bgwfreak777

Since everyone is feeling so retro these days, I thought I'd pull out some old pics I posted several years ago for the newer folks to enjoy. I'll start with my home park Carowinds. Carowinds and I literally grew up together. I was 1 when Carowinds debuted, as you'll soon see. Hope you enjoy these, and you TPR dbase guys are welcome to use any of the shots as well. We'll start with the ship that the Borg sunk! Good memories of this ride, and how it looked at the front of the park. Here is my brother with the original carousel at the park, a double decker! Check out the fro! My dad and brother are riding the then Powder Keg Flume. A big red B&M is sitting here today. Oh wait, I need to be more specific, a big red, hyper, B&M is sitting here today. Proof positive I was at the park opening year. That's me in the stroller. Retro Goldrusher. You can see the cable car cables in this one. Outer Hanks was one of the stations. I still can't seem to place where this ride was in the park. The park actually used to have two car rides, and now has zero. Scrambler, before it lost its original name and colors. Ditto for Scream Weaver. Used to be Meteorite and located where the Yo Yo is now I think. My brother with Michael Jackson's train! Ah! Honestly though I'm not sure if this is the one Michael bought, but he did purchase one of the two trains that ran at the park. Woodstock Express, 2 names ago and several coats of paint too. I believe it was still the "Eastern Airlines Skytower" then. I miss this ride. White Lightning was located not too far from our current shuttle coaster, Carolina Cobra. Creepy. Kooky. Mom with bro and I. I think this was over in Pirate Island, which is now the water park and the Carolina Cobra area. Speedway. The other car ride. Located where Vortex is now I believe. Not sure if this was in the now Nick, er, Planet Snoopy theater or not. So much has changed in this area over the years. Don't know if this was in Indian Thicket or what section of the park. And finally an old ad I found with the original Carolina Cyclone colors. Red! What a concept! I better not show this to Cedar Fair. Also notice the old Carowinds logo on the balloons. This was the end of the park before Wayne invaded.

I've seen that so many times and never really thought any thing of it. Didn't even think that there could've been a flume in there before.

Illustrious Title Fairy who is all-wise and all-knowing could I change my title to: "East Coast Wes". Since Wes 2.0 doesn't make much sense, as I'm not a different version of Wes.

Where was Haunted River?

(In the background) *Talking like Patrick Star* TOUCH! *Security Guard* DON'T TOUCH! Thanks for the report, I had no idea that place existed!

I guess the rumors of Valleyfair!'s demise were greatly exagerated! I must throw this out there, the entrance plaza is like Planet Snoopy Meets Intimidator Plaza (Carowinds).

Wow you discovered how to make the font big.

I hope when you guys arrive at Carowinds you've arranged for trimless ERT on Intimidator. You might have a Prowlerish experience if they let you guys ride that way. Wow, that sounded vaguely sexual.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Yo Gabba Gabba people are on crack.

The Award For Best Use of an Indiana Jones Quote goes tooooooooooooooooo: TPR!

LOL I didn't think you'd actually do it. Did you hit up Jungle Jim's or have you been there before? I discovered it on the travel channel last year after I'd already been up to KI.

PBS just recently ran Great Old Amusement Parks again, which means I've got it on DVD now instead of VHS. I've also got the Roller Coaster Thrills in 3D, I actually had the international version too at one time, no idea what happened to it. I still own a VCR and a turn table. I'm so retro.

That needs to be your profile pic.

All the rides operate during SCarowinds. The prices haven't been posted yet, SCarowinds starts 9/17 this year, which is a week earlier I believe. I think they basically said "Fridays and Sundays will be cheaper than Saturdays" and "The closer you get to Halloween, the more the tickets will cost". Not sure if they will do the VIP thing again, but it seemed to be a success so I would guess so. I'm so looking forward to those 1:00 AM closes. http://www.carowinds.com/public/visit/schedule/scarowinds.cfm

I don't remember them ever selling those, and I work at the park as well as play out there a good bit. If they still do though, there is an ice cream place near Cobra that might still sell them.

It seems the two struggling Carolinas parks just can't seem to catch a break. I guess that's good for Carowinds, but I was hoping to see Ghost Town and Freestyle make it back. I'm glad I got to ride Cliffhanger last year.

I see the 5 points for No call/No show isn't a new rule.

Sounds like what the B&M rep said at Coaster Stock. Someone asked "Why is Nighthawk down?" (must've thought he was with the park), he responded "Because it's not a B&M", to which the crowd roared with laughter.

Steve it was nice to meet you finally. How big of a geek am I that I was 1 of only 2 people in that huge crowd that knew the final trivia answer? (Which Carowinds attraction was purchased for Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch?) The answer: One of the trains, Melodia was the name. Anyway, I got 16 rides on Intimidator that night, and only one time I actually got off the train just to get a front row ride, then moved back to the back for the rest of the time. Most ERT rides I can remember ever getting on any coaster. Afterburn is so intense that I can usually last at most about 5 rides in a row on it. Thanks for turning off the trims, whoever made that decision!

Another thing you won't see in the US. We must have gates for everything.

Saturdays are the only really busy days. Monday will be pretty dead except the waterpark, and Sunday will be a little busier than that.. Just to let you know, you can easily do the entire park on a Monday in one day. They are open till 8:00 during the week now.

Wow this thread got a lot more response than I expected. I think one of my problems is that over the years I've packed on a lot of muscle on my legs, and I have pretty big legs and not really designed for those restraints. I sit cross-legged on them, but still kinda tight. I still love riding Carolina Goldrusher, especially at night. But boy does that final helix try to throw out my back! Thanks Ron!

But you have to remember that coasters are like movies and music. You have your taste, and others have theirs. Some people have found Intimidator to be boring, and frankly are shocked I picked it as my #1. But to each his/her own. You can't assume everyone feels the same way about certain coasters as you. By the way, I love your avatar. It's funny how the restraints make it look like two eyes in the middle.

Make it stop! I will have nightmares! Loved the report. I had no idea they had a rotor! I want to go now! Carowinds took out theirs in the 80s.

With all the Magic Mountain trip reports I've seen, you'd think I'd seen it all, but not so. Another great report. I still haven't made it to the left coast yet, but hope to soon.