originally posted on 4/10/2019
A drizzly, cold day awaited 184 ACE members and their guests on February 23, 2019, for the eighth annual Winter Warm Up. This year the event was held at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, thankfully inside the park’s amazing Harmony Hall. The event started off with ACE Southeast Regional Rep Josh Herrington welcoming those in attendance and introducing Pat Jones, park president. She thanked everyone for being there and briefly talked about the upcoming “birth of her new baby,” Copperhead Strike, which she said was in the “Braxton-Hicks” phase of pregnancy. After the formal welcome and introductions were over, ACE President Robert Ulrich was up first to update everyone on all of the latest ACE information for 2019. He closed his presentation speaking about Give Kids The World and how the Coasting for Kids 2019 event helps support this special place.
Carowind’s GM Pat Jones welcomed ACE attendees.
Photo: Josh Herrington. View full-sized image.
Next up was the always entertaining duo from Alabama Adventure, Michael Schwitek and Dan Koch. They spoke about the continued rise of the Bessemer, Alabama, park under the Koch’s ownership and the three new additions for 2019. Knowing their crowd, they asked for suggestions about what type of coaster the park should add next. The two options presented were met with equal praise from attendees, which just made the results “even more confusing than before,” according to a giddy Dan. Someone suggested the park add both coasters, a remark that was met with huge cheers from the audience and laughter from Koch and Schwitek. At the end of their presentation, the park graciously presented all in attendance with a souvenir mug for those free drinks in the park and a free admission ticket so they could use the mug.
Jeff Filicko of Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio spoke about the successful addition of their Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth coaster last year. The park also had the honor of opening the first new ride of 2019, Pirates of the Deep Sea, at midnight on January 1 during a New Year’s celebration in the park. Filicko went on to tease everyone about the ongoing changes to the park, including year-round operation, new bathrooms, new paint on the waterslides and a host of other items throughout the park, including their fastest ride ever: Joker Carnival of Chaos. This ride will swing passengers at 75 mph, and at 170 feet tall, will be the tallest of its kind.
Six Flags Over Georgia’s Divina Mims talked about all the Austell park is working on during the offseason, including new paint on Georgia Scorcher and the transformation of some of the current Lickskillet section into the new Screampunk section. The new area is highlighted by the addition of Pandemonium, a giant swinging pendulum ride. The reuse of some of the existing structures from the old Thomas Town section is making theming the area a little easier when adding gears and cogs to them. Neighboring buildings that house games and restaurants will all be incorporated into this new area and the modern industrial meets funky steam punk genre will look amazing once completed.
Public relations VP extraordinaire Pete Owens was on hand to talk about Dollywood (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee) and the continued construction of the park’s new Wildwood Grove area. Time-lapse videos shown narrowed down the Dragon Flier construction to four and a half minutes as well as gave an overview of the storyline and theming of the new area. He spoke about the park’s plan to refurbish 1,800 feet of Thunderhead’s track over three years, starting with the first 600 feet this off-season. He also spoke about Lightning Rod, its past performance issues and how the park has invested thousands of hours of work into getting this incredible attraction running consistently and up to the park’s reliability and safety standards. He reminded everyone of the park’s coaster event Thrills in the Hills (scheduled for July 13) and the ACE event Smoky Mountain Coasterfest (scheduled for November 16). Several questions closed out the presentation shortly after Owens gave everyone an update on the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives.
Carowinds finished out the presentation portion of the event as the park’s Public Relations Director Lisa Stryker gave an overview of the park’s 2019 season, including the all new Blue Ridge Junction, the new hotel coming in the fall, the new employee dorms currently under construction, and, of course, Copperhead Strike. The park also confirmed what many had speculated, that Rip Roarin’ Rapids, the park’s rapids ride, was being retired. After her part of the presentation was over, Stryker turned the floor over to Steve Jackson, the park’s director of maintenance and construction, to answer any questions that the attendees might’ve had.
At the completion of the Q&A session, a delicious lunch consisting of the newest menu offerings from Blue Ridge Country Kitchen was served. Attendees were able to sample the incredible new menu items consisting of assorted flatbreads, rotisserie chicken wings, smoked brisket sliders, numerous vegetables and delicious desserts.
Following the meal, door prizes were given and one lucky winner received an all-expenses paid trip to Six Flags Over Georgia courtesy of Amuse Rides. The company will fly the winner to the park, put them up in a hotel, pay for their meals, and then let them get suited up to become part of the construction crew for the day. They will climb the lift hill of the park’s Great American Scream Machine and help with some maintenance items like replacing a few wood and track sections. Talk about an ACEer’s dream come true!
A construction tour of Carowinds’ new Copperhead Strike closed out the incredible day. Everyone on the tour was able to get up close with the newly renovated area as well as ask questions about the ride and its fan favorite neighbor, The Mountain Gliders. Once everyone had their cameras full of photos and all their questions answered, attendees headed back to Harmony Hall to say their goodbyes.
Photo: Josh Herrington. View full-sized image.
Photo: Josh Herrington. View full-sized image.
Thanks to everyone in attendance who helped set a Winter Warm Up attendance record and a huge, special thank you to the park representatives who gave up a Saturday of their time to talk to coaster lovers about everything old and new. Special thanks go to Carowinds and its amazing staff for ensuring that everyone had an amazing time. ACE couldn’t do these kinds of things without the support of all of the parks, and for that members are eternally grateful.
— Josh Herrington
ACE Southeast regional representative
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