[bill94el]

Well...time to revive this thread again a co-worker brought up Carowinds so I asked about White Lightning and he said he had never heard of it. That lead me to do a websearch and I found this site. I've revived great memories of the early days as a kid at the park.

Kinda sad that White Lightning is gone. I can remember going with my family one time and it was an overcast day so my brother and I rode it seven times in a row. There were no lines and we didn't even get off the ride. Our parents had to tell us to get off. Still remember the rush. The closest I've found to that sensation is the start of The Hulk ride at Universal Orlando.

Hopefully this will bring back memories for others. There are three lines etched in my brain forever.

Head on the headrest
Hands on the handrail
Lightning ------- Strikes ------- NOWWWWwwwwww!!!!!!!!!

[barrynyu]

I don't believe anyone has been killed at Carowinds.

Well, there was the boy who got shot. He was accidentally shot by a guy hunting near Carowinds and the stray bullet struck the boy and killed him.

I was working at the park the day this happened. Couple guys set up a homemade shooting range on property behind the park. High power rounds went over their target and into the wave pool, hitting two kids and killing one of them.

And I think someone was asking when White Lightnin' was removed - I think before the '88 season. Sound right, Swampfox? Maintenance issues, not the shooting.

[mark40511]

I remember this ride so well. This coaster helped me overcome my fear of coasters somewhat. I remember at one point being afraid to ride carolina cyclone if you can believe that. The loops never bothered me; it was the drops that scared me. But I did ride it and eventually got over all the fear. My brother hasn't. Yes, he rode white lightnin' several times in a row with me and at the time he liked it, but he will NOT ride roller coasters to this day. In fact, most EVERYONE I know of family and friends happen to all be people who are NOT fond of roller coasters or thrill rides at all.

At any rate, in the 1990s SFoG had a ride just like White lighnin'. It was a shuttle loop made by the same manufacturer, but it got moved to Kentucky Kingdom. Loved it......but I think White lightnin's white color was better. I love white coasters.

And I had NO IDEA someone got killed at Carowinds by a bullet. Wow.

[Atombomb]

Jun 10. 1987

[Tosu97]

Wow. I never knew about that.

Speaking of White Lightning, wasn't there an accident during testing on a rainy morning where the front car clipped the top of the hill after the loop? Maybe I'm just imagining things but I feel like I've read something like that here a long while back.

[LyonsRonnie1]

When I was a kid, the rumour was they removed the ride because the train came completely off the track and killed all kinds of people.

Of course that never happened... but when you're 10 or 11... sounds completely likely.

[chknwing]

When does lightning strike? NOW!!!

anyways there were no tragic incidents on white lightning.

[tarheel1231]

I'm curious..... was White Lightnin' the world's first launched coaster?

[Jonathan]

That's an interesting question. White Lightnin', King Kobra (Kings Dominion), and Greased Lightnin' (Great America) all opened in 1977. I'm not sure which opened first or if there was anything prior to that which would really be classified as a launched coaster.

[arby]

I know a lot of people who grew up with the park like White Lightning for sentimental value. However, for me who grew up with Cedar Park and Geauga Lake, I'm not sure I see the value of bringing it back. I rode Montezuma's Revenge at KBF and thought it was fun. However it was kind of like a boomerang and I was happy with 'one and done' and don't care to ride it ever again. My teenage daughter thought it was a waste of her time even though she loves coasters.

If Carowinds were to get a launched coaster down the road, they could certainly do better with something like Sky Rocket at Kennywood which was a very good ride and I couldn't wait to ride it over and over again (and my daughter concurs). We rode every single seat on that.

So I understand the sentiment, but I certainly hope we never get another shuttle loop. We have enough 'one and done' coasters already.

[tylerSC]

They are apparently teasing with the White Lightnin name again. Just like before Intimidator was announced. I guess "lightnin strikes twice" refers to building another record breaking coaster, rather than just the name itself.

[DarK Ei8ht]

They are apparently teasing with the White Lightnin name again. Just like before Intimidator was announced. I guess "lightnin strikes twice" refers to building another record breaking coaster, rather than just the name itself.

I saw it on Monday. I was thinking the same thing. They are building something even bigger than Intimidator, the first record breaking coaster.

[FamousAmos]

I agree with both of you on that. I also think that it is a "tradition" to tease with White Lightnin'

[Prongfan]

As said earlier in this thread, one girl was killed and another wounded in the water park at Carowinds in 1987 when some morons were shooting AK 47s in some woods about a half mile away.
In 1987 also, a construction worker was killed there when a 10 foot trench he was working in caved in on him. He was installing pipe for White Water Falls.
There was also an 11 year old boy that drowned in the wave pool when I was working at the park in 1989. He drowned after apparently suffering a seizure.