Carowinds Discussion Thread

[Rollercoaster Rider]

^ Which one was number 400?

 

 

Nighthawk.

[arby]

If they got IN-N-OUT, I'm flying there!

 

There are no In-n-outs anywhere near North Carolina.

[The Westate]

^ Which one was number 400?

 

 

Nighthawk.

 

Not Intimidator? For shame.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I wanted my 400th to be special. Yes Intimidator is Freaking Awesome (And better than Diamondback) but Nighthawk was the "Worlds First Flying Coaster" and that ranks higher in fame than The Southeast's Tallest coaster.

[prozach626]

A quick trip report for you guys!

 

My wife and I drove from St. Louis to Hilton Head Island, so we decided to stop for a night in Charlotte for a day at Carowinds. (my idea, obviously)

 

We visited on Sunday, 08/11, and overall we had a great time. I'm a big fan of Paramount parks turned Cedar Fair parks and this one didn't disappoint.

 

The Pros: I found the park to be very clean, and the staff was only one notch below Holiday World friendly. The park was also one of the nicest parks I've ever visited at night. They had some kind of snoopy light show BS between 9-10, composed mostly of Christmas lights and music throughout the park, which made for a nice display. The layout of the park was nice and compact, and it seemed like most things were easy to get to. As you know, Intimidator and Afterburn are the gems of this park.

 

Cons: Food options were OK, but not if you wanted to eat healthy. As per usual, we left for a late lunch/dinner and grabbed some Subway. We're not much for calorie packed mediocre food. Instead, we wasted our calories on several cold Yuenglings when we returned. (nothing goes better with a good coaster than a good buzz) Other than that, we had very few complaints. The only area that looked a little run down was the boardwalk area. Yeah, aside from Intimidator and Afterburn, I didn't have a desire to catch any re-rides, but that's typical for most parks, in my opinion. Yes, the park is in need of good wood (that's what she said), but I'm not a woodie fan anyway, so it didn't bother me.

 

The highlight of my day was marathon riding Afterburn from 930-close, including being on the last train of the night during fireworks. The wife joined me for a few rides, but she quickly sat out and tried to let me enjoy my closet geek hobby. Overall, I had a blast pushing my coaster count to 134, at your park. I can always tell a good park when I'm still left wanting more rides, at closing time.

 

Here are my reviews of the coaster line-up:

*Afterburn: Probably my favorite B&M invert, and I've been on Montu and Raptor. I was worried it was going to be a flop like Silver Bullet, but this coaster is a keeper. Favorite element - easily the batwing

 

*Carolina Cobra: Not a fan of boomerangs, but I snatched up the credit. Painful dizzyness.

 

*Carolina Cyclone: Typical headbanger. No pain, No gain (in credits)

 

*Carolina Goldrusher: Not the best, but not the worst. Overall, I enjoyed it.

 

*Flying Ace Aerial Chase: I've been on one of these before, so I passed. It wasn't worth the 30 minute wait.

 

*Hurler: It wasn't as bad as I expected. I made the most of it while my wife braced her chest...

 

*Intimidator: This was a typical B&M hyper. It didn't crack my top ten, but it was certainly fun. I got five rides on this, including a night time front seat ride. It was no Raging Bull and I liked Diamondback a bit more (maybe because it was my 100?). That said, it's probably on par with Golioth, and certainly great for a re ride.

 

*Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie: Too shameful to try to ride.

 

*Nighthawk: Flying Dutchman's make me sick and we had just ridden it's counterpart at KI last summer. That said, we skipped out on the hour wait.

 

*Ricochet: Oddly enough, this was my first traditional outdoor wild mouse. It was more fun than I expected. If I had more time at the park and a few more beers in me, I'd probably snatch some re-rides.

 

*Thunder Road: Only one side was operating. It was surprisingly smooth and run. It looked like there was a major retracking done recently? I was expecting it to be painful like its KI counterpart.

 

*Vortex: Another B&M head banging step child. It was no Georgia Scorcher, but it wasn't as rough as Iron Wold. I would have ridden again, but Emily gave me the thumbs down. Interesting, since she enjoyed Riddler's Revenge, which kicked my ass.

 

*Woodstock Express: An easy fun credit.

 

Honorable Mentions:

The flyer flat ride was my first one. It was fun, but I sucked at it.

The rapids raft ride (name?) was decent and worth the ride.

Windseeker was a great way to see the park at night.

 

The only photo of the day:

[arby]

The Pros: I found the park to be very clean, and the staff was only one notch below Holiday World friendly.

I agree. I think Carowinds consistently has an above average staff.

 

Cons: Food options were OK, but not if you wanted to eat healthy.

Carowinds is lacking on quality restaurants if you're looking for more than average fast food. I think they really need a signature restaurant that serves fresh food.

 

The SCarowinds Haunt website is up.

 

There are two new scare zones and one new maze. Two of the previous mazes 1 scare zone are gone.

 

Mazes: (7)

Silver Scream Sinema

FURY

Defex

Cornstalkers

The Asylum

Last Laff

Zombie High School

 

Scare Zones: (5)

The Playground

Mass Acres

Feeding Frenzy

Scary Tales

London Terror

[mooniefins]

Heading down this weekend from Kings Dominion territory. Carowinds will be my fourth CF park this summer. Can't wait to try your Intimidator and see how your parks holds up to the others. Any advice for a first time visitor?

[PalmTree55]

Heading down this weekend from Kings Dominion territory. Carowinds will be my fourth CF park this summer. Can't wait to try your Intimidator and see how your parks holds up to the others. Any advice for a first time visitor?

 

Do you plan on buying fastlane or not? If you do, then it doesn't matter what you ride first and any plan of action. Nighthawk is always having problems, so I would try to hit that one at the beginning.

[mooniefins]

No fastlane here, haven't purchased yet, not even for Cedar Point, not starting now. I can't justify that extra cash and it hasn't been necessary thus far. We'll be there Saturday night hopefully to get some night rides in, and all day Sunday. I can't imagine it would be terribly busy.

[PalmTree55]

No fastlane here, haven't purchased yet, not even for Cedar Point, not starting now. I can't justify that extra cash and it hasn't been necessary thus far. We'll be there Saturday night hopefully to get some night rides in, and all day Sunday. I can't imagine it would be terribly busy.

 

Saturday = Busy all day.

 

Sunday = Dead. Park is empty.

[GoBears]

I haven't been following the park closely but I saw this on their Twitter...

 

 

And then they put this photo with it...

 

[arby]

On Monday officials from Cedar Fair, the company that owns Carowinds announced a $50 million investment in the amusement park.

 

At the Charlotte Chamber Board of Advisers meeting, Cedar Fair said it plans to add new rides and attractions on land, on the North Carolina side of the park in Charlotte as well as more concessions and games.

 

They said it will make Carowinds the fourth-largest park that they own.

 

Here's the source: www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/cedar-fair-announces-50m-investment-carowinds/nZctj/

 

Here's the official press release from Cedar Fair: cedarfair.com/ir/press_releases/index.cfm?current_root=15&mode=story&story_id=388

[SharkTums]

This press release says $30 Million in the next three years:

 

http://www.cedarfair.com/ir/press_releases/index.cfm?current_root=15&mode=story&story_id=388

 

CEDAR FAIR IDENTIFIES CHARLOTTE PARK AS OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH

 

Company announces plans for multi-year expansion at Carowinds Amusement Park

 

SANDUSKY, Ohio, Aug. 26, 2013 -- Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced a multi-year expansion project for its Carowinds amusement park located in Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

"The continued growth in the Charlotte market presents a unique opportunity for our Carowinds amusement park, which we believe is ready for record-breaking attractions," said Richard Zimmerman, Cedar Fair's Chief Operating Officer. "Over the next three years we intend to make several significant investments in both the amusement and water park areas, including new rides and attractions, new and upgraded food locations, and general infrastructure improvements. We plan to expand the capacity of Carowinds in all areas to appropriately serve its market and provide our guests with a 'Best Day of Summer' experience each and every time they visit our park."

 

The Company, which recently opened a satellite corporate office in Charlotte, expects the expanded park will draw additional tourists to the already popular Charlotte market. It will invest more than $30 million over the next three years and expects to hire an additional 15 full-time and approximately 270 seasonal jobs to support these new investments. As with many of its capital investments across the country, the Company will look to hire local companies to help with the design and construction of this multi-year expansion.

 

ADMIN EDIT: There was a typo in the initial release. The current release has been updated to say $50 million, not $30 million.

Edited August 27, 2013 by robbalvey

[arby]

Yeah, the numbers don't match between our local news and Cedar Fair. I'm assuming the $30 million is the more accurate number.

[megametal]

$30 million isn't that much, actually. Especially if a hotel is one of the things they're adding. Intimidator cost $23 million. Still, I can hope for some flat ride additions and a good sized coaster instead.

[SharkTums]

The Cedar Fair press release says nothing about a hotel and $30mil certainly wouldn't cover that and the other things they said.

 

I'm sure $30mil over three years will buy a nice redo of the front, a Wing Rider, a water slide or two, and some redo of food stuff...just like the article says.

[jsz1002]

The press release in the link now says $50 million.

[chickenbowl]

^That's good to hear, 50 mill can sure cover a lot more than 30 mill. I'm anxious to see what they can deliver to this (quite lackluster IMO) park. I feel like none of the parks attractions are truly unique. I do like Intimidator and Afterburn for what they are, but the park is definitely missing something, I hope we see a change for the better. (Bring in the Intamin GIGA!!! )

[goldsteh]

$50 million is the number per all outlets in Charlotte. Big news!

[megametal]

Wow. Now 50 million I can get behind!

[SharkTums]

Just a small typo can lead to a $20mil discrepancy! Glad they fixed it! That's a lot of money in three years, can't wait to see what they do!

[PalmTree55]

Fingers crossed for Iron Hurler or a Launched coaster. I am really excited for the future of my home park. The waterpark expansion is long past due, and It would be nice to get some new places to eat!

[GayCoasterGuy]

What are the blue metal baskets under this train?

 

[carowindsman]

They were for the Ride Dvds that they did

[DJeXeL]

Those on ride videos were a disaster. CDRide was an unstable company and got bought out multiple times before Cedar Fair finally decided to cut ties completely.