Edwardo wrote:Carowinds has 14 rollercoasters. Tied with KI & KD. The only parks with more are CP & CW at 17, and SFMM at 19.
So, really, Carowinds is already a roller coaster mecca compared to every other park in the world, save for the 3 ahead of it and 2 tied with it. Its among the top 6 parks in the world as far as coaster count. So, anything they add is going to add to that status.
As for the wording, I take that as marketing. Of course the park is going to get more coasters. That's a given. And while nothing is out of the question ultimately, I'll tell y'all why you probably won't see a strata coaster at Carowinds (or for that matter, many other parks) any time soon.
Strata coasters, thus far (there are 3) have been launched coasters that are either shuttle launches, or barely more than that. Could someone design something more? Sure. But it would be very expensive. Yes, they're building a 500' coaster around a tower in Orlando, but that's a multimillion dollar complex, and not very worth it for many, if any, parks to build it that way. They're basically building a sky scraper with a coaster attached.
I don't see Carowinds getting a 400' traditional lift coaster for a couple reasons. It would be expensive. It would be even larger than Fury. And while the park has a lot of land, I don't see them building a coaster longer than Fury for a while.
Granted, I felt the same after they built intimidator, but Strata coasters, especially after just getting a Giga, probably aren't going to be such a huge return on investment. They're not going to be building an Intamin any time soon.
What I see? Hopefully a new signature wooden coaster. A new launched coaster. And hopefully something different.
They have height and speed. Cedar Point quit building bigger at one point and built different. That's what I see for Carowinds.
Yosoleboricua wrote:Why would Carowinds add another wooden roller coaster they have 4?!?!? I agree on the rest THO, I can see them making a new entrance at the south gate and adding a launch near there, hopefully Centurion, or something with a Carolina theme. If the CP and Lebron James rumored coaster are true we should get a Jordan themed coaster since he's a big part of Charlotte,or even Steph Curry.
Edwardo wrote:Carowinds has 14 rollercoasters. Tied with KI & KD. The only parks with more are CP & CW at 17, and SFMM at 19.
Ty-Rant_13 wrote:Yosoleboricua wrote:Why would Carowinds add another wooden roller coaster they have 4?!?!? I agree on the rest THO, I can see them making a new entrance at the south gate and adding a launch near there, hopefully Centurion, or something with a Carolina theme. If the CP and Lebron James rumored coaster are true we should get a Jordan themed coaster since he's a big part of Charlotte,or even Steph Curry.
Actually, Carowinds has three wood coasters and one hybrid, but I agree another is a stretch.
solarplexus wrote:Ty-Rant_13 wrote:Yosoleboricua wrote:Why would Carowinds add another wooden roller coaster they have 4?!?!? I agree on the rest THO, I can see them making a new entrance at the south gate and adding a launch near there, hopefully Centurion, or something with a Carolina theme. If the CP and Lebron James rumored coaster are true we should get a Jordan themed coaster since he's a big part of Charlotte,or even Steph Curry.
Actually, Carowinds has three wood coasters and one hybrid, but I agree another is a stretch.
Are you al counting Thunder Road as 1 or 2 coasters? If one, then I would not consider Gold Rush a Classic Wooden Coaster.
swampfox43 wrote:The Goldrusher is not counted as a wooden coaster. The type of track is what defines a coaster as being wood or steel. Not the supports. Thunder Road is generally counted as 1 coaster. But who am I to say what it is. I know some that count it as 2, but they are usually the people desperate to get their coaster count up.
Cedar Point dethroned as world's best amusement park in Amusement Today survey.
SANDUSKY, Ohio – Cedar Point is no longer the world's best amusement park, at least not according to voters in an annual Amusement Today survey.
The Sandusky park – which won the title for 16 straight years – was deemed second best this year, behind Europa-Park in Germany.
World's top 10 amusement parks
Park name is followed by the percentage of votes they received in the annual Amusement Today survey:
1. Europa-Park, Rust, Germany, 25 percent
2. Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, 16 percent
3. Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, 9 percent
4. Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pennsylvania, 8 percent
5. Disneyland, Anaheim, California, 8 percent
6. Universal's Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Florida, 5 percent
7. Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Florida, 4 percent
8. Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan, 4 percent
9. Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia, 3.5 percent
10. Holiday World, Santa Claus, Indiana, 3 percent
Reaction to the news on social media this morning was mixed.
"A park is more than just about the coasters. It's quality rides, food, employees, cleanliness, capacity, theming, landscaping, shows and etc.," wrote one fan from Lakewood on Facebook. "I do love CP but I have a bunch of parks I like better."
"Sixteen years in a row as the best and they lost it because they haven't done anything surprising like they did with Millennium and Top Thrill Dragster," wrote another, referring to two record-breaking coasters that were new at the park in 2000 and 2003. "They don't need a coaster but they need to do something to differentiate themselves from other parks! Take a risk other than moving rides or painting them different colors, renaming them, or removing them all together."
The writer was referring to the announcement last week that Cedar Point would shut down Mantis, a stand-up coaster. The park hasn't revealed whether the ride will be removed or revamped into another kind of roller coaster.
I'm an avid Cedar Point fan and go almost every year. You can say what you want about service, food quality and price, etc..... but the bottom line is that CP has been rated the world's #1 park for so many years because they brought out a new, exciting coaster every 3 or 4 years between the late 1990s and mid-2000s and were balls out the best megga coaster park in the world. Millennium Force was worth the price of admission alone for years. Same for Top Thrill Dragster.
But MF is now 14 years old (I can't believe it), and TTD is now 11 years old. Since those coasters opened, CP hasn't built anything that blows people away. GateKeeper is a great ride, but it's kinda short and not very tall or fast. It's not much different from Raptor. Which is now 20 years old! Jeeze, that was built my junior year of high school!!!
I travelled nearly two thousand miles to take my son to CP in 2012. My first ride on Top Thrill Dragster and a reunion with Millennium Force justified the trip and price of admission. Raptor is also always a good time. But Magnum has not aged well; Gemini was broken down; Corkscrew, Iron Dragon, and Mantis should have been replaced ages ago; and Mean Streak needs to be demolished before someone suffers permanent traumatic spinal injury. Food prices were outrageous for the low quality, and I agree with the commenter who noted Fast Lane as a means to separate the haves from the have-nots (Disney provides this perk to all guests with admission).
As I have aged, I have come to appreciate more than just the big thrills. Atmosphere is a major consideration. I was pleased to see that Frontier Town was still partly there, but many of my favorite spots (quiet, "hidden," shaded) have been paved over to make room for more skill games, food kiosks, and retail spaces. As a kid, I liked the boat ride and Jungle Larry's (both long gone) just a little; as an adult, I finally understand that such places are much more valuable than yet another funnel cake booth.
The atmosphere of Geauga Lake (pre-Six Flags) was miles ahead of what CP has become today. (Don't get me started on what CF did to that park to eliminate the competition.) These days, Six Flags St. Louis is probably my favorite midwestern amusement park, with the perfect combination of rides and atmosphere. CP could find ways to get back to that, if they wanted to.
My family went to CP at least once a year when we were kids, in the 70's & 80's. I am SO glad I have those memories - of a park that had beautiful plantings and landscaping, a good variety of rides, not like now where it seems like it is either "ultimate" thrill rides or kiddie rides, with very little in between.
On my last visit I noticed much of the landscaping and plantings were removed, leaving large patches of concrete to walk across (good landscaping design helps move foot traffic so you do not feel like you are walking as far as you are), encourages people to explore the whole park and on hot days providing shaded areas to pause at or walk under. I am guessing that having a staff to maintain landscaping on that level is more expensive than CP wants to pay.
Overall, I left CP thinking it was a stripped down version of what I remembered.
