I won’r bury the lead, Georgia Gold Rusher is an airtime machine! I had a chance to ride the new Georgia Gold Rusher at Six Flags Over Georgia as part of the March 13, 2025 media event. I was able to score my invite through my ACE membership and got 12 rides on the new Intamin Ultra Surf Coaster. The first thing you’ll notice is the high level of theming Six Flags Over Georgia has installed since last season, really unprecedented for the park since Batman. The mining theme is everywhere with flowing water features, machinery and beautiful wood decking greeting you in line. The ride itself is spectacular fun. The launches feel forceful and there is a surprising amount of airtime on the bunny hill between the two spikes. The weightless on the spikes is awesome too, but it’s really about the airtime on GGR (the abbreviation for Georgia Gold Rusher) that is so crazy good and way more than expected. This is a 10 out of 10 and will surely be a hit for Six Flags Over Georgia as its only launch and spinning coaster.

The Intamin restraints are super comfortable and fast with even the “biggest” of riders seeming to have fit with no issues. The ride gondola has two circles of ten seats each to pick from and the ride experience is definitely different depending on where you sit. However, know there’s not a bad seat on this ride, as after riding it a dozen times I can say I enjoyed it from absolutely every seat and it really just varied in what position you were in to feel the airtime.

It is supposed to be a “spinning” ride, but General Manager Greg Fuller let us know that it’s totally free spinning based on weight and balance with nothing mechanically induced. With our train going out basically full every time there really wasn’t much spinning to speak of as things were generally close to balanced. However, the couple of times it went out with just a couple of riders or more unbalanced the spinning was more pronounced. Staff also let us know that a couple days earlier on a warmer day it spun a lot more, so there may be a temperature dependence too. Even without the spin this ride was TONS of fun. With the cars not spinning much it was quite a different experience on the sides, front and back. Most people seemed to prefer the side, but the back was a wild sensation as you were closest to the track there. Note that I recently saw on the Coaster Studios review that there were smaller blue stators on the track specifically to assist with the spin (which runs contrary to what I heard from park staff). Taylor tends to know his stuff, so I’m not quite sure what to believe there, but more info as we learn more.

The ride does have a water feature, but don’t worry, you won’t get wet, not even a little. The sprays of water for now are merely a visual effect, however General Manager Fuller mentioned that he’s looking to up the height of the water sprays. Visually the ride is fun to watch as that huge gondola climbs 140 feet up the spikes at 60 mph. There’s great viewing while in line and tremendous viewing on the inclined walkway along the length of the ride heading from the water wheel over to Superman. As you wander around the line and ride area you’ll also spot some “Easter Eggs” such as some old machinery from SplashWater Falls, which formerly inhabited the same plot of land.

The ride officially opens Saturday, March 15, 2025 and I hope its success isn’t also its weakness. What I mean by this is that I think this ride will be POPULAR because it’s just that good. However, at only one train with 20 riders and at best 20-30 cycles an hour you’re only looking at 400-600 riders/hour. This in many ways is a coaster that operates like a flat ride. Six Flags Over Georgia obviously has this in mind as their station design is excellent (essentially an open corral with all seats basically being equivalent with the spinning) and the ops they had working were awesome. These coupled together with the super easy Intamin harnesses should allow for the fastest dispatches possible. Rides with single trains and similar capacities like Phoenix Rising at Busch Gardens and Dragonflier at Dollywood have managed this tension well too. Still, I expect huge lines, so if you want to ride GGR with minimal wait be sure to rope drop it if you can.

Georgia Gold Rusher is a perfect addition to Six Flags Over Georgia. It signals a renewed commitment to theming and story while simultaneously pushing the envelope with a prototype first of its kind ride. This ride had a winding path to today that we talked about previously, first being known by other names (we were told the “Georgia Surfer” naming contest winner was well taken care of) and even getting a new color scheme and story. Six Flags hit a home run with this addition and should be commended for the risks it took in both acquiring this ride and doing a complete retheme prior to opening. Head to Six Flags Over Georgia ASAP and ride this great new addition to the park’s coaster collection.