Carowinds Discussion Thread

[CoasterMateo]

California Great Adventure

[CaptainUnknown]

Curious if Carowinds has onsite housing for employees. I worked Valleyfair this summer and lived in their onsite housing and am looking to travel.

[pproteinc]

There you have it people!!

 

https://www.carowinds.com/plants-vs-zombies/?mobile=0

 

Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena

Coming to Carowinds in Spring 2016

 

Carowinds and PopCap Games, creator of some of the world's most beloved video game franchises, and an Electronic Arts Inc. studio are leading the charge as innovators in the amusement park industry by announcing a new digital experience. Carowinds will open the world's first intra-active 3-D game experience, Plants vs Zombies™ Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena, in spring 2016 - adding to the park's family line-up of thrills for all ages.

 

 

Plants vs Zombies Ride

 

The new attraction, exclusive to Carowinds, will be based off the Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare franchise - a hilarious and over-the-top shooter videogame series that drops you into a crazy, all-out battle between plants and zombies in their fight for suburbia. The newest release from the franchise, Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2, will also launch spring 2016 and for the first time, zombies have taken over and plants are on the attack. Players will be able to join the battle with new characters including Super Brainz, a zombie super hero who thinks he's an 80's action movie star, and Citron, a bounty-hunting orange from the future.

 

An intra-active experience means the game allows players to interact with the opposing team's screen. Guests will step inside the state-of-the-art Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena complex decked with 3-D technology, massive screens, surround sound and motion-based seats, to enjoy outrageous and imaginative encounters with their competition. Teams will compete in the Plants vs Zombies universe during an almost five minute backyard battle, where they'll shoot screens with blasters and track their scores as they go.

 

Additional information on Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena includes:

 

 

- 68 motion-based seats equipped with hand-held laser devices

- Nearly 3,600 square foot arena

- Two 14'6" x 26' screen with independent 5.1 surround sound

- The attraction will run approximately ten times per hour to accommodate between 600-700 guests.

- Players will be able to purchase photos in the Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena retail store

- Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena will be located inside a transformed Action Theater, in the County Fair section of the park

 

Guests will be able to play all season long by purchasing a 2016 season pass or renewing their current season pass. For more information, click here.

 

[Koasterking48]

^ It really sounds like an interesting concept. Cedar Fair seems to really be stepping outside its comfort zone with these dark ride/ 3D show experiences.

[shadox17]

I mean... Okay then...

[BotanicalStig]

I was hoping for a dark ride, but at least it's a new attraction and not a re-theming of boo blasters. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see why this will make you "wet your plants". No mention of water effects, something else I was hoping to see.

 

Still a great use of the theater. Should be pretty fun, looking forward to trying it out.

[marth555]

looks fun to me

[larrygator]

Certainly interesting and unique to the area. Then again, I'm the biggest Desperado fanboy.

[madmax]

I must say, Fury 325 is enough to make Intamin fanboys wallow in their tears.

[jh5292]

What have crowds been like this October? I'm planning a trip up to the park on Friday night Oct 23rd and Saturday the 24th during the day.

[pproteinc]

Scarowinds is getting very busy now that it's October. I went last Friday night and it's coming to a point of either riding rides or doing the mazes. You wont be able to do both. I went at 6:45pm. Saturday should be somewhat ok. Most people wait until Scarowinds to go to the park being it a separate admission ticket.

[theintimidator]

I did both rides and mazes on Saturday. I went straight to Fury at 7. The queue was full and it took about 30 minutes. Then I headed over to Cyclone and waited for the front row. The line wasn't even out of the station and it took about 15 minutes. The person working in controls was awesome. Also, we went through a couple walk throughs such as Blood Yard and Scary Tails. Following that, we waited for Last Laugh. The line was out of the entrance, and it probably took about 20 minutes. Afterwards, we went to AfterBurn and waited about 30 minutes with a full queue extended out of the entrance. Then, we headed over to Defex and waited for about 20 minutes with a full line. We would have ridden Intimidator, but after watching trains stack every cycle while waiting for DeFex and then seeing a queue out into the midway, we decided to pass.

 

Regarding crowds, I also went in the day. The lines were 20 minutes max. Nighthawk of course, had a long line. You shouldn't worry too much about day time. For Scarowinds, if you plan on riding any coasters at that time, ride the lower capacity attractions first such as Nighthawk, Vortex, and Ricochet. Carolina Cobra's line moves at a decent pace. However, I'm assuming you won't be riding much cause you'll get to ride them during the day. Maze wise, hit Slaughter House first then Silver Screams Cinema. Lines get long quick for those. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Edited October 21, 2015 by theintimidator

[jh5292]

Excellent! Thanks for the feedback! Saturday we will be using our Fast Lane passes from renewing our annual passes so hope to get plenty of Fury and Intimidator. Sounds like we will!

[theintimidator]

You're welcome! I hope you all enjoy your visit this weekend.

[jh5292]

It was a good trip! Friday night was super packed but we did alright since we had a few quick queue passes from our last trip that we used on Fury. The line was outside both blocks for Fury all night so the passes really helped. We ended up doing 5 rides on Fury, 3 on Intimidator (avg wait was probably about 30 mins), 2 on Afterburn (avg wait 20 mins) and 1 ride on Hurler (30 minute wait). The best take away from Friday night was front row on Afterburn in the dark. Both my friend and I got off that ride both remarking how great it was at night in the front row.

 

Saturday was even better. The crowd was pretty busy but we had our Fast Lane passes for a full day of almost walk on rides all day. The only exception was Fury. The Fast Lane line was at the bottom of the stairs. But we were able to get plenty of rides. Saturday's totals were Fury - 14, Intimidator - 13, Afterburn - 2 and Hurler - 1.

 

We had awesome weather too so overall a great trip up to Carowinds.

[coasterbill]

It's great to see so many people singing Afterburn's praises. It's a tremendous coaster and it makes an awesome 1-2 punch with Fury.

[defrocker]

Hey everyone,

 

I need a little bit of advice. My wife and I have been trying to make it to Carowinds all year to ride Fury. However, due to our schedules, the first and only day we will be able to go is Halloween. We aren't interested in the haunts, but night admission is cheaper. Is it usually much more crowded for rides at night during "haunt season?" Would it be worth the extra admission cost to just go during the day and not worry about it?

 

Any help from some regulars is appreciated!

[Ilovecedarfair]

Hi there, I'm hoping this information will help you on your trip.

 

I have been to Carowinds 6 times this summer, once during the Halloween event. Scarowinds crowds, simply put, are terrible. Fury wait times this past Friday night were 1 hour 20 minutes. Saturday night, reaching nearly 2 hours. However, Saturday morning we went to the park and waited about 35 minutes for Fury. Sunday morning (yesterday) the waits were even better. Intimidator was sending trains half empty all day. Now, as for next Saturday, I'm not sure what I would expect as it is Halloween but if this weekend is any indicator, it's worth the few extra dollars to go during the day if you don't mind missing the Halloween walk throughs. Your wait times will be cut in half on just about everything. I will also be there Sunday, November 1st, and I'm hoping for the same crowd levels as this Sunday but being the last operating day of the season, there's really no way to know for certain. I hope this bit of information helps you make your decision. Have fun!

[coasterbill]

Since you mention the "Last Day of the Season" thing, is anyone else as confused by that as I am? With mild winters like they have in Charlotte and with 2 large parks within a few hours of Carowinds open for Christmas I can't figure out why they don't do a Christmas event. It seems like an obvious idea and I would think it would do very well.

[chknwing]

^they had one and it bombed. no rides were open and they had a good idea in a ice skating rink but the thing was only like 10 feet wide.

[jh5292]

I echo the statement above. I went last Friday night and the park was super packed and Saturday during day was very manageable. So I would highly suggest the day trip over the night if you don't need to do any of the Halloween stuff.

 

I also wondered about a holiday event. I saw Six Flags is doing holiday events at many of their parks, as far north as Great Adventure. Which seems a little nuts to me. But I would think Carowinds would be a good park to do some kind of event in late Nov/Dec. Maybe in the future.

[Vonni]

If CF were to do a Christmas event, I would see them doing it at CGA first, being that it would have the most reliable weather, and SFDK is so close and has one, so it would be easy to compete.

[The Geek Mojo]

TR: Went to Carowinds for the first time this year this past weekend for Friday night and all day Saturday...Got my season passes for next year. I paid a lot for Friday night, but got in Saturday night for just $20 bucks. Got in Saturday during the day for free since I got season passes for 2016. I really wish Carowinds didn't separate their Halloween event...I mean theirs isn't any better than Kings Island's or Cedar Point's or Kings Dominion's...So to make you pay extra for it seems like a rip off. But, I won't have to worry about it next year since I'll have passes for it. So moving on...Got to ride Fury 325 for the first time and I was at a crossroads. I didn't want to say it was better than I305 but after 11 times of riding it I have to finally admit, it's the best coaster I ever rode. Better than Millennium Force, better than I305, better than Skyrush, better than any RMC creation I've rode...It's just the best, hands down freaking awesome! B&M definitely has made the best coaster ever, imo. Now, I305 is my #2. I also have to say that I forgot how good Intimidator was. I last rode it back in 2013 and then went on a B&M hyper tour over the next years, riding Goliath's, and Apollo's Chariot's, and Nitro's and Raging Bull's and Diamondback's and so on and so on...And I have to say, Intimidator is a top 3 B&M hyper...Really solid ride. Still love Afterburn, not so much love for Vortex. I know both B&M Stand up Vortex's that Cedar Fair has is really short rides, but I still wouldn't mind seeing them converted like Mantis was. Stand up roller coasters just suck. But moving on...Carowinds on Saturday night was probably the most crowded I've ever seen a Cedar Fair park. It looked like Harry Potter land in Universal Orlando...Couldn't hardly move it was so crowded in some areas. I over heard some of the workers say it was a new attendance record. You really have to get a fast lane and fright lane pass if you want to do everything. Fury 325 stayed over an hour long wait all night. All the haunted mazes were full all night long. It was just insanely crowded. Saturday during the day was really the only time you could get some decent rides in. Nighthawk was a walk on for most the morning if that's telling you anything. So yeah, get the fast passes if you're only going one day this coming weekend cause it'll probably be even more crowded since Halloween falls on Saturday. One last thing, I love the new entrance of Carowinds. Carowinds is probably now my favorite Cedar Fair park that I've been too now that Fury 325 is there.

[pproteinc]

To speak on the Christmas Event. Carowinds had one back in 2005 I believe during its Paramount days that was called Winterfest and it was pretty much dud. Some rides were open like the Woodstock Gliders which was then Phantom Flyers and Afterburn which then was Top Gun. There was a show called Santa's Toy Factory, the Christmas Parade, and ice skating rink. They also had a Christmas dinner as well. The crowds were just not there to keep it going I guess. My take on it was to keep having it. People live out of habit so it was a habit not to go to Carowinds during the winter and that winter was actually pretty cold for those who are from the south to me it was fine I'm a New Yorker. Charlotte's winters can be very unpredictable. One year can be mild around 60-67 degrees day 30s night up until mid January then snows in late February early March and the next winter could be the same or it could be in the 30s and 40s daytime temps in November and get the good snow late December and January or straight ice storms. When it gets that way the city is pretty much shut down.

Edited November 2, 2015 by pproteinc

[cfc]

^I attended Winter Fest, too, with some friends who live in the Smokies. Overall, we liked it (especially the Christmas dinner), but we all thought the Santa's Workshop show was pretty bad (but at least the theater was heated).