Everything else goes here, including discussion of parks outside of Carowinds and any off-topic discussion
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By lazor 22
#30369
Written a few weeks ago, thought I might aswell post it here.

A few weeks ago I went to FMP. I woke up at 6am and left my house around 8am. We arrived at the hotel I was staying at around 12. We then arrived at the park at 1.

First up was Time Machine. Going into the park this coaster dominates everything else. I didn't realize how tall this thing actually was till I was near it. Anyways on to the ride. Going into the station there are music videos from various decades playing. I can't imagine the whole queue being filled. Once you get into the waiting area you approach 5 doors with "60's", "70's", "80's. "90's", and "00's" on them. Right now the track on the coaster does not coordinate with the doors, but it will soon. Once in the blimp station you wait for the train to come to the loading area. Once your on and start up the lift the music announces what decade your in and starts playing short 2-3 second clips from songs. When you get near the top the 10-15 second clips start to play. Going down the drop you get alot of airtime. The loop is slow at the top but not enough for Hangtime. The cobra roll is really good. I know I said I don't care for them but I guess I was trying to say Dominator's is weak. Up next is the 0-G roll, which is now my favorite element of a ride. Your floating the whole time through. The second loop has good g's and so does the helix after. You get a small burst of ejector airtime as you go into the MCBR. After that you go into a helix drop then into the corckscrew. The corckscrew is fast at first then slow then fast again. It's really fun. The last helix isn't as forceful as the first but it's still nice. My favorite tracks are the 70's and 80's tracks. Then comes the final break run and the ride is over. Me and my brother rode this 5 times to get all the decades. 10/10, very good ride and my new number 1.

Next we went across the pond (we literally went across the pond to the section called across the pond) to ride Round About. This ride is fun and the lift is cool but it's just to short to be very good. Maybe if the added 1 or 2 more helices the ride would be good. Me and my brother rode this 3 times since the second time we went on it the let us stay on. 7/10.

Next we went to Monstars Of Rock. Worst Dark Ride Ever? Actually, no. The music is cool and the ride is actually pretty cool. But I would defiantly like to see something better. Hopefully this ride is temporary. 6.5/10.

After that we went to ride the Taxi ride. This is way better then other scramblers. I like how the cars are tilted forward, it increases the thrill. We got 2 rides on this.

We then went over to the carousel for my mom. We decided to stay on for another round after the first finished.

We went to the Kids In America section and ate lunch at "Take 5 Diner". It was really good.

We rode Hang Ten 1 time for my mom, she didn't like it though. Her and my brother rode in front and I rode in back. It was actually kinda fun in the back, but still it was a family ride and nothing thrilling to me. 6/10
Then we rode Fly Like A Egale, a wierd Kiddie flat. It hurt but I guess was fun.

It was then 4:30 and time for CSI: Live! to start. We went over to the show's building and watched it. It was pretty cool and I liked how they interacted with the audience.

After that we went over to Iron Horse. This is the second best ride there. The station is awesome and adds to the ride. The music is awesome and adds to the ride. The ride itself is really fun in the back. 9/10

We then rode the swing, really fun! Afterwards we rode Big Ol' Trucks, which broke down while we were ridding but it was still cool.

We then watched one of the live bands they had playing. They were pretty good. We ate a snack from the place beside it while they were playing.

Me and my brother went back to Time Machine to ride more times. We rode 5 more times and go in all decades. But, there was actually a line this time. There was a 15 minute wait each time. They were only running one train, if they ran both it would be much better. I don't know why they didn't. But it was still good otherwise.

We went back over to the guitar to check out the Gibson store under it but it was closed so we went back to Iron horse instead. We rode this 2 more times bringing out total to 5.

Then we went to Ice Cream You Scream for some ice cream. I got a Lemon Chill, which is basically 16oz. of frozen italian ice. But it melted quick and was really good.

We went to the main gift shop to look around. As far as Freestyle Music Park logo things, there slack. But they have all these bands shirts and other things around. We went to the theater beside it and watched a little film.

By this time it was dark out, and we had 30 minutes until the fireworks show so me and my brother went to Time Machine for one night ride. It was awesome.

The final event of our day was the "Kiss The Sky Fireworks Show". This is a great topper to a great park. It is choreographed to alot of different songs. They did a really good job on this. 10/10!

We left the park and ate dinner at DQ Grill & Chill then went back to our hotel.
For all the people that say "This park sucks" or something else like it. Your 100% wrong. This park is amazing and i don't know why anyone wouldn't want to come. The theming is great. Everything is great. All that is needed is one more coaster, maybe a B&M Flyer, and it would be one of the best parks out there. I rank this up there with Busch Gardens. It was really clean aswell. This is my favorite park now. I wish them luck on making it through this year. I know they have plans to make it even better next year!



Ride Count:
Time Machine 11x
Round About 3x
Iron Horse 5x
Hang Ten 1x
Soak'd 0x


Ready for abunch of Pics:
Me and my brother on Time Machine:
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0-G goodness:
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Night picture:
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From the road:
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Main Entry Gates:
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First thing you see as you come out of the Midway:
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A Plane in TM's gift shop:
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The main water attraction:
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TM's Station:
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It's gift shop:
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Time Machine:
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Soak'd, Hang Ten, Iron Horse:
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Round About:
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RA's Gift Shop:
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Cab Ride:
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Monstars Of Rock:
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Faces?:
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Merry-Gp-Round:
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Kids In America:
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There used to be a zippo in her hand:
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Lunch!:
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Hang Ten:
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The Huge Drop!!!:
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CSI: Live! Building:
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Lava Supports?!?!:
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A rooftop band:
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A Quote on sign:
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Soak'd:
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Iron Horse:
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The Swings:
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Ice Cold Country:
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The Live band I was talking about when we ate a snack:
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More TM!:
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More RA!:
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A Awesome Panorama I took of TM, RA, and The guitar:
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The Guitar:
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This is a real person:
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A Turtle:
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Country USA:
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They replaced it with one of those light of Fiber things:
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Night Shot:
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And free things!:
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TM at night:
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The next day we went back by so I could get some pics from the road beside TM:
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And lastly, not at FMP, but I saw this coaster at South Of The Border:
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User avatar
By lazor 22
#30377
Yea, It's amazing and I rank it way up there with Busch Gardens in "niceness". Unforutunatly to many people think this park is crap.
By LocoDriver
#30394
lazor 22, let's see where to start? I went to the park last Wednesday (first time there) 07/08. While I actually agree with a lot of your post, I have to strongly disagree with a couple of items.

First of all.....The Time Machine. While this coaster does dominate the park, the ride experience for me was just a little better than awful. I was really, really disappointed with the ride it gave. For a B&M minus their stand-ups, this has to be the worst ride expeirence I've had on one. To me, it was way to rough of a ride to only be one year old. It literally gave me a head ache while I was riding. If you rate this as your number one coaster, then I would have to say that it's hard to believe you've ridden to many Beemers or any other coasters for that matter. It sounds like you've been to BGW. Did you ride Alpengiest, Apollo's Chariot, BBW etc? How does it rank ahead of those? I'm assuming you've been to Carowinds? If so, have you ridden TG/Afterburn? There's no way it compares to the smoothness and greatness of that ride. Anyway, I would give it a 5 out of 10.

The second item that I would disagree with you on is the fact that you rank this park "right up there with Busch Gardens". I about choked on my breakfast when I read that one. While I'll agree that this park surpassed my expectations (this years expectations, not last years) I can't even put it in the same league as a Busch Gardens. The theming was nice, the park was clean, but this is a classic case of comparing Apple's to Oranges. The park is small, very small. The ride selection (for adults) is small. They need a lot more than a flyer to complete this park. I would love to see some type of water attraction (other than Soaked) such as a flume, rapids, etc. They really could stand a couple of big flats. Maybe a drop tower, frisbee etc.

My favorite ride had to be the Iron Horse, with the Taxi's a close second. I was really not expecting much out of this ride, but it was one of the better mine trains that I've ridden. I really liked Round About, but would agree it's a little to short. I thought that Hang 10 was one of the better kiddie coasters I've ridden. Soaked was a cheap version of FSS, but all the water effects were working on it. Monstors Rock was the worst Dark Ride I've ever ridden, but the A/C worked. I think this ride has potential, but they have to get rid of all the cardboard cutouts and make this ride interactive. The food we ate was decent for a themed park and as usual priced a little high. Cheeseburger basket, Chicken Finger Basket, Souviner Soda and two large sodas = $34. But.... my kids and wife had a wonderful time. I think they have the admission prices (with the Carolina Discount) about right now. The park was very clean and most of the staff was very friendly. I was encouraged by what the new ownership has accomplished with the short turn around time, I just hope they have the funding to stick this out. As much as I like the short lines (never waited more than one ride to get on anything) I would have liked to seen a bigger crowd there supporting this park.
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By Davidtmp
#30419
Loco, I have to agree with you...I went last year and TM gave me a headache as well. Very rough for a B&M. The only thing I can think of for the comparison to BG is the cleanliness of the park....It is no way in ANY league of BGW. I'm not saying it sucks, but it needs more. Hopefully the new owners can do better with it.
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By lazor 22
#30541
Really? I thought TM was really smooth. I loved every moment of it. Heres my top 5:
1. Time Machine, 2.Talon, 3.Dominator, 4.Possessed, 5.Top Gun.
The only other B&M I've ridden is Hydra.

As for the BG part, yes FMP needs more but I really would rank this with BGE. The Cleanliness and the themes all around the park are extremely well (being that they had a few months to get everything together).
By LocoDriver
#30563
lazor 22 wrote:Really? I thought TM was really smooth. I loved every moment of it. Heres my top 5:
1. Time Machine, 2.Talon, 3.Dominator, 4.Possessed, 5.Top Gun.
The only other B&M I've ridden is Hydra.

As for the BG part, yes FMP needs more but I really would rank this with BGE. The Cleanliness and the themes all around the park are extremely well (being that they had a few months to get everything together).


It certainly sounds as if you've been to BGE, as you keep comparing to FMP. How is it that you go to that park and not ride any of the Beemers there? Again, while FMP is clean and does have nice theming in some areas, Both BG parks blow it away. I would almost guarantee you that any long time CC poster would agree with me on this.
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By lazor 22
#30571
Yes, I've been to BGE. It was 2 years ago when I was still scared of coasters though. All I've ridden there is BBW. I hope to go later this year though.
By LocoDriver
#30572
lazor 22 wrote:Yes, I've been to BGE. It was 2 years ago when I was still scared of coasters though. All I've ridden there is BBW. I hope to go later this year though.



That explains a lot.
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By cgreene
#30585
ok i can see cleanliness wise, but from the pictures you took i really do not believe this park even comes close to the theming that busch gardens has. Im not saying it has none but you did say the last time you went to BGE was two years ago, i think your mind will change when you re-enter that park.
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By Wormy
#32075
In case you haven't seen it, they're replaying the Colossal Construction Hard Rock Park episode on the Science Channel today at 1PM. (DirecTV channel SCIHD 284).
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By Davidtmp
#32089
Wormy wrote:In case you haven't seen it, they're replaying the Colossal Construction Hard Rock Park episode on the Science Channel today at 1PM. (DirecTV channel SCIHD 284).

Is this going to be followed by "Colossal Failure of Hard Rock Park" at 3? :)
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By WindsWaker
#32118
Davidtmp wrote:
Wormy wrote:In case you haven't seen it, they're replaying the Colossal Construction Hard Rock Park episode on the Science Channel today at 1PM. (DirecTV channel SCIHD 284).

Is this going to be followed by "Colossal Failure of Hard Rock Park" at 3? :)


HA! :lol: