Carowinds offically opened for the 2008 season yesterday and Carowinds Zone sent a representive to the park to bring us back an update.

Changes

~Hurler has a red train now

~Happy Days Diner is now Jukebox Diner

~The BORG Sphere is GONE

~YoYo opened in the County Fair

More coming later this afternoon.

Also, you can see Yo Yo in action, http://www.carowindszone.com/yoyo.php

Awesome update Roller Nut, can't wait to hear about the changes.

-Gordon Bombay, who SHOULD have been at Carowinds today, and Dominion tomorrow...

Great pictures rollernut!

Great pictures, indeed. Tell 'em that Super Saturator is still there!

And what were the food prices like?

Great pictures nice to see that Coke is still at the old Paramount Parks still. Any pictures of the new ride logos?

Yes, Saturator is still there, but it is closed until May. As a matter of fact it and Taxi Chase got new paint(same colors).

New Nighthawk logo

Flyers got repainted

AFX got a new name and logo

That means that the flyers that used to be at Kings Island have been painted two times since they were moved to Carowinds in 2005! At least they are keeping good care of the ride down there!

Actually, there's more decals than paint...at least last time....

Still, they are taking good care of the eagles.

A little tidbit. When LeSourdsville Lake sold off their Eagles, Coney actually had placed a bid on them. But, they were outbid, and so the Eagles never migrated down to Coney, unfortunately.

I like how you can't even tell that the Juke Box Diner sign was changed from Happy Days Diner.

Yes, I agree. The Juke Box sign looks good. I`m actually kind of surprised that they made the Juke Box portion in neon lights to match the Diner portion of the sign. I can only hope that Kings Island`s sign is the same way. Apparently, several of the attractions were logoless at Carowinds, including Afterburn and Drop Tower. From pictures that were posted on Screamscape, those attractions had their old logos removed, but did not yet have the new logos in place.

It would be interesting to see how high the food prices have risen from last year.

It will also be interesting to see if either the food quality, the service or both has improved even a little bit...

Is Thunder Road operating both sides forward? Kings Dominion'd John Pagel said that both sides will be operating forward this year on the Rebel Yell, along with Thunder Road and Racer.

Yes, I agree. The Juke Box sign looks good. I`m actually kind of surprised that they made the Juke Box portion in neon lights to match the Diner portion of the sign. I can only hope that Kings Island`s sign is the same way. Apparently, several of the attractions were logoless at Carowinds, including Afterburn and Drop Tower. From pictures that were posted on Screamscape, those attractions had their old logos removed, but did not yet have the new logos in place.

It would be interesting to see how high the food prices have risen from last year.

I think the Juke Box sign is a good sign that CF is not doing things "on the cheap" or "half a$$ed."

The fact that there are still some signs missing leads me to believe they are doing those right as well.

Things seem to be looking up for the former Paramount Parks.

^Why do you think they payed through the nose to get them? So they can kill or close them?

I bet that every decision they make with the former Paramount Parks will be for the better.

And even if it's turning a very popular ride into an ordinarey ride (you know what I'm talking about), it's probably to save money, so they can finance a new restraunt, paint job, or even new ride!

Quite frankly, I am totally at a loss why Cedar Fair paid as much as they did for the Paramount Parks. I am sure CBS didn't mind getting that much money, though!

Carowinds calls March to June, their preseason. During "Preseason", they generally don't have the park 100% ready to go.

Great to see some fresh pictures from Carowinds! Glad things are going well there

Carowinds offically opened for the 2008 season yesterday and Carowinds Zone sent a representive to the park to bring us back an update.

Changes

~Hurler has a red train now

~Happy Days Diner is now Jukebox Diner

~The BORG Sphere is GONE

~YoYo opened in the County Fair

More coming later this afternoon.

Also, you can see Yo Yo in action, http://www.carowindszone.com/yoyo.php

what did borg's sphere have in it that needed service stairs to get in it?

Thunder Run is not open at this time. They are still working on it.

Thunder Run is not open at this time. They are still working on it.

You mean Thunder Road....Thunder Run is at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, and will be the ONLY wooden coaster operating in that park this summer....with one train, that will be interesting....

Thunder Run is not open at this time. They are still working on it.

You mean Thunder Road....Thunder Run is at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, and will be the ONLY wooden coaster operating in that park this summer....with one train, that will be interesting....

what happened to twisted twins? and why is thunder run only running one train?

Thunder Run has never had more than one train.

And the area of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom that contains Twisted Twins fka Twisted Sisters and Mile High Falls will not be open to the public this season.

Back to Carowinds, and Thunder Road, parts of which are being rebuilt....

Thunder Run has never had more than one train.

And the area of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom that contains Twisted Twins fka Twisted Sisters and Mile High Falls will not be open to the public this season.

why isn't it opening to the public? and you would think i would know more about a park that isn't very far from where i live.

Six Flags has not said why this section will not be open to the public in 2008. Nor have they said why The Old Country section of Six Flags Great Adventure will not be open to the public in 2008. Stay tuned....

-Gordon Bombay, who SHOULD have been at Carowinds today, and Dominion tomorrow...

Yup, same here. I was hoping to go there with Cory Butcher, but that got cut...

I do love the Nighthawk logo, but I hope they repaint the ride sometime. My guess is a dark purple track with yellow spine, and maybe rails, to match the logo, and black supports.

-Gordon Bombay, who SHOULD have been at Carowinds today, and Dominion tomorrow...

Yup, same here. I was hoping to go there with Cory Butcher, but that got cut...

I do love the Nighthawk logo, but I hope they repaint the ride sometime. My guess is a dark purple track with yellow spine, and maybe rails, to match the logo, and black supports.

My plan had been to go from Athens to Cincy thursday night. Cincy to SFOG friday. SFOG to Carowinds friday night. Carowinds to PKD saturday night. PKD to Cincinnati sunday night. Then Ohio University decided they wanted me to buy new equipment, throwing my finances through a loop.

I think the Juke Box sign is a good sign that CF is not doing things "on the cheap" or "half a$$ed."

Well you can afford such nice signs when you raise your food prices.

Thunder Run is not open at this time. They are still working on it.

I for one find that interesting.

It was said somewhere that Kings Dominion opened with Rebel Yell both facing forwards, and now Thunder Road at Carowinds is opening late, having work done on it.

Intresting...

As stated previously in this very thread, Carowinds is reworking the track and supports for large sections of Thunder Road. At one point, portions of the coaster were missing all the way to the ground level. I wouldn't necessarily read into Thunder Road's not being open that the backwards side is gone this season. I also wouldn't say it is a sign it is not. This work on Thunder Road is far more extensive than that.

As for Rebel Yell, the forwards side opened. The backwards side had a backward facing train sitting in it. All day....it is reported.

^Did the backward side open? Or did it just have a train siting there. ( )