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After getting our season passes processed, me and my partner waited at the gate and ran straight to Borg when the gate was down. It was a good thing that we did...Borg was running only one train, and our wait alone was 30 minutes, and we were very close to the boarding station. The ride op told me that it was a 3hour wait from the lemonade stand in the que line...EEEEEK. Anyways, on to Borg...Carowinds did a nice job with the area, there is very green grass that has been planted there, the que line is nice, and there is water under some of the ride complete with fountains...the Borg sphere is a nice touch, its in the water as well, and the curve leading into the corkscrews wraps around the sphere. THe ride itself? Well, it was surprisingly smooth, alot smoother than its sister Batwing at SFA. I havent decided if i like the corks better than the inlines, because the train had some shuffling just as it entered them, but that could be due to it being new, etcetcetc. I do definitely however like Batwing and Xflight's helix finale the best, but Borg is a great addition to Carowinds. The majority of the people in the park were in line for that ride, because we only had at most a 15 minute wait to ride everything else.
Next we hit Top Gun, and I've gotta say it nearly made me puke ! This was my first park of the season, and while Borg has that intense loop, the whole ride itself is nothing compared to this beast. I totally was not prepared for all of the forces, and I forgot to breathe..So you guys laugh it up, but I was glad when it stopped, because my breakfast was truly churning. The ride itself is nothing short of brilliant, and despite my nausea it soared to the top spot as my favorite invert. Why? Because no midcourse break, and for those of you that have ridden it, you know, that the speed does not let up at all, and it is a G-force whore's delight. My favorite element has to be the Batwing under the sidewalk, with the fly through the canyon into the Immelman as my second favorite. Like i said, my new favorite invert, even better than Raptor to me.
Vortex.....now this is one hunk of crap ! I think that Carowinds has not given this Beemer any TLC, because it was incredibly rough. Shaky, vibrational, it smacked my ears many times and i am 6'2''. I was a little stunned, because it certainly appeared to have smooth transitions. My first and my last time on that thing, and I thought that Mantis was a headbanger...
The Carolina Goldrusher was a nice little mine ride, and Thunder Road definitely was faster than Rebel Yell at PKD, and it was full of air. I popped out of my seat many times, and i was pretty surprised at how well it was running. Has Thunder Road been retracked recently or anything? We skipped out on the Hurler, just because it was the only thing we hadnt ridden that day and it was the end of the day, and we were beat.
The biggest surprise of the day to me was the Carolina Cyclone. The smoothest Arrow ive ever been on, no joke. Two quick loops in a row, and 2 of the smoothest corks on an Arrow ive ever experienced next to Anaconda, and that fast helix at the end. There was maybe a 10 minute wait for it, but it was definitely alot of fun. Maybe they keep it up well, or maybe it was just well designed, but i was totally shocked at its smoothness.
Overall, it was a good dead. Weather was great, crowds were ok, and the rides were pretty decent. The park is gorgeous, but you can tell where Paramount spends their money..PKD and PKI. Carowinds needs a launcher, or they need a hyper, and in my mind mind their coaster collection would be complete. Thanks for reading guys !
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