[tarheel1231]

So.... it's been ten years. More than ten, actually.

Thoughts?

[coasterbruh]

I wasn't too thrilled at first. Im warming up to it. Lots of good things have come out of this as well as some bad things.

[RollerBee]

I liked Paramount Parks better, the operations was better.

[coasterbruh]

Examples???

[gabed]

Yeah I really loved it when Paramount stopped caring after 1999 and just gave us whatever. Really sucks having an owner who wants to make the park one of the best in the world.

In my opinion, Cedar Fair is the best thing that's ever happened to the park. Here's to ten more years!

[RollerBee]

Saturator was an ok ride, I would have like to see padded seats and a longer ride. Boo Blasters(and Scooby) is one of the rides I love riding as is Ricochet. Reptar is a dull but children are the target market and most of them love it. Nighthawk was sent to Carowinds because maintenance dept was the best on the chain and Paramount Parks didn't want scrap a savable ride. Pirates and Flyers are the best flat rides in the park until next year.

[carolinaman]

I don't know much about the Paramount years, but if they still owned the park/chain, do you think we would have Intimidator and Fury?

[RollerBee]

Intimidator yes. Intimidator was originally going to go close to where Fury is today, maybe not the same location. In 2003ish, Screamscape reported Project:Black Snake which I heard was going to start behind Hurler and run to Thunder Road then come back. I believe this is the early idea that became Intimidator. Fury is anyone's guess.

[Jay]

You're high as a kite if you think "Black Snake" was anything more than a fanboy's dream. I guarantee Intimidator wasn't related at all. If you look at that last few major new additions that were placed into the former Paramount Parks they were all poorly themed experiences like the Italian Jobs and Tomb Raiders. Paramount never would have put in a hyper, much less a giga.

[Chris]

I don't know much about the Paramount years, but if they still owned the park/chain, do you think we would have Intimidator and Fury?

No chance in hell.

[tarheel1231]

I really miss Gr8 Sk8/Gauntlet. I'm glad we got Harmony Hall, but man, that was my favorite flat in the park. I think Chance discontinued the shooting star model. Does Zierer still make flying carpets?

Other than that and Thunder Road (which I'm not going to get into because it would be beating a dead horse with a stick), I have no complaints. I can't wait to see the park in ten years!

[aoriole19]

Wow, 10 years is half of my life I wasn't a coaster enthusiast until 2008 so I can't necessarily compare them from the same perspective. I like Cedar Fair and I think they treat us really well, but (and this might be weird) I think I liked the overall "feel" of the park better under Paramount. It may be nostalgia for my childhood/time before I was obsessed with Cariwinds, or the fact that I've visited a lot of other parks now but hadn't back then, or maybe just the difference in the times. Who knows. Regardless, I'm much happier with the park's coaster/ride lineup now than before, and I don't think Paramount would have given us that in 10 years.

Also I remember that in 2008 it was still hot news that Carowinds wasn't Paramount anymore, and some people at school didn't even believe me. It's just funny how the GP take a while to pick up on news haha.

[Chris]

Cedar Fair purchasing the park is the reason I found and signed up for CC...

[gabed]

No chance, not even a little that Fury would be here. Intimidator, maybe, but I wouldn't get too crazy. The way Paramount started treating their parks near the end of their ownership, we may as well been a city-owned park. (Alright, maybe not that bad)

Carolina Harbor would be much smaller and themed to whatever it was back in those days. The food would possibly still suck and I'd like to hope they would have at least repainted the existing rides.

[arby]

As someone who grew up going to Cedar Point every year, I was less than thrilled at the announcement. So much so, that I refused to go to Carowinds until 2010. Cedar Point was a thrill park with little character, and Paramounts Carowinds was a good family park with so much character and I saw them taking that away. In fact, they did, by jacking up ticket prices, jacking up height restrictions, fencing off Afterburn even more, etc.

I have come to realize that it wasn't Cedar Fair as much as the Kinzel clan. If they were still at the helm, I do suspect our attitudes towards Carowinds would not be as positive as they are now. I do credit Fury 325, Harmony Hall, a real chef, and Carolina Harbor to Mr. Ouimet and the new Cedar Fair.

Because of the changes to Cedar Fair I look back and am greatly pleased with the acquisition and see a lot more great things in store for Carowinds and all of the Cedar Fair parks, for that matter.