- April 16th, 2006, 8:18 pm
#17038
This past Friday, April 14th, was our first trip of the season to Carowinds. Somehow, I thought the park might not be too crowded, due to the holiday. Big mistake! This became apparent about the time we wheeled in the entrance and the cars were backed up half the way to the mall. I was pleased, however, to follow the signs to the right which led us past the traffic and into the Plat parking lot near the main entrance. Within five minutes we were in the line for the entrance. Again, an enormous crowd.
My wife and I, along with five children, visited the park about 8 times last year, which was our first year for owning Plat passes. I quickly came to realize what a great value those passes are for everyone fortunate enough to own them. We live a hundred miles away in rural Darlington county, South Carolina, so we are really only able to come about once a month. If we lived close, we would probably visit almost weekly, even for just a few hours.
Our first ride of the day were those logs - a family favorite - everyone can ride. Then it was on to the kiddie rides to keep my little 42" man happy with a couple of quick rides on the Fairly Odd coaster. The flyers had already gotten busy and me and my 8 & 10 year old girls were itching for Top Gun so off we went. We saw Bayard talking on the phone(probably to a girl) as we headed up the stairs and yelled over to him. No wait, hardly, at the top and we were able to shift through three rides real quick.
After having visited Busch Gardens-Tampa a month ago, I must say I really appreciate the speed and efficiency of how the Top Gun crew moves everyone through
. The "flight" crews at BGT were pretty bland, but did allow us multiple rides depending on available seats, which helped us through 23 rides in two days. Sweet! Montu was a great thrill at BGT, but Top Gun is so intense and just a little shorter version. I just wish "we" owned a Kumba B) .
After Top Gun, we got off a couple rides on Thunder Road. Four of our children make the 48" cut to ride. The crowds were swarming by now and I new we would be hard-pressed to ride much. On to the bumper cars. I must say that I'm saddened that Carowinds requires 48", even for a rider, on the bumper cars. At BGT, the height limit was 42" and my youngest really enjoyed riding with me.
We then grabbed a large pizza enroute to the other side of the park - one of the few somewhat economical meals in the park for a larger family. We ALL waited for the Goldrusher - a family favorite. On to Cyclone, a pretty long wait again. We then split with me and the 8 & 10 year olds heading onto Drop Zone and the other two 48" to the Hurler. Checked in with Christopher running Drop Zone - this was my 8 year old's first "drop". My red-headed 8 year old is a real dare devil and was my first child to ride the mighty Sheikra with me at BGT. My 10 year old almost freaked out her first time.
I looked upon where they are clearing land for the "go carts". Yee haw... I thought to myself how nicely a Huss Giant Frisbee could have been or some comparable ride - we can ride go carts anywhere :angry: , but please tell me where there is a Huss in the South other than at Dollywood!
As the day turned out, the lines were just too long for Vortex, the Flyers and Borg, but we did get a return trip to Top Gun and Thunder Road before the day was over. They did extend the hours, probably due to the crowd, to 7pm. We were leaving by about 6:30 and it went super smoothly out the Plat parking - much better than if it had been at the South entrance.
We look forward to the next visit - maybe it won't be so crowded - but I doubt we make it 8 times this year. SFOG seems to be calling our name right now and Marriot is running a great deal, via Screamscape, for anyone feeling the need to go. Additionally, we are meeting some friends for vacation in Amish country this summer, which sounds to me like Hershey or Dorney while we are there and certainly PKD on the way - we need to "take advantage" of that Plat benefit.
Say, I really enjoy reading the trip reports from other members
, especially about other parks. It helps tremendously in planning and anticipating these family trips. We started our kids on the thrills as toddlers at the Pavilion 
so they would never be scarred of the big rides when the time came - I'm glad that time has arrived and I'm the biggest kid in the family!
My wife and I, along with five children, visited the park about 8 times last year, which was our first year for owning Plat passes. I quickly came to realize what a great value those passes are for everyone fortunate enough to own them. We live a hundred miles away in rural Darlington county, South Carolina, so we are really only able to come about once a month. If we lived close, we would probably visit almost weekly, even for just a few hours.
Our first ride of the day were those logs - a family favorite - everyone can ride. Then it was on to the kiddie rides to keep my little 42" man happy with a couple of quick rides on the Fairly Odd coaster. The flyers had already gotten busy and me and my 8 & 10 year old girls were itching for Top Gun so off we went. We saw Bayard talking on the phone(probably to a girl) as we headed up the stairs and yelled over to him. No wait, hardly, at the top and we were able to shift through three rides real quick.
After having visited Busch Gardens-Tampa a month ago, I must say I really appreciate the speed and efficiency of how the Top Gun crew moves everyone through
. The "flight" crews at BGT were pretty bland, but did allow us multiple rides depending on available seats, which helped us through 23 rides in two days. Sweet! Montu was a great thrill at BGT, but Top Gun is so intense and just a little shorter version. I just wish "we" owned a Kumba B) . After Top Gun, we got off a couple rides on Thunder Road. Four of our children make the 48" cut to ride. The crowds were swarming by now and I new we would be hard-pressed to ride much. On to the bumper cars. I must say that I'm saddened that Carowinds requires 48", even for a rider, on the bumper cars. At BGT, the height limit was 42" and my youngest really enjoyed riding with me.
We then grabbed a large pizza enroute to the other side of the park - one of the few somewhat economical meals in the park for a larger family. We ALL waited for the Goldrusher - a family favorite. On to Cyclone, a pretty long wait again. We then split with me and the 8 & 10 year olds heading onto Drop Zone and the other two 48" to the Hurler. Checked in with Christopher running Drop Zone - this was my 8 year old's first "drop". My red-headed 8 year old is a real dare devil and was my first child to ride the mighty Sheikra with me at BGT. My 10 year old almost freaked out her first time.
I looked upon where they are clearing land for the "go carts". Yee haw... I thought to myself how nicely a Huss Giant Frisbee could have been or some comparable ride - we can ride go carts anywhere :angry: , but please tell me where there is a Huss in the South other than at Dollywood!
As the day turned out, the lines were just too long for Vortex, the Flyers and Borg, but we did get a return trip to Top Gun and Thunder Road before the day was over. They did extend the hours, probably due to the crowd, to 7pm. We were leaving by about 6:30 and it went super smoothly out the Plat parking - much better than if it had been at the South entrance.
We look forward to the next visit - maybe it won't be so crowded - but I doubt we make it 8 times this year. SFOG seems to be calling our name right now and Marriot is running a great deal, via Screamscape, for anyone feeling the need to go. Additionally, we are meeting some friends for vacation in Amish country this summer, which sounds to me like Hershey or Dorney while we are there and certainly PKD on the way - we need to "take advantage" of that Plat benefit.
Say, I really enjoy reading the trip reports from other members
, especially about other parks. It helps tremendously in planning and anticipating these family trips. We started our kids on the thrills as toddlers at the Pavilion so they would never be scarred of the big rides when the time came - I'm glad that time has arrived and I'm the biggest kid in the family!
.