Carowinds Discussion Thread

[giscoStarbucks Enthusiast]

Windseeker spins a little to fast in my opinion to really take advantage of the great views you have from up there.

[braztazDon't make me kick you in the donkey!]

I think this WindSeeker has one of the best locations of all of them. It's just really nice with all those coasters next to it and the atmosphere in that area.

I doubt you can beat the view of the lake off the one in Cedar Point...but any view can look good from 300 feet in the air.

[Dom497Donkeys give me orgiastic scream!]

Me living near Canada's Wonderland, I can tell you that WindSeeker is a great ride. I love the sensation of "flying" and its a nice ride up and down. The ride might look scary from looking at it on the ground, but once your up in the air...its like you riding a traditional swing ride on steroids. Also, if the line looks long, it is actually short. Because of the capacity, the line moves really fast.

[NozzyHoly crap you have a HUGE donkey!]

Just got back from a day at Carowinds... the fact that I'm back this early (with a 3 hour drive each way) should indicate how I felt about the day.

It was pretty crowded- I wasn't expecting Easter weekend to have lots of people going to parks, but they were out in droves. I absolutely abhor the implementation of Fastlane. On every ride, there is a separate entrance that leads to the load platform. The Fastlane riders then take their choice of seat before the air gates open. There is no limit- waiting for Vortex front row we had our seats taken twice in a row, and the op said that as long as they keep coming they have their choice (and so, the line for the front may never actually move). Other rides at least seemed to be running Fastlane on just one train, but still with the operational hindrance of a train load all people all entering from the very front of the station, so the air gates might not be opening until trains are already stacked.

I must give credit to Afterburn's crew who still managed to move their line pretty well. On the other hand, Intimidator's crew, one of the 2 rides where FL do use the gates, was just horrible with stacking. They also could not seem to get people in the station quickly enough, and with the loss of the single rider line trains could have 4-5 empty seats (some empty rows, despite the 90 minute line).

I realize it was a crowded day, but it still sucked to have operations so shoddy. I felt like too many people had Fastlane, and that they either need to limit it better or raise the price. Some users were also pretty jerkish about it, and seemed to take pleasure rubbing it in to guests in line that they just cut it. That's not the park's fault, but it certainly doesn't make my day any better....

[1pizza14Don't let this donkey melt you with its laser eyes!]

Interesting. So they are letting fast lane guests enter from the exit from certain rides and hold the air gates until they are seated? I can imagine this would GREATLY effect dispatch times as they now have to wait for Fastlane guests taking their seats and than opening the air gates. I don't see a problem with the fast lane queue entering into the station where dispatch times would be the same. I wonder which rides at CW will have exit/station entrances.

[KDCOASTERFANI prefer to mate with donkeys over humans!]

Interesting. So they are letting fast lane guests enter from the exit from certain rides and hold the air gates until they are seated? I can imagine this would GREATLY effect dispatch times as they now have to wait for Fastlane guests taking their seats and than opening the air gates. I don't see a problem with the fast lane queue entering into the station where dispatch times would be the same. I wonder which rides at CW will have exit/station entrances.

From my experiencein dealing with KD's fastlane it wasn't that bad but I expect that to change come peak season as most if not all of their rides in the system currently use either separate entrances to merge into the station or,as is the case with Dominator & intimidator they use the maintenance staircase(Dominator) & the disabled guest entrance(intimidator 305)it still leads to slower moving main lines however as the station fills up faster.

As for windseeker both carowinds,as well as KD lucked out in getting this ride & it is IMO a must ride attraction at least once per visit....I can't wait to ride this thing at night.

[PriestofSyrinxMy uncle owns a country place that no one knows about]

Sorry about your shoddy day there. Its still early in the season... so ops are going to be a bit on the slow side.

Hopefully the park will see lots of love in the future, or as Bart Kinzel said "Cedar Fair is looking to make this park an A park, like KI or CP"

[megametalWhich came first the turtle or the donkey?]

I was just thinking, since KI closed The Crypt this year, would it be possible for them to move the Giant Top Spin (without the themeing and building) to Carowinds, and to plop it in that grassy area in front of Intimidator next to GR8 SK8? Or did they trash the ride altogether? I hear it didn't work well.

[Double0KevinJar-Jar Binks smells like Donkey]

I'm pretty sure they closed Crypt because the ride was dead, or at least on very costly life support. I wouldn't expect to see that think rise again.

[JEdMc91I Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

I'm going to Carowinds this Sunday. I have a question..? Can I take a backpack (The one with the strings that you can pull) into the park when I arrive. Just something to keep my camera in, and maybe a bottle water, and phone and such.