On January 22, 2025 Six Flags Over Georgia announced its newest thrill attraction, Georgia Gold Rusher, will open in Spring of 2025. This first-of-its-kind family ride combines high-speed adventure and soaring elevation with free-spinning gondola seating and dynamic water features. This attraction was originally announced with the name Georgia Surfer and the new Georgia Gold Rusher’s name and reimagined theming is part of a larger investment in overall guest experience. Enhancements in dining, décor, storytelling and retail will accompany the new attraction.

This seems to be a product of the recent Cedar Fair and Six Flags merger. Six Flags Over Georgia General Manager Greg Fuller alluded to the storytelling capabilities of Cedar Fair during his 2024 Coaster Fest presentation, so perhaps these seeds were planted way back then?  Georgia Gold Rusher story introduces guests to the eccentric prospector William “Willy” Gibson, a clever, young entrepreneur with a mischievous streak and his steam-powered hydraulic mining machine (which is the ride). The giant machine slugs forward and backward through a huge water reservoir, twisting and turning the dirt below with the hopes of loosening valuable gold from the soil while having the side benefit of offering the town folks a refreshing treat, too.

“Georgia Gold Rusher hearkens back to a nostalgic era of our park, where thematic storytelling was at the forefront of everything we did. This revolutionary attraction and the investments made throughout the park will help enhance our guest experience around every turn.”

Greg Fuller – General Manager Six Flags Over Georgia

This is theming on another level that we haven’t seen from Six Flags Over Georgia probably since Batman The Ride and potentially exceeds it. This will integrate with the Lickskillet section of the park which calls back to the mining towns of old as well and specifically Georgia’s own gold rush history. This theme change is welcome even though the park had gone a long way down the Georgia Surfer path with already existing signage, marketing materials, color/paint scheme (see below) and even previously running a naming contest to land on the Georgia Surfer name. Georgia Surfer was even seen testing under its old color scheme and theming at the end of 2024.

Below are the specs on the ride, same as Georgia Surfer before. One thing I did find peculiar though in the press release and new web page is that it is distinctly called a thrill ride and avoids the term coaster. It seems to meet the coaster qualifications to me, especially being it’s the Intamin “Surf Coaster” model. I reached out to Greg Fuller and he mentioned it’s definitely both a thrill ride and a coaster and that the thrill ride description is just what the marketing team has chosen, but going forward we should expect to see both. I imagine marketing’s rationale may be that “thrill ride” may work better with the whole steam-powered hydraulic mining machine story than coaster?

Eventually marketing it as the park’s new multi-launch spinning coaster should have great value as there does seem to be a coaster-centric theme park fan base. I know there’s a fine line for some of “what’s a coaster”, but I’ve never heard any disagreement in the community that the Intamin Surf Coaster is a true coaster where people will have arguments about things like the Zamperal Disc’O Coaster. To me it’s truly exciting to see the first launch coaster since Viper, the park’s old Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop. My only other question at this point is if this is still an opening day 2025 attraction or if “spring” means that’ll be pushed a little due to all the theming work that must be done? Even if we have to wait a few extra weeks I sense it will be worth it. Implementing story at this level is what puts the “theme” in theme park instead of just being a collection of rides at an amusement park.

The Georgia Gold Rusher announcement is a bigger deal than it seems. I imagine changing the color scheme on the gondola and repainting a new coaster before it even operates can’t be cheap. However, it’s not just the renaming of a new ride, it’s the renewed commitment to theming and story we haven’t seen at Six Flags Over Georgia in a long time. If you couple this together with the recent announcement of Six Flags buying the remaining share of Six Flags Over Georgia they didn’t already own, the future looks bright. I can’t wait for spring to get here and take my first ride on Georgia Gold Rusher!