UPDATED 04.22.04 — The Las Vegas Hilton is not the only place on Earth being invaded by the Borg this year. Assimilation has begun at another Paramount Parks location across the country from Star Trek: The Experience. Paramount's Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, has introduced the first Star Trek-themed roller coaster in the world: BORG Assimilator™.

The Borg Assimilator, which launched earlier this month, is already becoming the most popular attraction at the Carowinds theme park and a favorite destination among Star Trek fans and roller coaster enthusiasts. It is the longest "flying" roller coaster in the Southeast United States, featuring eight inversions amongst an environment of Borg assimilation.

Marina Sirtis ("Deanna Troi") — no stranger to encounters with the Borg — attended the recent opening event for the coaster. "Star Trek is one of Paramount's most treasured and profitable properties," Sirtis commented. "They are very careful about what they brand. But this is pretty perfect. The Borg are scary — and this ride is scary ... I don't think I'll get on it!"

Other VIPs present to launch the new ride included Steve Smith, star wide receiver from the Carolina Panthers, and Carole Sanderson, president of American Coaster Enthusiasts, along with several members of the Collective itself and Trek fans in costume (pictured on left).

A Sphere has crash-landed in the middle of the theme park. The beginning of the Borg takeover is already evident in the ominous tones of gray, black and green on the coaster's track, queue line and loading station. The Collective beckons riders across the wreck-strewn landscape and into the loading station. Once inside, guests board 24-passenger trains, get locked into lap and over-the shoulder harnesses, and are rotated backward into a reclining position before ascending to the top of a 115-foot, 30-degree lift hill. As the coaster crests the lift hill, it inverts and turns guests face-down, suspending them below the track in a superhero-like flying position and racing toward the ground at speeds of up to 50 m.p.h. Through 2,781 feet of curves, drops and sweeping turns, riders tour the crash site where the Sphere sits at the end of a blackened, charred path of destruction.

Designed by Vekoma International of the Netherlands, Borg Assimilator is Carowinds' 12th coaster and the tallest in the park. Riders experience the unique sensation of flying without floors, walls or ceilings, offering breathtaking and virtually unobstructed views of the park. Using over 1100 tons of steel, the ride features more than a half-mile of track, reaches skyward a stunning 11 stories, and includes a 68-foot-high vertical loop, a 110-degree horseshoe inversion, two corkscrews and four 180-degree inversions.

Paramount's Carowinds is a 105-acre theme and water park perched on the border between North and South Carolina, 10 miles south of Charlotte. The park features more than 50 world-class shows and attractions, including other Hollywood-themed rides such a Top Gun®: The Jet Coaster, and Drop Zone Stunt Tower®.

For more information, call 1-800-888-4386 or visit www.carowinds.com.