[RW_Fury325]

I am going to leave this here:
http://www.coastercrazy.com/forums/down ... &mode=view

Perhaps the same situation for Carowinds Intimidator. Just an overstock issue they need to clear out. Could be Cedar Fair used the same merchandise supplier for both parks. So could be Intimidator name will remain.

Trust. No one.

[TheCoasterMan1]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet but it seems to be that John Taylor has taken a new position up at Cedar Point? Could anyone confirm this? Or is this tweet enough confirmation?

[Jarsh]

John still works at the park (Hey JT!). He had some corporate stuff to do so he went to Sandusky. Happens fairly often... He wasn't at the park this weekend for the event because he was off on vacation.

[TheCoasterMan1]

Okay thanks! JT is great so I would hate to see him go!

[Edwardo]

Just pointing out that there is rides named "Drop Zone", This website uses the name "Intimidator" and makes no mention of DEI: http://intimidatorutv.com. There was a movie released named "Fury" during the the last offseason, I think a launched coaster was designed but never built that used the name and theme "Top Gun" but again made no mention of Paramount Pictures.

What's your point? DEI has a trademark on the use of the word intimidator that covers things like racing, merchandising, etc. I know you probably don't know much about copyright law, but the company paid a licensing fee to DEI for use of the name intimidator and the ride is themed to racing. They can't simply take away the Dale theming, keep the name, and say "neener neener". It doesn't work like that.

The intimidator ATVs that you linked to would never be confused for something related to Dale Earnhardt, but in a court of law, DEI would very likely successfully argue that even though Carowinds dropped the theming, people still relate the coaster to Dale if it keeps the name.

[Pulse95]

So what numbers is everyone predicting this year in terms of attendance? Record year for Carowinds? Will attendance numbers continue to go up year after year, slowly but surely?

[tarheel1231]

On the capital investment front, we continue to believe investing new rides and attractions at our parks is critical to driving long term growth. For 2015, our capital program is at a peak level a $170 million driven in large part by the hotel breakers renovation project at Cedar Point, as well as aggressive investment projects at Carowinds as we look to transform this park into our big park.

What does that last sentence mean? Cedar Fair doesn't say "our next big park" or "one of our big parks", they say "our big park." What exactly does this mean? Is Carowinds destined to achieve flagship status? Will it have the fame of Cedar Point and Knotts? Am I over thinking this?

[FamousAmos]

I think that they mean what they say in that. They recently opened a new office in Charlotte (which is nice by the way), and Charlotte is an ever-growing market attracting lots of people and tourists every year. It wouldn't surprise me if Cedar Fair wants to make Carowinds their big park. But that's just my hopes.

[lingerdog]

Let's just consider some thing about the area as far as CF investing here and why it makes sense. And tackle the issue of locals only vs Carowinds becoming a multi day park for visitors.

First, population growth. In 1980 Charlotte was the 47th largest city in America. In 1990 35th, 2000 25th and now listed as 17th. That's a lot of people filling this area looking for something to do.

But Carowinds isn't the only draw, you want people coming for other things to go check out the park while in town. We have an NFL team. There is growing interest for a MLS team coming to town. With the success of the Knights in uptown there is buzz beginning for an MLB team. We have an NBA team. We have not only NASCAR but the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

There are soccer exhibitions at Panthers stadium like the international match last week.

Then we look to the Catawbas, looking to build the largest movies studio east of LA in York county bringing an estimated 350000 visitors a year in ten years. Then in Kings Mtn NC they want their resort hotel\casino branded by Hard Rock.

As far as an opportunity to jump on growth in a prime location, Carowinds is it.

With so much to do it becomes nice to stay at the Carowinds resort which is central to all these other attractions.

[tylerSC]

I am guessing they are looking at the numbers in terms of population statistics and demographics. Charlotte is a growing market. Centrally located in the middle of the Carolinas. Mecklenburg County population is now over a million. The metro area which includes York County, SC, as well as Gastonia and Concord, is over 2 million. And Carowinds will also draw from the neighboring Greensboro, Asheville, and Greenville-Spartanburg markets, and even the Raleigh- Durham area and Roanoke, Virginia.

And speaking of Virginia, Cedar Fair apparently has chosen to invest more in Carowinds than King's Dominion, at least for now, as the decision was made to make Carowinds a destination park rather than a backyard visit. Which is interesting, because although Richmond is a smaller market than Charlotte, the King's Dominion park also serves the greater Baltimore-Washington market of the Mid Atlantic. Which is a bigger combined market than Charlotte.

But I guess Carowinds needed more expansion to catch up to the growth of Charlotte and the Carolinas, as King's Dominion is already a bit larger. And Cedar Point has limited space for expansion, as you are surrounded by water.

[RollerBee]

Haven't they filled in the lake for land before?

[chknwing]

I was thinking about a retheming of the parks areas and was wondering is there a trademark in a city name or area name? I think it would be unique to name the different areas at carowinds after major areas in the 2 states. Like Blowing Rock or Kitty Hawk etc. Rides could be renamed after state landmarks. might not be the best name for it but say afterburn becomes The Blue Ridge Parkway. White Water Falls could be Looking Glass Falls. etc you get the idea. Would make the park less generic.

[tarheel1231]

If any part of Carowinds gets rethemed to the Blue Ridge Mountains, it should be the Carolina showplace. They could relocate Scrambler to the County Fair and move the entrance from RRR to where Scrambler is. I just feel that it would make a good mountain attraction.

[Matt929]

Hey guys. I was going to watch the travel channel episode tonight on Fury, but just figured out my cable doesn't have the channel. Do you guys think there will be a way to watch it online?

[cwgator]

^^I think it would be better to revert Carolina Boardwalk back into the mountain theme it was when it was Blue Ridge Junction. To me it would have made better sense to have Carolina RFD be beach themed since it's directly bordering the water park...then again it was Paramount who did it...