General Carowinds discussion
By coasterdude89
#21262
So the other day (Thursday) my friends and I decided to hit up the water park for the first time this year.

Some things have definitely changed. Has anybody noticed that the wave pool is shallower. Last year you could go to eight feet and still not be at the "line", Now it is six feet for a long ways. Why did they do this. They kinda messed up the waves by doing it. They no longer crash around 2 1/2 feet-3 ft. Now the only crashing is a tiny one right at the entry way.

They probably did it for safety, but still, its not as fun as it used to be. No more body surfing the waves in the shallow end.

I also have noticed the lack of tubes. Last year they were lacking a lot for the slides, and this year there seem to be less. I would much rather hold onto a tube and weight in line on the tower instead of waiting for a tube on the blazing hot conrete.

One thing that annoyed me was how for the lazy river you can now only enter at one point. Thats no bid deal, but there were not enough tubes. I saw a ton of them at the other enterance that were on stands not being used that could have been utilized to keep lines down.

Oh, and Pipeline Peak was down. I have noticed that this year a lot of the rides are down. Every week we go and one or even two rides are down, last week it was top gun. Now don't get me wrong, i think cedar fair can and will do amazing things, but with paramount the rides always seemed to be running. and if they did break down they would be fixed promptly.

I do wish the South Gate would be open. You only need like 3-4 people to open it. We parked almost at the south gate thursday and had to walk all the way to the north gate. They had four people at the parking toll, which in the middle of the afternoon is really not needed. Once you see the parking lot filling up and people parking almost at the south gate, you need to open it up. Our last ride of the day was Top Gun and we had to walk all the way back and then all the way to where we parked, which took 15-20 mins.

I love Carowinds, but this is one of the few times that I have ever been not happy with a visit.
User avatar
By Ethan
#21263
Yea I noticed that two, the waves are weak this year. :(
By Shooting Star
#21264
coasterdude89 wrote:I do wish the South Gate would be open.  You only need like 3-4 people to open it.  We parked almost at the south gate thursday and had to walk all the way to the north gate. They had four people at the parking toll, which in the middle of the afternoon is really not needed.  Once you see the parking lot filling up and people parking almost at the south gate, you need to open it up.  Our last ride of the day was Top Gun and we had to walk all the way back and then all the way to where we parked, which took 15-20 mins. 


I agree about the gate. When I was at the park last week (Thursday), we parked a LONG WAY from the main gate, too. An additional entry/exit gate would really help with this problem. It seems that I recall Carowinds having trams years ago, that would pick up passengers in the parking lot and shuttle them to an area near the main gate...do they still do this on busy days or weekends? Even the State Fair utilizes trams for the folks to make access easier. I guess I simply noticed the extra walking more now that I'm over 40 and carrying some extra baggage that I didn't have in my younger days! :D However, the person I was with while visiting the park is nearly 70, and I am sure they would have appreciated a tram or another gate being open nearer "the Outback" where we had to park, LOL!
By Dukeis#1
#21266
Shooting Star wrote:It seems that I recall Carowinds having trams years ago, that would pick up passengers in the parking lot and shuttle them to an area near the main gate...do they still do this on busy days or weekends?

Carowinds did indeed have trams in the early years. I assume they got rid of them when the South Gate was built in 1979(?) or so. Infact you can see where the trams would unload passengers by the main gate in this old aerial photo:

Image

It looks like the trams were of the Minibus variety. A lot of parks had those during the 1970s.

Now that the South Gate is closed, it would be nice if they bought new ones.

B)
By Shooting Star
#21268
[QUOTE=Dukeis#1,Jun 30 2007, 08:05 PM]
Carowinds did indeed have trams in the early years. I assume they got rid of them when the South Gate was built in 1979(?) or so.

Thanks for the info...I thought I remembered riding some type of tram or bus years ago. It would be nice if Carowinds would consider replacing them, if they are only going to use one gate, as in the old days.
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By bgwfreak
#21271
Dukeis#1 wrote: Now that the South Gate is closed, it would be nice if they bought new ones.

B)

Exactly. If I'm going to be charged $10 for parking, at least give me shuttle service.

Thank goodness for my season pass though. :lol:
By Carowinds2005
#21272
This should help out with parking issues-

Carowinds is proud to announce an exciting new benefit for ALL Season Passholders!

Beginning Saturday, June 30, the Park has designated a special lot for Season Passholder Parking.

Season Passholder parking is located directly beside the Paladium in “Lot A”. To access the lot, follow the signs that lead to the bus parking lot. The entrance to the Season Passholder parking lot is the first kiosk at the end of this road. An attendant will be on duty at all times to assist with parking.
<a href='http://www1.cedarfair.com/carowinds/special/passinfo/sp_benefits.cfm' target='_blank'>http://www1.cedarfair.com/carowinds/specia...sp_benefits.cfm</a>
User avatar
By bgwfreak
#21274
Excellent! Me like!
By Hammer8
#21276
umm..yea...do I get my money back for buying the season parking pass since those that have a pass now have their own lot?

There goes $30 I could've spent on strippers and booze.
User avatar
By Jonathan
#21277
You still have to pay to get into the lot if you don't have a parking pass. This just gets you closer to the gate.
By CoasterChris
#21279
I was at the park yesterday and very suprised to see the south gate open on a monday with very limited guest in the park. I also noticed that since not many guest were there they had the new section of the water park closed off with the new pool.