Carowinds

Carowinds is a theme park located on the state line between North and South Carolina, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Fort Mill, South Carolina. The park officially opened on March 31, 1973.

History

Carowinds opened on March 31, 1973, at a cost of $70 million, after a four-year planning period led by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall, who was inspired to build the park by a 1956 trip to Disneyland and a dream of bringing the two states closer together.^[1] In 1975, the park was sold to Kings Entertainment Company after the Carowinds Corporation declared bankruptcy. The purchase marked a shift in the park's strategy as the ownership of the Carowinds Corporation was much more family oriented, with the new owners initially adding a clone of the Scooby-Doo wooden coaster found at other Kings Entertainment parks. The main turning point for the park was when they added Thunder Road in 1976, officially marking their new ownership as a park for thrillseekers and families. Later, in mid-1992,^[2] the park was sold to Paramount Communications alongside all of the North American holdings of the Kings Entertainment Company. After the Viacom-CBS split in 2005, the parks were handed to the CBS Corporation who was seeking to sell their parks. They found a buyer in early 2006, and sold Carowinds to Cedar Fair Entertainment Company alongside the entire Paramount Parks chain. The properties were officially transferred under Cedar Fair management on June 30, 2006.^[3]

On August 4, 2020, the park announced that it would not operate at all in 2020 due to challenges associated with the coronavirus pandemic regarding the legal dubiousness since the park operated on the state line.^[4] The announcement of a complete closure during 2020 was soon proven to be false, as on November 18, 2020, the park announced a limited run Taste of the Season event, operating a limited selection of rides, with the focus of the event being mainly on a selection of food items.^[5]

Roller coasters

Upcoming

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Planned opening
Snoopy's Racing Railway	ART Engineering	Launched	2025

Present (13)

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Status
Afterburn	Bolliger & Mabillard	Inverted	March 20, 1999	Operating
Carolina Cyclone	Arrow Development	Sit-Down	March 22, 1980	Operating
Carolina Goldrusher	Arrow Development	Hybrid	March 31, 1973	Operating
Copperhead Strike	Mack Rides	Launched	March 23, 2019	Operating
Flying Cobras Previously Carolina Cobra	Vekoma	Shuttle	March 28, 2009	Operating
Fury 325	Bolliger & Mabillard	Giga	March 28, 2015	Operating
Hurler	International Coasters	Wooden	June 4, 1994	Operating
Kiddy Hawk	Vekoma	Inverted	March 22, 2003	Operating
Ricochet	Mack Rides	Wild Mouse	March 23, 2002	Operating
Thunder Striker	Bolliger & Mabillard	Hyper	March 27, 2010	Operating
Vortex	Bolliger & Mabillard	Stand-Up	March 14, 1992	Operating
Wilderness Run	E&F Miler Industries	Kiddie	1998	Operating
Woodstock Express	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters	Wooden	1975	Operating

Past (4)

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Flying Super Saturator	Setpoint	Suspended	April 1, 2000	August 2008	Scrapped
Thunder Road	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters	Wooden Twin	April 3, 1976	July 26, 2015	Scrapped
White Lightnin'	Schwarzkopf	Launched Shuttle	May 14, 1977	October 16, 1988	Relocated to Gold Reef City
Nighthawk	Vekoma	Flying	March 20, 2004	2024	Scrapped

Attractions

Upcoming

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Planned opening
Charlie Brown's River Raft Blast	Mack Rides	Splash Battle	2025

Operating

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened
Air Racers	Zamperla	Air Race	2023
Air Walker	Zamperla	Disk'O	2023
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill	Barbisan	Tracked Dark Ride	2001
Camp Bus	Zamperla	Junior Flying Carpet	2018
Carolina Skytower	Intamin	Observation Tower	1973
Charlie Brown's Wind Up	Zamperla	Junior Chair-O-Plane	1973
Do-Si-Do	Arrow HUSS	Troika	2017
Electro Spin	Mondial	Top Scan	2017
Flying Ace Balloon Race	Zamperla	Balloon Race	1987
Gear Spin	Zamperla	NebulaZ	2023
Grand Carousel	Philadelphia Toboggan Company	Carousel	1979
Gyro Force	Chance Rides	Trabant/Satellite	2023
Hover & Dodge	Barbieri	Dodgems	2023
Kite Eating Tree	Zamperla	Junior Drop Tower	2018
Mountain Gliders	Bisch Rocco	Flying Scooters	2005
Peanuts Pirates	Mack Rides	Sea Storm	2005
Pig-Pen's Mud Buggies	Zamperla	Jump Around	2018
RipCord	Sky Fun 1 Inc.	Skycoaster	1995
Rock 'n' Roller	Mack Rides	Superbob/Musik Express	2017
Scrambler	Eli Bridge Company	Scrambler	1973
SlingShot	Funtime	Slingshot	2015
Snoopy vs. Red Baron	Unknown	Junior Jets	2024 or earlier
Snoopy's Junction	Crown Metal Products	Miniature Railway	1973
WindSeeker	Mondial	Star Flyer	2012
Woodstock's Whirlybirds	Zamperla	Teacups	2018
Zephyr	Zierer	Waveswinger	2017

Closed

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Blackbeard's Revenge^[6]^[7]	Arrow HUSS	Madhouse	1985	1999 or earlier	Unknown
Black Widow	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Polyp	1973	1987	Unknown
Carolina Sternwheeler	Unknown	Boat Ride	1973	2003	Scrapped
Carowinds and Carolina Railroad	Crown Metal Products	Miniature Railway	1972	1977	Locomotive relocated to Neverland Ranch
Carolina Turnpike	Arrow Development	Track Ride	1973	1991	Scrapped
Dodgem	Barbieri	Dodgems	1979	2022	Remodeled to Hover & Dodge
Drop Tower: Scream Zone	Intamin	Drop Tower	1996	2024	Scrapped
Flying Dutchman	Intamin	Flying Dutchman	1973	1984	Scrapped
Grand Prix Raceway	Unknown	Go Karts	2012 or earlier	2021 or later	Unknown
Hillbilly Jalopies	Arrow Development	Track Ride	1973	1987	Unknown
Joe Cool's Driving School	Morgan	Track Ride	1998	2012	Scrapped
Monorail	Universal Mobility	Monorail	1973	1994	Unknown
Oaken Bucket	Unknown	Rotor	1973	1987 or later	Unknown
Rip Roarin' Rapids	Intamin	River Rapids	1982	2018	Scrapped
Scrappy's Skytower	Intamin	Junior Observation Tower	1975	1993 or later	Unknown
Scream Weaver	Schwarzkopf	Enterprise	1979	2024	Scrapped
Skyway	Unknown	Ropeway	1973	1981	Scrapped
Snoopy's GR8 SK8	Chance Rides	Falling Star	1990	2013	Scrapped
Snoopy's Yacht Club	Theel Brothers Manufacturing	Roundabout	2005	2017	Scrapped
Southern Star Formerly Frenzoid	Intamin	Ranger	1986	2022	Scrapped
Surfer	Unknown	Tagada	1973	Unknown	Unknown
Whirling Dervish	Zierer	Waveswinger	1979	2000	Relocated to Paramount's Great America
Whitewater Falls	Hopkins	Shoot The Chute	1988	2016	Scrapped
Wild Bull	Schwarzkopf	Bayern Kurve	1979	1998	Scrapped
Wagon Wheel	Chance Rides	Trabant/Satellite	1975	1980	Unknown
Wild Thornberry's River Adventure Formerly Powder Keg	Arrow Development	Log Flume	1973	2008	Scrapped
Woodstock's Whirlybirds	Caripro	Track Ride	1998	2017	Scrapped - trains to Kings Island
Yo Yo	Chance Rides	Chair-O-Plane	2008	2022	Unknown

Water slides

Carowinds also contains an adjacent water park named Carolina Harbor, which is included with the price of admission to the park. It originally opened as Ocean Island in 1982, and has seen subsequent name changes and expansions as Riptide Reef (1989-1996), WaterWorks (1997-2005) and Boomerang Bay (2006-2015).

References

↑ "Carowinds Promises Its Visitors A Lot". The Charlotte Observer.
↑ "Paramount to buy 4 theme parks for $400 million". United Press International;. 31 July 1992. Retrieved 19 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
↑ "MEETING WITH POTENTIAL LENDERS RE: ACQUISITION OF PARAMOUNT PARKS FROM CBS". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ?? June 2006. Retrieved 19 April 2021. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
↑ "A Message from Pat Jones, Vice President & General Manager of Carowinds". Carowinds. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |archive= ignored (help)
↑ "Your Guide to Taste of the Season". Carowinds. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
↑ "Carowinds expending $1 million to add to its theme park". The Times and Democrat. 1985-03-17. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
↑ "Make a splash on Super Saturator, Carowinds' interactive roller coaster". The Charlotte Observer. 2000-03-31. p. 97. Retrieved 2023-12-26.

External links

Carowinds on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

This box: view edit Amusement parks operated by Six Flags
Current Theme Parks	California's Great America Canada's Wonderland Carowinds Cedar Point Dorney Park Frontier City Kings Dominion Kings Island Knott's Berry Farm La Ronde Michigan's Adventure Six Flags America Six Flags Darien Lake Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great Escape Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Mexico Six Flags New England Six Flags Over Georgia Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags Qiddiya Six Flags St. Louis Valleyfair Worlds of Fun
Current Water Parks (Within Park Grounds)	Carolina Harbor Oceans of Fun Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (Great Escape) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (Over Georgia) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (St. Louis) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Darien Lake Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Maryland Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New England South Bay Shores Splash Works Soak City (Kings Dominion) Soak City (Kings Island) Soak City (Valleyfair) WildWater Adventure Wildwater Kingdom Wild West Water Works
Current Water Parks (Separate Admission or Standalone)	Aquarabia Qiddiya City Castaway Bay Cedar Point Shores Knott's Soak City Schlitterbahn Galveston Schlitterbahn New Braunfels Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Arlington Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Chicago Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New Jersey Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oklahoma City Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford Six Flags Hurricane Harbor San Antonio Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown Six Flags White Water White Water Bay
Former Properties (Theme Parks)	American Adventures Bellewaerde Park Six Flags AstroWorld Six Flags AutoWorld Six Flags Belgium Six Flags Elitch Gardens Six Flags Holland Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Six Flags New Orleans Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Walibi Aquitaine Walibi Lorraine Walibi Rhône-Alpes Warner Bros. Movie World Germany Warner Bros. Park Madrid Wild Waves and Enchanted Village Wyandot Lake
Former Properties (Water Parks)	Aqualibi Hurricane Harbor (Worlds of Adventure) Six Flags Atlantis Island Kingdom Six Flags Splashwater Kingdom Six Flags WaterWorld Waterworld Sacramento
Cancelled	Dubailand Zhejiang

This box: view edit Amusement parks operated by Cedar Fair
Transferred as part of Six Flags merger	California's Great America Canada's Wonderland Carowinds Cedar Point Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Kings Dominion Kings Island Knott's Berry Farm Michigan's Adventure Valleyfair Worlds of Fun
Closed or sold prior to Six Flags merger	Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park Knott's Camp Snoopy

This box: view edit Amusement parks operated by Paramount Parks
Transferred as part of Cedar Fair acquisition	Paramount's Kings Island Paramount's Kings Dominion Paramount's Carowinds Paramount Canada's Wonderland Paramount's Great America Bonfante Gardens
Sold prior to Cedar Fair acquisition	Terra Mítica Raging Waters San Dimas

[1] "Carowinds Promises Its Visitors A Lot". The Charlotte Observer.

[2] "Paramount to buy 4 theme parks for $400 million". United Press International;. 31 July 1992. Retrieved 19 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)

[3] "MEETING WITH POTENTIAL LENDERS RE: ACQUISITION OF PARAMOUNT PARKS FROM CBS". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ?? June 2006. Retrieved 19 April 2021. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[4] "A Message from Pat Jones, Vice President & General Manager of Carowinds". Carowinds. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |archive= ignored (help)

[5] "Your Guide to Taste of the Season". Carowinds. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.

[6] "Carowinds expending $1 million to add to its theme park". The Times and Democrat. 1985-03-17. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-12-26.

[7] "Make a splash on Super Saturator, Carowinds' interactive roller coaster". The Charlotte Observer. 2000-03-31. p. 97. Retrieved 2023-12-26.

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