TBpony414

Are we living opposite lives? We make the trek from Northern Virginia down to Charlotte solely for Fury and the flyers at Carowinds haha. Yes, I305 never has a line. Like, ever. Even on weekends. People line up outside of it to watch it go but not that many people actually go in the queue. Occasionally, and I mean this was only on the actual ride's opening day many years ago, the line will fill the entire queue which is only a 30 (yes, thirty) minute wait to get through. KD's crews are far from the greatness of ride ops at Carowinds but the I305 crew is superb. Make sure you report back after your trip! Oh and more votes for Volcano (my fav ride in the park), the drop tower and log flume. Berserker aka the looping pirate ship right at the entrance is pretty great as well and you never know which way the ship will go over. If you can find the dino giftshop and make it to Grizzly's entrance, hold on so you don't crack a rib on the ride!

Really great review of USF! I was at USH last month so it's neat to see the differences. Looking forward to your next installment.

I had the same problems with my photopass this year and am really pissed because we had some absolutely hysterical ride photos with my brother and his wife. I doubt there's any way to locate them - not that SF gives a crap. I know the day we were there with them but other than that... That trip with them was the only reason we bought the damn pass this year, too.

The video looked awesome but I wondered not too far into it if it was all crazy good fun or at all nausea-inducing. Good to know! How cold would you say it is inside of Ski Dubai? Going from the ski slopes to dune slopes in the same day is pretty cool. What is the approx. temperature there currently? I don't know that I'll ever get over to the UAE so it's really awesome to follow along on your adventures!!

Woohoo!

That's awesome! Glad the 2nd trip across the country paid off! I feel blessed to live within 30 minutes of it. Can't imagine being far away. YEAH!! So glad it was open for you! We finalized our reservations this morning for this summer to get down there for our first rides on LR and can't wait.

Thanks guys for the info on PvZ! We did not see an intro video as we walked pretty much right onto the ride when the doors were open, so that definitely didn't help our experience LOL. We aren't video game people so had no idea what the storyline was but absolutely love Boo Blasters and figured it'd be similar Sadly, Blasters at Carowinds last year was in terrible condition and none of the targets or guns worked. Shame since the one at Kings Dominion is awesome. But I'll make sure to look at the gun and seat so I know which is mine, and look forward to killing as many golden gnomes as possible!

^ I swear I tried to do that and it didn't work for me!! Technology is not my strong suit, clearly

I appreciate the additional information!! I'm not seeing the ability to buy Time Savers online... is it only available in-park? I may be the worst google searcher ever but I also can't seem to find a page describing the differences in the DW Regular vs. Gold season park passes. If you have a season pass do you get Time Saver with it? I recall reading somewhere that you don't get TS with a pass, but the wording on the TS page is a bit confusing: "TimeSaver Complimentary is FREE for resort guests with exclusive resort theme park tickets or Season Passes!" Due to traveling with my dog, we aren't able to stay on property. Trying to figure out if it's worth it to buy season passes if we want to go to DW for 2 days.

That tour sounds AWESOME! I can't believe they let you in the ride op booth and show building for Verbolten - that'd definitely be the highlight for me! What were the other options for the tour you took and what was the difference, since you said yours was just an observer? $50 is a steal for something like that. About how many people were on the tour? I did a Penguin Encounter during xmastime there and also a wolf training tour. Both were a lot of fun. I haven't been to BGW since then (prob 3-4 years now) because we've been spending too much time traveling to the various Cedar Fair parks, but the tour you described will definitely get me back soon. How far in advance did you book? Thanks for telling us all about it!

I also much prefer Fury to I305 due to the fact that I305 absolutely kicks your ass. It's impressive and powerful and intense but I can only ride it so many times before I feel worn out, whereas I can ride Fury over and over again and I don't feel that way. Both are incredible. Heat and hydration levels do make a difference, too. Completely agree with you about making examples of these dicks who continue to pull their cell phones out. When I was at GAdv last there was a lady in the seat in front of me on the mine train who pulled out her cell phone to record in selfie mode the entire ride with her daughter (who didn't seem to be having much fun.) The entire video is me tapping her on the shoulder and making nasty faces behind her to put her fking phone away. She refused and on the brake run slipped it into her pocket. Why do people feel the need to have to document every single freaking moment of our lives? I don't understand this. Maybe one day when she loses the grip on her phone and it cracks her daughter's skull in half she'll reconsider.

Thanks for the info on the wasps at Wild Eagle! I should be good since we'll be there the last week of July. Expecting monster crowds but that's the only time we can get down there so will buy the Timesaver pass and will just have to wait for 2nd rides on things we like. Appreciate the tip on checking their app since you don't need to be in the park to view wait times!

What time of year generally does Wild Eagle shut down for the wasps/hornets/bees/bugs? I can't recall when that migration time is and if they close the ride completely or if it's open during early morning and in the evening. Can someone with more information and a better memory fill me in?

Hauling on dispatches is an understatement with Carowinds! Every time we've been there we are more and more impressed. Hey Larry, can you try to explain what you like about Plants vs. Zombies? When we rode it last year we thought it was the stupidest thing on the planet. We had no idea what we were doing except sort of shooting at things, but there didn't seem to be any way to tell who shot what or when or why. Boyfriend thought it was horrible. It's got air conditioning and you sit down for several minutes so I really want to like it... convert me, please!

Thanks for the complete media day overview, Robb! Looks like a nice little coaster and the shed is pretty much what I figured it'd be. How long do media events last, on average?

The local news has been covering this nonstop for quite some time now and acting like it's a high rise fire. "The children will be first to be rescued" ... "Their parents must be scared to death"... and my favorite was them bringing in a weatherman and saying that with the sun going down it's going to get cold and none of them are wearing jackets

Nice TR of the Invadr media day, Chuck! Disappointing about the high height requirement but for the people tall enough to ride, it looks like a nice little coaster. The theming for the entry plaza, queue and trains really is fantastic. I would expect nothing less from BGW though. Would you say it's more like Hershey's Wildcat or KD's Rebel Yell? Am trying to describe it to a friend who isn't a coaster nerd

Boldy - Do you have any new park trips scheduled for this year??

Take note: Ride MF on the left side at night. Going up that seriously skinny lift hill with complete darkness surrounding you in that tiny open train and a massive drop off just off your shoulder is truly frightening. I'll fight every time for that left seat, especially at night!

Oh jeez, Bert! So sorry to hear about the Bells - take it easy as much as possible and I'm sure it'll resolve itself in no time. Dental work + major stress = a huge toll on your body. You do have a good sense of humor about it, though Beautiful stone for your mom <3

That media invite was awesome!! Thanks for sharing it with us, Robb! Can't wait to see your review of the new world.

It's super easy to figure out and much different from the Six Flags QBot system. With Fast Lane at CF parks you get a wristband instead of a little computer on a carabiner to clip to your pants. Unlike the Six Flags version, with Fast Lane there is no way to tell how long the waits for any given ride will be. You just have to show up and ask the attendant at the Fast Lane entrance. Usually the lines will be 30 mins or less. One time we waited 45 minutes for Maverick and that was when the FL+ line was all the way back to the Fast Lane entrance. Often times it's a 10 minute wait or you pretty much walk right on the ride. The FL entrance is sometimes in a completely different area than the regular line entrance for rides, such as with Maverick. At other rides (Millennium Force, Valravn, Gatekeeper, for example) you go to the normal ride entrance area and they have you walk thru a special queue for FL only. It's very hard to screw up and everyone at CP is extremely nice. There were several times we weren't sure where FL entrances were and employees were more than happy to explain in great detail where to find them and in some cases show us. Rest assured, it's very easy. HTH!

^Great TR of opening day!! There's nothing better than hanging out at a park with friends on a low crowd day. Glad to see you finally made it on SORA! Every safari is different and sometimes the animals are all walking right up next to the vehicle. I won't get up to ride El Toro for another two months and it's killing me! Unrelated - I was in Philly all this weekend for the first time in about 15 years. Nice city you got there, everyone was super nice! Does anyone know how I can access a link to buy the GAdv lunch and a snack only deal dining pass? We had that last year and have been waiting months for the lunch deal to come out so we can add it to the 2017 passes. Someone a page back got the email for it but I only seem to get Magic Mountain emails, even though my home park (and the park my passes have been through for many years) is GAdv. I logged into the Six Flags season pass area and it's not popping up there or anywhere else on the site that I can find. Last year the lunch special was time sensitive. Help, please!

That's unfortunate. We are currently planning our first trip down to Dollywood and GSMNP later this summer and have been trying to decide how many days to stay. We finally decided 2 days at DW and 2 days for hiking, but seeing as I can't bring my dog (we are avid hikers, dog is unbelievably well behaved, has very advanced obedience titles, and is always, always, always on leash - not only to follow the leash laws so prevalent in my areas but also to protect HIM in case something were to happen) I guess we will knock it down to 1 day of hiking. Bummer. ETA - thedlr, thanks for that link! I had no idea dogs weren't allowed at many of the large national parks. We'll check out some of the other hiking areas nearby so we can include the dog.

Wait, dogs aren't allowed on the hiking trails? Good to know but that sucks. It only takes a few a-holes with their off leash dogs running after wildlife/biting someone/not cleaning up after them/etc. to ruin it for everyone.