- June 29th, 2009, 12:20 am
#29588
Got to go on my first carowinds trip in 5 years today (Not including Scarowinds for like 3 hours), and I had a lot of fun.
I was there for 10 hours so I don't remember the events of how everything went, so I'm just gonna go over the stuff I liked/didn't like.
Crowds:
The longest line of the day was for Nighthawk, which was half an hour. Not a single ride had a notably bad line.
Rides:
Vortex - Longest wait: Walk-on - First thing we rode today. I personally love the ride, despite how short it is. It's still pretty smooth IMO.
Carolina Cobra - Longest wait: 10 minutes - Didn't really know what to expect, seeing as how I'd never ridden anything like it. We got assigned to the very back row, and it was pretty awesome. G forces in the loop coming backwards were so high, it forced my hands back down. (I don't like holding on on roller coasters). It was suprisingly not-painful for a Vekoma. But then we rode it again, and got in the front. That was just painful, not going to do that again. The 3rd time we rode it later in the day we asked to be assigned the back. haha.
Nighthawk - Longest Wait: 30 minutes - Haven't ridden this thing since I was in the 7th grade, so I didn't really remember what it was like/what to expect. It was pretty fun, I've got really long hair so I couldn't even see on the parts when you're facing down, haha. Almost lost my phone both times we rode it on those corkscrews. It's a pretty fun ride, but I'm not sure why it's always got the longest line.
Afterburn - Longest wait: 3-4 minutes - Definitley the best ride in the park, hands down. We rode it about 7 times, the first time we got to stay on for 2 runs and could've done a third but decided we wanted to go to something else. I always forget just how strong of a ride it is.
Thunder Road - Longest wait: Walk-on - Good ol' thunder road. Still not racing. They would have both trains loaded and ready to go, and would purposely send them at different times. Didn't make much sense to me. We rode both sides, and the right side seemed a lot rougher for some reason. Both sides' newly-renovated-track-areas were very smooth, the rest of it was pretty rough though. The left side wasn't bad or anything though, rode it a few times. I really miss the train being backwards!
Cyclone - Longest wait: Walk-on - Although cyclone doesn't pack as much of a punch as the rest of the rides, it's still probably one of my favorites i've ever ridden. It's got sentimental value as it was my first coaster with an inversion ever back in like 3rd grade, so that's probably why. I've discovered that 5'6" is the perfect height for this ride. I'm tall enough where my head doesn't bash against the shoulder harnesses, but short enough where my neck doesn't snap over the side.
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Hurler - Longest Wait: Walk-on - Okay, I used to really like Hurler. I never really minded how rough it was, but now it's just flat out ridiculous. My neck STILL hurts from it, and I rode it 13 hours ago. That thing needs some definite re-tracking, because within a year or so it'll start causing damage to people. Not enjoyable anymore.
Goldrusher - Longest wait: Walk-on - It's the Goldrusher. You can complain all you want about how tiny/not fast it is, we know you still like it. It's got a little sentimental value for me since it was literally my first roller coaster ever, but I still think it's a fun little ride. Not worth waiting in a line for, but if there's no line, go for it.
We pretty much stuck with those rides most of the day, but we did ride drop zone and the skytower too. (By the way, I have cell phone dirt-porn that will be up shortly). There's some black piping and stuff out there now, my vision is 20/150-ish so I couldn't really make out what anything was though. By the way, the chili chese fries at Juke Box are amazing.
Overall I had a really fun day. It was nice to have an actual theme park trip again. (My last one was IOA in 2004). Would've been nicer if Hurler didn't kill me. My chiropractor is not going to be happy with me when I see him next week. haha.
I was there for 10 hours so I don't remember the events of how everything went, so I'm just gonna go over the stuff I liked/didn't like.
Crowds:
The longest line of the day was for Nighthawk, which was half an hour. Not a single ride had a notably bad line.
Rides:
Vortex - Longest wait: Walk-on - First thing we rode today. I personally love the ride, despite how short it is. It's still pretty smooth IMO.
Carolina Cobra - Longest wait: 10 minutes - Didn't really know what to expect, seeing as how I'd never ridden anything like it. We got assigned to the very back row, and it was pretty awesome. G forces in the loop coming backwards were so high, it forced my hands back down. (I don't like holding on on roller coasters). It was suprisingly not-painful for a Vekoma. But then we rode it again, and got in the front. That was just painful, not going to do that again. The 3rd time we rode it later in the day we asked to be assigned the back. haha.
Nighthawk - Longest Wait: 30 minutes - Haven't ridden this thing since I was in the 7th grade, so I didn't really remember what it was like/what to expect. It was pretty fun, I've got really long hair so I couldn't even see on the parts when you're facing down, haha. Almost lost my phone both times we rode it on those corkscrews. It's a pretty fun ride, but I'm not sure why it's always got the longest line.
Afterburn - Longest wait: 3-4 minutes - Definitley the best ride in the park, hands down. We rode it about 7 times, the first time we got to stay on for 2 runs and could've done a third but decided we wanted to go to something else. I always forget just how strong of a ride it is.
Thunder Road - Longest wait: Walk-on - Good ol' thunder road. Still not racing. They would have both trains loaded and ready to go, and would purposely send them at different times. Didn't make much sense to me. We rode both sides, and the right side seemed a lot rougher for some reason. Both sides' newly-renovated-track-areas were very smooth, the rest of it was pretty rough though. The left side wasn't bad or anything though, rode it a few times. I really miss the train being backwards!
Cyclone - Longest wait: Walk-on - Although cyclone doesn't pack as much of a punch as the rest of the rides, it's still probably one of my favorites i've ever ridden. It's got sentimental value as it was my first coaster with an inversion ever back in like 3rd grade, so that's probably why. I've discovered that 5'6" is the perfect height for this ride. I'm tall enough where my head doesn't bash against the shoulder harnesses, but short enough where my neck doesn't snap over the side.
. Hurler - Longest Wait: Walk-on - Okay, I used to really like Hurler. I never really minded how rough it was, but now it's just flat out ridiculous. My neck STILL hurts from it, and I rode it 13 hours ago. That thing needs some definite re-tracking, because within a year or so it'll start causing damage to people. Not enjoyable anymore.
Goldrusher - Longest wait: Walk-on - It's the Goldrusher. You can complain all you want about how tiny/not fast it is, we know you still like it. It's got a little sentimental value for me since it was literally my first roller coaster ever, but I still think it's a fun little ride. Not worth waiting in a line for, but if there's no line, go for it.
We pretty much stuck with those rides most of the day, but we did ride drop zone and the skytower too. (By the way, I have cell phone dirt-porn that will be up shortly). There's some black piping and stuff out there now, my vision is 20/150-ish so I couldn't really make out what anything was though. By the way, the chili chese fries at Juke Box are amazing.
Overall I had a really fun day. It was nice to have an actual theme park trip again. (My last one was IOA in 2004). Would've been nicer if Hurler didn't kill me. My chiropractor is not going to be happy with me when I see him next week. haha.
Coaster count: 64
I may live a few timezones away now, but Carowinds will always be my home park.
I may live a few timezones away now, but Carowinds will always be my home park.