Carowinds Discussion Thread

[jarmor]

On 5/30/2021 at 11:16 PM, disownedpear said:

Do the ops here have a problem with snapping on the flyers? The KD ones sure did ha. 

They actually encourage it!

[jarmor]

On 5/30/2021 at 11:16 PM, disownedpear said:

Do the ops here have a problem with snapping on the flyers? The KD ones sure did ha. 

They actually encourage it!

[pianojohn]

50 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

The Kings Island Fireworks show is the worst Fireworks show that I've ever seen in my life. Absolutely... 100%, no contest.

This was the finale to Sea World's Electric Ocean 2021 in Orlando. The whole show was awesome with lights, fountains, fireworks, fireballs, and lasers. And it ran about 10 minutes, double the length of KI's show.

[disownedpear]

40 minutes ago, jarmor said:

They actually encourage it!

Man I was so ready to book a trip next week only to see they open daily the week after...

[CP_RULES]

9 hours ago, KIEnthusiast said:

Judge 4

yourself

My judgement says this isn't great. Did anything happen other than one location shooting off a bunch of the same or similar firework? What? There were lights too? Cool. So cool. I bet kids enjoy it at least.

[tndank]

Fireworks usually make it easy to get out of the park while everyone stands or sits around watching them.

 

[Alex26841]

For anyone that's gone to Carowinds this season... has the Drop Tower ever been open? We actually moved to Charlotte last fall and we're planning on heading to the park this Sunday, and I've noticed it's been listed as "closed" every time I've checked wait times this year. Obviously it's not a huge deal or anything (I was just curious) but I've always liked that you can literally just walk right onto that thing at any given time and marathon it basically. 

[tndank]

1 hour ago, Alex26841 said:

For anyone that's gone to Carowinds this season... has the Drop Tower ever been open? We actually moved to Charlotte last fall and we're planning on heading to the park this Sunday, and I've noticed it's been listed as "closed" every time I've checked wait times this year. Obviously it's not a huge deal or anything (I was just curious) but I've always liked that you can literally just walk right onto that thing at any given time and marathon it basically. 

No. 

https://www.carowinds.com/scheduled-ride-closures

[disownedpear]

Am I a dumb dumb or is there no park map posted to their website?

[bert425]

14 minutes ago, disownedpear said:

Am I a dumb dumb or is there no park map posted to their website?

don't see it anywhere. .  they want you to download the free mobile app (which has the map on it), I suppose.

[disownedpear]

^Thanks they told me the same at KD when I asked for a map in person. I hope they still have them they are fun to collect, and my phone's not always on me thanks to their lockers. 

[CoasterGuy06]

Yeah I'm going to be really sad if Covid  kills the printed park map. I love collecting those.

[KIEnthusiast]

King’s Island 

has printed

maps 2021

[Hilltopper39]

Quick Carowinds question for our trip this weekend. We've purchased Fastlane for the day but just curious about the merge point for Fastlane, at the major attractions atleast (Fury, Copperhead, Afterburn, Nighthawk etc.). Are there any rides like Millennium Force at CP to know about ahead of time where the merge point is where you should still expect a 20-30 minute wait even Fastlane?

[coneyislandchris]

12 minutes ago, Hilltopper39 said:

Quick Carowinds question for our trip this weekend. We've purchased Fastlane for the day but just curious about the merge point for Fastlane, at the major attractions atleast (Fury, Copperhead, Afterburn, Nighthawk etc.). Are there any rides like Millennium Force at CP to know about ahead of time where the merge point is where you should still expect a 20-30 minute wait even Fastlane?

It's been two years since I've been down there, but for all the rides you mention, I seem to remember the Fast Lane dropping you directly in the station and never with more than a 2-3 minute wait at most. Out of the park's coasters, the only major one that wasn't on the Fast Lane was Ricochet, their Wild Mouse, and that line was a pain to wait in so if you can get to that before the line builds up you'll be in a good spot.

[jarmor]

FUry, copperhead and I think afterburn there is no merge, it has it's own dedicated line.   I think nighthawk is right at the bottom of the stairs leading to the queue.

[tndank]

Nighthawk will be your longest line.  The rest are to the station.

If you can do Nighthawk early, you'll help yourself.  Even thought FL line goes to the station, it's so slow loading that both lines will get backed up and you'll waste way more time than the POS deserves.

 

[Hilltopper39]

1 hour ago, tndank said:

Nighthawk will be your longest line.  The rest are to the station.

If you can do Nighthawk early, you'll help yourself.  Even thought FL line goes to the station, it's so slow loading that both lines will get backed up and you'll waste way more time than the POS deserves.

 

 

Thanks for the feedback, I don't particularly care about Nighthawk but might try to hit it early just to try it out. I remember Firehawk at KI being decent so why not.

4 hours ago, coneyislandchris said:

Out of the park's coasters, the only major one that wasn't on the Fast Lane was Ricochet, their Wild Mouse, and that line was a pain to wait in so if you can get to that before the line builds up you'll be in a good spot.

Thanks for that, I didn't realize Ricochet wasn't on Fast Lane. My youngest is still a little under the 50" mark so I'm just getting Fast Lane for myself and my oldest so we'll have hit Ricochet together early since it's something everyone can ride, and enjoy. 

[tndank]

For the record, Ricochet is one of my favorite wild mouses. I do like that ride. If line is short, I'll ride it a few times each visit. 

[dabrian]

Any additions expected for next year?

[AmyUD06]

18 minutes ago, dabrian said:

Any additions expected for next year?

After they lost the entire 2020 season, I'd be very surprised if they add anything for 2022.

Officially, nothing has been announced.

[dabrian]

11 minutes ago, Mike240SX said:

After they lost the entire 2020 season, I'd be very surprised if they add anything for 2022.

Officially, nothing has been announced.

Thanks.

[Hilltopper39]

On 6/3/2021 at 10:11 AM, Alex26841 said:

For anyone that's gone to Carowinds this season... has the Drop Tower ever been open? We actually moved to Charlotte last fall and we're planning on heading to the park this Sunday, and I've noticed it's been listed as "closed" every time I've checked wait times this year. Obviously it's not a huge deal or anything (I was just curious) but I've always liked that you can literally just walk right onto that thing at any given time and marathon it basically. 

The Drop Tower was actually open Saturday for a very short period of time, it was kind strange. Park closed at 7 pm (which is insane but that's another topic), and drop tower started testing at like around 4:30 or 5, riders were on it shortly after, but by around 6:30 or so it was closed again. Not sure what's going on with that thing but it did open briefly. 

[jarmor]

On 6/18/2021 at 10:08 PM, dabrian said:

Any additions expected for next year?

I could see some additions like something for the family in the way of soe Antique cars or a refresh of the area near Top Gun.  Yeah 2020 was a bust for some parks but overall parks did pretty well with that they had to deal with last year.

[hoppedup]

Had to be in Charlotte anyway Saturday, so I popped in for a bit. Waited about 20 minutes for Fury. I got to Fury around 11:15. Then walked over to Copperhead Strike to see no one on the stairs. It was running half-empty trains! So I got two rides on it (second was maybe 15 minute wait). I crossed my fingers for Afterburn and lo and behold, there was no one on the stairs there either. Ops were really slow so I waited about 15 minutes. Great as always! I thought my luck would run out when I headed for Intimidator (and it did). The queue was full to the second set of shades. I didn't have enough time to make FL+ worthwhile, so I bailed. First coaster rides since December 2019.  I parked by the 16 sign and as I was leaving, there was a massive flow of cars coming in and parking was out to 37. The I-77 southbound exit ramp was backed way up.

I was really curious about my pass, as it won't seem to update in the app. I have tried to add it several times and it won't show up. It still says 2019. My pass was updated on the Carowinds website, so I used that to scan at the parking lot gate. Going into the park itself, the reservation already had my pass info stored, so I didn't need to show it. 

 

On 6/18/2021 at 10:08 PM, dabrian said:

Any additions expected for next year?

I mean, we got the Vortex trains from KI for Carolina Cyclone. Yo gotta wait at least a couple of years after a get like that.