dare-to-fly

As final preparations for the event are being made, I can tell you that this will be a ton of fun! There are a couple of surprises that I was allowed to borrow to show everyone as a part of the historical tour that I think you will greatly enjoy seeing! All registered attendees will receive an e-mail from me later this week with everything that you need to know upon arrival. (Basically you can't go wrong as long as you come in through gate 1!) On a more personal note, I would like to sincerely thank all registered attendees from KIC for helping us get enough numbers to run the event. I have been planning it for quite a while, and it has been my big project since becoming a rep for this region. Can't wait to see you on Saturday for Classic Fun in the Sun 2017! Nick Asst Regional Rep, ACE Southern Ohio

I have GOT to ride the carousel so that I can hear it! For some reason this keeps slipping my mind, and that's just unacceptable. Thank you so much for all your work in preserving an important piece of history! As an avid fan of the classics, I definitely have a big appreciation!!

Everything is fine. Last chance to escape the wrath of The Beast! It was a pleasure! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Glad you did. I have lots more that I could have added, but I didn't want to get too detailed. I kind of felt like I did already. ...and I really SUCK at acronyms. That should not have taken a few seconds for me to figure out.

Sam will not be there, but I may be. That's a busy weekend with lots of things I want to do so my schedule's still up in the air. You should definitely make sure to be there.

I almost forgot about this comment. I've ridden Nighthawk only twice. That's plenty. The line is always ridiculous, and it's not worth the wait for me.

There are very few parks that I have ever not been checked (aside from Disney who doesn't check restraints). It's interesting to me that Carowinds is one of the parks that I haven't been checked in multiple cases, mainly on Intimidator. That tells me that whatever system they use is flawed. I also know someone that was dispatched with the bars locked up on Goldrusher, and it's still the only park that I've ever had a restraint fail. I have had restraints occasionally come up a click on a few rides, but never completely fail except on Carolina Cyclone a few years ago. Not that it worried me much - the seatbelt caught it and I pulled it back down to its normal spot and reported it to the ride operator who tied off the seat. The problem is...what if that had been a little kid going for his first ride on a looping coaster? I can't help but see a pattern that needs to be looked into. From the perspective of an average guest, any of these can make them feel unsafe, which is definitely not good. Now, does this mean I won't go back to Carowinds? Certainly not. I'm perfectly happy going to Carowinds, as I think it's a fun park. I just think beefing up some training and methods would be a good thing for them.

Great video Nick!! I really enjoyed it! I had to giggle because my voice didn't match up at some points with my words. That was one of my big issues with this one. It may be because of the length, type of camera, or really anything. It only took about 5 hours to save and another 5 to upload, so I really didn't want to go back and try and fix that or the other three or four issues I caught.

For me, having my hands up in the air is more comfortable than gripping a restraint. It's also a point of being free, relaxing and letting go. You said it! I was going to comment something to that effect, but you said it much better than I was going to. As for The Beast's tunnel - the helix tunnel is the reason I prefer riding on the left. I love how close the tunnel wall feels...and is...going into it. The other tunnels on the ride just make the ride great! (As long as the lights are OFF!)

Overall, great day at Carowinds today. Here are the awesomenesses and speedbumps. Awesomenesses: 1. Harmony Hall - LOVED the bbq pork and highly recommend their mac and cheese as a side. Wifey said the baked beans were just as good...but I'm not at all a bean-eater. 2. Fury 325 - That's probably a duh, but the coaster really does rock! It's only one trim away from being steel coaster perfection. That darn little thing in the middle! At least it doesn't do much! The crew of the ride was very good at getting trains out of the station, and vaporized what little line they had in the last hour. Walk on for Fury...yes, please! Also, to end the night, when our train came back in, the last train of people had been sent. The riders were yelling, "One more time...one more time..." like they often do. When he asked, "So you really want to go again?" I was expecting the usual, "Then come on back tomorrow when we open at 10am and you can ride again." Instead, I was surprised with, "Okay...you can ride again." Great way to end the night!! 3. Re-rides - To cut this short - they were allowed on all rides when no one was in line for your row! The way EVERY PARK should do it! I enjoyed re-rides on Hurler, Fury, Afterburn, Carolina Cyclone. I miss being able to sit on The Beast in the morning like that. Speedbumps: 1. Trims on Intimidator and Hurler were ridiculous. Snooze... I can't even recognize the enjoyable coaster that Hurler used to be before the trims were installed, especially since they are stronger than they've ever been. (That's all I'll say...I'll behave...) 2. Intimidator's crew failed at checking our train. When wifey's bar wasn't down the required number of clicks and they stated it over the PA, she pulled it down. Rather than checking properly or trying to get it another click, she had them upbar our row, and jammed it into her stomach as hard as she could. Meanwhile........guess whose bar never got re-checked? 3. I overheard a conversation between two associates, one on load, one on unload, that sounded like this. "What's the signal for unlock restraints?" "Uh...I think it's this." Really? What else don't they know? At KI, that's covered and quizzed on in general knowledge before you ever touch a ride, and you are then trained at the ride where it's covered and quizzed on again. This leaves me wondering about Carowinds' training procedures... Favorites: I must say, the forgotten favorites of mine at Carowinds are still Afterburn and Carolina Cyclone. CC is a great Arrow, and I love the fact that there are no brakes so that you can experience all the elements at full speed! It so often gets forgotten and I wanted to make sure it got the credit it deserves. Now my final question... Does anyone know where they moved the entrance to Thunder Road? I looked for it all day long, and no one seems to know where it went. I can't find the lift to follow it either, so they must have it hiding somewhere.

Poor Chris. :'( He was the ONLY one that sent me a video of all the FB friends I asked. ...why I didn't post that request on here, I have no idea. That would have been my smartest move.

Given the forecast, I wouldn't be surprised to see WWC, Race for your Life and Congo Falls all closed. Nobody wants to get wet when the air temp may barely break 50. I've certainly seen them open when I'd have had them closed...and people were actually riding. I don't get people sometimes.

After all, that's where I found everything I used. bkroz, who's seen it before at the end of undergraduate presentations. You would hate me as a teacher. I never let my students use Wikipedia or any other source that could be changed by anyone. It had to be credible sources such as reviewed journal articles, professionals' websites, etc. Using Google instead of telling me where the resources had come from would have gotten you a zero for failure to cite sources. If I ever did anything like this with my high school freshmen, I'd be a lot more forgiving, but when I taught my college classes, I did not mess around with expectations. ...I'm not hard to get along with though. I'm really not. I promise.

Thanks! I tried not to post any of the photos where the faces are too obvious, but they probably are very familiar. I'll keep names and, as applicable, usernames out of it though. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the KI offseason. Not a moment too soon! See you in line.

Yay, someone got the inside joke!

Amazing how that works.