- August 4th, 2011, 11:11 pm
#46758
I just happened to take a trip down to Charlotte this week to visit family in the region & since the park was literally right up the road I made it a point to visit while in the area & had a very good time there.
Being from nothern Va. & having KD as a home park I was really looking forward to getting some of the credits that aren't to be had at KD(especially the B&M's) which was really the purpose of the visit & was able to get on most rides with little to no wait at all(it was a tuesday afternoon & the waterpark was packed) so that was a plus.First ride of the afternoon was intimidator,which is a very good ride & is much different from the intamin counterpart we have up here with insane air on each hill along the course & the trains are nice & cofy,which is what you'd expect from a B&M & just a great overall ride that was smoother than dominator at KD.
After riding Afterburn all I can say is that KD needs a B&M invert ASAP!!! Volcano simply does not cut it when compared to this fine B&M creation,if only the photo booth were open I would've gotten my on ride photo but alas it was closed both times I rode it but I did make sure to get one for intimidator.
Rode vortex & I don't know if it was the heat or the ride itself but by the time we hit the flatspin near the end I was definitely wishing I were off the ride.I think I'll take KD's standup,shockwave over this ride any day.I passed on nighthawk as it was a one train op with a huge line & have ridden batwing at SFA enough to know what it does so that wasn't a real loss.
Heading over to the backside of the park I hit up thunder road,which while similar to rebel yell at KD I found the left side to be way too rough to the point where my legs were hurting from the ride,the righ side was slighly smoother & I liked the f act that,unlike on rebel yell you don't have to hike a half mile between the entrance & the station platform.Carolina cobra was ok & KD could really benefit from adding it's restraints to anaconda as they were not as bad as the typical OTSR's found on arrow/vekoma loopers.Last up was the mine train which I found to be quite good for what it is & sure wish KD had one of these as it'd be a great starter coaster for the kids.
Didn't bother with hurler as I know just how bad it is up at KD & really wish KD would remove it,passed on ricohet due to the wait times & the fact that it was nearly 8 pm by then but did take a spin on scream weaver...good thing it had ashort cycle since I was feeling sick due to the heat & was lucky I didn't lose my lunch on the ride.I wonder if carowinds always had this ride? it's similar to KD's defunct appleturnover(which I never rode when it was there) so I wonder if KD sold it to carowinds after removing it in the mid 90's does anyone know?
All in all carowinds is a very nice park,both in it's ride selection & landscaping,I'd so like to visit again in the future if only the place weren't so far from home....hopefully if we make any future trips down to the area I'd certainly visit the park again.
Being from nothern Va. & having KD as a home park I was really looking forward to getting some of the credits that aren't to be had at KD(especially the B&M's) which was really the purpose of the visit & was able to get on most rides with little to no wait at all(it was a tuesday afternoon & the waterpark was packed) so that was a plus.First ride of the afternoon was intimidator,which is a very good ride & is much different from the intamin counterpart we have up here with insane air on each hill along the course & the trains are nice & cofy,which is what you'd expect from a B&M & just a great overall ride that was smoother than dominator at KD.
After riding Afterburn all I can say is that KD needs a B&M invert ASAP!!! Volcano simply does not cut it when compared to this fine B&M creation,if only the photo booth were open I would've gotten my on ride photo but alas it was closed both times I rode it but I did make sure to get one for intimidator.
Rode vortex & I don't know if it was the heat or the ride itself but by the time we hit the flatspin near the end I was definitely wishing I were off the ride.I think I'll take KD's standup,shockwave over this ride any day.I passed on nighthawk as it was a one train op with a huge line & have ridden batwing at SFA enough to know what it does so that wasn't a real loss.
Heading over to the backside of the park I hit up thunder road,which while similar to rebel yell at KD I found the left side to be way too rough to the point where my legs were hurting from the ride,the righ side was slighly smoother & I liked the f act that,unlike on rebel yell you don't have to hike a half mile between the entrance & the station platform.Carolina cobra was ok & KD could really benefit from adding it's restraints to anaconda as they were not as bad as the typical OTSR's found on arrow/vekoma loopers.Last up was the mine train which I found to be quite good for what it is & sure wish KD had one of these as it'd be a great starter coaster for the kids.
Didn't bother with hurler as I know just how bad it is up at KD & really wish KD would remove it,passed on ricohet due to the wait times & the fact that it was nearly 8 pm by then but did take a spin on scream weaver...good thing it had ashort cycle since I was feeling sick due to the heat & was lucky I didn't lose my lunch on the ride.I wonder if carowinds always had this ride? it's similar to KD's defunct appleturnover(which I never rode when it was there) so I wonder if KD sold it to carowinds after removing it in the mid 90's does anyone know?
All in all carowinds is a very nice park,both in it's ride selection & landscaping,I'd so like to visit again in the future if only the place weren't so far from home....hopefully if we make any future trips down to the area I'd certainly visit the park again.