Carowinds Discussion Thread

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.

Just a teaser of the trains from twitter

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.

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).

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).

I have not seen any single day admission tickets for black friday. Most of whats out there is for Winterfest Tickets and all

I peeked at the webcams on the preview night and couldn't believe how full the parking lot was. I've only ever been to Carowinds in the summer and the parking lot has never even been close to that full. Glad this event seems to be a success chain wide and hopefully someday we'll see Cedar Fair take a Six Flags approach and open a couple more coasters, especially at warm(er) weather parks like Kings Dominion and Carowinds.... One can dream

It seems like they don't need to take that approach, man. They might as well just keep on doing what they're doing. Cedar Fair doesn't need to worry about what goes on behind the scenes by making sure the queues are well kept, keeping the stations looking nice, adjust maintenance schedules, and hiring additional staff. I've yet to go to a CF Winterfest event, but it seems like they're nailing it by keeping the holiday feel more concentrated.

I've been to two Holiday in the Park events at Six Flags Saint Louis. They're fun and the midways look nice. However, when you leave the midways and go through the cold dreary and run down looking queues, it takes away from the event. Granted, Six Flags Saint Louis is known for unnecessarily long run down queues all season long, but it almost feels like leaving the event for a while and then returning.

I like the two different flavors offered between Six Flags and Cedar Fair.

Yeah you raise a good point. I'm just glad the events have been successful enough that I can get some rides in during December even if it is just one or two coasters.

CF clearly regretting that decision to cancel winterfest the year they purchased paramount parks. Alot of money lost over all those years.

So happy someone was smart enough to bring it back.

CF clearly regretting that decision to cancel winterfest the year they purchased paramount parks. Alot of money lost over all those years.

Remember that these kind of events take a lot of planning to get right. It's not as easy as just opening the front gate for another couple weeks. The addition of several new parks to the Cedar Fair chain was most likely pretty hectic, so it was probably a necessity to cancel Winterfest in order to keep things as "in order" as possible. As time went by and the company became comfortable with the new parks, they probably looked back on Winterfest and started figuring out how to bring it back but even better. Sure they lost money, but they may have lost more money by continuing Winterfest and screwing it up.

I also think the timing was great. CF parks had an advantage of monitoring the success of SF HITP events before making their own mark on the Holiday Season. I think the one down side to CF's approach is that they won't pull in as many out of town visitors by having less major attractions open. But, like I said before, they don't need to do anything drastically different from their current strategy.

Just a little fun fact that I noticed today. Copperhead Strike is Cedar Fair's first launch coaster in 12 years - since Maverick. It initially didn't seem right to me, but it makes sense. They haven't worked with Intamin since 2010, they've never built a Mack launched until now, they don't have any modern Premier launch coasters, and the only B&M launched isn't at a CF park.

I know it doesn't mean much, it's just a little bit of information I was pondering today that surprised me a little. Unless I'm wrong and missing a coaster between 2007 and now.

^Your post made me curious so I looked through RCDB, and turns out Pony Express was built in 2008 so you're off by a year. That was also the year Possessed was relocated to Dorney, but I don't think we're counting re-locations. Still, pretty interesting that this will be Cedar Fair's 1st launch coaster in 11 years.

^Your post made me curious so I looked through RCDB, and turns out Pony Express was built in 2008 so you're off by a year. That was also the year Possessed was relocated to Dorney, but I don't think we're counting re-locations. Still, pretty interesting that this will be Cedar Fair's 1st launch coaster in 11 years.

I totally forgot about Pony! What's even more embarrassing is it's at my home park that I grew up with

Still, 11 years is fascinating. I'm glad to see Cedar Fair expand their portfolio of manufacturers they purchase from other than B&M and GCI: now we have RMC, Mack, and Gerstlauer on that list. Hopefully Intamin again, one day...

I do have to wonder what the odds of them adding a new Mack coaster anywhere else anytime soon is. Copperhead Strike is apparently crazy expensive partly due to Mack track needing to be manufactured in Europe. Maybe Kings Island or Canada?

I would like to Cedar Fair try Gravity Group and the new age Vekoma's

I'm sure most of us have seen it but just in case you didnt, look a this sexy thing here....

(from Carowinds Facebook page)

Final piece of track should be set in place on 12/15/18.

^ Whoa!!! What a beautiful twisted mess of track!!

Can't wait to see how this rides!! I'm really looking forward to that launched airtime hill combo!

I love how this ride is coming along.

Side note: I just realized this brings the total "vertical loops" Carowinds has to 8 total. Is there any park with more vertical loops?

EDIT: Six Flags Magic Mountain has 9. Yay research!

I love how this ride is coming along.

Mi

 

Side note: I just realized this brings the total "vertical loops" Carowinds has to 8 total. Is there any park with more vertical loops?

 

EDIT: Six Flags Magic Mountain has 9. Yay research!

Michigan's Adventure has zero roller coasters with a vertical loop. They also have zero flat rides with a vertical loop.

I love how this ride is coming along.

 

Side note: I just realized this brings the total "vertical loops" Carowinds has to 8 total. Is there any park with more vertical loops?

 

EDIT: Six Flags Magic Mountain has 9. Yay research!

This didn't seem right, but I suppose it's easy to forget about Vortex, Nighthawk, and Cyclone since those coasters are kinda irrelevant to begin with.

Fury, Intimidator, Afterburn, and now Copperhead. That's a SOLID top 4. Rip out Vortex and Nighthawk and replace them with an awesome GCI somewhere down the line, and Carowinds will have probably have the best top 5 in the country outside of Cedar Point. I love how much this park has expanded and improved over the last 6-7 years.

^I agree. I have not been since 2012 so I am dying to get back. The park used to be very "meh" to me when the highlights were Intimidator, Afterburn, and Nighthawk with virtually no flats or any major/decent flats. Since then, 2 waterpark expansions, Camp Snoopy, Fury 325, 4 flats, Harmony Hall, and now Copperhead Strike and Mountain Gliders being moved into a non-kids area.

Michigan's Adventure has zero roller coasters with a vertical loop. They also have zero flat rides with a vertical loop.

MiA should kill two birds with one stone and get a Larson Looper.

Here’s another angle from the Blvd.

(Photo Credit: dirkdiggler1992)

Coaster should be done Next week