General Carowinds discussion
#103832
sorashaun wrote:If the Cobra was leaving it would have during the County Fair redo. Hurler is obviously next to go given it’s lack of popularity, recent conversion at another park, and undeveloped land behind it.


Probably the most craziest thing I’ve read on here in a while. Hurler has fourth highest ridership in the park. Since when do we copy everything Kings Dominion does? Not to mention CF’s RMC downtime this year probably isn’t gonna have them rushing to work with the company as quick as “RMC at every CF park” fan wants to believe. Also hard seeing the park expand outside of its current footprint anytime soon.
#103833
Yeah, I don't think Hurler is going anywhere anytime soon, it is by no means a ride that I get excited about riding upon entering the park, but between our Hurler and KD's Hurler (pre Twisted Timbers), I can see why KD RMC'd it, it was god awful and did not age well, whereas ours has been re-tracked and is at least tolerable. As much as I'd like an RMC, our 3 closest parks (SFoG, Dollywood, and KD) each have one, so getting something unique would be more appealing, i.e. Copperhead Strike.

As for Nighthawk, I don't mind it, the laying down is such a different feeling from anything else we have, the two corkscrews are easily the worst part, if only there was a way they could cut our corkscrews out and give us the inline twists from firehawk. That would be nice, but obviously cannot happen.

Vortex sucks, I think Flortex would suck, scrapping it all together would not suck though, the layout is too short and boring for Carowinds in its current state. I think a GCI or GG is something Carowinds truly needs, and could fit in that area.
#103835
If 3 other parks in the region having an RMC is reason to not have one, then why add a wood coaster when those same 3 parks have them and, including BGW, 2/4 have a GCI? Also, why add a wood coaster if Hurler remains wooden?

Nighthawk...When someone says "I don't mind it" and "the laying down is such a different feeling" when beginning their defense of a "Flying Coaster" widely considered inferior to the KI version being torn down then you know its a bad ride that won't last in a good park. Might be good for Dorney or Michigan's Adventure. It's saving grace is that its neighbor is worse.

We have B&M's best creation. We also have arguably its worst. Vortex should be on the chopping block. Floorless would be pointless. Doubt it could be sold. Vortex doesn't belong in a Cedar Fair park.

This Mega-lite is considered a great ride, looks nice near a carousel, and fits well in that plot.
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Less than $10 million. Include a water coaster like Mammoth and the price would still be less than the cost of Intimidator.
#103837
tarheel1231 wrote:They aren’t building an Intamin.

Perhaps, but if CF were to have Intamin build another ride then a smaller, slower, cheaper, proven design going to a park that doesn't have an Intamin (save Wilderness Run) would be a good starting spot.

Or, go with the Mack Rides semi-clone, Alpina Blitz.
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#103838
Like I previously said and others are saying, Hurler isn’t going anywhere. Hurler isn’t a bad ride like KD Hurler was. That ride needed help, and it got the help it needed. Plus, cedar fair recently had GCI come in and do track work. And ever since then, it has been very tolerable. It’s not bad at all. About the whole CF and RMC thing, I don’t think the issues with SV and TT this year are going to have any effect on CF working with RMC in the future - they will still work with them. SV and TT are both amazing rides, and have been getting rave reviews. For those reasons alone, CF will keep working with them where they see fit.

I really hope Vortex isn’t converted. I used to be on that bandwagon until I rode Rougarou. That ride sucks. Floorless makes no difference if the restraints are gonna suck, and the track sucks.
#103840
I just try to remove yourself from the equation and look at it from the standpoint of the GP and Cedar Fair Corporate. But IMO, I'd like to see RMC work out some of their kinks and then in a few years RMC Hurler to be a completely different beast than Twisted Timbers.

by Crave »
If 3 other parks in the region having an RMC is reason to not have one, then why add a wood coaster when those same 3 parks have them and, including BGW, 2/4 have a GCI? Also, why add a wood coaster if Hurler remains wooden?


I don't think this is the best comparison, a wood coaster is used to group a general type of coaster, whereas RMC (at least the way I am referring to it) is a specific type of coaster by a specific manufacturer. Like saying a wood coaster is the food group "Fruit", and the manufacturer RMC is a "tomato" (it's technically a fruit, but it sure looks like a vegetable).

Yes, Hurler is a wooden coaster, it's old, its serves it's purpose of being a wood coaster, but if you've ever been on El Toro, Thunderhead (dollywood), Beast, and InvadR just to name a few, then you would realize that Hurler is absolute $hit when it comes to a wooden coaster. Computer technology has changed in the 24 years since it opened, it's time we get a good woodie to round out the collection.
#103841
I agree with you, just not because anyone has an RMC, GCI or B&M near us. We should get a real woody, and Hurler is ****. Scooby Doo is more enjoyable. RMC Hurler is a world class ride, and you're right that it should be different, to whatever degree that's even possible, from Twisted Timbers.

GCI and GG do not appeal to me. They've been known to get rough after just a few years. It would be a waste to be begging for an RMC a mere 15 years after it's built because it's rough as hell.

My choice for wood coasters would be Intamin prefab or RMC topper. This would easily fit into the Dino area:
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But an Intamin prefab is unlikely for a number of reasons. That leaves RMC topper, but I haven't seen them make something that compact.
#103847
These wishlists read like fanfiction without any common sense. Intamin Pre-fabs are as good as done, let alone the chaining purchasing an Intamin anytime soon. RMC toppers seem to have been a fad as well, they’re more expensive and not as resilient as the I-Box conversions.

“I would like an Intamin prefab or RMC”, never heard that one before.
#103849
dirkdiggler1992 wrote:These wishlists read like fanfiction without any common sense.

I listed common sense reasons and alternatives that are not Intamin. If it reads like fanfiction, that would be an issue with reading comprehension. Just for fun, here's another alternative: Lightning Run
coasterbruh wrote:Have you even ridden these intamin creations you want the park to get?

Unfortunatley, no. I also never rode a B&M giga before Fury 325. Are these rides not good?
#103851
Capler wrote:With the demise of the flying dutchman at Kings Island, many of the B&M stand-ups , and one of the two Hurlers. There is no way the three above mentioned coasters can survive much longer. The big question for Carowinds will be, which will go first?

I honestly don't think Vortex will get a conversion. From what I have read, the new versions are just not that popular. Hurler will be converted at some point.


The demise of Firehawk was easily predicted. It had maintenance issues and was down quite a bit. The only reason it had lines when open was b/c of the poor capacity. FYI, it's max capacity was actually better than Nighthawk b/c it had the duel stations. It is 1018M model, which Batwing at SFA also is, while Nighthawk is the 843M model. There is also the motion Vekoma is no longer supporting the Vekoma Dutchman, they have a new flyer model out. The Dutchman are going to be like all the Enterprises which have been going into rapid extinction the last few years leaving 4 parks in the last 2 seasons. Finding parts is getting hard and the maintenance cost adding up for rides that are okay but not super popular. There also is the Zamperla Endeavour as a waiting replacement which is what KY Kingdom did.

Now, talking about what Cedar Fair may be gleaned from their comments on their Q2 conf call.
"We have identified opportunities where we may take advantage of additional cost savings in the future whether by adjusting the operating calendar based on demand, investing in technology to more effectively and efficiently manage the scheduling of our 45,000 seasonal employees or by eliminating cost related to ride and attractions that have run their course and are no longer as popular with our guests. All of these things are being reviewed and discussed at great lengths as we work to build our 2019 park-level business plans

Vortex is not popular, people are not generally really hyped on stand ups and it was never one of the better ones. Vortex is in a tight space so only something really small could be a replacement. The conversion option is on the table b/c it's cheap and it would not reduce the coaster count, which is something CF is not likely to do while trying to grow one of their priority investment parks. I would say the conversion is likely though it still won't be a great ride, it will be better.

On Hurler I see it getting converted. CF had great success with both this year being ranked top 50 coasters by GTA. The question is do they convert it first and then build a GCI or do they build the GCI first. I think this will be determined by the maintenance costs. Wood coasters and especially older ones rack up maintenance costs.