coasterbear30

Some friends and I planned a Labor Day weekend trip to hit the beach and also hit Freestyle Music Park and Family Kingdom. We headed to Myrtle Beach on Saturday morning, the 5th. We arrived at FMP at around noon. We headed right into the park, which was dead by the way (big surprise.) We decided to head over to the roller skater (Hang Ten) to get it out of the way. Pretty smooth for a Vekoma, but then again most of the roller skaters are smooth. Next, we hit the Round About (formerly Maximum RPM.) This turned out to be a really fun coaster. The first drop is great and the rest of it was smooth and fun with lots of random 80's music playing. Too bad they could not have made it longer. The ferris wheel lift was very unique! After this we headed over to Time Machine (formerly Led Zep.) This was a fun B & M sit down, with music from a different era each time you rode. I can say it had the best zero g roll I have ever experienced. After this it was time for some beer (which you can carry around the park) and then we headed over to catch a ride on the Iron Horse. This Vekoma mine train has to be the best mine train I have ridden thus far. Very smooth and fast. It also played Devil Went Down to Georgia. We then headed over to one of the shows which turned out to be a kids show, so we didn't stay long. Then it was off to Monstars of Rock (formerly Nights in White Satin.) I will have to say that this was the biggest waste of money for this park. WORST DARK RIDE EVER!!!! It was just a bunch of cut outs and lights. We then rode the parks break dance which was ok. We then ended our day on Soak'd (formerly Slippery When Wet.) If you sit in the front you definitely get soaked. The back is not as bad. It was a fun little coaster. We then proceeded to leave the park around 6 and go check into our hotel. Overall, as far as FMP is concerned, I will say that their theming is awesome. I was very impressed with that. And the coasters were pretty good as well. The thing that really bugged me was the disregard of the employees. They did not ever tell you when you train was dispatching. They were rude and didn't seem to care about the customers. The thing that surprised me most was that they didn't seem to care about any safety regulations. I had gotten a water bottle at one of the shops and I carried it on every ride and they saw it and didn't say a thing. That never happens at parks. The other thing that surprised me was the fact that the park was dead on a holiday weekend and we got in for 10 dollars a piece (they had a 2 for 20 deal.) This is not a good sign for the park so I just wish them luck and hope they can make it. I am glad that I got to get out there and get the credits at least! That night, we hit Family Kingdom so that we could get the Swamp Fox credit and just have some fun on the other rides. The one thing I can say about Swamp Fox is ZOMG!!!! the airtime in the next to last seat was insane ejector airtime. I have never felt airtime like that. It felt as if I was totally coming out of the seat and would fall to my death. I know I got at least 2 feet of air. It was actually a little scary but oh so much fun! Great coaster with great airtime that ends way too soon. After a few rides on the Swamp Fox, we headed over and also hit the flying bobs, tilt-a-whirl (which spun more than any other I have ever ridden), drop tower, yo-yo, ferris wheel, scrambler and pirate ship. Scott (coasterfreak80) also hit the log flume on the way out and said that it was fun. All together we had a great time at FMP and Family Kingdom. We went back to the hotel and got some sleep and then enjoyed the beach, pool and lazy river on Sunday before heading back to Atlanta. Hope you enjoy this report! Sorry for the low quality pics from Family Kingdom. It is tough to take pics at night with my camera.

I don't even like boobs and I thought this was awesome and hilarious!

I like how there was 5 pages of comments right after it was announced and when it was changed to officially announce the coaster those were all erased....sorry, that was just a little annoying. Anyway, I think this coaster is going to be amazing! With B & M Hypers being my favorite, this totally gave me a boner when I saw it! This will definitely give me a reason to be there as soon as this thing opens next year! It is about time that Cedar Fair gave Carowinds something that will finally put them on the map. Here's hoping it will be the best B & M Hyper ever!

I am going to agree with Eric^^ and say Cannonball. It has really awesome airtime, especially that last hop into the station is awesome! Although I have GASM at my home park and I love it dearly (it would be my 2nd fav JA) it just can't beat the airtime on Cannonball.

I don't know if anyone has said this yet but this sounds like a mixture of Batman and Robin:Chiller and Mr Freeze, except the launch up and over. Interested to see how this one turns out.

Well you all may get the answer to your question VERY soon from what I have heard!!!

We all may be surprised at what we see from B & M in the very near future! I'm not saying, just saying....

If I counted dive machines, I would say Sheikra is definitely number one but since I don't then I have only ridden 2 and I would rate them like this: 1. Kraken 2. Medusa (West) But that is not saying much because I found both of them very bo-ring! Not really any forces or intense feelings. I did like the floaty feeling of their huge inversions though.

^Hey don't know if I got to meet you yesterday at SFOG or not but I am glad to hear that your new number ones are my exact same number ones! Thunderhead and Goliath are amazing! Glad you had fun!!!

Just got home from hanging out with Robb, Elissa, KidTums, Tyler, Dan and the rest of the TPR crew at SFOG. Also got to talk to Adam and Brian of the Adam and Brian show for a bit. Thanks guys for being awesome and letting me hang out with all of you. I had a blast! Thought I would throw out a few pics I took today...

Thanks for the posts guys. These are great videos. I spent my whole afternoon watching them!

When are you guys hitting SFOG or was it today (Sunday?)

WOW! Not one response? Does no one live in the greater Atlanta area (or within short travelling distance) that is interested in this? Let me hear from you guys. There are some fun things we have planned.

SFDK for sure. CGA sucks balls. It was the worst corporate park I have ever been to and the coasters sucked as well. The only good thing there in my opinion was the flat rides. SFDK was much better!

SheiKra, without a doubt, made me nervous enough to the point that I wouldn't ride it the first time I went to the park. I got a second chance though in March of this year and I made myself ride it, even though I was nervous. I was fine till I got to the top (dont like heights or free falls.) When we were on the holding break I was freaking out and when it dropped I think I screamed F**K all the way to the bottom from the anticipation, but it ended up being a lot of fun and not scary at all. I rode it 3 more times in a row. It became my number 2 overall that day!

If you live in Atlanta or the surronding area, me and my buddy Scott(coasterfreak80) are thinking about starting a coaster club and we wanted to guage interest. This would just be a way for us to get together and discuss coasters, watch videos (TPR videos of course!) and also take part in trips that we already go on for a day or weekend. If this is something that you are interested in, please contact me or IM me on here so that we can discuss. Looking to get this started sometime soon. This is only for people in the greater Atlanta area! Thanks guys and hope to talk to you soon! Rob

Here are some of mine...

I will just say that I was pretty nervous the first time I rode SheiKra as I do not like heights or free falls AT ALL. And yes I am a coaster enthusiast. But having ridden 3 vertical drops before it (Mystery Mine, Deja Vu and Hypersonic XLC) I thought it might not be too bad. I loaded in the back row and I was super nervous when getting to the top and riding around to the holding break but as soon as it dropped I got insane airtime and it was not scary at all but a lot of fun. Needless to say I rode it 3 more times that day and it became my number 2 steel coaster!

I was just gonna say the same thing...it's an Intamin, who's surprised?

SFOG is my home park too and I think we have a pretty good selection of rides. I am super glad to hear you say that Goliath is your new number 1. I have ridden it over 150 times and it is my number 1 steel as well. Mindbender is also great. I try to ride it as many times as possible when I go to the park. Wish I would have known you guys were there. I could have met you up and hung out since I am out of a job right now. I got a ride on the new Monster Mansion a few weeks ago and their were some cool improvments but overall a pretty boring ride that is good for cooling off in the hotlanta days. I still to this day cannot tell you why people absolutely love GA Cyclone. I swore it off 2 years ago after the roughest coaster ride of my life (and yes, I have tried about every seat possible.) I came off with bruises after that ride and it was in the suggested seat. I would also throw Borg up there as one of the roughest things I have ever ridden and Shockwave at KD as a close third. Ninja jumped into my top 5 worst this year too. They changed the OTSR's and I rode it a couple of months ago and wanted to die. AWFUL!!!! I would also say that next time you go, give GASM another chance in the non wheel seat of the last car and it is awesome. I still love this coaster and ride it every time. It has some great pops of airtime. I am glad you had a good time and let me know next time you are headed this way!

So is Apollo's Chariot not a hyper either since it's lift is only 170 feet tall even though the drop is 210 feet?

To the guy that said Goliath (SFOG) is not a hyper, what gives...it is 200 feet tall. Why do people keep saying it is not a hyper? As far as junior hypers, isn't the correct term mega lite? Like Piraten?

Steel: Goliath (SFOG) - Back Seat / a close second, Sheikra - back seat Wood: Thunderhead - Front seat

^ Let's just say that I wouldn't use the word Junior for what Carowinds is getting.....

Well I will just say that I heard some news from someone in the industry and I think we are all going to be pleasantly surprised at what we will see Carowinds getting next year!!!