General Carowinds discussion
By uscbandfan
#91787
Just my personal opinion but I wouldn't spend multi-millions of dollars on Vortex.

Is why I just scrapped my 1994 Park Avenue. It has run its course. Lets move on.
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By coasterbruh
#91791
I don't think comparing a coaster that is still in good shape is a good comparison to a car that isn't.
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By jlc9701
#91796
Hmmmmm, let's see:

I predict demolition and PAVEMENT aka ASPHALT with a slight chance of nostalgia.
By RollerBee
#91797
I am going to predict pavers and concrete. Carowinds hasn't done any major asphalt work inside the park since 1999 or 1998. Zoom Zone or Top Gun are the last walkways built/remodeled with asphalt. However I am sure the park has repaired existing walkways in smaller places with asphalt since then. Most of the SC side of the park doesn't have asphalt anymore.
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By arby
#91799
^^^Yeah, a car only has a total life span of 15-20 years at best. A coaster has a much longer life span.

With that being said, a car would have a much longer life span if we took it out of commission every year, stripped it down, rebuilt it, and put it back together...

I would only like to see a Vortex conversion because standing isn't the best position to ride coasters - at least for me. While the layout isn't anything revolutionary, I could see many more riders on it annually with sit down cars.
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By coasterbruh
#91800
And that's the bottom line. More ridership. Which leads to more people staying in the park which leads to more people spending money. It's a no-brainer that it's gonna happen. The only thing that would really need to happen is retrofitting the station for Flooress trains and the actual floorless trains. Oh yea, and some paint and name change.
By uscbandfan
#91802
My point was that when it gets to be not worth a crap, get rid of it. In my opinion, Vortex reached that point a while back. I liked it when it first was built back in the early 90s... and even through the early 2000s. But now, its simply not fun. I never even go over there now.
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By coasterbruh
#91803
Well, you're one of millions that visit the park. and each year it gets to be someone, who is finally tall enough, first ride. Great, you think its a crap ride but to that almost 54 inch tall kid, it's part of the bucket list. Isn't it wonderful how the park doesn't just cater to a few?
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By gabed
#91806
I can testify to that as well. Vortex was my first ever "Loop-de-loop" roller coaster when I was 9 years old.
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By carolinaman
#91807
I have to agree. It was my niece's first looping coaster. My oldest grandson got his first ride last year and now my next grandson has finally reached 54" and he said he wants to ride it. I don't really care for it myself, but on busy days there is always a line for it.
By uscbandfan
#91809
^^ you say that but my daughter did just that when she was tall enough a couple of years ago. When she got off, she complained the rest of the day about a severe headache that wouldn't go away. The headache was bad enough she was crying. She's never ridden it again. (She's a coaster gal too. ) It's gotten way too rough. The years have been hard on it.
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By carolinaman
#91810
^ You're right, it has gotten a lot rougher over the years. It's no where near as smooth as some of the other stand up coasters. But I would like to see them maybe do a refurb on it and just add a floorless coaster some where else in the park. That way we can have both, but I know that probably will never happen.
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By FamousAmos
#91811
I've seen a lot of kids come by and Vortex was their first ever "big boy/girl coaster". They liked it so much they got back on. I would say that they got back in line, but there was hardly ever a line :lol:

On a side note, the station would more than likely have to be demolished at least 75% if not completely to make room for the floor mechanics. Yeah, there's room for it right now, but once those mechanics are added, it will greatly diminish the queue side where you wait for what row you want. They would either modify the building and make it larger or, if Rob Decker and his team wants, just demolish it completely and build a new station.
By RollerBee
#91812
^Umm no. Google Maps actually measure Vortex's station at 26 feet across and Rougorou at 23 feet. Vortex at CGA measure roughly the same also, is it getting a new station?

Are you guessing Josh or are you getting this information from a source?
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