2002--Trip Reports

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2002... (11:45am to 7:45pm)

RiDES RIDDEN (not in complete order): 10-- Superman: UltimateFlight (1), The Great American Scream Machine (2), Ninja (3), Batman: The Ride (1), The Georgia Cyclone (1), Acrophobia (2), Dahlonega Mine Train (1), Lickskillet SkyBuckets (1), Wheelie (1)

KEY INFO FROM THE TRIP:

Deja Vu was down all day, with the train valleyed in the cobra roll.
While I was in line for Batman: The Ride, which was over an hour and filled all of the second queue house, a person had a seizure, and they had to temporairily shut down the ride. The place was a madhouse, will security and park staff coming at all directions.
With it being close to Halloween and the last regular operating day of the year, extra security was at the park. During the 'Fearanoia' show at 7:30pm, in the USA section, a man was arrested in front of DeeJay's Diner. He was struggling, and there were 5 cops on him. It looked like something from the show "Cops." No info on what the arrest was made on.
Acrophobia was working, as it had been down for about a month due to a lightning strike. It was more serious than the park though though, as Intamin officials had to come and fix the ride itself, rather than SFoG maintainence.
Lines were pretty moderate for the average Sunday. Ninja was the only walk-on of the day, and the longest wait was an hour for Batman.
OVERALL-- A good day to go, as it was very mild and slightly overcast. Lines weren't terrible, but could have been better. My first time staying at the park at night since 1997. I got to ride GASM and Ninja at night, and was highly pleased. 7/10

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2002...

12:30pm to 4:15pm

RIDES RIDDEN: 4-- The Georgia Scorcher, Batman: The Ride, Ninja, Superman: Ultimate Flight, Ninja

BEST RIDE OF DAY: Superman: Ultimate Flight

WORST RIDE OF DAY: Ninja (2)

First, let me state that this was my first official time to SFoG's Fright Fest, so expectations were moderate. I had heard that recent Fest's were quite pathetic, but I knew SFoG has tried to improve this year, by adding the toe-tag game, "Fearnanoia," which was introduced at other parks. Anyways, back to the trip. I knew the park opened at 12 instead of 10, so I wasn't in any rush to wake up early. I was going with one of my friends from out of town, and I hadn't been to SFoG with him since '95, which was the last time he was at an amusement park. We got on Six Flags Drive about 12:15, and getting the parking was easy. The parking lot wasn't packed at all, and we parked right in front of Batman. After he bought his ticket we went through the line and gave us the Fearanoia tag. We read the back to find out the details on how to play, and put it on our belt buckle. The theming so far was very light, and I wasn't really impressed, but I wasn't there for Fright Fest, just to ride the rides and see the park. Scorcher had about a 12-minute line, and we rode near the back. The ride is pretty good as a warm-up ride, but its gets worse the more it runs through the day. I like to hit it early. The ride was great and quick, and my friend enjoyed it, but complained as saying it was way to short. As we were walking towards USA and Gotham City, I told him no coaster was over 3 minutes long, and he wasn't happy about that and went on saying how they should make a coaster that goes around the whole park. I had no comment. Mindbender's line was out of the queue, but I knew the whole line wasn't full. Even though, we opted for Batman, and the line was a good 15 minute wait. We got the middle, and naturally another good, intense ride on a great ride. Nothing special there. We took a stroll around Gotham City and I showed my friend some of the other rides and history of the section. We then headed towards Deja Vu, though, I knew it was either not running or had a 3 hour line. It had just started to load the first train of the day so we went and saw the second queue house and it was full, so we decided to leave the line. We headed to Cotton States and saw Ninja had a walk-on wait, so we decided to jump on for a quick ride in the back. This ride has really gotten better in 2002, especially in the early hours the park has been open. It was a nice, quick ride, and then we went over to Superman: Ultimate Flight. The line wasn't huge, filled up about 3/4 of the queue line. But I noticed only 2 train operation, and only one station was running. We had been waiting for about 15 minutes, when it started to have train problems. They ran all trains without anyone on them back-to-back then nothing happened for 30 minutes. The line, though, was getting shorter because of all the people were leaving and we got up to near the "Superboy" sign. They then changed trains from the other S:UF utility building, and it was my first time seeing how they did that. They got the new train onto the station and people were on in less than five minutes. From that time, we had been waiting in line for about an hour, but we weren't about to leave now. We waited about 15 more minutes, then got to the front, where there were 9 people in front us. I wanted the front because I wanted the ultimate experience for waiting that long, and I knew my friend wanted to get his first experience in the best seat. We loaded up, and the wait definitely was deserving, as the ride, as usual, led up to expectations. I just wish the thing was longer! And so did my friend, although he really loved it and the "loopy thingy." We then saw Ninja had another short line so we decided to jump on it for another quick ride in the back, but the first one was far more better. We got off, and decided to leave to get some McDonald's up the road. On our way to The Promenade, my friend was stopped by one of the Fearanoia stalkers. She/he?? ripped off the bottom and said the top was good for a free admission on Halloween. Those people looked like freaks, and I suppose the costumes were good enough, but not great. I also didn't like that they walked in a group. I though they would be scattered. We left, and I was already exhausted and so was my friend. Still, we went to McDonalds, but we didn't return to SFoG as I has already had enough, and for some reason very tired. OVERALL-- Not a bad few hours at the park, but FF was disappointing so some degree, and only riding a few rides wasn't great, but not everything's the way you want it....

THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2002...

11:15am to 3:30pm

RIDES RIDDEN: 9-- The Georgia Cyclone, Acrophobia, Ninja, The Great American Scream Machine, Superman: Ultimate Flight, Riverview Carousel, Mindbender, Batman: The Ride, The Georgia Scorcher

BEST RIDE OF DAY: The Georgia Cyclone

WORST RIDE OF DAY: The Great American Scream Machine

When we entered the park (me and my friend), we had already been exhausted due to the fact my friend (who was driving) had a controversy with me about how to get to SFoG. She said one way, I knew the other. I won, and we got to SFoG (surprising?). It was about 10:30am when we entered the Value Parking line. We were kinda surprised at how many people were waiting outside of the gates, wondering if they had even opened yet. They were indeed open, just long lines. My friend starting to complain about how packed it was when we got to the parking lot (there were a little more people than I expected for Thursday) and saying that all the kid groups (they were about 5 very large groups there the whole day) need to go back home. Well, his complaining stopped and I had to wait for him to get her season pass processed. We entered the park promtly at 11:15am and headed for The Georgia Cyclone. It was about a 15 minute wait, and we decided to hit rides as we went besides just heading for Deja Vu and S:UF first. Unlike last Thursday, The Georgia Cyclone was running awesome and though a little jerky (which I like) it was an awesome ride, no doubt the best ride of the day and the best ride I had ever has on the ride. After our great ride on that, we headed towards Acrophobia, a ride my friend has never ridden before. It was about a 20 minute wait, and kinda pleasant. When we got on, we were not able to sit together, but close enough. It was a very good and smooth ride, as usual, and my friend ended up liking it, though the drop for her came a little too suddenly. We then headed towards Lickskillet and Cotton States passing Dahlonega Mine Train and Sky Buckets. We entered Deja Vu's line to then quickly leaving it as it was broke down, and many people were leaving the line. Im sorry, but this is just horrible engineering ride on Vekoma. If it wasn't a good ride and intense, I would no doubt dynamite the thing whenever I had the chance. We went towards Ninja, and since there was no-wait, we decided to take a whirl on it. We sat near the back, and I was extremely impressed with the ride. It did not give me a headache, and was kinda pleasant and fun. It will definitely rise in COASTER RANKINGS. After our good ride on Ninja, we headed towards The Scream Machine, to find a minimal wait of 10 minutes. Now, everytime I have ridden this ride since April 2001, I have been impressed and enjoyed it fully. But this ride was not pleasant at all. It was violent, there was little airtime, and speed seemed down. I hope this is just a one-day thing because I really enjoy this ride, while my friend thinks it should be burned. I did not agree with her. After that, we headed to S:UF to come to a very short wait of 10 minutes. There was no-line until you hit the station split-off. We couldn't pick our row again, and were sent to the back. I hope thats not new S:UF policy because S:UF is a definitely a better ride in the front. Anywhere else, its still good, but not as thrilling. This wasn't one of my better times on S:UF, just didn't give me the thrills as it did last week. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but its lost a little of its touch in rows 2 through last. After a quick look at our picture and restroom stop, we headed towards Carousel Hill and relax with a good, pleasant ride on the Carousel. As always, there was no-wait and walked right one. I am very happy that SFoG has this ride as it is very pleasant and placed upon the right spot. After the long, but relaxing ride on it we headed towards USA and Gotham City. We stopped by the COKE MISTERS in USA to cool off, and headed towards Mindbender. It had a 10 minute wait, so we said yes. This ride will never ever be bad, and anybody who doesn't like it should be arrested. It hasn't lost any touch, and is the smoothest ride in the park still after 23 years. We then headed towards B:TR to find the longest wait of the day, nearly 30 minutes. Batman's queue has good theming, but is absolute killer in heat, especially with many people in there. The ever growing gum on the walls in embarrsing to the park, and engrossing to look at. When we got to the station, we headed for the shortest wait, which was the second row. I also noticed new "Batcave" noises including a "Welcome back to the Batcave" explanation. It was a louder voice and told more of what to do. They also had a horrible bat noise that I guess they think is good, but none of the guests (including me) liked. Now, you basically now what your going to get when riding this ride. But when I rode this today, it took me by surprise. It definitely was the most intense ride of the day, and literally felt like the ride was going 70 mph. The gs felt insanly out of control, and felt like a 30 second ride instead of the listed 2 minutes. I don't know what they did to it, if anything, but it was definitely a more intense, faster, and more fun ride than I can ever remember. After that, my friend even said it felt a little more intense than it should have been. We knew our day was coming to an end, but I wanted to ride The Georgia Scorcher, since it was the only coaster I hadn't ridden all year. It was a short line, just under 10 minutes. The few times I've ridden the coaster I liked it and was smooth, but this ride on it didn't do much for me. It was still good and smooth, but had lost a little intensity. It might have been that I was extremely exhausted and just wanted to leave or something. We left The Scorcher knowing it was our last ride of the day.

0VERALL: 9 out of 10. A great day, and the waits were very short . Delay Ja Vu, again, was a broken down thing most of the day, but good rides on some rough coasters (Cyclone, Ninja) made the day very good.

THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2002...

10:10am to 2:00pm

RIDES RIDDEN:5-- Superman: Ultimate Flight, Deja Vu, Acrophobia, Batman: The Ride, The Georgia Cyclone

RIDES CLOSED TEMPORAIRILY: None

RIDES CLOSED ALL TRIP: Wheelie

- My first ride was on Superman: Ultimate Flight, in which we waited 20 minutes, the longest wait of the day. We rode in the front, and of the few times I had ridden the coaster, this ride was the best. The coaster, at the time was only running one station and two trains.

- My second ride of the day was Deja Vu, which opened just after 11:00am. They had given in about five test runs, until they opened the queue line. We waited about 15 minutes, without any breakdowns, and I sat in row 4A. My first ride on Deja Vu on April 6 was better and smoother.

- Acrophobia was my next ride, and it has about a 10 minute wait. It was my first time riding Acrophobia all year. It was a very good ride, and since we got the "back" I had a great view of the park.

- We then headed to Gotham City, where we waited for Batman: The Ride for almost 15 minutes. For the first time on this ride, I could actually feel the extreme G-Forces the coaster pulls. I also had a short and weak blackout after the first loop.

- We then headed to Mindbender's line, and noticed we had minimal time left, and the line was too long.

-After our short wait in that line, we decided to go towards the front. We noticed The Georgia Cylcone had a small wait and decided to ride that. It was my first ride of the year on the coaster, and boy was it a rough one. We sat in the very back, and it was the roughest ride I had ever had one a roller coaster, but it was still fun.

- We then headed back towards Acro, seeing it had about a 5 minute wait. After waiting for 2-3 mins., and being the next group to ride, they shut down the ride due to bad weather. That ended our day, since we had to leave by 2pm. It was a good day, in that I got to ride Deja Vu again, and rode Acro and Cyclone for the first time all year. I plan to go back in the next week.

This was one of my better trips to SFoG, mostley because I added two more coasters to my coaster collection. When we got near SFoG, I could see Acrophobia, Deja Vu, B:TR, and Mindbender. I then saw the numerous cars stopped in the Six Flags exit. I dreaded it. We stopped and I saw B:TR, Mindbender, and Deja Vu upclose. I was very excited. We finally got to the gates, and the park entrance was filled with people. We were dropped off, and immediately headed to the Season Pass line, which continued to nearly the end of the Scorcher, almost at the tip of Mindbender. We waited a few minutes, and heard a security guard say we could get the pass processed later, and use the green pass as a ticket. We got in the shortest line, and at 10:10am, I had entered SFoG for the first time since July of 2001! The park was packed, but looked good and lively. Me, along with my mother and friend, headed straight to S:UF, not knowing it was not open at the time. I looked at all the rides, smiling all the way there! We took the Carousel Hill shortcut, and began to see the massive and attractive B&M inverted track. Let me tell you this about S:UF. No matter what direction you're coming from, you cannot miss this huge track. The pretzel loop dominated the area. Their was already a line outside the huge and attractive sign to the newly themed area called "Metropolis Park." We looked around the vicinity and I was highly impressed. The Cotton States/Metropolis Park games were very active, nice, and enjoyable to have around. Before the actual queue line begins for S:UF, there is an area surrounded by the games, with a huge Superman "S" and neat comic board around an area of bench's in which you got a great view of S:UF, which (though not complete) has a very "clean, attractive, and good" theme to it, a lot better than I thought it would be. My mom waited in the non-moving line. She was about the 70th person standing in line. The workers around the area of the new virtual lockers (which I saw only at S:UF) said the ride should open at noon. So me and my friend went over to the no wait Scream Machine. The ride, like last year, was excellent. One thing you notice about Scream Machine when your riding though is of course a great view of S:UF and Metropolis Park, but The SouthernStar Amphitheatre, which I had never seen before. Due to the destruction of Viper and the room needed to be cleared for S:UF, the ampitheatre was a clear shot from the back end of the ride. I rode Scream Machine two more times, then headed to the dreadful Ninja. There was no-wait in the middle so, when the next train came in we hoped on. We got the harnesses down, and I noticed we were the only ones on the train besides two people in the front row. A Ninja supervisor asked us to get out because that train had an oil leak. He asked us to go to the back row and wait for the next train. We hoped on the next train, this time in the very back row, the row I had never ridden Ninja in. The ride did take me for surprise, not being rough very much, and for the first time...I came of the ride without a headache! It is still, in my opinion, a rough, and unpleasant coaster, but that ride made be consider riding it again on my next trip to SFoG. After that it was about 11:40am, and we headed back towards my mother who had moved up in line, near the lockers. We waited with her for the next 20 minutes, due to the fact she said the ride will open at noon. At 12:00pm, the ride supervisors opened the queue line, and people started cheering and we were off. I was impressed with the theming, (though not hardly complete) and it made me think of Islands of Adventure, as I could kind of imagine this ride fitting in a Marvel Super Hero Island. I also liked how the line had a great view of the coaster over head, as the coaster went over the queue many times, one of the only rides that does that at SFoG. We decided to go to the right station, seeing less people were going that way. We climbed the stairs and headed for the very back in open-ended station, in which I was also impressed with. Both stations were working, though only two trains were running on the track. The first GP train left on the left station, and when the train went into the flying postion, everyone oooohed and ahhhed, much like what the people did at Alton Towers when AIR opened. We waited about ten more minutes before our turn came. We were in the very last row, me sitting on the the right outside seat. I love the B&M "capsule" as I call it. You pull down the heavy, but comfortable shoulder harness, which also pulls your ankle braces down. We were off, and when we got to the top of the lift hill, I realized we were pretty high. The drop is too great to be put into words, and the pretzel loop pulls some insane Gs, especially near the back. The barrel roll, though, is a very underated element on this ride, and is very fun! After the great trip we headed back towards the station and plopped off. Like Viper, S:UF has its own store in which you must go through to leave. I did not know you had on-ride pictures until we got their and we saw our pictures going through the pretzel loop. After that we headed towards Deja Vu, though knowing there would probably be a good wait. We got there and decided to stay in line, though the sign said Deja Vu would have 180-minute wait. We had been waiting fro about 20 minutes, when the train got stuck 1/4 the way up the second tower. The people were stuck for about 25 minutes, until the pulley came and restarted the ride. During that time, about 150 people left the line, saying it was the third time the ride broke down while they were waiting. We moved up considerably, but still had a long time to go. The ride had numerous short delays in between the time we waited, but it was worth it. The ride was very good, probably the most intense ride I have ever ridden, and it is longer than expected. If the SFoG and Vekoma could find away to stop the mechanical failures from constantly happening, this could be one of the top rides in the world. After the exciting ride, we decided to go get something to eat. We went to the Gaslight on the Grill. I have to say this was the worst service I had ever received at a restaurant ever. Number one the lights were out in the place, which meant for uncomfortable conditions. Number two the workers in their were slower than...well I rather not say, and the prices and food was pathetic. Not to mention, the cashier gave my friend wrong change, nobody could find any ketchup, and the people inside ordering food were rude. I certainly will be writing a complaint. After that extravaganza, we headed towards Gotham City to ride Mindbender, which I hadn't rode in nearly a year! The line sign said an hour wait, but the line went very fast and took only thirty minutes to get on and ride. It was a pleasant ride like always, very graceful, smooth, and long. We then headed to B:TR, and waited over an hour. It was the longest time I had ever waited for B:TR. We rode in the second row, and it was probably the best ride I ever had on the coaster. It was definitely more intense and more smoother than ever. It was near 6:00pm when we headed towards Acrophobia, which had a 30-45 minute wait. We had been waiting for about 20 minutes, and then Acrophobia apparently had acrophobia because the ride would not go up the tower. It went about 20 feet up then stopped. People were on the ride for the next 20 minutes, sometimes moving up and down slightly, or sometimes spinning. Either way they didn't look happy. We left the line, and started to head out to get our season passes processed. Our ride, was going to be their at 7:00pm, so we decided to go ahead and leave and see about the SP line. It was an hour wait, so we decided to just do it when we return. Overall, it was a very good trip with me adding two more coasters to my coaster count, but it was extremely packed, and most of the park service was horrible (surprising?)