[Wood Coaster]

1.) Any ides what rides will be open for Winterfest?

2.) Will the whole park be open to walk around or will the section off some of it?

Carowinds website says select rides will be open pending weather.

All along my thought was they would definitely have the Classic Fair open & Planet Snoopy.... But with renovations to the Planet Snoopy I would thing that would be closed off.

[cwgator]

Normally I would say Planet Snoopy would be open, however with the transition to Camp Snoopy, it will likely be closed. Otherwise, you will probably be able to walk around the park with Crossroads blocked off.

Details haven't been released yet, but they should be soon once Scarowinds gets underway.

[Carowindsman]

Im gonna say pretty much front section of the park. county fair, and Maybe Intimidator and Fury.

The 2005 Winterfest had Top Gun as the only Roller Coaster and all of kiddie land and Haunted Mansion and all the way the Kaliedoscope

[tarheel1231]

The one place that confuses me is the Old County Fair area. It's an offshoot from the "loop" of the park but it has one of the only indoor attractions in PvZ.

[gabed]

I'm assuming cold temps don't apply to flats like they do coasters so I don't see any reason for County Fair not to be open.

[tarheel1231]

I should've said Crossroads. Having more than one indoor attraction would help.

[gabed]

I knew what you meant, I was just thinking that the new County Fair should be open.

[Jonathan]

It's not directly comparable since the average high in Santa Clara is in the 60s in December, but Great America (the first Cedar Fair Winterfest) had 20 rides open including Gold Striker and Flight Deck.

[CCookieMonster]

Well, looking at the Weather Channel's website the according to average, we should be in the 60s in the first half of December and then closer to the end we go down to the 50s. Because of La Nina, the forecast is for a warmer than average meteorological winter (Dec.1 -Feb 28), so hopefully, they're right so we won't freeze to death. But I think County Fair should be open with all of the lights, and if Fury 325 and Intimidator aren't open, the lights should be on because the lights are red (Intimidator) and green (Fury325)

[uscbandfan]

Unless its awfully cold, Timmy and Fury should be open.
I rode Fury opening week in 2015 and it was in the 40s. (Granted, it warmed up to about 70 in the afternoon but first thing in the morning when it opened it was cold.) and at 95mph... it was COLD!!!!!

Kiddie land will be under construction so I doubt anything over there will be open.

[RollerBee]

Nickeloedeon Universe was under construction at KI during their last winter but some of the Hanna-Barbera Land rides remained open.

[cwgator]

^That was while it was being run by Paramount....over a Decade ago...

[RollerBee]

^That was while it was being run by Paramount....over a Decade ago...

And?
The main market for Winterfest is kids and families, I am almost positive that atleast part of Planet Snoopy will be open. Flyers, Balloons, Jets, Biplanes, Carousel, Swings, Haunted Mansion, Scrambler, the train and Afterburn were open for Winterfest 2005.

I expect the line up this time will be:
Balloons, Swings, Train, Boo Blasters, Scrambler.
Edit: I forgot Biplanes.

I think Carousel and Flyers will most likely not be open and have fences or something blocking them off.

Intimidator may open but I doubt it, Afterburn had enough problems staying open between lack of ridership, grease falling on riders and valleying between the speed hill and the batwing.

Winterfest opens at 5 and closes at 10, you aren't going to get many if any 60 degree nights. I worked Winterfest 2005 and half the event was spent waiting for riders, a couple days the park didn't open at all due to rain, sleet or snow. A few days the park was open for an hour sometimes less and closed.

[cwgator]

Here is my prediction of what will be open:

2017-Winterfest Guess.jpg (666.71 KiB) Viewed 10780 times

In regards to Planet Snoopy: After some re-evaluating & remembering this is a family-geared event, there would need to be some rides for younger children. I could see some of the rides being untouched open: Charlie Brown Wind Up, Balloon Race, Snoopy vs, Red Baron & Snoopy's Junction (what's Christmas without a Christmas themed train?). Also Flying Ace Aerial Chase could be open for the younger crowd. The rest of Planet Snoopy could be walled off for construction during Winterfest, with them likely focusing on the ride removal and installation of Beagle Scout Acres.

I pretty much see Thrill Zone and Crossroads completely closed. This would still leave the availability to circle the park. I could see a nice decorative walk-through along the path under Nighthawk. Intimidator & Nighthawk could possibly be running, but pretty sure Windseeker would be closed (as well as Skytower). Not sure about Ripord. I've seen people in Orlando ride Skycoasters in cold weather, but don't know if Carowinds would bother with it.

From there County Fair should all be open, along with possibly Carolina Goldrusher, Ricochet and Scrambler. With the construction in Carolina Showplace, I don't see Vortex or Slingshot open. Carolina Cyclone I don't see worth opening either and easy to block off along with Thrill Zone.

As far as indoor show areas, there would be Carowinds Theater and Harmony Hall. Then of course there's the plaza stage and other locations for entertainment.

Anyway, this is just what I predict it would be. As much as many would love the whole park to be open, there just isn't any need for it, especially since it's still a "new" venture for Cedar Fair at this park. More could be open or perhaps I'm being overly generous. As far as Fury 325, I think it's just it's location as why I don't think it would open since that area is just easy to block off, besides the unpredictable forecast. I can see a nightmare if it's included, but closed for weather. Intimidator I don't think would be as bad if it had to close.

[tarheel1231]

This seems pretty likely but I don't see why Skytower can't be open. IIRC Great America ran their tower during Winterfest. If Carowinds' tower isn't getting tree lighting anymore, it'd make sense to open it.

Anyways I don't know if they'd do this, but if they planning on having Boo Blasters open, I'd love a Christmas overlay (even if it just means hats/robes on the skeletons).