carolinacaniac

Wonder if that would include a food stand called "Snack Time"?

Hey everyone, I have not been posting a whole lot on here lately as I have been swamped since I started teaching this fall. It has been a great experience so far, but I like many others am looking forward to a break. I started to think that perhaps a trip may be in order for that break. Florida was kind of the obvious choice as it is the only place where parks are still open and I can drive to it in a reasonable amount of time (doesn't hurt that I still have my free pass for Universal from the Super Bowl contest that has not been used yet either). I am currently looking at is heading down from NC the day after Christmas, spending the 27 and 28 at Universal for sure, 29 and 30 may be a combination of Universal/Credit Whore runs, the 31 for Busch Gardens in Tampa and New Years day at Sea World. The end would come with the drive home on the 2nd I thought I may try to see if there was anyone who would be interested in tagging along, or perhaps even just meeting up for a day or so during the trip. I do have a friend that may be interested in comming along, but he is on recruiting duty for the Marines and may not be able to take that kind of time off, but regardless of if he does or not, it would still be cool to meet up with some fellow TPR members again. Let me know here or by PM if you would have an interest. -Gary "Looking for a little adventure during my first winter break as a teacher" T.

Looks pretty neat! I have been kind of up and down on whether I wanted to make the trek up north to see it, although our school system's winter break is starting here next friday, so perhaps I will take a day to make a visit when the break starts and I have finished moving into my new place. -Gary T.

Very Cool. I havn't done but Three Parks in a day. That was Adventure Park USA, Planet Fun and Six Flags America. Might have to give it a try to try and meet that record though. -Gary T.

That second drop with the turn looks awesome! I can't wait to give this thing a spin and see how it is! -Gary T

Great stuff! I always love going to Dollywood, and am looking forward to making a return later this year for the Smokie Mountain Christmas. It has become a tradition of sorts for me to go, and if I don't, than my season never really ended. It was kind of funny though, as Zach here was in the middle of Hitch-hiking, I was headed to BGE for one last visit this season (may try to visit Christmastown, but not sure if I will), and as the day went on, I was getting live updates from him Big Mike style by text message. Glad to see you enjoyed your trip! The whole area is a blast, and Dollywood is simply a great park! -Gary T.

Whatever coaster it is, it will be awesome if they did in fact save one of the closed down coasters. My vote would be to save the Big Dipper at Geauga Lake.

Could also have to do with B&M's self-imposed height limit with the KD Intimidator being 305 feet tall. Isn't the limit for B&M around 230 or so? -Gary T.

As silly a question this may be of me to ask, I am still curious. Do you suppose that this could possibly mean that BBW would be given another couple years, or do you think that this sale really plays no part in the closing of the coaster? -Gary T.

I think this very well could be a huge mistake as it was a good transition coaster for kids to go from little coasters at other parks to the big kid rides. But I can certainly understand that it is a business and they have to do what they feel is best for the company. I am glad that I got to ride this bad thing a few times, and I am going to miss riding at the speed of fright! -Gary "21 rides on the Big Bad Wolf in my lifetime" T.

Well, technically Kings Dominion would be more of my home park than Carowinds, as KD is about 3 hours away and Carowinds is 4.5 hours. I certainly do want to give them both a try next year though, and now that I have a job that puts my degree to use (as opposed to simply working at Lowes Foods), I may have the funds to do both around their respective openning weekends. -Gary T.

I am going based on first impressions, and not actually having ridden it yet. I just like the layout and appearance of the Carowinds Intimidator more, but I very well could be persuaded the other way after riding them both. I am just more interested in the Carowinds one right now. If the Kings Dominion Intimidator has some good air, that can probably make me change my mind. -Gary T.

the entire trip was a blast! I can remember the feeling of being luke-warm and salty after the boardwalk beast, and wishing that the Bullet was torn-down right there in front of me. I wish the trip could have been a couple days longer, but if nothing else, it means more reason to go on a trip next year! -Gary T.

I have to say that this coaster could be pretty cool, but I have to admit that I think I am looking more forward to the Carowinds Intimidator. That is not to say I won't be checking out the Kings Dominion one though -Gary T.

From what I understand, the park has experienced greater growth in attendence than most of the other CF parks, but it could be a down year for them with the economy of Michigan being in really bad shape. I would not be surprised though if it turned out that most of the people go to the waterpark on a daily basis as opposed to the ride side, hence the reason it may seem as though the ride side is never really crowded. -Gary T.

I went around the beginning of June with my brother-in-law and his friend while Melissa and I were in Michigan, and I felt the Shivering Timbers still delivered a great ride. I also liked how they did the landscaping and placement of Thunderhawk to the pond. Good collection of pictures you have there! -Gary T.

Not everyone keeps track on how many times they ride a certain ride. I'm just that dorky when it comes to coasters At ert sessions with TPR on each run I hold a finger up on how many times I ride that coaster during the hour. After 10 runs I put it in my phone or if we have to walk around the entrance to get back on I just do it each time. Surprisingly being this organized with my coaster counting actually helps me keep organized in school. I even keep track of the theme parks I visit each year & the order I visit them with the date & I give a little summery of the day next. For example I go under my 2009 Amusement Park section & write: 6/12: Clementon Park: 1 coaster/3 runs. Then I will go to my 2009 Roller Coasters section, find HellCat, & write 3 tally marks. It is a routine after every trip I do. Here are some pics of my coaster binder I actually love to keep track as well like that, except I never did a very good job of tracking it down on a "per visit" basis unless it was a really good day, and I happen to remember it. What I do keep track of though are total rides for individual coasters, and the rides that year for the coasters. I am not sure why I chose to, but I also keep the wooden and steel coasters seperate when "ranking" them based on the number of rides. I also use Excel insted of a notebook. This is a fun way to pass some down time at home, especially to sit and watch how things change each visit, almost like a baseball player climbing up the all-time home run list. I believe I also always have had an interest in statistics as well. Anywho, my top ten (Both wood and steel combined) looks something like this: 1. Raptor: 92 2. Iron Dragon: 41 3. Griffon: 40 4. Apollo's Chariot: 38 5. Gemini: 36 T6. Millennium Force: 35 T6. Wicked Twister: 35 8. Mantis: 34 9. Blue Streak: 32 T10. Magnum XL 200: 31 T10. Mean Streak: 31 I have a hunch that my lists will look very different after the Texas Trip. -Gary T.

They could use less chain by making the lift hill steeper. I would imagine that if they made the lift steep like their dive coasters, that could eliminate some of the needed chain to get the train to the top. -Gary T.

Could be pretty cool! I wasn't really intending on getting a platnum pass, but since both Carowinds and Kings Dominion appear to be adding something significant, it might be worth the cash to do so. Add a visit to another CF park and a few re-visits to KD or Carowinds, and I may feel happy with the purchase. -Gary T.

Does making a TR in honor of Big Mike count towards one of those moments? Big Mike Tribute TR -Gary T.

Is it just me, or is this thread starting to become the next SFA thread from a short while back? -Gary T.

^But that is the thing, not everyone enjoys the same qualities (or inqualities from some viewpoints) as you. Some people may not have a pain tolerance that allows them to enjoy it either. While I would be willing to give SOB another try since they changed trains and removed the loop since the last time I rode it, I don't know that I am prepared to believe that my opinion of it will change in a drastic manner, as I was not a very huge fan the last time I rode it. -Gary T.

Sounds like they are either spreading theirselves thin already, or this may be a case of localized problems, kind of like we see today with SFA vs the rest of the Six Flags chain. -Gary T.

Whatever Carowinds is adding, I think it will put an end to all of the coverage the Carolina Cobra has been getting. I think they advirtised it as the end all-be all of roller coasters, but perhaps next years addition will be something else too. Either way, I am looking forward to it! -Gary T.

Seems as though there may have been a good deal of changings of underpants after that ride. I am jelous of the awesomness of the trip so far, but I still have Texas to look forward to!