Carowinds Discussion Thread

[thrillrider]

Carowinds posted a few pictures today.

[michaellynn4]

Carowinds posted a few pictures today.

 

 

I had to do a double take here because at I swear at a quick glance, the center piece looked like a dreidel to me.

[Vonni]

The tarp on the Music Express is quite dusty lol!

[coasterbill]

Everything looks good. I'd imagine an LED package for the Troika is in the works. They've been going around the chain and adding them to a lot of their existing Troika rides in recent years.

[carolinaman]

I think we will see more lights and things added over the next several weeks. Kinda like with Fury, the lights under the bridge was added after Fury opened.

[EliHorton]

It looks like Electro Spin is running just fine. They have been testing it non stop all day.

[WolfBobs]

I still can't believe they're keeping Yo-Yo.

 

This makes me happy since it's an old Geauga Lake ride. I'll be able to take a few more spins on it in April. I doubt it'll be around long.

[Geauga Dog]

^I wonder if they repainted it because when I was at Carowinds in 2012 it looked like crap.

[WOFanatic]

I gotta say, the final County Fair product looks kinda disappointing. Electro Spin was down for preview night and kinda looks like crap (the paint job is so ugly). In addition, the area lacks anything interesting lighting-wise (which I hope is temporary, but I doubt it), and the area itself looks kinda bland. Overall, not impressed so far.

[thrillseeker4552]

I gotta say, the final County Fair product looks kinda disappointing. Electro Spin was down for preview night and kinda looks like crap (the paint job is so ugly). In addition, the area lacks anything interesting lighting-wise (which I hope is temporary, but I doubt it), and the area itself looks kinda bland. Overall, not impressed so far.

 

I see where you're coming from. Maybe it will look a little nicer once everything has settled and vegetation has grown (if any). It's still only March, so I imagine it may look a little better as the summer months arrive.

[pproteinc]

I'm so underwhelmed with the area tbh. I'm happy Carowinds got some much needed rides but the atmosphere is just blah. It's like the area has been there for years. The troika went down about 3 times, Cobra went down once, Rock N Roller went down once then closed for good around 8, Electro spin was down the whole night but testing. I was told it should be up and running no later then next weekend. The string lights overhead looks like the were just thrown up randomly on black poles, no light package on the troika, white [coastertube][/coastertube]lights on the musik express uh who does that and you could barely hear the music; nice theming tho. Electro Spin's paint job is ugly and no lights are on it as well. Not a ton of lights on the buildings as you would see at a county fair. It looks more like Christmas time than a county fair with all the white lighting. Zephyr is beautiful. Just wish the white lights blinked or chase. Hopefully they will tighten up the area over the next few weeks. The pavers and the textured concrete are nice. Drop Zone's paint job looks great.

 

Panda Express' new location is very nice and they have expanded the menu. Harmony Hall's grill section replaced the chicken sandwich with extra long hotdogs which are so good OMG. The burrito cafe food looks great, I'll try them sooner or later.

 

Metal detectors are here to stay as the have built new and ugly might I add permanent huts with new sophisticated walk through detectors.

 

FURY IS RUNNING GREAT!

[coasterbill]

Given the way they've been rushing to finish everything, I'm pretty confident in assuming that they're still putting finishing touches on the County Fair. I fully expect lighting packages coming in the near future, at least to the Troika since they're going around the chain adding LED lights to their Troika rides anyway. I know they've recently added them at KD and KI.

 

Also, when you go to a preview night or even an opening weekend, don't complain about breakdowns (especially on new rides) or a new complex flat ride not being ready. It blows my mind that anyone would have an issue with that... we should really expect this at this point (regardless of the park / chain) we're talking about. None of this should be a surprise.

 

PS: This isn't really a knock on you, pproteinc. Obviously you had the right idea which is to go ride Fury and forget all about the county fair . I just don't get how people don't come to expect this at this point.

[Philrad71]

^ It happens year after year in the forums on opening day - to the point where it's almost comical.

 

As you know, the CP thread after opening day is almost always a dumpster fire of non-stop bitching & complaining for about a week. In between those posts are the inevitable, "I'm going to CP on July 21st at 10:15 AM...how long do you think the lines will be that day? Will I need a Fast Lane +?"

[carolinaman]

As far as Elcectro Spin, I noticed last night that it looks like they still have to add lighting or something to it as you can see what looks like bolts all over it where something can/will be mounted to it. If you look close at the picture I took last night you can tell what I'm talking about.

[pproteinc]

Given the way they've been rushing to finish everything, I'm pretty confident in assuming that they're still putting finishing touches on the County Fair. I fully expect lighting packages coming in the near future, at least to the Troika since they're going around the chain adding LED lights to their Troika rides anyway. I know they've recently added them at KD and KI.

 

Also, when you go to a preview night or even an opening weekend, don't complain about breakdowns (especially on new rides) or a new complex flat ride not being ready. It blows my mind that anyone would have an issue with that... we should really expect this at this point (regardless of the park / chain) we're talking about. None of this should be a surprise.

 

PS: This isn't really a knock on you, pproteinc. Obviously you had the right idea which is to go ride Fury and forget all about the county fair . I just don't get how people don't come to expect this at this point.

 

Maybe it's the perfectionist in me to have things done and perfect at a set date. I gave the benefit of the doubt that everything would be perfect by mid season and I was slammed down by a poster who thought all the rides should be working fine with no issues and the mere fact that these are fair rides that fair put up in a week and here they had four months.

 

I was just giving my review on what the area looks like and what the night entailed. I'm very happy to have these rides at Carowinds as they're much needed. I just happen to be more on the visually pleasing aspect of things as well. To me the area should be damn close to what Gemini's Midway looks at CP. Who am I tho.

[Satans Hockey]

I'm here now, I'm glad I searched this thread for tips before coming. Getting on nighthawk first was a great tip. The line wasn't even that long when we got on it but they take forever. For how nice the weather is plus opening day it's not as crowded as I expected it to be. Intimidator was a ton of fun. Saving fury for last.

[cackylack]

As far as Elcectro Spin, I noticed last night that it looks like they still have to add lighting or something to it as you can see what looks like bolts all over it where something can/will be mounted to it. If you look close at the picture I took last night you can tell what I'm talking about.

 

Looks like they took the backs off of all the seats. Each row was a different color, with embedded LEDs. Also, they painted over the zigzag designs that were on the side of the base. I bet what they put back for finishing touches will be look great. They have to finish this, plus Rock N Roller's themed exterior (and maybe more lights on the interior) -- I predict the final product will be amazing.

[EliHorton]

As far as Elcectro Spin, I noticed last night that it looks like they still have to add lighting or something to it as you can see what looks like bolts all over it where something can/will be mounted to it. If you look close at the picture I took last night you can tell what I'm talking about.

 

I just noticed that on a different picture. Coaster Crew had a 360 picture on Facebook and I looked at Electro Spin and saw all those bolts and lines and how the seats looked bare. I'm sure they will put them on once they are done working on it. Carowinds said they hope to have Electro Spin up and running next weekend.

 

By the way, what ever happened to the Huss Breakdance? I think if they didn't plan to install it this year that they should have at least sent it to Michigan's Adventure since they aren't really getting anything. Well, except for that kiddie cove thing in the water park.

[Johnlloyd]

Looking at the photo of Electro Spin from last night that carolinaman had posted, it appears that Carowinds had removed the paint job on the main support arm that was there when the park had shared construction photos of Electro Spin. It's nothing overly important but, I thought I would just point it out. Electro Spin will look beautiful once fully completed as the seat backs have beautiful lights that really shine at night, especially if it has the flickering lights just like the ones on Shockwave at Canada's Wonderland.

[CaptainUnknown]

don't complain about breakdowns (especially on new rides) or a new complex flat ride not being ready. It blows my mind that anyone would have an issue with that... we should really expect this at this point (regardless of the park / chain) we're talking about. None of this should be a surprise.

 

Yes, please complain about how a highly complex piece of machinery is not operating due to safety reasons--Especially to the ride operators.

[SFOG1991]

I've been at the park all weekend. Doing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

 

Has anyone mentioned that Intimidator has all its trims turned off? Is this new for this season?

 

 

 

I've always thought Intimidator was the most boring B&M hyper but without trims it's pretty awesome! Really moved up in my ranking.

[CoasterGuy06]

They were on last season, but not as bad as when I visited in 2012. You're right though, when they hit hard it really kills the ride.

[coasterbill]

I've heard that the trims are off, but I'm skeptical of the fact that it'll stay that way. I just assume that the ride is running underspeed early in the season since the wheels are probably still breaking in and they were dealing with some low temperatures when they were cycling it in the days and weeks leading up to opening day.

[SFOG1991]

^They are off and I hope they stay that way. Intimidator was at the very bottom of my B&M hyper list, while Goliath is likely the best (I've been on all except Mako in the US) but honestly the way Intimidator is running is comparable to Goliath now. You get sustained airtime and get kind of whipped over the last bit of each drop. Night and day compared to when they trims hit hard.

[Keetz]

Most of the rides I have had on intimidator are just okay. The trims make it super controlled and rather forgettable for a 230 ft tall coaster.

 

I did have one ride in the middle of summer however where the trims were not hitting hard/ at all, and the ride was fantastic. Very strong floater air and a great contrast to Fury. I don't understand how Intamin can run a ride like El Toro or Skyrush where the trains just run wild, and then B&M designs a ride and decides that a trim is needed before two airtime hills.

 

This no trim era is potentially exciting, but the cold weather does slow the trains a lot. When I went to the park opening weekend two years ago, it was very cold. Intimidator was crawling through the course so trims might be off till it fully warms up? I'm not holding my breath for this to last.