[Thriller]

I know everyone has talked about the future of Carowinds in many different posts, but in all seriousness, what do you guys see the future of Carowinds like? With the new Hard Rock Park, Dollywood becoming bigger, SF Georgia having trouble, and Carowinds having ownership problems again, the future to me seems uncertain. I don't feel uncertain in the future as being closed down, but more like the park sticking with what it has (rides and attractions) for a few more years to come.

With that in mind, can Carowinds actually be able to keep up with all the competition that’s going on? What will become of Carowinds if private investors take over? I have heard a lot about theme parks being closed and turned into shopping malls and more industrialized areas b/c of bigger profits. I just hope Carowinds will keep it together and continue to deliver safe and fun times!

[bgwfreak]

Top Gun will be rethemed - Dora The Explorer

All the rest of Carowinds will be torn down for a mall.

[Davidtmp]

Thriller, I am not sure about the competition standpoint being that bad. Carowinds has always been about 4 hours from Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Six Flags Georgia. So not anything really close. Hard Rock Park I have a few issues with. Will it take a lot from Carowinds? Charlotte is growing, downtown becoming more dense. Myrtle Beach is a vacation spot. How busy is HRP going to be? Bound to be very busy with long lines at the coasters, will people drive there to stand in line for 2 hours at every ride, or drive to Carowinds where they can get their money worth? We will have to see.
Don't think they will make Carowinds a mall, they could do that at the old Outlet Marketplace and fireworks shops. Outlets in Concord and Gaffney, wouldn't make sense to put another one here. Cedar Point bought a lot of parks with the Paramount purchase. There is 3 now in Ohio, it would make more sense to shut down Kings Island and/or Geauga Lake to cut down on the competition and move some rides to Cedar Point, or other parks they own. But who knows what is on their mind. I tend to think Carowinds will be safe. Now if someone wants to come in and build another theme park in the area, we may have another discussion.

[coasterbruh]

No park is a threat to carowinds. What problems is SFoG having? All the parks you mention are totally different and not like they are around the corner from each other. I doubt cedar UNfair would get rid of the park because another open a few hours away. Also I dont think they would get their moneys worth doing so because who would actually buy the park?? There isnt much money in the park in profitable gain and I dont see anyone buying it to scrape the rides for realestate. they would spend too much money and probably take too long to get it back. It't not like cedar UNfair could send off the rides to their other parks because every other park has the same ride or similar so I dont think the park is going anywhere.

[buschgardenseuropefan]

What's worth the money to go to Carowinds? Face it, more people are more likely to go to HRP than that little park. The only thing at Carowinds that makes me wanna go there are Top Gun and Borg. Top Gun because it looks cool and Borg because it's the nearest flyer to me. HRP is new, and new parks are usually more popular unless it's, like, Cedar Point. I've been to Carowinds once, and I didn't get a good impression. The lines were long and slow moving, the food wasn't very good, and there were operators who spoke a DIFFERENT LANGUAGE. I wanted to do Top Gun- full queue. I wanted to do Borg- 2 hour wait. I wanted to do Vortex- 1 hour and a half wait.

[Jonathan]

Wait let me get this straight up. Someone whose screen name is "buschgardenseuropefan" is complaining about employees who speak a "DIFFERENT LANGUAGE"?

lol.

[bgwfreak]

I don't think you can judge Carowinds by going on some busy Saturday. Sounds like you went on a bad day, try a Sunday instead.

Any park is going to be slammed on a Saturday.

BTW, even with a full queue, Top Gun will still be only a 30 minute wait if they have both trains going.

[Davidtmp]

What's worth it to go to Carowinds? Well you answered it yourself, new parks tend to be more popular, which in english means more people, longer lines, etc. You didn't like a 2 hour wait for Top Gun, Borg, and the 1.5 at Vortex? What do you think you will get at HRP? Are they going to have a water park there?
Carowinds isn't the greatest place, but it is convenient. I don't care what language people speak as long as I am safe. Have you been to McDonald's lately, or out to any fast food place? The people cooking your food speak another language too.
I will probably go to HRP when I am down on vacation. By then I will have the reviews I need to make that decision, and see what the lines are like or when the best day is to go.

[buschgardenseuropefan]

I went during the week, and there was no concert or event. I probably caught it on a bad day. Even the Scooby Doo mansion had a full queue line that was backing out into the path. To be honest, I want to go back to Carowinds, but I don't have the money. So I also probably won't go to HRP when it opens next year. But, I'm serious, the operators on Carolina Goldrusher and Carolina Cyclone were speaking different languages. Odd for a week day, but I believe these were the max waits I saw for rides when I went:

Borg: 2 hours
Top Gun: Not sure, but it had a full queue
Carolina Goldrusher: 5 minutes (Pleasing)
Carolina Cyclone: 10 minutes (Favorite thing I rode, but horrid wait for such a ride)
Rocket Power Air-Time: walk-on (Pleasing)
Drop Zone: 30 minutes (Meh, too long, didn't ride)
Hurler: Didn't SEE a queue (Didn't ride though, I rode the one at Kings Dominion)
Vortex: 1 hour and a half
Thunder Road: 2 minutes (Pleasing)

Not very good queues for a week day.

[coasterbruh]

Sounds like the park was busy...as well as it should be lol. You say most people are more likely to go to HRP but ironically seems like they were are carowinds!! Next time get a fast pass!!

[buschgardenseuropefan]

A fast pass? Do they even have those? And this was last year! HRP wasn't open last year, nor will it be open this year. Nonetheless, to be honest, I really do want to go back. I think I could have more fun if I went again.

[Davidtmp]

I did go a couple weeks ago, and rode some stuff early. Top Gun had maybe a 15 min wait for the back, Thunder Road was about 15 min, Nick Saturator about 10(very early), cyclone was about 10 min. Now the main reason for the wait was the attendents really were taking their time. A little more efficient and a lot of wait times could be cut down. Mon-Wed are really good times to go, my wife is out there twice a week and it really isn't that busy for the most part.

[Thriller]

Wait a minute here! If anyone paid any attention to my post, I did not write this in fear of Carowinds closing down. Yes, the real estate in that area is booming, but it would cost more to buy the park and scrap it (although rich corporations don't mind)! I meant this post to be a discussion about Carowinds future of rides, attendance and such. No, HRP will not shut down Carowinds, but I know for a fact that several patrons from the Myrtle Beach and surrounding areas visit Carowinds during the weekends. Now, if Carowinds is being pushed to the back burner, will we see anything new (that’s worth talking about) or will Carowinds beat out the competition by offering new rides and incentives? That’s what I wanted to talk about here folks. Everyone in here wants to judge someone’s post, but hey, this site was designed to have civilized conversations about Carowinds...right???

[Dukeis#1]

What problems is SFoG having?

I'm not sure if this is what Thriller was talking about, but I do know that SFOG's attendance has been down for the last five years or so.

Back in the 80s/90s they did around 2.5 million guests annually, now it usually scrapes 2 million. (I haven't seen their numbers since Goliath, perhaps it is up again)

[RRRAPIDS]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the site as well as the forums. I currently work at Carowinds and am excited to see everyone talking about the Park which we all love. Don't worry, I'm just like the rest of you trying to do research on what will be happening in the future as well as 08. I've been asking maintanance and there speculations are yes.

Here are some hints to help you all out:

1. Are we getting any New Rides next year? (98% Sure)

2. A couple of flatrides. (98% Sure)

3. One flat ride for sure is the Swings (100% sure)

3. Possible removal of Super Saturator ( Just a rumor) :ph34r:

4.Doubt if it's a coaster. But knowing Carowinds, your never know. :unsure:

We all just have to wait and see. Besides Carowinds see's that every park is doing something besides them. If they know whats good for them, they better stop playing and start diggin. LOL!