- April 1st, 2004, 5:04 pm
#4751
I arrived at Carowinds just before 10am on April 1st for the Media Day event for BORG ASSIMILATOR. The weather was sunny, 46º and a bit breezy, making it feel a bit cooler.
Met up with a couple ACE members and preceded towards the stage where we were told to meet. Around 10:15am I headed up the stairs and took a seat on row 6 of the coaster. This was my first ride on BA and I must admit I was pretty excited. Although I was invited to both commercial shoots, I was unable to attend, and now I am glad that I wasn't. Read on.
My seat slowly reclines backwards. And we were off.....!! Well, I thought we were. The press day announcement ceremonies had begun and we had to wait in our reclining position for about 10 minutes (or so it seemed) so when the operator got the cue to start, we could immediately leave the station. Seemed kinda weird to me but they wanted us to be ready to roll when they got the cue. It's not very comfortable waiting in that position more than a few minutes while the blood is rushing to your head.
I heard a big BOOM, (some type of fireworks), and we were off. I will not go in to my ride experience in detail as I am sure you have heard enough of those. We ended getting 2 consecutive rides and I could've had 3 but I decided to get off. The entrance to the ride had opened and the line was starting to build with anticipating riders.
I ended up riding 4 additional rides throughout the event before I decided to call it quits. I like BORG OK. Kinda like I did Vortex when it opened. It's a great novelty coaster. Top Gun is still the king of the park IMO. BORG was fun, don't get me wrong. I just don't see it having a lasting appeal in 3 years. In fact, I was told by a source today (that shall remain anonymous) that one of the reasons it left PGA was because it lost rider appeal in season 3. Yes, it's a new coaster and will surely give the park some much needed notoriety for a season or 2. After that, hmmm.......I predict it will become a dinosour for the park, just my opinion.
Top Gun has staying power. And yes, even Thunder Road has staying power. Novelty coasters like Vortex and BORG do not. It's been proven time after time. They are fun, but they aren't the coasters you will go running to 3 years from now. I don't won't to sound too negative here. I know many of you really, really love this ride. I am glad you do. Carowinds NEEDS you! It's just not a coaster I can ride over and over. The ride is uncomfortable for me. Maybe it's my height. I am 6'2" and slim. Maybe the seats are more designed for shorter people.
I know many of you will not agree with my assessment of the ride. Dr. Possum will probably become very agitated with me. Carowinds made the choice to move this coaster and I fully support it. May not agree with it, but I will always support their actions when necessary.
I am still dreaming of the Intamin hyper coaster that dives under the front bridge near the north gate. This will probably never happen, or at least not for a while. Carowinds will probably not get another major coaster for 5+ years. I am almost sure of that. I said MAJOR coaster.
Did I mention the food? The food for Media Day was top notch!! The atmoshere was very nice. I have been to virtually every media day at Carowinds since White Lightnin'. The park does a good job. All in all a fun day and well worth missing work!
Anyway, I will leave it be for now. Still love the park! Still love the majority of the coasters at Carowinds. BORG is a beautiful ride. Maybe it's just the Vekoma curse that I have become accustomed too.........
Met up with a couple ACE members and preceded towards the stage where we were told to meet. Around 10:15am I headed up the stairs and took a seat on row 6 of the coaster. This was my first ride on BA and I must admit I was pretty excited. Although I was invited to both commercial shoots, I was unable to attend, and now I am glad that I wasn't. Read on.
My seat slowly reclines backwards. And we were off.....!! Well, I thought we were. The press day announcement ceremonies had begun and we had to wait in our reclining position for about 10 minutes (or so it seemed) so when the operator got the cue to start, we could immediately leave the station. Seemed kinda weird to me but they wanted us to be ready to roll when they got the cue. It's not very comfortable waiting in that position more than a few minutes while the blood is rushing to your head.
I heard a big BOOM, (some type of fireworks), and we were off. I will not go in to my ride experience in detail as I am sure you have heard enough of those. We ended getting 2 consecutive rides and I could've had 3 but I decided to get off. The entrance to the ride had opened and the line was starting to build with anticipating riders.
I ended up riding 4 additional rides throughout the event before I decided to call it quits. I like BORG OK. Kinda like I did Vortex when it opened. It's a great novelty coaster. Top Gun is still the king of the park IMO. BORG was fun, don't get me wrong. I just don't see it having a lasting appeal in 3 years. In fact, I was told by a source today (that shall remain anonymous) that one of the reasons it left PGA was because it lost rider appeal in season 3. Yes, it's a new coaster and will surely give the park some much needed notoriety for a season or 2. After that, hmmm.......I predict it will become a dinosour for the park, just my opinion.
Top Gun has staying power. And yes, even Thunder Road has staying power. Novelty coasters like Vortex and BORG do not. It's been proven time after time. They are fun, but they aren't the coasters you will go running to 3 years from now. I don't won't to sound too negative here. I know many of you really, really love this ride. I am glad you do. Carowinds NEEDS you! It's just not a coaster I can ride over and over. The ride is uncomfortable for me. Maybe it's my height. I am 6'2" and slim. Maybe the seats are more designed for shorter people.
I know many of you will not agree with my assessment of the ride. Dr. Possum will probably become very agitated with me. Carowinds made the choice to move this coaster and I fully support it. May not agree with it, but I will always support their actions when necessary.
I am still dreaming of the Intamin hyper coaster that dives under the front bridge near the north gate. This will probably never happen, or at least not for a while. Carowinds will probably not get another major coaster for 5+ years. I am almost sure of that. I said MAJOR coaster.
Did I mention the food? The food for Media Day was top notch!! The atmoshere was very nice. I have been to virtually every media day at Carowinds since White Lightnin'. The park does a good job. All in all a fun day and well worth missing work!
Anyway, I will leave it be for now. Still love the park! Still love the majority of the coasters at Carowinds. BORG is a beautiful ride. Maybe it's just the Vekoma curse that I have become accustomed too.........
Carowinds: The Early Years
Updated March 2016. More great old photos!
Lakewood Park
Charlotte's first amusement park in 1910.
Updated March 2016. More great old photos!
Lakewood Park
Charlotte's first amusement park in 1910.
