Carowinds (Great Day)

Ok so I made my first trip to Carowinds today. To make it simple I will break everything down and tell you what I thought:

Coasters: Overall not that impressive and almost half broke down throughout the day. However it was opening day so Ill have to return later this year to see if that problem is fixed.

Flying Super Saturator: The water wasnt working and ther ride broke down at one point, however I think it would be a fun ride once the water is fixed. A good ride for the young and the old.

Hurler: The first three drops grab the stomach pretty well which I love however the rest of the ride is rather boring. There are many hills but no airtime, or possitive g's. 2/5 rating

Fairly Odd Coaster: I love classic woodies but again there is nothing at all that makes this ride fun. Blue Streak is comparable in size but is 10x more fun. I am very diassapointed by this. 1/5 rating

Borg Simulator: I am about as hardcore a B&M fan as they come and probably the biggest Vekoma hater in the world, but I have to say as far as flyers go Vekoma has it won hands down. Now I am only comparing BORG and Superman but everything from the restraints to the ride layout are better on BORG. The only thing I prefer on Superman is when you go up the lift you hang. The one problem with this ride though is it broke down for hours throughout the day. 4/5 rating

Carolina Cyclone: A traditional Arrow design. A boring layout with a couple very rough inversions. 1/5 rating

Rugrats Runaway Reptar: A great medium size ride for the kids who are working their way up to the big rides. As far as a family ride goes, I give it a 5/5

Thunder Road: Forward is rather boring a little air time and such but nothing too impressive 3/5. Backwards however was alot more fun. Alot more air time and alot more thrilling. 4/5

Ricochet: What is there to say its a crazy mouse. Boring layout, cars dont even spin....2/5

Carolina Goldrusher: As far as mine trains go this is definatly up there. This is a very fun ride and the tunnels add alot to make the ride feel as though you are going faster than you are. Although probably a 1/5 as far as coasters would go, i give it a 5/5 for a mine train.

Top Gun: Very fun, nice variety of inversions. The only problem I had is it had a few slow moments. I prefer something more like Batman: The Ride where you dont have time to catch your breath. Still though I'm impressed 4/5.

Vortex: What to say other than how boring. There was nothing about this ride to impress me at all. Carolina Goldrusher honestly impressed me more. 0/5.

Overall I give the park's coasters a 3/5. A nice variety but nothing too impressive.

On to other topics:

Employees and Guest Service: 5/5 I was amazed at the service I saw. I had mentioned that many coasters broke down. At one point I was in line for BORG Assimilator and it broke down. One of the employees ca,e around and asked everyone who needed water, and she went and got cups of water for them. This amazed and shocked me. You never see this. Also the employees were very friendly and helpful. I have no complaints at all.

Cleanliness: It was opening day so it better be clean but even so I could no look anywhere without seeing someone with a broom and dust pan. Again 5/5 very impressive.

Now on to why I had such a great day. While I was looking around the park. I saw a group of executive looking people walking slowly around the park. I thought I had seen Dick Kinzel, but couldnt be sure, so I went to guest services to ask if he was visiting. The woman I asked didnt even know who he was and neither did 3 other people I asked. However by the 5th person he said yes he was touring the park. I happened to see them later again, and was fortunate to meet him. I had asked simply to get a photo with him, but he was incredibly kind and took the time to talk to me for a few minutes. Although it wasnt probably more than 5 min. that we talked I thought it was a very kind thing for him to do. I have heard that he is a very kind person and from the little time I spent with him I would have to agree 100%. Although my firend who I was with cant understand why I would want a picture with him, it was a big deal for me. I have alot of respect for him and what he has accomplished. Just the fact that I was able to meet him made my 5 hour trip to Carowinds well worth it.

I heard they added seat belts to the Carolina Cyclone? Is Cedar Fair going to add seat belts to all of the arrow coasters like on Corkscrew at CP?

Yes seat belts have been added, but I cant answer your question. There is one thing I wanted to add. I remember there was a topic about metal detectors. They are currently using them at Carowinds. I dont remember if that topic was answered but if not there you go.

Mr. kinzel, is VERY approachable, and willing to chat. I have chatted with him many times. One of the more humorous times was opening day of Geauga Lake 2.0. I told him and Bill Spehen (walking together) that they were at the wrong park. Bill Spehen (pronounced Spain) was the Operations Mgr. at CP before being sent to GL.

I think public interaction is probably something encouraged for upper management at Cedar Fair, as I have stumbled upon Monte Jasper, Robin Inis, Mr. Kinzel, Bill Spehen, John Hilldebrandt and others who *always* stopped and took the time to talk. That is what sets CF apart from other chains. When Geauga Lake was SFO & SFWoA, you NEVER saw the higher ups in the park. If they were, they were in jeans and a T-Shirt with no name tags (for obvious reasons!!)
*** Edited 3/25/2007 5:31:15 AM UTC by 1EyedJack***

Glad you had a great day. I second what was said about the CF upper management. I've held many converstaions (in and out of uniform) with Kinzel, Monty jasper, and John Hildebrandt. They are very nice and respectable individuals!

I talked to Mr. Kinzel once too. ;)

I was at Carowinds, for my first visit to the park ever, also yesterday. I must say that it was a great day to be at a park. Weather was awesome.

The staff at Carowinds were top notch yesterday. The were polite and informative as could be without explaining why a ride was down as should be.

Yes there are seat belts that go from the front middle of the seat up to the lowest part of the OTSR on Cyclone.

I rode Hurler on time as I hate these coasters for the pain they induce by throwing you sideways in the turns. (yes I understand laterals are good but painful laterals are not). I rode back row and I got enough air to hit the lap bar that didn't reach my lap when fully lowered on a few hills.

Reptar made my head feel like it was a pinball the whole ride. I can't believe halfway through a FAMILY coaster I had to start riding defensively.

Flying Super Saturator probably won't have the water effects on until the Waterpark opens, I would think.

As for cleanliness yes I noticed people everywhere with brooms and dustpans or the little claw things to pick up trash with. Another thing was there were two types of trash cans one set brown with no markings on them and the others were the Cedar Fair white trash cans with the NEW logo on them. Yes there were many of them all over the park!

OH GOOD NEWS for all you flyer enthusiasts... The Phantom Flyers were in good operation with lots of snappage and no warnings from the ops when I was near them.

Ok time to get off this PC and start the drive to the Land of the Mouse.

The Carolina Cyclone is the smoothest Arrow loopscrew I've ever ridden, the inversions aren't rough at all. But I've only ridden it probably 100 times, what do I know?

Yes, Cyclone is incredibly smooth for an Arrow. Thunder Road is also incredibly smooth to be as old as it is, and I think it's still a fantastic ride.

Overall a good day, Ride Ops on many of the things I rode were slower than I expected them to be, I counted a number of times where employees were standing around chatting and laughing while trains were stacking, so I was a bit disappointed in that respect, although it was opening day and the park was not overly busy, so they get a pass.

Still a lot of signs of Paramount left in the park. You can tell that it's slowly making the transition, but everywhere I went there were reminders that it was a Paramount Park just last year (at least when the season started).

I also noticed how friendly and talkative many of the employees were. Ride operatorts, although slow in some cases, were chipper and talkative (especially on Top Gun and Thunder Road), and some even appeared to be having fun with their jobs, which made for a more pleasant experience.

Overall, if these are signs of what's to come, then I am more than ready. Ceder Fair seems to have the park headed in the right direction.

I was there on Sunday. The MaxPass processing was VERY quick, then again there was not many people there at the time. :) Even though I had a voucher already, I was literally in and out. Gotta love THAT!

It was strange still seeing all the Paramount stuff around. What an awesome day it was!

Everything was running great. Well, the stuff that I rode anyway. ;)

Most of all I was happy to get back into the SNAPPAGE thing. :P Damn I missed those flyers!

-Tina

*** Edited 3/26/2007 8:56:18 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Danny Phantom....
Phoenix Phall Phunphest...
Phabulous Phlyers...

I can't phigure out the connection here... ;)

IMO, the wood wasn't *great* in the park, but thought it was all at least passable, and pretty smooth. Staff was abundant, operations quite good, especially considering the lack of crowds (coulda raced TR, but that's nothing major).

The park was clean, and we got to see the Gators go to the phinal phour....what could be better! :)

*** Edited 3/28/2007 4:01:30 AM UTC by rollergator***

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coasterqueenTRN said:
I was there on Sunday. The MaxPass processing was VERY quick, then again there was not many people there at the time. :) Even though I had a voucher already, I was literally in and out. Gotta love THAT!

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This gives me some hope for a pleasant experience this coming Sunday at King's Dominion. In the past, season pass processing at this park has been really poor, to the point where one year I gave up and left without buying a pass at all. (This year I have a voucher, purchased back when the Maxx passes were announced, so I'll be waiting it out no matter how long it takes)

Pics here....Fling at SFoG, Sunday at PCar.

http://www.pbase.com/rollergator/spring_fling_07__pcar&page=all

^I would post my link as well but half of your photos are on my site. ;)

-Tina

I shook my head at your comment about Ricochet, and not in a good way. Come on, you knew that the cars didn't spin before you rode it--didn't you? I mean the layout is painfully obvious from the midway. It's a standard off-the-shelf Mack wild mouse. It's meant for the family.

Ask anyone who goes to Hersheypark if they care if their standard Mack Wild Mouse spins. The trim brakes generally don't come on, so it's one white-knuckle ride from the lift to the brake-run!:)

This may be my interpertation of your trip report, but other than meeting Mr. Kinzel, it sounds like you had a pretty bad day if almost half of the coasters brokedown at some point. Based on your point system as well, it doesn't seem like you liked much of the coasters either.

But, I would generally agree that your point-system (I don't rate coasters, but if I did...) would probably match up to yours. Since I visited in 02', I don't have the luxury of the two additional coasters to add into the mix.

So was your five-hour trip done going the longer northern route (I remember your previous thread), or did you take a slower southern route?