[tylerSC]

Well everyone should know my wishes by now. A zamperla flat package for days. Powersurge, really wanting to see the Air Race ride at our park, Turbo Force, Giant Discovery (frisbee) , a Super Spin, Also a Himalayas or Matterhorn type ride, top spin, zipper, wave swinger (replace yo-yo), and screamin swings. Or maybe I'll hopefully win the lotto and just drop these rides in the park. Lol. Oh bring back guantlet full force too.

I agree more flat rides. Would be great if they could expand County Fair with more classic carnival rides. And how about a giant ferris wheel like Myrtle Beach?

[arby]

I agree more flat rides. Would be great if they could expand County Fair with more classic carnival rides. And how about a giant ferris wheel like Myrtle Beach?

That would be awesome and a good representation of the rural Carolinas

[Kineticmind]

During the Winter Warm Up when we were touring the Slingshot construction in front of Vortex, I had a chance to ask Mike Fenhel about the possibility of upgrading/converting Vortex to floorless trains. He said the chance of that are almost non-existent for several reasons.

1) With Vortex being the 2nd/3rd B&M ever built, they consider it a historic coaster and don't want to change it.

2) Ridership is still rather high with Vortex. Unlike Mantis, very few riders complain about the ride. Mike himself commented on how uncomfortable the entire second half of Mantis is.

3) The conversion is more expensive than most think. Each train costs $1 million dollars. Plus, they would have to rebuild the entire station and replace every brake. Again, not really worth it when the general public likes it the way it is.

He gave me the impression that ridership is actually higher on Vortex than it was on Mantis, which is easy to believe. There is still always a line for it on most days that I visit, while Mantis rarely had a line those last several years.

[KenB]

^ I can totally believe that. On busy days I've seen surprisingly long lines for Vortex. If the ridership numbers are still good, then it doesn't make too much sense to spend a ton of money "fixing" a problem that isn't there for the general public.

Vortex probably fares better than Mantis due to being a shorter ride, meaning that much less time that your privates and / or ears are subjected to potential pain. IF you adjust your seat properly and IF you know how to ride defensively, you can have a reasonably decent ride on Vortex aside from the corkscrew, which bangs my head every time even though I know it's coming.

I don't ride Vortex much, even though I like it more than many on the site. After the initial novelty factor wore off, I probably wouldn't ride it that much more with non-standup trains unless they markedly improved the ride.

[arby]

Kudos to the park for trying to preserve historic roller coasters.

[kirkgun]

Ah my wishlist:

1. A new (not retrofit) RMC coaster
2. A new RMC coaster
3. A new RMC coaster
4. A new RMC coaster

Like everyone else, I would be happy with some more quick/easy/fun flat rides, because all of the items on my wishlist don't seem to be in the cards.

[shane235]

My New WIshlist:
-Waterpark expansion. (Like KD's)
-Triotech dark ride. (Like Journey to the Iron Reef)
-Launch coaster. (Like Maverick, Helix, or Blue Fire)
-Flat ride(s). (Like.... anything?)

[redrunner97]

I'm glad they are going to preserve Vortex, now that I think about it.

When the existing stand-ups fade away even more, Carowinds will be left with something of a rarity, and since it was one of the first B&M's, I totally get why they would want to keep it.

... and I agree. Just flipped my opinion around on the issue.

[FamousAmos]

If anything, with Vortex, I'd like to see a new harness system. If that's even possible.

[Axel]

I want one of Polin’s King Cobra waterslides. relatively small footprint & amazing graphics and effects. There is one at Six Flags Grate Adventure and 4 or 5 others around the world. There is a 3872x2592 pic here:
http://www.inparkmagazine.com/polins-ki ... le-awards/

King Cobra offers not only an intense and heart pounding experience to its riders, but also a stunning design and a one of a kind visual to its spectators. The core feature of King Cobra is its unique configuration that enables two double tubes to race through a circular path with twists, turns, and surprises before experiencing the drop of their lives as they continue to race in the valley of the Cobra. It does not end. The two double tubes are now heading into the mouth of the Cobra. As riders slide into the bowl of the cobra, they activate sensors. These instruments kick-start a variety of high-tech surprises designed to heighten the attraction’s excitement, such as unexpected spurts of water, the chilling high-pitched sound of a snake’s hiss, unique fog, and adrenaline-pumping light effects at night. These make it more exciting than ever while the spectators below think you were just “swallowed” in the mouth of the Cobra.

King Cobra3.jpg (204.67KiB)Viewed 2662 times

King Cobra.jpg (335.64KiB)Viewed 2662 times

King Cobra2.jpg (407.62KiB)Viewed 2662 times

[gabed]

Isn't that just a longer Surfer's Swell?

[Axel]

Isn't that just a longer Surfer's Swell?

not quite.. side-by-side racing, brilliant theming, effects...

that's like saying Fury is just a longer Hurler...

[redrunner97]

I think that would be really cool and visually pleasing. (not to mention fun!)

They could easily tie it into the Aussie theme by connecting it to the Rainbow Serpent (who the native Australians actually believed was their creator/god) of Aboriginal Australian mythology. Even "Rainbow Serpent Slide" could be the name, but I'm sure if they ever did something this extravagant, they would be able to think of a much better name than I.

Here's an idea though, regarding the rumored water park expansion in 2016. Mike said they were going to acknowledge other areas of the park where the state line runs, what if a Water Park entrance is going to go along the other end of the state line (other side of Thunder Road)? Two entrances, both on the state line, both with photo ops and signage showing off the state line? Could be interesting.

[Chris]

This might sound crazy but how about WiFi throughout the park? Yeah, everyone has a data plan these days but WiFi would be nice for those of us that get throttled after using their allotted amount of data. Not only could it help kill time in the queue lines, but it could also serve as a promotional tool, of sorts, as I'm sure people would be using it to upload photos on various social media sites.

[redrunner97]

That would be a great idea. It might even make the wait times seems shorter -which is a true plus.