Copperhead Strike Announcement and Construction Photos

Yesterday, we headed to Carowinds for their 2019 announcement. Next year, the park will add its 14th Roller Coaster, Copperhead Strike, the first dual-launch coaster in the Carolinas.

While we gave you the press release details and “fast facts” for Copperhead Strike in our post yesterday, we wanted to share some photos taken during yesterday’s announcement, along with some construction photos (both from Carolina Sky Tower, and at ground level, provided to us by Carowinds.)

The mood was set early, with the barrel wood digital signage and bluegrass-style music being played over the speakers while walking into Carowinds

We were ready for “The Biggest Announcement in Carowinds History”

What’s a special event without a special beverage. Upon entering the park, we were given a glass of “Granny’s Punch.” I wasn’t sure if this was her secret recipe or not, but it was pretty tasty — perfect for the hot day. (Even though if you asked me, I probably couldn’t tell you what the flavor was. An epic secret, indeed!)

A porch set up outside of Harmony Hall, maybe to “set a spell?”

Inside Harmony Hall, the decorations were pretty…corny. Sorry. That pun shucked. Sorry. That one was bad too. Am I stalking for time? Maybe.

Inside Harmony Hall, a Bluegrass Quartet was keeping the crowd entertained prior to the announcement. I didn’t catch their name, but they were pretty good.

The digital screen behind the podium showed off some digital versions of the signage placed on the Copperhead Strike construction fence.

The program began with Lisa Stryker, Carowinds’ Director of Communications, who welcomed local, state, and regional dignitaries.

She was followed by Carowinds’ VP/GM Pat Jones, who noted the amount of growth Carowinds has made in the past four years.

If you think about it, there has been a major new announcement for Carowinds each of the last four years. Fury 325 for 2015, Carolina Harbor Re-Brand/Expansion for 2016, County Fair/Winterfest for 2017, and Camp Snoopy this season. It’s been awesome to see the park grow like this.

Pat also brought up the new Springhill Suites, which is currently under construction near Carowinds’ entrance toll plaza. It is scheduled to open in late 2019.

Pat was followed on stage by Carowinds Director of Marrrrrketing, John Taylor, who was telling us about The Great Pumpkin Fest, as well as the two new scarezones at SCarowinds; The Hollow and Dead Man’s Landing…

…Until he was chased off by some pirates.

While John was made to walk the plank, Lisa came back on stage to talk about Winterfest. Carowinds will be open more during the winter this year, as Winterfest begins the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, and will be open longer on Saturdays. There will also be a New Years Eve celebration during Winterfest, including fireworks at midnight.

Carowinds’ Winterfest will also have two new areas this year; North Pole Excursion and Tinsel Town, whose first lady also joined us for the ceremony.

Then, it was time for the reason the capacity crowd had assembled. John Taylor, fresh out of his pirate garb, came back on stage, and was joined by Granny.

As the back story goes, Granny is an award-winning jam maker. However, she has a secret. An epic secret if you will.

Granny Byrd’s not just making jam. She’s making something else. Something…shine-y.

It was here that we learned the name of the new coaster, Copperhead Strike and were treated to some videos.

And the new logo for the ride, which I love. The ceremony then ended.

Following the announcement, lunch was served, featuring food inspired by the new Blue Ridge Country Kitchen (formerly Wings).

A “selfie station” was set up outside the announcement — I love the details here, especially the license plate and the Copperhead.

While I enjoy a good B&M hyper as much as anyone, I wanted to get a bird’s eye view of Copperhead Strike Construction, so I headed to the top of Sky Tower. Lots of footers going into place, and reinforcing steel ready to be installed. While there were supports on-site (fenced in adjacent to the Carowinds parking lot), I didn’t see any track (that was visible to the public eye, anyway) on-site just yet.

While a bird’s eye view from the SkyTower is great, Carowinds was kind enough to share some photos with us that feature some different angles from various stages of construction, including ground level construction. All of the below photos are courtesy of Carowinds.