General Carowinds discussion
#108835
They close the park today November 16 at 4 PM with closing papers advertised at eight! It’s 53° today! And no rain!

Why would anyone spend their hard earned money traveling to this poorly managed park when they close because of low attendance?!

It’s obvious that any day that’s less than 60° they will not stay open!
#108839
Edwardo you took the words right out of my mouth. My friend took pics today. The place was a ghost town and the parking lot was extremely empty. I’m sure staffing was another issue coupled with high winds which caused rides to close
#108841
pproteinc wrote:The place was a ghost town and the parking lot was extremely empty. I’m sure staffing was another issue coupled with high winds which caused rides to close

High winds forcing ride closures would be a valid reason. But if they want to try being open in November, they need to stay open in November or else they'll never draw a crowd. When they decided to remain open on weekends, they should've made the commitment to remain open no matter what (weather being the lone asterisk). Low attendance or a lack of staffing just kills their credibility. The take here (starting this thread) is extreme, but it has legit roots.
#108842
Glitch99 wrote:
pproteinc wrote:The place was a ghost town and the parking lot was extremely empty. I’m sure staffing was another issue coupled with high winds which caused rides to close

High winds forcing ride closures would be a valid reason. But if they want to try being open in November, they need to stay open in November or else they'll never draw a crowd. When they decided to remain open on weekends, they should've made the commitment to remain open no matter what (weather being the lone asterisk). Low attendance or a lack of staffing just kills their credibility. The take here (starting this thread) is extreme, but it has legit roots.

Get you panties out of a wad, they close during normal season due to low attendance too.
#108843
Let me make sure I understand. . .

- You have been around these forums for 10 years as a registered user.

- You, from my speculation, are a local or someone who can easily get to and from the park within a days drive.

- You have been around long enough to have witness, be it second hand, the park closing early for whatever reason.

- You're obviously a season pass holder.

So with all that said, you want US to boycott the park because you were briefly inconvenience, during a time when the park is NEVER opened. Out of all the good experiences you have had, you want to bash the park and tell us to not only not go tomorrow but stay away for the rest of the year? That's very immature of you. Thank GOD most of us here understand how things go and realize that the park will reduce their hours for various reason at any time/

I'm sorry but you are not convincing not one person on here to stay way from Carowinds. Personally, I have been taking advantage of these past 2 weeks the park has been open and I even thought to myself "why are they still open, it's kinda empty in here" but I never looked a gift horse in it's mouth and enjoyed the little to no waits. If they had to reduce the hours the past two weeks I would have bene ok because the cars never really made it past Fury's treble clef turn .

In conclusion, we are not listening to you and we are gonna enjoy winterfest and you will get over what happen today sooner than you think.
#108845
RollerBee wrote:
Glitch99 wrote:
pproteinc wrote:The place was a ghost town and the parking lot was extremely empty. I’m sure staffing was another issue coupled with high winds which caused rides to close

High winds forcing ride closures would be a valid reason. But if they want to try being open in November, they need to stay open in November or else they'll never draw a crowd. When they decided to remain open on weekends, they should've made the commitment to remain open no matter what (weather being the lone asterisk). Low attendance or a lack of staffing just kills their credibility. The take here (starting this thread) is extreme, but it has legit roots.

Get you panties out of a wad, they close during normal season due to low attendance too.

My panties arent in a wad. It's a basic fact of business - these off-season hours are something new, and they need to give it a honest chance if they ever want it to be worthwhile. If they're giving up and closing mid-afternoon after 2 weekends (again, I dont know if high wind actually was a factor, or merely an excuse), they've already written it off as a failed experiment and it wont be repeated next November. Myself, I really dont care either way, but this OP is exactly what you get when you try to sell something new and are then unreliable with delivering what you've sold.

Besides, when is the last time during the normal season that they spontaneously closed mid-afternoon, without severe weather being a factor? This isnt cheating closing time by a couple hours.

Oh, and yes, the "and probably all of Winterfest" part was eye-roll worthy.
#108847
I am not local. I am from 7 hours away. I spent money in s hotel last night, specifically to go there.

This is a legitimate warning to everyone thinking about coming on Sunday because the weather is supposed to be the same temperature.

Also Winterfest is plagued with cool weather. It appears they will close any scheduled day that they don’t have good attendance now
#108848
super7 wrote:I am not local. I am from 7 hours away. I spent money in s hotel last night, specifically to go there.

This is a legitimate warning to everyone thinking about coming on Sunday because the weather is supposed to be the same temperature.

Also Winterfest is plagued with cool weather. It appears they will close any scheduled day that they don’t have good attendance now



I probably wouldn't chance tomorrow since it's looked like Sundays have had even lesser attendance during these last few weeks. Big lol to avoid winterfest, though. That's just typical silly internet overreaction from someone too upset to reason.

Carowinds is getting excoriated on their facebook page. If they want to build Peanuts celebration into a little something more they're certainly not instilling much public confidence by shutting down early. Unless there's a staffing issues that could result in a safety issue, they should've kept it open until the scheduled closing time.

Is what is. I'd be pretty upset if I wasn't a season pass holder and made a longer trip to get there. I think that's where they should suck it up, stay open, and reevaluate if they want to hold this again next year.
#108857
Edwardo wrote:Perhaps there are circumstances that mean they can’t suck it up and start open.



Which is why I said, if there's a staffing issue that leads to a safety issue, absolutely close. Anything having to do with a safety issue, sure you close. Closing up shop due to attendance (if that's really what it is) is poor form and doesn't build much good will for future patrons who may have longer memories. I'd certainly think twice about making the trip and I'm only 40 minutes away with a gold pass. If they even have it next year. Looking at some pictures online I'd be surprised if they stayed open past three again today.
#108860
BrianH1970 wrote:
Edwardo wrote:Perhaps there are circumstances that mean they can’t suck it up and start open.



Which is why I said, if there's a staffing issue that leads to a safety issue, absolutely close. Anything having to do with a safety issue, sure you close. Closing up shop due to attendance (if that's really what it is) is poor form and doesn't build much good will for future patrons who may have longer memories. I'd certainly think twice about making the trip and I'm only 40 minutes away with a gold pass. If they even have it next year. Looking at some pictures online I'd be surprised if they stayed open past three again today.

It is bad business to stay open on a low attendance day. If there isn’t enough guests in the park to atleast offset the costs of operation then the park is tossing money into a pit. Emerald Pointe in 2007 had a minimum number of guests to stay open, it was shocking low, 400 guests. I seriously doubt that this is enough to cover costs of operations. Winterfest 2006 was 1,000 to stay open, there were many nights we closed early because of low attendance. There was even a couple nights where we were 1 guests from closing early. Again I seriously doubt 1,000 guests can cover the costs of operating a theme park.