- April 12th, 2009, 3:49 pm
#26916
Made my first trip to the park in 2009 - and first in over a year - today. Overall it was a very nice day with just a few problems.
Finally decided to get a pass for this season - T-Road being back in action, Cobra getting good press, the park overall looking very nice, AND the lure of watching that pile of dirt that used to be Powder Keg Flume turn into something was too much to resist.
Ride reports:
Cobra: I was quite impressed. It went down on the first train of the day (I was in line for the second) but came back up not too long later. Got a few rides in, one in the very back, another towards the back. The new trains / restraints worked very well, and delivered a mostly smooth ride. There are a few jolts / shakes but nothing severe, and most importantly none of that is transferred to your head. Surprisingly, I think Carowinds has a winner on it's hands here as the GP seemed to eat this ride up. I'll certainly ride it when the line is short.
Cyclone: Pretty smooth, which is very good for an almost 30-year-old Arrow. Nice pop of air on the first drop in the back car, as usual.
Hurler: One ride in row 3, which was decent. Another later in the day up front which was much better. Very good airtime, with a big ol' serving of it on the 4th hill. No, it's not glass smooth, but it ain't that rough.
Thunder Road: First time on this in 1.5 years. The work done on it has made it smoother, faster, and better ride. Got one ride up front on the usual forwards side, another in the back of the former backwards side. Still somewhat rough back there, but it was a wheel seat, I should know better. One thing I don't recall being mentioned - where are the "Burma Shave" signs? It felt odd going up the lift and not seeing "Grit your teeth...bear the load....enjoy your ride...on Thunder Road!"
Top Gun (aka Afterburn): Now we're talking! Very short lines for the best coaster in the park. Front seat ride was good, with some strong G-forces in the batwing and flat spin. Row 7 was stronger still, and finally I got back-right corner in Row 8 - aka the Money Seat. And it didn't disappoint. Very strong Gs and whip in the usual spots. Oh and the Shark train now has blue OTSRs, a change from the yellow it usually had.
Flyers: Down. Ugh. I was looking forward to getting some snaps in, especially since there was a bit of wind gusting at times.
Nighthawk: Down at the start of the day, although I think it came back up after noon. I wasn't terribly interested in riding anyway, so wasn't too disappointed to see a train parked on the lift as I entered the park. I must say the paint job on this is positively superb - this coaster really looks good. And this really brightens things at the front of the park.
This is good, since there's a big pile of dirt where the flume once was. Got a ride on the skytower to check it out. Nothing new to report, but I thought it was interesting that many of the GP commenting on the skytower or when walking by the dirtpile were saying that's probably where a new coaster is going.
I was very impressed with the park today. Operations were back to where they were a few years back, with coasters running at capacity even with short lines, and dispatches being pretty quick most everywhere. The park looked very nice, very clean with lots of good landscaping, and the aforementioned new paint on Nighthawk. Ol' TG is looking a bit shabby in comparison, hopefully it'll get some TLC sooner than later. The "Ride On" banners are a nice touch. The employees were friendly and seemed to be a bit more efficient than usual, so the increased talent pool certainly seemed to help there.
Contrast this to me feeling very "meh" about the park the last few seasons, and thinking 2009 would be a bust with the addition being a used boomerang. Now I'm feeling good about this season, which will have the added bonus of watching the flume spot to see if 2010 will Bring More thrills...
Finally decided to get a pass for this season - T-Road being back in action, Cobra getting good press, the park overall looking very nice, AND the lure of watching that pile of dirt that used to be Powder Keg Flume turn into something was too much to resist.
Ride reports:
Cobra: I was quite impressed. It went down on the first train of the day (I was in line for the second) but came back up not too long later. Got a few rides in, one in the very back, another towards the back. The new trains / restraints worked very well, and delivered a mostly smooth ride. There are a few jolts / shakes but nothing severe, and most importantly none of that is transferred to your head. Surprisingly, I think Carowinds has a winner on it's hands here as the GP seemed to eat this ride up. I'll certainly ride it when the line is short.
Cyclone: Pretty smooth, which is very good for an almost 30-year-old Arrow. Nice pop of air on the first drop in the back car, as usual.
Hurler: One ride in row 3, which was decent. Another later in the day up front which was much better. Very good airtime, with a big ol' serving of it on the 4th hill. No, it's not glass smooth, but it ain't that rough.
Thunder Road: First time on this in 1.5 years. The work done on it has made it smoother, faster, and better ride. Got one ride up front on the usual forwards side, another in the back of the former backwards side. Still somewhat rough back there, but it was a wheel seat, I should know better. One thing I don't recall being mentioned - where are the "Burma Shave" signs? It felt odd going up the lift and not seeing "Grit your teeth...bear the load....enjoy your ride...on Thunder Road!"
Top Gun (aka Afterburn): Now we're talking! Very short lines for the best coaster in the park. Front seat ride was good, with some strong G-forces in the batwing and flat spin. Row 7 was stronger still, and finally I got back-right corner in Row 8 - aka the Money Seat. And it didn't disappoint. Very strong Gs and whip in the usual spots. Oh and the Shark train now has blue OTSRs, a change from the yellow it usually had.
Flyers: Down. Ugh. I was looking forward to getting some snaps in, especially since there was a bit of wind gusting at times.
Nighthawk: Down at the start of the day, although I think it came back up after noon. I wasn't terribly interested in riding anyway, so wasn't too disappointed to see a train parked on the lift as I entered the park. I must say the paint job on this is positively superb - this coaster really looks good. And this really brightens things at the front of the park.
This is good, since there's a big pile of dirt where the flume once was. Got a ride on the skytower to check it out. Nothing new to report, but I thought it was interesting that many of the GP commenting on the skytower or when walking by the dirtpile were saying that's probably where a new coaster is going.
I was very impressed with the park today. Operations were back to where they were a few years back, with coasters running at capacity even with short lines, and dispatches being pretty quick most everywhere. The park looked very nice, very clean with lots of good landscaping, and the aforementioned new paint on Nighthawk. Ol' TG is looking a bit shabby in comparison, hopefully it'll get some TLC sooner than later. The "Ride On" banners are a nice touch. The employees were friendly and seemed to be a bit more efficient than usual, so the increased talent pool certainly seemed to help there.
Contrast this to me feeling very "meh" about the park the last few seasons, and thinking 2009 would be a bust with the addition being a used boomerang. Now I'm feeling good about this season, which will have the added bonus of watching the flume spot to see if 2010 will Bring More thrills...
