Carowinds Discussion Thread

[teacherkim]

^Nice! With the Fast Lane Plus and Fright Lane combo you're going to be able to ride everything you want as many times as you want. Is this your first trip to Carowinds?

 

Yes, been to several other Cedar Fair parks but not Carowinds. It was a reward offered to the boy for raising his grades and then he went and did it so I had to follow through, lol. We both have Fri 10/26 off school so, fly down Fri morning, Scarowinds Fri night, regular park Sat day, Scarowinds Sat night, utilize fastlane/frightlane, ride everything, go through all the mazes, eat junk food til we puke, and fly home Sun morning.

[LiftThrill]

The Fury crew is otherworldly. They've just eaten through an entire set of switchbacks in like 15 minutes (full queue minus the extra far-end cattle pens). Too bad almost every other crew has kinda sucked. Better rides = better crews here, Afterburn has been closed all day, hoping it opens before we bail but I'm guessing it probably won't.

[teacherkim]

So, if we purchase fastlane plus for the normal daytime hours on a Saturday, is it still good during Scarowinds? Or does everything "reset" when the park reopens for the Halloween stuff.

 

I realize the mazes have a separate fastpass to purchase.

[B&MIntaminGCI]

^I was looking at the same thing, everything resets I believe.

[teacherkim]

Yeah I think I answered my own question on the web site. Apparently, if you buy fastlane it is good for either the daytime hours OR Scarowinds.

[prozach626]

Yeah I think I answered my own question on the web site. Apparently, if you buy fastlane it is good for either the daytime hours OR Scarowinds.

Same with Funpix.

[hoppedup]

The first loop is taking shape on Copperhead Strike. Can't wait to get a peek at it this Saturday.

 

https://www.carowinds.com/explore/live-video

[carowindsman]

Carowinds announces Mountain Gliders for 2019

 

Have you ever wanted soar like a bird over majestic mountains? The Mountain Gliders, opening in Carowinds’ all-new Blue Ridge Junction area in 2019, offers an experience that’s mighty close. After boarding one of the unique carriages, you’ll start spinning at a high speed, so much so that you’ll spin outward and rise to 28 feet above the ground. Once in the air, you take matters into your own hands by operating the carriage’s controls to command the glider’s flight. Whether you explore the high altitudes as if flying above the Blue Ridge Mountains or cruise at a lower elevation in the valleys, the choice – and experience, mild or wild – is up to you.

 

Mountain Gliders

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by larrygator

[LiftThrill]

Spent last Saturday primarily at Carowinds since I was in the area. Sadly, Afterburn was closed all day (was really looking forward to it, but at least it wasn't Fury). Expected it to be pretty busy and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't SUPER slammed (definitely nowhere near empty or even super great, I still skipped some rides like Flying Cobras and Nighthawk, but I never waited more than an hour for anything).

 

Fury 325 (x3): This thing kicks every other coaster ever's A$$ up and down its 325 feet of height. The first drop is the best on any coaster I've been on by far and it absolutely powers through everything with a crazy relentless speed that puts a huge grin on your face every second of the ride. The airtime in the ending run is also superb, but I live for speed and every ride on this felt like it got even faster. I can't decide if my favorite part of the ride is the first drop or that sweeping turn before the treble clef, but both of those parts are absolutely breathtaking and are just so much fun in every way that even among the other parts of the ride they manage to be ridiculously awesome in comparison. This thing is king. Sorry MF, but Fury is you but better. Also shoutout to the crew who made a super long line into a half hour wait.

 

Hurler (x1): Perfectly average coaster. Not rough at all (for a woodie of this type), and a decent time. I'd imagine riding in the wheel seats would give a less enjoyable experience, but it was pretty fun.

 

Carolina Cyclone (x1): Kinda sucked? Not as bad as Demon or Corkscrew, just kinda meh. The crew on this ride was horrendous and with 2 trains averaged 2-3 minute dispatches or something like that.

 

Vortex (x1): My first standup coaster. Sitting waiting for it to dispatch is the worst part. The ride was actually really enjoyable except for the headbangy corkscrew thing near the end of the ride.

 

Carolina Goldrusher (x1): Fun mine train. One of my favorites, after Thunderation and Road Runner Express. The crew for this was equal to or worse than Carolina Cyclone's.

 

Intimidator (x1): People complain about the trims a lot, but my one ride seemed like they were turned all the way off. Probably my favorite B&M hyper, but they're all pretty similar. Intimidator seemed like it had a little more sensation of speed to it going over the hills as opposed to Diamondback or Raging Bull.

 

These 6 were the only coasters I managed to get on, as I didn't feel like riding a worse version of Firehawk or waiting an hour for a Boomerang so I decided to make a pit stop at SFOG afterwards to try out one or two of their big 3.

[carolinaman]

Carowinds held a construction tour Wed. Oct 17. Here is a video of that tour I made. A lot of great info, and one of the best things we found out is Copperhead Strike can run in cooler weather and will be open for Winterfest 2019!! I hope you enjoy.

 

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Carowinds announces Mountain Gliders for 2019

 

Mountain Gliders

 

Are these the same ones that are already there?

[jarmor]

Yes. They were taken out for the new Camp Snoopy expansion and place into storage. It's been a interesting for them as it was alleged they were returning this year then it seemed plans were off the table and things got silent. It seems they made the decision to bring them back with Copperhead strike. The first time this ride gets a new lease on life in the same park lol.

[larrygator]

I've been waiting for confirmation of their return. Best flat ride in the park.

[Diamondbacker27]

I'm planning a trip to Dollywood and then I plan to head to Carowinds after. I don't plan on going until next season, but does anyone have any tips? Is the park normally crowded? Should I buy fast lane? I'm embarrassed to say, but I've never embarked on a theme park road trip like this before and I don't know what to expect. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[coasterbill]

Is the park normally crowded?

 

Unless it's a weekend or there happens to be a ton of school groups for some reason the dry park doesn't get that busy. The major coasters (especially Fury and Afterburn) rarely have lines. Copperhead Strike will have a much lower capacity than those coasters though so we'll see what happens there.

 

PS: Nighthawk; however, gets massive lines almost daily

Edited October 22, 2018 by coasterbill

[Diamondbacker27]

Unless it's a weekend or there happens to be a ton of school groups for some reason I would say no. The major coasters (especially Fury and Afterburn) rarely have lines. Copperhead Strike will have a much lower capacity than those coasters though so we'll see what happens there.

Awesome, I'll wait to buy FL until I get to the park. Thank you!

[CoasterAuditor]

I think Copperhead Strike is going to be rough for drawing lines because of the lower capacity unfortunately and people love launch coasters like that. It's also in a prominent location for them gobble up.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Yes. They were taken out for the new Camp Snoopy expansion and place into storage. It's been a interesting for them as it was alleged they were returning this year then it seemed plans were off the table and things got silent. It seems they made the decision to bring them back with Copperhead strike. The first time this ride gets a new lease on life in the same park lol.

That's great news. Thanks!

[hoppedup]

Went to the park on Saturday. The forecast probably kept it from being super crowded, but I was surprised by the number of people who were out there in rain jackets. We did a few laps on Fury with the line never making it to the landing on the stairs. The third lap, I had about 2 inches of space between my legs and the clamshell. Holy airtime, Batman! Weight loss has its privileges. I would have just kept going until the lines started getting long but we had some first-timers in tow.

 

We did three laps front row Afterburn without getting off b/c there was no line. I took my daughter and my friend, who also brought her daughter. And the daughters each brought a friend. It was tough convincing them as we walked past a coaster that they should do those last, if at all. (Vortex, Cyclone, Hurler) We left early and my friend said they rode those coasters after we left. She said Vortex wasn't bad, so I may have to unfriend her . She is buying 2019 platinum passes now.

 

I was surprised that while we never had a downpour, the rain was steady a few times and to my knowledge nothing closed due to rain. Pretty sure Ricochet never ran at all. My daughter's friend needed two ride ops to push down to get a green light on Fury. I was nervous for her on Intimidator and sure enough, she did the WOS. Also, we had two free bring-a-friend passes but there was a guy handing out free tickets near the ticket booth from some corporate event, so even the extra two friends got in free.

Me & the offspring leaving just as the sun started to come out.

Jojo dancer, your life is calling

[Canobie Coaster]

I'm planning a trip to Dollywood and then I plan to head to Carowinds after. I don't plan on going until next season, but does anyone have any tips? Is the park normally crowded? Should I buy fast lane? I'm embarrassed to say, but I've never embarked on a theme park road trip like this before and I don't know what to expect. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Nighthawk is the one coaster where FastLane is absolutely needed due to its putrid capacity. If you don't get FastLane, go there first.

 

Unless it has changed, Fury has assigned seating and the FastLane merge point is right at the grouper. Even though the line moves pretty quickly, I thought it was well worth FastLane since I continuously walked right on. I think I rode Fury 8-9 times in the final hour thanks to FastLane.

[Diamondbacker27]

I might buy it just because I know I won't go to the park again for at least a few more years and it's my first visit to the park.

[teacherkim]

My son and I did our Carowinds trip this past weekend. The haunt mazes were all great and got on all 13 coasters. Thanks to those that advised about NOT moving the car during the Sat down time between regular park hours and Scarowinds. There were people already lined up at the gate by 5:15 so definitely the right thing to do. We had a great time despite the bad Friday weather which actually made the crowds really low that night.

[carowindsman]

Just a teaser of the trains from twitter

[carowindsman]

My review of Winterfest Season pass Preview night at Carowinds.

 

We got there a little late around 630 Traffic wasnt bad the reason why is because the parking lot was completely full. We had to park at Southgate which was not open. This was Scarowinds level packed. One we got in the park we were greeted with a show singers were great. We really didnt ride anything due to my wife being pregnant and I didnt want to leave her around by herself while I went to ride. The park was full of lights they did a amazing job. Not all of Camp Snoopy was open. Afterburn was running. The park had a lot but with not all the rides open the crowd was just overly packed. I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it. Sorry my photos were with my cell phone and the park was to packed to get real decent pictures.

[Hilltopper39]

Anyone local to the park know if Carowinds is running any Black Friday sales this year? I haven't seen any online but I don't follow this park as closely on social media and stuff. I'm tentatively planning a trip there next year and would love to scoop up a discounted single day admission and Fastlane+ if they're offering it (I know I saw one for Cedar Point and Maybe Kings Island).