Six Flags Over Georgia, Amusement Park Review

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I am lukewarm on Six Flags Over Georgia. My first trip was in October during the Fright Fest. I was highly disappointed that after spending all the money to get our family inside the park, all of the Halloween related attractions cost extra money! Seriously? These folks need to visit Cedar Point to learn how to deliver spooky fun. Cedar Point had fortune tellers, zombies (not too gross!) roaming the park, graveyards, and several haunted houses for all age ranges, all for FREE. Six Flags charges extra (like $10 per attraction) for their haunted houses, Terror Train, and coffin-car ride. Plus, it was so packed that the lines were really, really long.




Nonetheless, we decided to upgrade our tickets and get season passes for the next year. We’ve gone three more times already and have had better luck. Spring break for Cobb County was busy, but not as packed as Fright Fest. The other two times, we’ve gone when the park opened on Sundays and the lines are great! We’ve been able to go on all the rides over and over, leave by about dinner time, and feel like we’ve done all we want to do.

Also unlike Disney, Cedar Point, and Kings Island, the roller coasters are either extreme or extremely jerky, so there really isn’t a good medium thrill coaster. That’s really too bad. If you’re just looking for a fun, smooth, up and down ride without severe twists, turns, or loops, you’re out of luck. Of the three coasters that don’t go upside down, two are really jerky (especially the mine ride) or over-the-top big and fast like Goliath.





You can still go often, have a fun day, and do things that you love at Six Flags, but if you have lived other places and stop to compare Six Flags, you may not think it’s worth the same price tag. Their coasters will put you in every possible position except on your back - from sitting, standing, hanging, and prone (on Superman).

The log ride is wonderful and great for families. The best medium-thrill ride is Thunder River although you could get completely saturated. This is where it pays to have already placed your phone in a baggie! And now that you’ll be walking around in soaking shoes for the rest of the day, those bandages you put in the baggie will come in handy.

There are honestly not a lot of rides for the 8-ish age group who are too big for the kiddie rides by not ready for extreme coasters. They may like the Great American Scream Machine and Mine Ride (which are both really jerky), Crime Wave Swings, Rockin’ Tug Boat, Hanson Cars, Sky Buckets, bumper cars, and water rides.





Unfortunately, despite your attempts to have fun, it really does seem like they try to nickel and dime and dollar you to death. It can cost more then $50 just to buy lunch for a family of four, and that was with our kids splitting a chicken meal! We spent $54 for two small pieces of pizza, a chicken meal, and a refillable drink cup. You can refill the cup all summer for just $1 per refill, so if you bought a season pass, go ahead and spend the extra $15 for the cup and it will definitely save you money in the long run at $4 a pop for a drink. Walking around on the blacktop in the heat makes you very thirsty and this is no place to skimp. Six Flags does do shade well. You can always find a bench or rock wall somewhere in the shade. Also, if you’re trying hard not to drop $100 on food, pack a picnic lunch and keep it in a cooler in your car. Re-entry is allowed and you can easily go back to your car, eat, and return to have some more fun.





Other rip offs: Some roller coasters don’t have cubbies for you to place your belongings in and require you to rent a locker that costs $1 each time you open it. Don’t get stuck at those roller coasters without having someone hold your stuff! We had a few blisters in our group and went to the first aid station. Band-aids, Tylenol, etc. are available in vending machines, too. So not even a free Band-aid at this place! The bungee drop Sky Coaster costs extra ($35!).





Their park map outlines where different food vendors are and claims to have a variety of healthy food, but it doesn’t really seem like they do. It’s mostly more of the same fries, cheese fries, bacon-ranch cheese fries, foot-long corn dogs, pizza, chicken fingers, pork sandwiches, and burgers that most parks serve. You can find a mediocre salad in a few places, but let me tell you that sure won’t fill you up after walking around all day.





Popcorn and cotton candy also abound, as do funnel cakes. Their funnel cake sundae is truly awesome - a funnel cake covered with four dollops of soft serve ice cream, strawberries, chocolate syrup, and more dollops of whipped cream. It fed our whole family of four for dessert and was delicious. If you’re going to eat something like that anyway, it might as well be truly sinful and delicious.

275 Riverside Parkway

Austell, GA 30168

http://www.sixflags.com/overGeorgia/index.aspx