Carowinds Announces WindSeeker
Yesterday, Carowinds made their 2012 announcement as they unveiled WindSeeker. It will basically be a super-sized version of the old school amusement park swing rides. With a height of 301 feet, Carowinds has dubbed it “The Tallest Ride at Carowinds”. Park vice president, Bart Kinzel noted how cool it will be to be able to look down at Intimidator. He also noted that the ride will have comfortable seats like Intimidator. Once riders are lifted to the top, they’ll be spun at 30 mph for about 1 minute where they’ll have an excellent view of the Charlotte skyline and the rest of the area. To add to the experience, Windseeker will feature a variety of songs and it will boast LED lights that will enhance night riding. Windseeker will be built near the entrance of the Snoopy Starlight Experience. To get a better idea of what this ride will be like see a video and read reviews of the WindSeekers at other Cedar Fair parks.
The 2012 Guessing Game
The park had pretty much clued in fans with hints that they revealed via QR codes. Once the QRs were scanned the resulting images could be pieced together to make a line from “The Hobbit” that referred to wind. The Wright Brothers theme of the teaser and the press invite had me wondering if they might be throwing us a curve ball or at least giving us a WindSeeker with a different theme, but that wasn’t the case. And those mysterious “HUSS GF” stakes and the “GCI” stakes that appeared and then disappeared, may have been a way to get a sense of what enthusiasts thought of those rides. They could be in the park’s future plans or they could just been having some fun with us. Only time will tell.
My Take
With Carowinds long term plans of becoming a true destination theme park, they’ll need rides like WindSeeker to help round out their lineup. While I’d love to see another roller coaster, the park has a pretty strong roster and received a lot of local and regional attention from Intimidator. It’s probably a smart move to build more family attractions like they have with Snoopy Starlight and now WindSeeker. As a park official shared, they feel that WindSeeker falls in the middle of a thrill ride and a family ride. From the reviews of the other WindSeekers, it sounds like that’s an accurate statement. I’m more of a roller coaster guy, but I’m really looking forward to night rides because of the cool LED lights.
I’ll have images from the media event and my appearance on Fox Charlotte up shortly. For now, you can see more about the ride at the Carowinds WindSeeker page. Here’s a video of Carowinds WindSeeker:
Appearance on Fox Charlotte
Here’s a video of Fox Charlotte interviewing myself, Bryn from the park, and some other theme park fans: Fox Charlotte Previews Carowinds 2012 Announcement. It was fun joining Wilson and doing a call back to an earlier appearance. Hearing Anna do a roller coaster scream while embarrassing Derek was pretty funny. Luckily, Derek was a good sport.
What’s Your Take?
What do you think of the announcement of Carowinds WindSeeker for 2012? Leave a comment below and vote in the poll.
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August 25, 2011 at 04:02
I took me a second to remember that the video was about The Windseeker, not The Intimidator. When the camera went under the track I was thinking, 'Wait a second, isn't it supposed to follow the train?' Then I remembered the title of the video.
August 25, 2011 at 06:34
These Windseekers do seem fun. I haven't been on one yet, but it seems like every park is getting one now so that won't be long. A coaster would've been nice, but there's always next year.
August 26, 2011 at 03:21
And next year, or the year after next year, 2013, is the park's 40th Anniversary so fans are expecting something big that year. Or at least something to go with a milestone year.
August 25, 2011 at 06:46
0Is it me or does windseeker in the video go up much faster than they do at other parks?
August 25, 2011 at 08:31
It's a good fit for the park overall and a good location too, should help draw crowds to that area of the park. On a side note, if they're truly wanting to make this a destination park I ask for more shade tree's. The park feel's under landscaped in area's.
August 25, 2011 at 09:36
If I had a choice whether to build a WindSeeker or a Star Flyer, I'd choose WindSeeker because of the LED night show.
August 25, 2011 at 14:21
Aww. I was hoping for a Huss Frisbee. This stinks. Oh well, at least WindSeeker looks pretty cool.