Photo TR: Carowinds 6/17/08

GaleRazorwind · #1 06-17-2008, 10:56 PM

It's me again! After 6 hours or so of driving, which includes
missing a turn that set me back by about 1.5 hours
(i.e. 45 min each way), I made it to my next stop:

On the ground, there is a line that shows the border between
South and North Carolina. I was actually born in South Carolina
due to my mom being a commander in the navy at Charelston
Naval Base.

Back on topic: I got there at about 4PM. It was over 95 degrees,
but it wasn't humid and there was a small breeze going.
After getting my bearings straight, I headed to the first major
coaster:

It was neat to ride the other version of the basic flying dutchman
layout (I rode Firehawk last year). There was no line,
and they were running both trains. I grabbed a spot in 6-RR
(right from the perspective of a person sitting down).
I must admit that I like this layout much better than the cruddy
S:UF. I can't decide whether I like the pretzel loop or the
vertical loop better.

We were left on the brakes for a bit while they finished the slow
task of checking FD restraints (B&M is better in this department).

I then went around and took a ride in the front.
Again, I was left on the brakes, this time for even longer.

After finally getting off, I decided to head over to ride their
stand-up:

I went for the front (I was getting a tiny headache) so it wouldn't
be as rough, and got in 1-RR. Again, no line, and two train
operation. I must admit, out of the now 4 stand-ups I have ridden
(Mantis, Iron Wolf, Riddler's Revenge, Vortex), this is the
smoothest. There was almost no headbanging, and it was very
smooth with good forces.

Then I went to the Carolina Cyclone:

Also no line, but they were only running one train. I went in 1-1-R.
It is just a standard double-loop, double-corkscrew, helix arrow.
Big difference from Tennesse Tornado (Which was better, IMHO).

I took a break for a bit so I could drink some water and rest my
head... because this is what I rode next:

No line (I've been pretty fortunate, huh?), so I rode in 1-1-R.
It was a little bit rough, and not very exciting. There were a few
pops of air, but nothing spectacular.

I then headed back towards the other side of the park.
I took a little break in their Nickelodeon section so I could get my
Runaway Reptar and Fairly Odd Coaster credits >^_^<
My advice for the RR: If you are tall enough that your head lies between the shoulder harness, don't ride! I went in last-R
and I got my ears banged from side to side on the stupid restraints. I was literally able to watch all of the jerks in the track
(thanks, NL!). The FOC was a nice little ride.
It was pretty smooth, and I imagine it would be really great for younger people.

Then I went to Afterburn!

GaleRazorwind · #2 06-17-2008, 11:05 PM

I stayed here until close (8PM). I got quite a few rides in because
there was no line! It was either a walk on or a one train wait.
I mainly rode in the back corners, but I did ride in the front corners
a few times. I also rode twice in the second row.

They have the video cameras that film you through the ride,
and I got 2... but they are in DVD format and as of yet I have
not been able to get them into a youtubeable format.
You will laugh when I get these up!

Anyway, Afterburn is awesome! It looked like the tunnel between
the loop and the immellman was suppose to have mist, but didn't.
The zero-G has a bunch of lats and leg choppers as it dives through
supports. The batwing was wicked in 8-RR. You really get a big
whip and a bunch of Gs as you pull into the loop.
The tunnel was filled with nice, cold mist.

I will try to get some more pics tomorrow.

**Leo C** · #3 06-17-2008, 11:12 PM

When I lay on my back on the brakes on the Flying Dutchman I usually feel tortured. It's not as bad as Jesus about to get nailed to the cross but it's bad. I usually get blinded on Batwing's lift.

Nighthawk is screaming "I need primer and paint!" I'm not very receptive of the CF font on the Worlds of Fun or this logo.

Afterburn is sooo lucky to not get the Flight Deck name.

DHollon · #4 06-17-2008, 11:16 PM

Looks like the photobucket hacking got you too.

Carowinds 73-03 · #5 06-18-2008, 12:45 AM

It was supposed to have mist but i think with us in a severe drought they might just have them turned off. Of course i have only been to the park once this year and it was not working.

Great TR btw. Looking at those pictures of my beloved home park i really start to miss it and Afterburn, Nighthawk & Cyclone are all in need of some new paint. Maybe before next year.

**Leo C** · #6 06-18-2008, 01:08 AM

The first loop of Vortex reminds me of Batman The Escape but there is no track going through the loop.

GaleRazorwind · #7 06-18-2008, 10:17 PM

Day two is complete, and I got a bunch of new photos!

I got to the park at about 9:40AM after having a nice Jewish breakfast of 2 bagels with cream cheese (WAY better than cereal). They have a special deal where season pass holders (woot for platinum pass!) can enter the park 15 minutes early so they can get in line for their favorite ride. I was going to start off my day with Nighthawk, but there was a bit of a crowd there already, so I kept on walking and went to Top Gun. Jackpot! No line for the back. I was on the first train out... and since there was nobody there when I got back, they let me re-ride! Not just once, either. I was able to re-ride for the whole first hour that the park was open! I smashed my previous records from last year for number of rides in an hour (10/16), number of re-rides without *having* (I moved from 8-LL to 8-RR on my third ride) to move (7/8), and most re-rides (6/15).

At 10:30, the lines were starting to pick up and I had to switch seats a few times. They finally kicked me off at about 11:00 because the station was full. So I went around and got back on again after two trains. I managed to sneak in a re-ride to bring my count up to 18. I went around two more times, once for the back and once for the front. I was starting to feel a bit "loopy" after that, so I decided to take some pictures... only to find out that my memory card was still in my laptop (more on that story after the new pics)!

The jet is still there:

The loop:

Exiting the immellman:

The zero-G:

Entering the batwing:

Exiting the batwing:

"Falcon has cleared the tower"

The wing-over:

So I headed back to my car and drove the 5 minutes it takes to get to my half-assed haunted hotel room (Comfort Inn at Carowinds):

I grabbed my card, and drove back to the park... and found that the entrance to the season pass lot was closed off because it was "full" (even though I had just come from it). So I had to go park with the "normal" people. After a bit of confusion with my platinum pass, I got in for free. I was parked in line with the Fairly Odd Coaster and midway into the row. That is a bit of a walk from there to the entrance. I was getting hungry and the park was getting busy (there were a few large groups), so I headed back to this parks equivelent of "Coasters", the Jupebox Diner:

GaleRazorwind · #8 06-18-2008, 10:18 PM

No luck. It was super busy, but I waited anyway. I got a chicken finger basket with seasoned crinkle fries:

I split the chicken so it could cool out. It was delicious, but I wasn't quite hungry enough to finish, and my stomache was, amazingly, starting to get a little upset. So I didn't finish it... because I would rather eat part of it and keep it down than eat it all and barf it out(redbox!).

On my way over to get lunch, I noticed the wierdest speed sign:

Anyway, after I finished lunch, I went back over to Afterburn so I could take some pics. I stopped in the nickelodeon section to get pics of the Fairly Odd Coaster and Runaway Reptar:

They have a lot of signs for it:

My l33t picture of the ride:

The gigantic sign for Runaway Reptar:

The headbanging madness:

After getting my pics, I decided that I just needed to stop for the day, but I wanted to get one more ride. Nighthawk had a huge line, so I went to Afterburn. I rode in 1-RR. I had to search for my car for a little bit, but I found it and headed back to my room, where I took a nap after a bit of web browsing... and old-school recording (camera at the screen lol) the videos of me on ride!!

It was so freaking hard to go even that deadpan! That was my second take since in my first take I ended up smiling because of a guy behind me who was /epicfailing at siging "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King.

They totally screw up those videos by the way. I had to cut out a bunch of parts that didn't show me (hence all of the jerking and skipping). They kept throwing in video from off ride or POV... half the time not even of the same segment of the ride! In fact, towards the beggining of the movie, they have the gall to show a POV of the first drop... of a VEKOMA SLC!
Next stop is Kings Dominion/Busch Gardens Europe!

Carowinds 73-03 · #9 06-19-2008, 05:38 PM

Great photos. Carowinds is looking very nice. The speed limit sign is one of a few remaining themed items when the area was themed to Wayne's World.

**Leo C** · #10 06-20-2008, 07:29 AM

I'd prefer an 88 mph sign but that would need to be at Universal Studios.