Twisted Cyclone is a steel hybrid roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, Georgia, built by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) atop the surviving structure of the wooden Georgia Cyclone. The original Georgia Cyclone, constructed by the Dinn Corporation, opened on March 3, 1990, and ran for over two decades before closing on July 30, 2017, to make way for its steel successor.
RMC reused much of the old coaster’s support structure while replacing the wooden track with its signature I-Box steel track, a technique the company pioneered on rides like New Texas Giant. Designed by RMC’s Alan Schilke, Twisted Cyclone opened to the public on May 25, 2018, transforming a rough, aging wooden ride into a smooth, inversion-packed hybrid.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Six Flags Over Georgia
- Manufacturer: Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC)
- Opened: May 25, 2018
- Height: about 100 ft (30 m)
- Top speed: about 50 mph (80 km/h)
- Length: about 2,400 ft (730 m)
- Inversions: 3
The Ride Experience
After a 100-foot chain lift, Twisted Cyclone drops at a 75-degree angle into a sequence that RMC designed to combine airtime-heavy hills with disorienting inversions, including a zero-G roll and a barrel roll. Two trains, each holding 24 riders across six cars, keep the line moving on a layout that lasts roughly a minute and a half.
The result feels distinct from typical steel coasters because much of the ride still traces the footprint of the original wooden Georgia Cyclone, giving it tighter, more twisted transitions than a coaster built from scratch would usually have.
From Wooden Cyclone to Steel Hybrid
Georgia Cyclone opened in 1990 as a near-clone of Coney Island’s famous Cyclone, but decades of wear left it rough and costly to maintain. Six Flags closed it in mid-2017 and brought in RMC, which had already proven the wood-to-steel hybrid conversion concept at other parks.
By keeping large portions of the original support structure and lift hill while installing new I-Box steel track, RMC delivered a faster, more inversion-heavy ride without building an entirely new structure from the ground up.
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Twisted Cyclone FAQs
Is Twisted Cyclone a wooden or steel coaster?
It’s a steel hybrid coaster. RMC replaced the wooden track of the original Georgia Cyclone with its I-Box steel track while reusing much of the existing support structure.
What ride did Twisted Cyclone replace?
It replaced Georgia Cyclone, a wooden roller coaster that opened in 1990 and closed in July 2017 after nearly 28 years of operation.
How many inversions does Twisted Cyclone have?
Twisted Cyclone has 3 inversions, including a zero-G roll and a barrel roll, reaching speeds of about 50 mph.
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Photo: McDoobAU93 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.