[tarheel1231]

Anyone at the park today?

Intimidator is basically a walk on

[mdsmith98]

Everything was a walk on for most of the day. It was awesome. I managed to get 6-7 rides on the gliders, and I absolutely love those things, and I love that the park lets you snap them. Soooo much fun

[tarheel1231]

Just got back. Copperhead Strike was down for the entire day, but I got on Intimidator, Afterburn, Fury (2x), Hurler, and Nighthawk. Notes:

-Hurler is pretty fun this year. It's still not butter-smooth, save for the first turn, but as it is now, I would rank it as the fifth best coaster in the park behind Intimidator. The trim is gone for now, so you could some great airtime on those hills after the first turn.

-I still enjoy Nighthawk, but I can see why it's not well-liked around here. The ride, for me at least, is great until it hits those final corkscrews. If it weren't for those, I'd rank it above Hurler, but the ending really ruins the ride for me.

-I can't remember if they were there last week, but the two game stands that were removed were replaced by wooden planters with evergreen trees. They haven't grown yet, but it still looks really nice.

-The weather made it a perfect day to be at the park. Hovering around 65 degrees and breezy, and slightly overcast to scare off the crowds, really made it an ideal day to visit. I just wish Copperhead Strike had been open.

[yawetag]

Also went today, at the park from about 12:30 to 6pm. If it wasn't a walk-on for a ride, it wasn't long to wait at all, especially if you don't care where you sit.

Son rode Cyclone for the first time. Dreaded it the moment we got in the seat, but loved it after the first drop. Being CS was his only other ride with a loop and inversion, he was surprised how "strong" and fast these were. He then jumped onto Flying Cobras with the wife (I rode it last week solo - that's enough for me this year). He wants to try out Intimidator next week - we'll see.

Saturday evening, the wife and I rode Hurler on the back row. First time I've been on the back row for it in a long time - 20 years, maybe. It was fast and rough, which makes me love the front row on rides even more.

[pproteinc]

Went to the park on yesterday, as most know Copperhead was closed. Everything was pretty much a train wait or walk on. I guess iffy weather and the cold snap that was to come kept most away.

As I walked past Hurler after riding the drop tower about 6x, I noticed the wires to the trim break still hanging and that section where the trims sat was boarded up. I immediately jumped the fence to ride. My God Hurler was incredible compared to recent years. lol. Ended up up riding 7x in the front and 4x in the back. I couldnt get enough. I figure let me enjoy it know as maybe they are just testing to see how well it runs now or maybe they slap them rims back on before daily operations. I sometimes wish they'd just shut it down and give it a GhostRider treatment and just retrack the whole ride at once, but idk. Seems to me and a cheaper scale the only really problem areas are the turns through the ride, especially the far out back turn and the turn going through the lift hill. If they're all retracked and restacked, Hurler would be fine. I really enjoyed Hurler.

[Hiveminded]

I agree, definitely get your trimless Hurler rides in while you can! They had them off after they last retracked the first turn in 2014 but they didn't stay off for long. Hurler with airtime is pretty fun!

[tarheel1231]

Going back to the discussion of attendance, it seems the park actually passed the 2.5 million mark within the past 5 years of expansion:

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/n ... -past.html

2019-04-03 (2).png (10.63KiB)Viewed 3406 times

Would a 20% increase to 3 million this year be reasonable given this info?

[coasterbruh]

[Glitch99]

Going back to the discussion of attendance, it seems the park actually passed the 2.5 million mark within the past 5 years of expansion:

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/n ... -past.html

2019-04-03 (2).png

Would a 20% increase to 3 million this year be reasonable given this info?

Based on just that quote, it isnt all that reasonable. If they grew 30% over 5 years, it's hard to think they could add another 20% in just one year.

But... it also just says they crossed the 2.5 million level, not when or by how much. So a 20% increase looks to be the maximum it'd take to reach 3 million, but it's likely much less. And then you factor in the weather, which was rather uncooperative in 2018 - so there will be some rebounding from weather-related issues, in addition to organic growth.

Of course, annual attendance is actually a pretty meaningless number. Tickets sold and season passes sold is much more significant indicators - one season pass holder that visited 20 times can almost hurt the park as much as selling 20 individual day admissions helps.

[uscbandfan]

I'm not so sure that I agree that attendance is a meaningless number. The park pushes Season Pass Sales. They know that the more times a person enters the park, the more 50-cent sodas they'll sell for $7.00. If it weren't for the season pass, I probably would only visit the park once and MAYBE a second time if the weather and timing is right. But BECAUSE I have a season pass, I go a minimum of 4 times a year... usually more than that. .. and to Scarowinds and Winterfest which I probably wouldn't be able to shell out the money for during those times of the year if I didn't already get in for free. Now, I try and be as frugal as I can (tailgate sandwiches in the car for lunch and a lot of free water-cup stops) but I'm sure most passholders don't do that and love the repeat visitors because of it.

Now, if I lived in Rock Hill or someplace where I passed Carowinds on the way home from work, they would DEFINITELY lose money on me visa-vie the meal plan because I would stop by and get a ride on Fury and CS and get my dinner everyday on the way home.

I don't have a problem with the attendance being the number of people who walk in the door. I have a bigger problem with it being the other way around...with athletic events where the announced attendance is 80,000 in a 84,000 seat venue when a quarter of the stadium is obviously empty. They count tickets sold... including season tickets that nobody is using when they should be counting bodies in the stands.

[yawetag]

Family and I have already been 5 times.

With the dining meal for the four of us and two drink plans, we figure we'll get our money's worth. The drinks, even at 50 cents a drink (including the cup), are paid for after about 60 drinks. I'm probably at 25 now, maybe more. The food, assuming the $8 they put on the receipt, only takes 13 meals to make it worth it - and we're at 7 already.

I know those losses are picked up elsewhere. When I buy a $20 t-shirt or a $12 bottle of hot sauce, they're bringing in a pretty high margin. If we splurge on an ice cream or funnel cake, the $6-7 we spend on it is a tidy profit. Not to mention the thousands of guests that don't have a meal plan and are paying twice what I would even consider affordable for a meal are subsidizing my plan.

As for attendance numbers, someone will always release the numbers that look the best. Sports arenas do it on tickets sold because some people don't show up. Amusement parks do it on people through the gate because it's a higher number than tickets sold that day.

[Glitch99]

They know that the more times a person enters the park, the more 50-cent sodas they'll sell for $7.00.

How many season passholders are actually paying $7 per soda and $15 per meal every time they visit? They're buying all-season drinks for $30 and all-season meal plans for $100. After the initial purchase, every use is a net cost to the park. I know there are other random incidentals to spend money on as well, but the point is that a once/week season passholder doesnt generate nearly the value per visit as a one-off visitor. Attendance numbers are pure marketing fodder.

[Coasterphreak]

Higher attendance numbers mean longer lines which means more FastPass sales which *does* drive revenue.

[yawetag]

Rode The Flying Cobras today, front seat. I noticed as we were watching in the queue that the car was being stopped on its way back into the station, but I know when watching it before (and my experience of other Boomerangs) that it was sent through the station, back onto the initial hill, then rolled slowly back in.

They did it to us, too, and it was a powerful enough braking that I felt it in the head. Now, Boomerangs have never been my cup of tea, usually leaving me somewhat woozy in the head, but this was extreme enough that I thought I was going to black out.

Anyone else ever seen it stopped while coming in backward, rather than sending it through (with some braking) and then rolling it in forward?

[mdsmith98]

Huh, that's interesting. Yea, it definitely used to roll through the station and back up the hill. I don't like boomerangs, but i'm going to have to ride it my next time at the park to experience it.