Andrew Singleton

Hello again readers, I know I'm a little late on this, but here goes:

As I mentioned in the last blog entry, I am going to do a four part series on the parks of the Walt Disney World Resort. I am an extreme Disney fanatic, but I will try to refrain from being biased as much as possible. In this entry, I will be reviewing the Magic Kingdom.

The Magic Kingdom is the original of the four parks in the resort, and the design staple of all the other Disney resorts. It was originally built as a much more spacious version of the original Disneyland Park in California, but is now the single most visited amusement park in the world. Just what draws so many visitors to this park every year?

The answer: a mixture of nostalgia, atmosphere and simply A-grade attractions. No matter where you go around the globe, if you bring up "Space Mountain" or "The Haunted Mansion", almost everyone knows what you're talking about. The lasting impression this place leaves on you is strong enough to remember for the rest of your life, and is definitely one that you’ll want to share with the rest of your loved ones.

I personally have many great memories from this park. This is the park where I first developed my love for roller coasters. I have been to this park more times than I can remember, with my first visit being when I was merely two years old. I still hold the same feelings for the park even though so much time has passed. Now let's move on to the attractions.

The starring attractions of the Magic Kingdom are easily the three mountains. They serve as the corner stones, with each one strategically placed at one of the three corners of the park.

Space Mountain was the first coaster to be built in the park. It was originally intended to be Magic Kingdom's version of The Matterhorn at Disneyland, but at the last minute Disney decided to give it an original space theme instead. The ride itself is a double tracked coaster built inside of a large dome, encased in complete darkness. It is fairly smooth with comfortable cars and a couple of areas with good airtime. It features several points of strong laterals too, giving it an "out-of-control" feel to complement the sense of isolation due to the darkness that surrounds you. Overall, it’s a great ride that is not to be missed.

Next up is Splash Mountain, which is an extremely well themed log flume/dark ride. The story line is adapted from the film "Song of the South", which is based on the cycle of stories on Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris. The ride features several great drops including one that actually inclines up again before finally splashing down. The climax of the ride is, of course, the final lift and the "big" drop. Riders reach the lift hill as ominous vultures talk about their impending doom, making morbid statements such as, "So you're looking for a laughing place, eh?" and "We'll show you a laughing place". Riders then continue up the lift and pass by a scene of Brer Rabbit tied to a stake begging not to be thrown into the briar patch. Finally, the boat goes over the edge and down a 16-metre drop, entering a tunnel at the end that allows the water from the splash to evenly coat the riders. The ride ends with a joyous scene set to the very famous tune, "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah", to congratulate the riders’ victory over Brer Fox and their safe return home. To this day, this is one of my favourite water rides and it is no wonder why it scores so highly in the Annual Golden Ticket Awards.

The third and final mountain is the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMR). BTMR is a classic, out-of-control mine train roller coaster. It features 3 different parts each separated by a chain lift. The ride is made up of several tight helices, small bunny hills and drops, laid throughout a complex man-made mountain featuring several animatronics and lighting effects. The ride has several good periods of airtime, and the lap bars are designed to give the rider more freedom, allowing for sliding from side to side in the seat through the tighter curves. Overall, the ride has good pacing, great elements and is quite comfortable. One thing to note is that you should make sure you ride it at least once during the day and once again at night. The night rides are completely different and seem to be more intense.

With the mountains out of the way, there are just a few more rides that I want to comment on before ending this review, the first of which is Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates is a classic water/dark ride set to the easily recognisable tune of "A Pirate's Life for Me".  The ride has very good animatronics and special effects including a few that can get the riders wet. There is also a fairly decent drop of about 6 metres near the beginning of the ride to appease the thrill seekers who might otherwise not enjoy the ride. However, I feel that the new set pieces themed after the blockbuster movies were not truly necessary. At some points, they even feel sorely out of place. Overall though, it's a must-ride for anyone visiting the park.

The final ride I want to comment on is The Haunted Mansion. This is my personal favourite at the Magic Kingdom. The eerie atmosphere, the perfect theming and effects, the great voiceovers by "The Ghost Host", and the interactions from the ride operators all adds up to an amazingly deep and thrilling dark ride. This is a ride that I will wait for no matter how long the line is. Simply another must-ride if you are visiting the park.

Other than these, the rest of the rides are a mixture between those targeted at kids and a couple other classic dark rides. Aside from the rides, there are also several shows that are worth watching. They are an entertaining way to get out from the Florida heat for a while when you're waiting for your next FastPass to be ready.

Food wise, there are several places to eat in the park, most of which provide quick service places for visitors to grab a quick bite in a matter of minutes. There are also a few "grander" eateries including my personal favourite, The Diamond Horseshoe. Whatever you decide on to eat though, make sure you save room for dessert, because the quick service stand named Aloha Isle in Adventureland is one of the only places in main land US where you can get the famous treat known as Dole Whip, a type of soft-serve ice cream.

Overall, I love this park and I can't wait to visit again in May. Whether or not you are a Disney fanatic, you will find something enjoyable in this park. The only gripe I have about the park and its attractions is that they removed Alien Encounter and replaced it with a poorly done knock-off starring Stitch. I miss that show...

Anyway, I am done for this article, and remember to check back later this month for my blog on Disney's Animal Kingdom. Goodbye!

Photo: The Magic Kingdom

For this next year I'm going to be doing a blog series where I share my opinions on all of the parks I travel to. To start this off I'm going to do a review on my home park and place of employment. I am of course talking about Carowinds.

For those of you who don't know, Carowinds is actually the only park in the U.S. that sits on the border of two states. Half of the park is in Fort Mill, SC, and the other half is located in Charlotte, NC. The park takes advantage of this by placing a line down the centre of the main entry showing exactly where the border lies.

The park is owned by Cedar Fair, the same company that owns Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio and Knott's Berry Farm in southern California.

The park has a decent selection of rides including 13 roller coasters, the newest of which, The Intimidator, will be opening next year. The park's other star attractions are Afterburn, a Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) Inverted Coaster, and Nighthawk, a Vekoma Flying Dutchman. Now that I've gotten all of that out of the way, it's on to the meat-and-potatoes of this blog entry.

In my personal opinion, this is one of the nicest Cedar Fair parks. There is a lot of charm alongside decent landscaping and theming. Carowinds' staff is always friendly and polite, and the pathways are kept very clean and tidy. This, however, is just the icing on the cake. Carowinds also boasts some world-class roller coasters and various fun flat rides.

Afterburn is a top-notch coaster and has sat firmly in my top 10 ever since it debuted 10 years ago. It has a great layout with a couple of very intense elements. In my opinion, this is the best B&M Invert in the country, and it's only getting better with age.

Nighthawk was originally opened as Stealth, the world's first flying coaster, at California's Great America. The first half of the ride is fun and surprisingly smooth -- as for the second half, it's best if you bring along some Tylenol.

Vortex was one of B&M's very first coasters. It features a very simplistic layout, but proves to be very intense for its size. It is also normally quite smooth. I personally love this coaster and ride it every time I'm at the park.

Thunder Road is a classic PTC racing wooden coaster designed by Curt Summers. Unfortunately, the ride has a few rough spots which Great Coasters International (GCI) has taken on the task of rebuilding. It features an amazing first drop as well as a fun, airtime filled first half. After the turnaround though, most of the airtime dies. This will hopefully change thanks to the rebuilding process.

Carolina Cyclone is an Arrow looping coaster and was actually the first coaster in the world to feature four inversions. To this day, it has remained one of the smoothest and best Arrow coasters that I have ever been on.

Hurler is a wooden coaster with a layout inspired by Thunder Run at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. In the first few years of its operation, it was smooth, fast, fun and airtime filled. Over time, though, the trains slowly started taking their toll on the track. In recent years it has become a very painful experience. Thankfully, and surprisingly, the park added a trim brake to the bottom of the first drop that has made the ride much smoother.

The rest of the attractions don't warrant much attention. There's a standard Wild Mouse, an Arrow Mine Train, a Vekoma Boomerang and suspended Roller Skater, PTC junior wooden coaster and a Miller kiddie coaster.

Other than coasters, there are a few note-worthy flat rides. There's Screamweaver, one of the world's only Intamin-built enterprises; Southern Star, an Intamin Looping Starship; a Huss Rainbow; and also an Intamin drop tower. But most importantly, there are flyers. The flyers at Carowinds are normally ranked second only to Knoebels'.

Well, that's the basic rundown of my opinions on my home park. I will be following up with further entries once a month. Until then, thanks for reading!

Photo: Carowinds