Carowinds Discussion Thread

[kylexy2298]

Thanks for the reports, both of you seemed to have an awesome day at the park. And those photos!

[tndank]

Anyone got news on Copperhead Strike? Heard there was injury and it's been down since Sunday.

[hoppedup]

Anyone got news on Copperhead Strike? Heard there was injury and it's been down since Sunday.

 

From local news website:

 

Carowinds released the following statement:

 

“On Sunday evening, a guest had a thumb injury on the Copperhead Strike roller coaster. Park officials immediately responded and the guest was transported for medical care. Out of precaution, the ride is currently closed while we conduct an assessment. The safety of our guests is our top priority.”

[michaellynn4]

Can't say I've seen many "thumb" injuries from roller coasters. Curious to see more details emerge.

[yawetag]

Seems the front part of the train (the fiberglass(?) car part) came off and hit her on the thumb.

[SharkTums]

^That almost makes sense. People online are trying to figure out how a 'thumb' injury closes the ride for multiple days. But if a part of the train flew off that isn't supposed to, then that makes sense of why it's still closed.

[yawetag]

Newer information is making the issue more cloudy. A screenshot of a post of the victim on Facebook implies there was a malfunction on her seat (using her wording). Also, it doesn't appear the thumb was detached, as the post was a few hours after the incident and shows the victim in a bandage; if she had lost her thumb, recovery time would have been much longer.

 

But, if there was a malfunction, then I can understand the extended closure. Also possible that South Carolina requires rides to remain closed until they can complete an investigation, which may take a few days to get someone to the park and do their job.

[Canobie Coaster]

Have any other Macks with the same train design closed since the incident like Manta or the ones in Europe?

[tndank]

They put a new piece behind the headrest and got CS back up and running this afternoon. Good news.

[Canobie Coaster]

Glad they got it open again. Do you happen to have a picture of the new headrest piece?

[tndank]

I don't have one myself. I saw one or two pics on FB. It's a metal piece that covers about half the headrest on the back side. It appears the accident might have happened while getting in and out from the looks of the piece. Maybe she got a big slash or something while grabbing hold to enter or exit. That is complete speculation there and just a guess.

[B&MIntaminGCI]

^That's funny you say that. Over the weekend, every time I got out of the Copperhead Strike train, I thought that there should be some sort of handle bar to pull yourself up from. I also thought there should be a covering to the restraint mechanism because it looks like it could chew a finger up if they got too close.

[anonymouscactus]

^^^ awesome photos [emoji41]

[coneyislandchris]

Was very happy to see that Copperhead Strike was back up and running in quick order over the weekend. It ended up being my son's 200th coaster, and his brand new favorite coaster of all time, dethroning Twisted Timbers. (Yes, he rode Fury. Yes, he still ranked CS higher. I'm not gonna argue with his subjective logic!)

 

Hair-raisingly fun!

I might write up a whole trip report at some point in the future, but suffice it to say, it was a great weekend down in Virginia and the Carolinas. Even though the rain never really let up on Saturday, we made up for it by spending the majority of the day at a nearby Great Wolf Lodge and splashing the day away, then getting some hibachi Japanese for dinner. Sunday, the weather was perfect, and we managed to hit every single thing in the park, most multiple times. Shout out to the Fury 325 crew that was cranking out trains all day long and let us have a three-ride re-ride at the end of the night.

 

Last thing to note: the Mountain Gliders? LEGIT. Easiest snapping I've had at any park not located in the woody hills of Elysburg, PA. My son was getting huge swings by himself, and my daughter and I managed to get some massive bounces out of it. I didn't get a chance to do them on my first trip down there, but we're gonna make a point to hit them every time we visit from now on, and strongly urge all y'all to do the same.

[B&MIntaminGCI]

Here's some more shots of Fury 325 from my trip two weeks ago

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by B&MIntaminGCI

[chschris1]

Great photos! Looking forward to the future of this park. They have really up'ed the thrill factor in the last few years. I think this park could really benefit from a great woodie or RMC. It also would be great to see a few more stand out flats.

[prozach626]

Stunning pictures. I stole #3 for my laptop background picture.

[DILinator]

Those are amazing pictures! #4 and #5 make for great Home and Lock Screen pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[B&MIntaminGCI]

Well thank ya! That's awesome that you guys are using them for your wallpapers

[tndank]

Had good time this weekend at Carowinds. It was blazing hot but we've gotten used to that at this point.

 

Got an hour of ERT after closing on Fury. We'd stop in the station for 15-20 seconds to reset restraints and swap seats if anyone wanted to move around. Then you'd roll to the bottom of the lift and wait for the train in front to cross the mcb. Had a blast. Got to marathon a bit this morning before leaving town as well. Even at noon there were no lines and we were able to sit on Fury and Intimidator as long as we wanted.

 

Lots of Scarowinds stuff all around. I've never done any Halloween events at a park so we enjoyed seeing all the props and scenes. Made me want to return, but I think we are doing Kings Island instead since we just visited this weekend for the event.

[HellboyBegins7492]

why can't Carowinds buy more property to build more coasters/thrill rides in the next few decades? Like Cedar Point and California's Great America is expanding with more land. Why can't Carowinds? I mean are they just going to tear down rides and replace them with new ones? They don't have space to increase their roller coaster count to compete with other theme parks?

[ytterbiumanalyst]

You're seriously asking why Cedar Point acquiring land in a run down rust belt town is easier than Carowinds acquiring land in two different states in one of the fastest growing metro areas in the US?

[chschris1]

why can't Carowinds buy more property to build more coasters/thrill rides in the next few decades? Like Cedar Point and California's Great America is expanding with more land. Why can't Carowinds? I mean are they just going to tear down rides and replace them with new ones? They don't have space to increase their roller coaster count to compete with other theme parks?

 

 

Carowinds has room to expand. They can reclaim a large portion of the parking lot. Parts of it are rarely used. (They did this for Intimidator.) Also, They will have Dinos Alive area, RRR area to expand once those areas are cleared.

 

On top of that they have purchased land around the park recently so I am not quite sure what you are so freaked out about. They will continue adding new rides. They only rides I could forsee going in the near future are Vortex, PVZ, YOYO, and possibly Nighthawk. The GP love Nighthawk so that one is less likely.

[thrillseeker4552]

^This.

 

Plus, given how much love Cedar Fair has given this park in the last 5 years, I have no doubt Carowinds will continue to greatly expand in the future. Anybody who lives near this park should be thrilled.

[jarmor]

why can't Carowinds buy more property to build more coasters/thrill rides in the next few decades?

So, a park that has 14 coasters (2 of which are along the tallest in the world), plenty of acres to use outside the parks footprint and inside of it, a world class water park that is adding a custom mat racer (without removing anything) and still has acres inside the water park footprint to expand needs to buy more property? Have you ever been to Carowinds? Have you seen parks like indiana beach? As long as there is a place to plop a station, no park is running out of room.