Carowinds 2017

[BGW Family]

Construction on the new County Fair continues. Cobra was re-painted while they dismantled the water slide last year. The Rock N Roller has been in for a few weeks. The foundation to the other three rides are in place. The park's social media outlets have been full of pictures for construction as well as ride parts being prepared. They posted a video of the Top Scan base arm being hoisted into place. Local news outlets have had segments on the Top Scan install and Fury325's off-season maintenance. The base to the Troika was installed last week.

Carowinds Twitter

On the less publicized side, White Water Rapids was quietly dismantled without any public announcement. Drop Tower has finally received a paint refresh. Hurler is having turn two re-tracking, perhaps turn three also. Goldrush had some work going on. I've heard the planter across the bridge from the entrance plaza has been removed.

County Fair Webcam

November -

 

[BGW Family]

Posted today on Carowinds Twitter.

Notice anything different?

 

[MAZ]

Quick question, can a platinum pass purchased at Kings Dominion purchase 'bring a friend' tickets at Carowinds?

 

[BGW Family]

Carowinds says yes, you can. The usual discounts on the Bring a Friend calendar are valid for up to six (6) friends per Passholder per day. Lots of good $19.99 choices and one $15 night. However, that is a 5PM-10PM night. SCarowinds and WinterFest Season Pass Bring A Friend calendars will be released in Summer 2017

 

[BGW Family]

Hard hat tour happening now. Up to date photos on progress.

Coaster101 Twitter

GoCarolinas Twitter

 

[BGW Family]

I think it is a body beater. Try it at least once. Go first thing in the morning since the 90-minute-plus wait later in the day is not worth it. The front seems smoother.

On another note, the are now offering a Season Pass Fast Lane Plus at $125 only to season pass members. All Summer front of the line access. It does not include SCarowinds nor Winterfest.

 

[Shane]

We're planning to go opening weekend.

 

[BGW Family]

The Cobra train is currently valleyed. They appear to be removing it with a crane.

 

[GoHokies87]

ugh, that must be a pain. better than a valley on the cobra roll though...

 

[Unagi]

ugh, that must be a pain. better than a valley on the cobra roll though...

Parks will sometimes purposely valley a train during the offseason. It gives the maintenance team practice on removing it or moving it back to the station in case they need to do so during seasonal operations. Canada's Wonderland did that with Behemoth.

 

[Gavin]

...I'd post a shot, but I'm getting a 500 Internal Server Error...

My bad, seems like we ran out of storage space on our server. All fixed now.

 

[BGW Family]

A full day later and the lead car is removed. The yellow object in the loop.

 

[BGW Family]

They seem to have canceled their Media Day on Thursday, Still saying they will be ready Pass Member Day, though.

 

[MAZ]

Got a good view this time! Staying at Comfort Inn.

 

[Shane]

I was there opening day Saturday. For some reasons the B&M's were having a really tough go of it and were all up and down multiple times throughout the day. The Top Scan wasn't ready for prime time but the new County Fair area looks fantastic. The former County Fair is now called Crossroads and oddly the Chance Yo-Yo is still standing even though it's basiclly a Wave Swinger which was one of the new rises this year.

One thing that really stood out to me this visit, was how great ride ops were. That is not something I have experienced on previous visits to Caro, other than the frequent downtime on the B&M's (which I don't think is Ops fault) the Ops crews were hustling and dispatching trains as quick as they could. Dining on the other hand was a whole other story. It's like they put all their vets on ride ops and all the newbies in culinary. I'll be interested to see if ride ops is able to stay in tiptop shape all season or if they get burnt out and slack off. It could have just been new season motivation, but time will tell.

 

[BGW Family]

It looks like Electro-Spin finally took it's first run with public riders. They were stuck at the 10 o'clock position in a sideways tilt for over 4 minutes before the ops got it back on the ground. Windseeker part 2 anyone? XP

 

[MAZ]

That top scan didn't run all day today. Afterburn never went down, but fury and intimidator halted operations three seperate times for a half hour or so due to extreme wind. It was VERY windy today. I made the top five tv screen in the plants vs zombies attraction. That was surprisingly fun. I scored over 22,000 and was fourth out of the whole theater. First time too! Their zephyr was very slow for some reason. It seemed small compared to BG's swings. Rode nighthawk for the first, and last, time. Rides. Rides closed all day included, southern star, ricochet, windseeker, and the top scan. (As far as I could tell.) Great day all in all! Ride ops were certainly hustling.

 

[Shane]

Oh I forgot to mention the Plants vs Zombies went down right after we finished the pre-show on our visit, so I never got to ride(?) it.

 

[SWStevo]

So, I spent yesterday at Carowinds from open to close and had a fantastic time with my family! Of course, I forked out the money for the fast lane plus passes because it was an insane Saturday crowd. Anyways, when we first entered the park, there were characters there to greet us and welcome us to the park, which was awesome IMO! Anyways, the national anthem started while we were interacting with them and they all paused and stood in reverence to the the flag which I thought was really cool and patriotic.
Well, after the national anthem ended, we cheered and said our goodbyes to the characters to start our day of coaster riding. Not a second later, the Carowinds theme song started playing in the park and my face lit up because of the magic I felt. I didn't know they still played this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iPKm9_JWlI in the park. (Carowinds theme song) I am pretty sure it was written and recorded in the 70's. Anyways, after that song, they then played the Carowinds March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by6lQOPXKhE which had me fanboying! After that, the park went on to playing the crappy Pop music parks play today.
My day was great but that start to it was Incredible, and even though it was short, it was such a fantastic nod to the history of the park and what it's all about. Was this a widely known thing that the park plays this music at opening time? I know Cedar Point has some similar tunes and theme songs from it's past time, do they play their songs as well in their park?

 

[BGW Family]

I'm placing this here instead of starting a new thread with low traffic.

SPEND A NIGHT IN THE PARK!
Friday, May 19 - Saturday, May 20

Welcome to the great outdoors!

Grab your friends for the best sleepover ever and help make a difference! All proceeds go to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The Coaster Campout is your opportunity to camp for one night IN the park! Your donation includes admission to the park for May 19 and 20, an evening meal exclusive ride times in County Fair, Fury 325 and Scream Weaver, a late snack, a breakfast buffet and Early Ride Time!

Tickets for this event are available online only. Each campsite is $200 and can accommodate a tent with up to 4 people. Changes cannot be made after purchase, so please organize your group prior to purchasing your campsite. Campsites can accommodate a tent up to 10' x 10' in size. Ticket sales end on May 7 at 11:59pm, quantity is limited.

COASTER CAMPOUT ITINERARY

Friday, May 19
4:00PM - 6:00PM Check-in at Harmony Hall Patio
6:00PM - 7:30PM Dinner at Harmony Hall
8:30PM - 9:30PM Load-in to your campsite
10:00PM Park Closes
10:00PM - 11:00PM Exclusive ride in County Fair (Flying Cobras, Electro Spin, Do-Si-Do, Zephyr and Rock ‘N’ Roller)
11:00PM - 11:45PM S'mores
12:00AM Lights out

Saturday, May 20
7:00 AM - 8:00AM Rise & Shine! Campers awake and load out.
8:00 AM - 9:00AM Breakfast buffet at Harmony Hall
8:30AM - 9:30AM Exclusive Ride Times on Fury 325 and Scream Weaver
9:30AM - 10:00AM Season Passholder Exclusive Ride Time Begins
10:00AM Park opens. Crabbie Cabbie will operate without max height restriction for 1st hour.