Carowinds Discussion Thread

[tndank]

RIP Nighthawk, Drop Tower, and Scream Weaver.

https://x.com/Carowinds/status/1869390136921776133

[Hilltopper39]

I'm not going to miss Nighthawk, I love a good Drop Tower but those types of rides kind of seem to not be as popular as they once were.

Scream Weaver kind of stinks to lose, those are legitimately one of my favorite types of flat rides ever and seems like more and more of them are being removed lately. I doubt it gets relocated to another CF/SF park but maybe someone buys it and keeps it in service a few more years? Probably not but ya never know.

[abovethesink]

I only have two rides on Nighthawk from two or three years ago. First one was right as it opened and I liked it a lot. Second one was later in the 99 degree day and it was running crazy fast in the heat. Too fast, based on how I felt. It was pretty violent and I was quickly just bracing for it to be over. I rode Batwing last summer on a 104 degree day and had the same exact experience as my second ride on Nighthawk in the heat. So, at least on crazy hot days, I don't really like the model. Always sad to see any kind of coaster die out and you gotta figure Batwing is on its last legs too, but I won't shed too many tears for this one in particular. 

[PKI Jizzman]

Hey US parks…. Vekoma has an elite launched flying coaster product that’s elite cough cough. I wonder if there’s a chain lift version available? 

I did like the BORG/Nighthawk model with corkscrews over the flat line twists, though. but the operations and trains are brutal. 

[prozach626]

Six Flags 2.0 feels a lot like Six Flags 2.0.

[ricklap77]

Is Nighthawk being scrapped or dismantled to be sold to a park outside the SF chain?  It seems they don't bother trying to find a buyer and scrap the rides.  I guess with the high price of steel these days it's more profitable for them to do so.

[CaptainUnknown]

Why would anyone want old, rough, low-capacity, maintenance headaches when you could get something new, smooth, high capacity, reliable for 30% more? It's all about ROI.

Right now, my biggest concern is how long some of these plots will be vacant for.

[prozach626]

5 hours ago, CaptainUnknown said:

Right now, my biggest concern is how long some of these plots will be vacant for.

Probably longer than a "Six Flags Day."

[ricklap77]

I think the plan within the chain is not only to get rid of some problematic rides/coasters but also to have less of them to save on costs.  Having a few less but with high capacity it will balance out.  And with the merging of SF and Cedar Fair into one company, they have eliminated a lot of competition and now they can focus primarily on profitability.  For sure they will add big rides/coasters in the near future but we will end up having less attractions in total IMO.

[coasterbill]

20 hours ago, CaptainUnknown said:

Why would anyone want old, rough, low-capacity, maintenance headaches when you could get something new, smooth, high capacity, reliable for 30% more? It's all about ROI.

Right now, my biggest concern is how long some of these plots will be vacant for.

Yeah, I feel like the Nighthawk plot and Drop Tower plot could both just be left without a ride and look fine. Nighthawk is front and center but it's also well landscaped and has some trees ponds and fountains. I don't think they'll be in any rush to put anything there.

The Enterprise plot might look weird but they could put literally anything there.

[prozach626]

On 12/21/2024 at 6:31 AM, ricklap77 said:

now they can focus primarily on profitability

That's not always a good thing for the consumer, especially when the competition is limited.

[ricklap77]

I agree in might not be as interesting for the consumer but that's the way it is.  Companies need to make money.  That is why I never thought the merging was a good thing, especially for the consumer.

[prozach626]

Same page, bro.

[michaellynn4]

The more reason to stop giving them your money. It’s a lot more freeing than you think. 

[prozach626]

Yeah. I still like a lot of their parks for now. I still have my fingers crossed for a long term plan that helps the parks run more efficiently. Some of what SF is doing makes a lot of sense. I'm not optimistic that being profit driven without competition won't drastically effect the chain in a negative way.

[Zand]

I finally was able to scratch off a major piece of my bucket list today with a somewhat whirlwind unplanned trip to Carowinds. My plan was to spend the weekend at King's Dominion, but with Pantherian suddenly not opening I had the crazy idea to drive 5 hours to Charlotte this morning, spend 6 hours at the park, and start driving the 13 hours back home tonight. My wife was surprisingly on board and replied with "well you've been talking about that place for 10 years" so we decided to do it.

Arrived around noon and headed straight to Fury. This was the main reason for the trip and why would I start anywhere else. After waiting in line for about 20 minutes (and opening queue times to discover that this would be the shortest line in the park for some reason) I decided to purchase Fastlane because who knows when I'll ever be back here. Anyway, of course I built this thing up a little too much in my head. I know it's a lot of people's #1 steel and I get it. But I crave intensity and airtime, and while this has a little bit of both, it's not as in your face as Pantherian, Steel Vengeance, etc. I look at it as B&M's Millennium Force...another ride I absolutely love, but barely cracks my top 10 while being a lot of people's #1. I rode 5 times, lucking out with the front or back each time. Not sure which I preferred...the airtime and speed were great up front but a couple of the elements definitely hit better in the back. On one ride I didn't feel the trims engage at all and we f*cking SAILED through the speed hills at the end. As for the rest of the park:

The Top Scan (whatever it's called): Glad to finally ride one here after getting teased by the one at Lagoon which decided to break down just before I went to ride it. I guess it's one of those rides that looks cooler than it is. The cycle just kind of sucks. It spins once or twice and then stops for 10 seconds and you just hang there. Then rinse and repeat a few times.

Copperhead Strike: I loved this ride but wasn't a big fan of the restraints which I felt were a little male unfriendly. But the hang time filled inversions were a blast and the pops of ejector were crazy. Very slow moving Fastlane line (regular line pushed 2 hours) or I would've rerode for sure. Wish there were more of these Macks in America.

Afterburn: Basically Montu's little brother. Nice intense old school B&M Invert just the way I like it. The tunnels and trenches went a long way to enhance the Montu vibes.

Thunder Striker: This is heavily bitched about among coaster enthusiasts and after riding it I have no idea why. Sure, the layout isn't very inspiring but even with the trims every hill absolutely launches you out of your seat. The airtime is just as good as Diamondback. Why is this ride bitched about so much?!?

Goldrusher: Basically a couple long helices and that's all. More interesting than Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Trailblazer but not sure how many other mine trains it can compare to.

Vortex: Not awful but not my favorite ride by any means. I miss Green Lantern it didn't deserve the hate or the fate.

Cyclone: Almost avoided it as it broke down but was open when I was about to leave the park after reriding Fury a few more times. I wish it stayed broken down for my own sake. It's not THE worst Arrow corkscrew coaster I've ridden, but...just...no.

Hurler: It's really not that bad. First half is fun with some good airtime pops and fast turns. Second half jackhammered a bit. But I couldn't help but imagine Twisted Timbers elements coming up at me as we rattled through the course.

Flying Cobras was down most of the day...no big loss. Ricochet not on Fastlane and I didn't feel like waiting an hour for a basic mouse, no big loss there either. Didn't feel like whoring the Hang'n'bang or the kiddie coasters.

This park is obviously very top heavy with a terrific top 4 and then a bunch of crap after that, but that top 4 is among the best in the country. Not sure if I'll make it back in the next several years, but damn am I happy to have finally made it.

Do have to mention one of the major cons of this park and that is the groupers. I've never liked not having a choice of seat (luckily as a single rider with Fastlane I pretty much mostly got front or back on everything anyway) but it's even worse when they're terrible at their job. Entire rows going empty on Thunder Striker every ride. Groupers on Fury and Afterburn not putting groups of 2 with other groups of 2 and causing 6-8 seats to go empty every ride. Sometimes they were so slow that the last 2 or 3 rows would go unfilled. This park was by far the strictest about no choice of seats. Parks like Universal, Disney, and Cedar Point scratch the happy medium of having groupers make sure they fill the train as best as possible but also almost always accommodating requests. Or better yet...just let people into the station until every row fills up like Six Flags parks do and call it a day. I noticed this at Kings Island a little bit a few years ago but Carowinds was the absolute worst with this. Kings Dominion doesn't group at all. It annoys the crap out of me seeing 1/4 of the train go out empty when there's a 2 hour line. Sorry for the rant

Overall though I am glad I followed through with my insane idea and made the spur of the moment trip to the park. It's hard to know when I'll ever get back since it's just not near much else, but hopefully it's in the cards someday.

[thepoint4life23]

I think its funny you called Fury B&M's Millennium Force, makes sense but I like it a lot more then Millennium Force.

Did you happen to notice if they sold  Copperhead Strike Fastlane's? I know some rides at Kings Island and Cedar point you can pay per ride via the app. 

[prozach626]

On 3/29/2025 at 8:59 PM, Zand said:

Thunder Striker: This is heavily bitched about among coaster enthusiasts and after riding it I have no idea why. Sure, the layout isn't very inspiring but even with the trims every hill absolutely launches you out of your seat. The airtime is just as good as Diamondback. Why is this ride bitched about so much?!?

Because it's cool to make fun of it it in the coaster community. "I'm too extreme for Thunder Striker."

 

Mad respect for not whoring the kids ride and not giving a shit about the wild mouse just for an arbitrary number. That's some grown shit right there. It sounds like you made the best out of your limited time.

[Zand]

2 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Because it's cool to make fun of it it in the coaster community. "I'm too extreme for Thunder Striker."

 

Mad respect for not whoring the kids ride and not giving a shit about the wild mouse just for an arbitrary number. That's some grown shit right there. It sounds like you made the best out of your limited time.

A couple years ago I went to SFOG for the first time (and it's not a place I'll probably get to very often)...I waited over an hour for Superman just to get the credit because they were running 1 train with terrible dispatch times. I could've ridden Twisted Cyclone or Goliath 6 or 7 more times during that timeframe, but I waited an hour for a credit that I can ride at Great Adventure whenever I want (and never do when I'm actually there because it sucks). 

Ever since then I decided riding anything just for the sake of a credit will never be worth waiting an hour for, especially in parks that I'm making a special trip to get to that I might not get to again. I like trying to ride everything once if I can, but if it's going to be an obvious waste of time then it's not worth it that much to me.

As for kiddie coasters...there have been times when I decided to be an idiot and whore them for no reason other than the credit. Hell I just rode Lil Devil at Great Adventure last year lol. But again, not doing it for the sake of a credit at a park I might never get back to that has awesome coasters that I want rerides on.

[KBrylczyk]

On 12/20/2024 at 12:19 PM, CaptainUnknown said:

Why would anyone want old, rough, low-capacity, maintenance headaches when you could get something new, smooth, high capacity, reliable for 30% more? It's all about ROI.

Lost Island has entered the chat...

13 hours ago, Zand said:

A couple years ago I went to SFOG for the first time (and it's not a place I'll probably get to very often)...I waited over an hour for Superman just to get the credit because they were running 1 train with terrible dispatch times. I could've ridden Twisted Cyclone or Goliath 6 or 7 more times during that timeframe, but I waited an hour for a credit that I can ride at Great Adventure whenever I want (and never do when I'm actually there because it sucks). 

Ever since then I decided riding anything just for the sake of a credit will never be worth waiting an hour for, especially in parks that I'm making a special trip to get to that I might not get to again. I like trying to ride everything once if I can, but if it's going to be an obvious waste of time then it's not worth it that much to me.

There are so many clones, namely SLCs, Boomerangs, and Six Flags clones in general, that I've walked right by without even looking at the wait time.  Those are always afterthoughts for me in case I have extra time or I'm just reallllllly bored.  Hell, I skipped half of Six Flags Mexico's lineup because there's a Dark Knight indoor mouse, a 4D Free Fly, an off the shelf spinner, a Boomerang, an SLC, maybe a couple others.  Medusa and Superman were the only two coasters I genuinely cared about because they're originals.  Medusa was fun but not worth the 90 minute wait while Supes was a 10-minute wait all day and is easily one of the best coasters out there; certainly Morgan's best coaster.

All that to say, yes, you save a lot of time and effort by skipping mediocre clones.

[abovethesink]

Yeah but then I can't add them to my spreadsheet and see my nerd count tick up. Did you think of my nerd count?

[prozach626]

iF u tHinK uR 2 oLd 2 rIdE kId cOaSteRs Ur tHe PROblem iTs NoRmAL!!!