Carowinds and Dollywood Weekend of 5-14 through 5-16

I had to go to a wedding in Tennessee on Saturday so i thought it would be a perfect opportunity to hit up a few parks in the area of the Carolinas and of course Dollywood.

After a long ride, while listening to my Cavaliers lose to the Celtics on the way down to South Carolina me and my mom made it into the Quality Inn across from Carowinds at about 4 in the morning. Being the troopers we are we still got up for the park opening at 9 in the morning.

Carowinds

First since i have a Platinum pass I decided to see if it actually worked with parking at other parks in the chain since i bought it at Cedar Point. No problems with parking or at the entrance gate. I was actually quite surprised by the pass working as i have had to go to guest relations pretty much any time i have had a cedar fair pass.

Intimidator was first and i was more surprised by this coaster than either Apollo's chariot and Diamondback. This coaster used its speed to its advantage more than the other two and for me i like the fact that it wasn;t floating over the hills like the other two to be honest. Best B&M Megacoaster i have rode.

I knew since having X-Flight at Geauga Lake i knew we would have to do Nighthawk next considering the load/unload procedure. It was about the same as X-Flight besides one glaring problem, those corkscrews at the end kinda ruined the end, making it very uncomfortable.

We decided to hit all of the other coasters, but my other major stand out was After Burn it was close to unseating Raptor as my favorite invert, but it lacked the intensity of Raptor, the elements on top of one another made it a very thrilling ride though, and it was much smoother than any other one that i can think of. Like i said it just wasn't as intense as the raptor to me, but it was really close.

The locals seemed to enjoy the addition of Snoopy and the Peanuts so i dont think they will miss much of the Nick themed areas.

The employees were friendly and I have to say were very efficient at getting the rides dispatched quickly, kudos to Carowinds. Probably ranks as my favorite of the Paramount Parks, but for reasons that dealt with those problems at Kings Island such as slow dispatches and operational difficulties and it raining at Kings Dominion that solidified it for me for the time being.

After the wedding and an awesome dinner at Freibergs in downtown Johnson City where my aunt and uncle live we rolled into Pigeon Forge just after midnite on Sunday.

Dollywood

Having been here before i knew what to expect, besides Thunderhead being down the whole day the last time. Thunderhead is phenomenal after finally getting to ride it, its right up there behind probably ravine flyer II and the Voyage as my favorite wood coaster, its not exactly smooth, but it produces nice air and nice laterals especially in the back.

Mystery Mine is a bit rough because of the restraints but still fun.

Blazing Fury is a hoot. It really still surprised me after having been on it before, cheesy scenes, but the ending after the bridge gets your blood rushing.

Tennessee Tornado is still a solid arrow looper, and pretty smooth still.

We did mainly the water rides at the park, and after missing the slidewinder last time if i go back will not miss it again. That may be one of the best uses of a hill for a ride ever.

The log flume kinda dissapointed me after seeing the drop and everything it was pretty standard.

The river battle looked fun, but i was in no mood to be completely soaked although the slidewinder did a decent enough job of doing that.

All in all both parks were definately in fine shape as far as helpful employees and fast dispatches. Only gripes were the food prices which were pretty steep even at dollywood which i didnt expect as much.

Dollywood's food quality and food prices have always been high just like BG. Yes its expensive but its worth it.