bgwfreak777

Glad to see you back Big Mike!

Were you there in 99? That was my first trip to CP, you may have checked my restraint if so. I had this thing with CP my first two trips. Every time I visited, the next year they built a major ride. 1999 visited, 2000 Millie 2002 visited, 2003 Dragster 2007 visited, 2008 Kite Eating Tree

Just ran across this thread. I never had heard of Boblo Island. Looks like it was a decent sized park too. So were you a ride op on Mean Streak? If so, what years?

Not including the first drop, can you tell much of a difference in the speed of the ride during the rest of the course? I really liked the ride back in May before they stripped it.

By rough I don't mean "Mean Streak on a bad (or normal) day", but like Carolina Goldrusher has one really BAD jolt when you're going into the final helix. And Dahlonega has a few jolts as well, that make it so I don't ride it much anymore.

It's crazy that Universal even allows cell phones by employees. Carowinds is very strict about that as I'm sure all the Cedar Fair parks are. You'd think Universal would be the same. There are times as an employee there I wish I could have my phone because of boredom, but it's best that you don't look like you're playing on the phone. Like I saw S: UF get dispatched one time by a girl talking on her cell phone and looking the other way than the train.

I'm still a fan of Arrow/Vekoma mine trains, but many of them (Arrow) are pretty rough around the edges. Probably the smoothest one I've been on is Adventure Express. Are there any other Arrow Mine Trains out there that are smooth? Appologies if this is a repeat, I did search and didn't see anything come up.

Looks awesome. Can't wait until I have the extra funds to join.

Until Mr. Potter showed up, they hadn't built any major attractions in a very long time. I think if they were to add another coaster in the next few years they could keep up the momentum of Potterland. And I must say this: 4.6 million visitors is a LOT of people. Most parks would kill for numbers like that. Just because Disney gets whatever they get, it's not a fair comparison. They are different types of parks.

Am I the only one that plays grouper too? If there are going to be 2 seats available in my row (on a B&M for instance) I try to advertise that 2 seats are available. Sometimes it works, sometimes the groups just stare at me like I have two heads. And to me the last question is kinda crazy. If someone is so insecure abou their relationship with their girlfriend/boyfriend then they probably don't need to be out in public.

Would that be Apollo's Chariot?

As far as Behemoth, I'd say it's going to be very close at best. If you can't fit their other coasters, then I'm guessing no. The Intimidator seats though have more butt room than the other 3 B&M hypers I've been on, so I'm not sure if Behemoth is that way, but I'm thinking not from my rides on Diamondback. Plus the newer ones they seem to want you to get 3 clicks. Anyway, I feel ya. I haven't been denied but 2 coasters in the past 5 years, and one of those was the SFA Superman. But I was very worried about fitting on Intimidator when I heard they wanted 3 clicks.

So is the Taj a pain to get to? I heard something like they don't allow cars within so many miles of it or whatever to keep the white marbel prestine.

Why in the world would Maurer Söhne make a coaster that doesn't check to see if a restraint is locked? I know the Mack's are very picky and you have to get so many clicks before it will dispatch.

One ride I never hear mentioned that I found to be very good at SFA was the break dance over near Mind Eraser. Finally rode it this year and loved it almost as much as the one at Freestyle.

How does the restraint look for bigger people? Do they have a test seat? If I can fit on a B&M hyper, do you think I'll have problems with this one?

Still haven't made it up there, but I love this place more and more. Especially any place with pinball!

Totally forgot one of my favorites, Monster Plantation/Mansion. "Ya darn fools! You'r going the wrong way!" I really like the makeover they did on it. It's the same ride for the most part, but the special effects and the swamp are so much better.

This from the Intimidator coaster crew member. This was on the first page of the thread.

This one has to beat that. It looks like a haunted house type ride, then you get on it and turn right into a semi-dark room and all the ride does is criss cross down a path of S-turns and every time your turn you hear a mouse trap sound. That's it! Outstanding ride. As far as dark rides, I love them. I especially like the interactive ones like Sally makes. One of the bigger surprises was the one at Family Kingdom. I've never been on one with an outside loading platform. Kennywood's Noah's Ark is awesome as well as KD's Treasure Cave for pure 70s cheesy goodness.

Not sure if you guys saw this or not: http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/disney-california-ad-7193/

Chad, I see that you did the tour at BGW, what is the difference in the observer and the particpant experience? I see they are about $40 difference and was curious. I just noticed too that you were at KD on 5/15 when I was there too.

I wish this park wasn't 8 hours away from me, it looks like a good little park now adays.

If you want to check out Downtown, I'd recommend riding LYNX in (our light rail). There's a station at South Blvd & I-485, which is like 10 minutes from Carowinds. You can buy a day pass for $4 I think, or just do a round trip pass for maybe $3. But with the day pass you can get on and off and check out different stops and such. That's cheaper than regular parking and such downtown. Plus no hassle with our one way streets, etc. http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/CATS/LYNX/485+Station.htm

Loving all the UK trip reports. Hope to get to go in a couple years myself.