The only amusement park to straddle a border. Carowinds is located on the North Carolina-South Carolina border near Charlotte, NC and is home to such roller coasters as Nighthawk, Afterburn, and Intimidator. Carowinds was owned by Paramount from 1993 to 2006, when Paramount sold its theme parks to Cedar Fair.
The NC-SC border divides the amusement park almost in half, though it occupies slightly more land in South Carolina. Nighthawk, Carolina Goldrusher, Carolina Cobra, and (most famously) Thunder Road are the only roller coasters to be located in more than one state. The two sides of Thunder Road, a racing wooden coaster, are named North Carolina and South Carolina, though both sides actually have track in both states (the ride's station is in South Carolina and its turnaround is in North Carolina).
Nighthawk, a Vekoma Flying Dutchman is unique in that was the first ever "flying roller coaster." It opened as Stealth at (then-named) Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara, California in 2000. In 2004, it was relocated to (then-named) Paramount's Carowinds, rethemed to Star Trek, and renamed BORG Assimilator. Shortly after Cedar Fair acquired the park, it was again repainted and renamed Nighthawk.
Carolina Cyclone, built in 1980 by Arrow Dynamics, was the first roller coaster in the world to flip riders upside-down four times.

Today, it is overshadowed in the park by the six-inversion Afterburn and in the world by numerous five-, six-, seven-, eight-, and even ten-inversion coasters.
Intimidator, the park's newest coaster as of 2010, now serves as Carowinds's premier ride. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard of Switzerland, Intimidator is themed to the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt. It stands 232 feet (71 m) tall and reaches speeds of up to 80 mph (129 kmh). Intimidator is the third B&M hypercoaster to use the new staggered seating (previously seen on Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, ON and Diamondback at Kings Island near Cincinatti, OH) and is the sister coaster of Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion near Richmond, VA.
Afterburn, a 1999 B&M inverted coaster, opened under Paramount ownership as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster. TG:TJC was the tallest, longest, and fastest of the four Top Gun attractions (the other three being Top Gun at Paramount's Kings Island, an Arrow suspended coaster, Top Gun at Paramount Canada's Wonderland, a Vekoma SLC (Suspended Looping Coaster), and Top Gun at Paramount's Great America, a smaller B&M inverted coaster). After the Cedar Fair acquisition, all the Top Gun coasters were renamed Flight Deck, except Carowinds's Top Gun: The Jet Coaster, which was renamed Afterburn. It is widely considered one of the best inverted coasters in the world.
Each fall, Carowinds becomes SCarowinds for its annual Halloween event.

Carowinds by amongstthehasbeens July 16, 2010

Related Words

cakow • cakewalk • Cakewalker • CAKEwell • cakework • Carowinds • CATOWL • Cacow • cadow • Cajkowskis

yeahyeahyeah wowie capowie

A celebratory exclamation, usually delivered with a squeaky or high-pitched intonation.

The last word--capowie--can never be spelled with a K. Ever. That would just be silly.

Larry: Oh my god!

Leslie: What is it, Larry?

Larry: I just got a new high score in Robot Unicorn Attack!

Leslie: YEAHYEAHYEAH WOWIE CAPOWIE!

yeahyeahyeah wowie capowie by thegewddoctor January 11, 2011

Calow

A person who is amazing, fantastic and beautiful. A true legend. A calow should be treated with respect and admiration by others at all times.

You have to love her, she's a Calow.

Calow by Anonymous_2408 September 22, 2012

cakewalk

A mixture of the expressions "a piece of cake" and "a walk in the park". Used to describe a task that is extremely, ridiculously friggin easy.

"Compared to the math class I had last semester, psych seminar should be a cakewalk."

cakewalk by Kairuka January 27, 2005

cakewalked

To be intoxicated, drunk or messy.

"Man you were fuckin cakewalked last night!"

cakewalked by drchr1s December 14, 2008

al capowned

Combination of owned and gangster Al Capone. It's just a clever (sorta) way of saying you owned someone.

Headshot! AL CAPOWNED, BITCH!!!

al capowned by progamer124 February 11, 2005

Galantir

A group of people, typically women, searching through someone’s digital footprint in order to find more information about that person.

Susie wasn’t sure if her new Hinge match was a creep, so she assembled Galantir and they found out he used to post slurs on gaming forums.

Galantir by Ge-sus September 22, 2026

Word of the Day on September 23, 2026

murderhobo

In a tabletop game, a murderhobo is a player who murders NPCs indiscriminately. This is normally derogatory, referring to a player who totally ignores quests, dialog, backstory, trade, world building etc.

The term is most common with Dungeons and Dragons, but it can be applied to most RPGs where the player is allowed to kill most quest-giving NPCs and NPC traders. E.g. Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Divinity original sin.

DM: The sad little orphan girl tugs at Steve's trenchcoat to get his attention, and ask for help saving her pet dog from...
Steve: I'd like to roll a strength check against strangling the orphan.
Dave: I call dibs on the dog.
DM: You murderhobos disgust me.

murderhobo by Loup&S September 9, 2021

Word of the Day on September 22, 2026

Whale

In sales terms, a whale is a prospect that is significantly larger than an organization’s average customer.

Whales are large and extremely difficult to close. Due to their immense size, they are highly sought-after.

A whale is typically identified at first by a whale hunter on the sales team, but often requires cross-discipline participation in order to close; this includes assistance from operations, engineering, creative, client success, and business development teams.

"Shit...the sales director chewed me out on the sales call this morning. He's totally pissed that I have nothing in my pipeline. I've been focused on this one whale for so long that I haven't had time to prospect for normal-sized deals."

Whale by FQ_GFY February 3, 2020

Word of the Day on September 21, 2026

Concrete cowboy

A guy who thinks he's a country kinda guy, but in reality lives a comfortable city / suburban life.

Eugene: Look at that dude in the cowboy hat!
Todd: He's just a concrete cowboy.

Concrete cowboy by EugeneJohnson42000 March 16, 2024

Word of the Day on September 20, 2026

hobo loko

any hard liquor that is cheap & potent.. eg. relska, popov, potters, evan williams, kamchatka, fireball, rumpleminze, southern comfort, everclear

hey let's get a drink of that?

go ahead
*takes drink* ugh wtf is that?

everclear & bepsi
fucking hobo loko eeessshh

hobo loko by d i z k o 2 0 8 September 14, 2026

Word of the Day on September 19, 2026

God Shot

A chance happening with profound meaning, an unexpected blessing, a "sign".

Dr. Drew on Celebrity Rehab said "All of a sudden what had been just another Hollywood proposal became for him an unexpected blessing, an opportunity for growth. In drug recovery language, that's called a "God shot."

God Shot by Imogen1564 February 25, 2011

Word of the Day on September 18, 2026