JRice92

Velocicoaster just over a week ago!

I was very lucky this weekend and I also attended Great America’s opening day. With the park not opening in nearly a year and a half I was expecting utter chaos, and ended up having a great time! We pre-purchased gold flash passes because we knew it would be a busy day. Now my group is kind of crazy, but knowing Maxx Force isn’t on gold flash pass with the park opening at 10:30 we were at the toll booths at 9:15am and when we got in we rope dropped Maxx Force and ended up on the 4th or 5th train of the day. With flash passes getting on every ride in the park we wanted to was a breeze, Justice League was closed but I don’t think that’s a huge blow. We were planning on skipping Little Dipper & Dark Night before we got to the park. (the latter of which was closed also) In terms of ride operations, for a park that didn’t open for a year and a half I think they did a darn pretty good job! There’s were multiple occasions throughout the day where we never stopped on the brake run and rolled right into the station! Maxx Force was the only new ride for me and WOW what a launch! You can absolutely feel how much more powerful the initial thrust is than rides like Dragster or Kingda Ka! This visit ended up being my favorite visit I ever had to this park! Final Tally Maxx Force x1 Whizzer x1 Viper x1 Raging Bull x4 Demon x1 X-Flight x3 American Eagle x2 Goliath x2 V2 x1 Batman x1 Joker x1 Superman x1

Ideal: Texas trip in June: Over Texas, Sea World San Antonio, Fiesta Texas, along with ZDT's, Kemah Boardwalk, & Galveston Pleasure Pier. This trip I already have a group for and have a plan made. Rough trips being considered are Indiana/Ohio/Pennsylvania Realistic: I live in Orlando so all these parks will be visited multiple times.

I haven't visited Indiana Beach before, and since coming back from the dead its been on my radar. Now with this new to them coaster coming, Indiana Beach is on my radar to visit in the next few years.

We should meet up for a park lap one of these days! Yes! We absolutely should!

I've seen The Bourne Stuntacular four times now, I was pretty impressed! The pre-show explains the story so you don't have to see the films to understand the story. The technology used in the show made my jaw drop at one point because it was so good. I think it's a solid addition to the park and definitely worth seeing on a visit!

I'm so excited for this coaster, the elements look so insane! This is easily a hit they have on their hands!

I'm so excited for Iron Gwazi, I can't wait to ride it!

Thanks for sharing! I've been wondering how this place was, great to see your perspective!

Great updates throughout the years! I just read through the entire thread and it's amazing to see how much Universal has changed in the past 12 years!

Yes, those bleachers leave every off season. That's nothing out of the ordinary.

I had an awesome time at Carowinds on opening day! Copperhead Strike is a ton of fun, plenty of twisty moments, good pops of air! The hangtime in the jojo roll, the first loop and the stall last for what feels like a really long time! Carowinds has another winner on their hands! With Fast Lane I snagged 3 rides on Copperhead Strike and somewhere around 15 rides on Fury 325. Seeing this park grow over the years it gets better and better. Some of my friends that I’ve worked with at Cedar Point all met up for opening day! Amazing addition to the park!

Thanks for the tip! I'm a choice hotels member and that is the exact hotel I was planning on booking! Can't wait to be back at Carowinds on Saturday!

Looks like you all had a blast! Holiday In The Park there the time I visited was a ton of fun!

Absolutely, it's not a question "if" Dragster goes down it's "when." If you see it running at opening immediately go ride it.

This is the best advice!

I love me some Georgia Scorcher, when I visited SFOG for the first time in 2017 I re-rode Scorcher more times than any other ride in the park that day.

Poseidon's Fury was a pleasant surprise for me when I visited IOA! Still haven't done Raptor Encounter yet but it looks like a ton of fun! Glad you had a blast!

Awesome coverage! I happy you wrapped it up into a video, it was great to see it all at once!

Awesome stuff to see so far! That GCI model is very impressive!

Glad you had fun! It's always great seeing someones first visit to a park!

Thanks! Dragster had its best ridership of the past five years in 2018!

Infinity Falls looks amazing! I just missed the soft opening as I was at the park last Monday the 24th, but I'm excited to ride it next time I'm in Orlando!

That’s great to hear! I’ve also been watching from afar since the Koch family took over and I really hope they see continued good results. As someone noted in this thread I agree with family friendly additions and classics like a scrambler you can see them building the foundation for this park to have long term success.