AmyUD06

I personally was not excited about the combined pass, since I have little desire to go to any SF Parks that I've already been to, and the (presumably) lower price point would bring in more riff-raff (and crowds in general) than the current CF Platinum pass does. Though I have to say, after spending a truly great evening at KI tonight, the lower-priced CF-park-specific Gold Pass is not helping the crowd issues.

EDIT: Mistaken

Where did I personally insult you? Several posters were flipping out about this and the Mindbender incident. I understand metal fatigue just fine, I just don't see any correlation between something that happened on a ride when it had probably 1/100th of the amount of cycles that this one did. No one (on this forum at least) knows what happened here, so to assume that it MUST be the same as what happened on Mindbender is ridiculous. I completely acknowledged that they MIGHT be the same situation, by my use of the word "possibly" as the second word of my first sentence. Perhaps "gullible" wasn't the right word. I had originally typed out something far more hostile. EDIT: At least I didn't go in to my usual commentary regarding rides in third world countries.

Kinda glad I haven't renewed my Platinum Pass yet if this turns out to actually happen. I'm truly dreading this, mostly for the prospect of them eliminating the (IMHO) vastly superior skip-the-line system that CF uses and how the parks will fare in the future. I don't go to Six Flags parks for a reason despite there being two of them closer to me than the nearest CF park. EDIT: The only way I could see this being beneficial for the consumer is if SF buys CF, but retains CF's entire management team and none from Six Flags, and changes nothing at existing CF parks. Sadly I don't see that happening.

Two possibly-but-not-definitely related accidents separated by 30+ years. Yeah, there's totally a connection there. Seriously how gullible are you people?

Batman & Robin: The Chiller says hi. Though technically it did open for a few days/one week in '97 before being reintroduced as the "New for '98" ride next year.

After riding on the new-generation Vekoma trains with the vest restraints, I feel that every Arrow looper needs these desperately. I get that roughness complaints probably didn't lead to Vortex's demise, but yeah...

In short, yeah today was a lot better. Temperature was manageable up until 3 (when I left), minimal crowds. Fury is a kickass ride, and Copperhead was a lot of fun if not super-intense. I did splurge for FL+ but ended up not needing it except for a few rides (Fury, Nighthawk, Flying Cobras come to mind). Probably won't go back tonight for Scarowinds again, since I hit all of the Halloween stuff last night, but I'll probably go back tomorrow morning for some more rides on Fury and Copperhead before it gets too crowded/hot. Full trip report/review coming soon.

That is a common practice? My apologies then; this is my first time encountering a park that kicks people out and then "re-opens" the same day. I still think they shouldn't be charging full price when the pass is only valid for half the day. And yeah, I was kinda pissed when I wrote that. I'm going in to the day with a completely open mind and we'll see how it goes.

A shame. When I rode in in 2017, it was plenty smooth and didn't have any of the traditional arrow headbanging like I'd get on something like GASM at SFGAdv. Has it really gotten that bad in two years?

Back from my first night at (S)Carowinds. Initial thoughts: -Mazes were kinda meh; not enough scareactors. though at least they were grouping people instead of sending lines straight through. Did 4 of the 5, without Fright Lane. Longest I waited was about 20 minutes; Urgent Scare looked to be 30-45 by the time I got to it, and since that theme has been done at KD/Dorney in the past, I decided to skip it. -Got on my first Intamin 2nd gen drop tower...quite impressive. It felt for a moment that it wouldn't stop falling. -Didn't feel like waiting in any other lines after making a 6 hour drive to get here, so I didn't go on any other rides, figuring I'd save that for tomorrow when I've got Fast Lane. -Half of the employees I encountered seemed like they hated their life. What happened to "Southern Hospitality"? I did learn however that apparently on weekends, they close the park at 5, force everyone out, and then re-open it as Scarowinds. That doesn't seem to bad on its own...but FL/FL+ passes purchased during the day are not valid for that night. I get they need to make money, but that is seriously messed up and has soured me on the park greatly, especially since they're charging full price for FL during the day when the time of use has been cut in half. That said, I'm still keeping an open mind, and we'll see how tomorrow goes. Fury, Afterburn, and Copperhead better blow me away.

"Every 15 minutes" is the type of exaggeration and sensationalizing I was talking about. There was not. One was in fact able to walk away if unwilling to jump. You're right about them waiting for the pool to clear, though.

During my past Haunt visits, even before Winterfest, it hasn't been open at night.

Well, let's start that for the life of the park, a total of 6 people ever died there. Three were drownings (not the park's fault), one was a heart attack caused by jumping into cold water (not the parks fault), one was where an employee flew off the Alpine Slide and hit his head (self-controlled attraction, not the parks fault), and ONE, and grand total of ONE, could be attributed to negligence on the park's part: a kayak flipped and the deceased made contact with exposed electrical wiring, executing him. In that instance, the park did the right thing and never re-opened the attraction. Compare to Six Flags Great Adventure, where 8 people died in the Haunted Castle fire which, while not started by the park, the construction of the building and lack of sprinklers didn't help. And the woman who fell out of Lightin' Loops because operators neglected to properly check her harness. Then there's injuries on the Joker caused by mechanical failure. And so on. No one makes such a big deal about these incidents, or any other incidents at a major park, because it's not "Traction Park LOLZ." Specific things in the documentary trailer that are blown out of proportion: -Towards the beginning, the female narrator's "whistles blowing, people screaming, motors running...you knew you were jumping in to the fire pit" line stated in a fashion to imply that any of those things are bad/dangerous and not common at any amusement park. -Male narrator's "if you lived through Action Park, you lived through an event in your life" line, also stated in a similar fashion. Obviously, countless people "lived through Action Park." -The part about the Cannonball Loop is greatly exaggerated. No one was ever seriously hurt on it, no "teeth got stuck in the lining, etc." That is all rumor mill that was generated long after the park was closed. Fact is, the ride operated from the day it was built to the day the park was shut down when attendance necessitated it. There are numerous reports of it operating every year, but yes it was frequently closed because it wasn't very popular and the staff could be used elsewhere. -The Woody Allen-looking dude (maybe actually Woody Allen?) "Everyone almost died there." -The entire part about "flaming tennis balls" at the Tank Tag/Boat Tag never happened at that park, and is also technically impossible since the compressed air used to propel the tennis balls would extinguish any flame that was on them. -"I thought this gentlemen was decapitated" - no context whatsoever given, put in the video purely for shock value. -The old broad making a huge case about "fake, FAKE, FAKE!!!!!11!" liability insurance (which is false). -Anything Jimmy Fallon or that idiot from Jackass had to say. Yes, there was some controversy over Mr. Mulvihill's funding, insurance coverage, and frequent injuries at the park. But it was nowhere bad as the modern publicity about the park makes it sound. I highly recommend reading through the Center of the Action Blog, which is comprised of stories from former employees, for an accurate look at the park. Weird NJ also did a pretty good write up on the place a back in 2005, but even they go for shock factor at times. Basically what I was trying to say that every LEGITIMATE story about this place has already been told, and that this documentary will be literally incapable of saying anything new or doing anything other than raising "SJW furor" over the fact that a place without padded handrails at every turn was allowed to exist. There have been numerous pieces written over the past few years to that effect, none of which I'm going to link to because they're trash, that say the same thing this documentary will be trying to. Yes, it was real. Yes, people got hurt. No, it was in no way the most dangerous place to ever have existed.

I think you've got a very valid point. I think I fall into the category of "working professionals with decent salaries," consider myself quite an enthusiast, and yeah my only two trips there as an adult were in 2008 and 2017, and the 2017 trip was 50% because I had a work event in Milwaukee to go to and opted to drive from Northern DE instead of fly. Otherwise, CP is about a 9 hour drive for me (I loathe flying), which necessitates taking a day at each end for travel, and of course at least 2 days at the park. If I'm gonna be out there, might as well do KI too, so that adds another day or two. Getting 5-6 days off consecutive can be tough, not to mention the $1,000 for the travel expenses on top of the Platinum Pass. And I travel by myself for the most part LOL. Would I have loved to get out there last year or this year for SV? Absolutely. But it just didn't happen. I hope to get back to CP (and KI for that matter) next summer, but we'll see.

Nice report. Millennium Force poster being "vintage" makes me sad, but yeah I guess it is almost 20 years old now...

As someone who frequented Action Park as a kid, and has done tons of personal research on it as an adult, that video blows everything WAY out of proportion. Besides, the story's been documented so many times already and hasn't changed, so whatever this person is putting together might as well be plagiarism or even falsehood. EDIT: Yeah, I just watched it through again. Mostly utter BS.

So, I'll be making the most of my CF Platinum Pass and making my first ever trip to Carowinds/Scarowinds this weekend. I'll be able to go all night Friday, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday (weather dependent), and have budgeted for getting Fight Lane one night and Fast Lane Plus for one of the days. Planning on at least two rides on Fury, Copperhead Strike, Intimidator 232, and Afterburn. Of course, I have a few questions that I'm hoping the locals/employees/frequent visitors could shed some light on: 1. The calendar makes it look like they close the park between regular hours and Scarowinds. If this is true, do passholders need to leave in the downtime? 2. I see there's only 5 haunted walkthroughs, thankfully only one of which is duplicated at KD, my home park. How bad do lines get for the walkthroughs? Would Fright Lane be a necessity? Note that my tolerance for lines is only about 30 minutes these days. 3. Does the Passholder early-entry mornings stop due to Scarowinds? I know it makes no sense, but KD doesn't do Early Entry during Halloween season for some reason. 4. Any places in the park that serve mixed drinks? I'll drink a beer or seven if I have to, but I much prefer some Jack & Coke. 5. Any good places to eat that are on the dining plan? I'm considering getting the All-day dining for like $30 on each of the full days I'll be there, but if the selection is limited or horrible I won't bother. I'm not expecting gourmet food, but at least things that are edible. 6. Guessing the calendar for the water park is accurate, and that it'll be closed despite the 90 degree forecast for this weekend, right? A longshot but I gotta ask. 7. Any of the shows worth seeing? Might be nice to get in some AC for a while during the day. Thanks in advance.

Haha I totally agree with your decision. Despite living in Northern Delaware, 3-4 hours away from KD, I consider KD my "home park" and I haven't been to SFA since 2009, and that was only at the insistence of some friends. Sounds like you had a great trip.

You learn something new every day.

It won't be Haunt on Thanksgiving Weekend, unless Canadian Thanksgiving is in October.

2021. It's the American Dream of the west.

From my experience at King's Dominion and Michigan's Adventure, if you show the voucher to the parking attendant they should scan it and let you in.

Uber is not a magic carpet around traffic, that 3-hours-to-go-15-miles will still take just as long, you just won't be driving it - instead you'll be paying an exorbitant amount to your driver. If you don't mind $100+ Uber trips (I may be exaggerating), more power to you.

Carowinds for the first time ever on 9/27-29. Probably won't need 2 full days plus the Friday night, but better safe than sorry. Then possibly Kings Dominion or Dorney Park on 10/5 and the other one on 11/2.