Scream Machine taking riders back

Six Flags is changing Scream Machine to start its 2018 season.

The roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia will send riders backward for a limited time starting March 10.

Six Flags Over Georgia is turning things around on the popular Great American Scream Machine — the roller coaster will have riders facing backward when the park opens on March 10.

Six Flags has said the change is for a limited time. Six Flags has grown tremendously since the Scream Machine opened in 1973, adding newer, taller and faster attractions that flip riders upside down and plunge them down vertical drops. But the historic wooden coaster is a staple. This marks the second time the park has turned the seats around – the last time was in the early 1990s.

Part of the roller-coaster renaissance of the 1970s, the Great American Scream Machine put Six Flags on the thrill-ride map. The Scream Machine made the Guinness Book of World Records in 1974 as the longest (3,800 feet) and highest (105 feet) coaster. It still holds its own against more modern machines.

Last year, the park said goodbye to one of its iconic wooden roller coasters, the Georgia Cyclone. Since then, Six Flags has announced that Georgia Cyclone is being converted into Twisted Cyclone, with new smoother-riding steel track and a wilder ride that will take riders upside down three times.

Six Flags Over Georgia opens for the season on March 10 and operates on weekends through mid-May and daily March 31 through April 8 for spring break. For information on tickets and season passes, go to sixflags.com/overgeorgia

AJC FILE The Great American Scream Machine has been a fixture at Six Flags Over Georgia since 1973. When the park opens on March 10, the coaster cars will face backward.