and installed the stop-on-a-dime brakes leading into the station. Observant front seat riders can see the holes left by the removal of the 3 sections of trims. Other than the brakes the ride remains as opened.

Ga Cyclone has been slightly reprofiled over the years, mostly while doing trackwork maintenance. Last year saw an unbanked run under the station (the slight speed hill prior to the next to last turn). This used to bank left - sort of half a trick-track - but now changed to a flat hop which speeded up the last turn and final hills.

2 years before saw the entire second drop removed. The new drop starts farther back in the turn, and is much more gradual at the top creating less of a yank of the train - and a much smoother transition IMHO. Where the 2nd drop used to be the same as the BIG 4th drop (flat turn to drop), now it's a turn that morphs into a drop about 2/3 way through the turn.

The final turn was significantly raised the 2nd year of operation while they replaced the track and supports which changed the personality of the stop in the brakes.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

*** This post was edited by gamndbndr on 1/15/2003. ***

GASM has actually had three different control systems.

Ga Cyclone, like GASM, is continually undergoing maintenance. IMO changing a slight bank here and there doesn't constitude a "reprofiling." The whole story about the second drop... hmmm. I checked some pictures from 94 and 96 and withint the last season or two, and the drop coming out of it looks the same to me. Really, I think that people notice things differently from season to season. That's the nature of the beast.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

*** This post was edited by General Public on 1/15/2003. ***

Edit: With luck, the Kings will dispatch Shaq and Kobe early this year, so SRM can be pure COASTING pleasure without the need to check in on CWebb and the guys...

Whoa, you're a Kings fan, Gator???? You're out of the PG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lakers are gonna do it again this year...they're just lulling the opposition into complacency, LOL!

I recall returning to various hotel rooms on my SRM trip last year for updates on one of the most classic series ever in the NBA. I was travelling with a Kings fan (Mike Sterling) and I wished I had taken a photograph of his face when we got back from IB on the last night of the trip to learn the Lakers had taken Game 7. Priceless! The poor guy got a speeding ticket on the way to the hotel, too...

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Mike Miller

"You're mental, Trouble Boy!"

*** This post was edited by BaSSiStiSt on 1/15/2003. ***