By tarheel1231 - August 2nd, 2015, 3:35 pm
- August 2nd, 2015, 3:35 pm
#82011
Don't know about location, but Thunder Road will never truly be replaced unless the park builds a roller coaster that reflects everything Thunder Road stood for: A fun "starter" ride that isn't as small as the coasters in Planet Snoopy, but not something so big that it will traumatize riders and turn them off from coasters forever. Thunder Road did that job perfectly. The only other coasters in the park that can even begin to touch that are Carolina Cyclone and Hurler but Cyclone goes upside down (and will bang your head if you don't know how to ride it) and Hurler sucks at the moment.
Thunder Road was also simple (in a good way) in that it didn't do anything extraordinary. No spinning, no overwhelming drops, no inversions, It was just classic, all American fun. That's not the type of ride that's going to sell to the public anymore. You either build different or build to break records in the industry. Parks build high speed, out-of-control coasters, so even if Carowinds was to get another wooden coaster it wouldn't perform the same way Thunder Road does. I wouldn't complain if we got something like that but it wouldn't fill the niche Thunder Road did.
And even if the ride filled Thunder Road's niche perfectly, it could never truly replace it. Every good park should have their premier classic coaster, and while Thunder Road wasn't the first coaster at the park or even the first wooden coaster, it was the best example of classic Carowinds. Every other coaster in the park feels too contemporary, even Goldrusher and Woodstock Express which are older than Thunder Road. Nothing took you on a trip to the early years of Carowinds like Thunder Road did. And now that it's gone, it almost feels like Carowinds never existed before 2000. So Carowinds try as they may will never actually replace Thunder Road. It's not something that can be replaced by just another coaster, it was very special to the park and nothing they add can really make up for its removal.
As for what I think should "replace" Thunder Road, I think a mid-sized GCI like White Lightning would fit well, but I don't think that's something the park would be interested in adding.
Thunder Road was also simple (in a good way) in that it didn't do anything extraordinary. No spinning, no overwhelming drops, no inversions, It was just classic, all American fun. That's not the type of ride that's going to sell to the public anymore. You either build different or build to break records in the industry. Parks build high speed, out-of-control coasters, so even if Carowinds was to get another wooden coaster it wouldn't perform the same way Thunder Road does. I wouldn't complain if we got something like that but it wouldn't fill the niche Thunder Road did.
And even if the ride filled Thunder Road's niche perfectly, it could never truly replace it. Every good park should have their premier classic coaster, and while Thunder Road wasn't the first coaster at the park or even the first wooden coaster, it was the best example of classic Carowinds. Every other coaster in the park feels too contemporary, even Goldrusher and Woodstock Express which are older than Thunder Road. Nothing took you on a trip to the early years of Carowinds like Thunder Road did. And now that it's gone, it almost feels like Carowinds never existed before 2000. So Carowinds try as they may will never actually replace Thunder Road. It's not something that can be replaced by just another coaster, it was very special to the park and nothing they add can really make up for its removal.
As for what I think should "replace" Thunder Road, I think a mid-sized GCI like White Lightning would fit well, but I don't think that's something the park would be interested in adding.
Coaster Count: 63
