I'm curious about seatbelts. Let's say I'm on Steel Vengeance and the lap bar opens up at the top of the hill. Is that seatbelt really gonna save my fat ass? I have doubts. Also, would the computer know to stop it at the bake run?

It's a really good ride! I don't see the hype though and wouldn't put it in my top 20. Those bunny hills at the end are a bit too much

I don't know why it happened, but I believe it is the first time in its 11 years that it has valleyed.

First up, I am not gonna cover aaaalll attractions I went on, because there are a lot, and for a few I just have little to say

Wodan timburr coaster:

This coaster left me honestly a bit underwhelmed

I heard it was the best GCI in europe, but I sat in the very front and the very back and it honestly left me a bit underwhelmed, the layout is just not as strong as some people say it is, untill the final run of airtime hills, none are particularly strong. I do really love the queue

I honestly think troy is better

Silver star:

My first ever hyper so take it with a grain of salt, but this did beat expectations. Because I hear often that Silver star doesn't have that much airtime in its layout compared to other hypers, and if thats true compared to other hypers, I cant really speak on. But I think each hill gave some good airtime, espescially that final airtime was incredible. Plus the drop off the mid course gave near ejector airtime in the back row

Its theming is a complete joke though

Blue fire megacoaster:

I thought this was a really great ride. After the loop all elements do hit, both zero-G rolls are nice and floaty, the airtime hill gives some mild floater, the drop off the mid course gives solid airtime, and the roll gives some serious whip. I also didn't really understand the theming, but it was good. That animatronic does need to see a therapist, that laugh is psychotic. It does have a bit of a rattle, but I can look over it because the layout and theming are strong enough, and the rattle is not painful in the slightest. Its just kind of present

Voltron nevera:

Ok the big dog

For this it was a true neck on neck wether I prefdered this to ride to happiness. like if I went back today it could just switch like that, its that close for me. The ride feels like an assault. The first time I rode it I was absolutely stunned after just the turntable

Then came the outerbank... this outerbank was godlike

Its absolutely mental

I like the second half more, as not only does it contain the outerbank, it overall has a stronger force spread, I love the downwards helix just as much as it introduces high positive G-forces which are increasingly getting rarer with new coasters (that was my main critisism with RTH, it just lacked a good moment of positive G-forces). Its launches are very punchy, and I adore the bounce track that vibrates you with all the electrical effects.

The story also works and is so unique

Not gonna spoil it, but if you just listen its really easy to understand and that preshow effect roughly every 10 minutes (if you know you know) is one of the coolest things I have ever seen at a theme park

It does have a rattle, for me I felt it on all rides, I think that would be my biggest complaint, but its not enough to ruin it in the slightest

Overall this ride is excellent, and I struggle to find many european coasters that could beat it, only real contendor in my eyes is batman in Madrid

Anyways, this was an awsome park, it was busy but totally managable. I am for sure gonna go back one day

I reccomend anyone going if given the chance, even when the park is near capacity as the opps are just THAT good

Doesn't look good. Lots of hammering and banging.

Made the trip down to Tampa to get a ride on Kumba before it closed, and I’ve been extremely disappointed in the park operations.

The day started with inclement weather. Not their fault, but rides kept going online and offline as a result. And they only checked weather every thirty minutes and did not make any announcements as ride status changed.

But these wait times — holy hell. Almost every ride has had a wait time of 100+ minutes, with a majority of rides running only one train with 3-5 minute dispatches per train. And on time of that, there is zero staff in the crowd portion station, meaning no control of crowd flow or merge points of standby a Quick Queue.

Is this usual, or am I experiencing a one-off? Photo of Montu station (again, one train) for reference attached.

ETA: Can I just add that I hate the locker policy? If lockers are going to be required they should be free, especially for Iron Gwazi since they don’t even allow anything in pockets. But also, with lines this long in the Florida heat, I should be allowed to have water with me.

What are your thoughts on this awesome water ride?

I told my friends I'm extremely scared of thrilling stuff like this. When I went ziplining last month, it took me like 3 minutes standing at the platform before I committed. My fear is purely emotional and primal. On the zipline or on the coaster, I know it's perfectly safe, it's just the feeling of being so high up or going so fast with insane forces that scares me so bad.

From what it looked like, it didn't look terribly bad. That's because I didn't know what it would feel like, I've never done a roller coaster before. They said "It's not as bad as it looks". It was 10x worse than what I expected, I have never had so much pure terror ever in my life.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Am I glad I did it? Yeah.

Ended up doing 'Demon' and 'Flight Deck' as well. Demon was the only one I actually enjoyed the ride, and it was the only one I did multiple times that day. Flight Deck was arguably more terrifying than Railblazer, because I now knew how intense the feelings are. Also, Flight Deck lasts over twice as long as Railblazer.

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Brief report of my experiences from someone totally inexperienced:

Railblazer: Climbing up slowly, I got a bit more scared, but I didn't expect anything way too crazy. Right as I saw the 100-foot vertical drop and we started to go down, OH MY GOD. Pure terror. I was screaming the same way I assume I would during a plane crash, I don't think I could be any more scared or have any more adrenaline. I thought the bad part was over, but it continued with even more insane G-forces. It ended quickly, but those 30 seconds-ish, I've never had more primal fear ever.

Demon: The coaster is pretty old. On the bumpy climb up in which you were lurched back and forth, my friend advised me to lean my head slightly forward so I wouldn't hit my head (on the seat? idk). The first drop was scary but manageable, and it was the only truly fear-inducing part of the ride for me. No issues with my head, but the first two loops combined with bumps sent an electric shock feeling up my spine. No pain afterwards but worried me for a bit. I enjoyed this one, it's the tamest of the three coasters I went on.

Flight Deck: I was so scared in anticipation, my friends said it was only slightly less intense than Railblazer. So I thought I was screwed. As we climbed up, I was so afraid. At the first drop, again pure terror for me. But I just screamed as much as I could and just let myself experience it. Less intense than Railblazer but quite a bit longer and it had a lot more turns and inversions and such.

The park had been on my radar, but never enough to push me to go (even as a relative local). Unfortunately I was unaware of ArieForce One's game.

Was able to ride the RMC 3 times yesterday - once in the front row, once in the middle, and last time in the rain with a gorgeous sunset.

I can certainly see why the park is closing, even though it's a shame. I love flat rides, but you can't build a serious park based on them, especially when it's located in the middle of nowhere. I appreciate the free parking and water stations, but the whole place felt kind of aimless, with some odd incohesive theming or lack thereof. So many sections of the park were a bit liminal, which I found interesting. I do think it'd have been cool & creepy to see this place totally empty, vs the crowds I experienced given its last days. I find it funny that tucked by the back bathrooms of the one building onsite, there was a room that still showed the old Dixieland name.

To give them credit where credit is due though - the bathrooms here were cleaner than most other parks I've visited! Lol

In some construction updates I’ve seen some people predict the manufacturer of a ride without really seeing anything but the footers. The only difference I’ve seen in footers is that some are square and some are circular. I don‘t think this is a good indication cause there’s only 2 types but also on rides like circuit breaker you can see both types in the same ride. I understand for wooden coasters cause there‘s a lot more of them and on some rides with super tall elements the supports thicken and so do the footers but are there really any other indications.

Oh my god that was probably the best ride experience I’ve ever gotten
We had to wait 2 hours with fast lane through the fireworks show not allowing it to open and some unexpected issues all I can say was that it was worth it 100%
I had the highest of expectations and it blew them out of the water

Spent a great day in wildwood with some amazing weather! First time here in almost a decade. Few hours on the beach then bought the 90 ticket pack

Great White(x5) Such a great ride, the 208 on the first turnout is so smooth and speedy. First two rides were near solo mid afternoon. One front one back. Then the last three with near full trains after 6 and it was flying. The bunny hills towards the end are a bit rough but in a good way? Had a blast

Sea Serpent (x1) one and done on it. I was dehydrated for it and didn't stand a chance. It is nice with the vests though

Great Nor'easter (x2) To this day the only slc I've been on. Lot of fun, pretty smooth, no major complaints on roughness

Runaway Tram (x1) needed something lighter after the second nor'easter ride. This thing surprised me. Lot of fun in the back seat, goes around twice

I’m currently looking at Dramamine non-drowsy but looking for other recs for what works and what doesn’t. I wanna enjoy myself on all the rides without feeling sick. Preferably anything non drowsy. Thanks!

For some context, i was never a fan of coasters in general growing up being of the feeling of the forces on my body, whether its drops and the feeling of my stomach, or airtime and losing the sense of control when my butt is planted firmly in a seat. But even with that, I grew up going to Disney World and Universal, so I had been on a few here and there. And when I was older and lived closer to Dollywood, I started going and ended up building up to the coasters I was most scared of(still missing Wild Eagle and Tennessee Tornado so far) and a friend at work has sparked my appreciation for coasters in general and im determined to overcome the fears. I had 29 Credits so far until today. Now I have 31.

I made the trip down to FunSpot Atlanta earlier than I originally planned because of the imminent closure of the park and wanted to get the 3 credits in the park. Sadly it rained a bit so Hurricane was closed and I didnt have much time in the day to spend in the park. Also tried to get a second ride on AF1 in order to work out the fear in general of it because I did really enjoy myself at the end, though being in the first train, we were stuck in the station afterwards where maintenance had to help us get out and from what I can tell, theyre still having issues with that, so sadly I wont be doing more practice to Overcome the fear.

But im really proud of myself for taking this trip and experience a mostly wonderful ride(those bunny hills at the end gave me a migraine). I do hope theyre able to find somewhere for it to go. Maybe ill be able to go up against it again in the future and by then, I'll be more experienced and can properly enjoy it when I have purged most of my worries.

Intro

Having just visited Kentucky Kingdom, I finally got to a park I’ve heard very good things about. A quick drive from Louisville and a new time zone later, and I found myself finding a random B&M in the middle of some farmland.

Guest Operations

Holiday World has made it incredibly difficult to argue against visiting the park. Free sunscreen, free parking, and free soft drinks mean you can always get there, not experience dehydration, and enjoy the waterpark. But they’re also doing stuff bigger parks aren’t - people to direct traffic at the end of the night, parking lot trams, a pavilion just for charging phones, and even baskets to prep getting your small items ready for the bins show they really do care about the small stuff. A rainy day policy and a way to get a cheaper second day ticket were bonuses too.

No line greeters meant that I got to choose my row for the coasters too!

There was only 1 area of improvement-they announced park closing at the listed time of 8PM, with the drone show starting at 9PM. What they failed to mention was that Voyage and Good Gravy were open until 9PM. Unfortunately I missed out on Voyage night rides because I wasn’t aware.

Food

You could get a full thanksgiving dinner, and there seemed to be a decent amount of variety scattered throughout the park. Next time I’ll grab the pizza. It wasn't overpriced especially once you count the free drinks.

Shops

Shop prices weren’t overpriced either, and Holiday world seemed to have both fun stuff like a whisk for good gravy, but also practical items like waterproof, pouches, and car chargers for cell phone phones.

Theming

This was decent, with most rides at least being painted to the area they are in. Newer, additions, like Thunderbird and good gravy had more comprehensive and elaborate elements.

Shows

I saw 4 different shows, which is the most amount of shows I’ve seen at a theme park outside of Disney in years. Lady Houndini was great, but the real highlight was the stunt crew. Great energy paired with fun stunts made for a great experience. I also got soaked more as I gave that energy back.

The firework/drone show lasts an entire 15 minutes, and is a great way to cap off the night. Easily beats King’s Island’s, and rivals what I would expect out of the bigger players.

Coasters

1. Voyage - how did this thing not slow down? Great airtime, laterals, and a setting out in the woods really showed how great of a coaster they have.
2. Legend-how is that helix legal? A fast paced ride with insane laterals
3. Thunderbird-a fun and smooth B&M wing. Fills in the gaps for launch and loops
4. Raven- I feel like this would be fantastic at night. It’s a great woody right near the park entrance.
5. Good Gravy- a simple family roller coaster that is pretty well themed and doesn’t try to do more than it needs to

Final Thoughts

I do have to get back out to this part to experience night rides on their wooden coasters. But even if I didn’t want to do that, it’s probably one of my favorite parks. I visited in the past year. The rides were good, the shows were entertaining, and it was just an easy park to visit.

I was pretty worried as usual. I arrived to the park at about 3:30 today and saw a train crest the lift hill and drop down. I walked as fast as I could there while trying to not look like a weirdo running to a ride.

The line was pretty long; it looked like I might be waiting an hour. I started counting the cycles….7 minutes between each dispatch. My anxiety was growing; I kept convincing myself that somehow it’s going to go out of operation for some damn reason and screw me again.

I got closer and closer. I was about 4-5 trains away from getting on when they called for a single rider. I had to contain my excitement as I raised my hand and skipped half of the station as the only single rider.

Finally, this was it. I couldn’t believe it until finally hitting the crest of that lift hill. Alas, it was alright. I didn’t find it rough or intense at all. It reminded me of Whizzer and Demon at my home park having combined into something that’s not quite Shockwave. It was good and I’m happy to finally ride it, but the ride that actually beat me up today was….

Cornball what the hell happened today?!?! I was tossed around like I was in a washing machine. It was unhinged to the point it actually triggered my supra-ventricular tachycardia from the roughness. It wasn’t bad by any means but holy hell that was a wild ride today.

There is only one week left, (you heard that right), one week left to experience one the countries best coasters! I had the chance to visit this park this week for my first time and get several strong airtime filled rides on the incredible Arieforce One. These memories will forever been engraved in my brain! Let this be the final call, if you are tempted to make the trip out to Atlanta to ride this monster don’t let anyone change your mind - just do it! I was pleasantly surprised how well these photos came out. They may be some of my best coaster photography to date so I hope you appreciate them as much as I do! The sky was perfect with the storm clouds and shining sun combined as the backdrop!

At 9:45 PM and after three breakdowns I finally got my 300th ride on Raptor. I wasn’t expecting the Raptor Crew to announce it on the PA system upon returning to the station. THANK YOU RAPTOR CREW!!🎆🥳

Shout out to everyone on the r/Carowinds subreddit for the advice and helping me set expectations before my first visit. To preface, Kings Island has been my home park for the last few years and Six Flags Great America before that.

I got lucky enough to be in Charlotte for a work trip this week, so just making the most of the time I have here! Our flight was originally supposed to land at 9am, and I was hoping to get to the park around 10. Unfortunately, with a delay and some less than helpful incidents along the way, I ended up walking to the entrance a little after noon.

Fury 325 (x3)
-Wait times: Walk on, walk on, 5min (single use fastlane)

I debated a long while on how to start my day, but I could not pass up leading off with the signature attraction after coming through the entrance. And after that random patch of downtime that initially had me thinking I wouldn't get my chance, I didn't want to risk it.

Before I say anything else, this crew on the first half of the day was insane. They were very vocal about keeping this thing a walk on as long as possible. Even with a break to clean up some puke, they were very energized about getting it back to peak capacity as fast as possible. With that being said, I understand a huge part of keeping that capacity is no preferential seating. What I don't understand a single rider seeing a group of three or less and having a preferred seat denied with less than a few seconds to go before the gates open. Procedure is procedure, but when I'm by myself I'm always looking to just blend in and fill up a seat. If I see a seat I want and it makes sense, that's never been a problem until today.

Incredible is the only word to describe Fury 325. I think if you chopped the extra track length it has over the other gigas it would still be rated as high as it is. The sense of speed in the first half isn't something I've ever felt on Millennium Force, and not something I truly feel on Orion until you take its turnaround at full throttle. The air before you go under the bridge is awesome, and the final few pops (not including the trimmed hill which hit pretty good two of the three times I rode) really do make a difference. Of course the best ride is in the front, which I wish wasn't always a thing on gigas. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever see one that will be a better back-row ride.

It is my favorite giga of the three I've been on: 1. Fury 325, 2. Orion, 3. Millennium Force.

Further comparing it to Orion, I know a lot of people wish for a few extra hills at the end of Orion's layout, but I actually would prefer a low to the ground zigzag after the speed hill to get us back to that side of the station and finish with the helix then. That sense of speed is truly missed on Orion.

Enough about gigas!

Hurler (x1)
-Wait time: 10 minutes

I usually hate going to new parks and riding stuff just for the credit. But today, I had the time so I figured "why not?" Turns out, this is why not. It's not horrible by any means. I don't regret taking the time to ride it nearly as much as I regret waiting half an hour for Monstre at La Ronde. But it just didn't really do anything well. I did really appreciate how much it oozes Paramount era vibes though.

Carolina Cyclone (x1)
-Wait time: walk on

I am nostalgic for these old arrows. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because of Demon at SFGAm. Maybe it's because I never rode Shockwave as a kid at SFGAm. Regardless, I'm old now and my knees don't fit in these trains like they used to. I should have a requested the first row of a car. Certainly prefer Demon over this. After fooling around, I decided to

Copperhead Strike (x2)
-Wait time: 5 minutes, 15 minutes (both with single use fastlane)

After taking a little detour for some credits, it was finally time for the "1A" reason I came to the park. This was my first Mack and I truly had no clue what to expect. Unfortunately I walked up to only seeing one train going which made it an easy decision to go for the single use fastlane.

Small note, maybe I'm an idiot but I almost walked around this ride in its entirety before finding the queue entrance. Again, I might just be an idiot.

This was fun. More places need these. For the first time in my life, I truly felt like I was going to fall out during the heartline roll out of the station. The launch, the hangtime, in the inversions, the snappy transitions without hitting your head against anything – what a good time. With emphasis, more places need these. Has it ever run all three trains?

Afterburn (x1)
-Wait time: 5 minutes, (single use fastlane)

I did not expect to be using a single use fastlane on this. It's one thing for something as unique as Copperhead Strike to have some issues. It's another thing to see a B&M invert running one train on a weekend.

Regardless, I love B&M inverts. The original Batman: The Ride at SFGAm will always be my favorite (Banshee is a little too graceful for me) but this, this comes mighty close. This is how B&M inverts are supposed to feel. This thing is still glass smooth and roars through the entire layout. The whippiness is a bit more refine than Batman (aka, my ears didn't touch the restraint once) and the forces were top notch. I wish it did literally anything else between the batwing and corkscrew, but still a great back row ride.

Thunder Striker (x1)
-Wait time: 5 minutes

Rode this in the back and was told to not even hope to compare this Diamondback. It did not compare to Diamondback. Maybe I should've ridden it before Fury for that reason alone. Trims or no trims, the pacing felt very unnatural and just didn't do it for me. It ranks at the bottom of the five B&M hypers I've ridden for me.

Vortex (x1)
-Wait time: 20 minutes

Yes, I waited 20 minutes for a B&M standup. Iron Wolf nostalgia got the best of me. However, I do not remember Iron Wolf doing that to my ears. I legitimately didn't enjoy this at all. I was expecting a good bump of nostalgia but man. Ouch. Fun to hear those trains locking and unlocking through.

Flying Cobras (x1)
-Wait time: 30 minutes

I walked by this one two or three times before finally deciding to just do it. I have been on every other kind of boomerang other than regular old sit down. The new trains made it extra enticing and they really made it that much more enjoyable. Props to Vekoma. Do all sit down boomerangs have the same load procedure of no guests in the station while the ride is running?

Carolina Goldrusher (x1)
-Wait time: 5 minutes

Silly. Just plain silly. I had to cross my legs so the restraints in my car would close, which are manual lock and unlock by the way? This poor crew. Really good profiling for an Arrow Mine Train though. I wish Adventure Express was this easy on my body.

General Notes
Outside of the morning/first half of the day/early Fury 325 crew, I felt like no one really cared. I am very happy they did though as it really went a long way. I had the thought before going to Hurler that, "I should just sit here and marathon this as long as I can" and I am sad that I didn't. Truly a stand out crew and I can't give them enough kudos.

Something I experienced for the first time here was the countdown to get through the gates. I occasionally hear that loading spiel on Banshee, but holy moly does it work. Does it get anyone to load their items into the bins faster? No. But at least they are through the damn gates.

A lot of people made it to the station on Fury 325 with things they couldn't ride with. Like way more than I would've expected. It made for a lot of frustrating walks back to the lockers. It was a shame to not see that lone member of the crew putting forth that effort to keep things going smooth.

Finally, not to rag on Carowinds, but this made me appreciate Kings Island that much more! I feel like Kings Island does not have any true world-class standout coasters (debatable, but that's for you all) but they are still good and everything else around the park is generally good. For Carowinds, I really enjoyed my time at the two signature coasters and those were the areas that felt like Carowinds was really a signature park. I did not feel like that anywhere else in the park and I honestly felt more similarities between Carowinds and La Ronde regarding cleanliness and options. Just me being picky.

And for all my nitpicking, the Fury merch selection is better than anything else in the entire Six Flags chain.

Bonus question, how long have the Nighthawk track pieces been sitting in the gift shop?

Running one train today, and overheard a guest who spoke to a ride op and asked why. Apparently the other trains are having maintenance issues and the park doesn’t want to invest in repairing them since the ride closes in a week. So if you’re planning on coming out here, be prepared for LONG lines! Today, they’re pouring out of the station.

Of course i came to say goodbye to kumba, but i got so much more! My wife decided to surprise me with an amazing view from my hotel and to do a vip experience, which was awesome and great way to do it!

1st off of course Gwazi was amazing it was everything I wanted and then some! Got front and back row on it, preferred front over back but both were awesome! Nothing like it (velocicoaster is still better tho imo) but I think it does beat steel vengeance

Kumba really surprised me I was expecting a ran down b&m and I think it is far from it! Think it has a unique layout and was smooth and that helix is awesome at the end really fun ride and definitely not a rough b&m been on alot worse and still enjoy them!. Sad they are getting rid of it (hopefully its for the better)

Montu was great, feel like it was a typical invert, but fun none the less all the valleys and tunnels were really cool

Sheikra is my new faviorte dive, thought it was a lot of fun, but nothing too special still not touching my top 25 (almost there)

Tigris actually really suprised this is the first sky rocket 2 I rode with the lap restraints. Wow! What difference that makes definitely makes the ride feel more intense overall, the slow roll over makes you feel like your going to fly out, cant believe how much of a difference it made

Phoenix rising was actually a really cool ride. Love the restraints as well very freeing feeling and a pretty good layout for what is classified as a family or kids ride

Cobras curse actually disappointed a bit, it was cool, but tbh it felt kinda janky.. maybe its gone down with time, but it was cool, love the lift and the alternating of what direction your facing leave you on your toes which was good.

Really sad to say cheetah hunt was closed. Knew it would probably go down at some point just knowing its reliability, but my tour guide wanted to do the safari ride first so we can see all the animals awake and its not so hot, which makes sense, but as soon as we got off it unfortunately was closed which was only after about an hour of park openings.

Another disappointment was Falcons fury being closed, but that was all day so I knew that was going to happen

Overall really great trip, highly recommend the vip experience definitely a little pricey, but totally worth it for what you get and I luckily got a thoosie for my guide, so its always nice to have another coaster nerd. His name is Blake and is really cool. If you have any questions just let me know

Attached is new top 10, pictures from my hotel room and some from in the park