coasterfreak80

My thoughts exactly!

Both parks were open until the last weekend in October for their Halloween celebrations. BGE was open Friday through Sunday and KD was open Friday night through Sunday.

Thank you! This ride, although being a simple Top Spin, is really once of the best themed and most fun flat rides I have ever seen. I went to KD back in 2005 but wasn't able to ride this at night to get the full affect of the fire, water and fog but we were able to ride it at night this year. Simply amazing! The fog created from the fire show covers the entire area surrounding Volcano, Avalanche and Tomb Raider itself. I also love the fact that the ride has a seating area right in front of it for people to watch the show.

Thanks everyone for all the comments about the pictures. We really appreciate it.

On October 20th, Rob and I headed just an hour northwest to Doswell, VA for KD. We arrived before the gates opened and were able to park right next to the front gate. Rock star parking! The day was beautiful and sunny, the temperature was perfect for a day at the park. We started the day with some morning wood...I mean Grizzly. We got another dose of wood on the red side of Rebel Yell and then a spine realignment on Hurler (ouch!). We hit the nearby Ricochet, the best Wild Mouse we've been on thus far. We headed over to the Togo Death Machine, Shockwave. As you can see from the picture, it was horrible. It was our first Togo experience and everyone was right about these creations...painful. We hit the newer Italian Job Stunt Track which was kick-ass! It wasn't really fast or anything but was just plain fun. Probably one of the most fun launched coasters we've ever been on. Anaconda was nearby so we rode that one quickly. Not much to say about this one; it was okay. Volcano was next on our list because the line for Flight of Fear was out of the fence! As expected, an awesome ride. We trekked back to the other side again for Hypersonic. This was Rob's fastest coaster to date and he was terrified. Soon he realized that this was an amazing ride. He was practically jumping for joy when we got off. We grabbed some quick lunch and headed back for a kiddie ride credit on Scooby Doo but discovered that the line was too long to be worth the wait. Instead, we headed to Avalanche which was unexpectedly fun. We hit some of the flat rides like Triple Spin, waiting until nightfall to ride Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider, IMO, is one of the best flat rides of all time! Unfortunately, Rob missed his credit on Flight of Fear because they had shut it down for a Halloween Haunt maze. We rode the blue side of Rebel Yell instead and then hit Volcano and Italian Job once more before heading home after being at the park for 12 hours. We tried to ride the inverter ship Berserker as we left but the ride op shut the ride down as we were next to board the ship. Overall, the day was more enjoyable than the previous day at BGE. Although BGE had some pretty large coasters, it lacked the certain appeal of an amusement park that KD seemed to have. Please see pictures below. Hypersonic XLR "through the..." yeah, you know the rest. Scott would have given it two thumbs DOWN but needed one hand to hold his neck together! TOGO HELIX OF DEATH! What's this? Dominator track from Geauga Lake at KD? YES!

My buddy, Rob, and I left on Thursday, October 18th from Atlanta, GA to Virginia for a two-park weekend visit. Our first stop was BGE on Friday, October 19th. We awoke to an overcast morning sky which quickly turned into a light drizzle which went on and off throughout the entire day. The weather sucked but, lucky for us, the park was nearly empty and the lines were deserted. Can anyone say "walk on"? We made sure to hit all our credits first before enjoying some of the parks dark rides and flat rides. Opinions? Loch Ness was good but the trains were very confining (couldn't raise your arms if you wanted to). Big Bad Wolf was fun but Rob thought the ride was a bit rough. Alpengeist was a great ride; however, our hearts still lie with Montu at BGA. Griffon's line was surprisingly short and I rode it twice that day, once in the front and once in the back. Apollo's Chariot was deceiving for us. The first time, we rode in the second row and, upon completing the circuit, we were not impressed whatsoever. Compared to Goliath at our home park at SFOG, Apollo did not deliver. We gave it a second and third chance though and found that the back was much better and unexpectedly fun. The flat rides like Battering Ram and DaVinci's Cradle were decent, considering we have few at SFOG. Corkscrew Hill, which didn't even deserve a photo here, was rough and unimpressive. Curse of DarKastle was good but doesn't even compare to Spiderman at IOA. Why this ride won an award in 2006 beats me! See pictures below. Apollo's Chariot lift "through the trees" Scott in front row, your right

Thank you!

I wasn't sure if anyone had done this in the forum already but I was curious. This survey is ONLY for forum members who have ridden BOTH coasters; please do not post your vote if you have only experienced one. Thank you! Ok, ladies and gentlemen, which is better overall : Griffon or Sheikra? I went to both Busch Gardens parks this year: BGA in April and BGE in October, and IMO Sheikra was the better overall ride. The reason for my vote is that, although Griffon looks cooler and has the second Immelmann, Sheikra has more "fun" elements such as the highly-banked turn around the queue house, the second drop into the tower, through a tunnel, another highly-banked carousel around the Smokehouse and a water splashdown that everyone (including pedestrians) can enjoy to the full extent. Griffon is simply out in the middle of nowhere whereas Sheikra is right above your head and all around you. I am not interested in arguing but I am very curious to see what people's thoughts are. Please at least post your vote. Thanks everyone!

Just to clairfy, I'm only debating the inline-twist on Superman: Ultimate Flight. I am not debating the inline-twists on Intiman coasters like Volcano: The Blast Coaster as those are definitely inversions.

Consider this: If you lie on the ground and roll to your left or right, that is not an inversion; you are not going upside-down. This is basically what S:UF does. If you stand in one place and turn around, that is not an inversion; you again are not going upside-down. A somersault, hand stand or cartwheel IS an inversion because your head is going under your feet. A loop (inclined or not), a diving loop, Immelman, cobra roll, zero-g roll, corkscrew, batwing, etc are inversions because you are going upside-down. Regardless if the track on S:UF inverts on the inline-twist, the way the trains are attached to the track does not cause your body to go upside-down.

The various definitions of an inversion all have one key phrase in common: UPSIDE-DOWN. Yes, the inline-twist on S:UF flips riders 180 degrees horizontally but a true "inversion" must flip riders vertically upside-down according to the definition. Thank you for your opinion, but please read the definition before you interpret it.

I totally disagree with you. And just so we are all clear on what "upside-down" is, can we all agree that it means when your upper body and lower body are reversed in a vertical position? And yes, of course, S:UF flips riders upside-down during the pretzel loop! Once you reach the apex (the highest point) of the loop and fall forward/down, you are completely upside-down until you reach the pull-out at the bottom.

It occurred to me during a conversation about the Superman: Ultimate Flight coasters that they count the in-line twist as an inversion (in addition to the pretzel loop being counted as the first inversion). By it's very definition, I do not believe that this element should be counted as an inversion. Consider the following definitions I have pulled from the internet today from three different sources: www.rcdb.com "The physical number of inversions on a roller coaster. To be counted as an inversion the element must turn riders a full 180° upside-down." www.ultimaterollercoaster.com "A term used to describe any portion of a roller coaster track that turns the rider upside-down." Merriam-Webster Dictionary online "To turn inside out or upside down." As any rider of a Superman: Ultimate Flight coaster knows, the train does not turn upside-down at any point during this inline-twist. It simply turns riders from a flying position to a lying position and back again. This is all done completely horizontal to the ground. The ONLY portion of the ride that turns riders completely 180 degrees upside-down is the fall to the ground during the pretzel loop. What do you all think? Please let me know.

Scott (coasterfreak80) and Rob (coasterbear30) decided to head to North Carolina on June 15th and hit the newly-purchased Carowinds while visiting some friends. It had been over 10 years since either one of us had visited this park (while under Paramount's management) even though the park was only a three-hour drive from Atlanta. This trip marked Scott's 75th credit and Rob's 50th, so this was a very special occasion for both of us. We decided that we wanted Top Gun to be our landmark coaster credit, as we anticipated it to be the best coaster in the park. Since the park offered a second day for only $5 more, we decided to jump on the offer and go both Saturday and Sunday, the 16th and 17th. Even though we hit every coaster at least once on Saturday, it was nice to come back on Sunday to a nearly-dead park and ride everything again multiple times. Starting on Saturday, our first ride of the day was the Fairly Odd Coaster, a mini-wooden coaster. We then headed over to Rugrat's Runaway Reptar, a kiddie Vekoma head-banger. After picking up those credits, we headed to Top Gun for our milestone credits. Top Gun proved to be one of the best B&M inverted coasters in the Southeast, we thought; although it definitely fell short of Montu, our #1 ranked inverted coaster. We headed over to the newly-reopened Southern Star looping ship. The ride ops on this attraction were, by far, the slowest in the park and they forced you to sit where they directed you to sit. LAME! Next was the backwards side of Thunder Road followed immediately by the forward side. Although they do not race the trains anymore, the ride was still a great classic. COMPLAINT TIME: We are at a loss as to why these parks are refusing to run their dueling wooden coasters anymore. Prime example: our last trip to Busch Gardens Africa where the ride ops refused to run Lion with Tiger. Isn't that the whole point of the ride?!?! It's a dueling-wooden coaster, guys! After Thunder Road, we headed to our first Vekoma flying coaster which proved to be our last. Borg was the roughest steel coaster EVER! We left the station afterwards with crinked necks and beaten backs. The restraint system was quite unusual compared to the restraint system we are used to on B&M flyers. We decided that, only for a credit would we be caught dead on one of these Vekoma death-flyers again! We changed into bathing suits and headed over to the appropriately-named Super Saturator. This ride was great! You even get soaked standing in line, before even getting on the ride itself. This ride was awesome and the first of its kind we've been on. After changing back into dry clothes, we headed to the opposite side of the park, heading back around to the entrance. Along the way, we hit Vortex, Carolina Goldrusher, Ricochet, Carolina Cyclone and the Hurler. Ricochet was a new credit for both of us and a great little wild mouse. Carolina Cyclone is one of Scott's favorite Arrow rides. We ended up riding this one about five times (four of them without having to leave the train). Hurler was painful, but provided plenty of airtime for Rob (unfortunately Scott's restraint locked down tight both times we rode this and was a nut-cracker!) Gold Rusher was a great little mine train coaster and made good use of the terrain, with lots of helixes and tunnels. Vortex was painful...period. One of the roughest B&M coasters in existence. Along the way, we hit some great flat rides including our first magic carpet/falling star ride, Rocket Power Airtime. We also did our first flyers ride which they allowed "snapping" on. Rob got the hang of it quickly and got lots of high swings. Due to strictly-enforced park rules, we missed one credit on Hey Arnold's Taxi Chase. We tried again on Sunday to get the credit. After being allowed to walk through the line, sit down and buckle our seat belts, the ride attendant shook her head and told us we couldn't ride without a child. Darn it! Sunday we returned on a blistering hot day to find the park nearly empty. We rode all the good coasters again, some of them multiple times in a row before heading back home to Atlanta. (See photos below). Carowinds Entrance: See you next time! Rocket Power Airtime Phantom Flyers Phantom Flyers Entrance Donkey: this park is definitely TPR approved! Hey Arnold's Taxi Chase Hey Arnold; you SUCK! Missed credit. Hurler Carolina Cyclone's loops Carolina Cyclone's lift Carolina Cyclone Carolina Goldrusher Ricochet Ricochet Entrance Vortex Loop Vortex Entrance Super Saturator Super Saturator's Entrance BORG Assimilator Can you say "PURE DEATH"? Thunder Road's layout Thunder Road's lift through the trees Thunder Road's lift Thunder Road Southern Star Top Gun and Southern Star Scott's 75th Credit! Rob's 50th Credit! Top Gun Rugrat's Runaway Reptar Fairly Odd Coaster...AKA FOC! ...or Cedar Fair? Looks like they were able to make the appropriate changes to their garbage cans! We saw plenty of contradictory Paramount icons all over the park. Is this still a Paramount park...

Well, Rob; it appears that our first trip report was only a success in our eyes. I'm shocked by the low ratio of views to posts. "BOO" to all of you who read our 3 day trip report and didn't even bother to say "THIS SUCKED" or "THIS WAS GREAT"!!!

Awesome play-by-play! BTW, this was me each time on Goliath: The front row definately has a lot more airtime then I imagined. Acrophobia was the most intense ride of the day for me as it's been four years since I've been on it. And I'm slowly turning over to the 'dark side' of credit whoreness. Canyon Blaster was fun, I admit, but could have been a little longer. Until next time! Scott