Days of rain have swollen local rivers and streams, leading to flooding in the metro Atlanta area, particularly around Six Flags in Austell. The AP has a photo of what looks like the Georgia Cyclone The Great American Scream Machine's track (corrected by reader) partially submerged.
Park officials say that Six Flags Over Georgia is preparing to open this weekend. The Atlanta paper has more photos here.
Here's some aerial video:
Six Flags gave me perfect weather, mostly clear skies, and sweltering heat, similar to Orlando, but then there was this.
Oops. Georgia, I'm sorry. I vow not to darken your mouldy door steps with my presence for a while!
This looks considerably worse than the last time there was a major flood there...
And to the anonymous poster above - Georgia Cyclone is an amazing coaster with amazingly horrible trains. If they would just do something to improve the trains the ride would have a great boost in ridability.
"Now, at Six Flags! Mr. Six's 'Pump and Bail." Grab you bucket and join us for all the fun!"
Robert's "pump and bail" comment reminds me of a story from old Coney Island. In the early 1900's, Coney suffered a series of bad fires. One in particular was in 1907 at George Tilyou's Steeplechase Park. Most of his park was completely destroyed by the fire, leaving little more than a 25 acre pile of burnt rubble. Ever the showman, George Tilyou put up a sign at his charred front gates that read.
"I have troubles today that I did not have yesterday, I have troubles yesterday that I have not today. On this spot will be erected shortly a bigger, better, greater Steeplechase Park. Admission to the burning ruins...10 cents"
Last time SFOG flooded this bad (and it was not as bad as this flood) was in 1995, when Hurricane Opal raced inland and dumped torrential rains in the A-T-L... It occurred just before the opening weekend of Fright Fest, but the park managed to open on time, with the exception of the haunted house. That haunted house, not to be confused with the present day Fearman's Manor in the USA section, was located in the current picnic pavilion area and was completely flooded and had to be completely rebuilt. I do not know how the Scream Machine will be dealt with. Sections of the track are submerged this time around.
SFOG is planning on being open this weekend, although a few select rides affected by the flood will remain shut down.
Maybe this is a sign of what's ahead. I would love it if they built a hybrid roller/water coaster. As for Georgia Cyclone, I have heard rumors from park employees that this ride's days may be numbered in favor of another ride. But that is just rumor.
Instead of riding Thunder River, maybe we can ride the 'real' Thunder River this weekend! :+)
....but renting rafts to paddle around the submerged park? Awesome. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity IMHO. Guests will enjoy the approaching "animatronic" alligators.
To the wood coasters, it could REALLY ware down the wood, so it's no where near as safe as they used to be (Although their 2 woodies weren't that safe from roughness BEFORE the flood).
And the steel coasters could suffer from major rust...
Oh, and I never saw any thing on Acraphobia, Superman, or my by far fav coaster there, GOLIATH! Does anyone have any news on that?
But still, I know SFOG got flooded, and it's terrible, but guys, so many people were flushed out of their homes in atlanta, and all around, too.
Oh, and keep this in mind: Ninja and GASM were both over water... so a flood here is kinda expected if there is A LOT of rain...
The entire guest parking lot was flooded, and most of the rides that are along that side of the park. I know how much maintenance used to check some of the rides, and let's just say I wouldn't ride Free Fall. Cyclone and Ninja have gotten to the point where they are too rough to ride (Ninja was flooded; Cyclone wasn't). I knew someone who was wearing earrings while riding Ninja, and their ears were bleeding afterward because of the shoulder pads. With Scream Machine, I have personally seen a guest come back into the station holding the lap bar above their head.
I read on here that Six Flags wants to put up some kind of thing to keep guests out of the recently flooded areas. What they used to do was put up a sign in the path going to that area. They'll probably try to put up caution tape too. Good luck with that...the "barricades" are not going to work unless they pay cops to come and stand in the areas. Even then, people will think that they can get over to those areas to see the damage. I've seen people do it before.
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