Everything else goes here, including discussion of parks outside of Carowinds and any off-topic discussion
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By cwgator
#63739
Chris wrote:Has anyone been to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA? It looks like a place I could skip unless someone here can persuade me otherwise?


I went in March 2012 and here is my trip report:

Wild Adventures PTR on Carowinds Connection

The best 2 coasters in the park are Viking Voyage and Cheetah. Twisted Typhoon (SLC) was just brutal...and was the first and only one I've been on. The Jr Suspended is smoother than the one at Carowinds...at least it was then. The boomerang wasn't horrible, but was also the first one I've been on...I gave it 2 rides. I did enjoy their wild mouse more than Ricochet and Sand Serpent (BGT). They do have a lot of nice flats that I was able to try for the first time.

They've added a few things since I've been (flats & slides). It's not a park I would frequent unless I actually lived in Valdosta, but it's good for credit whoring and an occasional visit every 5 years or so. It's one of the closest parks to me (about 90 min away). I think they just need a signature coaster to bring more recognition, and would bring me back sooner. It's definitely a nice family park and for beginners to the amusement park world. If I can ever get my siblings to bring my nephews and niece down this way I'd take them.

The food I had there wasn't all that great, and there's nothing right outside the park. It's literally in the middle of nowhere...out in the country, They do have a nice looking BBQ place in there that may be worth checking out though. That's where I'll try net time I go.
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By arby
#63798
Sorry - hope your day gets better!

I had a crappy day at SFOG yesterday but now I have my gold membership so I don't have to go back there anytime soon.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at SCarolina Coaster Classic.
#63866
Awesome pics! I have a Canon Rebel DSLR camera that I LOVE, but I think I'm going to buy something smaller and easier for carrying around to active events. A less than one pound camera is so much easier to lug around than my camera bag that weighs over 10 pounds with all the lenses and accessories.
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By Jonathan
#63870
I got a Sony RX100M2. I was all set on getting a mirrorless (which is what prompted the new camera idea to begin with), but ended up flaking because I still just can't deal with the idea of a camera that I can't fit in my pocket (especially for amusement parks). I knew I would take far less photos without that convenience.

The RX100 line is probably the best compact camera on the market right now. You can get SLR level quality out of it. The sensor is very large for a point and shoot and it has an excellent lens. The only thing I need to get used to is the low zoom level (3.6x on the M2). My last two cameras were 14x and 10x zoom, so this is a big change, but the funny thing is that the "clear zoom" (fancy digital zoom) actually produces results as good or better than my old camera's optical zoom. I've always told people never ever to use digital zoom, but it's pretty good on this thing.

There are three models in the RX100 line (M1, M2, and M3). They are all great. The M1 retails for around $500 but can be found for closer to $400 with patience. The M2 is $650 standard though I got it for $585. The M3 is more in the $750 range which was just too much for me to afford at this point. One thing to watch out for is that there are better deals out there on random sites but they are usually "grey market" cameras, meaning they are imported (typically from China) and are usually the exact same camera but with no US warranty, PAL video instead of NTSC, and often a lower quality battery. I found a grey market M2 for $490 but I was nervous about it so I paid the extra hundred to get the US version.

I set up a deal alert at http://slickdeals.net/ to email me any time something was posted with the phrase RX100 and was able to keep track of good deals that way. If I had been more patient I think I could have gotten it cheaper, but I'm going on a trip next week and just had to have it in my hands now.
#63995
Today's good news: Got my ACE membership card in the mail!
Today's bad news: They think my name is Charles Casassa.

(I would need to change my name AND my gender for that to work. :) )

Thankfully, they responded quickly to my email and are getting me (and the real Charles Casassa) a new card in the mail right away.
User avatar
By Jarsh
#64001
Woah... That's a fairly big screw up. We did just move to a new membership services place so I'm sure that had something to do with it, but dang, lol. At least check the name on the mailing label against what's actually inside!
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