Dollywood/Carowinds Opening Day TR

[gad198]

Overview:

I went to Carowinds about this time last year for the first time in over ten years. I liked the park, thought it was pretty good for it size, but after my visit I thought "wow, if this park could only get a hyper to round out their collection." Fast forward to August 2009 and the announcement of Intimidator.

I had been following the construction of Intimidator at Carowinds and looked about a week ago at their First Rider Auction page. I saw that the bids were really close to $50 each, so I decided to see if I could get a group together to head down. I put in four bids and after we found out that our bids were successful we were scheduling a trip down. We decided to do a very aggressive Cincinnati to Dollywood to Carowinds back to Cincinnati trip on Friday and Saturday, ending up back in Cincinnati Saturday night.

Dollywood:

Dollywood had their season pass day this past Friday. The Interpreter mentioned that season pass days there were usually pretty busy so we knew we'd have to get down there early. The parking lots were filling quickly, but the weather in the upper 40s to low 50s would keep the crowds down to a minimum for most attractions. We arrived at the park right at opening at 10 and headed left toward Thunderhead.

Thunderhead was running great as usual. The rumors of retracking were true, but it looked as though they only retracked several spots that were running a little shaky at the end of last season. Nonetheless, the ride was tracking really well, and along with the light drizzle greasing the track made for really quick rides with nice spots of airtime. Still a top 5 wooden coaster for me.

Mystery Mine isn't one of my top coasters but the theming and those two vertical drops are terrific. It's got one of the best endings anywhere, but the rest of the coaster just doesn't do enough for me to be particularly impressed except for the items mentioned above. You also have to be defensive when it comes to the headbanging.

Tennessee Tornado is still the best Arrow multi-looper I've ridden. If it were two inversions longer it would be a real top level coaster. It's smooth, it's got a great first drop (especially in the back) and the inversions are really well designed. It's a fun 30 seconds.

Two quick show notes: Drum! is a really good show. I loved how the show incorporated so many different cultures and rhythms into the show. Imagine was brought back by popular demand this year and is fantastic! The acrobats can do things that I still can't believe are possible. These shows only run through the first part of May, so if you happen to be at Dollywood between now and then make sure you see these shows.

Dollywood is such a great park. We always have a great time there, and we love the fact that the atmosphere there not only gives you a great sense of what theming can do but also relaxes you and allows you to really get away from everything. The crowds were only heavy for the shows Imagine and Drum, but all other lines were of the walk-on variety. We didn't do Adventure Mountain because of the wet conditions, but it looks like it'll be a fun addition and I can't wait to try it the next time we're down there.

Carowinds:

We arrived at Carowinds right at 8 am for the First Rider Auction. We were a little surprised that there weren't more people waiting for the parking lot to open. I'm guessing that's a direct by-product of waiting for Diamondback to open last year and still being way back in line even after arriving 3 hours early! We got checked in at the auction table and were escorted back to the Intimidator plaza at 8:30. We selected our seats and just after 9:30 they were dispatching the first train. We were on the second train and sat down in row 8, right in the middle of the train.

The first hill is a little shorter than most of the newer B&M hypers but delivers some nice air. The second hill gives you a little float the crest of the hill and then gently pulls you to the right and then to the left at the bottom. It's a unique B&M hyper element and works really well to build the speed for the next hill. The third hill is the best airtime hill on any B&M hyper I've ridden thus far, just a smidge better than the second and third hills on Diamondback. There is a full five seconds of strong floating airtime on this hill and is really strong in the middle rows.

The turnaround is really fun. It's better than Behemoth's turnaround because, interestingly enough, it's taken at a lower speed which allows you to feel the changes of directions a little better. The return run featured more good floater, but not quite as good as the third hill. The MCBR only used the mag brake but that was it, so you flew right through it. The diving spiral after the MCBR wasn't as good as I would have hoped. You only got a small amount of force unless you rode in the back. You did get a little air off of the end of the spiral and again into the brakes.

Intimidator is fantastic. We got a chance to try row 4, row 8, row 9 and row 16 and we all agreed we got the best rides in row 4. The airtime up there is very strong and you get a really good sense of the speed there. People will be surprised by how fast this ride is. The first half of this coaster is an absolute 10. The trims were not grabbing on the third hill and were only very, very lightly tapping the fourth hill. The second half feels like it was an afterthought, but the first half is so good that it doesn't matter. If there was one more bunny hill after the diving spiral it'd be perfect 10. I'd rank the B&M hypers I've ridden thus far as follows: Diamondback/Intimidator/Behemoth/Goliath(SFOG)/Nitro/Raging Bull.

Some other quick Carowinds notes: Afterburn is the best inverted coaster not named Montu. I love the smoothness and love the pacing. There just aren't any wasted movements on the coaster. The flyers there are still kicking tail. There was plenty of snapping to be had and they were running a long enough cycle to have a really good time! The park was nice and clean and were running multiple trains on all coasters that could do so even though there was only a one train wait for every coaster we went on until 1 pm.

Carowinds is now a destination park. Intimidator is exactly what this park needed. The lines were almost shockingly short (no more than 15 minutes for any of our three rides outside the auction) and always moved incredibly fast. I'd be willing to bet they were pumping through at least 1300 people an hour. Intimidator will bring in the crowds this year and will do very well in the steel coaster rankings this year. They've got a real winner on their hands in Intimidator, so make sure you make Carowinds a part of any of your Southeast/Mid-Atlantic trips!

[Dvo]

Nice Trip report! Sounds like an awesome trip. I can't believe you made that entire trip in two days though.. That's a lot of travelling, haha. Intimidator looks really cool.. in terms of the layout I think I even like it better than Diamondback's. But good to hear that opening day went well for everyone. Out of curiosity, did they do a Single Rider line like they use on Diamondback?

[diamondback_king]

Nice Trip report! Sounds like an awesome trip. I can't believe you made that entire trip in two days though.. That's a lot of travelling, haha. Intimidator looks really cool.. in terms of the layout I think I even like it better than Diamondback's. But good to hear that opening day went well for everyone. Out of curiosity, did they do a Single Rider line like they use on Diamondback?

yes there is a single rider line

[gad198]

^ There's also assigned seating, and they're very strict about requests, so keep that in mind. I'm sure that will ease as the season goes on. Honestly though, there's not a bad seat, so even if you get a seat you'd rather not have initially you'll get a good ride anyway.

[gnarkiller]

The first hill is a little shorter than most of the newer B&M hypers but delivers some nice air.

Actually Intimidator is 232' tall, Diamondback/Behemoth/Nitro are all 230' tall so Intimidator is actually a little taller. Than there is both Goliaths, Raging Bull, Hollywood, and Apollo which are 200' or less. And Silver Star which is 240' I think.

[thekidd33]

^I think he was referring to the drop of the first hill which is 211' on Intimidator while Nitro and Diamondback have first drops of 215' (according to rcdb.com).

[CoastersRZ]

And Boo Blasters on Boo Hill is a nice ride. I`m excited to see what KI`s new dark ride experience is like. There was one really cool effect on Carowinds ride that I hope makes it into KI`s ride. (And yes, I had ridden Carowinds Scooby Doo ride prior to this year, so I was able to make a fair comparison between before and after. Is it opening weekend for KI yet?

Now, I`m off to bed, as I`ve been under the weather all weekend, while trying to enjoy Carowinds.

[d-lo775]

Nice Trip report! Sounds like an awesome trip. I can't believe you made that entire trip in two days though.. That's a lot of travelling, haha. Intimidator looks really cool.. in terms of the layout I think I even like it better than Diamondback's. But good to hear that opening day went well for everyone. Out of curiosity, did they do a Single Rider line like they use on Diamondback?

You have no idea how intense this trip was, as there was a side destination besides Dollywood and Carowinds that added about another 100+ miles to this trip. I have no idea how anyone could pull off as much driving as gad198 did in these two days on a mere 6-7 hrs. of sleep in 2 days, I was exhausted when we arrived home Saturday night and i managed to slip in several hours of sleep in the backseat during our journey. Plus, it was also the first time I ever saw anyone successfully eat a slab of ribs and a side baked beans while driving up a winding mountain road while driving 55 m.p.h. What can I say besides the man has some mad skills. 7 states and 2 amusement parks in 40 hrs. was an experience to say the least. I'm so glad I was talked into going on this trip as I never fail to have nothing, but the best of times with this amazing group of friends.

One of the highlights for me that wasn't mentioned in the report was watching a certain 3 point shootout player supply about 40 kids with basketballs. Yeah, maybe he wasn't having one of his best shooting days overall and got a bit frustrated with his preformance, but if he could have seen all the smiles he produced and the rather large crowd that he entertained, he may have realized it wasn't as bad of a shooting exposition as he thought. Watching those kids smile from ear to ear is what a day at the amusement park is all about for me and I glad i got a chance to witness it that day.

[RingMaster]

http://www.carowinds.com/public/park/rides/family_rides/action_theatre.cfm

^ If I'm reading this right, then SpongeBob is still at Carowinds. Can anyone confirm this at all?

[violakat03]

Yes, SpongeBob is still at Carowinds.

gad198 - too bad we didn't know you were there! We had an epic KIC ride on our Eagles. We had almost a full ride cycle (9 of 10 tubs) full of KICers snapping the heck out of them.

[gad198]

^ Interestingly enough we did see you all get in line for the flyers around noon. We saw some real experts riding the flyers while we were there so I'm glad that you all got the great flyer treatment as well. We recognized a few folks from the KIC universe there and also saw and talked with Gary, the "King of Diamondback" while in line for Afterburn. It turned out to be a really nice day and I'm glad that so many people got the opportunity to head down. Good times!

[Ki Man]

Great report, Gary! First Behemoth, then Diamondback, now Intimidator...I was afraid Intimidator would steal the spotlight! Good to hear about the airtime, I wouldn't expect less with B&M's newer designed hills. I've heard the same about after the MCBR...looks pretty lame for me, but I guess they really wanted that 3 train operation. The ending looks very...poorly planned or less thought out. Like, "And after the MCBR...oh crap we've got a tiny bit of space and money left to spend....so a scrunched up helix and brakes." But even Diamondback slacks after the MCBR, so no one is perfect. Afterburn is awesome, isn't it?! Diving through the trenches, the zero g...yup, fantastic ride.

I *LOVE* Mystery Mine. It's one of my top favorite rides, just because of the whole package. Outside theming, music, area, the ride, the sensations, the *surprises* (cough second vertical lift cough). Thunderhead was somewhat disapointing for me, it was much rougher than I expected, and Kentucky Rumbler seemed to have much better airtime. But Thunderhead did have those crazy tight turns that threw you around. And I didn't forget Tornado...yeah, that ride is phenominal.

Can't wait to visit again!

See you at Diamondback..

-Zach

[DaveStroem]

Sunday on I232 was incredible compared to our Saturday rides. It didn't hurt that they were allowing re-rides on Timmy. I doubt there were 300 cars in the parking lot.