Photo TR: KICentral Coaster Trip 2010

[angryemobeaver]

As soon as I305 was announced, I knew I had to go to Kings Dominion. So I talked to Adam (pkiboy) about a trip. Many months later we planned to go to Kings Dominion, Carowinds, SFOG, and Dollywood. It wasn't just me and Adam though, Angie, Tom, Matt, Jared, and Shawn came along with us making it 7 people. For weeks I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing this trip will be. I spent countless hours watching POVs and looking at photos. Than finally Thursday April 1st. came!

 

I woke up at 5:55AM. and grabbed all my stuff and got in the car. My Mom drove me to Jared's house because my car would later be going to the shop to try to fix my MPG problem. So at about 6:30 or so I switched over to Jared's car and we drove over to Adam's house. We were the first to arrive at Adams, but Shawn got there not too much later. Adam, Jared, Shawn, and I spent the day looking at POV's, looking at park maps, and walking to Kroger. Than at about 1PM. we got the rental van which was actually pretty nice. A little before 2PM. Angie and Tom arrived at Adams and we drove over to Kings Island to get our Platinum Passes processed. The parking lot wasn't open yet so we waited at the drop off zone, than Matt met us there and we walked over to the season pass processing building. We were the first in line and waited about an hour. Kings Island opened it 15 minutes early, so after we got out passes we were on our way!

 

Wheres Intimidator 305...? Oh crap, were at the wrong park!

Oh no were not, were here to process our Platinum passes!

Adam showing off his pass from Carowinds

Heres me showing off my Kings Island Platinum Pass that DIDNT work at Carowinds...

 

 

Thats all for now! I'm going to do this PTR in small pieces making it much easier! It may take a few days to get the whole PTR/VTR up, but trust me, it'll be worth it! So check up on this soon for Kings Dominion photos!

 

ADMIN EDIT: I have moved "Photo TR:" to the front of your title. Other than that, keep up the good work.

Edited May 5, 2010 by angryemobeaver

[gatorchomp83]

Oh, so you're the group of people who were screaming at the ride ops at the end of opening night at Carowinds' Intimidator because you didn't get to ride on the last train of the night? People like everyone in your group are the reason a lot of parks hate enthusiasts.

 

It really, REALLY angered me when I got off of our ride (which WAS the last ride of the night) and I saw you guys yelling at the ride ops because you felt entitled to get that last ride. The park did an AMAZING job of opening the ride and the park that weekend, and it was unbelievable to see the way your group treated them because you felt "slighted."

[angryemobeaver]

Oh, so you're the group of people who were screaming at the ride ops at the end of opening night at Carowinds' Intimidator because you didn't get to ride on the last train of the night? People like everyone in your group are the reason a lot of parks hate enthusiasts.

 

It really, REALLY angered me when I got off of our ride (which WAS the last ride of the night) and I saw you guys yelling at the ride ops because you felt entitled to get that last ride. The park did an AMAZING job of opening the ride and the park that weekend, and it was unbelievable to see the way your group treated them because you felt "slighted."

No... On Saturday we were trying to get the last train of the night on Intimidator but we were NOT yelling are arguing with the ride opts. Infact my friend Adam is actually very good friends with two of them, both were working that night. He said he couldn't hold up the line by having people get infront of us, but he actually did end up letting us wait for the last train of the night (front seat also) and said he was sorry for not letting us, but he isn't supposed to do that. And also, I wasn't even at the park opening day. Adam and Shawn were at Carowinds for opening day and than the next weekend when I went, but I was NOT there for opening day, so it was NOT me...

[Pufferfish]

Oh, I remember seeing you guys now. Sorry I didn't say hi, I thought you guys looked familiar though. I'm interested to hear what you thought of the park!

 

^^I seriously don't remember anyone yelling at us for not putting them on the last train. I do remember shouting that we had too many people in line and we had to run a second train through and told people to quickly get back in line for it.

[gatorchomp83]

First- Andrew, I was back at the park on Saturday of this past week and saw you. We tried getting back to Intimidator in time to say hello, but by the time we made it, couldn't find you. Your crew is amazing, and on my trips opening weekend, as well as this past weekend, it was incredible how efficient not only you guys were, but the whole park.

 

As far as my original post, and your response beaver, perhaps you weren't there opening night and I'm sorry if you weren't. But we clearly remember Adam, that group, and specifically an older guy in the group who we saw screaming at an op.

 

Basically, we tried to get in line last, which we did thanks to Thomas who was incredibly friendly, and once we got into the queue, your group forcefully told us we could not wait for the back, as that was where they were waiting. We did not want to fight about it, so we headed to the front of the train. Managing to get on the last train without any problems, or "vying for position," we enjoyed our ride, and were greeted back to the brakes with the older guy specifically in your group yelling at an op. It was obvious his reason.

 

I only mentioned it because it was incredibly embarrassing to be an enthusiast at that moment, and seeing the same holier-than-thou attitude the following week at Kings Dominion by the same people in this group. It was clear that a few of those folks in this group have the mentality that parks owe them something for being enthusiasts, and I simply cannot stand people like that.

[angryemobeaver]

First- Andrew, I was back at the park on Saturday of this past week and saw you. We tried getting back to Intimidator in time to say hello, but by the time we made it, couldn't find you. Your crew is amazing, and on my trips opening weekend, as well as this past weekend, it was incredible how efficient not only you guys were, but the whole park.

 

As far as my original post, and your response beaver, perhaps you weren't there opening night and I'm sorry if you weren't. But we clearly remember Adam, that group, and specifically an older guy in the group who we saw screaming at an op.

 

Basically, we tried to get in line last, which we did thanks to Thomas who was incredibly friendly, and once we got into the queue, your group forcefully told us we could not wait for the back, as that was where they were waiting. We did not want to fight about it, so we headed to the front of the train. Managing to get on the last train without any problems, or "vying for position," we enjoyed our ride, and were greeted back to the brakes with the older guy specifically in your group yelling at an op. It was obvious his reason.

 

I only mentioned it because it was incredibly embarrassing to be an enthusiast at that moment, and seeing the same holier-than-thou attitude the following week at Kings Dominion by the same people in this group. It was clear that a few of those folks in this group have the mentality that parks owe them something for being enthusiasts, and I simply cannot stand people like that.

Don't get mad at me for something I didn't even do. And honestly, I don't think Adam was the person doing that. Adam has been my friend for years and I honestly don't think that was him. He is extremely strict on park rules and goes out of his way to catch a line jumper or a rude guest breaking the park rules. He would never scream at a ride opt. or argue with one, especially since he used to work at Kings Island in Guest Relations.

[gatorchomp83]

I said sorry for throwing you in that group in the event that you weren't there. My whole point was that people like those in your group are the reason enthusiasts get a bad name, and is a big reason why me, my girlfriend and most of my friends who are enthusiasts steer clear of wearing any coaster or park memorabilia when we visit places.

 

I'm done with all this now, don't want to hijack your TR. It was just hard to bite my tongue when I saw his picture, and it immediately reminded me of those negative experiences I witnessed over the past two weekends.

[ArizonaGuy]

I'm done with all this now, don't want to hijack your TR.

 

LOL....little too late for that.

[larrygator]

Well if you ask me the PTR didn't really start yet, so it can't technically be hijacked yet.

[gatorchomp83]

Larry's right, it hasn't even begun yet.

[Reon]

^So technically, I can still hijack it?

 

A few things so far:

 

Another Jared? Awesome, but now I felt left out of the trip (stupid college and not having break the same week of everyone else)

 

How went the platinum pass processing? I still need to get mine renewed for the year, and I dont know if anythings been changed since last year or something...

 

I think I've been subliminally following this trip on Facebook, thanks to Rachel and Angie posting about the Intimidators...

 

Cant wait to see your actual photo TR! I305 is definately something on my hit list, Dollywood was epic for the 2 hours I was there, and Carowinds was okay when I went a few years ago. I'm sure its much better now that both sides of Rolling Thunder are up and they have Intimidator....

 

-Reon, the Jared from Cincy that DIDNT go on the trip.

[angryemobeaver]

^^^Actually it has begun... There are photos and I wrote about what we did on the first day.

 

 

^So technically, I can still hijack it?

 

A few things so far:

 

Another Jared? Awesome, but now I felt left out of the trip (stupid college and not having break the same week of everyone else)

 

How went the platinum pass processing? I still need to get mine renewed for the year, and I dont know if anythings been changed since last year or something...

 

I think I've been subliminally following this trip on Facebook, thanks to Rachel and Angie posting about the Intimidators...

 

Cant wait to see your actual photo TR! I305 is definately something on my hit list, Dollywood was epic for the 2 hours I was there, and Carowinds was okay when I went a few years ago. I'm sure its much better now that both sides of Rolling Thunder are up and they have Intimidator....

 

-Reon, the Jared from Cincy that DIDNT go on the trip.

Everyone's Platinum Pass didn't work at Kings Dominion except mine (I was lucky) and Adam (he got his from Carowinds.) Than at Carowinds, no ones worked except Adam's. And yeah we actually 'raced' Rachel on the way to KD and stopped at a gas station with her and hung out with her at KD. And also, you mentioned Carowinds is probably better because they have both sides of rolling thunder open, I'm guessing you mean Thunder Road? Rolling Thunder is at SFGAdv. And call me crazy, but I honestly have to say Dollywood was my least favorite park of the trip, and for the few hours we were there I got bored quickly.

 

 

------------------

So after Kings Island we began our journey to the better version of Kings Island. We drove east and stayed in Ohio for about 3 hours. I've always thought West Virginia would be a scary state with mutant red necks (like in Wrong Turn), but after driving through it, it's a really nice looking state! Some time in West Virginia (near Huntington I think) we all stopped at Shoneys. I've always heard how good they were so we all agreed it'd be a nice place for dinner. People down in the south are so much friendlier and nice! Our waitress at Shoney's pretty much never left our table (except to get our food). She talked to us so much and she wanted to know all about our trip, and she ended up wanting to go with us!

Here is us with the extremely nice waitress!

 

So after our delicious meal we finished our long drive to KD. Right before we got to Virginia we stopped at a gas station and met up with Rachel and her boyfriend? (I think he is her BF.) By this time we had another 3 or so hours to go. I fell asleep right before we drove though Richmond but woke up 5 minutes before we passed KD. We got off the exit and parked next to our hotel which was in Kings Dominion's parking lot. I was amazed of how much better their skyline was.

Here is what it looked like only this was the next morning.

 

We were all tired and went to sleep right after our stuff was packed. The next morning we woke up around 6AM. and all took our showers than some of us went to the Dennys in our hotel. After a quick breakfast we walked to KD's entrance. I was shocked that no one was there. Pretty much it was just Clint Novak and the KDFansite people, than the KICers, than like 3 random people. Since we were some of the first there, we waited at one of the gates, and a few hours later the park let us in. When I walked in, I immediately fail in love with Kings Dominion, it is so much more beautiful than Kings Island. The Royal Fountains there are much more hidden by the trees and the fountains are a little smaller.

Here is all of the KICers at KD's entrance!

Kings Dominion has way more trees than Kings Island, which looks really nice.

So once they let us in the park, we had to wait at the Platinum Pass holding area which allowed us to get in 10 minutes before the general public. Than after they released us, we got walked back to I305, than after maybe two guys started to run, EVERYONE ran and the park just didn't care so I ran also.

 

Okay these next few photos were taken throughout the day, but they are all of I305. I just didn't have time to take many photos of I305 before my first ride on it since I was wanting to be one of the first.

 

I305 is located next to Flight of Fear, and to get to it you have to pass through this neat little tunnel.

 

I305 is so dominant and intimidating, I don't know which name is better, Intimidator305 or Dominator305

 

The hills behind I305 make for a stunning backdrop, infact this is one of my favorite photos of the trip!

 

I prefer ejector over floater, but back seat on this drop provides some great floater!

 

Night rides on I305 is something everyone should experience in their life, especially if it's in the front seat like our night ride!

 

And with not too long of lines and good capacity, you won't have to wait too long!

 

Okay so here is what I think of Intimidator 305. When it was announced, I thought Carowinds Intimidator looked better, but wow was I wrong. This ride has EVERYTHING I love in a coaster. Airtime, hell yeah, tons of it! Intensity, the most intense coaster I've ever ridden! Laterals, good amount, especially in the first turn. Smoothness (on a steel coaster), yes very smooth, and no head banging either. I only got to ride I305 5 times opening day but each time was as intense and exhilarating as the first, and I actually blacked out every time. This easily became my new #1 steel coaster, and too be honest, I can't imagine a steel coaster getting much better than I305 in the next 10 years. Yes it was that good. I could easily stay on it all day and never get off and I would still be excited and have tons of fun each and every time, I just might die though from all the intensity and blacking out!

I305= 10/10

 

Okay so after my amazing ride on I305 (with LakeCharlesGuy) me and him split up with the rest of my group and went to Flight of Fear. It was a station wait and we were next in line, but the ride opts. told us we had to leave the station because the ride is closed. So we decided to ride Volcano but the line was HUGE and over flowed into the midway, so we went to Dominator. On the way to Dominator we went though Treasure Cave which was really weird. I was excited because Dominator is my first floorless coaster (I rode SheiKra when it had the floor). Dominator's queue was full and leaked into the midway but we decided to get in line anyways. The hour line was worth it, it's a great coaster (minus the corkscrews).

Dominator= 8/10

 

 

To anyone who doesn't know what Treasure Cave is, it's kinda like a walk-though type attraction. You just walk in a cave, than you find the treasure, than you end up in some weird sideways building.

 

 

 

 

Dominator was a great coaster, pretty forceful for a sitdown B&M.

 

After Dominator Alex (LakeCharlesGuy) told me Grizzly probably has a small line, so we headed that way. We stopped at Flying Eagles first and I learned how to snap. Grizzly was a station wait, but we ended up waiting about 30 minutes since they were running 1 train. While inline for Grizzly, someone said "Aren't you on youtube?" to Alex, and Alex said yeah and told him he probably saw I305 rant. Than the other guy asked for his autograph (on an I305 first rider shirt) and than they talked about how they liked I305. So anyways, Grizzly was a pretty nice woodie. It had a small amount of airtime but the tunnels were awesome, and it had some laterals in one of the turns.

Grizzly= 7/10

 

Grizzly

I loved Flying Eagles!

The great landscaping at KD

 

Okay part 2 of Kings Dominion coming later tonight!

[tiger01]

Awesome. I like how the lift hill is lit up and the rest of the ride is just invisable! That must be awesome. I'm put off by this coaster though because of the tales of people blacking out on it.

[Kingsislandfreak]

I love Kings Dominion TRs

[Reon]

^^^Yeah, thats what I meant. I was writing that post when I was just getting up so my brain wasnt fully working. I'll wait for your Dollywood post, since I was only there for about 2 hours due to bad planning but the coasters were still a hit (especially Mystery Mine and Tennesse Tornado)

 

Anyways, awesome report is awesome so far. How well lit would you say that I305 was at night? I remember one of the things that makes Diamondback my favorite night ride is the fact that theres no lighting at all. I can't even begin to imagine how insane all those twists and hills would be pitch-black.

[angryemobeaver]

^I305's only lights at night are the red chaser lights on the lift hill. The rest of the ride is bitch black. AMAZING....

 

 

First of all, sorry for the delay. I've been extremely tired every day and I'm trying to catch up with my sleeping pattern.

 

So after Grizzly me and Alex went to Ricochet since it's just right down the midway. We passed the closed Hurler, I wish I could of ridden it but atleast the next day I rode the one at Carowinds.

 

Closed Hurler...

 

Ricochet was a pretty weird mouse coaster. It seems a little taller than most, and has the drop at the beginning (I'm sure everyone knows this already). Every single trimmed area I expected the ride to stop, but it never did. We just kept on going faster and faster though the layout and never slowed down. Than kinda towards the end, OUCH... It stopped, instantly. And it was the one break run I didn't try to protect myself since I didn't expect it. Besides the painful stop, It was a great mouse but Dark Knight is still my favorite.

 

I really wanted to go ride Volcano so we headed back over to Congo. I love this area, bongo drums playing, random crates, over grown plants, and jungle themed buildings. Seriously, I didn't expect to see this in a CF park. I could see it being in the park back in the Paramount years, but I'd think Cedar Fair would want it all gone since they don't like parks with nice atmospheres. Anyways, we were getting close to Volcano when I saw flames, water jets, mist, and a gondola swinging all over the place. It was Tomb Raider: Firefall (not Crypt... lol). The line looked to be only 3 circuit wait so we decided to ride. While in line there were like seven hundred and fifty two thousand carpenter bees. They don't sting you but they still intimidated most people but not me (I'm scared of every bug except bees). It actually scared some people out of line which I thought was pretty hilarious. Before I get too off topic, let me tell you what I thought about TR:FR. It was very intense, much more than the only other two top spins I've ridden. I still prefer Kings Island's as it was back in 2002 and 2003, but this one is way better than the one at KI now. I think I counted 9 inversions total.

 

This is the only photo I got, pretty sad right? I didn't even take the cool signature photo showing off the theming.

 

After Tomb Raider, Volcano closed for a while with a full queue and than ran one train so we opted not to ride yet, and went to Intimidator 305. The queue line was full and over flowed a little bit which really isn't too long but we decided to use the single riders line instead. It ended up being about 3 minutes and the seat assigner sat both of us together near the front! My first ride was in the back, so I wanted to compare. It was just about as intense as the back only you get no airtime dropping down the first drop. Still a great ride, we decided to reride. This time the line got a little longer but was still only like 10 minutes. We got a middle seat and the ride was still great but didn't have the airtime coming out of the first drop. I still wasn't intimidated enough so I wanted to ride once again. Alex was thirsty so he said he would go get a drink but wait for me at the exit. Well while we were on the ride, the single riders line got significantly longer. It was about a 20 minute wait. So to pass up the time I called my best friend fellow coaster enthusiast Mitchell (also a forum member). I told him how amazing I305 is and the day so far. Than I was close to the station and told him I would call him back because I'm about to get on. So I either put my phone in my pocket, or wrapped it up in my first rider tee with my camera and wallet. I got assigned a back seat with a little girl who was just about crying. Had a great ride (minus the little girl next to me screaming)! I get back into the station and grab my shirt which has my camera and wallet in it. I'm about half way down the exit ramp and I hear something drop and the people behind me start laughing. I figured it was a lose article that fell from the ride since a train just flew above us. Than I'm about in the gift shop and realize I don't have my phone. So I go back to the station and look for it. Couldn't find it so I filed a missing article paper. I than look around the exit area to see if I can findout. No luck, so I went back to meet up with Alex. By now it's been well over 30 minutes since I got in line and hes gone. I don't blame him though, he probably thought I left without him. I didn't know his phone number so I couldn't get a hold of him.

 

For the next hour or so I spend my day freaking out because I'm all alone, it's about 3 hours til' close and I only have like 3 credits and I can't find anyone. So I have this weird idea of going on to the Eiffel Tower thinking I could see them from there! Obviously I'm retarded because you can't.... So I took some photos from the top (I already showed a few, the rest aren't worth showing).

 

I'm near Anaconda than I find Jared! I guess he was separated from the group like me. We decide to go ride Volcano since neither of us have ridden it yet. The ride was closed but they were letting us in line. The actual line was just the station and a little bit of that indoor ramp. They got rid of one train and tested it a few times. About 10 minutes later the ride opens back up with one train. Fifteen more minutes later and were on. Sadly Jared couldn't ride, but I stayed on since I really wanted this credit. I loved the launches, and all the inversions were great. It's now my #1 invert, and my #5 steel in general (above Diamondback)!

 

 

 

 

Volcano= 10/10

 

After my amazing ride on Volcano we walked towards Grizzly to meet up with Tom and Angie. Rachel and John were in line too. The line looked short but they were running one train so we had to wait a long time. While we were waiting, I actually fell asleep sitting on a planter and had a dream that I was at Kings Dominion... Than I woke up and they were getting off the ride.

 

From there we went to Intimidator 305 and met up with Adam, Sean, Dave, and Matt. Adam's phone got Dominated on Dominator. Adam told us to meet up back at I305 at like 7:30. So we all waited in line for a few minutes but I305 went down to one train so we decided to go ride Avalanche. We waited over 30 minutes and the line never moved, the whole country of Mexico line jumped us, and honestly there was better credits to get so we got out of line.

 

After our bad Avalanche queue credit we found James Cole which now has over 100 rides on I305 already! None of us had Anaconda ridden (besides James since it's his home park) so we got in line. The queue was almost full but we only waited 10 minutes. I ALWAYS ride in 7-1 on Arrow loopers and Vekoma loopers. Anaconda started out great! The drop was really fun and smooth. The tunnel was a neat element. The loop was pretty fast along with the immelman type inversion after. Than came the pain. Those weird turns hurt like hell, and they looked like a stop sign because instead of being a smooth circle, it was cut into pieces. Ouch!

 

 

Anaconda= 4/10

 

After Painaconda (Someone called it something like that) we met back up with our group and I think stopped for some food near Drop Zone. I didn't eat and instead I was going to get on Drop Zone since it had been testing for a while. I waited a few cycles and the ride opts. said go ride something else than come back. So I went to Rebel Yell. Only one side was open but it was running two trains and was a station wait. I normally like front seat on old woodies, but rode near the back on this one. Rebel Yell had NO airtime, it had tons of jack hammering and wasn't even that fun. The only part I liked about it was the awesome view of I305.

 

 

Rebel Yell= 5/10

 

Americana was randomly closed

 

I met back up with the group and we went to Drop Zone since it just opened and waited about two circuits. There was about 15 of us total, so we took up a big portion of the ride. I have to say I like Kings Islands just a tad more... KD's looks cooler because the neat colors and the huge ring, but it doesn't spin and it doesn't hold you at the top as long. The actual drop is almost the same as KI's only this one feels a little more intense.

 

♥

 

It was about 7:30 by this time so we all headed to Intimidator 305 to get one last ride on it. It somehow took us like 25 minutes to get there because we were one of the very last people to get in line. This was the longest I305 wait of the day for me (about 30 minutes). Once we got into the station there was only a few people behind us. I got assigned the very front seat and rode with Matt (or was it Adam?) Who ever it was, it was freaking amazing! Front seat night rides of my favorite coaster in the world with some of my best friends. Could it get any better? Yes, but it's probably against the rules to bring Pepsi on the ride... The ride seemed to be running FASTER at night, and the faster, the more intense! This was the best ride experience of my life (better than MF sleet rides, Beast last train of the season double ride, and even Son of Beast with the loop during Fearfest with fog rides)! Once we hit the brakes I almost wanted to cry. I wish I could of stayed all night and just rerode I305 with all my friends. But sadly, Kings Dominion was over. Even though I didn't get but half the credits and didn't get to enjoy the park as much as I wanted, this WAS the best park of the trip and probably my favorite park ever. I will for sure be coming back to KD, hopefully for more than one day. I want to experience everything this wonderful park has to offer, including Water Works.

 

I305 Queue

 

Already showed this, but I'm showing it again because it was taken during this time period.

 

Group photo at I305's entrance area.

 

 

Rides I rode...

 

I305: 5

Volcano: 1

Tomb Raider: 1

Anaconda: 1

Eiffel Tower: 1

Drop Zone: 1

Rebel Yell: 1

Ricochet: 1

Grizzly: 1

Flying Eagles: 1

Dominator: 1

Treasure Cave: 1

 

I will try to have Carowinds up tomorrow...

[angryemobeaver]

After Kings Dominion we began our drive to Carowinds. I slept most of this drive but woke up in Charlotte. Our hotel was right across the street from the park and we could see Intimidator from our window. We figured the park was going to be empty since the weekend before was their opening day of a new coaster and it was pretty much dead. Well we were wrong...

 

I loved how Intimidator looks from the parking lot, it's so dominant and is pretty much the only thing in the skyline except Afterburn and their Observation Tower. We were running late and the park was already open so we couldn't stay and take photos of Intimidator, we had to get inside the park. The entrance area was a big mess, it was so crowded and confusing. None of our season passes scanned (except Adams) so we had to go to guest relations (I think) and they gave us tickets. When we walked into the park we took a quick group photo than walked to Intimidator. I loved how you could see Nighthawk and Vortex from the entrance area, it reminded me of Cedar Point for some reason.

 

 

 

We were shocked to see Intimidator had a full queue and even had a small section of temporary queues! It ended up being only 40 minutes if even that. The queue was about the same as I305's only shorter. My first ride I got assigned the second to last row (15) and a single rider sat next to me. We told him about our trip and he said he used to live near SFOG and back then GASM & Mindbender were new. Anyways, Intimidator's lift hill seemed about the same speed as Diamondbacks. You could see Charlotte to your left and the whole park to your right. I wasn't expecting Intimidator to be a top 10 ride because of all the reviews I've heard about it, but wow EVERY review was wrong. Sitting in the back car I got pulled over the lift hill and down the drop providing great airtime. It felt weird not curving at the bottom of the drop like I'm used to. The next hill didn't provide any airtime but it was still awesome with the twist on it. The next hill has some great airtime, most of this ride's airtime is a mix of floater and ejector, but more ejector. The panoramic turn (or hammerhead) was way better than Diamondback's. This one twists you in a few directions and is banked more making it seem more out of control. Diamondback's just kinda picks you up than turns you around gently than drops you. The next two hills had good airtime like the one before the panoramic turn. The hill leading to the MCBR was a little more intense than I'd think. Since it curves, you get a little bit of laterals and a pop of air since you come into it so fast. Although the brakes did trim pretty hard, it did NOT ruin the rest of the ride like Diamondback's does. There was a good amount of ejector airtime coming out of the MCBR, and the helix was better than both of Diamondback's but not as good as Raging Bull's or Goliath's. We all said 'SKLOOSH' after the helix as if a splashdown was there.

 

Overall Intimidator was way better than what people were saying. I heard there is no airtime at all by many people. WRONG! This ride has more airtime than any other B&M Hyper I've ridden, If you've ridden Diamondback and you love it, wait til' you ride Intimidator. More airtime hills, all with more airtime, better hammerhead, better helix, weird awesome twisted drop, and a MCBR that doesn't ruin the ride.

 

Intimidator= 10/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So after our awesome ride on Intimidator, most of the group decided to go to Wendys outside of the park and eat. Me, Tom, & Angie decided to keep riding. Nighthawk had a HUGE line and was running one train so we decided to go to Vortex. Vortex's queue was set up weird. It usually curves a lot and goes behind the station, but they closed off that park and made it to where you just walked right to the station.

 

Carowinds still has their plant tunnel!

 

Vortex's station

 

Before Vortex I've only ridden Iron Wolf, Georgia Scorcher, and Mantis. Georgia Scorcher being my favorite. From the look of POVs, Vortex looks like it may have been as good as Georgia Scorcher. WRONG! We sat in the front, a usual smooth seat, and it was pretty rough. First of all, the lift hill was pretty slow. The drop was fun and smooth. The loop had a little bit of headbanging and was almost too intense being in a standup position. The turn around drop thing was taken pretty fast and was rough. The following helix was extremely fast and luckily didn't have too much headbanging. The corkscrew was the worst part of the ride. I've decided that EVERY corkscrew on a B&M I've ridden is the worst part. I love corkscrews on Arrows, but on B&Ms, they are always taken way to fast and they are too small. But back to Vortex, the turn after the corkscrew wasn't too bad, it may have been because we just went though the worst part of the ride so we were too busy remembering how awful it was and didn't feel the pain of this turn.

 

Vortex= 4/10

 

 

 

After Vortex we went to the nearest coaster which was Carolina Goldrusher. Sadly I didn't take any photos of this great mine train, mainly because it was kinda hard to. I've seen POVs of Carolina Goldrusher before, but not in a long time so I couldn't remember the layout. The ride is pretty much just helices with great head choppers, than a surprise drop at the end. I still think I like Adventure Express a little bit better because it's more themed, but this is a great coaster.

 

Carolina Goldrush= 6/10

 

Ricochet was right next to Carolina Goldrush but we kinda passed it up and went to Carolina Cyclone. It has a simple layout, but it's probably my favorite Arrow looper. I ALWAYS ride in 7-1 on Arrows, and it worked extremely well for this ride. The little drop right after the lift hill and before the turn around to the big drop gave me a small pop of airtime. The turn was taken faster than I thought it would. And than the best part of the ride... The amazing drop. Riding in 7-1 gives you a smoother ride and extremely crazy airtime. I tried 7-1 on all the Arrow loopers I've ridden and so far only Vortex and Carolina Cyclone give me this feeling. It's not your ordinary airtime, this feels like your flying out of your seat and falling to your death. This is the only reason I ride Vortex at KI, and the main reason I rode Carolina Cyclone. After the crazy drop is a double loop, both are taken fast, than a quick turnaround. After the turn is a double corkscrew over a midway, these are taken faster than any other Arrow corkscrew I've experienced. You'd think they would be painful, but they were actually alot of fun. The final element of this short ride is the helix at the end which is somewhat under ground.

 

Carolina Cyclone= 8/10

 

Some how this is the only photo I took of Carolina Cyclone, it's me touching the track...

 

Hurler and Drop Zone were just right around the corner. Drop Zone had a small line so we rode it first. Being used to gryo-drops, I didn't know that I was in line for a bad seat. The car we rode in faced away from the park but you could see Hurler a little bit. We didn't ride for the view though, we rode because we love drop towers. Even though Drop Zone is probably the smallest drop tower (excluding 1st. generations & S&S towers) it packed a punch. The drop seemed almost like you were launched down, not just released to fall. We all wanted to reride but we had credits to get!

 

I was upset that Hurler at KD was closed, but luckily Carowinds' Hurler was open! The queue was only half full but it was still a 40 minute wait. I've heard that front car is where the airtime is on Hurler. Hurler didn't disappoint. It was smooth, had airtime, and had laterals.

 

Hurler= 9/10

 

 

If you look closely, you can see Angie & Tom

 

Here are a few random photos of the Carolina Boardwalk section of Carowinds. It's themed pretty well.

 

 

 

 

Part two of Carowinds should be posted sometime tonight, or tomorrow.

[Pufferfish]

I like your review, but I can't see your pictures. Every one of them is saying "Bandwidth exceeded".

 

Also, who have you been listening to that has been giving you negative reviews of Intimidator? Only things I've been hearing is positive. It's almost getting annoying hearing only the good things about the ride. I don't want this coaster to become over hyped, everyone needs to get surprised by it.

[mcjaco]

I like your review, but I can't see your pictures. Every one of them is saying "Bandwidth exceeded".

 

Precisely why uploading them to TPR is always the best option.

[coasterbilly]

same issue with the photos on your first half of Carowinds, also have heard only positives about Intimidator. This trip looks nasty dude I'm doing a similar trip but going from south to north, getting me siked to get on these myself keep up the good work!

[Reon]

Yup, Bandwith fail on Photobucket. Anyways, great Diamondback/Intimadator comparison review. I'm hoping that you were being biased on having not ridden LSHoF in a while and hitting Intimidator first. Either way, we'll just have to find out this weekend

[angryemobeaver]

Sorry, I don't know why they are doing that... I'll try to fix it sometime. And also, to the person who said the best thing to do is upload photos to TPR, I don't because I'm a member on many many forums and I just type it on one of the ones I'm more active on (not TPR), and than copy & paste it to sites like TPR where I don't post as much.

[angryemobeaver]

Sorry for the huge delay, since Photobucket was being messed up I didn't feel like dealing with the stress. And than I went to Kings Island (not even going to do a PTR), than Holiday World (which the PTR is already up). I felt stressed like I have to post these. I really do want to post them but it takes so long to upload all the photos, I wish I could just write the trip report here and just post a link to my facebook albums with all of the photos.

 

------------------

Anyways, I left off at Carowinds and we just rode Hurler. After Hurler, I believe Me, Tom, and Angie went towards Afterburn and met up with the rest of the group. Afterburn had a half full queue which was only about 10 minutes but I wanted the front seat so it was another 10 minutes. Afterburn was my 100th. coaster! Looking back I wish I would of made it a wooden coaster, but I guess I can make my 200th. coaster a woodie. Afterburn was a great coaster, but out of the B&M inverts I still like Montu best. Afterburn is better than Raptor and the Batman clones though.

 

 

 

After Afterburn all of us walked down the hill to Thunder Road. We rode South Carolina first in the front. It was great, better than Racer and Rebel Yell! Than we just switched over to North Carolina and rode towards the back which wasn't nearly as good.

 

 

As we were walking towards Planet Snoopy I saw Kings Island's Vortex on a Carolina Cobra bottle!

 

 

First of all, the Planet Snoopy at Carowinds looked really nice! Obviously I never got to see it as Nickelodeon, but Snoopy actually looked nice here (although I still think Snoopy is dumb). All of us wanted to go straight to Woodstock Gliders and just stay on for a while, but due to long lines we couldn't. We only got to ride once. But atleast on my one ride I was snapping like crazy! I still can't believe I can actually snap! Tom was also making the ride go crazy with his snapping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can tell from all of those photos, Carowinds is a very pretty park. All of those were actually taken in Planet Snoopy, well except the last one.

 

Angie, Tom, and I went to Woodstock Express, while everyone else went somewhere else. On our way I noticed POV the ride!

 

 

Also, their Woodstock Express is the same as the one at KI (and KD, but we didn't get to ride theirs) but theirs runs sooo much better. It was really fast, and it flew through the whole layout making for one extreme kiddie coaster! That and the kiddie coaster at SFOG are my two favorites!

 

 

I hate Reptars... but being a credit whore I rode it anyways. It sucked as much as the one at KI. Enough said.

 

After Reptard the three of us made our way to Nighthawk. We wanted the credit really bad. It had a full queue and started off running one train but later went up to two. Firehawk > Nighthawk. I didn't know a flying coaster could actually be rough, but yes Nighthawk is! And actually, the smoothest part of the ride is actually the corkscrews!

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the drinking fountain in the queue, great idea!

 

So after we got our credit, we needed two more. The park was about an hour away from closing (Why do they close at 8 again?) We still needed Carolina Cobra and Ricochet. We agreed we would try to get Carolina Cobra first since none of us have ridden a true boomerang (Invetigo & Deja Vu don't count!) The line was very small thankfully, and we only had to wait for the train to pull into the station!

 

 

 

 

Carolina Cobra was smooth, but very intense. After we got off, all of us felt dizzy. We just needed one more credit, but Ricochet had a long line. We saw Adam, and the rest of the group by Carolina Goldrusher so we met back up with them. I ended up riding Goldrusher one more time, than we all went to Intimidator.

 

We got to Intimidator at about 7:50PM. and we entered the queue. We went to the vending machines and just stood over there and let anyone who entered the queue infront of us. We wanted to be on the last train of the night (but didn't scream at the ride opts. like someone on TPR said). So we ended up getting the very last train of the night (me and Adam got front seat too!) It was the perfect way to end the night at a great park. I really like Carowinds but I feel like I didn't get to appreciate the park because of the crowds. Next time I go, I'd love to go on an empty day so I can enjoy it more than rushing around to get credits!

 

 

 

Thanks for reading, I'll try to get Six Flags Over Georgia posted sometime this week!

[bgwfreak777]

Thank you for writing a fair report on Intimidator. I couldn't agree with you more.

 

Certain times it can be a bit more meh, like today the way it was running.

 

But then the cooler mornings it's been running amazing and verging on true ejector air in the back rows.

 

Diamondback is my No. 2, so you can see what I think of it.

 

And oh yeah, we're keeping the flyers.