Pufferfish

I'm now starting my third season of working for Cedar Fair as a ride operator at Carowinds. The past seasons have been fun, and I just get the feeling this one is going to be even better. Here's to a great 2010!

For some reason it's not letting me download the park... Anyways, you did a great job with this and hopefully you can make silver or gold the next time.

^That's great to hear. Something like this would fit in great at LA.

Great TR and videos. It looked like such a nice park, it's always a shame to see places like this have to close. Does anyone have any idea what has become of, or is going to happen to, the log flume? Is it getting moved anywhere or is it yet another great flume that is gone forever?

Here's mine, not too impressive... Steel: 87 Wood: 20 Overall: 107 This tells me I need to ride more woodies.

I've never really found a use for the deluxe meal plan. I never even use all the snacks and stuff with the regular meal plan. Unless you know for a fact you will be eating two ice cream bars or two orders of churros every day you're there I really don't recommend it.

Woohoo, the trains are now on site! Pictures by: Carowinds They have these and more up in the photo gallery on the ride's site.

Yay, a photoshop contest I can finally think of something to do for! Dave, you'll like this one. Who will win?

Well, I just looked through my stock of Carowinds pictures and I do have 1 picture of Rip Roarin' Rapids. I don't have any for White Water Falls, or a picture of Rapids' sign, but I'll be sure to get a couple of pictures when I can. Overview as seen from the skytower.

I highly recommend staying on property at WDW if that is going to be the main focus of your trip. Staying on property at Disney World gives you many perks such as their extra magic hours which let you enter a select park early and stay at another extra late. You also get their free shuttle service which takes you to any of the properties that are a part of WDW. By doing this, you will want to refrain from renting a car and just take a taxi instead to Universal Studios or Seaworld. Also with staying in a Disney hotel there is a shuttle service that will pick you up from the airport and take you directly to the hotel. This service also takes your bags for you so there is no need to wait in line to pick up your bags after setting down in Orlando. If you think that staying on property is going to be too expensive and not worth the perks, then yes you probably will want to rent a car. Warning though, some of the roads in Orlando can get very congested so make sure to give yourself plenty of time for driving from place to place. Parks you should check out other than the 4 WDW parks are Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Seaworld, and Busch Gardens Africa. Busch Gardens is not in Orlando, but it is only an hour drive away and definitely worth a visit. Well, that's all the advice I can give. Have a safe and happy trip!

Great TR, thanks for all the updates. I had no idea that animatronic of Luxo existed. Where exactly does it appear? Do you have a larger picture of that area?

What I'm about to say will probably top any thing and everything said so far in this thread. I'm not scared of snakes, spiders, insects, vommit, heights, I used to be claustrophobic but I'm not anymore, and I'm not scared of needles or sharp objects. What I am afraid of is most vegetables. Cabage and lettuce are the worst in my opinion really. now my fear isn't of touching them or smelling them or seeing them, my fear is just eating them. I've done it in the past and I will never again. Same goes for tomatoes, strawberries, cherries, and peaches. There are some vegetables I'm fine with though, mostly just the starches. Other than that, my only other fear is of the things that aren't there that can actually cause harm to me. Demons are the primary concern in this. That's why the first time I watched Paranormal Activity the footprints scene actually startled me. Over all though I have no, debilitating fears. Nothing that will put me on the ground in a fetal position, but there are things that cause me to be like, "No way man, I'm not going there or doing that."

It's really good to see that with so many new rides jumping into the top 50, Afterburn was able to hold its spot at 35. I still think it needs to be higher though. That might change next year, anyways thank you Mitch for continuing to do the best poll out there!

out of the coasters that I personally have ridden, my favorites for night rides are Maverick, Thunderhead, Millennium Force, Afterburn, and any Hyper coaster. Man, it's statements like these that cause a feeling of "coaster withdrawal."

Hooray! You finally got your SD2K credit! What took you so long? Anyways great TR, this is a park I really want to visit soon.

^It is such an awesome and under-appreciated ride, I think ALL parks need to install one of these. Forget those boring Zamperla hoppers.

Great trip report and video! I'm glad to hear that Kumba is running a little smoother now. I hope my trip was just on a bad day or something. Anyways, did you ride Wild Surge? It's NOT your standard frog hopper. Ever since that thing I have been in love with Moser's spring towers.

^^I personally rank Up as number 2 after the first Toy Story. It actually really surprised me how deep and realistic the storytelling was. It wasn't some lighthearted feel good movie that they have been crapping out recently. Any movie that can make a person cry within the first 20 minutes is an excellent film. You have some very interesting thoughts on the movies from this last year. I'd like to know why you don't like Transformers, I personally see it as one of Micheal Bay's best works(at least it isn't Ewe Boll!) I fully agree with the praise you are giving District 9, it really surprised me. Though for some people, for some reason I still don't get, they don't like the movie.

So, how about them Panthers last weekend? We completely DEMOLISHED the Giants! I only have one more thing to say, Saints, prepare to meet revenge!

^ Same here about Uncharted 2. It completely took me off guard, especially considering it was Naughty Dog that made it. It is definitely my pick for game of the year. Other than that, I'm currently playing Brutal Legend, I'm about a quarter of the way in, Assassin's Creed, I'm on the second assassination mission, I'm playing through Resident Evil 4 again, I'm on chapter 4-1, I'm playing through Infamous again, final mission, and I'm playing Little Big Planet PSP.

1. Awesome idea. 2. I can't really think of anything that hasn't already been mentioned. 3. Heck yes. My $40 is ready to enter your pockets. 4. If it ends up not being worth the cost. I really can't see it ever NOT being worth it though. Discounts on trips and merch, $15 credit to the store, priority on trips, and free crap? It's worth it all ready.

I'm kind of a pack rat, so I collect a lot of things. Most of what I collect though is memorabilia. I collect ticket stubs from any movie, park, fair, etc. I travel to. I also collect maps from these same places. I do this mostly just to remind myself of everywhere I've been and seen. I also try to, if the park sells them, collect at least 1 pin from each park I go to, yes I am a pin trader. I actually have some nice rare ones from WDW, sorry not up to trading right now. Other than that, I have a healthy collection of movie posters building up. I have one from both Night at the Museums, I have one for the Imax of Transformers 2, I have one for Drag me to Hell, one for The Mist, one for Zombieland, and one for Eagle Eye. These are all official movie posters actually used in theaters. I also have a few non-official movie posters, Saw V, Fourth Kind, The Two Towers, and Jaws. Outside of all that, I also collect video games, mostly just the systems though. I have an original PS as well as the travel version, I have a Sega Dreamcast, I have a SNES, I have a Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, Game Boy Color, Gameboy Advanced, Gameboy Adv SP, Nintendo DS, PSP, original PS2, PS3, Xbox360, Nintendo Gamecube, and a Nintendo Wii. I have in total over 300 video games spread across each of these consoles as well as for the PC. Off the top of my head, I have 2 games that are considered very rare and extremely valuable. I have the very rare port of Doom II on the Gameboy Advanced and I have American McGee's Alice. If anyone has some good classic games for any of the systems listed above, specifically the SNES, Genesis, or Dreamcast, that you are willing to sell/trade please PM me.

I got a lot more than I really ever expected this year. New cell phone, LG enV Touch, 40" Samsung 1080p LCD TV, two $50 dollar gift cards to Best Buy, $50 cash, a few books, Assassin's Creed for the 360, Brutal Legend for the 360, Uncharted 2 for the PS3, Little Big Planet for the PSP, a Sega Genesis, Mortal Kombat for the Genesis, Sonic 2, and the Sega 6 Pak, and finally I got a crap load of candy, chocolates, and baked goods.

Great pictures. I agree fully with your opinions on Manta. It is the best flyer I've ever experienced and was instantly a top ten coaster after my first ride. It's also the only flying coaster I've ever experienced airtime on, very interesting sensation. I would love to see your pictures from IAAPA and the Vegas coasters.

I agree with TTD, any ride that has it's own dedicated viewing area definitely scores high in this. Two other that I can think of off the top of my head are Manta and Afterburn. Both of them are highly accessible with pathways leading under and beside most of the best elements.