[Julie]

I grew up in this park, i still remember my first trip to Carowinds.i remember coming thought those gates and seeing that big fountain and looking around and feeling like i was in the gardens of a wealthy plantations owners back yard.the ride i rode was the Log flume, and was scared of the plunge at the end, next i rode the Carolina Queen AV and spotted smurf island and had to get to it, after going in every last house, and playing on the slide, my brother took me on the Carolina gold rusher and white kunckling my way on it we went to Hanna Barrera land and rode everything there even the scooby doo rollercoaster i wasn't big enough to ride thunder road or white water falls but we met back with my mom at the sky tower
rode it and then we all went to the wave pool there wasn't anything there i could ride just playing in the pool was good enough for me.but as i got bigger i liked to ridethe fla
t rides nothing that goes upside down i even got lost in this park, but that was a long time ago.i remember the first time i rode the cyclone my friend dared me so i had no choice it was a matter of pride you can't back out, but after i rode it i loved it.my friend and i got season passes every year we got dropped off in the morning and picked up when it closed for the night who ever was picking us up would have to send in the security guards to round us up, yeah we could hear the park saying they were closing in such asuch mins we just choose not to listen to them.any way i hadn't gone to the park in awhile and was telling my girls about Carowinds the way i i remember it bought season passes and went only to be very very disappointe!!!i couldn't find the Carolina queen, since it to pact so i asked started crying,i asked the guy why didn't they leave it in the water below where it used to be and backwards and then back forward again to where it started he just looked at my likei had lost my mind.but Carowinds a group of season pass holders just the ones who have been buying them for a while ten yrs plus people who love the park the old time theme, what Carowinds doesn't need is the people who are running it now all they can see is dollar signs, and to the people who keep talking about progress what the point if you can't even recognize the place, just think if Disney had this additude and tore down Cinderella castle, and then got rid of the tea Cups ride and then dumbo's ride it wouldn't feel like Disney World would it? So why does Carowinds have to lose its identity?
s and when i turned

[Edwardo]

Paragraphs, please. Then maybe ill read it.

[LemondsHead]

i agree maybe with the expansion something MAY happen i dont know

[Julie]

Sorry i done it on my phone my laptop in the shop

[Donster1213]

I agree. Even though I have only been visiting carowinds for 7 years or so, they are kind of loosing their theme. I remember in 2010, when I got attached to carowinds, they would always play the 50-70's music (sounds like they dropped a lot of songs), and before they changed to planet snoopy, i thought nick central had a better idea to it. I don't think carowinds needs the preserve committee, but cedar fair does, since they control what happens at carowinds and all other parks.

[arby]

They started losing their theme longer than 7 years ago. If you look back through the history of the park, previous owners started the decline in the themed areas. Also, I am pretty sure individual park management has a bigger say in some of that than the corporate offices.

With the new CEO running Cedar Fair, I think we're going to see a better mix of what they have been doing as well as a little more theming and maintaining of those themes in the long haul. Retheming Carowinds right now to make everything more cohesive would be cool, but would cost too much money that I would rather they spent on other things like they are.

I liked the Nick theme. However, CF was smart to dump that and run away from it. The ridiculous amount of money that they had to pay Nickelodeon for the theme is better spent on park upgrades than going to a tv/movie studio. My kids liked Nick better than Snoopy but they got over it quickly when they realized that the rides were the same regardless.

[RollerBee]

I cant see the value in Snoopy, he is lesser known than more mainstream cartoons. I would drop all outside characters and just have a generic "Kiddy Kingdom".

[super7]

This was once a very well thought-out park, but over the years all of that

The downfall of the park started back in the late 80's when KECO managed the park. The park was not well maintained, rides were painted drab colors, mismatching of theming and mass ride removal began. Water was lost around Pirate Island for the water park and the Pirate Island theming was pretty much destroyed with the loss of White Lightnin'.

Paramount finished the park off with their total lack of disregard of themed areas and instead putting movie themes anywhere in the park. They removed almost all of the water in the park. Frontier Outpost was replaced by the poorly executed Carolina Boardwalk (a boardwalk with no water lol) and Queens Colony was overrun by Nickelodeon. The antebellum buildings of Plantation Square were replaced by generic art-deco buildings.

Cedar Fair did some damage with the placement of Intimidator by removing the log flume, the water and the hillside that acted as a berm from the parking lot. But by the time they got in, the original park concepts and the beauty of all the water in the park had already been destroyed.

[Matt929]

As much as I like sticking to old times, carowinds has changed a lot and I like it. People are talking about bigger and better coasters but sometimes things have to go to make way for the future. Park guests aren't going to care as much about the past. They want the new rides and roller coasters even if that means losing some of the park's older icons.

[MarkD]

Hey, Harmony Hall? Ok, not the same thing but a very familiar name to us old timers here. Swampy?

I have disapproved of several things removed that I remember since "73 opening days and the years that followed.

Would I rather have our Queen versus our Nighthawk? Yes.
Would I rather have our Log Flume instead of Intimidator? No.
Would I like to have some of our old Flats back? Heck Yeah!!!!

Just like cars, you have to change and improve to keep selling, so I applaud C.F. for what they are doing now.

I do wish they could at least Name and somewhat Theme all new attractions to the Carolinas. Intimidator and Harmony Hall names are a start.

[arby]

I do wish they could at least Name and somewhat Theme all new attractions to the Carolinas. Intimidator and Harmony Hall names are a start.

I totally agree with that. If they would theme areas and attractions to the Carolinas, I think they would appeal to a much larger market base. It doesn't even have to be to Disney or Universal standards. But I am sure that Ouimet gets it - If you can make a visit to the park an experience, you're going to get everybody coming back, enthusiast or not.

[Capler]

The plantation theme is pretty and represents a part of southern heritage and culture, but it also harkens back to a time some of us don't endear. With that said, I was happy to see the park move away from it. I do recall going to the park back in the 70's and it did feel like a wealthy southern plantation owner's abode. The original owner planned it this way as a representation of his views which only embodies a certain part of the community. I get the same feeling when I ride through all the little southern towns and see the courthouses and town squares adorned with confederate monuments. I understand this is cultural, but it does not represent the culture of everyone, and for some it's conjures a negative image.

[Jarsh]

Personally - I don't think Carowinds' plantation home entrance reminds people of slavery anymore than the Southern Belle's at LegoLand Florida. They both are symbols of the South and that's all they are meant to represent.

[super7]

"Plantation Square" could have easily been rethemed to the Charleston waterfront and kept its southern charm without being offensive!

[RollerBee]

You make a very good point however Carowinds and Great America both fell victim to Paramount Parks retheming the main plaza.