It’s been less than 10 weeks between Carowinds closing the book on their 50th Anniversary season with the final day of WinterFest on January 1, 2024 and the park’s 2024’s opening weekend (March 9-10) at the “place where the Carolinas...
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10 Roller Coasters That Left Us Speechless
Some roller coasters are so intense, so incredible, so breathtaking, that when all is said and done and the train returns to the station — there are no words to describe what just happened. You’re stunned and speechless. A re-ride...
Continue reading...The Coaster101 Podcast: Theme Park Hot Takes, Part Two
Last week on social media, we asked our audience the question “What is your most unpopular controversial theme park hot take?” Spoiler alert: The responses didn’t disappoint. While there were too many to cover in one episode (or even multiple...
Continue reading...Inside Fury 325’s Custom Gates with Carowinds’ Shawn Hopkins
On a majority of roller coasters that operate today, there is a series of queue gates that line up riders into specific rows before allowing guests to board a coaster train. Often, these gates aren’t given a second thought by...
Continue reading...A Look At 2019 Off-Season Maintenance at Carowinds
There’s a lot going on at Carowinds this off-season in addition to the construction progress on Copperhead Strike. (Not to mention the new SpringHill Suites by Marriott at Carowinds and Employee Dorms being constructed just outside of the park gates!) The...
Continue reading...2018 Golden Ticket Awards Announced
The 21st annual Golden Ticket Awards, presented by Amusement Today, were held last night at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. These awards represent the “best of the best” in unique theme park categories. The Golden Ticket Awards are calculated from an...
Continue reading...Carowinds Spring 2018 Photo Update
There’s always a lot going on at Carowinds, it seems. While I had been able to document some of the park’s off-season’s construction process in November and February, I finally got to see the finished product in person when I made my...
Continue reading...The 2016-17 A-Z Coaster of the Week Roundup
After 26 weeks featuring 26 different roller coasters, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet, we finally wrapped up our 2016-2017 version of our A-Z Coaster of the Week series, and I thought it would be interesting to...
Continue reading...Carowinds Winter 2016 Construction Update
With the addition of the new County Fair area at Carowinds in 2017, it makes sense that there would be a lot of construction going on in the park during the winter off-season. But, there’s more going on at the...
Continue reading...A-Z Coaster of the Week: Fury 325
Welcome back to another addition of A-Z Coaster of the week, where we examine a coaster corresponding with each letter of the alphabet. This week, we’re headed to where the Carolinas come together, Carowinds, and taking a look at the...
Continue reading...North Carolina Couple Gets Married on Fury 325
It’s that classic “fairy tale” love story we all know and love. Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Boy proposes to girl, and then they get married on top of the world’s tallest and fastest giga coaster and live...
Continue reading...Book Review: Dick Kinzel Biography
Dick Kinzel: Roller Coaster King of Cedar Point Amusement Park is a new biography by Tim O’Brien about one of the most polarizing legends in the amusement industry. He is responsible for creating the first 200, 300, and 400 foot tall roller...
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