[Chris]

I hate to see another Rock-O-Plane potentially hit the graveyard.

[Grobble]

The question is we do know yes that Carowinds can use another dry water ride or 2 but will Cedar Fair take the time out to invest in newer dry water rides when park has none to begin with. Not counting Carolina harbor. I mean again it’s the only cedar fair park without a dry water ride. Maybe cedar fair doesn’t care that they don’t have any dry water rides in the park or like I keep bringing up they’re afraid to build a fluke after what happened to shoot the rapids at Cedar Point but thats Intamin. If carowinds goes without 1 dry water ride in the next decade what do you think about that? Screamscape has said antique auto cars are coming to replace Dino’s I’ve been following them since high school not sure if their the best theme park source.

Whether the park needs a dry park water ride is debateable Cedar Fair has not shown any inclination to add them lately. Dry park water rides in general have high maintenance costs,especially as they age. Cedar Fair also may be wary as they have Snake River Falls at CP and Congo Falls at KI that have horrible ridership despite being at very busy parks. SRF will be a walk on, with 6 people in the boat when every ride in the park was at least 45 mins and the good coasters 2hours+. Similar scenario at KI. Both rides will probably be gone soon and are wastes of space & staff, considering the ridership. Carowinds can take either one if they really want a water ride.

Speaking of Antique cars, it's instillation at KI was specifically mentioned in the analyst day presentation as being an activity for the entire family. They say it was a hit at KI. CF wants to in general add more all family activities. So, antique cars is a real strong possibility, Another thing they were keen on was Ghost Town and Forbidden Frontier. There will be a similar activity coming to parks so Carowinds could get that in 2021. However, I think Wonderland might get it first with somehow integrating it into Frontier Canada. Carowinds and Wonderland have been following similar investment patterns.

[tarheel1231]

Here's another plan to re-do the 3 or-so acres in the back of Thrill Zone:

Back Area Renovation.png (746.38 KiB) Viewed 12733 times

For the indoor coaster, I used the layout of Steel Dragon @ Waldameer, which is a Maurer Spinning Coaster. I figured Cedar Fair isn't one to make big capital investments with family coasters (the last one was Coast Rider at Knott's depending on how you count Wonder Mountain's Guardian), so it would be a relatively cheap install. Phoenix at Adventureland only cost $6 million, so factoring in enclosing the ride and theming, we'd probably be looking at something in the ballpark of $10-$12 million which is a pretty good price for a non-major coaster. It would also be in the capacity range of 800-900 pph which is decent for a family coaster.

As for the maintenance building, in recent years, it seems like the park has been in need for more storage space. There have been several booths/props just thrown under Fury and Intimidator, making the areas underneath them kind of junky. So adding a maintenance building here would alleviate the need for storage, and it would be out of guest view behind Hurler.

Thoughts?

[coasterbruh]

10-12 million is a lot for a spinning mouse. If it's gonna cost twice as much for a coaster to be enclosed, i'd rather it not be and spend the money elsewhere.

[Kw6sTheater]

To be honest, I don't see Cedar Fair installing a family coaster - at least, one any smaller than Copperhead Strike - any time soon. They like to put in one or two large scale coasters per year, as evidenced by the trend of 1 coaster a year from 2014 to 2017, 4 in 2018, 2 in 2019 and then back to one in 2020. I'd very much like to see a family boomerang come to any Cedar Fair park, as it's a compact addition that can please both the families and thrill seekers, and rather inexpensive as well.

But thinking realistically, I could see Carowinds either RMCing Hurler or getting a GCI in the Dinosaurs Alive plot for their next major coaster. However, someone has told me that antique cars are rumored to replace Dinosaurs Alive, in which case the GCI could possibly fit in with the manmade hill that Rip Roarin' Rapids sat on. I see Rip Roarin' Rapids' plot being used for a Forbidden Frontier-style experience, though, since they can easily reuse the preexisting structures and won't need to remove the preexisting hill. The only other plot of land I could see this coaster utilizing is possibly the replacement of Nighthawk - Firehawk has been removed already, so I'm sure that Nighthawk has some updated parts from it, but it's likely on borrowed time.

[coasterbruh]

However, someone has told me that antique cars are rumored to replace Dinosaurs Alive

Someone is really out here gunning to make this happen lol.

[Grobble]

To be honest, I don't see Cedar Fair installing a family coaster - at least, one any smaller than Copperhead Strike - any time soon. They like to put in one or two large scale coasters per year, as evidenced by the trend of 1 coaster a year from 2014 to 2017, 4 in 2018, 2 in 2019 and then back to one in 2020. I'd very much like to see a family boomerang come to any Cedar Fair park, as it's a compact addition that can please both the families and thrill seekers, and rather inexpensive as well.

But thinking realistically, I could see Carowinds either RMCing Hurler or getting a GCI in the Dinosaurs Alive plot for their next major coaster. However, someone has told me that antique cars are rumored to replace Dinosaurs Alive, in which case the GCI could possibly fit in with the manmade hill that Rip Roarin' Rapids sat on. I see Rip Roarin' Rapids' plot being used for a Forbidden Frontier-style experience, though, since they can easily reuse the preexisting structures and won't need to remove the preexisting hill. The only other plot of land I could see this coaster utilizing is possibly the replacement of Nighthawk - Firehawk has been removed already, so I'm sure that Nighthawk has some updated parts from it, but it's likely on borrowed time.

A major factor on what happens next and what order is going to be how Nighthawk holds up. Cedar Fair stated they are going to be essentially going to be doing 4 or 5 years between major Capex coasters(Knotts model). That would put Carowinds in 2023/24. If Nighthawk is struggling to operate with maintenance issues and lack of parts..ie..Firehawk, then that influences the next coaster selection and location potentially. They don't want a SBNO or have to rip it out with a blank spot in the central part of the park for a few years. That's essentially what KD has had happened with Volcano, which is not good.

[coasterbruh]

The problem with Volcano is that is it was problematic. Unfortunately, Nighthawk is not problematic and with firehawk parts arriving at the park, I think we can forget about it leaving anytime soon. It's capacity, popular and in an area that isn't needed.

[yawetag]

It's capacity, popular and in an area that isn't needed.

The capacity is horrible.

[RollerBee]

It's capacity, popular and in an area that isn't needed.

The capacity is horrible.

But it is popular too.

I think the space is needed.
For a new riverboat! It would eat up more capacity but likely wouldn’t be popular.

Darn....

[tarheel1231]

It's capacity, popular and in an area that isn't needed.

The capacity is horrible.

I think he’s referring to the fact that it adds capacity to the park, not necessarily the efficiency. But even so, it’s the fifth most ridden attraction at the park, it’s a crowd-pleaser, and it just came into a windfall of spare parts. Nighthawk’s here to stay for at least another decade or two, even though most of us on this site want it gone.

[Grobble]

The problem with Volcano is that is it was problematic. Unfortunately, Nighthawk is not problematic and with firehawk parts arriving at the park, I think we can forget about it leaving anytime soon. It's capacity, popular and in an area that isn't needed.

Nighthawk is not problematic? LOL! Where's that second train? Has the 2nd train already been used partially for spare parts? Also, It goes down far more than any other coaster in the park.

[Grobble]

It's capacity, popular and in an area that isn't needed.

The capacity is horrible.

I think he’s referring to the fact that it adds capacity to the park, not necessarily the efficiency. But even so, it’s the fifth most ridden attraction at the park, it’s a crowd-pleaser, and it just came into a windfall of spare parts. Nighthawk’s here to stay for at least another decade or two, even though most of us on this site want it gone.

Windfall? Firehawk had no parts left for spares. They had to Frankenstein 1 train together to even keep it operational till close.last ride closure date. If the last train had broken people would not have gotten last rides. That's from sources who know maintenance at KI. So, there is not really a windfall. They have the ability to strip the 1 Frankenstein train. Vekoma is not serving them b/c they have a new flying model.

[coasterbruh]

What we may consider problematic may be different than what the park considers. The fact that the prototype is still going strong while one afterwards has bitten the dust says to me that KI gave up on it and wanted it out the way so they can build their shiny new Giga-ish coaster. If six flags can keep Batwing going, surely Carowinds can keep Nighthawk flying.

[Edwardo]

The park having parts on hand and availability of parts from Vekoma are two different things. Vekoma still offers support and parts for Flying Dutchman coasters.

KI wasn’t ordering parts to have on hand for a coaster that they planned on demolishing...