- April 2nd, 2005, 3:04 pm
#11586
Carowinds started Platinum Pass ERT sessions this morning (4/2) with the ERT area being Nick Central. I was originally planning to go for sure, then heard the weather forecasts saying it'd probably be raining early in the day - so I figured if I got up and the weather was decent, I might go. I woke up at 7ish, heard it raining, went back to bed. Woke up again at 8ish, saw it was sunny, so thought I'd give it a try.
I got to the park around 9:20 and headed straight to the Flyers. I could tell there was going to be a light crowd based on how empty platinum parking was. At first I thought the Flyers weren't running as there was NOBODY there - or so I thought. My friend James was on the ride - the ONLY one on the ride until I got there.
We then proceeded to ride the Flyers for about 30-45 minutes without ever getting off, as there were only a few people trickling back there until well after 10am. James was getting some great snaps, and I was still fighting the ride without any real snapping success, only some half-decent bounces. Something finally clicked on the 2nd ride - James said he thought I was turning too soon which I kinda suspected - and I was finally able to get the snaps I've been trying for on a consistent basis, not just the random ones I had been getting. I could feel James getting some good snaps as well. Twice at the end of the ride our Flyer tubs banged together, which had us sitting a few tubs apart next time we got up. I got one of those
snaps where everything seems to kinda stand still for a few seconds, then.....WHAM! My back is still a little sore from that one, but I like it 
I had my camera with me so I got off and took some shots of James for a few rides, then we swapped off with me riding and James doing some shooting. We grabbed one last ride on the flyers about 11:30 and headed to Top Gun as the wind started whipping quite heavily and the sky grew pretty dark. I rode a few cycles ahead of James so he could hold my camera bag and it had gotten quite a bit windier and colder than it had been a bit earlier. By the time James got off the ride it was starting to rain and it felt like the bottom was about to drop out any minute now - and it did soon thereafter right after we had gotten to our cars.
I was surprised not to see ANYONE else from the board there, but I figured a large number are off riding Thunderhead today. That was tempting, but with UNC playing in the Final Four tonight and me doing a Florida coaster trip in about a week, I just couldn't work up the motivation to do Dollywood today. I love Thunderhead, but 2.5 hours on the Flyers and Top Gun weren't a bad substitute at all
I got to the park around 9:20 and headed straight to the Flyers. I could tell there was going to be a light crowd based on how empty platinum parking was. At first I thought the Flyers weren't running as there was NOBODY there - or so I thought. My friend James was on the ride - the ONLY one on the ride until I got there.
We then proceeded to ride the Flyers for about 30-45 minutes without ever getting off, as there were only a few people trickling back there until well after 10am. James was getting some great snaps, and I was still fighting the ride without any real snapping success, only some half-decent bounces. Something finally clicked on the 2nd ride - James said he thought I was turning too soon which I kinda suspected - and I was finally able to get the snaps I've been trying for on a consistent basis, not just the random ones I had been getting. I could feel James getting some good snaps as well. Twice at the end of the ride our Flyer tubs banged together, which had us sitting a few tubs apart next time we got up. I got one of those
snaps where everything seems to kinda stand still for a few seconds, then.....WHAM! My back is still a little sore from that one, but I like it I had my camera with me so I got off and took some shots of James for a few rides, then we swapped off with me riding and James doing some shooting. We grabbed one last ride on the flyers about 11:30 and headed to Top Gun as the wind started whipping quite heavily and the sky grew pretty dark. I rode a few cycles ahead of James so he could hold my camera bag and it had gotten quite a bit windier and colder than it had been a bit earlier. By the time James got off the ride it was starting to rain and it felt like the bottom was about to drop out any minute now - and it did soon thereafter right after we had gotten to our cars.
I was surprised not to see ANYONE else from the board there, but I figured a large number are off riding Thunderhead today. That was tempting, but with UNC playing in the Final Four tonight and me doing a Florida coaster trip in about a week, I just couldn't work up the motivation to do Dollywood today. I love Thunderhead, but 2.5 hours on the Flyers and Top Gun weren't a bad substitute at all
