carolinacaniac

Yeah, I am not sure exactly what determines the ratings on rides, but then agian, I have yet to see someone say "Oh man I can't wait to ride that......oh wait, it's a level 5, I think I may have to pass." I guess it can be a good guide for parents though. When we rode, I didn't feel anything unusual at that point where the track looks to be broken, (It is on the banked curve that goes up then down heading towards the station, I wanna say the third turn after the first drop). We saw that when we were on the train waiting for the other to be dispatched from the station. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

So this past weekend, my fiancee and I went to Charlotte to get out of town for the weekend. I have to say it was just what we needed. I have to say that Concord Mills is one of the best malls I have gone to, I am not a huge shopper, but there is just a great atmosphere to it, and there is a lot more to the place than anything on this side of the state. So on saturday, we were in Concord Mills from about 2-6 or so. Melissa got most of the goodies with it being about summer season, and we did a lap on the Family 500 at Nascar Speedpark. On sunday was my glorious start to the coaster season with Carowinds. I have to say that I was blown away with how much better the place was to me than it was two years ago. The staff was very friendly. The operations were really good. Only BORG was doing one train and we waited no more than 20 minutes for it. Top Gun was a lot faster and more intense than I remember it being. It definatly flew (pun intended) towards the top of my steel list. I was shocked that I had great rides on both Vortex and Carolina Cyclone, I was expecting a rough ride, but they were both better. Overall the only bad ride I think we had was on Hurler, and there is a picture that I want to share with everyone that maybe I can see what others think. Our ride totals went as such: Top Gun: 7 Thunder Road: 2 Backwards, 1 Forwards BORG Assimilator: 2 Carolina Cyclone, Carolina Goldrusher, Southern Star, Drop Zone, Dodgems, Spoungebob 3-D, Ricochet, Rugrats Runaway Reptar, Hurler, Vortex, Fairly Odd Coaster: 1 Flying Super Saturator: 1 (Melissa didn't wanna ride, so she took pics). One thing that was really funny (although at the time it wasn't) was when we rode Top Gun the first go around, I felt something hit my leg on the part where the train comes out of the batwing heading towards the station. When we were on the brake run, Melissa said "OH MY GOD, GARY!" and showed me her hand. She lost her engagement ring on the ride, and I felt it hit my leg, or so I thought. A moment later she showed it in her other hand, and said she took it off before the brake run. I later found out that it was a tree branch near the track that was just at the right spot at the right moment the hit it. EVIL FIANCEE!!!!! Overall, we had a great weekend, and cannot wait to come back! Now that I have pretty much said everything I wanted to, here are the pics! And with that I wrap-up this PTR with a picture of my Favorite Carowinds coaster. I can't wait until we have another chance to visit! The park entrance as we are on our way out Gotta love the two rides in two parks t-shirts Cedar Fair is trying to sell now a days! (I make a joke about it as I am actually wearing it as I type) Coming around the corner, just before getting nailed in the face with a water cannon! Melissa sat on the sidelines as I took a spin on the saturator since it had the water on. I wish I had pictures from after the ride cause I got decently wet. The park entrance. ....and Top Gun. Same with BORG...... A shot of Vortex many have seen before. Spoungebob, Gary, Melissa, and Patrick. Which one does not fit it? My niece LOVES Dora, so Melissa had make get a picture with Dora for her. Ode to Spoungebob! Rugrats Runaway Reptar, the inverted Roller Skater!! Melissa also flipped her lid when she saw Squidward. Here we are trying to look like a part of his club. She was even more excited when we saw Spoungebob though. Nothing like pictures of big odd-shaped balls!!!!! It may be Fairly Odd, but for a Junior woodie, it's Fairly Good! A shmorgish-BORG of a ride! Me and Melissa "I'm the scary Carolina Cyclone Man, and I'm gonna gitcha!!!!" Anyone else think that this may not be a good thing? Now I do not claim to be an expert on wooden coaster maintenance, but this did not look too good to me, or Melissa either. Hurler, the only bad ride of the day. I may have been willing to go for another ride, but there was one thing that made me think otherwise..... Drop Zone, and the always grand farting noise brakes! Vortex's loopage!!! Vortex was a whole lot smoother than I remember it two years ago. Melissa likes to call this "Love Across Two States." I couldn't agree more! Me across the state line........made me wonder if there was a certain someone on this site who had a slightly more risque picture involving the state line My wonderful fiancee on both states, who was still giggling over her evil little joke! Ahh, the glory that is Top Gun! I remember this ride being a tame ride when I rode it two years ago, but memory must have not served me well, because this rode was wicked sweet for all of our 7 rides! Thunder Road, which ran really well when we rode it! Ahhh, the good old generic Cedar Fair signs we all know and love!!! Southern Star looked pretty good, although these rides are not typically my cup of tea, Melissa wanted to try it out. Melissa with Patrick. She is a huge Spongebob fan, and went nuts over seeing Patrick, but there would be even more later. BORG flying by as we wait for a ride. A giant candy cane!!....err....I mean the Carolina Skytower. COASTERS!!!!! Especially ones that you can see as you are in the Parking Lot like Top Gun!! Melissa thought I was goofy before, but she forgets how goofy I get when I see............ It is hard to see, but I am standing next to one of Tony Stewerts racing suits. This is actually one of my better pictures of myself I think. Then he goes on to tell Gary how big of a loser he is for getting beat by a girl! After our run on the Family 500 at the NASCAR Speedpark, Sparkie congradulates Melissa on her dominance over Gary on the track here fishy, fishy, fishy! Inside of Bass Pro Shop's Outdoor World, complete with stuffed dead animals!!!! I am not a fan of heelys. The kids that wear them almost always run into people, and knock stuff over, and I was happy to see that the mall made a rule against them. Buit no sooner do I take this picture and turn around, there was a kid rolling out the do This is Melissa, my wonderful fiancee. Don't let that smile fool you though, when she goes shopping and you try to stop her, she is like a couger ready to attack!! One big thing in Charlotte......NASCAR!!!!! So of course the mall has it's own car! JEEPERS IT'S CLOSED!!!!!!!! Oh well, at least I got my credit a couple years ago The carousel in the middle of the food court More Carnival Scenery I just love the way they decorate the mall, especially the food court with it's sort of carnival theme

The rides have good layouts to them. I have a general question, when people make inversions like the inclined loop, how are they able to do it? I have never been able to figure it out. Is it on one of the expansion packs or is it a down load?

Nice Report, can't wait to go this comming sunday, I need my Top Gun Fix since I didn't fulfill my need, the need for speed Sorry, couldn't help it. The rct bit was great too, oh how we coaster enthusiasts find humor in things that others would not have thought for a second about. How did the rides run? I know you said they was a lot of downtime here and there, but when they were running, how were they?

I wonder if maybe the reason for the ride once rule is so that it encourages people to try different ride, and maybe lessens the lines by not having the repeat riders (at least when it is busy). Just a guess though.

Yeah, that is sad especially since the Track has been done for about a month now! I wonder if there may be a chance that it will open early? I was planning on going with friends on the 19th of May, so maybe they could just open it a week early (I wish)

That makes sence to me. I wondered about the fact that not all of them had platforms alongside the track. I guess it may just depend on the company/park choices.

But then agian, how many people really use the rating system for any reason? I know that I never really let it affect my decision, plus most people usually just look at a ride and make their own determination.

i think it also may have something to do with the number earthquakes in the area as well. Should the train stall at any point due to a quake, the riders can be evacuated as soon as possible. I am only guess though.

Anyone know if you can contact Jeremy Reid for a ride like you can the guy with the Blue Flash? or is it for his own fun?

I was just curious if there has been anything new decided as far as what trips will be offered in '09 or if any parks were tentativley planned for the '08 trips yet. I understand that it is still really early and that you guys still have the '07 trips to carry out, but I was just curious if there was anything new decided yet?

Maverick may be different, but the year MaXair opened, the park didn't seem to be THAT much busier on opening day then it was any other saturday in May. Sure MaXair had a big line (I was working in Kiddy Kingdom for the day), but I heard the rest of the park wasn't that crowded. But you can never really tell, it is possible that Dragster or Millennium will go down, so it cdould add to the other ride lines throughout the park, or Maverick could even be really touchy the first day, it just depends on what happens. And I agree with Wes, it is really hard to say how a place will be if you have not been there before. Sure you can find out what others say, but different people have different views of what a horrible line would be. I for one feel that an Hour and a Half wait for Millennium Force is better than an hour wait for HyperSonic at Kings Dominion. HyperSonic's line is slow moving dues to a lower capacity, where as Millennium's line is usually moving pretty good unless it goes down.

That comparison doesn't work as well considering there is only one other park. Plus as far as I know Great America lacks a high profile chicken restaraunt outside of it's gates. I ment also the three water parks as well since they too are called Knott's. Sorry if I wasn't clear on what I ment

As others above said, you are probably looking at about a 1.5-2 hour drive to get to KD. If you go on a Sunday in April, Lines could be nonexistant. A friend of mine and I went last year on a sunday in May and the only time we had to wait to ride was because of a big thunderstorm that came through, but there isn't anything that they can do about that. If it turns out that it is looking to be busier than you hoped/thought, I would say that the rides that will have the longer lines are going to be Volcano, HyperSonic (may be the last chance to ride since it is on the selling block), Flight of Fear and possibly Italian Job. Everything else should either have little or no wait, especially on a sunday. If Cedar Fair does the same thing that Paramount Parks did, then all three wooden coasters will have one train operation. But they should still have only a short wait. Drop Zone may also only have half of the seats loading at a time, but the wait should also not be too bad.

I don't think it is so terrible. There was a time when we had Knott's Camp Snoopy. I am not sure that that worked any better. Besides, I think most people will still call it Great America, just like most people around here hav called PKD Kings Dominion, even when it was owned my Paramount. I would guess they are only doing it because of the copyright. But like I said, I don't think it is so bad, they already have all of their other Cali parks called Knott's something or another.

I just saw on Screamscape that PARC may be considering renaming it to.........Wild Waves Theme Park (start sarcastic oooooo's and ahhhh's). I guess they are looking to drop the Enchanted Village part of the name. That should be interesting to see if this becomes true.

Anyone else notice that on the sign for ToT it also said "This amazing RIP-ASS ride...."? I started laughing like crazy.

Daily Reflector: The newly formed Taylored Amusement Company announced plans to open a new theme park resort in Greenville. The company's Founder and President Gary Taylor shared with us some details of what to expect. "The resort will feature Coastal Plains Point, a theme park that will feature rides of all types that will appeal to the whole family, a brand new baseball stadium to host a minor league stadium, and a hotel for people visiting the park." The resort will be built off of U.S. 264 Towards Washington, NC. This area is where many officals expect the next area of growth in Greenville as college communities that serve East Carolina University have been built. "This is going to be a huge boost to the economy of Eastern North Carolina, especially since Greenville is a growning city" stated Greenville Mayor Don Parrot. "There are several other businesses that have been seeking permission to build on property that is right along 264 near where the park is going to be built." Some of the companies that have filed with the city include McDonald's, Sheetz, and Days Inn. Most of these businesses have already finished construction and are due to open up soon. Some existing companies already in the area are not as excited. "I think that this is going to cause a lot of traffic problems on 264," stated Joe Austin, owner of the Roadside Diner, which has been the only business on the stretch of 264 where the resort is to be built for quite some time. "It has always been nice and quite here, and my guests have always enjoyed that, I don't know how well they will take it. Work on the baseball staduim and hotel has already begun, as well as the main parking lot for the theme park. Theme park construction will begin soon, as the first phase of the park will be an area themed with an uptown setting. This will become the main entry way to the rest of the park as it is built. No details have been released by TAC yet on what rides we can expect for the area, but Taylor stated that devolopement of the rides is in the works. "We are currently in talks with several companies about what they can offer to our park, and we do have one deal signed for what I would say is going to be the feature ride of the park." Taylor also shared with us that negotiations are under way with the owners of the Kinston Indians Baseball club about possibly moving the team to Greenville if an expansion team is not granted by Minor Leauge Baseball. It will be a while for the project to be finished, but Taylor and his company are excited about what the resort will do for the area. SCR7.BMP Uh-ohh, somebody didn't realize there were a lot more cops out here since a new resort was going to be built here! That is all I have for now, more to come soon. SCR6.BMP Joe Austin's Roadside Diner. He isn't really that close the the resort entrance, so I don't know what he is complaining about, business doesn't even look that good for his right now anyway SCR5.BMP SHEETZ!!!!! SCR3.BMP The new Days Inn SCR2.BMP A new branch of the Greenville Police Department and Constuction alongside 264 SCR1.BMP McDonald's, a new BB&T Bank, and a new branch for the Greenville Fire Department

So Geauga Lake starts the trend of going to smoking areas in the chain it seems. I wonder if maybe the CF execs saw this at the Paramount Parks and thought it was a good idea? I say good for Cedar Fair for putting this into practice at their parks (even if it is only a few of them right now).

I give it a day. I thought that the idea of using the second generation G-trains may have been a good idea, since based on what others have said are less painful because of the lap bar design. Although I may be commiting suicide by doing so, I think I would do it once just to see if it is possible (or like carnage said, to score some settlement cash) Kings Island is kind of becoming the goodwill of amusement parks this year, since they got a used coaster and used coaster trains for SOB.

Maybe I am just a softie, but I was bummed when I saw that. I agree Robb that it probably would have been a better ride with PTC's because I have had rides on Hurler at PKD that shook a lot worse, but the G-trains are what killed it for me, since they kill your legs. I also agree that the Family Kingdom should have been torn down instead (except for Swamp Fox, they shoudl keep that up).

I saw this from a link on Screamscape, and this made me bummed, especially the two videos at the bottom. I now this sounds pathetic, but i wish they would have done something more "humaine" for demolish it instead of ripping it apart here is the site: http://www.discovermyrtlebeach.com/photos/myrtlebeach-paviliondemolition.cfm And to think, I had just ridden that for the first time only about 7 months ago.

I think that if they relocate they should do it up, and if it does well they can rub it in the faces of the fair board!

CONGRADULATIONS to the both of you, and welcome to the wondeful world filled with rollers coasters Kristen! She is such a beautiful little girl! Glad to hear everything went well with the delivery. Wow, she's going to have some aweson b-days at some parks, especially since they will go along with the end of the off-season. Can I get a membership pass for getting kiddy credits with her so I won't have to shell out $5 every time?

I don't know about the "pre-merger" Cedar Fair parks, but I think if you were to go though a former Paramount Park, you can buy it online. Last year I got a pass from Six Flags America online because, like Barry, I wanted a pass from Six Flags Over Georgia but could not get one because of it being over 300 miles away. This year when I got a pass for Carowinds, it never asked me about living within a certain distance, and I would guess it is the same for the other former paramount parks.