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Wow! The detail is amazing. It is looking great!

Actually the best deal going on right now is online through the park: https://www.carowinds.com/tickets/ $29.99 for 8/9 through 9/1.

I wouldn't read too much into the park's hints although they do have a new PR manager since Windseeker opened. For Windseeker, they kept dropping hints about the Wright Brothers so we were all at least a little hopeful it would have a different name/paint scheme than the rest of the Windseekers... you see how that worked out... Don at KI is also a coaster enthusiast so he played with enthusiasts somewhat. I'm quite certain that any teasers coming from Carowinds are solely aimed at the GP. I do think from the leaked blueprints that this could turn out to be a really good coaster.

That's for sure! I can't believe how detailed this is. It's looking great!

I'm crazy and we do things like this as some of the other TPR members know. Looking at your map, something like this would take me a few months to plan out to make sure it all went as smoothly as possible (I'm a 'planner' or OCD as my wife calls it). If you haven't, you should plan out each leg and stop to make sure you're hitting what you want to when they are scheduled to be open. Based on that and what you want to see, you may be hard pressed to do all of that within five weeks although it is quite possible. Since we travel self contained, we don't stay at motels. We do, however, use campground facilities for part of our trips and boondock the rest of the time. We like KOA campgrounds because they are always consistent. They are often not the best, but are clearly not the worst and we can quickly and easily make online reservations. If we forget reservations, almost all of them make it easy for us to get a spot at any time. I'd recommend finding a nationwide motel chain like that.

Woo Hoo! The big multi month audit is nearly over! I'm getting some of my life back!!

Looks great! I hope that Universal continues to step up their game in the future.

Those certainly are great photos as others have mentioned. I enjoyed browsing through them.

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. Cedar Point is looking better than the last time I was there in 2011.

As a newer member, I never realized there were trip reports the park index. It's hard enough to keep up with how active the forums are so I didn't poke around there. Now that I just looked around, the Park Index looks like a great place to be able to easily find them for someone researching a trip (like I will use them in the future now that I know they are there. ) [disclaimer: my job and family have been keeping me very busy so I've had to step back on my coaster/theme park enthusiast activities which includes time on TPR. ] Too bad the TRs weren't some kind of 'self contained object' in the park index so that an instance of the object could be called in the forums. That way you wouldn't have to cut and paste and if you made an update to the TR in the park index, it would also update the corresponding report in the forums. EDIT: By the way, thanks for the email notices like the one asking for feedback on this thread! When I am so busy like right now, it's great to be aware of the topic and to be able to come directly to this forum thread and provide my feedback.

It's looking good! I like those colors. It seems like it's going up quickly...although all coaster construction seems like it goes up quickly after the site work is ready.

It would be great to see Six Flags continue to focus their resources on improving their existing parks instead of spreading them out with more overseas ventures.

Hey guys (and gals). I haven't been around much in a while because I've been slammed with work and some other things that have taken priority over my online activities. I wanted to take a quick break and provide an update on my home park, though, from when we stopped by on Sunday, 4/6. Harmony Hall is an imposing structure that takes over the field in front of Intimidator. It is quite a sight from the station. Hope they don't bump a support Looks like they plan on having it open sometime in June... Moving on, Ripcord looks much better in the main part of the park. Even though it wasn't a busy day, I saw numerous people riding it with it's increased price of . Here's a shot through a fence of what used to be the kids train, Snoopy's Junction. It's on the park map with a much smaller footprint and you can see the train in the far background on some of the track that is there. There is a new game station near Flying Ace Balloon Race - the first balloon busting game I recall seeing in the park. The Carousel is still not put back together. It is shown on the 2014 park map in the same spot, though, so they must just be running behind. We did have a bad winter. Over to Afterburn, it's sporting it's fresh paint although the same colors. They *finally* fixed the missing aileron on the mock Navy jet (an F15 if I'm not mistaken) and also gave it a new paint job. Dick Kinzel - really? Moving over to Hurler and the new first turn rework and reprofile. With the first hill trim brakes gone, Hurler has gotten back some of its life and I got some decent air time on the bunny hills after the first turn. That first section is WAAAY better, and then you shuffle through the second turn and lose a lot of speed. If they rework that second turn the same way they did the first one, Hurler will be a decent woody after all. There are TVs in all the stations. Some are complaining about them already (really?). My teenage daughter and her friends liked the music and what they were broadcasting so that tells me it is a hit. I was on my phone so I didn't pay attention The go karts are abandoned for now and their station is gone. This is the general area where we suspect the station will go for the new coaster. Far in the background is where Xtreme Skyflyer (now Ripcord) used to be. Ricochet is sporting a new paint job. Look! A dino in the daffodils! As pproteinc mentioned, there are a lot of restaurant changes in progress. I suspect all of these will be completed before Memorial day. This used to be the Chic-Fil-A, which is now located in what used to be Country Kitchen. Aren't the tulips beautiful? They should start a Carowinds In Bloom festival... oh wait... stay tuned! All in all it was a great half day at the park and it's nice to see some of the transformation starting to take place around the park. EDIT: Oh, and of course no seatbelts on Intimidator. Silly Rabbit...

Wow, that looks like a great family coaster! Very creative.

Woo Hoo! I finally got 30 donuts in my mystery box.

This is great news! Based on the way that the Koch's know how to run a theme park and a water park, they are bound to make this work and build a successful park.

What, are you chicken? I enjoyed reading this. We'll have to make it down there some year. It looks like some great food and a great way to spend a weekend!

^I totally agree. I'm personally not a big fan of water parks but I've never been upset about parks adding them, expanding them, upkeeping them, etc. I know I'm in the minority and any park I've been to with an included water park tends to have short lines for the rides I like during the summer days. I figure it draws more of the public and their money into the park (win!) and I can ride more things because of shorter lines (win!) and the average person gets the water park fun they want (win!). I just don't see where there is anything bad in that mix.

I'm looking forward to riding SkyRush again, too, based on some feedback from here. I did experience tightness to the point of pain partway through that all I could think about was wanting to get off the ride. I can't way to try some of those techniques to see if I can just enjoy the ride the whole way through

Just out of curiosity, what 6 have you been to so far? And which of them is your favorite? First of all, I should be clear that we're not Six Flags haters. We have consistently found their employees, especially those who interact with the public like ride ops/retail to be less than enthusiastic about their work. Here's the six parks we've been to ranked according to our experiences with our favorite being listed first: 1) Six Flags Great Adventure 2) Six Flags Over Georgia 3) Six Flags Over Texas 4) Six Flags Fiesta Texas 5) Six Flags Magic Mountain 6) Six Flags America My goal wasn't to bash SFA as we always make the best day of anywhere we go. It is a decent park. It probably doesn't help that we spent 1 day at Knoebels, then 1 1/2 days at Hershey, before we went to SFA.

I agree with that. I also include setting and theming into the equation as to all the pieces needed to make a great coaster for me.

This is an extremely complex topic and as others have mentioned, there is no way to tell without knowing all of the numbers. Some parks may be running very lean and not have any debt so they only have to meet normal operating expenses. It may not take much for them to make a profit each year. Other parks may be packed but they have a ton of debt and they are actually losing money due to their business model and the fact that they not only have to meet operating expenses but also monthly 'mortgage' payments with interest. In simple terms, it's just like any business where it all comes down to management. If a park/business is managed properly and there is a demand for its product/service in that area, it is bound to succeed regardless of what is thrown at it (example - Knoebels continues to operate despite all the recurring flooding). If it is not managed properly, it will eventually fail.

Last time I checked, the 5s came in gold, silver, or space gray. The 5c comes in green, red, blue, yellow, or white.

If you saw the Ultimate Tweet that Disney did to announce their All-Night Disney Party (mentioned previously in this thread), you may be interested in seeing how they made it: Source

If you're interested in seeing some of the new food from Diagon Alley, check out this story from News 13 that has a pic that Universal's VP of public relations tweeted during a food tasting last week.