fraroc

Here is my review of all the coasters I didn't get to in my first review Sidewind...uhh...I meant Carolina Cobra: Ride one Vekoma Boomerang, you've rode them all. Pretty decent little coaster, nothing really special. Carolina Goldrusher: Nice little mine train coaster, perfect as a starter coaster for little kids that are past the stage of Zierier Tivolis and Wacky Worms, but are not quite ready to conquer bigger coasters like Carolina Cyclone. After riding F325....yeah, not very fun. Ricochet: Basically the same as the Wild Mice at Hershey and Dorney. Nice compact little coaster, nothing too new or to interesting. Thunder Road: Okay, it's a good coaster and I am really sad that it's going and I understand that it has a place in the heart of people from the Carolinas, but after riding it for myself....I'm sorry, it's not worth the tears. It's essentially Rebel Yell, only natural color instead of white and goes across two states. What I REALLY wish would happen is that Thunder Road becomes the first Cedar Fair RMC conversion, but after BSing with an off-duty employee in the Fury 325 line, he said it's not likely at all and they really have their eye on a Boomerang Bay expansion.

Today on Carolina Cyclone "No seriously! this ride is better than Fury 325! This one goes upside down four times, Fury goes upside down zero times!" I'm pretty certain he was screwing around.

If anyone in the Charlotte area of NC heard an angelic chorus singing the hallelujah song yesterday, that was the sound of me fitting into Fury 325 and Intimidator 232 with no problem at all Seems like my hard work and dedication towards losing weight in order to ride a roller coaster really paid off, and I can only get better from here. If I continue down my road of weight loss, pretty soon, fatty walks of shame on ANY coaster will be nothing but an afterthought for me. I already knew I wouldn't have trouble fitting in at all when I found out at BGW that I was able to fit my ass all the way down the seats of Alpengeist and Griffon with no problem and buckle the belt with room to My review of Carowinds: Overall, it's a very, very quaint park with a nice Cedar Fair feel. I definitely get this "Cedar Point of the East Coast" with the redone main entrance. The coaster collection at Carowinds is exactly how I expected it, very nice variety of coasters. I'm hopefully going on all of them today, but this is going to be based off the coasters I've been on so far. Carolina Cyclone: This is the epitome of a standard, no frills, looping coaster. Two loops, two corkscrews, a helix and it's done. It's not a bad coaster, even though it vibrates like crazy. It's a good coaster for a small kid who wants to ride his or her first looping roller coaster because other than that, it's really nothing special. Loch Ness Monster blows this one into the water, then again, Nessie is a special case seeing as how it's an iconic coaster and it's glass smooth, something unusual for an Arrow. Fury 325: ............AAAHHHH YEAHHHHHH!!!!!! This coaster is no joke, man! This is one of the best coaster's I've ever been on. Two words, speed and three pops of ejector air. The first drop and the drop into the tunnel under the entrance are two of the best drops on coasters I've ever been on. And those three airtime hills twoards the end.....Jesus...Honestly, at this point, I have no idea which coaster I enjoy more, Fury 325 or Intimidator 305. Did F325 just replace I305 as my favorite coaster? Compared to my second favorite, Skyrush at Hershey. The airtime is just as X-Treme as Skyrush, but it has one thing that Skyrush lacks, longevity, F325 is a pretty long ride compared to Skyrush. I'd say that right now my top 3 coasters are as follows, 1. Intimidator 305/Fury 325 2. Skyrush 3. Griffon Hurler: Surprisingly, I found this one to be better than it's Kings Dominion counterpart. It was shaky, but not repeatedly-get-punched-in-the-kidneys like Mean Streak at Cedar Point. A good, medium sized woodie. Intimidator 232: Another REALLY good one. This one, I find has so much more floater airtime compared to other out and back hypers I've been on, namely Apollo's Chariot, Magnum, and Steel Force. I232 is all about floater air while F325 is all about speed and ejector air. I find the airtime on I232 to be the perfect balance between mellow and still exciting to keep your stomach dropping. Much better than Steel Force, which doesn't get it's airtime until the end of the ride. Nighthawk: For my first non Volaire flying coaster, really like this ride, especially the loop. The loop while lying down, has this awesome feel of rising up, flying for a short while until just dive-bombing the ground! The only bad thing about this ride is the loading time...Jesus Christ, it's taking FOREVER to load the train, just put train two on! Vortex: Ehh.....Not really. I mean, I like the layout a lot actually and think it's a pretty thrilling coaster. Only problem? It's a standup coaster, which kills my legs. If this coaster and it's California's Great America counterpart recieved the Rougarou treatment next year as rumored, it would be absolutley perfect. I can finally appreciate the thrilling, short-but-sweet layout. Unfortunatley, it being a standing coaster ruins it for me.

Trust me, I've felt the same way when I was still doing Tennessee's Great America and now sometimes Riverwood Theme Park. Sometimes you don't have to motivation to go out of your way to build a new coaster, make sure the coaster is realistic-looking, take pictures, think of creative text for the update and post it, but sometimes I just say might as well do it.

double post sorry.

What size are you down to now? I'm wondering the same thing, i'm visiting the park on June 20th. i was too fat in April, I've lost 20 pounds since then, hope to lost another 10 by the June 20th. I guess i'm right at a 44/46 waist...i just hope my legs are small enough...since that's really where the bar rest. I still wear 46 pants but the last time I measured myself I was 44 inches getting closer to 43. Also, I've noticed that my leg muscles seem a lot harder than what they used to be, which means that my legs are slightly leaner and not as fat. People have been noticing that I've lost quite a large amount of weight. I'm currently 260, and when I went on Apollo's Chariot (and made two clicks) last year, I could have possibly been 48 inches in the waist and a possible 280lbs. Now I'm nearing 43 inches and my 46 pants are super-loose.

Well the moment of truth is a week from today, if my hopefully not-so-fat-anymore ass can fit in Fury 325.

I literally had NO idea about the other four wooden wild mice, I've been thinking for years that the one at Blackpool was the only one left.

I like how the park has that crowded boardwalk feel to it where even though it doesn't utilize much scenery or landscaping, it's still somewhat realistic. However, the one thing I don't find realistic about this park is if this park takes place in modern times, I find it really unrealistic to have a wooden wild mouse and a Virginia reel, seeing as how there is only one wooden wild mouse left in the world and I don't think there are any Virginia reels left at all.

Built by CCI It's a terrain coaster Opened in 2000 Talon at Dorney.

Honestly, I'm just thankful that no one died.

1972 So...moving on with the saga of this park...Time for another time skip to 1972! Riverwood Zoo has been open for two years and not only has it been a success in of itself, but it has been a huge boon to get extra foot traffic into the the theme park itself! A prime location for people to spend a day of family fun at the zoo or the amusement park! Or BOTH if they are so inclined! Everything was running fine for the 1972 season....no problems whatsoever.... But what's this? The Mini-Bobs is gone! Yes, in 1972, Richard Riverwood decided to tear down the PTC wooden kiddie coaster Mini-Bobs, making it the first coaster casualty in the history of the park and bringing the coaster count from three back down to two. In the last few years of it's life, Mini-Bobs has become increasingly unreliable, constant breakdowns became a common occurrance and there where times where the Mini-Bobs was closed for a week and more! In the end, he decided to just pull the plug on the ride. Families with young children were rather dissappointed to see Mini-Bobs gone, but to not give away too much....it won't be that way forever. The Big Wheel is broken. AGAIN. It's beginning to become quite a recurring theme...Wouldn't be surprised if this is the next to go.....

What roller coasters have you been on that you enjoy very much, but to most other coaster enthusiasts, don't get a lot of love? For me, I feel like Sidewinder and SooperDooperLooper at Hershey fall in this category, I find both coasters to be enjoyable rides. Now I know, there are tons of rides like Sidewinder out there, but I've always found that particular boomerang to be a pretty fun ride. The new restraints really made it a comfortable ride with minimal to no headbanging. Hell, even my mother, who hates most Vekoma and Arrow rides with a passion for that reason found it to be enjoyable after the new trains went in. SooperDooperLooper, like Verbolten and Cheetah Run, is one of those coasters which tread the fine line between a thrilling coaster and a family coaster. The rest of the coaster is a pretty mellow ride with a nice helix, but the perfect-circle loop I find to be VERY forceful, much more forceful than any other coaster with a vertical loop that I've ever ridden. And besides, it's a Schwarzkopf, how can you go wrong with a classic Schwarzie?

I should mention that on Apollo's Chariot, they let me ride with only one click, but I managed to squeeze it to two clicks despite it being tight. I'm hoping that with 20lbs off me and four inches smaller in the waist, I'll be able to do three.

I have a question to ask frequent Carowinds vistors....Have there been any stories of fatty walks of shame on Fury 325? I'm planning on heading down to Carowinds in June and have lost a considerable amount of weight this winter, possibly 20lbs. Last year, when I went to Busch Gardens for the first time, Apollo's Chariot was a pretty tight fit, but I got in, of course I was erring close to a possible 49 inches on my waist. I'm currently down to 44 and hope to be in the lower 40s by the time vacation rolls along. Need I be concerned, or not?

This update was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I just never got around to it.... 1970 I'd like to wish all my readers a happy Memorial Day! To celebrate, I'd like to take you back to Memorial Day 45 (I can't believe it's been THAT long since 1970) years ago, when Riverwood Zoo had it's grand opening! As expected, the crowds just poured in after the gates opened for both parks!Families sprawled over the entire perimiter of both parks, excited to see the various animals at the zoo and to ride exhilarating rides at the theme park! Not only did the new Riverwood Zoo get a lot of attention, Riverwood Theme Park did as well! Almost every ride had a long line! Years after it's opening, closing, and re-opening, the legendary Bobs roller coaster still is one of the most popular attractions at the park. But that's not to say that River Rush, the park's latest roller coaster wasn't getting any love! Here is another full train about to make the big drop! Here is a bird's eye view of the entire park. It appears that every single attraction in the park is veering towards the left without anything on the right, however in the saga of the entire park, that's not going to last for very long....

Out of everything, the fact that this news was put on such short notice is making me really suspicious about this not being the end for Thunder Road.

1970 Hey readers! This isn't going to be a large update, this is just to post some photos that got left out from the Riverwood Zoo reveal. Don't worry, the saga of RTP will continue after this post!

I wish I was a quarter as good as you are at custom scenery, I'm getting better but I don't think I'll ever truly master it....All I gotta say is kudos to you, you're doing an amazing job at this park.

1970 The following is an interview from a local Kearney based newspaper with Richard Riverwood discussing the new addition for 1970, a LOT of information was disclosed in this interview, so give it a read! Interviewer: "So, it's been six years since you took ownership of the theme park now known as Riverwood Theme Park, How has that been working out?" Richard Riverwood: "It's been working out great, the people of Kearney, Nebraska always had a great relationship with this park, trailing as far back as the 1920s when this park was known as Terrell's Pleasure Park...When my father bought the park for himself, I was well aware of the negative reaction that his greed had, so when he was arrested and the money that he had legitimate inherited was given to me being his eldest son, I knew I had to step in. So far, it's been a huge success! The addition of Olde West Towne and the River Rush roller coaster really bolstered the foot traffic going into the park! Obviously, I'm pretty happy about that." Interviewer: "This question is about the project for 1970 that you recently unveiled....What prompted the decision.... "to build a zoo next to your theme park?" Richard Riverwood: "Well, the answer is very simple. I've ALWAYS loved animals growing up, my father owned six dogs, a cat, and three horses and as a kid, I really bonded to those animals...I felt way closer to them than I ever did to any of my real family, I still feel as though animals are greater companions to humans than other humans....I want Riverwood Zoo to be more than just an add-on to Riverwood Theme Park, I like to think of this place as an animal sanctuary, a place where they can live healthy and fulfilling lives without any danger..." Interviewer: "Nice...Anyway, what does this mean for park guests? Will they be able to go between both parks freely? Or is there a catch..." Richard Riverwood: "Well, this is the system that I've worked out. Guests have the option to either buy an exclusive ticket for just Riverwood Zoo only, but if they buy a ticket for the park for the same price, they can freely go between the two parks via a tram system that was installed between them. The second option is a MUCH better buy in my opinion, two parks for the price of one!" Interviwer: "When do you expect both parks to be ready to be opened?" Richard Riverwood: "Riverwood Theme Park is opening for weekends in April and full weeks in May as per usual. However, I expect that Riverwood Zoo will be up and going by at least May of this year." Interviewer: "Thank you so much for your time, Richard!" Richard Riverwood: "Hey, it's no problem."

Those transitions are cringeworthy, which make for one realistic as hell Chinese knockoff coaster! Good job man.

@I305Forever Keep in mind, this IS 1966 when the only steel coasters dominating the market were the mine trains Anyway, time for a mini-update!!! 1969 From 1966 when River Rush opened to the year 1969, nothing much really happened at Riverwood Theme Park. The park had been enjoying a series of very successful seasons thanks to the addition of Old West Towne and River Rush and has now become a go-to place for families in Nebraska...However, in 1969, people began to notice something that was slightly amiss about the park.... Adjacent to River Rush, an absolutely MASSIVE plot of land was cleared, almost half the size of the park itself! At that time, absolutley no one could tell what would be going in its place, it seemed too large for a new roller coaster, and it seemed unlikely that it was going to be a park expansion due to the fact that the park was recently expanded a few years prior... I don't want to give away too many details, but lets just say that what was going to be built in that plot of land is going to be a major game changer for this place...something that is truly going to forever change the face of Riverwood Theme Park....

That looks pretty awesome, I have to admit, I've never seen many people attempt to do a Lego coaster so props to you for attempting it! '

1966 On my last post, I showed pictures the large-scale expansion that was added to Riverwood Theme Park from 1965 to 1966. This expansion consisted of a jumping fountain garden, a new cowboy/western themed area with a flat ride, an Old West themed comedy show, and Riverwood's first steel roller coaster. Now lets see how the park's guests think of the new attractions! Just a short while after opening, hundreds of people poured in through the gates to have a day of fun under the beautiful June summer/spring sun! Many people started off their days by riding the undeniable classic known as Bobs.... Some decided to take it easy and ride the Ferris Wheel.... And others conquered their fear of heights on the High Flyer! Slowly but surely, people started to flock to the new area of the park.... The lines for River Rush got progressively longer throughout the day as more and more people made their way to Old West Towne. Almost immediately after opening River Rush truly proved itself to be the perfect roller coaster for both families and thrill seekers with its series of smooth, swooping drops and banked helices. Here you can plainly see another full house on the ride! The second lift hill going into the big drop and turnaround dded a certain "WOW" factor to the coaster that was a hit with riders looking for thrills! After the big drop, the ride just hauls ass throughout the rest of the layout, speeding through the airtime hills, giving riders the sensation of zero-gravity. All in all, River Rush did exactly what it was expected to do, be both a thrilling and family friendly ride that anyone of all ages can enjoy! This picture shows The Big Wheel broken down, AGAIN. Despite being a thrilling flat ride, in 1966 it was beginning to become a maintenance nightmare. With its neighbor broken down, lines for the thrilling yet extremely low capacity Roll-O-Plane grew astronomically long. It appears that some guests waited more than an hour for the ride by the look of the picture. I'll put an end to this post by posting this beautiful helicopter shot of Riverwood Theme Park in 1966! Yes sir, this park looks like it's surely on its way to becoming another coaster paradise....

Everybody forgets poor Michigan's Adventure Also, Xcelerator reaches 85mph and goes 205ft tall like Steel Force....Wouldn't it make that a hypercoaster? Anyway, I would love to see RMC consider Cedar Fair.