SFOG TR - Saturday, 4/1...Crowded, But A Good Time

Hi all...

I went out to SFOG on Saturday, and it was jam-packed with people - not a big surprise, actually. My younger brother was in town visiting, and he had never been to SFOG...so we went.

First, we rode the Georgia Scorcher - a 35 minute wait - but with two trains operating, the line moved constantly...we rode in the back row and had a great ride...my brother loved it (although he commented that it did seem a bit short).

Next, we walked over to Gotham City...my brother has ridden Batman: The Ride at SFGAdv, so we decided to skip it because it wasn't really VITAL to ride...so we got in line for Mindbender...another wait of about 35 minutes - two trains operating. We had a great ride, but I was disappointed that the block brakes have resumed their operation...back on Opening Day, MB's block brakes were not being used, and it made for a surpisingly intense ride...then again, it was only running one train that day, so there was no need to operate the brakes to maintain separation between trains...It was fun anyway...

We then decided to walk to the back of the park...Ninja had the longest line of the day...we waited about an hour (only ONE train was running)... I was happy that we waited though - it became my brother's favorite (up to that point) coaster of all we had ridden...he liked the inversions and the head choppers that are pervasive throughout the ride... I never would have waited an hour for Ninja, myself, but I was entertaining my brother, and he LOVED it, so it was worth it.

Next, we headed over to Great American Scream Machine...it was about 4 PM by this time, so I expected it would probably be about at its peak for the day...all warmed up and FAST...and it was! Huge amounts of airtime...on the way OUT AND coming back! We waited about 40 minutes for GASM (two trains running), and again, my brother LOVED it, so it was worth the wait.

We made the executive decision to skip Viper...my brother had ridden a shuttle loop before, and it seemed that if we were going to wait in another line, it would be a better use of our time to head over to Georgia Cyclone...so we did...

Cyclone was running two trains, and we had to wait about 45 minutes for another GREAT woodie ride...very fast, very tight, lots of drops (my brother's impressions)....the back seat ride is ALWAYS intense on the Cyclone...This ride ended up being my brother's favorite of the day...which I fully agree with.

Other impressions...my brother was like a fish out of water (he attends college at Georgetown in Washington DC)... He said that there seemed to be "alot of trailer trash with cell phones" at SFOG...I agreed...I'm just used to it... He also noted that "it looks like alot of these people can't afford the clothes they are wearing...let alone the price of admission." In other words, it took him about five minutes to perfectly sum up SFOG's GP...

After Cyclone, we departed the park, and headed to the Vortex Bar and Grill (in the Little Five Points neighborhood in Atlanta) and chowed down on Jerk Chicken Wings and Burgers - I had a Western Barbeque Burger - he had a Cordon Bleu Burger... It's a GREAT (and affordable) place to unwind after a day at SFOG...and it's on my way home, too...

Best Regards, Bill M. / AtlantaCoaster