The Great American Scream Machine Turns 30

April 15, 2003

Atlanta - Six Flags Over Georgia will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its former world-record roller coaster - The Great American Scream Machine - with a 30-hour rider marathon on June 27 and 28, just one amazing element of the park's season of celebration.
In honor of the history-making ride, volunteers from the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) will ride "non-stop" (with only one five-minute break every hour) starting 9 a.m. on June 27. The marathon will conclude June 28 at 3 p.m. with a VIP birthday event for the coaster open to park guests and media.

The first guests brave enough to ride this new giant during its 1973 opening season received a "RED BADGE OF COURAGE" to show for their accomplishment. This tradition will be carried on in 2003 to the first 5,000 riders beginning June 27, with a commemorative 30th anniversary edition of the button.

History of The Great American Scream Machine
In 1973, the South's premiere family theme park broke ground on its first wooden roller coaster - The Great American Scream Machine. During its first 30 years of operation, The Great American Scream Machine has completed well over one million revolutions and delivered over 40 million screams to delighted riders.

Stretching 3,800 feet in length along the banks of the Chattahoochee River, this enormous coaster sends riders blurring past beautiful riverside scenery at speeds over 55 m.p.h. When it opened, The Great American Scream Machine was world's tallest coaster at 105 feet tall.

Under the supervision of the great coaster architect John Allen, an employee of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, The Great American Scream Machine construction project required over 750,000 board feet of lumber, 17 tons of bolts and four tons of nails. Crews of carpenters, ironworkers, landscapers, electricians and mechanics worked for almost three months to complete the project. The ride officially opened to the delight of Six Flags Over Georgia guests on March 31, 1973.

Still considered to be one of the greatest coasters in existence by enthusiasts, The Great American Scream Machine is more than a great ride. It was built as a monument to the era of the first modern roller coasters and the great designers who created them. It is considered by many to be the grandfather of the wooden coaster revival.

After a period of great coaster activity in the early part of the century, wooden roller coasters quickly became a thing of the past as the focus of American amusement parks gradually shifted. But with the advent of steel coasters and the introduction of the tubular steel coaster by Six Flags Inc. in the early 1960s, roller coasters began to show up in greater numbers at amusement parks across the country. Interest in the unique experience of the giant wooden coaster grew and rides like the Great American Scream Machine were built.

In 1973, coasters of this magnitude were simply unheard of and its construction was big news in Atlanta. "This machine will surely make history," said Errol McKoy, then president of Six Flags Over Georgia. "People love to be thrilled and taken to the edge. The Great American Scream Machine will do just that."