USA: Carowinds Announces New Double Launch Coaster for 2019 Season

Located in Charlotte/North Carolina, Cedar Fair group’s Carowinds amusement park has announced to build a new launch coaster, which is set to open in the upcoming 2019 season under the name “Copperhead Strike“, offering thrilling ride fun for guests. The coaster will feature three trains, designed as “coupe” oldtimer cars from the 1930s, offering space for 16 passengers each. According to the storyline, riders find themselves chased by a copperhead snake and they take their oldtimer cars to get away, racing through rolling farmland. Right out of the station, the train rushes through a Jojo roll, before passing the first of two launch sections followed by a 360-degree loop, moving into a series of near-miss twists and turns. Without slowing down, the ride launches a second time to accelerate into a hang time loop, the third of five inversions.

“Copperhead Strike“ will be the main attraction of the “Blue Ridge Junction“ theme area, an approx. three hectare (seven acres)-large site which is currently redesigned to receive a new theming featuring the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains area with its majestic beauty and easy-going culture. With two launch sections, the new attraction, which will be supplied by Germany’s Mack Rides, will be unique in the “Carolinas”. Besides the coaster, the area will also feature a newly-designed restaurant. Other novelties scheduled to open during the 2019 season at Carowinds are a 130-room hotel (SpringHill Suites by Marriott at Carowinds) and a new dormitory to house students from across the region and around the world, allowing the park to develop programs such as a full internship for travel and tourism students. These features, along with the new rollercoaster and themed area, encompass the largest investment in the park since its opening in 1973. (eap)