There are amusement parks and theme parks with one merely being a collection of rides while the later uses decor, landscaping, attraction design and overall atmosphere to create a unifying theme throughout an area of a park or an entire park. Six Flags Over Georgia is not an amusement park, but a full fledged theme park. I would argue the park has at least two themed sections and the argument can be made for a couple more. The most obvious of these is the Gotham area of the park with all the rides pulled together by the Batman universe. However, potentially the most themed area of the park is LickSkillet area where food, rides, buildings and entertainment all come together to tell a cohesive story about the Gold rush times in Georgia.

Six Flags Over Georgia recently highlighted the LickSkillet area with an article titled, “Past to Present: The Story of Lickskillet Continues with Georgia Gold Rusher“. The article talks about how LickSkillet opened as an expansion in 1968, the park’s second season, and was inspired by a real Georgia mining town from the 1800s. It’s been home to several now retired attractions such as Wheel Burrow, Drunken Barrels, Spindle Top, Sky Buckets, The Wheelie and Splashwater Falls. In 2025 it became home to one more, Georgia Gold Rusher, the new Intamin roller coaster. This ride was not originally meant to tie into the LickSkillet theme as it was originally going to be called Georgia Surfer. However, after the Six Flags and Cedar Fair merger (along with a year delay), it opened up as Georgia Gold Rusher complete with a new paint job, landscaping, decor and story.

Georgia Gold Rusher (GGR) is a new prototype multi-launch spinning “surf” coaster by Intamin. The Georgia Gold Rusher story is about eccentric prospector William “Willy” Gibson and his steam-powered hydraulic mining machine (the ride). As his machine moves forward and backward through a huge water reservoir it loosens gold in the soil below. It also has the great side benefit of offering the town folks a refreshing treat! The decor and landscaping here are tremendous with moving water with a wooden mining sluice, machinery (actually a pump from the old Splashwater Falls ride) and other touches large and small to create a mining atmosphere. It is also adjacent to the Dahlonega Mine Train that technically isn’t in LickSkillet, but still works to build the environment. The parks article has great videos and picture’s about how Georgia Gold Rusher’s theme came together.

LickSkillet is not only known for its rides right now, but also for its atmosphere, food and shows. The ShenaniGuns! Comedy Wild West Show has been performed at Six Flags Over Georgia for decades now after a brief hiatus for Covid. This show is performed outdoors, but with shaded table seating for guests where they can get out of the heat or enjoy a meal while they watch.

The only real negative I can say about the LickSkillet area is the current theming of Pandemonium. While Pandemonium certainly is a great ride, its steampunk theme dropped right in the middle of the main “town” area of LickSkillet and Georgia Gold Rusher has a way of breaking up the immersion. Thunder River’s entrance is also there, but it is set back from the main path and one could more easily argue for a river raft ride potentially fitting a gold rush theme. I also fear that water rides like Thunder River seem to be a bit of a dying breed given I hear they are expensive to operate and have a more narrow band of ideal weather. If I had to guess, in 10 years the plot of land Thunder River occupies along with the old go-kart track will be home to a new roller coaster. In that time Pandemonium may also be able to be renamed or rethemed or even moved if there’s a desire to expand and improve LickSkillet further. It might fit quite well in Gotham in the area currently occupied by Kid Flash.

The LickSkillet area is an excellent themed area, not just for Six Flags Over Georgia, but for any theme park in general. This area of the park tells a story with aspects that are fiction, but that are rooted in a real location and a real time. As you walk into LickSkillet you know you are walking into a themed area that feels vastly different than the rest of the park. Hopefully the renewed attention to LickSkillet is a sign of good things to come as Six Flags seeks to increase the use of theming on new attractions and refresh the theming on some older ones.