Carowinds Discussion Thread

[Coaster Hero]

2016 - Waterpark Expansion or Attraction - Rumor - (7/8/15) A reader sent in a few interesting pictures taken at Carowinds this week. They show off a series of new survey stakes in the ground near where the Fury 325 track was stored last year. As this is the exact opposite side of the park from where the waterpark expansion would go, this is a very curious find.

 

Pictures can be found on the screamscape page

 

Very interesting...

Maybe a flat to go along with the waterpark expansion or my vote; Aquatrax Confirmed!

[baileybrucem]

2016 - Waterpark Expansion or Attraction - Rumor - (7/8/15) A reader sent in a few interesting pictures taken at Carowinds this week. They show off a series of new survey stakes in the ground near where the Fury 325 track was stored last year. As this is the exact opposite side of the park from where the waterpark expansion would go, this is a very curious find.

 

Pictures can be found on the screamscape page

 

Very interesting...

Maybe a flat to go along with the waterpark expansion or my vote; Aquatrax Confirmed!

 

How could it be a flat if the stakes are literally outside the park itself

[TyRush]

If they are expanding the water park maybe those stakes are for new water pipelines/ electric, ect....since they are outside the park as you say

[cwgator]

Red=Where the stakes are/were. Blue=Waterpark

I doubt those stakes have anything to do with the water park being way over there or even a flat ride for the park. They did however shoot the fireworks off for the 4th near that area. Then again if it was for that why leave those behind after clean-up? They are probably just messing with folks...lol

[Coaster Hero]

2016 - Waterpark Expansion or Attraction - Rumor - (7/8/15) A reader sent in a few interesting pictures taken at Carowinds this week. They show off a series of new survey stakes in the ground near where the Fury 325 track was stored last year. As this is the exact opposite side of the park from where the waterpark expansion would go, this is a very curious find.

 

Pictures can be found on the screamscape page

 

Very interesting...

Maybe a flat to go along with the waterpark expansion or my vote; Aquatrax Confirmed!

 

How could it be a flat if the stakes are literally outside the park itself

 

I'm guessing that the opposite side of the park would still be inside the park. I don't know the layout of the park too well..

[CedarFair1]

guys clear limit is for fireworks..

[PVA62]

Went to the park yesterday and it couldn't have been a more perfect day. It was hot but there wasn't hardly anyone there. My buddy and I arrived around 9:30, I have a platinum pass so I went over to Fury, he doesn't so he went to be first in line for Nighthawk. I rode Fury 13 times yesterday and I think it takes over my #2 spot, sorry I305 and MF. To me it was great, fast, twisty, surprising airtime, loved it. I got 4 rides in the 1st row, 1 in 2nd, 1 in 4th, 3 in 5th, 1 in 7th, and 3 in back row, there isn't a bad seat on this thing! Also kudos to the crew, they were dispatching trains by the time the previous train was leaving the lift hill, they were incredible. Big props to the lead Carlos for being a great mic op and pushing the crowds through.

 

I skipped Nighthawk because I did it last trip and I just hate Vekoma flyers. Did Indimidator next, was a walk on early but the rest of the day was a 10 minute wait. Should have been 1 train wait all day but the crew was so slow. Really terrible. Rode twice.

 

Afterburn was a walk on all day. I really love this invert, my 2nd or 3rd fave invert behind Banshee and tied with Raptor. Did this one 4 times.

 

Next was Thunder Road. I have no personal attachment to this ride since I've only been to Carowinds twice now, but I'm disappointed they are shutting it down. It is really in great shape, I thought it was butter smooth and really enjoyable. Oh well, farewell Thunder Road, and thanks for the pin they were giving out.

 

Goldrusher was fun, Ricochet was fun, Cyclone was rough, Vortex was rougher than I remember. Skipped Cobra and Hurler.

 

Woodstock Gliders was great. Fun to ride a flyer that you can snap! Love these rides.

 

Also did lunch in Harmony Hall. Had a great brisket sandwich. The entertainment was nice for kids, but it was underwhelming, only one song was actually sung live.

 

Enough rambling, here are a few pictures.

Treble Clef Coaster!

Fury, the reason I came back!

Walk on for Intimidator early in the morning, not so much in the afternoon.

Afterburn station looked like this all day!

Didn't ride but I really like this area of the park for some reason.

Good brisket at Harmony Hall

Ouch!

It seems like yesterday that this view didn't have a 325ft coaster.

More ouch.

I actually like the setting of this ride.

Unique picture that no one has ever taken before.

This was as long as the line was all day for Intimidator and Fury. Only thing is, this took Fury about 3 minutes and Intimidator 10.

Absolutely love these rides!

Enterprises are also a personal favorite of mine.

Cyclone...ouch!

[glouthan]

^Nice photos! Thanks for sharing.

[Intimidator305]

2016 "Big Splash" news - "Carolina Harbor" trademark was just filed so that pretty much confirms a water park retheme.

 

Carowinds is the home of...

Carolina Showplace

Carolina Boardwalk

Carolina RFD

Carolina Cyclone

Carolina Cobra

And now Carolina Harbor

 

I like the name don't get me wrong, but 'Carolina' is smacked onto 3 areas of the park and 2 coasters already.

[jarmor]

2016 "Big Splash" news - "Carolina Harbor" trademark was just filed so that pretty much confirms a water park retheme.

 

Carowinds is the home of...

Carolina Showplace

Carolina Boardwalk

Carolina RFD

Carolina Cyclone

Carolina Cobra

And now Carolina Harbor

 

I like the name don't get me wrong, but 'Carolina' is smacked onto 3 areas of the park and 2 coasters already.

Where'd you get that info from?

[Intimidator305]

Where'd you get that info from?

 

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4802:l9oijr.2.1

[jarmor]

Gesh lol. I wont even know what to look for...

[beenagins87]

2016 "Big Splash" news - "Carolina Harbor" trademark was just filed so that pretty much confirms a water park retheme.

 

Carowinds is the home of...

Carolina Showplace

Carolina Boardwalk

Carolina RFD

Carolina Cyclone

Carolina Cobra

And now Carolina Harbor

 

I like the name don't get me wrong, but 'Carolina' is smacked onto 3 areas of the park and 2 coasters already.

 

Carolina rolls off the tongue nicely when it comes to Cyclone and Cobra, but it's a little much on the others I agree.

[cwgator]

Carowinds is the home of...

Carolina Showplace

Carolina Boardwalk

Carolina RFD

Carolina Cyclone

Carolina Cobra

And now Carolina Harbor

 

I like the name don't get me wrong, but 'Carolina' is smacked onto 3 areas of the park and 2 coasters already.

 

You forgot Carolina Goldrusher and Carolina Skytower

So that's 3 coasters and a flat.

[jarmor]

It's a Carolina thing, you guys wouldn't understand...

[Intimidator305]

You forgot Carolina Goldrusher and Carolina Skytower

So that's 3 coasters and a flat.

 

Excellent point - I tend to forget about SkyTower since I haven't seen it open in years. I have very bad luck with that ride.

 

So that makes the park icon, 3 coasters, 3 (soon to be 4) areas of the park with the name 'Carolina'.

[cwgator]

It's a Carolina thing, you guys wouldn't understand...

Considering I'm from Charlotte...I think I do...lol

[aaron88stang]

If you are on Facebook, here are some pics from my recent trip to Carowinds.

 

https://www.facebook.com/aaron88stang/media_set?set=a.10207174713917332.1567277009&type=3

[sirspud]

2016 "Big Splash" news - "Carolina Harbor" trademark was just filed so that pretty much confirms a water park retheme.

 

Carowinds is the home of...

Carolina Showplace

Carolina Boardwalk

Carolina RFD

Carolina Cyclone

Carolina Cobra

And now Carolina Harbor

 

I like the name don't get me wrong, but 'Carolina' is smacked onto 3 areas of the park and 2 coasters already.

 

Don't forget their signature bathroom, the Carolina Commode.

[Geauga Dog]

I'd rather have the name "Carolina Harbor" than another generic "Soak City".

[DILinator]

I'd rather have the name "Carolina Harbor" than another generic "Soak City".

 

[UrbanLegend]

Hey all, I have a bit of an unusual request. So I was at the park this past weekend for the first time, and I just realized that I had forgotten to go to the gift shop to look for a t-shirt from the park!

I know this is an odd request, but would anyone who has a season pass or was going to the park be willing to check out the shirts for me? I usually go for the more subtle, vintage-looking shirts; these are the ones I got from my previous park trips for reference. Not sure if there is anything like that in the shops.

If anyone is up for it, I'd be more than willing to pay you back for shipping and buying the shirt, and would even be willing to get you something from Great Adventure of Hershey or anything nearby if you'd like. If you're up for it just reply or PM me or something like that.

[Fury325X]

Hey everyone! Anyone have any idea on how crowded the park should be on Friday, August 14th? I'm on vacation, but don't want to run into a massive crowd at the end of summer.

[megametal]

I've been going to Carowinds since about 1993, usually at least once a year. I went yesterday for a full day, having not been the year before that. Really loved Fury 325. Nice floater air and some ejector air before the helix towards the end of the ride. I got to ride it twice. Once about an hour after the park opened, and once as the last ride of the night. The night ride was really great. Seemed faster, as night rides often do. However, that's about the only good thing I can say about my trip this time. Now, truly, Carowinds has never had the greatest employees for the most part. But they were never this slow on any previous trip I've taken there. Dispatches on Carolina Cyclone took about 3 minutes. On Intimidator, about the same. Carolina Cobra, about 5. Nighthawk, over 5, but that's not unusual. Vortex, about 5 or 6. Now, it was obvious that the people actually operating the coaster from the booth were trying to get people to hustle. The thing was, they were pushing guests to be faster putting stuff in bins or getting out of their seats or fasting their belts. This tended to cause people to get flustered instead of quick. And the people checking restraints would have to unlock the restraints because people were in a hurry and sat on the seatbelts or put their stuff on the ground by the cubbies instead of in them, which is a no-no at some of the coasters now. (Others didn't care, but the Goldrusher crew did.)

 

Besides the slow loading times, the employees for the most part were real sourpusses. I try to be nice to employees at parks, as I know their jobs can really suck what with the hot weather, entitled patrons, and low pay. It gets progressively hard to do that when they frown when you come up to their window to order a drink, they don't say you're welcome when you thank them, they ignore you, or they take out their anger on you because the person in front of you got on their nerves. The Fury crew would get really testy with those who didn't notice they had a seatbelt to buckle before they pulled down their lap belt. Understandable, but unprofessional in my opinion. I don't normally speak up, but did to the one guy who was berating the person in front of me (who had never been to the park before and didn't notice the belt). At least at the end of the night, one of the game workers asked how our day was and talked to us about it for like 5 minutes. The one cheerful employee I saw there all day. Wish I had gotten her name to commend her at guest services as we left, but it never crossed my mind.

 

The waits weren't too bad for a Saturday. I rode Thunder Road twice, once on both sides. Silver side is still much smoother than the blue side. I went to the park to get my last rides in, as it closes after next weekend. It was the only coaster at the park that had no line all day. Rode Intimidator once. The wait was about 15 minutes, mostly due to slow dispatches. The guy in the booth was trying to get both the patrons and his staff to hurry it up, giving them countdowns even, but the trains all stacked for at least 30 seconds as we waited in line. Vortex had about a 30 minute wait, and we only rode it once. It still isn't that enjoyable. Rode Afterburn once. It had a 20 minute wait, and they now no longer have preferred seating either, at least on weekends. Vortex didn't either. This was new to me on both of those coasters. Previously they had done that only on Nighthawk and Intimidator. I've noticed this creeping through a lot of parks lately, and I don't really like it, especially on older coasters. I understand it for newer ones. Hurler still completely sucks. I'd thought I'd heard they had taken the brake off from the first hill. Nope, still there at the bottom, making the ride completely devoid of the airtime it used to have. The coaster has absolutely no point anymore. Goldrusher had about a 15 minute line, and loading there has never been fast since they have to lock each train car individually and they have to explain to anyone over 5 1/2 feet tall to cross their ankles so the bar can come down. Didn't get to ride Ricochet or Carolina Cobra as the lines were too long and it rained/stormed for 2 hours closing everything outside. Cobra didn't even open until about 2 PM anyway. Ricochet was closed after the storm until about 8 PM, after which it had a good 40 minute line.

 

I don't know why employees this year seemed to be so bad. Maybe I just got a really bad day? I'm not a huge fan of Cedar Fair's seat belt fixation even after having quite a few years to "get used to it". People still sit on them and it really does slow dispatches. (and having them on Carolina Cyclone is nonsensical.) On the plus side, all coasters were running 2 or more trains (except the ones that only COULD run one like the former Taxi Jam and Carolina Cobra), the park has nightly fireworks, and for the first time in a long time I noticed the park stayed open until 10 on weekdays!

 

Still, despite the new coaster and new entrance, employees need a lot of improvement, as do dispatch times.

[I305isadrug]

I've been going to Carowinds since about 1993, usually at least once a year. I went yesterday for a full day, having not been the year before that. Really loved Fury 325. Nice floater air and some ejector air before the helix towards the end of the ride. I got to ride it twice. Once about an hour after the park opened, and once as the last ride of the night. The night ride was really great. Seemed faster, as night rides often do. However, that's about the only good thing I can say about my trip this time. Now, truly, Carowinds has never had the greatest employees for the most part. But they were never this slow on any previous trip I've taken there. Dispatches on Carolina Cyclone took about 3 minutes. On Intimidator, about the same. Carolina Cobra, about 5. Nighthawk, over 5, but that's not unusual. Vortex, about 5 or 6. Now, it was obvious that the people actually operating the coaster from the booth were trying to get people to hustle. The thing was, they were pushing guests to be faster putting stuff in bins or getting out of their seats or fasting their belts. This tended to cause people to get flustered instead of quick. And the people checking restraints would have to unlock the restraints because people were in a hurry and sat on the seatbelts or put their stuff on the ground by the cubbies instead of in them, which is a no-no at some of the coasters now. (Others didn't care, but the Goldrusher crew did.)

 

Besides the slow loading times, the employees for the most part were real sourpusses. I try to be nice to employees at parks, as I know their jobs can really suck what with the hot weather, entitled patrons, and low pay. It gets progressively hard to do that when they frown when you come up to their window to order a drink, they don't say you're welcome when you thank them, they ignore you, or they take out their anger on you because the person in front of you got on their nerves. The Fury crew would get really testy with those who didn't notice they had a seatbelt to buckle before they pulled down their lap belt. Understandable, but unprofessional in my opinion. I don't normally speak up, but did to the one guy who was berating the person in front of me (who had never been to the park before and didn't notice the belt). At least at the end of the night, one of the game workers asked how our day was and talked to us about it for like 5 minutes. The one cheerful employee I saw there all day. Wish I had gotten her name to commend her at guest services as we left, but it never crossed my mind.

 

The waits weren't too bad for a Saturday. I rode Thunder Road twice, once on both sides. Silver side is still much smoother than the blue side. I went to the park to get my last rides in, as it closes after next weekend. It was the only coaster at the park that had no line all day. Rode Intimidator once. The wait was about 15 minutes, mostly due to slow dispatches. The guy in the booth was trying to get both the patrons and his staff to hurry it up, giving them countdowns even, but the trains all stacked for at least 30 seconds as we waited in line. Vortex had about a 30 minute wait, and we only rode it once. It still isn't that enjoyable. Rode Afterburn once. It had a 20 minute wait, and they now no longer have preferred seating either, at least on weekends. Vortex didn't either. This was new to me on both of those coasters. Previously they had done that only on Nighthawk and Intimidator. I've noticed this creeping through a lot of parks lately, and I don't really like it, especially on older coasters. I understand it for newer ones. Hurler still completely sucks. I'd thought I'd heard they had taken the brake off from the first hill. Nope, still there at the bottom, making the ride completely devoid of the airtime it used to have. The coaster has absolutely no point anymore. Goldrusher had about a 15 minute line, and loading there has never been fast since they have to lock each train car individually and they have to explain to anyone over 5 1/2 feet tall to cross their ankles so the bar can come down. Didn't get to ride Ricochet or Carolina Cobra as the lines were too long and it rained/stormed for 2 hours closing everything outside. Cobra didn't even open until about 2 PM anyway. Ricochet was closed after the storm until about 8 PM, after which it had a good 40 minute line.

 

I don't know why employees this year seemed to be so bad. Maybe I just got a really bad day? I'm not a huge fan of Cedar Fair's seat belt fixation even after having quite a few years to "get used to it". People still sit on them and it really does slow dispatches. (and having them on Carolina Cyclone is nonsensical.) On the plus side, all coasters were running 2 or more trains (except the ones that only COULD run one like the former Taxi Jam and Carolina Cobra), the park has nightly fireworks, and for the first time in a long time I noticed the park stayed open until 10 on weekdays!

 

Still, despite the new coaster and new entrance, employees need a lot of improvement, as do dispatch times.

I'm sure you would rather ride I305 over Fury