Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Six Flags Over Georgia On My Mind - Part 3


The last major area of Six Flags Over Georgia that we've yet to explore is Gotham City.  As the area's name would imply, Batman rules here, though plenty of his villain friends are in town as well.


The entrance to the section is just past the U.S.A. area, down the hill and under the park's railroad tracks.  This makes for a nice entrance, and secludes the section from the main part of the park.


After entering Gotham City one of the first attractions guest see is the Crime Wave, a wonderfully themed wave swinger.  The ride's name is a great pun - I'm a fan of a good pun - on both the villain characters that adorn its colored panels, and the wave-like motion the ride creates.  The ride was added to the park in 2004, having been moved all the way from Japan.


The oldest attraction in the area, from before it was even themed as Gotham City, is Mindbender.  This coaster opened in 1978 and at the time featured a silver paint job.  Since Gotham City didn't exist, the area was a kind of add-on to the U.S.A. area.


While much of the ride isn't visible from inside the park, it's still a great example of why Schwarzkopf coasters remain so highly regarded today.  The ride features two vertical loops, and a third loop that's really a highly banked helix.  In the end, the ride is just a lot of fun and a treasure for the park to have.


Six Flags Over Georgia's Gotham City has always appealed to me as one of the better themed Batman areas that 'old' Six Flags created.  While so many parks have Batman themed rides and attractions, few have areas that take the theme outside those rides, at least more than some light theming.  This Gotham City is the opposite of that.


All of the buildings and common areas of Gotham Cit are pretty run-down in appearance, and quite frankly look dirty.  But that's a good thing!  This is exactly the goal of the theming and, well, it works.


In addition to the buildings, there are numerous themed signs around the area to provide even more atmosphere.  I'd love to see what kind of circus would visit Gotham City!


The other star attraction in Gotham City is Batman The Ride, which features a beautiful outdoor queue that juts right up against Mindbender's final turn.  The path is covered in tall trees, masking much of the ride's layout from view.


And naturally, the dark station features the Batman icon, glowing above the loading area for the trains.


Batman was recently painted and now has some nice blue track atop dark supports - a very appealing color scheme.  The ride is intense as all the other Batman clones, quick and to the point.

That about wraps up my visit to the park, hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride!


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