The Interpreter Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Today, I stopped by at Carowinds. Some observations: * The mountain, stars and the word Paramount's are all still on the roadside marquee. * The gold lettering with Paramount's Carowinds is still over the entrance building at the North Gate. The metal detectors were there, with about five entry ways open, with ONE guard watching all five! (!?) Hmmm. Never saw Paramount operate this way. The movie stones still line the border on the entry way to the park. * The Paramount's Carowinds black entry sign which stood over the state line has had its top sawed off, so now only the squeezed middle word Carowinds remains. The frame was sawed off, too. * We were told last fall that they would trade your temporary Maxx pass for a permanent pass at the gate. Such was not to be. Instead, I had to stand in line with people buying a season pass at season pass processing (which at Carowinds is inside the gate on the left just after and behind guest relations). With only about 10 guests in front of me, this seemingly simple process held me up about an hour. This is ridiculous. Parking is on the pass, not a sticker. The people in front of and behind me were all pretty less than amused. Several said that regretted having bought passes. One woman was loudly unfavorably comparing the process to Disney's. * Borg: The Assimilator is still closed. * The Southern Star is not ready yet. A ride operator was stationed in front of the obviously closed queue to tell the people the ride was not operational "today." He had no further information. * The Panda Express is still being converted. Tarps and barriers were set up, and were an obvious tripping hazard. * The South Gate looks to be closed for quite some time. * The CBS Cafe and Wings remain. There is no buffet at Wings. Prices have INcreased, and drastically. The four little girls in front of me at the CBS Cafe were SHOCKED when told the total for their four (very small) pieces of pizza and small Coca-Colas. $32 plus some change. $3.39 for a medium (20 oz.) Coke. A large is $3.59. A very small slice of not very good pepperoni pizza is $4.19. Cheese is $3.99. And for all this, the surly clerk didn't even say thank you or kiss my foot or anything! Funnel cakes are $6.19. I saw many, many people leaving the park to eat. * Thunder Road was the roughest that I can ever remember. The wheels seem like they are now triangular. * NO shows, no entertainment of any kind. (Well, there is a meet and greet in Nick...) I believe the shows start in mid-June, and do not play Wednesdays. * The park was the cleanest I have ever seen it, with ecology people everywhere, including in every queue, or so it seemed. That being said, the restrooms (at least the men's, the only ones I visited!), all have a STRONG air freshener scent that made me and many others sneeze! * The Paramount Theater, dark, is now The Carowinds Theater. The words Paramount Theater are still on it, but the steel sign in front has had the Paramount mountain and wording removed. * All ride warning signs are now the Cedar Fair type. * All in park movie advertising had been removed. * The music was still the same soundtrack used by Paramount. * You can still snap on Danny's Phantom Flyers, aka The Flying Eagles. The decals Paramount had applied to them are in very bad shape, peeling and cracking everywhere. * I saw NO new t-shirts or merchandise. The merchandise I did see was all much more expensive than it was last year. The gift shops were so jam packed with merchandise that no one in a wheelchair had the slightest chance of navigating through one. I saw one woman tearfully giving up in frustration. No one with the park offered to help her. * Managers were not, for the most part, wearing ties as had been speculated. Oddly, managers at Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta WERE! * LOUD microphones have been added to every game. I have never heard such insistent or loud hawking anywhere, and I have been to Kings Island. Sigh. * The park was the least busy I have ever seen it on an opening weekend. * I saw a total of about 12 new trash cans. They were red and white with a red logo as seen on the Carowinds website. The old brown cans that Paramount had had had had an abrasive applied to them to remove the mountain and stars decals. (four hads in a row, and makes sense...sometimes I just can't stop myself!) * I saw NO changes in operational methods or spiels. No one was welcomed back with: "Welcome back, you crazy Top Gun riders, how was your ride?" And the guy beside me on one of my Top Gun rides was switching seats after each trip like crazy. He volunteered he had ridden eight times in a row, which was against even Paramount's rules (two successive rides and you are out...and no changing seats unless the park is totally dead, which it was not...) All in all, I am not quite sure what to think. Somehow, I had expected quite a bit more transition that I saw this trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Butcher Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Well, having been recently hired, and seeing some of the things that Cedar Fair Employees are supposed to do at the parks, I am a little shocked at the problems that you encountered! I think that most of the Paramount leftovers that you saw will be devoid at Kings Island and the shows will all be running. Reason being, we open a month later, and Memorial Day weekend two months later than carowinds is. Thats quite a bit of time to make transitions. Although I am sure that much of the Paramount's branding will be left over, Park operations and shop conversion as well as those other miscelaneouses should be taken care of. Given what was discussed with employees atleast during my training session, I have to believe that KI's experience will be quite a bit more polished come opening day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 I think I need to clarify. Other than the CBS Cafe clerk, I saw employees working hard to implement policies and procedures that they have been told to implement. The report is a series of observations. It is up to y'all, this time, to interpret them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Sounds like Cedar Fair isn't going to lower any of the food/drink prices. Also did you ride Carolina Cyclone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 Yes. Seatbelts and all. No big deal. Didn't even really think about it until I read the post here. But then, I travel quite a bit between the belted and non-belted Arrows. I also rode Mindbender the day before, with no seatbelts--that glorious Schwarzkoph ride the day before, over Atlanta way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Unfortunately when dealing with a company that just spent over a billion dollars to acquire some parks, that money has to come from somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 And that's the issue. If these prices are way too high (and I think they are), people will leave the park to eat and spend LESS and the parks will make less. And some people will choose NOT to buy a season pass, and/or to skip the once/twice a year trip and instead go to the pool, movies, watch DVDs, or play video games instead, or even to save up for a Disney trip. Fewer people spending less is not the recipe to pay off loans.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Right. The guests may be paying more per item, but that only means that they will spend less while in the park. With prices like you mentioned, I wouldn`t be surprised if a lot of the locals leave the park for lunch or diner and head up to Kings Mills Road where there are a lot of fast food places which are more economical for families. They will be making more money off of fewer guests. The question is, will they make the same amount of revenue as they did before they raised the prices, or will the decreased demand due to the higher price result in them actually making less money then had they left the prices alone. It will be interesting to see if Kings Island`s food prices increase as dramatically as what Carowinds did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Keep in mind, those sound alot like last years drink prices? Maybe they are keeping what CBS started last year. It seemed to work last year. But I'll guess we'll find out soon what they will be at KI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Yeah, the drink prices sound about the same. But the price per slice of pizza seems really high compared to what the cost was last year at KI. I know I bought pizza by the slice last year and don`t recall the price, but I know it wasn`t quite that steep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuskin Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 To be honest with you the only really thing im worried about are the larosa's pizza prices and the funnel cake prices. I usually just get water cause its free, as long as i can get out of the park in under 20 bucks for the whole day on food, and I like my food lol then im happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 i have a bad feeling about opening day at KI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Did they at least have the $0.25 cotton candy? We all know what a big deal CF made over that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Picard Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 If I remember correctly last year CP lowered prices and KI raised. With them getting to look at what worked better with buying Paramount Parks it must have been higher prices. If you have a bad feeling about opening day at KI you need to lower your expectations. It's this way every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLorean Rider Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 I went to Carowinds yesterday and BORG was indeed open. Myself and our group others rode it several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuskin Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 well at least your guys's ride is back up and running. Thats always a plus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 I left the park around 2 yesterday. I'm glad to hear they got Borg running again (and would have stayed just to ride one of my favorite rides anywhere!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griffon Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 So this if my first time browsing this board, and I was interested in how supportive the Kings Island faithful would be about Cedar Fair taking over. I'm a little surprised about the amount of negativity here, and while I understand complaints about food prices, etc... it doesn't sound like Carowinds has even changed that much aside from some signage and a few minor policies. I also feel like it would be very difficult to have a good time at any amusement park if you're so focused on all those little details such as "Managers were not, for the most part, wearing ties..." Does that really have an impact on anyone's day at a theme park? I may not be supportive of all the new changes and policies myself, but it does sound for the most part like Cedar Fair is attempting to turn some of these smaller parks around and put more into it that Paramount would have at this point. It definitely won't happen overnight, but it should be a step in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 BEFORE you chime in saying that was negativity, you might want to read a LOT of posts. You won't find stronger supporters of Cedar Fair and of CBS being gone than on this board. And as one who has visited Carowinds many, many times, I notice changes that other, perhaps younger, guests may not notice while at the park, but wonder about later. Similar statements are appearing many places since yesterday's opening of Kings Dominion, which by all accounts was very similar. Much less transition than was expected by many. You are the one who apparently thinks this is a negative. Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. How to interpret that is all in the eyes of the ticket or season pass buyer...and I can assure you, people make decisions to go or not to go to a park based on many, many factors, not all of which they are even aware of. Welcome aboard, but you might want to consider spending some time learning to "interpret" my posts. There's much between the lines for those who want to do so. Also note that by posting to that thread, you have brought it back into the most recently posted threads category, bringing it more attention. In closing, I note that a short statement about uniforms was present...you might want to go back and consider that in June....or August. And some do make mountains out of things that really ought to be coaster hills, if image is important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 So this if my first time browsing this board, and I was interested in how supportive the Kings Island faithful would be about Cedar Fair taking over. I'm a little surprised about the amount of negativity here, and while I understand complaints about food prices, etc... it doesn't sound like Carowinds has even changed that much aside from some signage and a few minor policies. I also feel like it would be very difficult to have a good time at any amusement park if you're so focused on all those little details such as "Managers were not, for the most part, wearing ties..." Does that really have an impact on anyone's day at a theme park? I may not be supportive of all the new changes and policies myself, but it does sound for the most part like Cedar Fair is attempting to turn some of these smaller parks around and put more into it that Paramount would have at this point. It definitely won't happen overnight, but it should be a step in the right direction. I think a bit more browsing may be in order to avoide posts that do not accurately affect the mood and opinions on the board, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Butcher Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 He's guilty as charged! Can we get a Jack Nicholson "you cant handle the truth" reference in here real quick...please?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 BEFORE you chime in saying that was negativity, you might want to read a LOT of posts. You won't find stronger supporters of Cedar Fair and of CBS being gone than on this board. And as one who has visited Carowinds many, many times, I notice changes that other, perhaps younger, guests may not notice while at the park, but wonder about later. Similar statements are appearing many places since yesterday's opening of Kings Dominion, which by all accounts was very similar. Much less transition than was expected by many. You are the one who apparently thinks this is a negative. Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. How to interpret that is all in the eyes of the ticket or season pass buyer...and I can assure you, people make decisions to go or not to go to a park based on many, many factors, not all of which they are even aware of. Welcome aboard, but you might want to consider spending some time learning to "interpret" my posts. There's much between the lines for those who want to do so. Also note that by posting to that thread, you have brought it back into the most recently posted threads category, bringing it more attention. In closing, I note that a short statement about uniforms was present...you might want to go back and consider that in June....or August. And some do make mountains out of things that really ought to be coaster hills, if image is important. You did come off to be a little negative so give the new person a break. Also do you have any pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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