Carowinds

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**Carowinds**

Location	Charlotte, NC Fort Mill, SC
Website	Carowinds
Owner	Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
Opened	March 31, 1973
Previous names	Carowinds (1973-1993) Paramount's Carowinds (1993-2007)
Operating season	mid March-late October
Area	105 acres
Rides	49 total 12 roller coasters 12 water rides

Carowinds is a 105 acre theme park, located on the borderline between North and South Carolina, in Charlotte and Fort Mill, respectively. It opened on March 31, 1973 at a cost of $30 million, after a 4 year planning period spearheaded by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall, who was inspired to build the park by a trip to Disneyland in 1956, and a dream of bringing the two aforementioned states closer together.

The Carowinds theme park itself was originally envisioned as a component of a large resort-type area that would have included hotels, a shopping center, a golf course, and a pro-football stadium. However, like many other theme parks across the country, Carowinds' attendance was severely affected by the 1973 oil crisis, and the plans for the resort that would have surrounded the park were abandoned. Hall and the other stockholders of the Carowinds Corporation continued to operate the theme park through 1974, though sagging attendance forced the company to sellout to Taft Broadcasting in early 1975.

The park was purchased by Paramount Communications in 1993 and joined the Paramount Parks family, after ownership bounced from Taft Broadcast Company to Family Leisure Centers (a joint between Taft and Top Value Enterprises), to Kings Entertainment Company, which was the last owner prior to the acquisition by Paramount. The park was renamed Paramount's Carowinds in 1993. Viacom then purchased Paramount in 1994.

The name "Carowinds" was derived from the park's original theme. Since the park was built around the history and culture of the Carolinas, the name is a combination of "Carolina" and "winds", representing the winds that have blown across the two states. As the park changed ownership over the years, most of the Carolina themes were dropped in favor of more generic television and movie themes.

Carowinds opens in late March each year and closes in early November, after the park's Halloween event, Scarowinds. In 2005, a portion of the park reopened during December for the Winterfest Christmas festival. However, the event was not returned for 2006, citing poor attendance. A similar decision was made regarding Kings Island's Winterfest.

On January 27, 2006, the website of the Dayton Daily News reported that CBS Corporation (which split from Viacom at the end of 2005) would be selling Paramount's Carowinds and other parks in its Paramount Parks division. [1]

On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. acquired Paramount Parks, including Carowinds. [2]

Although Cedar Fair continued to use the Paramount's Carowinds name through the remainder of the 2006 season, it began to phase out the Paramount name in press releases and on the website. In January 2007, a brand new logo, featuring the Cedar Fair icon, but lacking the "Paramount" name, was revealed on the park website. The other four Paramount-branded parks that Cedar Fair acquired will also be receiving similar changes. As of February 2007, the "Paramount" name has been dropped from all of the parks.

1 Current roller coasters
2 Past roller coasters
3 Ride and attraction timeline
- 3.1 Notes
- 3.2 External links

[edit] Current roller coasters

Borg Assimilator, formerly Stealth at Great America
Carolina Cyclone
Carolina Goldrusher
Flying Super Saturator
Hurler
Ricochet
Rugrats Runaway Reptar
Thunder Road: Twin wooden roller coaster that crosses the NC/SC border.
Top Gun: The Jet Coaster
Vortex
Hey Arnold's Taxi Chase
The Fairly Odd Coaster

[edit] Past roller coasters

White Lightnin', now located at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg, South Africa as Golden Loop.

[edit] Ride and attraction timeline

2007: Frenzoid was put back in as Southern Star in County Fair. A new ice show premiered entitled Carowinds: Endless Summers on Ice. The price for a single day ticket dropped for the first time ever. Skytower was repainted to look like an American flag.
2006: The Frenzoid was removed. The WaterWorks Water Park was rethemed to Boomerang Bay waterpark by adding a used slide from Kings Dominion and converting the old Frenzoid lake into a heated lagoon. Winterfest does not return for a second year.
2005: Nickelodeon Central expansion, featuring Phantom Flyers, Flying Dutchman's Revenge, Little Bill's Cruisers, Yogi's Jellystone Garden (Original Ride) is rethemed to Dora the Explorer's Azul Adventure; Frenzoid removal begins in September; Winterfest:Home for the Holidays returns to Carowinds. Stan Miketa's in Thrill Zone changed to Happy Days Dinner.

The Paramount's Carowinds logo, used from 2003 until 2007.
2004: Star Trek Borg Assimilator (coaster).
2003: Nickelodeon Central, featuring Rugrats Runaway Reptar, Powder Keg Flume (Original Ride) rethemed to Wild Thornberrys River Adventure, Rocket Power Air Time; Carolina Sternwheeler (Original Ride) riverboat removed.
2002: Richochet (coaster) and rethemeing of area to Carolina Boardwalk; Cyber Says.
2001: Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion; 7th Portal and Meteor Attack updates for Action F/X Theatre; Waterworks expansion; Whirling Dervish (swing ride) removed.
2000: Scarowinds (Halloween event); Nickelodeon Flying Super Saturator.
1999: Top Gun The Jet Coaster (coaster).
1998: Expansion of Animation Station with Zoom Zone featuring Taxi Jam, Road Rally, and Chopper Chase; James Bond 007 A License to Thrill in Paramount Action F/X Theater (replacement for Days of Thunder).
1997: WaterWorks (expansion/rename of water park).
1996: Drop Zone Stunt Tower.
1995: Animation Station (expansion/rename of Hanna-Barbera Land); Skyflyer.
1994: Wayne's World section (now Thrill Zone) with The Hurler (coaster); Monorail removed.
1993: Days of Thunder Motion Simulator Theatre.
1992: The Vortex (coaster).
1991: Expansion of Paladium; Speedway Cars removed
1990: Gauntlet.
1989: Riptide Reef (water park rename/expansion); Expansion of Paladium.
1988: WhiteWater Falls; White Lightnin' removed; Black Widow (thrill ride) removed.
1987: Expansion of Hanna-Barbera Land with three new rides; Old Jalopies antique car ride removed;Oaken Bucket(thrill ride) removed.
1986: Frenzoid.

The original Carowinds logo used from 1973 until 1993.
1985: Blackbeard's Revenge (mystery house).
1984: Smurf Island (themed area).
1983: Winterfest (Christmas event) opens but doesn't return; Cable Skyway removed.
1982: Rip Roarin' Rapids; Ocean Island (water park).
1981: No changes.
1980: Carolina Cyclone (coaster).
1979: Meteorite; Demolition Derby; Whirling Dervish; Wild Bull; Carousel.
1977: White Lightnin' (coaster).
1976: Thunder Road (coaster); Carowinds and Carolina Railroad removed.
1975: Paladium Amphitheatre; Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera (themed area) featuring Scooby-Doo roller coaster; Wagon Wheel; Waltzer.
1974: Stagecoach(now Country Kitchen) is added, picnic areas open. The Double-Decker Carousel is removed from the park at the end of the season and placed in storage.
1973: Carowinds opens on March 31, 1973; the Monorail is still under construction and opens later.

[edit] Notes

A 340 foot tower at Carowinds was cited as a possible causitive factor in the 1974 fatal crash of a jet airplane at the nearby Douglas Municipal Airport, which is now Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. (See: Eastern Air Lines Flight 212)