Carowinds Discussion Thread

[Canobie Coaster]

Stand-up coasters are a weird breed. Different height / body type can lead to such a wide range of feedback on these things that it's honestly kind of nuts. For example: I hate every standup coaster I've ever ridden EXCEPT for the Carowinds Vortex. I actually kind of like the thing. Go figure....

 

And that is the one stand-up I dislike most. Honestly I always found the Togo ones more comfortable. Even if there's airtime on a stand up.

[hoppedup]

Looks like Carowinds is getting in on the admission and FL+ President's Day sale for $59.99:

 

https://www.carowinds.com/

[pryonisys]

Stand-up coasters are a weird breed. Different height / body type can lead to such a wide range of feedback on these things that it's honestly kind of nuts. For example: I hate every standup coaster I've ever ridden EXCEPT for the Carowinds Vortex. I actually kind of like the thing. Go figure....

I've had stand-up coasters that I don't mind but Vortex was terrible for me. It really is a situation where you have to go on the per-coaster basis. If it's ok for someone else that's cool, just didn't work for me.

[bill_s]

Stand-up coasters are a weird breed. Different height / body type can lead to such a wide range of feedback on these things that it's honestly kind of nuts. For example: I hate every standup coaster I've ever ridden EXCEPT for the Carowinds Vortex. I actually kind of like the thing. Go figure....

 

And that is the one stand-up I dislike most. Honestly I always found the Togo ones more comfortable. Even if there's airtime on a stand up.

 

"Even if there's airtime on a stand up" .. OK it didn't increase the comfort but it was wonderful. Stand up coasters without airtime (B&M) killed the genre. It's what makes a good one. It also would be very handy for a floorless conversion too though. I have my doubts that Vortex, Apocalypse or GL would make a decent floorless either, they're rather slow and boring. It's possible, Apocalypse at least has a lot of curves, but no way would any of them come close to the breathless pacing of Dominator without a big change of layout or adding LIMs. .

[pproteinc]

Vortex is not getting converted. Geez let it go.

 

And you know this how? Did the dipping dots guy give you some inside knowledge? Dude, Cedar Fair has been on a mission to rid themselves of stand up coasters. Common sense should tell you the last one is getting it too.

 

It may get converted eventually...but not for 2019. Something will be going in the area that White Water Falls, Sand Dune Lagoon & Thunder Road's station was, including the flyers that are on hiatus this year while construction takes place.

 

We'll see...

 

Cedar Fair let that empty space sit at Canada's Wonderland for awhile...I'm guessing they'll do the same thing here at Carowinds. Canada's Wonderland is getting the huge investment in 2019. Dorney looks to be doing the same thing Knotts did. Too many patterns here. The stand up conversion every 2 years is looking very promising. I can see your prediction happening in 2020 though. But CGA also may be getting that hyper too soon. Carowinds may have to wait for their next big coaster in 3 - 4 years.

 

 

" Project Alpha", which is shown in the permits filed (shown 3 pages ago), were filed in South Carolina (York County). Vortex, Hurler and the hotel are all in North Caroina. If it were a Vortex or Hurler conversion, the permit (s) would have been filed in NC (Mecklenburg County). The project will be in the area noted in my previous reply. There will be no Vortex conversion in 2019.

 

Thank that’s all I’m saying. It MAY eventually happen but definitely not in 2019. I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw up another meme saying “STILL STANDING”. I’m betting they’re going to see how ridership changes with the addition of the carousel being next to it this season. I don’t see much but you never know. I’m not a fan of vortex im more a GA Scorcher and Riddler’s Revenge. We all know the later versions of stand ups are far better than the first gen standups thank to ever changing engineering and technology.

[pproteinc]

Vortex is not getting converted. Geez let it go.

 

And you know this how? Did the dipping dots guy give you some inside knowledge? Dude, Cedar Fair has been on a mission to rid themselves of stand up coasters. Common sense should tell you the last one is getting it too.

 

It may get converted eventually...but not for 2019. Something will be going in the area that White Water Falls, Sand Dune Lagoon & Thunder Road's station was, including the flyers that are on hiatus this year while construction takes place.

 

We'll see...

 

Cedar Fair let that empty space sit at Canada's Wonderland for awhile...I'm guessing they'll do the same thing here at Carowinds. Canada's Wonderland is getting the huge investment in 2019. Dorney looks to be doing the same thing Knotts did. Too many patterns here. The stand up conversion every 2 years is looking very promising. I can see your prediction happening in 2020 though. But CGA also may be getting that hyper too soon. Carowinds may have to wait for their next big coaster in 3 - 4 years.

 

 

" Project Alpha", which is shown in the permits filed (shown 3 pages ago), were filed in South Carolina (York County). Vortex, Hurler and the hotel are all in North Caroina. If it were a Vortex or Hurler conversion, the permit (s) would have been filed in NC (Mecklenburg County). The project will be in the area noted in my previous reply. There will be no Vortex conversion in 2019.

 

Thank that’s all I’m saying. It MAY eventually happen but definitely not in 2019. I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw up another meme saying “STILL STANDING”. I’m betting they’re going to see how ridership changes with the addition of the carousel being next to it this season. I don’t see much but you never know. I’m not a fan of vortex im more a GA Scorcher and Riddler’s Revenge. We all know the later versions of stand ups are far better than the first gen standups thanks to ever changing engineering and technology.

[The Geek Mojo]

Vortex is not getting converted. Geez let it go.

 

And you know this how? Did the dipping dots guy give you some inside knowledge? Dude, Cedar Fair has been on a mission to rid themselves of stand up coasters. Common sense should tell you the last one is getting it too.

 

It may get converted eventually...but not for 2019. Something will be going in the area that White Water Falls, Sand Dune Lagoon & Thunder Road's station was, including the flyers that are on hiatus this year while construction takes place.

 

We'll see...

 

Cedar Fair let that empty space sit at Canada's Wonderland for awhile...I'm guessing they'll do the same thing here at Carowinds. Canada's Wonderland is getting the huge investment in 2019. Dorney looks to be doing the same thing Knotts did. Too many patterns here. The stand up conversion every 2 years is looking very promising. I can see your prediction happening in 2020 though. But CGA also may be getting that hyper too soon. Carowinds may have to wait for their next big coaster in 3 - 4 years.

 

 

" Project Alpha", which is shown in the permits filed (shown 3 pages ago), were filed in South Carolina (York County). Vortex, Hurler and the hotel are all in North Caroina. If it were a Vortex or Hurler conversion, the permit (s) would have been filed in NC (Mecklenburg County). The project will be in the area noted in my previous reply. There will be no Vortex conversion in 2019.

 

Bah...That's for the hotel. They could always file another permit later. I'm still keeping hope alive. Vortex in 2019!

[thrillseeker4552]

Is anyone else like me and hope they just scrap Vortex rather than convert it? I know they did Vortex at CGA, but Carowinds is a much larger park, and how marketable would something like Floortex be? Plus the ride would be mediocre, at best. I don't know. I guess I just hate the ride so much I'm getting ahead of myself.

[Ape]

Vortex is the only Stand Up that I found enjoyable in the last ten years or so.

[Afterburner]

Is anyone else like me and hope they just scrap Vortex rather than convert it? I know they did Vortex at CGA, but Carowinds is a much larger park, and how marketable would something like Floortex be? Plus the ride would be mediocre, at best. I don't know. I guess I just hate the ride so much I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

My hope is that they eventually get rid of both Nighthawk and Vortex (scrap the former, ship the latter off to Michigan's Adventure as a floorless) and use that spot for a big steel looper, maybe a wing rider.

[Vonni]

It is officially set in stone that I will be visiting Carowinds for the first time this Summer, and needless to say, I am very excited! I'm definitely looking forward to Fury and Intimidator! I'm also really excited about the other coasters. Borg Assimilator (or whatever its current name is), although Vekoma flyers are not highly regarded in the enthusiast community, I am looking forward to as I've never been on a flying coaster of any kind. I am looking forward to Vortex as well as I've never been on a stand up of any kind either. I had opportunities in the past but that was many years ago when I was just getting into coasters and had not gotten the nerve to try a stand up coaster.

[thrillseeker4552]

It is officially set in stone that I will be visiting Carowinds for the first time this Summer, and needless to say, I am very excited! I'm definitely looking forward to Fury and Intimidator! I'm also really excited about the other coasters. Borg Assimilator (or whatever its current name is), although Vekoma flyers are not highly regarded in the enthusiast community, I am looking forward to as I've never been on a flying coaster of any kind. I am looking forward to Vortex as well as I've never been on a stand up of any kind either. I had opportunities in the past but that was many years ago when I was just getting into coasters and had not gotten the nerve to try a stand up coaster.

 

Have fun!

 

Like you've probably seen, people's experiences on Vortex are highly polarized (and I'm sure even those who don't totally hate the ride wouldn't necessarily call it "good"). The first part of Nighthawk is actually pretty fun and intense, but everything from the loop to the brakes is a shakey mess... at least it was for me.

 

But on the other hand, Fury, Intimidator, and Afterburn are all fantastic rides and make the park worth visiting on their own!

[marth555]

I like Nighthawk but hate Vortex with a passion

[coaster-mm]

Hi guys,

 

I'm in the proces of planning our second trip to the US this year and this trip is gonna include a visit to Carowinds on Saturday the 15th of September.

Because our first trip this year(June) will include Cedar Point and Canada's wonderland we already purchased CF platinum passes(yep, people from Europe with CF platinum passes ). We are only interested in the 3 main rides in Carowinds(F325, Intimidator and afterburn, don't care about the rest), and for the rest we just gonna walk around, enjoy the park,and compare the park to all the others parks we have seen in the past .

 

Because we are gonna visit on a Saturday in September when the park is closed on weekdays, I expect it is gonna be very crowded and that's why a have 2 questions:

Does carowinds have something like early entry for platinum passes on a saturday in September?

If we're gonna decide to go for FL-plus, do they offer a discount on those for Pass-holders?

 

If it is worth the time,we do have the possibility to go on sunday morning as well for a few hours, but we rather not do that, plenty of other things to do that week

 

Thanks!

[KIJester]

^Sundays are mostly dead until church lets out here in the Bible belt. All three B&M's are usually walk-on's before noon and a 15 minute wait worst case scenario. You definitely won't need Fast Lane on Sunday.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Is anyone else like me and hope they just scrap Vortex rather than convert it? I know they did Vortex at CGA, but Carowinds is a much larger park, and how marketable would something like Floortex be? Plus the ride would be mediocre, at best. I don't know. I guess I just hate the ride so much I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

I think I now know Valleyfair's future coaster.

[coaster-mm]

^Sundays are mostly dead until church lets out here in the Bible belt. All three B&M's are usually walk-on's before noon and a 15 minute wait worst case scenario. You definitely won't need Fast Lane on Sunday.

Thanks for the advice!

I think we're gonna let the saturday crowds decide if we are going to visit on Sunday morning as well.

[bgtlover]

If anyone is interested in the SpringHill Suites being built at Carowinds for 2019, here are the plans. Interestingly, on page 28, it shows a spot labeled "Sportsplex Building" just to the NW of the hotel site.

 

https://www.docdroid.net/lWIHkcR/approvedldc-2017-003621.pdf

 

[WolfBobs]

Is anyone else like me and hope they just scrap Vortex rather than convert it? I know they did Vortex at CGA, but Carowinds is a much larger park, and how marketable would something like Floortex be? Plus the ride would be mediocre, at best. I don't know. I guess I just hate the ride so much I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

My personal enthusiast wet dream would be they move it to MIA and then convert it to floorless. That would open that space up for a modern looper from Gerstlauer, MACK or a B&M wing. Whilst giving MIA a decent sitdown B&M at a fraction of the cost. Doubt this would happen but in my mind it's a perfect scenario for both parks.

 

The sportsplex tidbit in that above photo is not surprising. CF has stated they will look into building more of those and Carowinds seems like a perfect spot. Almost perfect year round weather for most outdoor sports. They would get a ton of usage from it there. It already had a very successful first year in Ohio, I'm sure it would do even better in the Carolinas.

[Geauga Dog]

Carowinds released their 2018 Spring Map and I don't see the Flying Scooters anywhere. Weren't they going to move them to another part of the park?

 

 

https://cdn-cloudfront.cfauthx.com/binaries/content/assets/ca-en-us/forms/2018carowindsparkmap_spring.pdf

[Virus]

They said they would not return in 2018, but would in 2019.

[cal1br3tto]

^I'm still so disappointed by that.

[Virus]

Same. It's one of my favorite rides to ride during my visits.

[DorneyKid14]

sooo who wants to start a betting pool on when Hurler closes for the RMC treatment?

[Virus]

Not me, since there are zero markers under Hurler and a ton near Thunder Road's station, and White Water Falls.