[thewinds]

Just wanted to bring up a point I’ve noticed about Carowinds and Paramount Parks.
As I was reading the post regarding the petition to save the eagles (The Pulse Journal, Oct 28, 04) I noticed a trend- that this ride will be removed to make way for another.

No new concept here, but do you realize that Carowinds has had no net gain in rides since 1998- the expansion of Hanna-Barbara Land and renaming to Animation Station. (Note that I am excluding the water park attractions)

1999 Wild Bull removed for Top Gun
2000 Black Beard’s Revenge removed for Nick’s Flying Super Saturator
2001 Whirling Dervish (Swings) removed (though not for) Scooby’s Haunted Mansion
2002 Ricochet gained, Power Station & Wally Gators lost
2003 Reptar Gained, Scrapy’s Skytower lost
2004 Sternwheeler lost for Stealth.
… Another perspective:
15 years ago 1989: 30 rides
10 years ago 1994: 35 rides
5 years ago 1999: 33 rides
Currently: 33 rides

I realize that most of these attractions were replaced with much better attractions, no doubt about that, but it does raise an interesting point and trend that amusement parks really are not increasing the number of attractions, only the quality.
Thoughts on quality vs quantity?

[carowindsfreak13]

Can anyone give me pics of the small skytower.

[RollerBee]

I have found none, however I do have a new photo of the Tube Shoot that proves it is still there.

[coasterbruh]

(Note that I am excluding the water park attractions)

Well you have to kinda include them because they are considered in the overall numbers of attractions and rides. Besides what does numbers have to do w/ this topic. When I looked at the topic I was expecting a discussion about how paramount parks adds few rides but they are pretty much good quality rides and how some other parks add rides like crazy and they are kinda poor quality. Kinda like the IOA vs. SFMM type things.........

[swampfox43]

Thoughts on quality vs quantity?

No new concept here, but do you realize that Carowinds has had no net gain in rides since 1998
That's not exactly something to brag about, IMO.

1999 Wild Bull removed for Top Gun
Was there a reason it couldn't be relocated?

2000 Black Beard’s Revenge removed for Nick’s Flying Super Saturator
Another rare-type attraction bites the dust. Although I personally do not miss BBR, many preservationists were dismayed at the loss.

2001 Whirling Dervish (Swings) removed (though not for) Scooby’s Haunted Mansion
why oh why oh why???

2002 Ricochet gained, Power Station & Wally Gators lost
no personal loss for me, but why does it seem to be tit-for-tat with gains & losses?

2003 Reptar Gained, Scrapy’s Skytower lost
Lost Laser Tag building which is no big deal for me. Reptar is a nice addition to that area.

2004 Sternwheeler lost for Stealth.
I will never forgive Paramount for this atrocity. It did not deserve the death Paramount gave it.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I'm all for gaining quality attractions. And regardless of what some may think, I like change. I just don't always agree with the way change is handled within the corporate theme parks. My biggest problem is losing rides. As thewinds pointed out, we gain, we lose. Wouldn't it be nice to simply "gain" for a few seasons??

[RollerBee]

The mini-skytower and the Tube Shoot were closed the same year, the Tube Shoot wasn't removed. It is still SBNO. The mini-tower was removed after 2001.

Also, I would not classifly Power Station as a ride as there is no powered movement on anything.

[MarkD]

Here is a question for you on quantity vrs quality.

At what point does Paramount decide Carowinds is too cluttered?

We all know the little nooks and crannies through out the park but you also need to think of traffic flow, how to keep all those wonderful games, and where can we do without shade.

With Paramount, obviously, not even thinking of the land past that mega shopping center known as the Carolina Pottery or the always packed Amphitheater, one can only guess they are happy to stay within the confines of the already established park.

So, with that in mind if we kept all the "lost" attractions where would they be? With the exception of a couple who cares on what they took out? It is obvious that Paramount wants to be a bigger player in the "movie" theme park arena than in the Amusement park industry. I separate the 2 as I think there is a ton of difference from C.P. and Carowinds. And, I prefer Carowinds.

Here is my take on the Quality of attractions at Carowinds. I have not seen Carowinds yet add trim brakes to any coaster. I have yet to see any attraction so dirty or rickety it needed to be shut down, in fact, on opening day Carowinds felt brand new with all the painting, maintenance on coasters, and everything else just felt new. If they can fix Hurler to run like it did a few years ago and if they can keep Borg running our "quality" of attractions ranks among the best in my opinion.

Here is what I think of Quantity. We seriously lack in the Flat Attraction department and are years behind. It would take 3 to 4 new state of the art flats in one season to get us up to speed. We are behind in newer technology coasters but I think by adding a custom launch or a custom hyper we can be back in the chase. When we talk about kiddy and jr attractions we will have to see what they come up with in A.S. but I think we have one of the best selections for them. As for the water park we just need a few newer styles. We don't need any more hand me downs as I don't want to be that red headed step child.

What I don't want to see is "mummy" clonish type coasters. They are cool to ride but loose the thrill factor after a full season riding. AKA The Italian Job. I will go ride it but I just don't see the overall thrill but maybe I'll be wrong. I know The Mummy was a disappointment to me and my kids. I would like to see the Adams Family style that was discussed but make it a B&M Drop coaster and give us a style of coaster like FOF or the MTV version but make it a custom design and not a clone. Give us a hyper that actually has thrills once you leave the drop hill(if I just want to go fast and around turns then I'll get on my motorcycle and head towards the mountains}. Let us have a giant Frisbee, a giant flat spin, something big and new that no one else nearby has.

So when I think quality verses quantity I think for what we have we are pretty good in that area but we are a few years behind in actually becoming a destination park.