[carowindsfreak13]

I do not know why carowind hours went down so much! In 2003 one night went from 9am to 11pm. Now the longest time is 10am to 10pm. I wonder why is that KI has a time over 1am to midnight! This is a bit weird. DO you know why?

[Jay]

PKI is like 8x bigger and more popular, thus why they are able to stay open longer. Also, that night that they are open to midnight is probably(I say 'probably' since I didn't check for myself) their Fear Fest, which is equivilant to our Scarowinds, which is also open till midnight. And my only guess as to why they didn't choose to close at 11 any days this year, is that it wasn't as popular as they had hoped. It was probably just an experiment anyways. That's just a complete guess though, so don't go around spreading silly rumors.

[Dukeis#1]

It's not just us. Nearly all of the parks in the industry have scaled back on hours over the last 6 or 7 years. Pull out a brochure from 1991 or 1992 and compare them to a 2003 brochure and you'll notice a big change.

For example, Dollywood use to be open to 11 in the summer, now the latest they close is 8. <a href='http://www.themeparkbrochures.com/1987/bgw1987_7.html' target='_blank'>Busch Gardens Williamsburg</a> was open until 12 in the summer, now the latest they close is 10.

I think alott of it has to do with the economy in the late 90s, and parks relizing that most of the guests that arrive in the peak periods between 11am and 1pm are going to leave by 7:30 anyway, so there is not much use to keep the park open late if only a few people are going to be in it.

I don't know why during the last few years the park has started opening at 10 instead of 9. I like to get to the park early so I can be out when lines start to get big after lunch, but I guess it's just part of streamlining costs or something.

[swampfox43]

Oh how I still vividly remember 1994, the year Hurler opened. Carowinds was open until 10pm every Sunday through the summer. I spent many a Sunday getting "stay in your seat" night rides on Hurler that year. The following year the park closed at 8pm on summer Sundays.

Which brings up another scenario. Many enthusiasts, like myself, enjoy riding coasters at night. I prefer, of course, to have those night rides on nights when the park isn't crowded so I can get the maximum number of rides on all my favorite coasters in the park. Unfortunately, at Carowinds you can only enjoy night rides on Friday and Saturday nights when the park is usually packed. And during mid-summer it doesn't even get dark until 9pm.

So, I have determined that early Spring and early Fall Saturdays are the best times to enjoy night rides at Carowinds. It gets dark earlier for one thing. And with school being in, it's not as crowded as a normal summer weekend.

Now for the not so good news:
The 2004 calendar for Carowinds looks a little disappointing for night riders on non crowded nights. <a href='http://carowinds.com/visit_calendar.jsp' target='_blank'>http://carowinds.com/visit_calendar.jsp</a>

Has the park decided not to open at all in Oct?

[PoP Eye]

at least they are opened to 10pm some

[Dukeis#1]

Now for the not so good news:
The 2004 calendar for Carowinds looks a little disappointing for night riders on non crowded nights. <a href='http://carowinds.com/visit_calendar.jsp' target='_blank'>http://carowinds.com/visit_calendar.jsp</a>

Has the park decided not to open at all in Oct?

I'm sure it will be open for Scarowinds, but evidently regular daytime operation ends in September this year. However, it looks like the park is open more days in May & August to make up for it.

Carowinds has always been kind of weird with it's schedule. Back in the late 80s the park would close at the beggining of October while SFOG and Dollywood would stay open all the way through the first or second weekend in November.

I always use to think that closing so early in the year was missing alott of profitable Fall Saturdays.

[swampfox43]

and let's not forget those years when the park was closed on Fridays and Mondays. Man, that had to hurt them.

[bgwfreak]

The thing that bugs me, is why did they stop opening during the days in October? It's like as soon as Scarowinds starts they stop opening during the day.

I really like riding the coasters in the fall, when it's not so hot. Oh well. :blink:

[RollrCoastrCrazy]

I just wish the park would do like 4 nights a year where they advertise "Ride all Night," or something. They could try it out and if it didn't work, discontinue it.

[MarkD]

I'm sure it has alot to do with school and employees. Remember they laid off 20 full time employees.
Maybe they are cutting back the time (season) for upgrades to the park.
I too love riding at night, The Beast at night is my all time favorite, and I do wish during the summer vacation months they could stay open untill 11 or 12. Even then it only gives you about 2-3 hours of night riding with the sun setting around 9pm.

[ChadLP02]

I just wish the park would do like 4 nights a year where they advertise "Ride all Night," or something. They could try it out and if it didn't work, discontinue it.

I totally agree. Once a month "night rider" timeslots could be put in. That would make me want to go more. Theme it and advertise it in everything.

[Carowinds44]

That does sound like a lot of fun, and a good idea!

[carowindsfreak13]

Opening Night will have at least 1 1/2 of night riding. That would be okay riding the Borg, Top gun, Hurler, Thunder Road.

[Dukeis#1]

Carolina Goldrusher is pretty freaky at night as well. Particularly the warm blast you get going into the tunnel.

[Cephas]

Rip Roaring Rapids is awesome at night too, although you don't ever get wet... <_<