Carowinds adding a roller coaster and another ride in big expansion of kids’ area
In its first major investment since the mega-merger of Cedar Fair and Six Flags, Carowinds is adding and improving family-friendly rides.
Two new attractions — a roller coaster and an interactive raft ride — will open next year in Camp Snoopy, Carowinds said Wednesday. Camp Snoopy is the name of the children’s area of the 400-acre amusement park that straddles the border of North and South Carolina in Charlotte and Fort Mill, S.C.
Other Camp Snoopy improvements include a new splash play zone area and remodeled Camp Store for meet-and-greets with Peanuts costume characters.
The announcement comes a month after Cedar Fair and Six Flags finalized their $8 billion merger that brings the amusement park’s new company’s headquarters to Charlotte. Cedar Fair had owned and operated Carowinds since 2006 after purchasing it from Paramount for $1.2 billion.
The latest planned attractions allow families to ride and play together in an immersive experience, Manny Gonzalez, Carowinds vice president and general manager, said in a statement. “These new features will transform Camp Snoopy into more than just a place to play and cool off. It will become a destination,” Gonzalez said.
Carowinds said this is “the largest investment in family attractions in the park’s history” — but refused to say how much money the changes will cost.
In 2018, Carowinds debuted its expanded kids’ area with several new rides and improvements. The park also changed the name from Planet Snoopy to Camp Snoopy.
What’s new at Camp Snoopy?
The new Camp Snoopy attractions opening in the 3-acre children’s play area at Carowinds are:
▪ Snoopy’s Racing Railway: The family-friendly steel launch coaster accelerates from 0 to 31 mph in seconds with dips and turns, Carowinds said.
▪ Charlie Brown’s River Raft Blast: The eight-seater boat has on-board and onshore water cannons, so riders can spray other boats as they navigate the river channel with Peanuts characters swimming, floating and splashing.
Other improvements at Camp Snoopy are:
▪ Splash Play Zones: The new splash play zone areas feature plenty of shade and water features.
▪ Camp Store: Meet Peanuts costume characters in the newly remodeled indoors and air-conditioned camp-themed area with rustic log benches around a fire pit.
Amusement park merger updates in Charlotte
The merged company operates as Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and has its headquarters at 8701 Red Oak Blvd. in Charlotte about 5 miles northeast of Carowinds.
The headquarters with about 140 employees has been growing over the past few years, Six Flags Entertainment spokesman Gary Rhodes told The Charlotte Observer last month. “We anticipate that will continue to be the case as we move through the integration and beyond.”
About 120 people in finance and administrative operations continue to work in Sandusky, Ohio, where Carowinds’ parent Cedar Fair was formerly based.
No decision has been made about the future of the former Six Flags Arlington, Texas, headquarters office, Rhodes said. The integration of the companies is expected to take two years.
Cedar Fair has about 4,400 full-time employees and 48,800 seasonal ones, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. Six Flags, based in Arlington, Texas, has about 1,450 full-time employees and 41,000 seasonal employees.
There are no plans to change park names or branding.
“At this time, we do not anticipate making any major changes at the park level or across the broader organization during the busy summer season,” Rhodes said.
Park pricing also isn’t expected to change because of the merger. “We do not anticipate any immediate changes to our pricing, ticket options or season passes,” Rhodes said.
And last month, Carowinds kicked off its Summer Music Fest Amplified by Coke Studio at its amphitheater, The Paladium with a lineup of artists like LeAnn Rimes, Bret Michaels, Flo Rida and Sugar Ray. It had been nine years since the park held a “mainstream” show.
Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.
