[Sean978]

Any guesses as to what the two things on top of the entrance will be -now that they have done a little bit more work on them?

In the animation wasn't their a large electronic display board there? Those could be to hold it up.

[tarheel1231]

I really like this video. It gives you a sense of how open the new front entrance will be. http://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=ICjxeQMT5rM

[chknwing]

I had not seen that video yet. thx. It does give you a sense of the scale of that area. Looks small on the web cam but when you watch people actually walk through the area its huge.

[arby]

In the animation wasn't their a large electronic display board there? Those could be to hold it up.

I don't hold a lot of faith in the animation since Carowinds admitted it was primarily for Fury 325 and that the entry plans at the time were still up in the air.

With that being said, I'm quite certain that those two uprights are either going to hold a static sign or an electronic sign. I haven't been to Cedar Point since they redid their entrance, but from what I've seen and listening to others drawing a similarity to our entrance, I lean heavily towards it being an electronic sign or both.

It could, instead, be part of a gallows for those who keep complaining about the plantation house.

[kirkgun]

I don't see any electronic sign in the animations.

But I have always believed that those things are to hold a sign, of some sort. But that's just purely a guess on my part. (ninja'd by arby)

It makes more sense, to me, to put a big CAROWINDS up there than on the ground (in the planter). It would be far more visible. I imagine something like the sign on the toll plaza.

If the sign is down in the planter (like in the animations), any people between you and the sign would block the sight-line, especially for the the little ones. And with Skytower and windseeker in the background (and coasters to the sides), people's eyes would probably be drawn upwards as they look around when they approach the entrance. That's where I'd put a a sign.

And I know you all hate Dinosaurs Alive (and I understand that) and don't like the T-Rex near the entrance. I've got three words for you: Kids Love Dinosaurs. And T-Rex is as good of an advertisement for that "attraction" as it gets. It's got to be some place where the kids will not miss it. I think it would be a good idea to put him just past the toll plaza. Just as the road turns back to the left to the parking lot, put him right here...



or let me take him home for my back yard (even though he doesn't match the theme there either).

[RollerBee]

^^Ya know if Carowinds does that for SCarowinds, I will model my likeness to be hung above the new North Gate. I am ready to be hung for the Plantation House!

[uscbandfan]

Great video of the entrance plaza. I can't wait until there are trees there to help break it up a bit. Because of the construction, it looks like a coaster built in the Sahara. Granted, grass will help. But I think when the trees get in there it will make things a lot better.

If you look at the animated gif that shows the plantation house morphing to the current construction, the biggest thing that jumps out is the lack of foliage. (Spring will help too because the trees over by the trim-brake are hardly visible on cam without leaves.)

[Littlegiles]

Forms have been removed around planters and beside the new StateLine. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some pavers going down today.

I think the planters themselves will be used as "benches" and not the curbing they were putting around them yesterday. It will be like sitting on the brick walls of some of the planters in the park now. Perhaps soon we will see some new photos of that area and we will realize just how open and nice that is going to be.

[uscbandfan]

I don't see any electronic sign in the animations.

The Electronic signs in the animation were under the fascia of the front of the sloped roof above the "turnstiles". If you didn't look close, they looked like black rectangles. There were no towers above the roof in the animations so its anybody's guess as to what's going there. My guess would be flags too. But then again, the 8 flagpoles are supposed to be going back by the bridge. No reason they can't be in both places though.

[uscbandfan]

Forms have been removed around planters and beside the new StateLine. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some pavers going down today.

I think the planters themselves will be used as "benches" and not the curbing they were putting around them yesterday. It will be like sitting on the brick walls of some of the planters in the park now. Perhaps soon we will see some new photos of that area and we will realize just how open and nice that is going to be.

Those are my thoughts as well.

[redrunner97]

I would prefer flags to a giant ugly sign that will block the view of the rides behind it (like the Plantation House did).
We finally have a view of the skyline, and it would be criminal to cover it up more than it has to be, IMO.
And I, for one, love the large circle with the word Carowinds in it (hopefully in gold like the animation).

I hope we get the single long video screen as a sign across the front of the entrance building, like Cedar Point -instead of three sections:

(image courtesy Theme Park Archive)

Instead of flags in the sense of REAL flags, what if they are like sculpted flags that don't wave and are pointed in different directions (kinda like this: <|___|> ) over the entrance? I am itching to know what the final design is going to look like.


BTW: In the video Mike mentions placing the street sign (new or old?) father down past the bridge, toward the middle of Carowinds Plaza (presumably between where the bridge ends and the other Carowinds sign is in the circle).

[RollerBee]

Block of the view of what rides? Skytower, Nighthawk and Vortex could all been over the Plantation House and had other structures behind the house blocking the view. View blocks are designed for a reason also.....
Mike has already said that the centerpiece in the plaza will be different and "has really came to life".

[Edwardo]

Perhaps the towers on top of the new entrance are just a design choice and not for any reason other than they thought it looked good?

[coasteraddict]

I really like this video. It gives you a sense of how open the new front entrance will be. http://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=ICjxeQMT5rM

Thanks for sharing the video we shot. This project is really awesome, and we cannot wait to walk through that entrance for opening day!

[uscbandfan]

The building on the right (as we're looking) a 2-story building? It looks taller than the bathrooms. I think it was one-story in the animations.