[ThePatchmanTG KID]

Hey guys, today was opening day and I went for my birthday ( although its march 28th ). It was very interesting.

So we got their around, oh I dunno 10:40 am. After scarfing down 2 breakfast burritos I bought my season pass. We head into the park to first look at the new Nighthawk sign. The Nighthawk logo is good...except for its just on a white back ground. Plus the Borg ball and music are gone, so its just another unthemed coaster.

So first my friends makes me go on Vortex, eh first ride was painful. Second ride, best ride I have ever had on it. Its gotten better. Then we headed over to Carolina Cyclone, had a great ride in the back, I am riding there from now on. Then we ran over to the hurler. I had a brain explosion..lol. Hurler needs some major TLC. The Drop Zone letters are gone, BUT NOTHING IS IN ITS PLACE! Its a big steel grid with the fade stunt tower words below it. Then we went to lunch at Wings. It was really good. I had the pizza, pudding and a coke. They replaced the background of the ladder climbing thing also.

Then we head over to the new Yo-Yo ride. GREAT ADDITION! It's not extremely fast like the flyers, but its really awesome. Your chair rocks back and forth, awesome and great needed flat ride. I talked to a lady in front of Boomerang Bay about the expansion. She gave me a listing of the prices for the cabanas..wow you need a big wallet for these. Unless your a passholder. You get 30% and then after a time 20%. Prices start at like $50.00 or something.

Then we head to Top Gun...sorry..afterburn. THERES NO SIGN LIKE DROP ZONE! No sign indicating what its called. We rode Top Gun / Afterburn about 4-5 times today. It was running good. Then we rode rides over again. One of the employees doing caricatures told me they are going to officially change the green to purple on Borg.

I bought a Carowinds shot glass and then went home. Overall it was a fun day. I passed the camera when CN2 was there also. So look for the kid in the Borg shirt.

By the way, if your a kid on these forums, you were wearing a green jacket and on afterburn yelled, fat kid coming through, you also talked about top thrill dragster then I was the kid in the Borg shirt you rode with. I want to get a nAfterburn shirt but the gift hsops had none and were closed so yeah,

I will post the pictures soon.

[ThePatchmanTG KID]

Pictures!






New coat of paint! :

Cabana model:



They changed the action theater:



New or moved cart:

New or Repainted hurler train:

[TopGunUkno]

That Nighthawk sign has GOT to go. That looks so lame.
Why don't they just keep it green?
It really wouldn't make a difference.

Is it sad that my fave. parts of the park is TOP GUN and WINGS CAFE....[even tho its just a restaurant?]

I really don't know when I'm going to make it to CAROWINDS again...

Blah.

[Jonathan]

I know this is the latest trend in waterparks around the country, so there must be a market for it, but I still have a really hard time believing there is anybody out there who would drop $50 to use this for a day:

[RollerBee]

You would be surprised, Wet N Wild charges 75 to 100. The Carowinds ones are alot nicer than Wet N Wild, Wet N Wild is nothing more than 4 wooden posts with a top.

[ThePatchmanTG KID]

Ok I got the price sheet and here are the prices:

Off Peak Weekdays ( May 31 - June 19 ) - $54.99 plus tax per day
Peak Weekdays (June 20-August 15) - $74.99 plus tax per day
Off Peak Weekends ( May 24-June 15 August 16-31 ) $89.99 per day plus tax.
Peak Weekends ( June 21-August 10 ) $99.99 per day plus tax
Memorial Day ( May 26 ) $89.99 plus tax
July 4th- $99.99 plus tax
Labor Day ( September 1 ) $89.99 plus tax.

[Jay]

BLAH! I just got back from Carowinds I was hoping I could get my pics out before you did.

Good report nonetheless.

[bgwfreak]

it's sad that the Coca Cola Oasis looks better than the Nighthawk sign.

At least paint the background black to make it look better than it is.

The logo itself looks ok, just looks dumb on a white background like that.

[coasterdave]

First off thanks for sharing your experience.

What I find funny is that people are making a huge deal over the sign for Nighthawk. It is after all just a sign and I doubt it really affects how the ride operates myself. What I am seeing is that the park has done alot of CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS over the off season from various reports I have seen. And is it that big of a deal that some rides do not have a sign at the present time to let you know you are riding Afterburn or Drop Tower before anyone mentions it.

What is great is that it seems that Cedar Fair is taken the steps to get the park up to par with extensive rehab of Thunder Road to get it back to what it use to be and is it that big of a deal that it does not go backwards anymore. Is that really going to detract from the ride that much. Hell I think it will be great to see both of them go forward and race like it was designed to do.

It is refreshing to see the park looking alot better and the addition of the Yo Yo is a great start for good things to come in the future. Just my two cents.

[Jonathan]

My theory on the signs and such is that Cedar Fair waited until the last possible moment to make their decision on whether they wanted to take the option on the Paramount license or not. That's pure speculation on my part, though, but it does seem like they would have renamed the rides much earlier than they did if there wasn't a situation like that.

In the end I don't think the signs or any of that matters that much, but aesthetics are important, and the white background on the Nighthawk sign does look rather dumb. I'm treating this season the same way I did last season; I wait until May or June before I judge anything, because it seems there is once again a lot of work left to do even though the season is underway. Perhaps Cedar Fair just isn't quite adjusted to the idea of a park opening so early in the year (Knott's Berry Farm aside).

The Yo-Yo is a welcome and needed addition, but what is most exciting to me is the contracting of GCI for the complete rehab of Thunder Road. If it isn't running good this summer, then I doubt it ever will run good again. I'm also a fan of turning the other train around, and hopefully we will see them race consistently. Now next offseason they can put that fresh coat of white paint on the ride.

[RollerBee]

Another thing everyone needs to remember is that Carowinds treats March to May as Preseason, so the park isn't supposed to 100% ready in their eyes the first couple weekends in March. Scream Weaver wasn't running the first weekend in 2006. Personally, I think is silly charge the same price admission when the park isn't 100% ready. Are the shows running yet? But at the same time, I understand that Thunder Road, and Dutchman not running isn't really enough to drop the price of admission. Sometimes, I just have to look at thing as a guest and as how I think management would to understand it. I think the issue is the signs not being ready is the fault of Carowinds not Cedar Fair because both Kings Dominion and Great America have the new Drop Tower signs up. Plus I also know Carowinds takes their sweet time with things, where as I rush though them(and it sometimes shows), that is one feature I hate about myself.
~Roller "I bet I am going to get bashed cause I said too much" Nut

[CoasterChris]

The new swings look so out of place. Looks like they should be in Nick Central. They even have the Nick paint theme.

[Ethan]

^ Actually, they look like the belong in a County Fair.

[Jay]

Personally, I think is silly charge the same price admission when the park isn't 100% ready. Are the shows running yet? But at the same time, I understand that Thunder Road, and Dutchman not running isn't really enough to drop the price of admission. Sometimes, I just have to look at thing as a guest and as how I think management would to understand it. I think the issue is the signs not being ready is the fault of Carowinds not Cedar Fair because both Kings Dominion and Great America have the new Drop Tower signs up. Plus I also know Carowinds takes their sweet time with things, where as I rush though them(and it sometimes shows), that is one feature I hate about myself.
~Roller "I bet I am going to get bashed cause I said too much" Nut

EVERY SINGLE RIDE other than Dutchman and Thunder Road (and FSS) were running. Even White Water Falls and Rip Roarin Rapids were open. I commend Carowinds and hope it continues throughout the year.

[coasterbruh]

^ Actually, they look like the belong in a County Fair.

exactly They looked boring but alot of people were riding them. I like boots balloon race more though. I guess cause it actually has theming.