I'm going to Charlotte NC this weekend and was wondering if anyone had been to theCarowinds at this time ofthe year. Is it worth going? I've never been to that park yet. How crowded do you think it'll be on Saturday (late in the day into the evening)? Thanks!
I loved the park, Rode everything in about 5 hours, never a long wait. Avoid the Hurler, bad lap bars. The bar opened mid ride and I jammed my knees into the seat made it through the ride . Had to have my knee fixed after that trip. I ended up tearing the tendon over my knee cap because of the accident...
*** This post was edited by briansmyth on 10/5/2000. ***
Carowinds is an awesome park! As stated before it doesn't take a long time to ride all the rides, but the ones they have are cool. (Especially Top Gun) I went three days back in June, Friday, Saturday and Monday. Saturday by far was the busiest day, but that was mid-summer. The wait at the longest was about 30 minutes, but that was on the Super Saturator. You will have a great time. The park isn't that well know so there may not be a whole lotta people there, and the staff was so nice.
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What is life without ups and downs!?!?
The last time we went to Carowinds would be October 1997 . The weather's perfect this time of the year and I know all aspects of the park have improved since . We waited one time for the Vortex for over an hour , and the park didn't even seem crowded . From what everyone tells me now , everything is an in and an out no matter the time of day . You have to ride the Hurler , though .
Don't worry, if I go I'll ride them all! I checked out their web site and it looks like they have a lot of extra stuff for Halloween (more than Hershey or SFGAdv.). I'm pretty sure we'll be going! I love B&M coasters and Top Gun sounds pretty awesome, hopefully Vortex is cool too! I also found a $10 off coupn at the web site! I think that'll make the admission $14.99! You can't beat that! Now I'm really starting to get 'psyched'...2 B&M coasters, a NASCAR race and my birthday!!! What a weekend it's gonna be!
*** This post was edited by jgfama on 10/5/2000. ***
Carowinds is my home park, and I'm going Saturday as well, maybe I will see you there. From what I hear, Scarowinds is going on and they are only admitting people 12 and older.
The Hurler is a superb ride, and is a walk on most of the time. A good re-ride policy early in the morning let me stay on the train 21 rides in a row!!! Let's just say the next day I had a sore midsection due to the all the bunny hops which give insane ejector air in the back.
The Vortex isn't really worth riding unless you have never been on a standup, it is the third B&M ever made, and has unfortunately not aged too well :(
Another coaster which hasnt aged particularly well is Thunder Road (namely backwards). The forward train still gives a pretty good ride, although it is squeakier than Mean Streak, which, my friends, is pretty squeaky.
Super Saturator is a blast as well, just hope its not too cold Saturday. The line for this one also seems to always be blatantly long, due to the low capacity.
The Carolina Cyclone is alot like Cp's corkscrew, except add a loop and a 540 helix at the end. Sit in the back here, for some reason it seems smoother back there.
Top Gun is the park's flagship ride, and is my favorte invert (YES more than Raptor, so sue me). The highlight here is the second inversion, the Immelman (sp?). You sort of hang there upside-down, an odd feeling. Great positive g's and a nice little bunny hop on the return trip accent the great Immelman. Try to sit in the back left for this one, as it gives a great "yank" feeling coming down the first hill. 6 inversions, four g's, I get tingles thinking about it.
Also, try to swing by kiddie land and get a ride in on Scooby Doo. Its actually a pretty cool junior PURPLE (ugh) woody.
Some other highlights here are Drop Zone, a newer generation Intamin freefall, James Bond License to Thrill simulator 琀琀爀愀挀琀椀漀渀Ⰰ 愀渀搀 琀栀攀 刀椀瀀挀漀爀搀Ⰰ 眀栀椀挀栀 椀猀 愀洀愀稀椀渀最Ⰰ 攀瘀攀渀 琀栀漀甀最栀 琀栀攀礀 愀爀攀 愀氀氀 漀瘀攀爀 琀栀攀 瀀氀愀挀攀⸀ 吀栀愀渀欀猀 昀漀爀 爀攀愀搀椀渀最 琀栀椀猀 氀漀渀最 瀀漀猀琀Ⰰ 愀渀搀 栀愀瘀攀 愀 最爀攀愀琀 眀攀攀欀攀渀搀℀
poppy: I had the chance to stop by your park back in May, and will definitely return! Top Gun is also my favorite invert (yes WAY over Raptor, and slightly over Fire...no Montu yet though). Also, I though Thunder Road was the best of the Paramount Racers. It was the only one that I could stand to ride forwards as well as backwards. Didnt get to ride FSS, loved Scooby (hated the color =]), liked Hurler much more than PKDs (got beat up in the back =]). The only thing the park really needs is some more flat rides. I liked that it was big but not TOO big. One other thing, if you are tall, goldrusher could be a very umm, uncomfortable ride.
Top Gun gave me tingles just hearing about it! 4G's!!! AWESOME! I LOVE positive G's and the Iddleman sounds awesome too! I loved that feeling on the loop in Batman Knight Flight (currently my favorite coaster)! Now, I really can't wait! Thanks for the little 'pump-up' of the park! I think we're going to try to go as early as possible on Sat. (hopefully Fri pm we'll get like 1/2 way there from PA) We might skip the Scarowinds thing (I'd like to go to everything but, the others in my group aren't as psyched as I am!)
I am not telling people not to ride hurler, just hold on. Also Make sure you do get on the cyclone, it is a classic.
Considering that it's NASCAR weekend in Charlotte AND October, I don't think you'll have any problems with crowds. We stopped there for a few hours on Labor Day and it was a 15 min. wait, at max, for Top Gun.
The Hurler is close to being my favorite woodie. I like the combination of airtime and the speed around the banked turns. Make sure to ride in the back. And Top Gun is an excellent inverted. I like standing on the sidewalk above the coaster's tunnel and listening to the trains WHOOSH in and out with all the accopmanying mist.
Does anyone else actually miss Blackbeard's Revenge? My husband and I used to get a good laugh by raving about it to unsuspecting pre-teens in line for other rides.
And I have to agree with the above post about needing more flat rides. There are very few in the park. That's very disappointing.
Sorry about forgetting Goldrusher 2Hostyl, it used to be the only one I would ride, now I cant stand it. One word - OWWWWWWW!!! Avoid that one at all costs jgfama. Blackbeard's Revenge, that sure was one intense ride, gotta love the 12 g's 100 mph 80 flips :) Once again, hope you like my little old home park!
Just got back from NC and wanted to let you all know that we had agreat time! The park was a little crowded but, the lines moved pretty fast. Except Vortex (they seemed VERY slow at loading/unloading) so we skipped it. I also skipped Super Saturator because it was cold. But it looked awesome! Top gun is AWESOME but, Batman Knight Flight is still my top coaster! Thanks for all the info/help!
