Carowinds Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

I get what you mean. I looked up the temperature averages for Charlottle, and the average temperatures for November are mostly in the 60s, which is not bad park weather at all. That's why I wish more parks would extend their operating season beyond Halloween (where the climate allows it, of course). Then again, besides coasters enthusiasts, most people don't want to ride a coaster when the temperature is below 60.

 

Like I said... a few months ago we went to Dollywood when it was in the high 30's. Firechaser Express and Mystery Mine both had well over an hour wait while running at full capacity.

 

People will absolutely go to the parks when it's cold (Smoky Mountain Christmas and any Halloween event anywhere prove this) but you need a good festival / themed event and Christmas is the perfect theme for November and December.

 

Also since I'm from there I can verikfy that 99.9% of the people who live in that area do not celebrate Christmas

Of course... I did say it "seems like" and I'm sure the number is lower in the city of Charlotte itself but that's a very, very religious area of the country. The percentage of people celebrating Christmas in some form is high anywhere in the U.S. but in the Southeastern U.S. that number only grows so I would think the market for this would be great. That was my point.

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

I'm caught between opening weekend (Sunday), or April 17 (Friday). But I never experience a theme park on opening weekend, so I would love to try it out. I know crowds will be HUGE, but Sunday with a Fast Lane Plus shouldn't be too bad, right?

[DJeXeL]

Girlfriend and I are visiting some friends in Greensboro NC in August and she gave me the green light to add a day to our trip and drive to the park so I can get my Fury fix. It'll be in the middle of August so heat and crowds will be miserable I'm sure so I'll be purchasing FastLane+ naturally.

[cwgator]

I'm caught between opening weekend (Sunday), or April 17 (Friday). But I never experience a theme park on opening weekend, so I would love to try it out. I know crowds will be HUGE, but Sunday with a Fast Lane Plus shouldn't be too bad, right?

 

Opening Sunday you most likely wouldn't need any type of Fast Lane (or any Sunday for that matter). Sunday's are usually very manageable with minimal wait times (except maybe Nighthawk). If you go that day I would wait until you get to the park to see if it's busy enough. I know Fury is new and will bring more people to the park, but it's not going to bring 4 hour waits like other well known parks. I'm sure they will have one of the biggest opening weekends ever.....depending on the weather. Carowinds suffers from the spring rains curse as it historically rains almost every opening day (even the first day it opened in 1973). Now if you do decide to go April 17th you may need it since that's spring break for some schools there and will definitely be busier than opening weekend.

 

 

Girlfriend and I are visiting some friends in Greensboro NC in August and she gave me the green light to add a day to our trip and drive to the park so I can get my Fury fix. It'll be in the middle of August so heat and crowds will be miserable I'm sure so I'll be purchasing FastLane+ naturally.

 

I'm going the second week of June when Charlotte schools will still be in session. I'll have multiple days to go but if it's anything like last time I went up in June (it was 103 degrees the day I went) I may get a FP one day even if it's not terribly busy so I don't blame you.

[CoasterGuy06]

I'm caught between opening weekend (Sunday), or April 17 (Friday). But I never experience a theme park on opening weekend, so I would love to try it out. I know crowds will be HUGE, but Sunday with a Fast Lane Plus shouldn't be too bad, right?

 

Intimidator's opening day was actually a pretty good day. It's line was between 15-30 minutes all day, and all other rides except Nighthawk were probably less than 15 minutes all day.

[jray21]

That's surprising, I would have thought it would have been a nightmare!

[pproteinc]

Opening day for whatever new ride is never jam packed at carowinds. Now Fury325 it may be a little more people out and about but not to a point of standing in line for over an hour hell maybe even 30-45 min. I think it was said earlier Carowinds opening days always seem to be a rainy one slightly cooler than anticipated, only the true carowinds lovers are out on opening day.

[nicman]

^I think it will be incredibly busy with the opening of Fury 325, I can imagine all the coaster enthusiasts there ready to ride Fury 325

[Password121]

^I think it will be incredibly busy with the opening of Fury 325, I can imagine all the coaster enthusiasts there ready to ride Fury 325

All... 300 of them?

I'm sure (with some decent weather) this opening will be busier than most, but not because of enthusiasts. Enthusiasts make up such a small percentage of park visitors. I'd bet that if not one enthusiast went opening day, the average wait for Fury would be less than one train shorter.

[Mossed]

^I think it will be incredibly busy with the opening of Fury 325, I can imagine all the coaster enthusiasts there ready to ride Fury 325

All... 300 of them?

I'm sure (with some decent weather) this opening will be busier than most, but not because of enthusiasts. Enthusiasts make up such a small percentage of park visitors. I'd bet that if not one enthusiast went opening day, the average wait for Fury would be less than one train shorter.

 

You're underestimating the excitement this coaster will bring to non coaster enthusiasts. If I'm not mistaken, Kings Island was ridiculously busy early in the season because of Banshee.

[christianscoasters]

Last Sunday, we stopped by Carowinds just to see Fury325 in person and take a few pictures. There were about 5 other cars of people there just taking pictures. There's clearly a lot of excitement for this ride!

[Password121]

^I think it will be incredibly busy with the opening of Fury 325, I can imagine all the coaster enthusiasts there ready to ride Fury 325

All... 300 of them?

I'm sure (with some decent weather) this opening will be busier than most, but not because of enthusiasts. Enthusiasts make up such a small percentage of park visitors. I'd bet that if not one enthusiast went opening day, the average wait for Fury would be less than one train shorter.

 

You're underestimating the excitement this coaster will bring to non coaster enthusiasts. If I'm not mistaken, Kings Island was ridiculously busy early in the season because of Banshee.

Yeah, that's exactly what I said. I said I'm sure it will be busier than most, but not because of enthusiasts. For those in Banshee's supposed four hour line at opening, how many were enthusiasts? Probably very few.

[BlahBlahson]

^ But what defines your definition of "enthusiast"? There will bea crap load of people who love coasters in the Carolinas who come for this ride. I would absolutely expect the first month after this ride opens to be busier than normal, and opening day will be crushed. This ride will probably be 3.5 hours or more opening day.

[Password121]

^ But what defines your definition of "enthusiast"? There will bea crap load of people who love coasters in the Carolinas who come for this ride. I would absolutely expect the first month after this ride opens to be busier than normal, and opening day will be crushed. This ride will probably be 3.5 hours or more opening day.

If the reason you know about the new ride/park is through a local tv/radio ad, you're not an enthusiast (for these purposes IMO). Sure, they were all coaster lovers to go opening day, but how many of them would be there were it not for that ride? Waiting in line at opening =/= enthusiast

[tarheel1231]

^ But what defines your definition of "enthusiast"? There will bea crap load of people who love coasters in the Carolinas who come for this ride. I would absolutely expect the first month after this ride opens to be busier than normal, and opening day will be crushed. This ride will probably be 3.5 hours or more opening day.

At most the line will be 1 hour on opening day. Most people usually visit during spring break, and even then, the lines aren't that long. Carowinds opening day isn't as popular as KI's, so a 3.5 hour wait is beyond the realm of possibility. I think the biggest misconception is that Fury 325 on opening day will be like Banshee's when in reality, it will be more similar to Intmidator's.

[VF15]

I think it's definitely possible that Fury 325 could have a 2-3 hour line on Opening Day because this is a 325 foot tall giga coaster we're talking about here. The GP loves these gimmicks, so I'd expect a lot of people to flock to this ride once it's open. And no, coaster enthusiasts will not be the reason for a huge line because on any given day at a park, less than one percent of park guests are enthusiasts.

[TheDark8]

I don't think the line will be more than an hour, maybe a bit more (at the most). Opening day 2010 Intimidator's line never even approached an hour.

[tarheel1231]

Yeah and Intimidator had about a 15 minute wait after 12 pm, so I'd expect Fury's opening to be like that.

[nicman]

Update on the gate construction:

[Brassinthegrass]

Also remember that Leviathan is a people eater, in its opening season,matter the morning rush,mother wait was never more than 15 minutes! It's crazy to see, and kind of entertaining when you can't lean on the fences in the queue because your moving too fast...

[garyman6]

I was in Charlotte this weekend and thought everyone would like to see some pics of Fury 325. It looks amazing! Carowinds opens on March 28th.

[drummermattk]

Concrete's been poured on the Bridge!

[John Peck]

On the subject of Banshee, it was a "perfect storm" of sorts. First, opening day was a Friday... and not just a "Friday" it was "Good Friday" (named after Jesus being crucified and dying on the cross, in case any of you are unaware of the term) so all sorts of people being off school and on Easter and spring break decided to go to Kings Island that day. The weather was very nice, and after such a cold winter in 13/14, a day at the park was welcomed. Plus, the park opened at noon, so everyone got there at the same time. Add to a major crash-course in training, and you got 4 to 7 hour lines. I wasn't there. I had to work, but I did go the day after (Saturday) and the lines never went past 2 hours—if that.

 

Okay back to Carowinds....

[GwaziBSRider1]

Anybody have an idea of what the crowds could be like on the Saturday after Fury opens (April 4)? I'm going to visit some friends in the Raleigh/Durham area and take them to Carowinds that day (unless for some reason Fury is delayed past that date).

[pproteinc]

You're underestimating the excitement this coaster will bring to non coaster enthusiasts. If I'm not mistaken, Kings Island was ridiculously busy early in the season because of Banshee.

 

Because that's Kings Island. They bring in about 2-3 million more than Carowinds already, plus they're known to have epic opening days/weekends.

 

Anybody have an idea of what the crowds could be like on the Saturday after Fury opens (April 4)? I'm going to visit some friends in the Raleigh/Durham area and take them to Carowinds that day (unless for some reason Fury is delayed past that date).

 

The Saturday after is during the 2wk spring break operation a Saturday that early in the season isn't bad at all. The only ride you'll probably be in line for over an hour is Nighthawk, everything else would be around 15-20mins or a simple walk on. Anything on and after Memorial Day is when Saturdays are stupid crazy due to the waterpark being in operation.