[swampfox43]

I am going to paste the short article here since not everyone is registered to read the Charlotte Observer online:

Why no warning on ride changes?

THE ISSUE

Three-year-old Ethan Simmons loved the small roller coaster and water raft rides last year at Carowinds so much that before the season ended his father bought passes for this year.

Yet when Greg Simmons took his family to Carowinds on opening day March 19, Ethan could not get on at least five of his favorite rides. The park had put new minimum height requirements of 40 inches that were too tall for the tyke.

"He doesn't understand," said Simmons, a Rock Hill software salesman. "He's looking right at a ride he was able to go on last year, and I have to tell him he can't.

"I wish I could have prepared him for this. I signed up for (Carowinds') e-mail list, but I didn't see anything. They ought to tell us about major changes before we come."

WE INVESTIGATE

Carowinds admitted to Citizen Watchdog that it didn't do the best job telling people about the ride height changes before the season.

The park sent out an e-mail newsletter last Wednesday -- four days after opening day -- that included a notice about the height shifts. (Carowinds' Web site has the updated requirements and notices are posted around the park.)

Carowinds changed the heights on 11 rides this year, a larger number than usual, spokesman Scott Anderson said. Most of the changes came on seven rides that had no height requirements. The park set a 40-inch minimum on all of them.

Carowinds wanted to put some sort of height restrictions on those rides and not leave the choice up to customers, Anderson said.

"Maybe we did catch people a little off guard," he said. "But the changes happened so late in our offseason that we didn't have a chance to communicate them in the way we wanted to."

The number of rides for kids under 40 inches tall has dropped to 16 from 22 over the past year. (One new ride for small fries was introduced this year.)

Carowinds is offering refunds for season or day passes to people who bought them believing park-ride heights remained the same from last year, Anderson said.

Simmons said he was not offered a refund when he complained to park officials on March 19, but he plans on keeping his passes because the kids enjoy the rides. -- ANDREW SHAIN

[coasterdude89]

They metioned this in the 2nd Carowinds Newsletter that found its way into my mailbox this morning. They really shoulbn't have raised them. They have been fine for all of these years. And rides are getting safer and safer, so the only logical thing was to keep it the same! Shame on Carowinds.

[bgwfreak]

I applaud the park for offering refunds.

Hey everyone makes mistakes, if you're expecting perfection every where you go you're going to be sorely dissapointed in life.

[Jonathan]

^ I agree. The park definitely seems to have made a mistake here, but I commend them for offering refunds.

[Trev32]

Wow, this change is stupid.


I'm glad they didn't change the requirments for Vortex and Top Gun, I'm barely tall enough to ride them.

[Crystal]

We were looking forward to riding Scoob...I mean the Fairly Odd Coaster w/our son this year. He loved it last year & we were shocked to see that he couldnt ride it this year.

Anyway, it's nice that they're giving refunds.

[RollerBee]

I applaud the park for offering refunds.

That is a lie, in was in the Carowinds Newsletter before the park opened. I don't think they should have offered refunds because it was for safety, I would rather go to a park with an almost clean safety record(on rides) because the park cares about the people who visit the park. Safety should always be at the top of everyone's lift.

[AMartin777]

I applaud the park for offering refunds.

That is a lie, in was in the Carowinds Newsletter before the park opened.

(??? in was in ???)

Well, Rollernut, what you may not have considered is the fact that many people purchased their season passes at the end of last year. Therefore, they were not given the opportunity to make their purchase decision based on all of the conditions that affect guests in 2005.

The refund is certainly warrented and I praise Carowinds for offering it. They could have easily said "oh well, sorry your out of luck" but Scott and his management team have more class than that and went with the refund option. I applaud their decision. Actions like that are why we can have such pride in our home park! B)

I doubt any Six Flags would have been willing to do the same.

BTW - Saftey is certainly on the top of my lift! :blink:

[bgwfreak]

Rollernut...The aritcle clearly says they are offering refunds.

How would you feel if you had bought 4 passes and 3 of them are for little kids and none of them would be able to ride their favorite ride anymore?

You'd be pissed and want your money back I'm sure.

[swampfox43]

Besides, the people who complained opted to keep their season pass anyway, even though they were offered the refund. I think Paramount was right to offer the refund but probably realized most people would keep the season pass, and recognize the option of a refund as an apology of sort.

[RollerBee]

Rollernut...The aritcle clearly says they are offering refunds.

How would you feel if you had bought 4 passes and 3 of them are for little kids and none of them would be able to ride their favorite ride anymore?

You'd be pissed and want your money back I'm sure.

Not really, it is for safety. I would rather the kids be safe than at risk of getting hurt. There are other rides in the park, and people grow.

[Jonathan]

^So basically, you would happily throw a hundred bucks down the drain?

[swampfox43]

Of course, this new height restriction begs the question of why the park did this in the first place. Apparently, the rides ran without incident in the past with the lower height requirement.

Was it the insurance companies that required this change?

Makes me wonder......

[RollerBee]

Why would it be throwing money down the drain when their are four other Paramount Parks go to two of which don't have the new height.

[Dukeis#1]

Was it the insurance companies that required this change?

This is what I was thinking as well. Insurance really hits some parks hard, so I imagine they requested the park make this change, otherwise it wouldn't have happened.