Photo TR: Winterfest at Carowinds

I just got back from a weekend trip to Carowinds to check out Winterfest with my old friends the Railsback clan, where we took in the festive lights, excellent Christmas dinner, and, to our surprise, multiple rides on Top Gun (the only coaster running that evening). The verdict: thumbs up to both the park and the event. We had a great time--definitely worth checking out if you find yourself in the Carolinas this month.

This was my first visit to Carowinds, a park of which I'd heard mixed reviews. I found it quite charming (at least for Winterfest) and plan to visit it again when it's going full bore during the regular season. Its compact layout is a plus, although that didn't stop this crew from getting hopelessly lost from time to time during this visit.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking (some of which are rather blurry), but I would like to share what I learned from the park's big Christmas show, Santa's Toy Factory:

• Elves have rather large butts, but thin legs and torsos, making them disturbingly asymmetrical.
   
  Elves face very tight deadlines, which they might have an easier time meeting if they didn't spend so much time dancing, singing, cavorting, and measuring their Christmas spirit (about every 30 seconds or so).
   
  When confronted with a depressed elf, Santa prescribes not Prozac, but singing penguin puppets (the hell?).

We did miss the big parade at the end of the night, but being as we were riding Top Gun at the time, it seemed a pretty good trade.

But now, some pictures.

And the official Winterfest ornament. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Yes, even artificial trees get a little love from Cadence, the Tree Hugger.

More purty lights.

"We are Sponge Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!"

It's a holly, jolly Christmas outhouse!

This is Holiday Illuminations--a nice little light show in Rivertown.

But then he rode Scooby. Oh, well . . .

Why, he even looks excited about waiting to ride Scooby Doo, along with Justin and Cadence.

Travis looks excited to be riding Top Gun. He even has the right jacket.

Here's Scrooge--the most ill-tempered piece of foam rubber since Statler and Waldorf on "The Muppet Show."

"OK. Where is that Scrooge show?"

Look at me, my pretty! I'm a Christmas witch! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!"

"Well, Brian and I are OK with this being an elf stuff, but we draw the line at curly shoes, tights, and extra butt padding."

A Christmas tree, ahhhh . . .

The Sky Tower, oooo . . .

The back of the main gate, ahhhh . . .

Lots 'o' purty lights and stuff. The main gate, oooo . . .

And me, with the "I'm headin' toward Columbia, but my butt is stuck in North Carolina blues."

Meet the Railsbacks: Cadence, Brian, Sandy, Travis, and Justin.

The park, taken from a fireworks store across the street (more on this in a future thread). Top Gun, the one coaster that was running that night, is on the far left (although politically, it's more to the right).

I was there yesterday.. if anyone heard someone yell "oh sh-" (yes, I cut myself off and censored myself - after all its in the kiddie section!) after losing his hat on a killer snap, yea, that was me 8)

Honestly I thought the Winterfest was only "decent". The fountains were awesome though, big points there.

- Joe, who says if you want a great Christmas celebration, go to a Herschend property

^Hmm--I thought I heard a "disccouraging word" in the general vicinity of the Phantom Flyers. They did seem to be whipping around pretty good that night.

This is only the second Christmas theme-park event I've attended. The first was, ironically enough, Winterfest at the pre-Paramount Kings Island with Brian, Sandy, Travis (who was about 3 at the time), and Justin (who had to be hauled around in a backpack). Cadence wasn't even a gleam in her parents' eyes at the time. We still have the wooden ornaments that the Days Inn across from the park gave us as part of their Winterfest package. (Not as snazzy as the new ornament, but it does have sentimental value.)

The "original" Winterfest/Days Inn ornament.

Here's the link to the "shopping for fireworks" thread I mentioned earlier:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20993

Chuck "Shamelessly bumping up his trip report" Campbell