Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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 4/9/2004 8:15:00 PM
Paramount's Carowinds
April 4, 2004
Weather: Sunny and windy, high in the mid 60's
Coasters Ridden: 10 of 12
New to me: All 10
This is part two of my three part Volcanomania Trip report.
We arrived at the park at about noon after several hours of driving from Durham, where we stayed the night. We got a decent parking spot and headed into the park. I had a free ticket for the park from Eastcoaster, and my ACE membership got me a 50% off discount, so collectively we paid just $22 for the two of us to get in. Cool.
The park has a nice entrance area, with the North Carolina/South Carolina border right down the center of the entrance. Of course, I had Rachel stand on the border for a picture. The first thing we headed for was Borg: Assimilator.
The line was fairly long, but we did not wait too long, after about 20 minutes we got to where there was a single riders line, and headed down that. After about another ten minutes we were on, and even were seated next to each other. The ride was fun, I think I like Batwing better, but Borg still gives a great ride, with a good theme. I also love how it "flies" close over the water, and I expectably liked the Borg sphere which you "fly" around. Rachel loved it. She is moving to Waldorf, MD, and is happy to know that one is going to be so close by.
It seems that Borg may eventually prove to be more reliable. I don't know how Stealth was set up, but Borg has the chair lift mechanism built into the station, so it does not have all that computer hardware on the train running though all the twists and turns as well as the elements. Even so, they were still running only one train, it looked like the other was still being worked on. No matter, the park was not so busy. We did want to go on it later on in the day, but it was completely down by then, so it was a good thing we got it in when we did.
Next we hit Scooby Doo's Ghoster Coaster. It like all the other PTC trains in the park, has been refitted with seatbelts. It was a fun ride, but did not seem to run as well as the same coaster at PDK.
One coaster that was far better then it's version at PKD was Hurler. It was screaming this day, running very well with airtime on every hill. We both loved it. I don't understand how two coasters that on the outside seem so much the same can run so very different.
Also a surprising ride was Vortex. I am not really a fan of stand-ups, but this is certainly one of the better ones I have been on. It was smooth, had a good series of elements, and was not too long. I really liked it. It also looks like it was sporting a brand new paint job, it even looked good!
I also really, really liked Top Gun. It is tough for me to choose which invert I like better, Top Gun or Talon. I love Talon's ground hugging helixes, but Top Gun's batwing (or does B&M call this a cobra roll, I like to go by Arrow terms) through the mist filled tunnel is simply spectacular. This is really a great ride, and best of all, there was no line at all, we rode it over and over without even getting off, very re-ridable.
The Carolina Cyclone took me by surprise. It is a fairly smooth Arrow loop-screw, and has a helix towards the end that you can't see from the ground, so it was very unexpected. Carowind's other Arrow coaster, the Carolina Goldrusher, was equally good.
Super Saturator was open and running in the morning, but by the time we got over to it, it had closed down. Neither of us were particularly interested in the ride, so we never ventured past it again to see if it had opened back up. Runaway Reptar was running, and was a fun ride. Their mouse, Ricochet, was a decent ride as well, with little braking in the zig-zags, but a bit too much before the drops. We even got completely braked over the station.
Thunder Road was running just one train backwards, but two forward, so it was not racing. While it was a good ride, I think I enjoyed PKD's Rebel Yell more. Thunder Ro
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Red Rascal
Posts: 7284
Registered: 1/28/2003
Rank: Croatian Critic
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4/10/2004 8:42:00 AM
Nice TR. Does Borg use two stations, or only one?
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Yogurt
Posts: 600
Registered: 9/21/2003
Rank: Gold Critic
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4/10/2004 10:54:00 AM
Sounds like a nice park. I guess you can't immediately associate bad names with bad coasters, because Borg Assimilator is a horrible name 
So, where to next?
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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4/19/2004 4:43:00 PM
Regarding your question about Top Gun, it's called a batwing by B&M. Hulk and the other sit-down and floorless B&Ms have cobra rolls, but only the a couple of the inverts have batwings.
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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4/20/2004 6:35:00 PM
Red: Borg only has one station. It is slightly differnt in layout to Batwing and X-Flight. Not only does it have just one station, it has two corkscrews rather then the in-lines, and it doesn't have the helix. Even so, I still feel it is better then the B&M flyers.
Yogurt: I went to Dollywood the next day. Thunderhead is, well, simply put, awesome. I will be at Knoebels on May 1st, and hitting some NE parks in late May while on vacation. 
Animan1: Yeah, I looked it up after the fact. Top Gun and Montu are the only B&M inverts with the element, which I personally think is better then the cobra roll, it just has so much speed in the bottom of the element, it is perfect for an invert, as you are close to the ground at that speed.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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4/20/2004 8:26:00 PM
I've never been on one of the Vekoma flyers, but the thing that they ace the B&M flyers on is their ability to convert from lying-on-your-back to lying-on-your-stomach. I'd still take the B&M though. 
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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4/20/2004 10:01:00 PM
You'd be surprised just how good the Vekoma can be. The flip after the lift hill is nothing short of amazing, it is a sensation you get on no other ride, because you are going up backwards, you have no idea when it is going to come. The ride as a whole is so much better as well. While the B&M clones really only have the pretzel going for them, the Vekomas have an incredibly intense loop, as well as some spectacular inlines and end with a helix. They are much longer, much more intense layouts as compaired to the B&M's. Where B&M has them beat is reliability, but if this new system for the trains on the Vekomas works out, they may be able to match the B&M's there too.
Just don't judge these rides by name alone.
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sfo1
Posts: 5359
Registered: 7/22/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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4/24/2004 8:48:00 PM
I agree. X Flight was just completely amazing. Vekoma is VERY good at flying coasters.
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