Carolina Coastering

Photo courtesy of Park Pics

Goodness gracious!

The parks in Carolina have got to be the most underrated in the U.S. Comments regarding Paramount's Carowinds always seem somewhat tempered, yet I think it's the real jewel within the Paramount chain. I *never* hear anyone mention the Myrtle Beach Pavillion, yet I found it to be one of the best parks I've ever been to! And Family Kingdom? Is there a more rerideable coaster than Swamp Fox? Why don't more enthusiasts embrace this particular area? Even the locals seem to approach these parks with a tepid degree of interest. Carowinds, in particular, is baffling in the way it is received by the general public. I would even hesitate to call it a regional theme park. Unlike Kings Island or Kings Dominion, which seem to draw heavily from many different areas, Carowinds seems very much to be a local park only, heavily family oriented, with most folks intent on being home by supper. The number of cars lined up to leave the park at five o'clock on a Saturday night amazed me! We spent Saturday night and Monday afternoon at Carowinds. One look at the crowded parking lot on Saturday and I was sure we'd be facing hour long lines for every ride. And yet Top Gun, the park's standout signature steel coaster, was barely a ten minute wait for the front! The park was quite crowded, yet all but one of the rides were near walk ons! What are these people doing here? I know one thing were doing - they were sitting. Carowinds has the most inviting plaza areas I've ever seen. Beautifully shaded and landscaped plazas with places to sit nearly everywhere you look. Every tree, every flower bed has seating areas built around them. And so many of them! Everywhere you walk within the park you encounter these lovely plazas inviting you to set a spell and enjoy the view. Cindy Stout and I met up with Max and Chris, Tom and Curt on Saturday. We first rode Top Gun, and I was initially somewhat disappointed. Tom said he liked the front best, but I found that first ride to be lacking any real zip. I really did not understand the comparisons to Busch Gardens Tampa's Montu, as I felt Top Gun was completely out of Montu's league. The ride starts out mimicking Montu's layout, yet it seemed somewhat sluggish and lacked the intensity of Montu's wicked pace. The dive under the sidewalk into the mist was a *very* nice touch, and following that was what I thought would be an airtime-filled camelback! Instead it turned out to be a rather lackluster hill that broke up the pacing and made the ending seem rather flat. Fortunately we rode in the back on Monday and this is where the comparisons to Montu come in!!! The backseat is where all the action is (why some people prefer the front is beyond me). And thankfully the ride had picked up quite a bit of speed on Monday as well. I still find the camelback disappointing, but the other elements are first rate, and I would rank Top Gun as an excellent inverted coaster, right behind Montu, Fire Dragon, Raptor and Batman. We rode Rolling Thunder next, and I'd have to say this was the most disappointing coaster in the park. I was not expecting a lot of airtime, but along the same lines as Rebel Yell and Kings Island's Racer. It looks like it should deliver, but Rolling Thunder has virtually no airtime at all. It's a fun ride but it's probably my least favorite racing coaster. One thing's for sure, it certainly is the ugliest! Why don't they paint that thing? It has an ugly stain of wood and a ridiculous looking color scheme on the trim. It's the homliest looking woodie I've ever seen - I almost feel sorry for it! Tom, Curt, Cindy and I next opted for Carowinds' new-for-2000 coaster, the Flying Super Saturator. Max and Chris chose to sit this one out, and with good reason. You WILL get wet on this ride! No, scratch that, you WILL get DRENCHED on this ride! You WILL get DRENCHED while STANDING IN LINE for this ride!!! Standing in line was almost more fun than the ride itself, with numerous danger zones providing targets for riders to unload their water blasters and drench those of us below waiting to ride! This was the only long line of the night and we waited a good hour and a half for it, but it's probably the most fun I've ever had in a queue. And the danger doesn't just come from the riders above us, there are enemies all around! Different types of water guns, water cannons and blasters are positioned all over the perimeter of the ride, and right in the middle of the queue is a kind of water fun zone containing even more water weaponry. We spent the entire time trying to dodge those trying to ambush us from every angle, and of course we lost the battle. Cindy, in particular, was a rather gruesome victim of this assault. The onslaught of water blasts she triggered necessitated renaming the ride the Super Cindy Saturator! She plotted her revenge on one boy in particular who aimed his water gun directly at her and left it on auto pilot. It was very funny watching those would be assaulters get their comeuppance thanks to an unexpected dousing from the riders above. They zeroed in on their unsuspecting targets, who were preoccupied with blasting other would-be victims, and emptied their water tanks! Equally funny were the reactions of people walking past the perimeter of the ride, unaware that they were standing squarely within the line of fire! One little boy had the head of his brand new ice cream cone decapitated! The whole thing was a hoot and I kept thinking how much I would love to see Chris Lucht and Dana Schwartz on this thing. As for the ride itself, it's a zippy little coaster with surprising speed! The front definitely gets the brunt of the water blasts, but backseat riders will still be drenched. Unfortunately, the queue was not filled when our turn to ride arrived and Cindy and I missed our intended targets! This is *definitely* the silliest coaster I've ridden! Our last coaster of the night was Hurler. Wow. I like this one even better than the Kings Dominion version. Curt said he and Tom always ride in the back so I invited him to come up front with me for a little airtime fest! Boy, was he surprised! The firsts two rows on Hurler deliver stand up airtime on every single hill, which is why I love the Hurler! Curt got off the ride raving about the front. Tom set his jaw on the backseat, though, and the two of them parked it there for the remainder of their rides. I tried the back and while it has a nice pulling action, the airtime up front is unbeatable! These were the only coasters we rode on this night, however on Monday Cindy and I rode the remaining four adult coasters at Carowinds - Vortex, Goldrusher, Scooby Doo and Carolina Corkscrew. The Carolina Corkscrew is easily the best Arrow double looper out there, with a couple of very unexpected surprises thrown in! The Goldrusher was a rather tame mine train ride, but it afforded a wonderful view of an island within the park that has since been abandoned. This island could be SOOOO cool! Why don't they turn it into an interactive playground? The other two coasters were a lot of fun. Scooby Doo is the best junior wooden coaster in the world (with the possible exception of Ildewild's Coaster). And Vortex was a surprisingly smooth stand up, considering it's age, and it had some nice changes of directions and even a float or two! There are MANY things that impressed me about Carowinds, but probably the most noticeable thing about this park was the operations. Two train operation on every single ride - even the mine train! It didn't matter if the line was short, all coasters were being run at full capacity, even on Monday when the crowd was extremely light. On the Hurler, they allowed us to remain in our seats and ride again if no one was waiting in our row! And this brings up a very important issue: why NOT run all rides to their capacity? Why is it considered acceptable to make people wait? As Cindy said, "Could I not be out buying food or souvenirs instead of waiting in line?" Yes, you could. Why not make people happy? Carowinds is a very pretty park, with friendly employees and good ride operations. Top Gun and Hurler are the standout coasters. The crowds are well-behaved and family-oriented, even on a Saturday. And I, for one, came away extremely impressed! Saturday, Cindy and I went to Myrtle Beach. This was a very full day, and we went to three different parks. Like Carowinds, the crowd patterns are rather peculiar here. In this instance, however, the parks are deserted during the day and only fill up at night! I can understand this pattern a little better, with the beach sitting across the street. The Myrtle Beach Pavillion is SUCH a fun park!!! I can't believe it's not a bigger destination on a coaster enthusiast's calendar! Perhaps there are more coaster-only enthusiasts out there than I realized - you know, those who go to parks solely to ride the coasters and care nothing about flat rides or enjoying the park atmosphere. In any case, this place is BIG FUN! It sits right at the ocean's edge, and the rides are stacked one right after another. And the best flat rides are located here - the Gravitron, Enterprise, Tilt-A-Whirl, Calypso, Top Spin, Carousel, Flying Swings, Triple Play, Wipeout and Sleigh Ride, just to name a few. The Haunted Hotel is my third favorite haunted house (right behind Disney's Haunted Mansion and Knoebels Haunted House) and it comes complete with "scare conditioning in every room!" The log flume is excellent and has a surprise tunnel every bit as dark as Lake Winnie's Boat Chute! The Scrambler is situated inside the Hurricane's final helix! And every ride is run full tilt - the Top Spin is set to the most thrilling program, and every ride lasts a good long time. You get the most out of every ride at the Pavillion! And of course the coasters at the Pavillion are excellent, too. The Flying Eagle is a kiddie coaster we were allowed to ride. It's a train, complete with conductors bell that I rang throughout the ride. It is well themed, with waterfalls and even a cave! The Mad Mouse is outstanding! The layout is quite different from other Arrow mad mouse coasters I've ridden - this one had a more intense turn into the dips, and the dips themselves were bigger. There was even a bit of trick track just before the final turn and dip! Finally, we come to the Hurricane. This was my 250th coaster, and I picked a great one! It's a very simple out and back with double helices going in opposite directions at either end. During the daytime I merely thought it a good coaster - airtime, yes, but not quite along the lines of, say, the Hurler. However, as nighttime fell and the Hurricane grew to full strength, this coaster delivered a powerful ride that only intensified with every ride! Each time I rode I enjoyed it more and more, and for such a simple layout it really packs a whallop! There is airtime in every seat and the backseat delivers quite a wild ride, but I found myself liking row 2 the most. The highlight of the ride takes place at the entrance to the first helix, when riders are ejected from their seats at the top of the third hill, only to be thrown forward and to the left as the train drops down into the helix! It's a great moment that will undoubtedly get better, meaner, wilder and more fearsome as this coaster breaks in! Right now I would rank the Hurricane on an equal level with the Hurler, but I have no doubt that this is going to be one seriously wicked ride within the next two years! The Pavillion oozes the kind of atmosphere I love in a park. It's oceanside location automatically creates a festive look and feel to the place, and of course the smell of saltwater only enhances the fun. At night, the place comes alive, but with crowds and with lights! The lights at the Pavillion are stunning!!! Every ride is beautifully lit, and many of the rides provide a great panoramic view of the park. It also has a large German Organ (the manufacturer's name escapes me now) with dancing marionettes and bleachers for people to sit and enjoy. Riding the Enterprise was a real trip, and I can't adequately describe seeing all those wonderful lights turned upside down! The Mad Mouse has a real marquee look, with each letter lighting up in red, white and blue, then the words "Mad...Mouse...Mad....Mouse" flash back and forth very fast. The only things I did not like about the park were the heat and the lack of merchandise. There isn't a Pavillion or Hurricane item to be found anywhere! And the heat - it done me in. Cindy warned me not to come here in July or August. From now on I will make sure to schedule my trip in May! And then there's the ice cream. The Myrtle Beach Pavillion has THE BEST ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD!!! It has both hand dipped and soft serve, but the soft serve is simply out of this world! Cindy and I both had a soft serve vanilla cone with butterscotch cone dip, and it was without a doubt the single best ice cream cone I have ever had! A word of warning, though: the intense humidity melts ice cream very fast, and you must learn how to properly eat a cone dipped cone, or you will suffer the same fate as Cindy, standing in a sea of ice cream cone puddle! She looked like Frosty the Snowman after he melted! We headed to Family Kingdom late in the afternoon. Cindy wanted to wait until night, but because of the threatening skies she wanted to make sure I at least got one ride on it. Oh, I got more than one ride on it! In fact we got many rides on this delightful John Allen out and back, which is one of the most rerideable coasters I've ever experienced! It has a wonderful variety of bunny hills, with a teeny tiny one following the drop off the turnaround that Cindy worried was a spine crusher. However it must have been retracked because it was nothing but pure fun! The Swamp Fox also has THE best view from a lifthill! The lifthill faces the ocean, and at the top of the lift riders are treated to a view that only be described as breathtaking. If it weren't for Boulder Dash I would say this is my favorite lifthill on any coaster. While we were mini-marathoning on Swamp Fox, a little boy ran up behind us and began chattering away about riding roller-coasters. He was the cutest, happiest, most friendly little boy I have ever met! I asked him if this was his first grown up coaster and he said no, he had been to Six Flags over Georgia and ridden all the coasters there. When I asked him what was his favorite coaster he replied "Ahhh laahk tha Vaaaper!" and Cindy and I went "oohhhh!!!" I told him we had spent a whole afternoon riding nothing but the Viper one day and he said "Ahhh rode it three taahms eeeiin a row!! How much d'y'all raaahd it?" When I said "Are you ready? We rode it twenty five times in a row," his eyes immediately widened and he leaned forward and yelled "Goodness Gracious!!!" I started laughing my head off and so did Cindy. "That's a lot!," he said! He had a smile a mile wide and I wanted to tell him he was the most adorable child I'd ever seen. He rode two rows behind us by himself and continued to chatter all through the ride. Family Kingdom also has an interactive dark ride! I believe it's a Sally version, but I couldn't be sure. It was western themed and there were pots of gold that brought bonus points to those who could find them! It was much better than Jazzland's but not quite as good as Ghost Hunt at Lake Compounce. The targets were easier to hit and much more challenging, but a few of the targets had sensors that couldn't pick up the gun. Cindy and I rode separately, and just as my car was about to leave the station, the little boy Swamp Fox boy came sprinting up to the queue, pointed at me and yelled "Ahhhh know yeewww!" I laughed and he said "Yew bin on theeis bahhfore? How many taaaahms yew fixin' tah rahhd this?" I said it was my first time, and that you get to shoot at targets! He noticed the other gun and his eyes widened immediately - he quickly pointed to it and said "Pick uuup that otha guuuwwn! Yew kin shoot double fisted!!!" I started laughing my head off again, and I could still hear him chattering away as my car went inside the building. Family Kingdom is a more colorful park than the Pavillion. It also has a better collection of children's rides. But the atmosphere of both parks is the same, with a relaxed and friendly attitude among the employees (one of the Pavillion employees had a button that said "attitude is everything!") and a sense of fun about both parks. We headed over to Grand Prix North for our last new coaster of the day, the Crazy Mouse! This is such a fun ride! It's not as good as the Exterminator at Kennywood, but it's very fun and we could have ridden it non-stop for the rest of the night had we chosen to do so. One thing about all three parks is the lack of waiting time on every time. Even at night when the beach crowds pour in, there is virtually no wait for any ride. The other standout ride at Grand Prix North is called Top Star. I have never seen this ride at any other park and have no information about it. I'm not even sure I can describe it. Six cars holding four passengers each form a hexagon. Each have overhead supports, all connected to a center axle. Your are restrained much like an inverted coaster, and your feet dangle. The ride begins with passengers lifted straight up, perhaps fifty to sixty feet off the ground. The ride then begins rotating, faster and faster. As it continues to rotate, a a kind of Mixer action takes place, with riders being flipped every which way. The only difference is that you may, at times, be held upside down for quite awhile while the car continues to rotate. It is the most disorienting ride I've ever experienced, and VERY FUN!!! We headed back to the Pavillion to finish out the night. The log flume at night was a huge surprise - make sure you ride this for the first time at night! The Enterprise was also a great nighttime ride, and the Scrambler, located inside the Hurricane's final helix had some cool lighting effects. And of course we rode the Hurricane, over and over and over. The stairs leading to and exiting from the station nearly killed me! Four flights of stairs provide you with a magnificent view of the ocean and all the kids cruising Ocean Blvd, but we paid for it the next day with aching knees and legs! A little girl who barely passed the height restriction bounded up the queue and yelled to Cindy "Kin ah rahd with yew?" She'd never ridden The Hurricane before and was scared. Her mama couldn't ride it cause she'd just had surgery, but she rode the Mad Mouse before. The little girl picked a seat in the middle and I asked her if she was going to put her hands up. "NO!" she yelled and laughed at the notion! She yelled a little girl's scream every now and then throughout the ride, but once on the breakrun she started clapping her hands and saying "Ahhh wanna rahd agin!" She turned around to me and said "I wanna rahd with yew! Mama! Mama! Ahh did it! Ahh wanna rahd agin!" This time she picked "the back! cause it's faster!" I again asked her if she was going to put her hands up and again she screamed "NO!" and shook her head. Her screams turned into shouts on this ride and she held on tight until we came to the brakerun, when she quickly put her hands up, then threw them down on the bar again. "Allright!" I yelled! "You put your hands up!" "No ahh didn't!!!" she said. "I wanna ride bah mahself this tahm! Will y'all rahd bahand mee?" Her mama thought two rides was enough and thanked us, but the little girl persisted and I told her mama "we're okay, she's fine!" and her mama siad "okay, but this is the last time now, okay?" "Yippee!!!" the little girl screamed. She chose a third row seat and directed Cindy and I to the fourth. "Okay, but you're gonna put your hands up through the ride now, right?" "NO!" she said with the exact same tone of incredulity she used earlier. But as we hit the top of the lift hill she threw her arms up and Cindy and I screamed "ALLRIGHT!!!" She kept them up until we hit the helix, at which time she held on, just like the rest of us. She put her arms back up at the end of the helix and kept them up until we entered the final helix, then she put them down and held on, but again threw them back up as we came up on the brakerun. Cindy and I shouted at her and congratulated her, and at the end of the ride, she RACED down to the photo booth to stare at her picture, hoping to see her brave self with her hands raised high! Unfortunately the photo takes place during the helix so I doubt she had her hands up. Both the little girl and her mama said "thank yew!" and she raced off to ride the Calypso, which looks like a big birthday cake at night! We stayed until closing, getting the last ride of the night in the next to last row of the Hurricane. As we climbed the lifthill we said goodnight to the Swamp Fox, its tracer lights still glowing a few blocks away. It was wild ride, and we were treated a beautiful view of the moon glowing over the ocean. That sight is how I'll always remember the Pavillion. Afterwards we walked along the boardwalk and stopped for a hamburger at Peaches. While we were eating, a couple of young girls walked by, one with her arm around the other and they were holding hands. A boy in his twenties with both nipples pierced began to walk by. A pretty young blonde sitting three stools down said loudly to everyone within earshot "Yew see all kahnds of thaangs when yew come daaown here. Ya gotcher jungle people....yer gay people (her hands followed the boy with the pierced nipples as he passed by)....and yer crazy people!" She sat back in her chair and heaved a big heavy sigh. "It's saaad." I *BUSTED* out laughing. I told Cindy, who wasn't paying attention, what the girl just said. "You got yer jungle people....yer gay people....and yer crazy people! (sigh) It's saaad." We laughed at the absurdity for at least ten minutes straight and again all through the night and the rest of our trip. Goodness gracious! I *REALLY* loved Myrtle Beach. I loved the Pavillion - it's just one of those parks, like Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, with great rides and a great oceanside atmosphere, and it really is magical at night. It's probably the least talked about park I've ever visited, yet it's one of the most fun places I've been. From now on I'll be planning an extended weekend at Carowinds and Myrtle Beach sometime in the month of May. It's the best kept secret in the Carolinas! Mark