[chknwing]

looks like the webcam is dead

[RollerBee]

I seen holes in the gokart track, they were circular from Hurler yesterday. They was several of them.

[chknwing]

I wonder why they started some of these projects so late. with the exception of Harmony Hall, the new chick filet, c&p, etc should all have been finished before opening day. no real reason why they shouldnt have been. The plan couldnt have been to have all this stuff under construction when the park opened for the season. Something else must have delayed construction.

[Jonathan]

swampfox43 posted the same question on the last page and my speculation was that maybe a lot of the new additions were contingent upon the subsidy deal with Charlotte that was passed in mid-September.

It was also a particularly crappy winter.

[Capler]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the tax/subsidy deal with the city of Charlotte not being signed off on until near the end of August. A lot of this stuff could have been contingent upon that.

I have a hard time thinking that would have been the hold up because the subsidy represent a very small percentage of the total money they plan to spend. Also the the public money is not real money but money that would normally be paid on taxes in future years. But I'm with everybody else, why did they wait so long? Maybe it had something to do with expenditures and the budget year. It could be that they had to make a big payment to B&M or whomever to secure the 2015 attraction and wait for a new budget year to pay for what they are doing now? I work for the state and we have to delay, juggle construction all the time based on what money there is in a particular budget year.

Remember when they went before the city, there was some discussion about whether it would be Carowinds or Dominion that would receive the 'east coast destination treatment'. After Carowinds won out, maybe they had to adjust the budget and construction schedule.

[Jonathan]

I have a hard time thinking that would have been the hold up because the subsidy represent a very small percentage of the total money they plan to spend. Also the the public money is not real money but money that would normally be paid on taxes in future years.

That wasn't the point. I didn't mean to imply that they literally could not do the work without additional money. Cedar Fair claimed that they were deciding whether to put the big investment into Carowinds or Kings Dominion:

The city said in June that Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair was deciding whether to expand Carowinds or its King’s Dominion park in Virginia. Some council members were skeptical, saying they believed expansions were likely at both parks.

I feel like there's a good chance they were bluffing in order to get Charlotte to hand over the money, but in the event that they were not bluffing a lot of the investment may have been contingent upon the agreement. In other words, if Richmond/Doswell forked over the subsidy instead, we might be looking at photos of Harmony Hall construction there instead of at Carowinds.

[chknwing]

I seriously doubt relocating chick-filet was contingent on whether the city of charlotte gave cedar fair money.

[Wormy]

Cloudy day again, but something is better than nothing, right?
[photosnack]ptcm4855[/photosnack]

All high-res.

There is no major progress yet on any front. It’s early.
There are no real “holes” that amount to anything near the go-karts. It’s early.
There are no stinkin’ seatbelts on Intimidator.
There ARE pops of air again on Hurler, in the front and in back. Thanks GCI.
There is still Love Shack.

[Capler]

Has anyone looked at the bus parking lot for markings or is that area fenced off as well? Anyway, I'm waiting to hear from the folk who spy on the plant in Ohio.

[Jay]

Yeah I would advise against going anywhere where cars aren't allowed. There was no fence opening day, but if cars aren't allowed there, why would people be?

[tylerSC]

Has anyone looked at the bus parking lot for markings or is that area fenced off as well? Anyway, I'm waiting to hear from the folk who spy on the plant in Ohio.

Yes I am waiting to hear what may be going on at that steel factory in Ohio as well. But are they exclusively contracted with B&M, or would they manufacture for Intamin as well?

[Wormy]

Not much to get last week, but at least we got the webcam back. I was starting to wonder if I broke it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCbItYGoYpE

[chknwing]

lol wormy that video looks like RCT on fast mode just missing the word balloons over the peoples heads

[Wormy]

So I'm told, but while on the subject, here's my only wishlist/guess request for whoever might be reading - is it too much to ask to get an HD cam like our sister Cedar Fair parks up north? Got a little room in the 50 mil budget for that?

[pproteinc]

Just watching the parking lot fill up was exciting for me. lol