BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
 3/22/2005 12:31:55 AM
Why go to the beach when you can ride roller coasters? Here is the first third of my TR, the remaining parts haven't been finished yet, but I'll post them later this week, along with my reviews of the rides and the parks.
Day 1: Paramount's Carowinds
Charlotte, North Carolina
To kick of my spring break three-day blitz, I woke up at 4:30 to get ready to head out. By 5:00AM, I was on my way to Charlotte for Carowinds, a large park 4-5 hours away that I had never been to. Even without speeding, I made it a half hour quicker than MapQuest said I would, arriving at the park around 9:15. I paid $8 to park, and I wnet and purchased my ticket for something like $22. With a half an hour still left to kill, I just checked out BORG testing, and patiently waited.
Right at 10AM, the security guard welcomed us and walked us back to the BORG Asimilator, a Vekoma Flying Dutchman coaster relocated from Paramount's Great America last year. There weren't too many people ahead of me, maybe a train and a half, but they wouldn't let me in the queue because I had my camera bag, so I needed to go get a locker. I was ok with that, but kinda bummed. Here is where some problems developed, because you couldn't buy the locker from the cart that was supposed to sell them because of a computer problem, and the lockers didn't have the lock assemblage on them. In all, it was a mess that I can only attempt to decribe, but not that important. I got my locker, and headed back to the BORG's queue. I was about three trainloads away from riding, and I only moved up a little bit before I heard the magical words "we are temporarily suspending operations". OK, I was outta there quick. What's the next coaster I see? That would be Vortex, an early B&M Stand-up. So, I headed up to the station and walked on to the back row. The ride was ok, I had heard a lot of negative things about it, and I thought I was going to be suprised a bit, but in the end, it was very disappointing for a fan of B&M's.
Next, I went over to Ricochet, a fairly normal mouse coaster. Once again it was a walk-on, and as usual, the mouse provided some nice thrills in the tight space. After Ricochet, I headed strait to Carolina Cyclone, the Arrow Loopscrew coaster that was very similar to Cedar Point's corkscrew. I rode in the front car, second bench: the ride was ok also, it interacted well with the pathways, and the first too loops were fairly smooth, but the other half was rough and not fun. After knocking myself around on the Cyclone, I went back to the Drop Zone, a mid-sized drop tower. Again, I do not get a lot of thrill out of those rides, and this one was no different. Up next came a ride in the front seat on Hurler, a mid-sized woodie with a pretty unique layout, that had a nice amount of air but really banged my knees thoroughly. It was decent, worth a second ride later in the day.
After hitting four coasters within the first 45 minutes or so, I decided it was time for some flat rides in the area. I first took a ride on Scream Weaver, a nice Huss Enteprise with a decent ride cycle, and then I headed over to ride Kaleidescope, a scrambler that lacked forces and proveded only a mediocre duration. After that, I went to the back of the park. Wandering through, I noticed that Carolina Goldrusher and Super Saturator were closed, scheduled to open later, and the water park was shut off for a while. I came across the Runaway Reptar suspended family coaster. I decided to take a spin, having never been on one like it. It was mildly fun, certainly not worth another ride.
At that point, I realized where I was, and that a Flying Scooters ride was just steps away, so over I went. I waited in line for three or four cycles, by far the longest wait in the park at that time, to take my first flight on the Phantom Flyers, relocated this year from King's Island. Once aboard, I experimented with the rudder and how to fly. I had gotten th emotion down well, and decided to return later. Off I went
|
larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
 3/22/2005 12:39:56 AM
Outter Hank for a burger, why no Chick-Fil-A? Did you go on a Sunday? Glad you hit all the coasters, I never rode Super Saturator when I was there last year.
--------------------
Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house".
Message updated 3/22/2005 12:49:35 AM by larrygator
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
3/22/2005 1:09:05 AM
Yes, I was quite worried that it would be busy, and that I wouldn't get to ride BORG after the malfunctions.
I was in the mood for beef, trust me, I am not shy about Chick-Fil-A. I even took photographs, just for your enjoyment.
But, you may be in luck, because I spotted this at PKD, maybe they are all getting Chick-fil-a's:
Also, sorry it's blurry, but I hurried because I didn't want to feel like a complete ass taking a photo of the kid, but I can't imagine that he is of age to be working:
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
3/22/2005 5:45:23 PM
Day 2: Paramount's Kings Dominion
Richmond, VA
After departing from Winston Salem around 5:30, I jetted up to PKD in a little less than 4 hours. After getting gas, I parked around 9:30 AM. The parking lot was almost deserted, but then again, the park still had a while to go before opening. I went to the guest services office and purchased my ticket, and they let us into the International Street area, and even as far back as the Old Virginia Section, where the Paramount Theatre was playing host to a dance competition or something like that. Once 10AM rolled around, the park still didn't open the rest of the park. So, pissed a bit, I just walked around, browsing through stores and other buildings in the International St. area. Finally, 10:30 came, and the park opened up.
I followed the security officers who led a small crowd (less than 100 people) back to the Congo area. I had a choice to make at this point: Volcano or Tomb Raider. I picked Volcano, and headed through the queue. The queue was cool, and I decided that my first ride would be in the front. I waited three or four turns to launch from the front, and was blown out of the crater at 70 mph -- what a rush! After that, I decided to go check out Tomb Raider, watching a circuit and photographing,just waiting for my turn. I boarded and rode Tomb Raider, and it was awesome. I will post my photos later (they are uploading), and a review once Shortcake gets to it. All I can say as of now is that it joins Wheelie and the Phantom Flyers among my favorite flat rides.
Once I was finished riding and then photographing TR:F, I went and took a ride on Avalance, a decent bobsled coaster which was a bit more fun than Diaster Transport, but still not worth multiple rides. After that, I rode the scrambler over there, which was ok but again not tops in its category. I then trekked back deeper into the Congo section, deciding to take a ride on Flight of Fear. I didn't feel like waiting, so I took a ride in the second row as opposed to the first. Off we went out of the station, and it was a very enjoyable coaster, even though it was so disorienting I had no freakin' clue what just happened after I got off. The spaghetti bowl was cool, though still no the best indoor Premier launch coaster.
When I was done with FoF, I wanted to ride Anaconda, but it as not going to open until noon, which was about 1/2 an hour away at that point. I opted to head to the other side of the park, picking Shockwave to be my 4th coaster of the day. I took only one ride thanks to the lack of true thrills. While I didn't think it was as bad as some say (though the damn seat/restraint assembleage sucked), it still wasn't overly thrilling. After that, I rode two flats in the area, the Dodge'ems and the carousel. At that point, I was like "screw it" and I headed strait for the Flyers, after having such a great time at Carowinds. After a 5 minute wait, I boarded and flew. I couldn't snap them, which according to some folks on this site is due to the high speed of operation, which is reasonable explanation.
I was ready for some more coasters, having gone an hour or so without one. I went over to Ricochette, and rode it once. It was better than the mouse at Carowinds which bears the same name. I then got in line for HyperSonic XLC, which was about a 5 minute wait. I rode it once, in the second row. It was a great launch, probably my favorite actual launch, but the ride got rough and unpleasant after the vertical decent. I then tried to go and ride Grizzly, but it was closed. I opted for a ride on Rebel Yell, going backwards, which was fun, but my ride on the forwards side was better, so I took two more rides for 4 total, including a ride in the front of both trains (first to go over the crest) and the back twice on the forward side. It was fun and had some good air, which puts it ahead of Collossus and Thunder Road.
Next up was a ride on Hurler, which ended up being a copy of the one at Carowinds. For a
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
3/22/2005 6:13:03 PM
Very nice trip reports. Enjoyable, and I am looking forward to the reviews. Sounds like you had a good trip.
Some notes, the Enterprise at Carowinds is actually a rare Schwarzkopf, look at those beautiful cars 
Grizzly will be closed until sometime in May. They are retracking it.
--------------------
My Track Record
Penncoasters.com
Coaster Events Page Updated 3/6/05
If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness. -Theodore Roosevelt
Know where you sit before you know where you stand.
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
3/22/2005 6:34:48 PM
D'oh, you are correct. I had a mental malfunction or something, because I have a Schwarzkopf at my home park, so I really should have known. So, I still have yet to ride a park-model that isn't a Schwarzkopf, I've been spoiled.
Also, your photo reminded me, I signed up with smugmug, but the uploading seems to take forever. I started uploading 50 files around noon, and it is still going. Granted, they are 6.3 megapixels, but still, 150megs or so in 6 hours and running is pretty slow. Maybe I can blame it on the hotel's wifi network, so I'll have to see if it is better when I get home. The site is cool though, and you should get your referal credit soon.
Thanks for the info about Grizzly, I was unaware of the retracking. Too bad I missed it.
--------------------
My Online Photo Gallery
My Coaster Record
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
3/22/2005 8:51:13 PM
It must be the WiFi. Their servers are very fast, it would take me no time at all to upload 150 megs. Of course, it helps that my home connection runs at better then 2700 Kps on average, which is actually faster then a T1 
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
3/22/2005 9:05:59 PM
I must have had a connection issue, because I cancelled and re-tried and I uploaded 50 in no time whatsoever, so I'm set, thanks though (for saving me money too) 
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
3/23/2005 10:04:11 PM
Time for some more smilie-based ratings:
Paramount's Carowinds
My world-famous smilie system, for those who have forgotten
Great:
Good:
Average: 
Poor: 
Aweful: 
Attractions: /
My rating here is varied based upon two aspects of the park. The roller coasters, though they totaled 12, were collectively average at best. The park had your standard installations, including an old looper, a mine train, and a few woodies. The park also had four coasters that weren't neccessarily "thrilling", but still fun nonetheless. However, the park picks up an average rating just because outside of Top Gun and BORG, there was nothing to brag about. As far as the flat rides go, Carowinds was pretty good in that department. They had a lot of the classics, all of which were good, including
Ratings:
Borg Assimilator - 9
Carolina Cyclone - 5
Carolina Goldrusher - 6
Drop Zone Stunt Tower - 5 (though I probably wont rate it, I feel like Im bringing down the ratings because I dont like those types of rides)
Flying Super Saturator - 6
Hurler - 5
Ricochet - 4
Rugrats Runaway Reptar - 4
Scooby-Doo's Ghoster Coaster - 7
Thunder Road - 6
Top Gun: The Jet Coaster - 9
Vortex - 6
Nick-O-Round - 6
Skytower - 5
Rocket Power Air Time - 7
Kaleidoscope - 7
Scream Weaver
Dodge'ems - 4
Atmosphere:
The park was ok as far as the atmosphere went. The decorations and scenery were good at times, especially in the Nickelodeon area and surrounding BORG, but nothing all to impressive.The park felt pretty nice, and with the abundance of classic-style coasters, it felt pretty traditional. The paths were nice, and the trees, though out of season, seemed as if they would give great shade. However, there were plety of poorly decorated areas, and don't get me started on the stations for the rides. For the most part, they were all in competition with each other to see who can be the ugliest station of all, and I think Hurler won (even its Virginia counterpart had some remnats of theming). The park also seemed to lack planted botanical life, such as flowers and stuff, unlike the other southern parks like Dollywood and SFOG which usually are filled with colorful flowers. I probably just visited at the wrong time of the year, but still, I would have expected better.
Food:
The food at Carowinds was pretty bad. I got a burger from Outer Hanks, and it didn't taste good whatsoever. The bun was cold and wet, and the burger was a combination of burnt and gummy at the same time, and I too didn't think that was possible until the other day. Needless to say, this turned me off to Carowinds fod, so I didn't try it again. Though I have had worse food, their food was among the lowest of the theme parks that I have eaten at, even lower than most Six Flags meals. I do have to say, with the support of a certain fellow member, that they do offer some damn good chicken sandwiches, but I didn't eat there unfortunately. One other thing that upset me was the lack of a good souvenir sports bottle to add to my collection, though I could have bought the BORG one, it just wasn't too apealing to me (I would have rather gotten a TG one anyway)
Price: /
I actually thought the
Message updated 5/11/2012 12:42:43 AM by BobFunland
|
mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
|
3/25/2005 10:30:49 PM
Sounds liek you had a good time. Looks liek a good start to your year.
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
3/27/2005 12:58:35 PM
My year started in January with Universal, and I had already been to SFOG. I try like hell to make sure my season never ends. This was just the first multi-park trip 
|
mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
|
3/28/2005 12:19:47 AM
Lucky you. The only way to keep your coaster/ park season from stoping if you live up hear is to take trips to florda or hit one of the handfull of year round atractions. for example Jordons Furniture has MOM(Motion Odisy Movie) it's an Iworks sim. and my local game center has A wisdom Dragon coaster, Carousel, Himilaya, and a sim ride.
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
4/4/2005 9:44:45 PM
Paramount's Kings Dominion
March 20, 2005
(same system as above)
Rides: /
The selection of rides at Kings Dominion falls somewhere in beterrn average and good. The quantity is pretty good, but quality is lacking, at least to me. The coaster collection is big, but few were really good. Volcano was pretty good, about where I thought it would be going in. Flight of Fear was better than I thought it would have been, and I enjoyed Rebel Yell, but other than that, there wasn't much good stuff going on. Anaconda was a slightly above-average Arrow looper, and Ricochet is my favorite Mouse coaster, but Hurler was just ok (better than the one @ Carowinds), Shockwave was horrid and even Hypersonic was a disappointment (though the launch beat Dragster's IMO). Ghoster Coaster was cool, and I missed Grizzly which looked fun, but overall, the coasters get a mixed rating, between good and average. Same applies to the flats. The Flyers weren't nearly as good as the ones at Carowinds, the bumper cars, log flume and scrambler were both so-so. The Carousel was pretty good, but Tomb Raider helped the rating a lot. It was a great ride with awesome effects and a naseauting ride.. one of my favorite flats ever. Overall, I'm still stuck between a and a
Out of a scale of 10:
Volcano: 8
Anaconda: 7
Avalanche: 5
Eifel Tower: 5
Flight of Fear: 8
Flying Eagles: 7
Hurler: 7
Hypersonic XLC: 8
Rebel Yell: 8
Ricochet: 8
Ghoster Coaster: 7
Scrambler: 5
Log Flume: 5
Shockwae: 2
Carousel: 7
Dodge'ems: 6
Tomb Raider: 9
I may have been able to go with a plain 'ol good rating, but slow ride operations didnt help.
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere of PKD was meager. The park was not all that beautiful, though the fact that it was mid-March didnt help (and was taken into consideration). It was also average as far as cleanliness goes, no praises or complaints there (then again, it was dead when I went). There wasnt many well-themed areas, but when done, it was great. The themeing was great back in the Volcano section. The park was lacking great cultivation of flowers and such, but again, it is pre-Spring. So, overall, it was, again, so-so. Not as good as I was expecting though
Food:
After a bad experience with the food at Carowinds, I decided to skip a full meal at PKD. I did buy a funnel cake that was ok, nothing great though. I think the price was a bit high to me, but I cant remember for sure. The pricing overall was ok, but (again, two weeks is a lifetime for my memory) I think I was a bit disappointed with the price of the cokes. Though I didnt eat a lot, I will rate the food as ok.
Price: /
I felt the same exact way as I did with Carowinds regaring money, so I'll just throw the same thing down here:
"I actually thought the park was priced fair. Even without the discount, the entrance fee of ~$45 is not bad by today's standards, about average for a park of such size. Though there are parks that give you more for the same price, conversely, you get less at some parks for the same price. Parking for $8 is pretty good nowadays, when most big parks that Ive been to are running around $10. The food was priced ok, a bit more expensive than a comparable outside meal, but not too bad for a theme park. The souvenir selection sucked big time though, with mostly generic stuff in the stores. I like to get at least one thing from each park, but nothing at Kings Dominion pleased me, so that was a disappointment. The prices weren't bad, the bang-for-buck wasn't too bad.. all together, I think PKD came across as slightly above average, but not enough to warrant an all-out good rating."
Overall:
An OK park, but I was expecting a bit more, probably a full level more ("good" as opposed to "average"). It ws great to visit once and ride some pretty good rides, but nothing that I feel the need to communte hundreds of miles again anytime soon. I got a great flat ride
Message updated 4/4/2005 9:45:21 PM by BobFunland
|
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/8/2005 3:36:46 PM
Nice, detailed TRs, and I love that smilie summary system.  It's funny, we all kind of have our own personal way of doing TRs on this site, makes it interesting.
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
4/22/2005 1:32:24 PM
Better late than never...
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
March 21, 2005
Rides: /
Where Williamsburg may lack in quantity they make up for it in quality. To start off, the park's three roller coasters were all very, very good (I didnt ride Big Bad Wolf because it was closed, so yea, only 3 for me). Apollo's shot to the top of my list and settles in at #3 for me, and Alpengeist was a great Invert and probably my #3 in that category. Nessie was also a suprisingly fun ride, and is probably my favorite Arrow looper, beating out the acclaimed Tennessee Tornado. The water rides were a bit weak, but I suppose after visiting IOA I may be expecting a bit too much out of those old Arrow flumes, but then again, the rapids ride was among the worst I have been on, but I will reserve a total blast of the ride because apparently I had an unusually dry experience. The rest of the rides were good though, including an immaculate collection of steam locomotives and what looked to be an awesome sky ride, though it too was closed when I was there. The rides were all well-run (having two trains on everything even with a mere 500-1000 guests was great) and well-kept, and the only thing to keep it from a solid is the fairly small collection.
Out of a scale of 10:
Alpengeist: 8
Apollo's Chariot: 10
Corkscrew Hill: 8
Le Scoot: 6
Loch Ness Monster: 8
Roman Rapids: 4
The Train: 9
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere of BGW is among the best... it ranks with Dollywood and Universal in my book. I can't argue anyone who would call it the world's most beautiful park, and I didnt even get to see everything in bloom The themeing was awesome, second only to Universal, and the park's staff was courteous and professional (PKD could take some notes), and everything about the park was perfect. It was clean, well-kept and just plain.... beautiful!
Food:
Williamsburg gets more than a I can't help but rave about their food, especially the food at the Trapper's Smokehouse in the New France section. I went all out after I saw/smelt their incredible food. I picked up a trapper's special platter or whatever and the carnivore in me came out. It came with a few BBQ ribs, which were pretty good, some BBQ pork which was also great, and brisket, which was amazingly good (I say amazing because so few people cook brisket right). I topped it off with a tasty smoked sausage and a delectible piece of chocolate pie. Easily my favorite eatery inside a park... and one of my favorite resteraunts period. All of that with a large drink was $20, which isn't bad inside a park or outside.
Price:
Alomst not fair. First off, I got in the park free, but the $50 entrance fee isn't bad, and you get your money's worth to me. The souvenir pricing was very good, and even better since many products were 50% off (I picked up a Fear the Four thing and an Apollo's mug). The food pricing was good and all in all a very good park in the "bang for buck" category. $8 ot park is about average, so that's all good.
Overall:
Awesome park with some incrdible themeing, and a beautiful setting. It provided me with three awesome coasters (I liked Apollo's so much I felt compelled to ride it for three hours and it never got old) to add to my track record, along with one of my favorite trains. The people at Busch really know how to build a killer park, and I can't complain too much. Though not quite a perfect string of 's, BGW sits among my "elite" set of parks and is probably tied with Dollywood for my #2 favorite park.
Message updated 5/11/2012 12:43:19 AM by BobFunland
|