[Picklesthedrummer]

For $20 guest can now purchase "Fright Lane", similar to Kings Island's Fast Lane pass except for the mazes. Hope this is not a sign of "Fast Lane" being added to Carowinds in the future slowing down lines...

http://www.carowinds.com/scarowinds/pricing.cfm

[coasterbruh]

I consider that a great deal! I mean you are still paying less than 50.00 (well 49.99 lol) to experience a really nice halloween event with the added benefit of not having to stand in a long line!

[iball]

but u only get to bypass each line once! that is so stupid!

[arby]

I assume you mean "Fright Lane?"

Most of the CF parks have announced the same thing so I think it is a sign of things to come. I like the idea for those of us that travel to a lot of parks. Of course, I try to plan a lot of my trips around park/ACE events so that I can catch a lot of the coasters with ERT and hit the other ones during the day.

If you live near a park or visit it often, you get to know the times to go when rides are a walk-on so the pass won't benefit us as much. I also doubt we'll see much of a slow-down from the passes.

[Edwardo]

I hope they expand it and I hope the park adds Fast Lane next year. Everyone complains that they *Think* it makes the lines longer (It doesn't), but everyone wants the park to add a new big ride every year. The park has to make money to pay for the rides.

And why does it suck that you only get to go thru once? How many people are 'power riding' the haunted houses?

I wish KD had Fast Lane already. Heading up there in 2 weeks. Loved having a QBot at oT this Labor Day weekend. Everyone complains about lines, but when pay to cut and virtual queue management are implimented correctly, the general public doesn't realize that someone else rides before them, and when they do, they tend to want to spend the money next time they're at the park.

If you dont' believe me, look at how many times Disney's system is complained about on enthusiast forums. Never. Why? It's free and no body complains about cutting in line when they can afford to do it.

[Picklesthedrummer]

I assume you mean "Fright Lane?"

Yes thank you for catching my mistake lol

[Picklesthedrummer]

I am judging on how the line's times are increased based on the Disney Fastpass system and more importantly the Six Flags Flash Pass system. In Disney the standby line is slow at a point, but not terrible. I think Disney does a good job with their fast pass system. However I'm assuming the Fast Lane is more like the Six Flags Flash Pass system which I hate. Their system slows down the regular line a ton. My experience with that was at Six Flags Magic Mountain where standby was at a standstill for many lines. I didn't get to ride all of the rides there because of the Flash Pass, making it seem that you are required to buy one to ride every ride, even on a Wednesday which is when I went. Can't imagine how it would be like on a Saturday there.

[sccoasterbear]

Remember though that not all fans can afford the luxury of these passes and may decide to stop coming all together once so many of the attraction are pay for play. I know that will keep me away and may well be the end for many people. Besides, look at how crowded the parks were back in the 80's when everything was affordable. I remember many days the park had to close its gates because it was at maximum capacity and the majority of those guest bought food, souveniers, and played games because they didnt feel raked over the coals already before they got into the park.

My friends and I talk about this all the time, especially the ones that once worked in theme parks and can clearly see the difference.

[arby]

I assume you mean "Fright Lane?"

Yes thank you for catching my mistake lol

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I had other comments but I kept them to myself.

[will1313]

Well... I actualy decided to test this out Saturday and im glad to say it was pretty convient. I wasnt rushed to do every haunted house, I did them as I felt like it. So i still got 3 rides on Intimidator, 2 on Carolina Cobra, 1 on After Burn, and 1 on Night hawk and did every maze.

[coasterbruh]

Well, I have nothing against fast pass or express pass type things. Most people who are against it are against it because they dont wanna pay more for it...but I have found those are generally the people who never pay full gate price in the first place! lol lol...

I go to universal a lot. I have never seen it were more than, say, 10 people walked by me while waiting in line for a ride. It isn't as serious or line inducing as some people may think. If the park has good operations then they lines wont be long and I feel it balls down to that. Have I brought a fast pass style option, well directly no. I have only utilized it when staying on-site at universal. Even then I still fuond myself walking thru the regular line because one, the line wasn't that long and two, the lines at universal tell the story of the ride/attraction!

And complaining about being able to go thru the haunts once with the 20.00 option? Are you kidding me! Would you like the park to charge 15-20 per house like some independent haunt owners charge and throw in 5 dollars to walk thru each scarezone? I think if we started breaking down exactly what our dollar is buying we would probably complain much less...


One last thing. To those who are using this option, the best way to get the most out of it is to only use it of the regular que is over 20-30 minutes. Why would any one want to waste their one time when the wait time is only 10-15 miuntes?

[arby]

I'm not sure how much more affordable things were in the 80s as compared to today. Carowinds' Season passes cost $30 in 1980 and using a base-line cost of living calculator (based on the Consumer Price Index), that $30 season pass would cost $80 today. So, technically, season pass prices have decreased a bit since 1980.

Daily passes were $9 in 1980 and using the same CPI, that would be $24 today. With daily passes being around $35 (if you pay more than that you should shop around more, next time), they have gone up a little bit. $35 today was like $13 back in 1980.

http://www.aier.org/research/worksheets-and-tools/cost-of-living-calculator

You all know I have to bring math into a discussion any time I can, but anyway, it doesn't appear to me that the cost for amusement park things have gone up faster than average. You should look at how much faster car prices have gone up than inflation/CPI.

[RollerCoasterMommy07]

I agree that if used correctly it shouldn't make a big difference. I was at Thorpe Park this weekend and the way they did their fast pass (from what I could tell) was to let people from the regular line go, then next train around the people from fast pass line and to keep switching. I thought it was a pretty fair way to do it.