General Carowinds discussion
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By tarheel1231
#89462
Why does this seem to be the only fansite where everyone speaks tongue-in-cheek? :?

More ideas! The return of Blue Ridge Junction:


First, I would call up Chance Rides and get them to pull a 'Phantom's Revenge' on Carolina Cyclone (I.e. replace the inversions with airtime hills). I would rename it "Appalachian Avalanche," paint the track smokey-blue, and paint the supports brown. I would extend the drop to the ground, replace the first two loops with a large airtime hill, replace the corkscrews with two airtime hills, and replace the drop into the helix with an outward-banked hill.

Next, I would relocate Ricochet elsewhere in the park, and replace it with a Mondial Splash Over (the same model at Canada's Wonderland), and theme it to a log-rolling competition. [EDIT] If Ricochet were to stay though, I would place the Splash Over in Sweet Frog's spot and rename Ricochet to "The Mighty Mountaineer." I would paint the track yellow and the supports burgundy, the same colors on Volcano at KD.

Then, I would move Chickie's and Pete's to Wing's spot, and in its place, I would add a restaurant called "Smokey Mountain Smokehouse." I would remove the boats from the Carolina Boatworks building, and place them around Carolina Harbor.

Next, I would move the lighthouse to the outside of Carolina Harbor, and I would replace it with an old, wooden water tower.

Then, I would place a Chance Electric Cars ride in the space not occupied by the Splash Over. Or just fill it with trees.

And finally, I would get Vekoma to put new trains on Goldrusher, lowering the height restriction back down to 40." I would enclose the queue and add more tunnels around the ride to make it reminiscent of Mystery Mine. I would place a sign on the second lift hill that informs the riders that they are traveling into South Carolina.

Oh, and I would replace the asphalt and boards with stone pavers: http://www.3riverswetweather.org/sites/ ... 0Paver.JPG :thumbup:
Last edited by tarheel1231 on August 8th, 2016, 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By chknwing
#89489
cyclone may be a decent canidate for a VR ride. I would not alter the ride itself. Not sure how removing the inversions would make it a better ride.
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By tarheel1231
#89495
Personally, I'm all for just giving it softer restraints. But the ride seems to have fallen out of favor with guests, and this could breathe new life into it.
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By arby
#89560
chknwing wrote:cyclone may be a decent canidate for a VR ride. I would not alter the ride itself. Not sure how removing the inversions would make it a better ride.


Umm, no. They did that at SFGE and it was quite awful. It seems to work better on a 'hyper' type coaster for the overall ride experience and length.
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By tarheel1231
#89577
It seems like I've got wishlist diarrhea....

I'm sure the campground is going to be expanded at some point in the future, but this is how I would do it:
Yellow indicates border of Carowinds property


On the right side, I would expand the cabin area and add about 20-25 new luxury cabins (As seen here: https://www.kingsdominion.com/images/ri ... eader1.jpg ). They would be close to Catawba Trace to allow for a direct entrance into the park.

On the right side, I would add an "adventure park." It would have activities similar to the ones you can find at the Whitewater Center or High Gravity Adventures, such as ziplining, a ropes course, a canopy walk, and rock climbing. It would be exclusive to campground guests and it would also provide an incentive to stay on-site. It would encourage longer visits between Carowinds, Carolina Harbor, and the adventure park. And, since the campground is open in the off-season, it would become another revenue stream for the park. :thumbup:
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By pproteinc
#89647
My wish is to see a lake dug out and a few trenches dug out for streams. Even if it's artifily pumped thru the park to make the water flow. Oh and bring the steam train back but I know that's a dead wish.
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By FamousAmos
#89661
Well, I guess that having the train back isn't necessarily a dead wish. Amusement parks (or at least from what I was told) dwell in the realm of impossibility. The old storage sheds are still in the back areas of the park. They are just being used for storage at the moment though. So if they really wanted to add a train back. Since the go by impossible, I'm sure they could do it.
By jeffdavis
#89677
Here's a wish: decorations, theming, and ride capacity.
Disclaimer: I just visited Disneyland last week.
Acknowledgement: Carowinds is not a theme park, the only licensing arrangements are Peanuts and Dale Earnhardt, and "themed rides" is not a headline and attention grabber.

I would really like to see the themed areas have decorations in the midway and queue lines to compliment the themed area. This sort of variety and distraction of visuals provides an enhanced guest experience. Themed rides, such as Goldrusher, could have more mining decorations and theming on the ride layout, where safe and practical. Intimidator could have Dale Earnhardt interviews, highlights, and stats on the TV's in the queue line instead of the generic FunTV content.

And capacity improvements, as we've all said, to rides such as Goldrusher, which needs a station and train redesign for quicker loading, unloading, and operation along with trains that allow a lower height rider and provide more comfort for people of all sizes. Trains are expensive and station redesigns are expensive, but the improved capacity and guest experience would pay dividends.

Ok, my wishlist items aren't as exciting as some others, but I think they would improve the guest experience which brings guests and families back to the park.
By Carowindsman
#89738
I got a new wishlist for Carowinds

2018 Updated planet snoopy and Hurler renovation GCI
2019 Water ride in the park (Log flume return ha)
By BelowThePeak
#89739
This is my overall plan for Carolina Harbor. I think it's already come a really long way in the last year, but looking at an aerial picture that was just recently posted in another thread, it's clear that there's a lot more room for expansion than I thought.

- Firstly, the plot of grass across from the entrance needs to be utilized somehow. There's just too much space there to not do anything with. I'd add some sort of large complex here in the near future, or maybe a Tornado slide?
- Once that spot is filled in, I think it would be time to expand outward. The spot where Thunder Road's turnaround was is currently unoccupied, so that would be a prime spot for expansion. What I would do here is reroute that service road and elongate it towards Carowinds Boulevard to create a larger usable area for the park.
- Once that's done, I'd create a new path branching off of the Tidal Wave Bay area that would end close to the corner of Carowinds Boulevard and the street adjacent to it. On this path, I'd add 4-5 large slide complexes and a few more shops and restaurants.
- Other than all of this, all I would do in the way of improvements is very general. For instance, I'd add sprinklers to the queue lines since you can't bring your shoes with you on most of the rides.
- Finally, even though the theming is a huge step up from before, I'd make it even more immersive, adding palm trees and more decor.

I think if all of this were to happen, Carolina Harbor could potentially become one of the best waterparks in the country. At this time last year, I was really disappointed about losing TR, but I think making improvements on this scale would be so great for Carowinds. Carolina Harbor has already proven to be a good business decision, so I can only imagine how big a draw our waterpark will be once we utilize all of the land from TR and beyond it.
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By tarheel1231
#89796
Didn't know where else to put this (other than the trash), so here.

New sign:



[EDIT] Fixed to match the Colors of the Carolina Harbor sign:
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