[Christopher Mallis]

It’s never too early, is it? So with the new mat racer for 2020 I’m thinking we’re going to recover some flat rides next year. Maybe in RRR’s old spot, or they could do a crossroads renovation.

[gabed]

Oh sweet Jesus

[coasterbruh]

Oh come on! They have barely announced what is coming for next year and Copperhead is still being broken in for 2019.

I say one Carowinds Rumors and speculation thread period vs all these yearly threads.

[Christopher Mallis]

Oh come on! They have barely announced what is coming for next year and Copperhead is still being broken in for 2019.

I say one Carowinds Rumors and speculation thread period vs all these yearly threads.

Lol true, we’ll just keep this here for later. Now let’s get back on the 2020 threads.

[tarheel1231]

Floorless Vortex. That is all.

[gabed]

Every year they don’t convert Vortex it only gets funnier

[uscbandfan]

Just remove it and then all speculation will cease.

[Lit]

Unpopular opinion: I hope they don’t convert Vortex. I know different isn’t always better, but it’s a unique ride. Why take away the one feature that sets it apart? It’s also a good step-up for people who are afraid to ride the Hyper/Giga coasters.

Another point: it opened in ‘92 so it’s 27 years old. If you haven’t figured out how to ride it without your gooch getting squished by now, I can’t help you. Since we’re 3 years away though, maybe they’ll convert it to a mediocre floor less for the 30th anniversary. Judging by the FBook comments this week, Rougarou isn’t exactly a “fan favorite”

[Coasterphreak]

Vortex isn't getting a floorless conversion and we're not getting any new water rides.

2021 will probably be a flat of some variety, either in the YoYo spot or on the Afterburn side of the old DA area. I also suspect we might see another permanent seasonal building constructed in that area for Scarowinds/Winterfest 2020, because only having five haunts this year is gonna make the lines even worse than they have been previously.

Then 2022 will see a Camp Snoopy expansion into the other half of the DA area, with 2023 being the next major expansion for whatever they decide to do with the RRR area.

It's pretty clear Carowinds is rolling on a four to five year cycle of coaster, waterpark, flat, kiddie stuff, and they're probably going to keep doing so because the park has plenty of growth potential with relatively small investments most years and a couple big ones every decade. This is as opposed to parks like CP, CW, and Knott's, where they are pretty much at the point of either ripping out existing attractions or having to look at building parking structures. (although it's pretty impressive how they keep finding ways to cram new rides into CW, not gonna lie)

[Christopher Mallis]

2021 we’ll probably see some family flats maybe finally a crossroads renovation, who knows! The future is still bright.

[fishels]

Just remove it and then all speculation will cease.

TBH I think this will happen eventually instead of converting it.

The ride is rough, it’s short and the layout is uninteresting imo. I enjoy it but I think it’ll be gone in 5-10 years.

[Coasterphreak]

I'm pretty sure the only reason it's still around is because it hasn't needed any major maintenance beyond the routine annual stuff, which makes it significantly more expensive to remove than it is to just keep it around.

Plus it usually only needs three people to operate it and it helps eat capacity on busy days.

[Christopher Mallis]

Like I’ve said before and a few other people, maintaining vortex isn’t an issue, they’ll keep it there til they need the land. Honestly the coaster hasn’t been very rough this year (my opinion) it’s just uncomfortable cause you’re standing.

[HiveDive]

Hopefully another large thrilling flat ride? (Ideally a frisbee) Carowinds ride collection definitely could be more well rounded then it currently is so hopefully a water ride could also happen in 2021.

[Coasterphreak]

Like I’ve said before and a few other people, maintaining vortex isn’t an issue, they’ll keep it there til they need the land. Honestly the coaster hasn’t been very rough this year (my opinion) it’s just uncomfortable cause you’re standing.

I don't disagree, I guess I forgot to get to my actual point: the ride isn't going anywhere anytime soon unless it has a major failure, but there's basically zero chance that Cedar Fair is going to invest in a floorless conversion.

It's not as simple as throwing some new trains at it and calling it good, the station also has to be rebuilt from the ground up and I'd guess that all of the control systems and sensors have to be replaced; at that point you're pretty much replacing everything but the track structure itself. It's millions of dollars, and there's just no way the company is going to put that kind of money into a mediocre thirty year old attraction.