Paramount's Carowinds

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Paramount's Carowinds**
Carowinds Logo
Location	Charlotte, NC Fort Mill, SC
Website	Paramount's Carowinds
Owner	Cedar Fair, L.P.
Opened	March 31, 1973
Previous names	Carowinds (1973-1993)
Operating season	mid March-late October
Area	105 acres
Rides	49 total 12 roller coasters 12 water rides
Slogan	The Best of Hollywood Entertainment Now Playing!

Paramount's 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 1966, and a dream of bringing the two aforementioned states closer together. 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 King Entertainment Company which was the last owner before Paramount's acquisition .

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.

Paramount's 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.

Paramount's Carowinds is home to The Borg Assimilator, a flying roller coaster. The ride was originally installed at Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara, California in 2000 under the name Stealth and was considered to be the world's first flying Roller Coaster. The coaster was moved to Carowinds in 2004 and was given a Star Trek theme based on the Borg.

The Borg Assimilator is the only roller coaster in the world with Star Trek theming and the only amusement ride with Star Trek theming outside of Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On January 27, 2006, the website of the Dayton Daily News reported that CBS Corporation would be selling Carowinds and other parks in its Paramount Parks division. [1]

On May 22, 2006, Cedar Fair announced it would acquire Carowinds, along with the rest of the parks owned by Paramount, for a price of $1.24 Billion USD. [2]

On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair, L.P. announced it completed the acquisition of Paramount Parks, including Paramount's Carowinds. [3]

1 Current Roller Coasters
2 Past Roller Coasters
3 Ride/Attraction Timeline
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Current Roller Coasters

Borg Assimilator, formerly Stealth at Paramount's 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

[edit] Past Roller Coasters

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

[edit] Ride/Attraction Timeline

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.
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.
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)