- November 7th, 2005, 10:45 am
#15645
Unfortunately the bulky out-of-date Fuji finepix we own was not an option this time around, as we were trying to travel light, so....no pictures for this trip report...sorry...Also, we did not have our 6 year old with us this time, so we got to ride all of the bigger rides together, for the first time in a few years.
An early weekend in November. Could we have possibly hit the park when there was less people? Would the cooler weather keep more people home? Would we get the enjoyment of having less volume and less wait times?
No.
Apparently, everyone else had the same idea we had. Both Saturday and Sunday still had people hurredly arriving by as late as 3pm, and the park closed at 6 both days. This was the most crowded I had ever seen the park. My wife can remember visiting the park as far back as 1980 (remember when the Carolina Cyclone was a 'new' ride?)...and she said the same thing. It was very weird. However, the cool weather made the crowds bearable, for the most part. Also, I was surprised at how quickly everything had been taken down from 'Scarowinds' to be replaced by Christmas ornaments and wreaths. Both mornings we waited with the "stage rush crowd" we were reminded that tinkering with any of said decorations would result in ejection from the park. I wondered at that moment what I would do with a basketball sized shiny silver globe.
Both mornings started out with a ride on the Assimilator. There's really nothing like 8 inversions first thing in the morning. Saturday, we were able to get get the Assimilator, Vortex, Cyclone, Drop Zone, and the Hurler, all within the first 90 minutes the park opened. Not too bad, but that was as quick as we would get through for the rest of the weekend. By 12noon on both days, Carowinds was a sea of people.
I have found that inverted coasters beg to be ridden in the front car, and I will almost have it no other way. And despite how most people feel about the back car on a woodie, I tend to feel the same about those too. However, I am extremely intrigued by flying coasters like the Borg Assimilator. The first couple of times I rode it, earlier this summer, I rode in the front. However, the next few times I rode it was in the middle. It's true what they say. No matter where you sit, the experience is essentially the same...except for the back. The G's coming out of the loop, and the corkscrew felt a little more intense to me on the back. The highlight of the weekend for me was a nighttime ride on this coaster. This would be my first, and I would highly recommend it. This pretty much doubled the ride excitment for me. The main reason?...Well, because of the way the ride sits, no matter what time of day you ride it, just about, the sun is right in your face when you exit the station and head up the lift hill. You don't really have a chance to anticipate anything, except for getting the sun out of your face. At night...you are treated to a view of the stars...and it really ties the ride's themeing together. The lights tend to reflect shadows on the water and other parts of the ride, making this one of the best ride experiences I have had at this park.
On subsequent visits, until they build something new I will try to ride Borg first. The Hurler was running what seemed to be alot smoother than I remember it from earlier in the summer. And it was good to get a ride on Drop Zone again, as it had been closed for our earlier visits. As I look at it in comparison to the other Drop Zones, I think how much smaller it is...but....that kinda ride...still scares me just a tiny little bit, you know? I hope one day they update that ride. I would like to see one at the park with a little bigger capacity.
If you are a regular to Amusement Parks in the south, you may have seen this sign: "During the fall, Wasps build nests at Higher elevations, guests who are allergic to these insects should not ride...", or something to that effect. Now, I never really understood why these warnings were all over the place until this weekend. Which brings me to my first ride on Top Gun of the weekend. During the ride up the lift hill I must have seen at least 20 or 30 swarming all around the track. There were no reports of any stings or anything, so I was more fascinated than worried...that is, until right after the tunnel. Now, I wasn't stung, but I got hit by a wasp at about 50 mph, which is a little unpleasent. This made me think I was stung. I spent the next few minutes after the ride waiting for it to start swelling, but it never did. Whew. For the rest of the weekend, I was very aware of our little insect friends.
The only two things that were announced as closed were the Skytower, and Rocket Power, the latter was to have the ice skating rink right in front of it for Winterfest. We did actually see the skytower rasied up about a third of it's height, but since the lights were anchored for the giant Christmas tree, it couldn't go much furthur than that. All in all, not a bad weekend. I am disappointed that 2006 will only bring a small addition to the waterpark, and nothing else. The sign literally said "Nearly 25% bigger...". Um, yeah, ok. SFGA builds a giga, and you guys build us a waterfall. Thanks:)...seriously though as a whole, Im think it's a great park, but I look forward to our planned trip to either PKI or PKD in the spring.
An early weekend in November. Could we have possibly hit the park when there was less people? Would the cooler weather keep more people home? Would we get the enjoyment of having less volume and less wait times?
No.
Apparently, everyone else had the same idea we had. Both Saturday and Sunday still had people hurredly arriving by as late as 3pm, and the park closed at 6 both days. This was the most crowded I had ever seen the park. My wife can remember visiting the park as far back as 1980 (remember when the Carolina Cyclone was a 'new' ride?)...and she said the same thing. It was very weird. However, the cool weather made the crowds bearable, for the most part. Also, I was surprised at how quickly everything had been taken down from 'Scarowinds' to be replaced by Christmas ornaments and wreaths. Both mornings we waited with the "stage rush crowd" we were reminded that tinkering with any of said decorations would result in ejection from the park. I wondered at that moment what I would do with a basketball sized shiny silver globe.
Both mornings started out with a ride on the Assimilator. There's really nothing like 8 inversions first thing in the morning. Saturday, we were able to get get the Assimilator, Vortex, Cyclone, Drop Zone, and the Hurler, all within the first 90 minutes the park opened. Not too bad, but that was as quick as we would get through for the rest of the weekend. By 12noon on both days, Carowinds was a sea of people.
I have found that inverted coasters beg to be ridden in the front car, and I will almost have it no other way. And despite how most people feel about the back car on a woodie, I tend to feel the same about those too. However, I am extremely intrigued by flying coasters like the Borg Assimilator. The first couple of times I rode it, earlier this summer, I rode in the front. However, the next few times I rode it was in the middle. It's true what they say. No matter where you sit, the experience is essentially the same...except for the back. The G's coming out of the loop, and the corkscrew felt a little more intense to me on the back. The highlight of the weekend for me was a nighttime ride on this coaster. This would be my first, and I would highly recommend it. This pretty much doubled the ride excitment for me. The main reason?...Well, because of the way the ride sits, no matter what time of day you ride it, just about, the sun is right in your face when you exit the station and head up the lift hill. You don't really have a chance to anticipate anything, except for getting the sun out of your face. At night...you are treated to a view of the stars...and it really ties the ride's themeing together. The lights tend to reflect shadows on the water and other parts of the ride, making this one of the best ride experiences I have had at this park.
On subsequent visits, until they build something new I will try to ride Borg first. The Hurler was running what seemed to be alot smoother than I remember it from earlier in the summer. And it was good to get a ride on Drop Zone again, as it had been closed for our earlier visits. As I look at it in comparison to the other Drop Zones, I think how much smaller it is...but....that kinda ride...still scares me just a tiny little bit, you know? I hope one day they update that ride. I would like to see one at the park with a little bigger capacity.
If you are a regular to Amusement Parks in the south, you may have seen this sign: "During the fall, Wasps build nests at Higher elevations, guests who are allergic to these insects should not ride...", or something to that effect. Now, I never really understood why these warnings were all over the place until this weekend. Which brings me to my first ride on Top Gun of the weekend. During the ride up the lift hill I must have seen at least 20 or 30 swarming all around the track. There were no reports of any stings or anything, so I was more fascinated than worried...that is, until right after the tunnel. Now, I wasn't stung, but I got hit by a wasp at about 50 mph, which is a little unpleasent. This made me think I was stung. I spent the next few minutes after the ride waiting for it to start swelling, but it never did. Whew. For the rest of the weekend, I was very aware of our little insect friends.
The only two things that were announced as closed were the Skytower, and Rocket Power, the latter was to have the ice skating rink right in front of it for Winterfest. We did actually see the skytower rasied up about a third of it's height, but since the lights were anchored for the giant Christmas tree, it couldn't go much furthur than that. All in all, not a bad weekend. I am disappointed that 2006 will only bring a small addition to the waterpark, and nothing else. The sign literally said "Nearly 25% bigger...". Um, yeah, ok. SFGA builds a giga, and you guys build us a waterfall. Thanks:)...seriously though as a whole, Im think it's a great park, but I look forward to our planned trip to either PKI or PKD in the spring.