CarolinaCyclone

posted a few photos here....there should be many more, now that I know I can post them there.... http://www.coasterfanatics.com/sec_members...y.asp?id=100571

Opening weekend at King's Island... I was personally very excited about this trip, as I had never been to the park. So, whatever I rode would be brand new. My wife had first visited the park before it took the name Paramount. Back when The Beast was hidden almost alone in the bowels of the park, but not since 95. We live near, and regularly visit Carowinds, so I was anxious to visit another park. It's probably about an 8 or 8 and 1/2 hour drive, but I was so determined, I think we made it in about 7 hours from Hendersonville, NC. My son is 7 and is also becoming a coaster fanatic. So, just imagine what it would be like to walk in and see those fountains going on a beautiful Friday morning for the very first time. We were expecting low turnout, and it was a lot lower than I thought it would be. Short wait times are always a good thing. The only day I thought ride wait times were getting up there were later on Saturday. But for whatever reason, that also seems to mean that some rides won't be operating, or the bugs get worked out. We weren't treated to Son of Beast or Delerium. (meaning, I need to make another trip up to ride those!) Though I did hear about some lucky enough to get a ride on Delerium Friday. Face Off was also out for most of the weekend into Monday, but we managed one ride on Saturday, and only had to wait about 20 minutes. It was closed when the park first opened Saturday morning, so we went up and rode Top Gun (also a short wait), by the time we came out, Face Off was running. I had never ridden a shuttle type coaster like that, and I have to say it was a big treat. One of the scariest coasters I have ridden so far. (I know, stuff like Alpengeist and other inverts are much higher...) I was used to the Top Gun at Carowinds, but had ridden the Big Bad Wolf in Williamsburg, so I wasn't really expecting much from Top Gun, but I was really impressed. That thing is a good ride! A lot of fun, and we got in about 15 rides in over the weekend. The ride Saturday morning gave us rain and made the ride feel about 10 mph faster. I thought the themeing was much better than the other Top Gun, too. The Beast. What can I say. I had been waiting to ride this thing for years, and was not disappointed. Front, back, middle, second....I rode in as many cars as I could. I think we all together came out with 13 or 14 by the time it was said and done...not bad for a married couple and a 7 yr old. The Beast seemed to run faster and faster by the end of the weekend. I'm not sure if it was just me, but the first few rides on Friday were alot slower than Sunday night for me. I also wasn't completely blown away by, but really enjoyed FOF, IJST, and TRTR...all great rides, and I actually got to see all of the themeing working for Flight of Fear on Monday, but unfortunately the ride was not. Good thing I rode it Sunday, Saturday, and oh...Friday too! The themeing really makes that ride, but I found that if I kept my sunglasses on it made it darker, and a little better after the launch, lol. We enjoyed the Nick zone, and I thought that it seemed a little nicer than ours. However...the Phantom Flyers aren't the cool metal wings that Carowinds and PKD have, which was kind of a bummer. So I watched our little one from the sidelines on that one. Was siked to ride Reptar, too, cause the Carowinds version is smooth but was sorely disappointed in the PKI Reptar. The track looks identical, but the ride is not. Probably the roughest inverted coaster I have ever ridden. We were pleased to see one of the old rides converted to the Scooby Haunted House. Things like that and,the fountains, the tower, and the Festhaus really add to the old school feel of the park. I hope little details like that never change when and if the parks change hands. My sons favorite ride, and probably mine was Vortex. what a classic great steel coaster. The Cyclone can't really compare in Carowinds, but, does have a better helix at the end, lol. I think we might have ridden that ride probnably 20 times, and it is in good thanks to the crew there. They had that ting running great, and I only saw stacked trains one time, and only saw the ride closed twice. By the way...does anyone have a Vortex sticker for my guitar case? As far as weather, it wasn't bad at all. There was some really bad rain Monday morning, but all in all it was a really great weekend. Maybe a little chilly Sunday and Monday, but not bad. I was surprised to hear people complaining about trash. I didn't see it. I have seen some trashed parks, and this wasn't one of them. I thought the staff also did a great job. Everyone we dealt with was friendly and seemed to know what they are doing. By comparison, I once asked a Carowinds employee where first aid was. The answer was "First Aid?...uhhh". thanks again to PKI central for the pre trip help

Sorry I didn't comment on this sooner, but that was pretty funny. Cobra-riffic. We did get beast coffee mugs while we were there. How can you beat 2 dollars for a coffee mug? lol....

Yeah, I did find a cool tall shot glass, and a Vortex button...but I may have to just keep the search up.

That's what I was afraid of...oh well.... Thanks!

I noticed (as with many other parks in the country) that you couldn't find any shirts or hats with old rides on them like Vortex. My wife had been a pki visitor from when she was a kid, and mentioned that you also used to be able to get stickers and patches with the rides on them. I would love a Vortex sticker for my guitar case, but none were found... Is this a hopeless search?

We definately will. we appreciate it. thanks. Actually we did have a nice little chat with the ladies at the guest relations window. They seemed surprised that we were happy. Don't worry, we'll be sending a letter out to the park too.

We definately will.

Right...I understand there was probably many images of the same thing. I'd like to think a few of these might be pretty interesting to you, though. So, how would I locate a staff memeber? One from the forums?

I didn't see a submit link in the photo gallery.

I completely agree. We were visiting for all 4 days of opening weekend, and compared to the staff at Carowinds, PKI, was a nice surprise. I thought the staff was knowledgable, friendly, and helpful. I also thought the park was much cleaner than Carowinds. The only disappointing thing was that a few rides were not open.

I was really disappointed at SOB and Delerium being closed....but we were lucky enough to get a ride on Face Off, which was also closed for most of the weekend. SOB was one of the reasons we decided to drive to opening weekend in OH instead of VA.

You guys have a great park! We were very impressed by everything in relationship to what we are used to at Carowinds. I took a few hundred pictures, and will share most of them soon. I hope to put them together in a slide show style, also, with some music. Is there a place to submit them to the site?

I have seen random vandalizm decrease recently in Carowinds, but what has always bothered me in the parks was trash. I don't know how PKI ranks in this department, but I can tell you another park that was the nastiest I have ever been in, and that's Six Flags over GA. My wife and I went there a few years ago and have not been back since. Think about Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Ok, now imagine it was never cleaned for say....like a week...ok, now throw in some urine and vomit. Ok, your almost there. I'd say it pretty much ruined the trip for us. Needless to say the vandalism was pretty bad too. From an older point of view, I'd say a great deal of the vandalism you see is due to pure bordom. Remember your school? Think about all the things that are destroyed, vandalized, or stolen in areas where you have to wait? The backs and edges of classrooms...places where you stand in line. The front or back hangouts. There's a lot of that kind of destruction that can be avoided by simply adding a coupld of video cameras in the parks. Even fake ones. IMO

Yeah, Mapquest is weird like that. Check this out...after all that, I just found out, they are giving cash instead of the certificate. darn, now I KNOW I will spend it before 10 days....or will I?....lol. You guys are great, thanks again.

Thanks guys!! I will dedicate my Bloomin Onion to PKI Forums!

Yeah...won a gift card as a bonus and was curious if I could use it on our vacation. Hmmm.....I thought they were kind of like Starbucks....eeeeeveerywhere, lol

....say maybe within 10 or 15 minutes?

The Beast. (It's a shame that SOB will not be open....I haven't ridden either).

Thanks!

This seems plausable....think of the great rides at some of the more independent parks... And when it comes time for new rides, instead of added a water park, a new statue of SpongeBob, or introducing new pink plastic cups with Dora on them....there may be actual long term rides added. That'd be sweet. I know I'd like to see Carolina fianlly get a giga coaster.

NC to OH, Hehe...couldn't help it...had to register. So, only about 17 days left, eh?

Seems a little excessive, but hey...insurance is really expensive for the parks.