As we’ve mentioned several times before, the off-season is often thought of as a “slow” time at a theme park. However, there’s a large amount of work that is going on year-round. As Carowinds inches closer and closer towards the 2020 operating season (beginning on Saturday, March 21), there are a number of things happening at the park behind-the scenes.
We got to take a look at some of the off-season maintenance and construction taking place at Carowinds.
Woodstock Express
Celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2020 is Carowinds’ second-oldest roller coaster, Woodstock Express. A large portion of the roller coaster has been re-constructed from the ground up this off-season, in order to create a better ride experience for park guests.
According to Steve Jackson, Director of Maintenance and Construction at Carowinds, this is the largest “refurb” on Woodstock Express (formerly Scooby Doo & Fairly Odd Coaster) in the coaster’s history.
Crews are working hard in order to complete the re-build. The two “back” curves of the ride are being rebuilt, and will feature track with a slight bank, compared to the flat turns of the past. It will still have the shake, rattle and roll of a wooden coaster, but it will not be as jarring of a ride experience.
Carolina Goldrusher
The trains for Carowinds’ oldest roller coaster, Carolina Goldrusher, were getting ready to go back out on the tracks.
Carowinds has three trains for the Carolina Goldrusher: green, blue, and red. However, only two of those trains are in use during any given season, as the third train is refurbished “in-season” for use the next year. This year, the trains on Goldrusher’s tracks will be Blue and Green.
A chassis for Carolina Goldrusher, stripped about as low as you can go. Check out those wheels!
Ricochet
The cars on Ricochet will be sporting new paint jobs this season, featuring new yellow, pink, and light blue paint schemes.
 
Afterburn
The Afterburn trains were also getting ready to be placed back on the track, once a shipment of guide/up-stop wheels arrived.
Interestingly enough, despite all being manufactured by B&M, the wheels for Afterburn & Vortex are made of a different material (Nylon) than the wheels on Fury 325 and Intimidator (Urethane).
Nighthawk
The trains for Nighthawk were undergoing final preparations to get them back on the track and ready for testing. When we visited, some of the “cosmetic” features had yet to been put back on the trains after they had undergone their off-season non-destructive testing.
With their levels of motion, the Nighthawk trains are some of the most complex at Carowinds.
Luckily for Carowinds, the Cedar Fair family likes to share, and there are two trains worth of parts for the Vekoma Flying Coaster on property at Carowinds, in the form of Firehawk’s old trains.
Parts from Firehawk have not been used for its southern counterpart just yet.
Miscellany
Carowinds has additional chassis for a Vekoma Boomerang train. They came to the park from Knott’s Berry Farm.
During WinterFest, the sign for Intimidator mysteriously disappeared, leaving fans concerned about the future of the ride. We are happy to tell you that reports of Intimidator’s demise were highly exaggerated. The sign is back, and looks fantastic!
Water Dummies getting ready for their pre-season ERT on Intimidator.
The Flying Ace Balloon Chase balloons were in various stages of disassembly. The central column had been shipped out to be re-chromed.
Carowinds opens for the season on March 21. For more information, be sure to visit Carowinds’ website and follow the park on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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