- June 24th, 2016, 10:28 pm
#88589
So, yesterday my family drove down to Atlanta for a wedding which will take place on Saturday. Since my family is amazing, they let me visit Six Flags Over Georgia on one of our free days. Despite that day being a sweltering Friday, I was all for it!
I arrived at the park at 10:15 and could already tell it would be completely different from my October visit last year. For one thing, I would be riding solo today with Sean being back in lovely NC. Also, the heat was already starting to slap me in the face despite it only being late in the morning. Not to mention the crowds were MUCH worse than my first visit. With that aside, my first ride of the day was Dare Devil Dive.
Most people wouldn't rush to this first, but I was curious about the ride's new VR.
From the moment Six Flags unveiled this for the slew of parks that would inevitably be screwed over by this, I bashed it. It seemed like such a terrible idea that would take away from the experience of you know, riding a roller coaster. Not to mention that capacity would have to be affected, right?
Well my oh my was I right. I had zero expectations for this and was still extremely disappointed. Let's start with the obvious: capacity. I managed to get into the station with about 50 - 100 people in front of me. Sean and I arrived at the exact same spot last year and had a 15 minute wait. With VR, that time was tripled to a near 45 minute wait. Surprisingly, a lot of the GP didn't want to use the VR as they saw it as dumb and potentially dangerous if it were to come off. (Well would you look at that, the GP actually thinking rationally!) For trains that decided to use VR, dispatches easily took 5 minutes. This may not sound too bad until you realize each train only holds six people. For anyone unlucky enough to get stuck at the switchbacks, you're looking at a 2 hour wait.
Next up: the experience. I was actually really impressed at first when I first got my headset on. It actually made me forget I was on a roller coaster (which would become a problem later on) as we stayed in the station. However, things would go south quickly when the train departed and turned for the lift hill.
The VR is incredibly good at keeping up with your head movement, but not so much the coaster's movement. My "plane" ended up never leaving the hangar for the entirety of the ride. Instead. I ended up staring at the back of my pilot's seat for the duration of the coaster. I'm not sure if there was a button I was supposed to press, but according to the man next to me, he had the same issue as well. Add to this the fact that the headset took so much away from the ride. Felt like I was riding a motion simulator at an arcade. In a nutshell, putting virtual reality on coasters was an awful idea. I know Cedar Point has been trying it with Valravn but I really hope it doesn't continue.
Next up was a ride that is still the hidden gem of this park.
Mindbender is just spectacular. Sure there's a little rattle here and there, but this ride is so glorious it's easy to overlook it. Definitely a must for a first-timer.
Crowds were getting really bad at this point and the heat wasn't much better. Nonetheless, I endured through it for a back row seat on Goliath!
Still probably one of the best hypers, if not the best hyper I've ever been on. So much fun and man, that helix got a lot more forceful since my last visit. It also helps that the layout of this coaster is very good as well.
Next up was the only new credit of the day...
Don't think I've ever waited so long for a kiddie coaster. If not for a half hour phone conversation with Sean to take my mind off of it, I probably would have gone insane. The ride itself is alright for what it is. Nothing special here, but the theming throughout this whole new area is excellent.
I arrived at the park at 10:15 and could already tell it would be completely different from my October visit last year. For one thing, I would be riding solo today with Sean being back in lovely NC. Also, the heat was already starting to slap me in the face despite it only being late in the morning. Not to mention the crowds were MUCH worse than my first visit. With that aside, my first ride of the day was Dare Devil Dive.
Most people wouldn't rush to this first, but I was curious about the ride's new VR.
From the moment Six Flags unveiled this for the slew of parks that would inevitably be screwed over by this, I bashed it. It seemed like such a terrible idea that would take away from the experience of you know, riding a roller coaster. Not to mention that capacity would have to be affected, right?
Well my oh my was I right. I had zero expectations for this and was still extremely disappointed. Let's start with the obvious: capacity. I managed to get into the station with about 50 - 100 people in front of me. Sean and I arrived at the exact same spot last year and had a 15 minute wait. With VR, that time was tripled to a near 45 minute wait. Surprisingly, a lot of the GP didn't want to use the VR as they saw it as dumb and potentially dangerous if it were to come off. (Well would you look at that, the GP actually thinking rationally!) For trains that decided to use VR, dispatches easily took 5 minutes. This may not sound too bad until you realize each train only holds six people. For anyone unlucky enough to get stuck at the switchbacks, you're looking at a 2 hour wait.
Next up: the experience. I was actually really impressed at first when I first got my headset on. It actually made me forget I was on a roller coaster (which would become a problem later on) as we stayed in the station. However, things would go south quickly when the train departed and turned for the lift hill.
The VR is incredibly good at keeping up with your head movement, but not so much the coaster's movement. My "plane" ended up never leaving the hangar for the entirety of the ride. Instead. I ended up staring at the back of my pilot's seat for the duration of the coaster. I'm not sure if there was a button I was supposed to press, but according to the man next to me, he had the same issue as well. Add to this the fact that the headset took so much away from the ride. Felt like I was riding a motion simulator at an arcade. In a nutshell, putting virtual reality on coasters was an awful idea. I know Cedar Point has been trying it with Valravn but I really hope it doesn't continue.
Next up was a ride that is still the hidden gem of this park.
Mindbender is just spectacular. Sure there's a little rattle here and there, but this ride is so glorious it's easy to overlook it. Definitely a must for a first-timer.
Crowds were getting really bad at this point and the heat wasn't much better. Nonetheless, I endured through it for a back row seat on Goliath!
Still probably one of the best hypers, if not the best hyper I've ever been on. So much fun and man, that helix got a lot more forceful since my last visit. It also helps that the layout of this coaster is very good as well.
Next up was the only new credit of the day...
Don't think I've ever waited so long for a kiddie coaster. If not for a half hour phone conversation with Sean to take my mind off of it, I probably would have gone insane. The ride itself is alright for what it is. Nothing special here, but the theming throughout this whole new area is excellent.
We've got heads on sticks
You've got ventriloquists
______________________
261 Coasters and Counting...
You've got ventriloquists
______________________
261 Coasters and Counting...
