General Carowinds discussion
By kirkgun
#71277
You guys are completely right about one thing, having the lockers is all about money.

But I am entirely in the Jarsh camp about this. Fury is the big draw for the park. There will be lines, and on their busiest days, the lines will be very very long. Carowinds want to bring a million more people in through the gate, pay for parking, and buy massively overpriced food, drinks and souvenirs. That's what it is all about. It's a business. It's not a charity effort to make coaster enthusiasts happy.

What are those million extra people (in addition to their current normal gate attendance) all wanting to do this year?

They want to ride Fury.

When are the greatest numbers of people going to come to Carowinds to ride Fury?

On weekends in the summer.

If people show up, pay for a ticket and parking, and then see the primary reason that they came has a 3 hour line? They are going to be angry. They are going to feel ripped off. They aren't going to come again. They will tell their friends that line for Fury is ridiculous and Carowinds sucks and not to bother going because almost the entirety of the day was spent waiting for just that one ride. It was fun ride, but it wasn't worth the wait and the day as a whole was a rip off.

If they get to ride it 4 times? along with Intimidator and Afterburn and etc etc etc

As was said above, the most popular parks in the country have been using lockers to keep their lines moving much faster. It works. If Carowinds wants to become of those "great" parks with world class rides, they need do things like this. Carowinds was a rinky-dink park for almost all of its existence, and had policies that reflected that. Frankly, I can't believe they still do it for the other big coasters in the park. And I hope those all get lockers too. Stop wasting everyone else's time in the park with ridiculous slowdown to getting people on the rides.

The better the experience people have at Carowinds, the more often those people will come. The better the experience they have, the more of their friends will be coming too. There are plenty of options for folks to handle their stuff (including leaving it in the car, with a friend, putting it in pockets and of course the provided lockers if you won't accept any of those multitude of free options).

[end rant]
#71278
Fury itself isn't going to increase attendance from 1.9 million to 2.4 million, the majority of coaster enthusiasts are going to go to Carowinds once so attendance will likely increase for one to two seasons. But it won't be by half a million people, Fury itself isn't turning Carowinds into a anything more than what it is. Cedar Fair is going to have to add other attractions to attract visitors. BORG pushed Carowinds over two million in attendance but apparently attendance went flat since and then fell.
Personally I believe that Cedar Fair is missing the target market, Carowinds has always relied on families not Thrillseekers as most of its attendance base. Waterparks seem to be the big trend so I suspect that expanding the waterpark will have a longer lasting effect than Fury will.
#71282
You are right...Fury 325 wont do it alone. That's why the park is having special events throughout the year that seek to have return visitors to experience it all. If you think Fury 325 isn't turning carowinds into anything more than what it is I...I...I just don't know what to say. If carowinds relied on families and not thrill-seekers, tell me why the attendance is more on years coasters are built vs years family additions are? Tell me that Arm-chair CEO? You forgot, families come in all forms and thrill-seeking families flock to carowinds. You don't think these new water slides are aimed at thrill-seeking families? Whoa...speaking in the future, anyway but yeah.

Tell us what YOU would do since you feel you know whats best for carowinds? It seems carowinds missed the mark by not hiring you instead of mike lol. I'm not hounding on you just wanna get more out of you other than the usual debbie downer dribble you have around these boards lately... :yawn:
#71286
As I stated, attendance will likely increase but it will take more than just Fury to turn Carowinds into anymore than it is. That is not a negative statement, as far as the future of the park. I would like to see re-expansion of Planet Snoopy and expansion of the waterpark. I have also explained the increased attendance when coasters are put in. Attendance was 2.1 million in 2004, temporarily influx of coaster enthusiasts. I suspect Intimidator had the same effect, your right enthusiasts do come in families, but the real question is do they keep coming back.

Furthermore, I haven't been negative recently. I haven't done any lamenting about a certain building in a while.
User avatar
By arby
#71288
Carowinds is doing a lot besides Fury to keep people coming back.

  • Harmony Hall
  • Better quality food
  • Better parking
  • Better shows
  • More entertainment options (Roving band, Friday night live music
  • More events (Taste of the Carolinas)
  • New water slides

...and that's just off the top of my head. If I spent more time, I could come up with more. From my observations, they are really trying to start adding some charm back to the park, which should continue to increase their crowds. Fury is just the first real big statement they are trying to make and I don't think anybody expects a 500,000 or more boost from that alone.
Last edited by arby on March 1st, 2015, 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
By dagizmo
#71289
Hello guys. I have been following this thread ever since the idea of a giga coaster going to carowinds came a long. I have finally decided to join. I live very close to carowinds and I go there many times a year. I hope for some great discussions about this wonderful park . :D
#71294
RollerBee wrote:As I stated, attendance will likely increase but it will take more than just Fury to turn Carowinds into anymore than it is. That is not a negative statement, as far as the future of the park. I would like to see re-expansion of Planet Snoopy and expansion of the waterpark. I have also explained the increased attendance when coasters are put in. Attendance was 2.1 million in 2004, temporarily influx of coaster enthusiasts. I suspect Intimidator had the same effect, your right enthusiasts do come in families, but the real question is do they keep coming back.

Furthermore, I haven't been negative recently. I haven't done any lamenting about a certain building in a while.


When you say "it will take more than just Fury to turn Carowinds into anymore than it is" it comes across as condescending as if fury 325 isn't "good enough". What is Carowinds currently? Who's to say Carowinds isn't trying to be "more than it is" but just trying to be better at what is is? Here's the thing, The park cant do what Disney did at California's Adventure, drop a billion in to revamp the park. Carowinds doesn't have to do that because that park was failing BAD! Carowinds is more that what it was it was 10 years but you just cant see that. Fury 325 IS making carowinds more that what it is if you see it or not. How many parks have travel channel specials about the making of their coaster? How many parks have INTERNATIONAL news coverage of their coasters?

You haven't been all that positive either...Telling folks if they don't like the locker policy (that we don't even know how its gonna officially work) to just don't ride the coaster isn't being all that lollipop and gumdrops either...
#71301
If anything I hope I can at least leave my bag next to the fence or something where the lockers usually would be. I don't keep anything valuable in it so if someone wants to steal it...well then go ahead lol. I just keep my wallet and keys in my pocket and put drinks or food I have gotten in the bag.
#71303
^Exactly...I don't know where all the worrying is pseudo outrage is coming from. I go to a lot of water parks and I have never paid for a locker because I just place my belongings in a grassy spot near the the exit and go enjoy the slide.
Rosko97 wrote::shock: BEEF :shock:


Image
There's no beef...just discussions. I personally don't have a problem with anyone on here...
User avatar
By Rosko97
#71307
coasterbruh wrote:^Exactly...I don't know where all the worrying is pseudo outrage is coming from. I go to a lot of water parks and I have never paid for a locker because I just place my belongings in a grassy spot near the the exit and go enjoy the slide.
Rosko97 wrote::shock: BEEF :shock:


Image
There's no beef...just discussions. I personally don't have a problem with anyone on here...


I know I know it was just funny at the time.
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