TR: Jewel of the Seas 2014 Caribbean Cruise Pt. 1 – Preface

At one point in 2012, we had three cruises concurrently booked. I mention this specifically because after that third cruise of the group, we somehow managed to have zero booked for several months and not even any clear plan of when to next do one, where it would be, anything. 6 months out, emboldened by our new jobs and the revolutionary freedom to schedule things less than a year in advance, we finally settled on something that appealed to both of us. And then we canceled our reservation on the Carnival Valor for this April, departing San Juan.

TR: Coastercon 2012 – Pt. 7, Caro-Winded (6/22/2012)

The final day of Con began as practically all the others have; waking up just before the alarm clock early in the AM, driving to an amusement park when I should be asleep, all to go to an 8AM ERT session. A major focus for us was to head over to Planet Snoopy and go to town on their various children’s attractions before large lines built up. It is one thing to go on embarrassing rides. Its another to wait a long period of time before going on embarrassing rides.

TR: Coastercon 2012 – Pt. 6, Carowinds; Because It’s There (6/21/2012)

As a person who has nerded out for amusement parks and fairs for 15 years, Carowinds has become the park with the largest number of roller coasters anywhere in the world that I’ve never before visited. That was until CoasterCon 35 rolled into Charlotte. It also happens to be a park I knew precious little about – I knew Carowinds straddled the border of North and South Carolina, was built in the theme park boom of the 1970s, and had a ton of roller coasters. Aside from that? I basically didn’t know what the place looked like, what its centerpiece was, etc.

I knew that Carowinds was part of the Con schedule because it was the only large park near Dollywood. It was part of this event not necessarily because it demanded to be so, but really for no other reason than that it happened to be where it was. They still rolled out the red carpet so far as Cedar Fair goes, but the level of excitement for this part was muted. Was it a universal ignorance about the place that was causing this?