willh51

From a Times-Dispatch article: "Nine-year-old coaster enthusiast Josh Rachlin said, “Oh my God, that’s the best coaster I’ve ever ridden!“ His dad, Doug, added, “My favorite part is the smoothness. That makes me happy." - Good to hear.

Holy moly! I cannot wait. I wanted to drive up there but I can't do it after just going to Carowinds last weekend.

First park: Carowinds First ride: Intimidator First first: First time at opening day and first time at a ride's first public day of operation.

Nice pictures, gatorchomp83. Man it was gorgeous on Saturday. Is that last picture from After Burn's queue? Also just noticed that you commented on the fifth hill. I agree, it's definitely the best.

Coasterlvr_nc, I definitely figured that out about Nighthawk. I thought you guys did a great job for opening day, and knew from the get-go that the one train thing was mechanical and no fault of the crew. By the time I rode you guys were sending the trains in about a minute. I always wondered if computer issues often sidelined the trains. I remember seeing a special about Stealth and it was detailing how complex the electronics were. I also assume it's one of the most complicated rides to load. And you were hilarious with the announcements! thrillerman 1, I did not notice any rumble or rattle at all on Intimidator.

All the seats are the same size on Intimidator.

Oh man, well sorry I didn't say hello. Next time I'll definitely have to. Just to let you know, I personally never stopped for more than 10 seconds on the brake run, so that's pretty great.

I thought the crew did a fantastic job for opening day. There was so much to have to deal with, especially people being hardheaded and asking you guys to take items right before dispatch, etc. Were you checking restraints on Intimidator? And was I mistaken that someone on here works Nighthawk, too?

Carowinds - Opening Day 2010 - March 27 Yesterday I kicked off the 2010 Coaster Season with a trip to Carowinds. This marked the first time I'd been to a park on opening day or ridden a new ride on its first day of public operations. Intimidator, the $23 million B&M attraction was the reason I came. Unfortunately, it failed to meet my expectations in every way. Just kidding, you know it was awesome! INTIMIDATOR Driving down 77 South toward Carowinds Blvd., the new coaster is visible from miles away. Pictures do not do it justice. This thing looks absolutely amazing in person. Carowinds did an amazing job placing the coaster for maximum visibility. People walking into the park from the lot were all staring and taking pictures. You get some great views of the entire ride on the way to the gate. I got to the park at 12 p.m., and, to my surprise, found the coaster had no more than a 15 minute wait all day; probably much less if you took the single rider line. I'll talk about this later in the report under operations, but this thing is absolutely a work-horse. They were running three trains, barely stacking and pumping people through. The station, queue and surrounding area look really great. They just need to get some songs other than "Talladega Shuffle" for the line and we'll be OK. The trains look slick in person - even the stickers don't look so bad - and I liked the hood clamps and other little touches they added. The seats are comfortable and sleek, and the clamshells are similarly comfortable. This was my first experience with the new trains and I love the increased visibility. There was no audio on the lift other than "Gentlemen start your engines" at dispatch. On a side note, I noticed that a decent number of people were not able to ride due to their size. Don't know if this is just a Cedar Fair thing or if the restraints are somewhat different than the other B&M hypers. Some of the ride ops would give an extra push, others would not. Now, what you actually care about: the ride. As far as crowd-pleasers go, Carowinds has a winner. The ride is fantastic and definitely one of the better B&M hypers. Throughout the day, I rode in the last row (wing seat), middle (wing seat) and front (middle seats). The ride experience is different depending on your seat (o rly?) and I will echo the sentiment that the middle is definitely the most tame. The front and back are about equal, abet during different elements. The first drop is great. There's some crazy hang-time in the front and the back absolutely whips over the top giving you true ejector air (!). The next element reminds me of the similar-looking one on Nitro and is a lot of fun, if not incredible forceful. The back row gets some decent air but the front gets quick ejector air into the crest. The next big hill gives great air in all seats. As Pufferfish (I think) mentioned, the back gets air on the way down, the front on the way up. I'm talking sustained heavy floater air of the 4 seconds variety. My ass was off the seat for quite awhile. The turn-around/hammerhead is reasonably forceful and better than Nitro's. Forgive me if I am getting the next two hills mixed up, but I believe the one with the trim after the turnaround is probably the weakest of the ride. The next one, however, gives ejector air, especially in the back. This was kind of a "holy s**t" point for me, as I wasn't expecting the air to be that strong. The midcourse was grabbing moderately and you get a nice little pop of air coming off it in the back. The helix is fun and that's where the photo gets taken. The pop out of that and the one into the brakes also give some decent air. Yesterday I don't think the trims on the hills book-ending the hammerhead were on. I didn't feel them and they weren't making any noise. It was only a high of 61 or something yesterday so that might have had something to do with it. So overall I think I can echo the statements of a stranger whom I rode beside on my first ride: "Carowinds needed this." Yes they frickin' did. Intimidator is going to be a huge hit this summer and for years to come. The ride is nothing but bliss. It's smooth as glass and actually pretty forceful. It's also a capacity monster and I didn't see one technical glitch yesterday. Plus it roars. I've ridden Apollo's Chariot and Nitro, and Intimidator is better than Nitro and as good if not better than Apollo. B. And. M. indeed. RIDES: While I was there to ride Intimidator, I hit most of the other coasters as well. After Burn: Every time I ride this it re-affirms to me my belief that this is a near-perfect inverted coaster. It's still smooth, forceful and perfectly paced. The zero-g roll and batwing are definitely the highlights. After Burn was running both trains, which were looking fantastic with new restraints and possibly seats. Thunder Road: Probably the best surprise of the day, Thunder Road was actually open. I haven't been able to ride this for several years since it's always been down early in the season. Both sides were running, dueling, and running two trains apiece! The North Carolina side was running better than the South Carolina side, but all in all, the track work has really done wonders. I got some nice air and the ride was reasonably smooth, especially in the front. Back row had some jackhammering but nothing major. Carolina Cyclone: The paint job looks striking in person; much better than in the pictures. This is still a fun ride even if it's gotten outpaced by its newer brothers. The first loop always makes me dizzy, it seems too small. Hurler: Well, this has a trim now. Maybe it was added last year since I didn't go last season but it's definitely there now. The trim is located at the flat section at the bottom of the drop. Due to some weird boards on the drop it almost looks like they considered doing it ala Mantis but decided not to. I didn't notice the trim actually being on, however. Hurler has never been my favorite ride and today didn't change that, although I had a headache at this point so that didn't help. It was running OK and I got some decent air, but the turns were pretty rough. Running both trains. Drop Zone: Despite being short, this has one of the best stomach-to-chest feelings of all the drop towers. Vortex: Grandpa B&M was running well today. Hopefully it's next on the list to be painted. I'd like to see a new color scheme but we all know Cedar Fair loves red. Nighthawk: Running one train, typical. Actually, I think it started with two and one broke. I've ridden this as Stealth, Borg and Nighthawk and still love the ride. It was running great this season; forceful and reasonably smooth. The lie-to-fly is still one of the most unnerving elements on a ride, as the Vekoma vest seems to be dying to break (of course it's not going to, I'm only kidding). The loop is amazing, too. The new paint job gets a 10/10. Carolina Cobra: I think I should have tempered by expectations for this one a bit. New trains do not erase the fact that it's still a boomerang. My friends liked it a lot and I thought it was OK, but the track is still pretty rough. The new trains, however, were gorgeous and the restraints fit really well. My only problem with them is that the piece behind your head is flat and hard as a rock, which isn't good. Rode front row. Operations: This being opening day, I knew everything wouldn't be perfect, but Carowinds actually did a pretty decent job. Intimidator was obviously staffed with the best and they were pumping out trains. I'll take this time to say that I kind of hate when they assign you rows, and they were being pretty strict about it. I like it from the point of getting people through the ride, but don't expect to get your first choice on the first go-round. The morning crew on After Burn seemed a little clueless when a short breakdown happened and were sort of wandering around, but I'm sure they'll get the hang of it. The night crew was much better and the guy running the ride was great. He was cheering the crowd on, and when the train would pass the station he'd say, "Shark just buzzed the tower" or something. This was to urge the people checking restraints to hurry so they could meet their intervals. The Nighthawk crew seemed to be moving slowly, with 6+ minute cycles when I first got in line, but by the time I got up to the station, they were running around like crazy. Also, two of the crew members were talking to everyone as they waited for the train to come back (since only one was running) asking about our days, if we were having fun, etc. They guy running the ride was funny, and on this ride people actually screamed that they loved the ride when it returned back to the station. The operator also kept asking if Nighthawk was better than Intimidator, announcing that it was the best ride in the park, etc. It was pretty funny. Thank you Carowinds for running your rides at capacity. It was great to see rides like Thunder Road and Hurler actually running all their trains! Appearance: Fantastic. The park has never looked this good. There was a sensible number of trash cans, and the landscaping was great pretty much everywhere. The new paint on the rides makes a big different, as did some of the new sidewalks and natural areas. The park was also spotless, no trash anywhere. All of the coaster trains looked amazing as well, especially Thunder Road with the flames, Carolina Cyclone and After Burn. If this opening day was any indication of the 2010 season, it looks to be a good one. Perfect sunny weather and a great new B&M were among the highlights of the day. Cheers to Carowinds for a great opening day and thanks for finally building me a hyper. Next up, 305! Intimidator! If you rotate this you can pretend it has a dive loop! It has a drop. It has a lift, complete with magical chain of doom. Circle. The whistles go woo woo. Zoom. Miami Subs Boomerang Reverse lift of doom. Mr. Catch-car man. Artsy shot of the day. Lie to fly. Nighthawk. Working hard or hardly working you lazy bastard. Rattle rattle.

Just got back from Carowinds. Will write up a trip report and add pictures either after I shower or tomorrow.

Yeah, I can't believe how many people I've come across that are excited to ride the "Earnhardt" coasters this year. These are people that normally wouldn't even go to Carowinds or Kings Dominion. I think that theme was a great deci$ion for Cedar Fair.

Yes! I just noticed all the stickers on the front in Pufferfish's pictures. I do kind of hate them, they're crooked. I do like the shells of the train though.

Thanks for the update Pufferfish. I'm incredibly excited for tomorrow. Maybe I'll see some of you guys out at the park.

^ YES YES YES! Blast through that midcourse. (My comments actually were in regard to the trip report post above, didn't see the video until after I posted).

Watching them run it with people on the webcam right now...gotta go tomorrow.

Are you serious, that's awesome? Where do you get the pass? Like from guest services? I can't decide whether to go tomorrow or Sunday. Tomorrow is going to be out of control but sunny, Sunday might be less crowded but it's supposed to rain.

Man those footers are depressing. Last time I was there, the park was absolutely, insanely crowded but the operations were the best I've seen. No line was over 30 minutes (Griffin) and all rides were running three trains with no stacking. They really don't mess around there. Apollo's Chariot is amazing, so agreed.

I would love to go to Magic Mountain. I might kill to have ERT like that. Did they paint Deja Vu's train or do something to make it look so good?

I really like Shapiro for some reason. I actually don't go to Six Flags often - I think North Carolina is about as far from one as any other state outside the Midwest - but I have been to Great Adventure since he took over and it was MUCH improved. It's got to be hard coming in and trying to fix all the little problems, all while maintaining a semblance of fiscal responsibility. And as for Six Flags America, there's no reason it should be a dump in that market. I've read terrible trip reports for years and it's nice to see it getting some love. I'm glad to hear there's no official ride swap program. Something about that idea really bugs me, at least at how it was back in the 80's at Six Flags.

That's awesome, a 3-year-old has a Six Flags pass before me! Did anyone ever find out if the height requirement for the new family coaster at MM really is incongruous with other rides of the type?

I'm all for getting this back in action again. It kind of bugs me from the enthusiast standpoint, but it certainly wouldn't be as confounding if the SLC had been there and La Ronde then decided to put up a Batman clone. Looking at it like this, it'll make no difference to the GP who don't spend hours debating the "quality" of their inverted coaster rides. It'll definitely be popular, looks to be in a nice spot and should get more people in the door.

...and if (when) it's any good, Carowinds will have two of the best B&M's in the world! I sure am wasting a lot of time checking out the webcam, though.

Looks pretty cool! I like how Vekoma took cues from their flyer trains for the Human side. The front and seat spacing is almost identical. Is it just me or does the ride, especially the blue side, look like it rolls through the elements really slowly? I think the success of that ride could either make or break Vekoma. They really need some new high-concept stuff, and apparently the Stingray still isn't open?

I just happened to click over to the webcam and watched a test run. They just added the second train, too. Right now one is in the station and the other is right behind the station. It's 2:09 E.T. so you guys should click over if this interests you.

I knew that was coming, but, then again, it should be going insanely fast during that part of the ride. However, I know some Intamin rides have their trims removed (iSpeed and Kanonen I think).