Everything else goes here, including discussion of parks outside of Carowinds and any off-topic discussion
#93224
A Kenesto software sponsored article... but does talk about Josh Adams and his Apollo Engineering Design Group... an independent engineering contractor that’s found itself in the niche amusement park market, filling in the holes that other engineers might miss when designing a new ride.

I love articles relating to coaster engineering.

http://www.engineering.com/DesignSoftware/DesignSoftwareArticles/ArticleID/14599/Apollo-Engineering-Takes-Amusement-Park-CAD-for-a-Ride-in-the-Cloud.aspx
#93365
This may seem insignificant to most of you, but for me it's the best thing to come to Gainesville (FL) since I moved here in '09....lol. I have a Bojangle's down the street!!!!!!! They opened at 5AM this morning. The next closest one to me is in Orange Park (Jacksonville suburb) about an hour from here. I thought I was excited when Culver's opened here back in November...now I have 2 of my favs less than 5 minutes away! Now if they could just franchise out Steak 'N Hoagie Shop & Shomar's here and I'll be in heaven.

#93366
Bojangles is amazing, actually got some for breakfast myself this morning. Can't imagine having to go eight years without it.
#93448
Idk where to put this but does anyone know what's up with CP's scrambler? Can't tell if it's maintenance or a removal.
Truly riveting stuff, I know
#93490
I finally was able to ride Mako at SWO yesterday. Last time I went the ride went down and didn't reopen that day. I will say it's the best hyper I've been on. It's now my #2 coaster behind Fury 325. It was much better than Intimidator to me (which I've only ridden when the trims & MCBR hit hard). Of the 2 rides I had on Mako, the trim was barely noticeable on the 1st ride. The 2nd ride was more noticeable, but allowed the smaller hill before the MCBR have a nice pop of airtime. It also flew through the MCBR both times. It was only about 60/65 degrees so I can imagine them engaging a bit more when it's hot. Each hill had me out of my seat. I sat back row, far left seat both times. I'm glad they let me choose the last row since they were assigning seats. I waited about 10 minutes each time.

My only complaints with the park yesterday was the fact they didn't open the Shark Realm area until 10 (park opened at 9). We were among the first to arrive in the park at opening too. I had a short window of time to get it in as I had other engagements outside the park for lunch and beyond. Then the 10am Dolphin Days show that was on the website's schedule had been cancelled so I didn't get to see it. I wasn't able to use my one time preferred seating that I signed up for online (pass member perk). It was free so no big deal I guess. I was wanting to see it since Blue Horizons is no more and wanted to compare. I'll be back, but my plans weren't going so well.

While waiting for Mako to open we decided to do Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin since we had only been on it once. Usually when we are there the line is 60+ minutes. We only had to wait about 5 minutes to get into the first room. The ride however went down when we got to the split area (wild or mild ride) for about 20 minutes. We waited it out since the attractions we came for weren't happening yet. The ride was better than I remember, but it's still way too short of a ride which is why we normally pass on it.

After that we headed over to Mako and waited a few minutes for them to drop the rope to let us in that area. I'm just glad they weren't having issues with it and was able to ride with short wait times. After my rides on Mako I went to ride Kraken once especially since it will be going down after Easter to install the VR & refurb. It has noticeably gotten a bit rough. It wasn't headache-inducing, but was the first time I can remember not wanting an immediate re-ride. I'm sure the much-needed refurb will attend to that. The park was getting noticeably busier as we were leaving around 11:15.

Sorry this turned into a mini trip report, but it was more to talk about Mako and didn't feel like making a new post in trip reports. I also didn't take my camera in but took some with my phone.

  • 1
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 89