This Sunkid alpine coaster uses a ski lift to get its trains up to the top instead of a traditional chain or cable lift. Genuinely such a cool system

I don't believe I've ever seen a picture of this poster in the subreddit before, so figured I'd share! It's located on the backside of the lockers, facing a bush, making it pretty difficult to spot unless by accident. Love that even eight years after the ride opened there are still new details to discover!

Went to Atlanta for my final rides on ArieForce One. While AF1 stole the show, I’m so happy I decided to spend 3 hours are SFOG because Goliath is just incredible.

This is my 2nd time at SFOG and on my first visit I only got 1 ride on Goliath due to its 90min wait. This time around, I was able to get 4 near walk on rides.

WOW

Solidified as my favorite B&M hyper. The ejector on this thing?! Didn’t know this ride model could go that hard!

Thats a big inversion

Hoping for a soft opening this evening!!

Things are really starting to take shape…

I found it while trying to find the Chaos ride that is allegedly in Costa Rica. I have not found who owns this inverter yet, but still a pretty big discovery. This showman also seems to own a pinfari ZL42. Any ideas? https://youtu.be/8dc2KZluL18?si=fnQykoGqzQNdbCbD

The CBC has some additional photos of the transport process. Four belugas are going to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and two are headed to SeaWorld San Antonio - all on board the same plane. Other belugas are destined for SeaWorld San Diego, the Georgia Aquarium, and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.

This is much welcome news as there were fears the whales would be euthanized unless the Canadian government could come to an agreement about their sale. (They did not want the whales going to parks with captive breeding programs.)

Of special interest in this sub is the final paragraph of the article:

For Niagara Falls, Canada Mayor Jim Diodati, the positives are twofold.

"Number one, it’s great for the animals. Number two, it’s going to be great for the potential of redeveloping Marineland," Diodati said. "We see this as win-win. There's a lot of great theme park developers around the world that have expressed interest [in buying Marineland], and now that the whales will have been moved, I think it’s going to open the doors for opportunity."

My first SLC. Really jerky and that pothole on the rollover was atrocious in the front. The rest of the layout was tolerable though.

Had my daughter work her ass of threatening she wouldn’t get the credit if she didn’t (that of course is a joke)

The way Europa Park pumps out trains on this ride is really impressive and makes for some fun racing/dueling.

I'm talking about rides like the Tivoli at Fiesta Texas or sky scream at Holiday Park, which was originally for the Great Mall Of China

I made the cross-country trip to Atlanta this past week to ride ArieForce One before it closed. I was there for four days:

- Fun Spot Atlanta: Wednesday, July 15 (all day) & Saturday, July 18 (1 hour)

- Six Flags Over Georgia: Thursday, July 16, Friday, July 17 (all day), & Saturday, July 18 (3 hours)

Stats

- 85 rides

- 14 new credits

- 3 non-coaster rides

- 30 hours in the parks over 4 days

- 93,057 steps & 43 miles walked (inside & outside the parks)

Fun Spot Atlanta

Like many of you already know, this feels like a more permanent version of a traveling carnival. The old parking lot lines are still visible throughout the park. There is some greenery, but not nearly as much as you'd expect from a traditional amusement park. Walking around on all that concrete in the Georgia heat can be rough, so be prepared and stay hydrated.

The food prices were interesting. Some things were surprisingly cheap (hot coffee for $2 or fresh cookies for $3), while others felt expensive (iced coffee for $6, Dippin' Dots for $11). Overall, though, it was still inexpensive compared to Six Flags. I had the chicken tenders and fries, and they were better than expected. Whatever they're doing in that fryer, it's working.

The Other Rides

The only other rides I rode were the kiddie coaster Sea Serpent and Hurricane Coaster. Sea Serpent was actually more interesting than most kiddie coasters, and Hurricane had a layout I hadn't experienced before. It was definitely on the janky side, though, and could use a little more banking on the turns. Both were enjoyable enough for a single ride, but I didn't feel the need to go back.

ArieForce One (21 rides)

I managed 20 rides on Wednesday (all on the blue train) and one ride on Saturday (red train). AF1 is now my most-ridden coaster.

On Wednesday they were running one train, with either a walk-on or a 1–3 train wait, even for the front or back. Saturday they were running both trains, and the wait was around 20 minutes with the line extending outside the station.

Did it live up to the hype? Absolutely.

If anyone ever wants to know the secret to my heart, it's a great zero-g stall. ArieForce One has one of the best. Morning rides are fantastic if you're looking for something a little smoother, but by the afternoon the train is absolutely hauling. Almost too intense.

The biggest strength of ArieForce One is that there really aren't any filler elements. Even the back half is relentless. The turnaround near the end pulls some serious forces, and I consistently greyed out on the final barrel roll.

After enough laps, the final six bunny hops started to lose their novelty for me. They're still fun, but the thigh bruising starts to take over. Also...brace yourself for the brake run.

Overall, I completely understand why this coaster has developed such a devoted following. It's an incredible ride, and I'm glad I made the trip before it was gone.

Also, shout out to all the new thoosie friends I met at AF1.

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Six Flags Over Georgia

First visit

This might surprise a few of you, but this was my first visit to a Six Flags park since 2011.

Overall, I would say the park has a good, but not great, coaster lineup. It feels like it's missing that one standout, destination coaster. If only there were another fantastic coaster in need of a new home somewhere down the street... 🤔

I spoke with a woman who is the daughter of the park manager. She said they assessed moving AF1, and it's not happening.

In general, I found most of the rides here to be rougher than their counterparts elsewhere.

Rankings

Twisted Cyclone (20 rides) – While AF1 is the better single ride, TC is far more pleasant for marathoning and packs a lot of action into such a short layout and footprint. I even managed about 10 consecutive rerides without leaving the station.

Goliath (20 rides) – My third B&M hyper. I've ridden a very similar layout at Silver Star in Europa-Park. Goliath had better airtime but was noticeably rougher. I greyed out significantly every time on the downward spiral. I did get to marathon it Thurs evening.

Superman: Ultimate Flight (9 rides) – My fifth flyer and fourth B&M flyer. I'm generally not the biggest fan of B&M flyers, but this one ranks high in the park thanks to how smooth it is. It definitely feels short. I marathoned this Friday morning (8 rides before noon)

Dare Devil Dive (4 rides) – Gerstlauer Euro-Fighters are usually the coaster type most likely to give me headaches. I've ridden two famous ones (Saw and Takabisha), and both rank among my worst ride experiences. This one, on the other hand, I really enjoyed. It was still intense, but not overwhelmingly so.

Riddler Mindbender (1 ride) – Great ride...right up until the brakes. This is the coaster I most wish I'd gotten a second ride on.

Georgia Scorcher (2 rides) – My third stand-up coaster and second B&M stand-up. Great first half, but the second half starts to deliver a bit too much headbanging.

Blue Hawk (2 rides) – I enjoyed this more than Goudurix. Still fairly rough, but the setting over the water is quite nice.

Batman: The Ride (1 ride) – I rode in the back row, which turned out to be a mistake. It wasn't terrible, but the headbanging near the end made it a one-and-done. I usually enjoy Batman clones, but this was my least favorite.

Dahlonega Mine Train (1 ride) – A fairly standard mine train with just the right amount of classic Arrow jank.

Great American Scream Machine (2 rides) – Quite rough and bumpy. Yet, for some reason, I still felt compelled to ride it twice.

Joker Funhouse Coaster (1 ride) – A fun little family coaster.

Non-coasters

Pandemonium – Standard, with some pretty good airtime.

Monster Mansion – A great dark ride, especially for a Six Flags park.

Thunder River – It's been a long time since I've ridden a rapids ride, but this one was good. I only got slightly wet toward the end.

Firsts

- Two RMC hybrids in one day (technically AF1 is all steel).

- E&F Miler coaster.

Other Recommendation

City View Sports Bar (about a mile from SFOG) has an awesome Thursday karaoke night, though the frozen margaritas were a little weak.

And for those of you who saw my missed connections post...yes, we ran into each other again and exchanged numbers. 😀

First time visiting from PA, where my home park is Dorney. Entry was easy, they gave us comp tickets and a drink wristband at Guest Services after showing our Six Flags passes. Inside the park, discounts worked as promised as well.

The park is overall very well maintained and clean. The park feels very "Cedar Fair" so it felt weird being here knowing it is no longer part of that family. The Fair of Cedar Fair :(

After visiting, here are my rankings of the OG CF parks...please note that I don't think any of these parks are bad and enjoyed my visit to all of them.

1. CP

2. CW

3. KI

4. KD

5. Knotts

6. Carowinds

7. Dorney

8. Worlds of Fun

9. Valleyfair

10. CGA

(Only missing Michigan's Adventure)

The overall atmosphere was very beautiful and the park had good vibes with nice landscaping and lots of water features.

My only complaint about the park presentation is that the whole left side of the park feels very empty and missing rides that may have used to be there. It's just restaurants and games and not many rides.

Coaster reviews:

Mad Mouse 2.5/5 (X1)- just an arrow wild mouse, nothing special

Renegade 4/5 (x1)- I like GCIs and this was a very good one. Very non stop the whole time and probably my fav coaster at the park... closely followed by:

Xcaliber 4/5 (x2) - this is a good kind of janky ride and you get some surprising pops of air at times. Probably underrated overall.

Wild Thing 3.5/5 (x2) - we kept calling it Green Steel Force. First drop and 2nd hill were great. After that the ride is kind of boring / tame. The mid course break run was on full blast and the ride really struggled on the bunny hills. I rode twice bc I wanted to like it more than I did but not much airtime compared to Red Steel Force.

Steel Venom 3.75/5 (x1) - just Possessed from Dorney but the holding break works!!! I forgot how much it really adds to the ride.

Corkscrew 2.5/5 (x1)- the only upside-down coaster in the park!!! Not too rough for an Arrow looper. Nothing special but adds good kinetic energy / vibes.

High Roller 2/5 (x1) - the oldest coaster in the park and it was def a once and done kind of ride. Despite riding in the front row, no air time and it was kind of rough.

Cosmic Coaster 2.5/5 (x1) - the dragon from Dorney!!! So it was awesome riding again for sentimental purposes with my 4 year old daughter!

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Also rode the River rapids which was through the woods and good. Reminded me of the one from Kings Dominion but with less theming.

The train functions as a real train and actually takes you to the other side of the park which I love.

Water Park was small but presented well. The guests seemed to love it and the new kiddie slides area was great for my daughter.

All employees were nice and the ride ops were efficient in making sure trains were full when lines formed, something I haven't seen much at the smaller chain parks.

If you are an amusement park enthuisist, then you should put Valleyfair on your bucket list. It's a great locals park and I hope that Enchanted can breathe new light on the park so it can shine even brighter like it deserves. We really enjoyed our day here.

I just remembered that a couple of months ago, it was reported that fosters were spotted being put in for a potential B&M coaster. Does anyone have any more recent news on this? Could it be ready for a spring/Summer 2027 opening?

It changed from Catwomen’s Whip to Catwomen Whip in sometime in 2026 or before. Does anyone have and idea why they dropped the ‘s

Vertical lift hill. Beyond vertical drop. The first overbank. Finnish loop. Dive loop. Immelman loop. Corkscrew.

And my oh my, the restraints. No OTSR on this ride is the absolute best. The restraints are on par with B&M clamshells in terms of comfort. The sliding back feeling you get going up that lift hill is so good, just to be thrown over the other side into that beyond vertical drop.

Ops for this ride (and at A-land in general) always seem on point.

The only thing that would make this coaster better would be removing the trims.

Between this and Matugani, I’m not sure which one is my Iowa favorite.