With all this talk about the future of the "old" County Fair, I made the bold decision to make a horrible graphic showing what I would like to see done with that area. Behold: the all-new Blue Ridge Junction!
Bear with me here; the area would adopt the name in 2017, then officially re-themed in 2018. Beginning with Yo-Yo's closure at the end of the 2017 season, replaced with a Gerstlauer Skyroller
[yellow]. Thunder Road's entrance plaza would be the site of a Mondial Revolution
[blue]. And the outdated (as of the last time I used them, at least) bathrooms, in addition to the wooded area behind them, would be transformed into an antique cars ride
[orange].
In addition to these three new rides, the area would also see new brick pavers added to combat the heat, landscaping improvements, new trees planted to give the area a more isolated feel, and the game stalls would be replaced in exchange for a cute animatronic band of woodland creatures like the singing mushrooms at KD), based on the original Carowinds mascot of Ringo Raccoon, Carolion, Pamela Pig, Bubba Bear, and Hercules the St. Bernard
[white]! They could sing songs like "Carolina in My Mind", "Thunder Road", "White Lightnin'", "Sweet Caroline", "This Land is Your Land", and of course the original Carowinds theme song! They'd also received updated new looks, while sticking to the roots of their original design (again,not unlike the signing mushrooms). In case anyone is unfamiliar with these guys:
As far as attraction names go, the antique cars would obviously be called "The Hillbilly Jalopies", but the other two are a little more difficult (IMO) when trying to fit the area's overall theme. Maybe the Mondial Revolution could be called "Wagon Wheel" and the Sky Roller could be called "The Flying Dutchman" (taking two names from long defunct rides that used to be in the park). Really, I don't think the ride names matter too much, with a fighter jet on one side and a zombie invasion happening on the other, the theme of this area will come from whatever vibe and look the park decides to give it!
Hopefully they do something fun with it!
Also, I realize this graphic may not be spacially accurate, this is just a general idea of how I think that area could be best utilized.
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