During last week’s trip to Dutch Wonderland, Sam and I decided we were going to head down to Carowinds the following week to meet up with Greg and his family on Wednesday, August 11. We booked a hotel for a couple of nights just outside the park, but I had an idea for Sam and I – visit Myrtle Beach and stop at Pavilion Park, Funplex, and Family Kingdom as well. Each of the entries in this blog series will cover those stops, with the final two both covering different days at Carowinds.
We all have bucket list coasters we want to experience and up until Tuesday, August 10, 2021, Swamp Fox was one of mine. For years I have wanted ride this Philadelphia Toboggan Coaster (PTC) classic. Back in the sixth grade (1990-91), my English teacher, Jack Leonard, would talk about two things constantly – fireworks and roller coasters. Being a young fan of coasters, I always loved hearing about his journeys. One he would bring up regularly was Swamp Fox at Myrtle Beach. Needless to say, this coaster has been on my radar for some time.
Now that I am a full-fledged coaster enthusiast, traveling to parks all over the United States, I’ve been just waiting for the chance to present itself to make riding Swamp Fox a reality. When Sam and I made the plans last week to meet up with Greg and his family at Carowinds on Wednesday, I penciled in plans to visit Family Kingdom on Tuesday. I wasn’t passing this up! And best of all, I told Jack about the trip. He once rode Swamp Fox 100 times in a day many years ago, landing himself in a local newspaper for his feat. Sam and I would fall 98 rides short of him, but we still got to ride it nonetheless.
Evening & Night Rides
When I planned out our stops through Myrtle Beach, Pavilion Park opened at 11 a.m. and Funplex: Myrtle Beach at 1 p.m. Family Kingdom, however, did not open until 6 p.m. This meant that we were going to be getting to our hotel later that I had hoped. Oh well I was riding Swamp Fox no matter what.
Sam and I elected to get unlimited wristbands, wanting to ride a few other coaster offerings, flat rides, and hopefully, Swamp Fox several times. Sadly, however, Kiddie Coaster was not available for adults to ride. We’d have to miss the former Speedy Gonzalez credit.
Swamp Fox
The first ride and last ride of our evening was spent on Swamp Fox. And boy, oh boy, was this a tale of two distinctly different ride experiences. One was amazing. The other, not so much. I can’t remember riding a coaster that differed this much between moving from front to back like this.
Ride 1 - Front Row
Our first experience with Swamp Fox came in the front seat. I wanted to go back row first, but for some reason the entire last cart of the train was closed off. Wire ties held down the buzz bars and wooden barricades were nailed into those three stalls. We had no idea why, so we figured we’d just head up to the front.
Once our train departed, we were on our way for one heck of a fun ride. We hit lots of airtime moments that caused me to leave my seat. Had it not been for the seat belts, some of those pops would have caused standing airtime for sure. Overall, this first ride was one heck of an experience. Sam and I loved it. Then we came back to end the night.
Ride 2 - Row 9 (Default Back Row)
Since we couldn’t ride rear cart, we decided to sit in the very last row that was available. While waiting in line, someone asked why the back was closed off. A ride operator told them it was because they get too many complaints about roughness. Sam and I looked at each other wondering how rough it could be. Our first ride was anything but. Little did we know, however, what was in store for ride number two.
After departing the station and climbing the lift hill, we found out at the base of the first drop that this was going to be a rough ride. On one of the following airtime hills, Sam’s head hit the head rests. It was not pleasant for her at all. The saving grace of this ride was the wicked amount of laterals experienced in the final turn around before the station. It pulls you and pulls you hard.
After our second ride, I shared our mixed experiences with both Jack Leonard and Mike of Canobie Coaster. Mike rode the coaster in 2020 and had very positive things to say about the ride. You can watch his review, “Swamp Fox Review, Family Kingdom | Crazy Ejector Airtime Wooden Coaster.” Both he and Jack were bummed to hear about how rough our second ride turned out to be and the fact that the last cart is closed to riders. Like Sam and I, they both hope that the park is able to remedy the issue and get the coaster running as it should.
Log Flume
After our first ride on Swamp Fox, Sam and I decided to go cool off a bit by riding the log flume. The line was short and we saw some riders getting off with wet shirts. With the hot sun beating down on us since we arrived at Myrtle Beach, we didn’t care if we got wet or even soaked.
Although the both of us have been on much larger, more well-themed flumes, this flume was a good ride for a park the size of Family Kingdom. If I have any suggestions it would be to add some kind of theming in the areas shown in the photo above. It is a little barren. Other than that though, it’s a fun ride that did get us wet on the first drop. That surprised us. We expected to get wet on the larger, second drop.
Twist 'n Shout
Have I shared how much Sam hates Wild Mouse coasters? Well, if I haven’t, she does. Twist ‘n Shout was going to be a one and done for us anyhow, but we were surprised to see just how long the line was for the park’s second largest coaster. We jumped in line to get our credit and the line just kept growing ever so longer behind us. I’m glad we got in line when we did.
As for the ride, this might have been one of the most intense mouse coasters I’ve ridden. The immediate turns following the airtime pops in the track really flung us all over the train. Sam and I were laughing and saying “ouch,” constantly throughout the ride. The wildness of this mouse was so unexpected. I guess that’s what makes it a “Wild” Mouse, huh?
Pistolero Roundup
I always ride dark rides whenever a park has one in their line up. I grew up riding a handful of classic ones at various beach parks as a kid. I grew to love them at an early age. When I saw that Family Kingdom had one, I knew we’d be riding it, especially once we found out that Pistolero Roundup is actually the first-ever interactive dark ride designed by famed manufacturer, Sally Rides.
Overall, the ride was on the shorter side, but it was well worth riding. If we had more times to spend at the park, I would have loved to have gotten in a re-ride. I wish dark rides were as prevalent in the amusement park industry as coasters. They’re so fun!
Final Ride Counts
Log Flume (1)
Pistolero Roundup (1)
Swamp Fox (2)
Twist ‘n’ Shout (1)
Leaving with Mixed Emotions
After riding Swamp Fox that first time, I was so happy that a bucket list coaster of mine lived up to and even surpassed my expectations. I was wanting to end the evening with several rides on it before we had to leave. I didn’t expect that end after just the first re-ride. After how much that second ride threw us around and bounced us hard off the seats, I didn’t want to risk having to drive three hours to our hotel with a headache. That bummed me out. If that second ride had been like our first, I think Sam and I would have spent at least another hour at the park.
With all that said, I really enjoyed my time at Family Kingdom. Like with Pavilion Park and Funplex before it, I only wish we had more time. There were some flat rides, especially the train, that I wanted to experience. I think I’m going to have to get a hotel in Myrtle Beach the next time I’m down that way. All these parks deserved a little more time. Hopefully should that opportunity arise, I hope the last train of Swamp Fox will be re-opened and the rough spots remedied. I’m not sure I’ll ride it 100 times in a day as Jack did, but I sure would like some more rides on this beautiful coaster.
Family Kingdom Photo Gallery - August 10, 2021
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CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): Swamp Fox, Twist 'n' Shout
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): Swamp Fox, Twist 'n' Shout
