3/8/2011 - Carowinds and a Return to Lake Norman

Yesterday, we went to Carowinds. Carowinds is a theme park come water park that is situated right on the state lines of North and South Carolina. There are places where you can hop back and forth between states (think of Homer when he jumps between Australian and American territory in the Simpsons and you'll get the right idea...). The whole place is amazing, and I'm sorry I don't have many pictures for you as I was having too much fun! But, what I do have is generic provided pictures that are probably better quality that what I could have taken.

We left Boone at around 10am after running Ledale to work and doing other little things. I had packed the night before, which was sad. Driving out of Boone was also sad. It wasn't a bad journey, only two hours, so we got there around midday. We walked through the entrance, Emma's strategically hidden crackers remained undiscovered in the bag search, and it was unbelievably hot.

The first ride we went to was the Rip Roarin' Rapids. Now, we'd got this 'parent swap pass', which is a really good idea because it means that whilst the person 1 queues, person 2 can stay with the kids and then when it's over, person 2 can go up the exit and get on straight away, no queue. It worked even better because there were three of us. Adam and Emma went on first whilst I waited with the kids. We stood on the observation deck for a while, and I planned to put 25c in the machine and squirt them, but it got so so hot that I was burning and the boys were sweating, so we found some shade. When they came off, I went on and of course, was the one to get right under the waterfall and get absolutely soaked. It was good to cool off though!

We took a wander after this and found somewhere to get drinks and sit down, whilst Emma took little Adam onto the Scrambler. Some woman made a comment about how he was too young for the ride, but he loved it!

Then came the first of many rollercoasters, The Hurler. It's not that I'm not a big fan of coasters, but being exposed to only the old wooden one at the Pleasure Beach in Great Yarmouth doesn't really prepare you for these type of coasters. Although the Hurler was also wooden, it was nothing like the old Pleasure Beach coaster. But I liked it! So after, Emma and Adam swapped and I rode again. 

After this came the Carolina Cyclone, which on the second turn (Adam and Emma's) got stuck halfway up the assent, lovely. 

We'd made our way towards the water park bit, the place I was most excited about because I love water. It was all Australian themed, the whole area being called Boomerang Bay, and the slides were everywhere! We got changed, and got the boys changed, and headed over to the kids pool to begin with. Turns out, not wearing shoes in the water park was a bad idea and I managed to burn the bottoms of my feet because the concrete was so hot. After we'd got wet, we went back over to some slides called the Sydney Sidewinder. Me and Emma raced two little girls down it. We won. I uphold that it was through skill and technique, not because we were heavier than them so went down faster. 

Emma went to refill the water bottle whilst me and Adam took little Adam into the Great Barrier Reef.. a wading pool. It was nice to just float and relax.

We then took the kids over to Kangaroo Lagoon and Wallaby Wharf, where there was running water and slides and lots of fun for the kids (and me!).

I took Adam down one of the kids tube slides here.

Right acorss from here was another kids area called Jackaroo Landing, which was a three story kids water play area with water wheels and levers for the kids to control. Also, a 1000 gallon bucket on the top of the structure would fill up every few minutes and tip over, soaking everyone around. 

Then it was time for the big slides. Adam and I went to ride on the Down Under Thunder first, but it had a long queue and was a bit of a let down. Then, we braved the massive climb up to Pipeline Peak, which has a purple slide and a black slide, the only slides to have a 5 thrill rating, the highest rating. The climb up to it actually took it out of me. The line wasn't too long and there were rules about how to slide down. You had to be on your back, ankles crossed and hands behind your head. This worried me; I'd planned to have my hands across my chest to prevent bikini loss and flashing the lifeguard at the bottom. I still can't say whether I enjoyed that slide or not. It was all dark, and even if it wasn't I'd have had to shut my eyes because of the water. You're thrown around this little tube and there was a lot of water, most of which went up my nose, and at times it was hard to breathe. But it was fun, just not something you want to do twice in a day.

After that, I was kinda done with the water for the day.

We got changed.. at least Adam and Emma had. I forgot underwear so had to wait to dry, excellent.
Adam, Emma, little Adam and Enoch rode Boo Blasters.

Then Emma and I rode Thunder Road. Half the track of Thunder Road is in North Carolina and half is in South Carolina, with two trains running on the separate tracks. It's another wooden coaster, and we didn't really expect it to be as high thrill as it was, especially as we couldn't see before we got on where we were going.

We then went on what I'd probably say was my favourite ride of the day, the After Burn. It looks like Air at Alton Towers, where you sit with your feet dangling. I was scared of it at first, but Emma sort of made me go on it and I loved it.

The kid's area was next and it was all Snoopy themed. The kids went on little plane rides, gliders, a train, balloons, the carousel (which I loved too), little monorail helicopters that you peddle and driving school. The kids were so good all day, they really enjoyed themselves in this part and deserved to! By the time we were finished in there it was getting on for 9pm. Adam and Emma really wanted to go on a new ride called the Intimidator.. it sure did intimidate me. It was really high, and even had a flashing light on the top which I assume is so planes from the nearby Charlotte Airport didn't hit it. Because it was night time, it was all lit up in red. I chose to watch the kids.

Instead, me and the kids went on this.

The Carolina Skytower, a nice gentle ride which takes you up to the top, moves around for the views, then comes back down. Because it was night time, all the lights looked beautiful, and the park was lit up in all different colours. I the kids park you could see tress lit up in a rainbow of colours, it really was a beautiful sight.

The kids were tired, so once they were back in the stroller we sung some songs, and as I was halfway through the bears story (Mummy Bear, Daddy Bear, Adam Bear, Enoch Bear, Geri Bear and Goldilocks), Adam and Emma came off the Intimidator. They said it was amazing and that they were right at the front, but I still couldn't be convinced.

Instead, Emma and I went on our last ride of the night, the Night Hawk. We had planned to stay until 10 for the fireworks, and we had 20 minutes until then which providing it was late should have been plenty of time. We got in the queue, but there was only one train running so it took ages and we ended up watching the fireworks in the line. They were still beauitful though. Finally we got onto Night Hawk. It this, you lay down and it ends up flipping you around so it's like you're flying. It's another one that I can't decide if I like. The little girl next to me definetley did not like it as she held my hand halfway through.

We had a short journey to Emma's Dad's where we stayed last night because it's closer to the airport. Slept like a log and Skyped Mum and Nanny this morning. I fly at 5.11pm my time, I have a super quick connection in Atlanta and I land in New Orleans at 7.16pm, 6 hours behind you guys.