Charlotte, North Carolina – Sunday, May 25th, 2008

While the focal point of the trip, Hard Rock Park, ended up being a ghost town, pulling into Carowinds two days later revealed the complete opposite scenario, the parking lot bumper to bumper with cars trying to get in, and the front lot was quite full only ten minutes after opening so we made our way around to the back entrance. It’s quite an impressive entryway for being a non-main entryway, Afterburn towering over head, the batwing maneuver soaring over and under the pathway, it made me quite anxious to get riding. We fit a quick ride on Afterburn’s front row with less than a ten minute wait, and then moved on to explore the rest of the park before it all became too busy (most of the crowds were still focused on rides near the front gate; I wouldn’t advise trying Vortex or Nighthawk as first rides of the day unless you’re right there when the main gates open). We actually made the Scooby-Doo Haunted Mansion our second ride in the park, since it didn’t look to have a long wait, although it ended up loading slow. The ride was very mediocre, my mom needed to ask me why that was necessary when we got off.

With Thunder Road down for the first part of its extensive 5-year maintenance plan, we ended up looking at the Flying Super Saturator for our next experience. I was keen to give this one a go-around because back when we visited the rumor mill was speculating that it was looking to be on the chopping block at the end of the year, although at the time we didn’t know what might replace it. That said, I had a lot of reservations about it as well because I am not one that enjoys getting soaked in street clothes, and I knew in advance that the entire queue took place underneath the attraction where there were plenty of opportunities to get doused against my own will. But the line was still non-existent at this hour of the day, and lo and behold… most of the water effects were turned off. The cars were still carrying their water-bomb loads meaning I had to be careful in the queue that some smartass above wouldn’t dump their load on us, but we made it up to the station without a drop on us. Operations were quite slow, but with so few people waiting we made it to the platform in less than five minutes. And then, just as we were next in line, I heard a funny noise behind me. Turning around, I saw every water feature the ride had to offer had just been turned on. Uh-oh. Do I bail? The fact that I had already made it through the queue without getting wet and I knew this might be my only chance to ride were the only things that kept me waiting, and I figured a backward facing ride wouldn’t be so bad, so as soon as the gates opened I made a beeline to claim the back seat, leaving a father with his young daughter to have fun facing forward. “No hard feelings,” he told us. “I think she wants to get really wet”.

It starts with an all-dry lift, and then teases us mercilessly with an s-curving drop that takes place over the main midway where there are also no water guns. This was one of the few coasters I’ve been on in recent memory in which I was unfamiliar with the layout before riding, so I had no idea when the waterworks were about to start. Suddenly, ba-boom! A huge water fountain launches liquid up the carriages underside, leaving our legs completely soaked. I’m quite positive the front row took the hardest hit. Most of the regular soakers were of little danger to us in the backwards position, but I also had no way to prepare for when the next canon would hit. A waterfall got my shoulders pretty good, but other than that the rest of the ride seemed to keep us fairly dry. Of course that wasn’t counting a second water cannon near the end of the ride that gave my shorts a good soaking. As we made the way around the final turn, relieved I wasn’t that much wetter than on a normal log flume, I remembered I had the opportunity to pull the lever that dispenses the water our vehicle was carrying, and pulled it in time to make a fellow just getting off the ride have to jump out of the way, which I took tremendous pleasure in watching. Getting off I saw the father and daughter in the front row were drenched to the bone.

Despite the fact that I always fear them, I somehow end up enjoying most water rides I go on. The amount of jitters I get over wondering if I’ll be soaked or spared always seems to be in disproportionate quantities to the actual level of wetness I get. The exceptions are on rides where you’re stuck in a slow-moving flume, watching Niagara Falls approach, and I can’t do anything but count down the seconds I have left until I’m to be held underwater for five seconds. That’s just cruel. Besides, I always dry off faster than I expect I will, provided I have some coasters line up to try next. Our next ride ended up being in the rear seat of the Carolina Goldrusher, a coaster I wouldn’t label an ideal wind-tunnel to dry off on.

For a mine train it’s not bad, but come to think of it I’m normally a fan of most mine trains I go on (even silly ones like the Cedar Creek Mine Ride), while this one left me feeling rather ‘meh’. Mostly it’s just all too laid-back and slow, which isn’t always a problem in and of itself, but it also simply does not provide enough compared to some of the other endlessly meandering mine trains Arrow built. After the first lift the only thing that’s really of any note is a helix partially buried in a trench. This would work as a good build-up, but just as it seems to finally work up some speed we round a bend and are confronted with a second undersized lift. This one again starts with a slow straightaway off the top, getting halfway there with a helix before it quits, then a tunnel dive before it quits again. That’s actually not to diss on the Goldrusher too much, since like I said I’m always a fan of the classic Arrow mine trains and this one does have a couple of fun, unique bits in it, it just that Carolina Goldrusher was probably Arrow’s weakest effort during this time period. The fact that the seats were about six inches deep and there was nearly no legroom didn’t work to the coaster’s advantage either.

From the Carolina Goldrusher to the Carolina Cyclone. Again, while I’m generally a fan of Arrow multiloopers, Carowind’s version seems to be on the low-end of the spectrum. However the Goldrusher at least manages to serve a specific demographic (and also has some unique layout-oriented bits) while the Cyclone simply feels outmoded inside a park featuring half a dozen other looping attractions that do everything the Cyclone does but better. Despite officially being a “custom looping coaster” according to the RCDb, the simple double loop/double corkscrew design really makes it feel like a slightly oversized production model design. This one also featured a decent amount of rattle while on board. It doesn’t bother me too much, but my mom is a bit more sensitive to that sort of thing and told me afterward how that one really wasn’t worth it. With the next coaster on our agenda appearing to be the nearby Hurler, I figured a quick amendment to the plans was necessary to space the two out, and we did Drop Tower instead. I really can’t comment much about the ride; it’s a basic drop tower (as the name implies) and a rather short one at that (at least for Intamin). The one notable thing about this tower was that, located far out of the way in a back corner of the park, there was absolutely no line for it, meaning if you’re a fan of towers you should get plenty of re-rides. It was also interesting because this was my first ever drop tower back when we were last here in early 1998 and this ride was the “big thing” at the park. Not only was the line multiple hours long then, but my memory recalls a tower several times taller and scarier than the one now standing before us; it’s interesting how these things seem to get smaller as we get older.

Next was the Hurler. I had been on Kings Dominion’s version the year before, and I recall stating that “not even the most experienced chemist could make me feel more neutral about this ride.” As wooden coasters, these rides just seem to be neither here nor there, forgotten rides stuck in a transitional era in wooden coaster history. Which is actually probably underselling them, since the fast ground-level turns stacked between a series of airtime hills do make for a rather decent riding experience, it’s just that they also tend to run rough (not to mention the hideous station and cracked concrete themeing around the entrance). Carowind’s version I’m happy to report seemed to be running a bit smoother and faster that day than Kings Dominions version, offering some nice lift off the air hills, and the only distracting shuffling was isolated to the turns, where it still wasn’t all-too bad. Even my mom commented that it was an okay ride, a sign that it was in fact smoother than would be expected.

I think by that time we were completely dried from the Super Saturator, and things were starting to heat up. The rapids or log flume seemed like a good idea to try next, and interesting all the rides we had done so far still had short lines despite what the parking lot suggested. However, after hiking over to the front entrance, we found that to not be the case. We stood in line for first the log flume for a minute before deciding it wasn’t worth it, and then the well-landscaped rapids ride they had. Ten minutes go by and we haven’t budged from our spots, so we ditch that one as well. Nighthawk still had nightmarishly long lines, and Vortex didn’t seem worth it yet either. I think we did the Carolina Skytower, which had a short enough wait plus I could snap some pics, before finding a lunch. Why do I even bother getting lunches inside amusement parks any more, they are with few exceptions overpriced, foul-tasting and cold, with no nutritional value, and at over-crowded venues. Carowinds was not one of those exceptions (I think we ate at a place called Wings which was advertised as one of the better eating establishments in the park because it had air-conditioning; that was enough to sell us, apparently). We afterwards moved on to Afterburn again, and contemplating what else to do that we either hadn’t already done or knew had too long of a line, decided to explore the large Nickelodeon kid’s area that takes up most of the western (which is actually eastern) side of the park.

This is actually one of the more charming areas in the park, lots of colorful things to look at, plenty of tall, mature trees providing plenty of shade, multitudes of inviting rides where no single attraction dominates the area the way a major coaster is apt to do (we’ll see how much longer it stays like that). First we did the Rugrats Runaway Reptar, mostly because I’ve never done a junior invert before and I was curious to see how they work. The answer: not well. Poor capacity led to an overly long wait, and then the actual ride ended up being rougher and more jarring than most full-sized SLCs I’ve been on. Thankfully the area’s other coaster, the classic junior woody re-themed to the Fairly Odd Coaster, ended up being a hidden gem. Okay, so it wasn’t anything too spectacular I would wait more than ten minutes for (which is about what the wait for this one was, thanks to two-train operation) but the mini-PTCs featuring minimal restraints are too-cute and great rolling stock for this ride, and being seating in the back row I was pleased to find a bit of whip over many of the hills. Smooth rolling, nestled in its own wooded grove away from the hustle and bustle of the park… I’d recommend this ride to the casual visitor over many of the larger and more disappointing coasters found inside Carowind’s gates.

Speaking of disappointing rides, it was starting to get late into the afternoon and it seemed like it was time to bite the bullet and stick out the wait for Nighthawk. I’m not too sure what my personal feelings about the Vekoma Flying Dutchmen are. Sometimes I really like them, other times I really couldn’t care less for them, mostly it depends on how smooth they happen to be running (the ‘flying’ experience is all but lost otherwise), but even then I think my opinion of it might come down more to the mood I’m in that day. After waiting close to an hour in a completely exposed queue (my mom made a wise decision to watch me from the ground instead) I guess I wasn’t in a great mood, disembarking the coaster finding the only real redeeming quality of it was that I now had one more coaster I could check off my list, although banging my head hard against part of the fiberglass frame next to the headrest on the horseshoe maneuver didn’t help things either.

My problem with these flying coasters (including most of B&M’s flying oeuvre) is that, ideally, a flying coaster shouldn’t take place on a square plot of flat land. Such a layout seems to deliberately undercut the purpose of a flying experience altogether, which ought take place through woods and over hillsides (SFMM’s Tatsu might be the only coaster that actually tries to do that, maybe Alton Tower’s Air as well). I suppose Nighthawk is probably the best of the Flying Dutchmen in that regard, since it at least takes place partly over a river, but it’s still not enough to make the concept work. Also, the flying sensation is hardly effective due to the awkward restraints that I spend most of the ride trying to figure out how it is that no one has ever fallen out. If I wanted to it would seem almost easy for my lower body to dangle out of the car since the only thing that’s keeping anything below my thigh in place are the loose, single-position ankle clamps I have to hook my feet on.

Next I decide to try Vortex. This may or may not have been my first B&M experience back in 1998, I forget if I did Raptor and Mantis for the first time the summer of ‘97 or ‘98. I generally appreciate B&M’s stand-up designs since their layouts focus more on various twists and turns rather than just diving up and down a parade of individual elements. However, if efficient operations on the other coasters in the park were lacking in some regards, Vortex’s operations were nowhere in sight, perhaps they should check the lost and found… (shut up, I spent several minutes trying to make that pun work and wasn’t about to throw it away). Over an hour and a half in a line that would barely fill two full-sized switchbacks in one of Cedar Point’s queues, one train stacked on the brake run for up to three minutes waiting for the other to dispatch. The operators had no interest in running things at all. While the individuals working the ride were clearly to blame, I think this issue really comes down to negligence from the human resources department, since for the most part teens working at amusement parks are much the same in all parts of the country, and normally problems like this can be traced to a lack of institutions in place to motivate them. Dealing with the meticulous stand-up restraints doesn’t help, and I’m sure if the crew ever did at one point have any vim for their job they quickly became disillusioned after having to tell random jackasses for the thousandth time not to bend their legs when they’re locking the restraints.

By lucky chance though being a single rider I was able to skip the last small stretch of queue to fill a front row spot (at least the person at the gate cared enough to be checking for single riders). The ride unfortunately was running somewhat rough on this occasion, and the layout isn’t particularly strong for a stand-up either, only offering a raised curve into an upward helix between the two inversions, and after the corkscrew the twisted finale peters out rather quickly. Most of the time spent on the ride was stacked on the brake run, so our train load was hardly enthusiastic when we got back to the station.

Alright, I guess that’s everything… oh wait, one more coaster I need to get; the Ricochet. I probably shouldn’t have, but there wasn’t much else in the park besides Afterburn I needed to re-ride, and sometimes these mouse rides turn out to be fun. My mother wisely decided to sit this one out as well, making three in a row. I don’t know how she has so much patience with me. The line for this one was also slow moving, not that these wild mice are designed for the crowds anyway. It has a nice entry façade to it that fits with the boardwalk theme in the area. Unfortunately this one proved to be a very trim brake heavy affair, only offering laterals on some of the upper switchbacks before the traditional coaster section on the lower levels ended up coming to a near-stop on each brake after every other drop.

We got final rides on Afterburn before heading back out of the park for the evening. For some reason this coaster had the most consistently short lines throughout the day, and is probably the only coaster in Carowinds that I’d say makes the park worth it. A great setting for an inverted coaster, with plenty of trees and trenches to obscure the view, and with some very powerful and fast-paced elements. I’d describe the ride on a similar scale as Raptor, not that they’re really all that similar, but Afterburn’s extra height and speed probably equalizes Raptor’s extra length and ride time. The first drop is most excellent, diving partially downhill that helps amplify the speed a great deal, not that it needs much help since I think Afterburn might also be the fastest North American B&M invert this side of Alpengeist. The first loop is fantastic. Very narrow shaping allowing for not just a lot of height, but also a long vertical descent on the way down, and a fast rotational ‘flip’ over the very top. This is about as good as a standard clothoid loop can get. We then dive down a second ravine before speeding up into what appears to be another tall loop. We instead get an Immelmann, smartly replacing the forward flip over the top with one that sends us around our sides. The next maneuver, a zero-g roll, not only sustains the fast pace but is a natural evolution from the roll out of the Immelmann that immediately preceded it. Again, without losing a beat the way many B&M multiloopers are prone to do with oversize pull-outs, it’s another very fast roll up and over to the left, but this time we don’t follow through with the roll and instead dive straight down into a deep, mist-filled tunnel. I never realized until riding this just how rare authentic underground tunnels are on most B&M rides, and as a result this moment really stood out on Afterburn. Going five-for-five, the pace still hasn’t let up as it surges breathlessly into the second part of the batwing.

That first half of the ride probably ranks and one of B&M’s finest (and most underrated) efforts; not way out there creatively (besides the trenches/tunnels) but big, bold, frenetically paced, and overall just an amazing display of what their standard looping formula can do when they really try to make it something. The next moment, a large camelback hill over the station, is a bit of a pace-killer, not offering much for forces, and having to pull up high after the subterranean batwing, the loss of speed also becomes quite apparent here. All is not lost however, as this momentary let-up in speed only serves to throw us off-guard when the final inversion, a tight (tight) flatspin, throws us around our axis within a split second one last time. Like I said, however, compared to Raptor, Afterburn’s primary downfall is that it’s over just a bit too fast. The final 270 degree helix makes no real effort to do anything unpredictable, there more to get us lined back up with the brake run. Still, Afterburn was a very pleasant surprise, quite possibly my second-favorite B&M invert after Raptor (gotta love the intense helix finale on that one, still the only B&M invert I’ve been on that doesn’t end on a lame note)

Overall Carowinds is a park that I think that I think could look like a decent place to visit on paper, but when we actually got there I found too many of the rides seemed like second-rate attractions. Actually, my second favorite ride experience of the day was probably the Flying Super Saturator, which I am sad to see is gone since it seemed like not only a great family ride but also a great hybrid water attraction to cool down on hot days. On the plus side, I will admit that the replacement of Geauga Lake’s boomerang in the Saturator’s old location was done as tastefully as I could expect from a relocation of a normally overused and frequently despised production model coaster. And with the Intimidator just announced, I do think I would definitely make a point to stop by again if I’m ever in the region.