- May 27th, 2004, 1:29 pm
#5959
Well, my day out at Carowinds on May 26th couldn’t have gone better. I arrived at the south gate around 9:30 and found the gate open to guests. I quickly threw on some sun block and headed in. The parking lot was empty and I could clearly see from the load that this was going to be a light day on the crowds… man, I love it when I’m right.
I hit Top Gun right at the 10am opening and got about 3 repeat rides in before anyone was in my boarding lane. I hit about 3 more rides before moving on to Thunder Road. Two-Train operation and really efficient ride ops kept TG running fast! And I have found my sweet spot: Very last row, seat closest to boarding gates.
TR was running nice and smooth on the forward side but not much air. I also hit the backwards side for a ride in the back and front seats. Riding in the back (last row to leave station) was really good. Some pop air and good pulls on the turnaround. The front (first row to leave station) sucked. It was rough as, you know, and beat the, you know what, out of me. Needless to say, no more backwards rides in that seat. You’ll see what I mean if you take that seat at C3. Again, great ops and two train operation on both sides, though racing the trains was not happening.
After TR I decided to head over and see if I could get assimilated for my first time. I hit the single rider line and found myself in lane 1 in only 5 minutes. Borg is really a great flyer and sooooo much better than X-flight at… hmmm… oh yea, Geauga Lake. The layout and theming is top notch and despite being a slow loader, the ride ops were doing an awesome job. Again, two train operation.
I just have to point out here an important point for me personally. Two train operations. In fact, I found two train operations on EVERY SINGLE COASTER that can run them for the whole day. Save Goldrusher which did not open for the day. I suppose the new “olive drab†paint was still drying. I applaud Carowinds for running their coasters this way in spite of the fact that everything was literally a walk-on for the whole day. This is a premiere example of a park that cares about its guests. It’s elementary, the quicker you move guests through ride lines the quicker you move them back into the midway areas where they will ultimately spend more time throughout the day. This leads to a greater chance guests will spend money on food, souvenirs and games the real income boons for the park. Not to mention the decrease in the chance of someone dropping out in a line from the heat. Everyone wins!
After Borg I decided to look for something to eat. However, only being 10:30 (yes, I did all of that in the first 30 minutes) I had to wait until 11:00 for Subway to open so I hit Ricochet, CC and Hurler. After a good breakfast (6†sub) I wandered over and took a ride on Vortex. Everyone but me seems to hate this coaster. I love the float over the station and the corkscrew. I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment. I am reminded with each ride that this coaster is not exactly “male†friendly.
Since the crowds were virtually nonexistent, I decided to hit all the flats and water rides that I usually don’t hit because of the wait times. I rode rip-roarin rapids, the log flume, enterprise, “rainbow ride†rocket something over in kiddy land (WEAK RIDE… so toned down for the kids that it’s just not worth getting on it). I also hit SD and RR while I was on that side of the park for good measure. Multiple trips on each one of course.
Getting close to 2:00 o’clock now, I decided to change into my trunks for a little time in Water Works before I was due to meet up with Jonathan at 3:00. I spent some time in WW just cooling off and enjoying the scenery
. I headed back out toward the South Gate and got a call from Jon-boy that he was on his way from work. I got in another 4 or 5 rounds on TG while waiting for Jon to get to the park. Once he arrived, we hit TG for another 3 to 4 rides then on to TR for a single forward ride. Again, no air here but a good fun ride none-the-less.
After TR a quick stop was made at SD Haunted Mansion and we headed over to Borg and caught a ride in lane 6. ARRRGGGHHH! This thing is rough and painful in that row. Nothing like row 1 at all. Jon was not happy as he always seems to get that row every time. After Borg we headed over to hurler and Drop-Zone. DZ is always a good ride and we got to stay in our seats for a triple ride. I love this thing and it makes me laugh like a fool every time it drops. A quick ride on CC and we headed back around to check on Borg again. Some kind of issue had come up and it was down so we hit SD for a couple of rides. What a great junior coaster. I maintain that this little gem is more fun and has more air time than Mean Streak at CP, A coaster that I pull no punches about when it comes to how unbelievably bad it is.
After a quick break we headed back over to TG for a few more trips before trying to catch Borg one last time before the 6:00pm park closing time. We managed to get in at the last minute and enjoyed the last train for the day on Borg in ROW 1. One awesome assimilating flight later we were happy. I let the ride ops know that we appreciated their hard work and we cut out for a meal at Steak N Shake. No onion rings and out of white bread later we were content with another great day at an excellent park. Thanks to Jon-Boy for hanging out and thanks to Carowinds for proving once again that it is a top notch park. No doubt.
I hit Top Gun right at the 10am opening and got about 3 repeat rides in before anyone was in my boarding lane. I hit about 3 more rides before moving on to Thunder Road. Two-Train operation and really efficient ride ops kept TG running fast! And I have found my sweet spot: Very last row, seat closest to boarding gates.
TR was running nice and smooth on the forward side but not much air. I also hit the backwards side for a ride in the back and front seats. Riding in the back (last row to leave station) was really good. Some pop air and good pulls on the turnaround. The front (first row to leave station) sucked. It was rough as, you know, and beat the, you know what, out of me. Needless to say, no more backwards rides in that seat. You’ll see what I mean if you take that seat at C3. Again, great ops and two train operation on both sides, though racing the trains was not happening.
After TR I decided to head over and see if I could get assimilated for my first time. I hit the single rider line and found myself in lane 1 in only 5 minutes. Borg is really a great flyer and sooooo much better than X-flight at… hmmm… oh yea, Geauga Lake. The layout and theming is top notch and despite being a slow loader, the ride ops were doing an awesome job. Again, two train operation.
I just have to point out here an important point for me personally. Two train operations. In fact, I found two train operations on EVERY SINGLE COASTER that can run them for the whole day. Save Goldrusher which did not open for the day. I suppose the new “olive drab†paint was still drying. I applaud Carowinds for running their coasters this way in spite of the fact that everything was literally a walk-on for the whole day. This is a premiere example of a park that cares about its guests. It’s elementary, the quicker you move guests through ride lines the quicker you move them back into the midway areas where they will ultimately spend more time throughout the day. This leads to a greater chance guests will spend money on food, souvenirs and games the real income boons for the park. Not to mention the decrease in the chance of someone dropping out in a line from the heat. Everyone wins!
After Borg I decided to look for something to eat. However, only being 10:30 (yes, I did all of that in the first 30 minutes) I had to wait until 11:00 for Subway to open so I hit Ricochet, CC and Hurler. After a good breakfast (6†sub) I wandered over and took a ride on Vortex. Everyone but me seems to hate this coaster. I love the float over the station and the corkscrew. I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment. I am reminded with each ride that this coaster is not exactly “male†friendly.
Since the crowds were virtually nonexistent, I decided to hit all the flats and water rides that I usually don’t hit because of the wait times. I rode rip-roarin rapids, the log flume, enterprise, “rainbow ride†rocket something over in kiddy land (WEAK RIDE… so toned down for the kids that it’s just not worth getting on it). I also hit SD and RR while I was on that side of the park for good measure. Multiple trips on each one of course.
Getting close to 2:00 o’clock now, I decided to change into my trunks for a little time in Water Works before I was due to meet up with Jonathan at 3:00. I spent some time in WW just cooling off and enjoying the scenery
. I headed back out toward the South Gate and got a call from Jon-boy that he was on his way from work. I got in another 4 or 5 rounds on TG while waiting for Jon to get to the park. Once he arrived, we hit TG for another 3 to 4 rides then on to TR for a single forward ride. Again, no air here but a good fun ride none-the-less.After TR a quick stop was made at SD Haunted Mansion and we headed over to Borg and caught a ride in lane 6. ARRRGGGHHH! This thing is rough and painful in that row. Nothing like row 1 at all. Jon was not happy as he always seems to get that row every time. After Borg we headed over to hurler and Drop-Zone. DZ is always a good ride and we got to stay in our seats for a triple ride. I love this thing and it makes me laugh like a fool every time it drops. A quick ride on CC and we headed back around to check on Borg again. Some kind of issue had come up and it was down so we hit SD for a couple of rides. What a great junior coaster. I maintain that this little gem is more fun and has more air time than Mean Streak at CP, A coaster that I pull no punches about when it comes to how unbelievably bad it is.
After a quick break we headed back over to TG for a few more trips before trying to catch Borg one last time before the 6:00pm park closing time. We managed to get in at the last minute and enjoyed the last train for the day on Borg in ROW 1. One awesome assimilating flight later we were happy. I let the ride ops know that we appreciated their hard work and we cut out for a meal at Steak N Shake. No onion rings and out of white bread later we were content with another great day at an excellent park. Thanks to Jon-Boy for hanging out and thanks to Carowinds for proving once again that it is a top notch park. No doubt.
