Six Flags Over Georgia has announced its new for 2024 Intamin Ultra Surf will be known as Georgia Surfer. This was the result of a contest with 2,500 suggestions and 27,000 votes. The new coaster is going in the spot of the former Splash water Falls and incorporates water features, giving visitors another way to get wet on hot Georgia summer days.

Georgia Surfer is bringing a totally new coaster experience to the park. Riders will launch forward and backward along nearly 590 feet of track, reaching speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, hitting the ride’s 144-foot peak before coasting down into a scenic splash pool. Free-spinning seats ensure no two rides are alike.

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There are also a few little nuggets to take note of in the release. First, is that with the free-spinning seats, no two rides will ever be the same. Second, the water features are dynamic and can be changed or even turned off in the cooler months. Third, the manufacturer is Intamin, a well regarded coaster manufacturer that Six Flags hasn’t worked much with recently. Finally, even though the park opens on March 2nd for the 2024 season, don’t expect to ride Georgia Surfer until summer 2024. Although this is initially disappointing, I suppose it makes sense to allow the coaster to shine with all the important water features operating for opening rather than scaled back for what can be a cold Georgia spring.

Coaster enthusiasts often talk about “gaps” in a park’s coaster lineup. It’s sort of a checklist of different coaster types and styles such as wooden, inverted, hyper, suspended, family, etc. Two of the common gaps pointed out for Six Flags Over Georgia was the lack of a launch coaster and the lack of a spinning coaster. With Georgia Surfer the park knocks out both of these. Below is a rendering of the train car and you can see the great board shape and the two free spinning gondolas of 10 seats each. You can also see video of it in action here.

Of course this New launch coaster brings back memories of the park’s original launch coaster Viper. This “shuttle loop” coaster was a relocated ride originally known as Tidal Wave at Six Flags Great America. Tidal Wave was actually my favored name for the new coaster to pay homage to the history of the park’s history. The ride used gravity and a falling weight to propel the train and it had an iconic “clank” sound. Thanks Sean Flaharty for the video below for allowing me to relive this great ride!