Carowinds is a 112-acre (0.45 km2) theme park, located adjacent to Interstate 77 on the state line between North and South Carolina, in Charlotte and Fort Mill, respectively. The park opened on March 31, 1973, at a cost of $30 million, after a four-year planning period spearheaded by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall, who was inspired to build the park by a 1956 trip to Disneyland and a dream of bringing the two states closer together. It is owned by the partnership of Cedar Fair.
History
The Carowinds theme park itself was originally envisioned as a
component of a large resort-type area that
would have included hotels, a shopping center, a golf course, and a
pro football stadium. However, as was true for many other theme
parks across the country, attendance at Carowinds was severely
diminished by the 1973 oil crisis, and the plans for the resort
that would have surrounded the park were abandoned. Hall and the
other stockholders of the Carowinds Corporation continued to
operate the theme park through 1974, though sagging attendance and
mounting debt forced the company to sell out to Taft Broadcasting
in early 1975.
The park was purchased by Paramount Communications in 1993 and
joined the Paramount Parks family, after ownership bounced from
Taft Broadcast Company to Family Leisure Centers (a joint between
Taft and Top Value Enterprises), to Kings Entertainment Company,
which was the last owner prior to the acquisition by Paramount. The
park was renamed Paramount's Carowinds in 1993. Viacom then
purchased Paramount in 1994.
The name "Carowinds" was derived from the park's original theme.
Since the park was built around the history and culture of the
Carolinas, the name
is a combination of "Carolina" and "winds", representing the winds
that have blown across the two states. As the park changed
ownership over the years, most of the Carolina themes and cultural
attractions were dropped in favor of more generic television and
movie themes.
Carowinds opens in late March each year and closes in early
November, after the park's Halloween event, "Scarowinds". In 2005,
a portion of the park reopened during December for the Winterfest
Christmas festival.
However, the park did not repeat the event in 2006, citing poor
attendance. A similar decision was made regarding Kings Island's
Winterfest.
On January 27, 2006, the website of the Dayton Daily News
reported that CBS Corporation (which split from Viacom at the end
of 2005) would be selling Paramount's Carowinds and other parks in
its Paramount Parks division.
On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. acquired
Paramount Parks, including Carowinds.
Although Cedar Fair continued to use the Paramount's Carowinds
name through the remainder of the 2006 season, it began to phase
out the Paramount name in press releases and on the website. In
January 2007, a brand new logo, featuring the Cedar Fair icon, but
lacking the "Paramount" name, was revealed on the park website. The
other four Paramount-branded parks that Cedar Fair acquired will
also be receiving similar changes. As of February 2007, the
"Paramount" name has been dropped from all of the parks. In
December 2009, Apollo Global Management purchased all Cedar Fair
parks, including Carowinds.
Though it is the smallest and least well-known of Paramount's
former parks, Carowinds is still a popular destination for tourists
as one of 2 major theme parks in the Carolinas (Wet 'n Wild Emerald
Pointe in Greensboro, NC is the other major park.)
Rides
Coasters
- Afterburn: A Bolliger and Mabillard inverted roller coaster.
Located in the Country Fair section of the park.
- Carolina Cyclone: An Arrow Dynamics coaster featuring 2 loops
and 2 corkscrews. Located in the Carolina Boardwalk section of the
park. First roller coaster to feature a record breaking 4
inversions.
- Carolina Goldrusher: First roller coaster ever at Carowinds,
made by Arrow Dynamics. Located in the Carolina Boardwalk section
of the park. First roller coaster to cross state lines.
- Carolina Cobra: A Vekoma 125-foot (38 m) tall "Boomerang"
coaster in which you are pulled up the lift hill backwards and then
released down the hill forwards and go through a cobra roll and a
360 degree loop then go up another hill, and then you are released
backwards repeating the ride backwards.
-
Woodstock Express: Join Woodstock on his zany adventure
on this wooden roller coaster. Formerly Fairly Odd Coaster.
-
Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie: A big city chase through Lucy's
neighborhood ensues on this miniature, 15-foot high roller coaster
with cars resembling taxi cabs.Formerly Hey Arnold's Taxi
Chase.
- Hurler: A wooden out and back roller coaster formerly themed to
Wayne's World located in the Thrill Zone section of the park.
- Intimidator: A Bolliger and Mabillard roller coaster that
opened on March 27,2010 with Carowinds. Inspired by the famous
stock car racing driver Dale Earnhardt, Intimidator is the
Southeast's longest, tallest and fastest roller coaster.
- Nighthawk: A Vekoma Flying coaster. This ride operated as
STEALTH at California's
Great America before being installed at Carowinds.
- Ricochet: A "wild mouse" coaster. Located in the Carolina
Boardwalk section of the park.
-
Flying Ace Aerial Chase: Travel with "flying ace" Snoopy
on a high flying adventure on this family coaster. Formerly Rugrats
Runaway Reptar.
- Thunder Road: Twin wooden roller coaster that crosses the NC/SC
border. Both sides go forwards and mostly race each other. Located
in the County Fair section of the park.
- Vortex: A Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M) "stand up" coaster.
Located in the Carolina Showplace section of the park.
Thrill
rides
- Drop Tower: Scream Zone (Formerly "Drop Zone: Stunt Tower"): An
Intamin free-fall tower. It is 160 feet (49 m) high and
has a 100 ft (30 m) drop. It is located in the Thrill
Zone section of the park.It also features an 17.6 meter manetic
brake system.
- Scream Weaver: A Schwarzkopf Enterprise ride with a
one-and-a-half minute ride time, located in the Thrill Zone section
of the park.
- Southern Star: An Intamin Looping Ship Thrill ride, located in
the County Fair section of the park. Formerly known as the
Frenzoid.
- Xtreme Skyflyer: A Skycoaster that has to be paid for first,
located in the Thrill Zone section of the park.
- Thunder Raceway Go-Carts: Go-Carts that have to be paid for
first, located in the Thrill Zone section of the park.
Other
Rides
- Carolina Skytower: An Intamin 320-foot (98 m) tall cabin
tower that gives guests a view of Carowinds and Charlotte. It was
originally sponsored by and branded as the Eastern Airlines
Skytower. It is located in the Carowinds Plaza section of the
park.
- Boo Blasters on Boo Hill: A dark ride where guests shoot
targets and get a score and is themed to the Peanuts. Originally,
the building was a theater and variety shows were shown inside. It
is located in the Carolina RFD section of the park.
- Action Theatre: A 3-D Ride in the Action Theater themed to
SpongeBob SquarePants. Located in the County Fair section of the
park. 2009 will be the last year that Spongebob is featured due to
an expired contract with Viacom.
- Yo Yo: A Chance yo-yo swing ride, currently occupies the spot
where Whirling Dervish, a park original wave swinger sat. Located
in the County Fair section of the park. (Relocated from Geauga Lake in
Ohio)
- Dodg'ems: Bumper Cars located in the County Fair section of the
park.
- The Storm in a Scrambler: whirling gondolas that spin in a
circular motion. Located in the Carolina Showplace section of the
park.
Planet
Snoopy
Charlie Brown Wind Up
Flying Ace Balloon Race
- A flying balloon ride featuring Snoopy from the
Peanuts.
Woodstock Gliders
- A flying ride themed to Woodstock. First resided at
Cincinnati's Coney Island Park in 1935. In 1972, debuted as Flying
Eagles at sister park Kings Island with
the park's opening. Moved to Carowinds in 2005.
Snoopy's Junction
Woodstock's Whirly Birds
- A monorail with helicopter cars themed to Woodstock.
PEANUT'S Yacht Club
- A mini speed boat ride relocated from sister park Canada's
Wonderland where it was once known as Bedrock Dock.
Snoopy's Space Race
Character Carousel
Snoopy's GR8 SK8
- A swinging ride that falls at 33 feet per second
(10 m/s) themed to Snoopy.
PEANUTS Pirates
- A rotating pirate ship ride themed to The Peanuts relocated
from sister park Canada's
Wonderland where it was once known as The Great Whale of
China.
Snoopy vs. Red Baron
- A small plane ride themed to Snoopy.
Joe Cool's Driving School
- Kids cruise in electric ' 50s' style Cadillacs and Corvettes on
a 1,200-foot (370 m) track.
Water
Rides
A white water rapids ride. Located in the Carowinds Plaza
section of the park.
A splash boat ride. Located in the Carolina RFD section of the
park.
Boomerang
Bay
- Jackaroo Landing
- Great Barrier Reef
- Bondi Beach
- Kangaroo Lagoon
- Wallaby Wharf
- Crocodile Run
- Sydney Sidewinder
- Down Under Thunder
- Awesome Aussie Twisters
- Pipeline Peak - Body Slides
- Pipeline Peak - Tube Slides
- Kookaburra Bay
- Platypus Plunge
Timeline
- 2010: Intimidator: A 232 foot tall, 5316 foot long Bolliger and
Mabillard hyper coaster. It will feature a 74 degree, 211 foot
first drop putting the train in excess of 75 MPH. A reported 23
million dollars will be invested in the ride. Planet Snoopy
will also be coming in Spring 2010 due to an expired contract with
Viacom. All Nickelodeon references will be removed. Carolina
Cyclone will be repainted blue, yellow and orange.
- 2009: Carolina Cobra, a "Boomerang steel coaster"
featuring new trains from Vekoma, will occupy the former spot of
the Nickelodeon Flying Super Saturator. Carowinds is rebuilding
more sections of Thunder Road. Last year the majority of the work
on Thunder Road was spent rebuilding the two large turn-arounds at
back end of the ride and a little bit of the return track half way
back. Now they have completely removed the old track in between
last year’s rebuilt sections. Nighthawk will be repainted
with yellow tracks and navy blue supports. Carowinds has replaced
some track at the Hurler. Scarowinds will return for its
tenth year. Wild Thornberrys log flume removed for a new
attraction. Dora the Explorer Azul's Adventure's track is also
modified.
- 2008: A second wave pool named Bondi Beach was added
along with cabanas in Boomerang Bay. This added 20 acres
(81,000 m2) to the park making it 112 acres
(0.45 km2). Geauga Lake's Yo Yo swing ride was also added in
the County Fair section. Flying Super Saturator only operates on
the Boomerang Bay operating calendar. Thunder Road now runs both
sides going forwards again. The Flying Super Saturator is removed
from the park in August. The log flume has its last year. It is to
be removed during the 2008-2009 off-season.
- 2007: Frenzoid was put back in as Southern Star in County Fair
section. The price for a single day ticket dropped for the first
time ever. Carolina Skytower was repainted to look like an American
flag.
- 2006: Frenzoid was removed. WaterWorks was rethemed and renamed
to Boomerang Bay and converting the old Frenzoid lake into a heated
lagoon. Thunder Raceway Go-Carts was built in the Thrill Zone.
Paramount Parks is sold to the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company for
1.24 billion dollars. This puts Carowinds under the Cedar Fair
family of parks.
- 2005: Nickelodeon Central expands into Animation Station,
featuring Phantom Flyers (relocated from Kings Island as Flying
Eagles), Flying Dutchman's Revenge, Little Bill's Cruisers, Dora
the Explorer Azul's Adventure (Formerly Yogi's Jellystone Tour) and
Frenzoid removal begins in September.
- 2004: BORG Assimilator (later renamed Nighthawk) Flying coaster
added.
- 2003: Nickelodeon Central, featuring Rugrats Runaway Reptar
(New Vekoma Jr. SLC), Wild Thornberrys River Adventure (Formerly
Powder Keg Flume), and Rocket Power Air Time (Formerly Gauntlet);
Carolina Sternwheeler (Original Ride) riverboat removed.
- 2002: Ricochet and rethemeing of Carolina Crossroads area to
Carolina Boardwalk.
- 2001: SCOOBY-DOO's Haunted Mansion; WaterWorks expansion;
Whirling Dervish (swing ride) removed
- 2000: Scarowinds (Later renamed Scarowinds' Halloween Haunt)
Halloween Event; Nickelodeon Flying Super Saturator (steel
coaster)
- 1999: Top Gun: The Jet Coaster (Later renamed Afterburn) was
added in the County Fair section of Carowinds.
- 1998: Taxi Jam (Later renamed Hey Arnold's Taxi Chase), TV Road
Trip, and Chopper Chase (Later renamed Lazy Town
Sport-o-Copters).
- 1997: WaterWorks water park
- 1996: Drop Zone: Stunt Tower (later renamed Drop Tower: Scream
Zone) was added in the Wayne's World (later renamed Thrill Zone)
section of Carowinds.
- 1995: Xtreme Skyflyer was added in the Wayne's World (later
renamed Thrill Zone) section of Carowinds.
- 1994: Wayne's World (later renamed Thrill Zone) section with
Hurler and Carowinds Monorail removed.
- 1993: Action Theater was added in the County Fair section of
Carowinds.Paramount Communications Buys Carowinds,King's
Dominion,King's Island,Great America, and Canada's Wonderland
- 1992: Vortex was added in the Carolina Showplace section of
Carowinds.
- 1991: Expansion of Paladium; Speedway Cars removed.
- 1990: Gauntlet (shooting star, later renamed Rocket Power Air
Time).
- 1989: Riptide Reef water park; Expansion of Paladium.
- 1988: WhiteWater Falls; White Lightnin' coaster removed; Black
Widow (thrill ride) removed.
- 1987: Expansion of Hanna-Barbera Land with three new rides; Old
Jalopies antique car ride removed; Oaken Bucket removed.
- 1986: Frenzoid, a looping Viking ship was added.
- 1985: Blackbeard's Revenge (mystery house).
- 1984: Smurf Island (themed area).
- 1983: Cable Skyway removed.
- 1982: Rip Roarin' Rapids; Ocean Island (water park).
- 1980: Carolina Cyclone was added in Frontier Outpost.
- 1979: County Fair area added. Meteorite (enterprise); PT
Bumpem's Auto Stunt & Thrill Show (bumper cars); Whirling Dervish
(wave swinger); Wild Bull (bayern kurve); Carousel.
- 1977: White Lightnin' (Schwarzkopf shuttle loop coaster) in
Pirate Island (entrance in Country Crossroads); Whirling Well
renamed Oaken Bucket and moved to east midway.
- 1976: Thunder Road; Carowinds and Carolina Railroad
removed.
- 1975: Paladium Amphitheatre; Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera
(themed area) featuring Scooby Doo coaster; Surfer (Tagada); Wagon
Wheel (Chance Trabant); Waltzer (Schwarzkopf spinning ride).
- 1974: Country Kitchen is added; Whirling Well (Chance Rotor);
picnic areas open. The Double-Decker Carousel is removed from the
park at the end of the season and placed in storage.
- 1973: Carowinds opens on March 31; the Monorail is still under
construction and opens later. Original theme areas: Plantantion
Square, Contemporary Carolina, Frontier Outpost, Pirate Island,
Indian Thicket, Country Crossroads and Queens Colony.
Notes
- A 340 foot tower at Carowinds was cited as a possible causitive
factor in the 1974 fatal crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212
which killed talk show host Stephen Colbert's father and two of his
older brothers at the nearby Charlotte/Douglas International
Airport.
- Carowinds is home to a family of white squirrels that were
brought in and released when the park opened to bring good
luck.
- Carowinds' official address is in Charlotte.
External
links