Ranked: The Top 11 Roller Coasters at Six Flags Over Georgia

Welcome back to another "Ranked" article here on Laughing Place. Living in Orlando, I made the trek one state north to Georgia last weekend, specifically Atlanta. You see, there's a big new coaster that opened up at Fun Spot Atltana (which we’ll talk about in the future) that I just had to experience. So while there, I thought let's also go to Six Flags Over Georgia!

The second Six Flags park, and one of only three built by the company, Six Flags Over Georgia is located near Atlanta and opened in 1967. The park is currently home to 11 roller coasters, with a 12th on the way this summer. Ahead of this list, I want to give a shout out to an incredible non-coaster attraction, The Monster Mansion. It's an incredible dark boat ride attraction filled to the brim with animatronics (stay tuned for a post on that too!). But without any further ado, let's countdown the Top 11 roller coasters at Six Flags Over Georgia!

Dare Devil Dive is an attraction that should not be at the bottom of this list. I’ve been on many comparable coasters by the same manufacturer, Gerstlauer, and have enjoyed them all to some degree. However, on this ride, in order for me to ride, the restraint had to be pushed so far down onto my legs that I started to lose feeling in them. Trust me, that's not a fun way to experience a coaster. The layout and ride itself was smooth, but I just couldn't even think about enjoying it with the pain in my legs.

The Dahlonega Mine Train is the park's oldest operating coaster, themed after a gold rush in Dahlonega, Georgia. I enjoyed the thematic touches on the way to the station and the layout itself was pretty fun, at least what there was of it. Similarly to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, there were three lift hills, but there really didn't need to be, with practically nothing happening between each lift hill until a fun drop into a tunnel at the end of the ride. This is definitely one of the weakest mine train coasters I’ve been on.

Surprisingly, the smaller, supposedly even more kid-friendly Joker Funhouse Coaster packed more of a punch than the Dahlonega Mine Train. Getting into the small trains, you expect this to be nothing more than a kid's coaster, but the Joker Funhouse Coaster offers some surprisingly forceful turns and drops making this a fun diversion for any coaster enthusiast.

Georgia Scorcher could have been a contender for my favorite stand-up coaster, had I not just ridden the new Pipeline: The Surf Coaster at SeaWorld Orlando the week prior. Even so, the second most recent stand-up coaster (opened way back in 1999) is a decent ride. The smaller, more compact layout, compared to a large stand-up monstrosity such as Riddler's Revenge at Six Flags Magic Mountain, really helps here, as there is far less head or neck banging. Still, there's only so much enjoyment I can personally get from old-school stand-up coasters, hence the lower ranking for this.

I recently rode Goudurix at Parc Asterix in France, which I called one of the worst coasters I’ve ever had the misfortune to ride. Blue Hawk could have had the same distinction, being a very similar coaster from the same manufacturer, Vekoma. Heck, they both have beautiful lakeside settings. What gives Blue Hawk a supreme edge is the new trains it received in 2017, that feature vest restraints instead of the old, bulky over-the-shoulder restraints. Along with a slightly improved track, this makes Blue Hawk a fun, forceful, and pretty coaster experience.

Superman: Ultimate Flight is a smaller version of Manta at SeaWorld Orlando and Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain, two of the more intense coasters out there. Undoubtedly the most intense part of all three rides is the pretzel loop, named after a pretzel because it looks like one. This inversion thrusts you onto your back and is one of the most intense feelings on any coaster. Aside from the pretzel loop, this ride really felt like a watered down version of the other two. It had the sweeping motions that flying coasters are known for, but it just felt a bit meandering.

The Great American Scream Machine is a classic wooden coaster that just turned 50 years old, having opened in 1973. With the coaster's age in mind, I was expecting a rough, somewhat boring experience, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. There was some decent airtime following some of the drops, and the ride was pretty dang smooth for a 50 year old wooden coaster. It by no means lives up to some of the more modern thrills in the park, but it gets points for not jackhammering me to death!

Batman: The Ride can be found at many Six Flags parks, and often gets maligned for being cloned so much, as there are eight in the Six Flags chain alone. But just because it's a clone, doesn't mean it is not an incredible ride. While small in stature, this ride made up for it with incredibly forceful and whippy maneuvers that you just don't find on many larger inverted coasters. Bolliger & Mabillard hit it out of the park with their inverted coaster right at the beginning, and it's still a very popular coaster type to this day.

Another classic at Six Flags Over Georgia is Mindbender, which recently got new trains, a repaint and a retheme to The Riddler Mindbender. Despite all the changes, it's still an intense, yet smooth coaster experience from the defunct coaster manufacturer Schwarzkopf. I was really impressed by the scale of this ride, particularly with its setting in a ravine. Some of the views you get on the ride as the coaster dives into the ravine are absolutely stunning. Add to that your typical intense loops for this coaster type, and smooth experience, and you have a classic that still holds up to this day.

From a classic to the park's newest coaster – Twisted Cyclone is a creation from the creative minds at Rocky Mountain Construction. Everything Twisted Cyclone does, it does well. From a great first drop, to barrel rolls and plenty of pops of airtime. My only issue is that this is probably the shortest RMC coaster I’ve experienced, coming in at just 2,400 ft (compared to over 4,000 ft for something like Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay). Still, even a short RMC is better than most other coasters, which is why Twisted Cyclone easily comes in at #2 on this list.

I had heard good things about Goliath, a B&M Hyper coaster (or coaster over 200 feet tall) going into my trip, but I was not prepared for just how much I would like this. The first half is similar to Mako at SeaWorld Orlando, with a large first drop followed by some hills giving good floater airtime. We then turn around through a very forceful helix that sends the blood rushing to your feet. Unlike Mako, the second half is a non-stop barrage of very intense ejector airtime. Goliath lifts you out of your seat and slams you back down all the way to the brake run. I would honestly say that it's some of the best airtime I’ve experienced on any coaster, and it puts Goliath very high up on my overall coaster rankings. Definitely the coaster highlight of Six Flags Over Georgia!

I hope you all enjoyed this ranking of my Top 11 roller coasters at Six Flags Over Georgia. If you want to see some more theme park rankings, feel free to check out some of my other "Ranked" articles listed below: