The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 41

Section (Skrlotte (Stostxvtv Editorials Columns Financial eatures Sunday March 11 1973 18 SHOWS 19 RIDES AND MANY EXHIBITS Carowinds Promises Its Visitors A Lot Opinion BEGEMS "It's the newest most amazing family theme park in the southeast" From a Carowinds publicity brochure By ROGER MIKEAL Observer Stall Writer The brochure promises a lot The public will decide lor itself March 31 the opening date for the $30 million 73-acre park that straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina line For a family of four the opportunity to compare the promises of the brochure with the reality of the park could cost a minimum of about $31 If Carowinds lives up to the descriptions of its advertising men $31 may be a reasonable price to see what the brochure assures is "nowhere you've ever been before" Four visitors to Carowinds could easily spend much more than $31 hnwever depending on what kind of extras they want like souvenirs which range from 10-cfnt trinkets to a large hand-carved German candle that sells for $1500 The minimum cost estimate includes the prices of only the basics: Carowinds admisson tickets parking fees one meal and a light snack for a family of two adults and two youngsters ages 12 and 14 Carowinds admission tickets are $575 for adults and for children 13 and older For children 12 and under tickets are $450 Children under four years old are admitted free For our family of four tickets would cost $2175 The admission ticket allows you to see Carowinds' 13 shows and dozens of exhibits in the park as many times as you want during one day In addition the ticket allows you to ride the park's 19 rides as There are however a few corners that can be cut to slash the $31 figure A family can for instance take a picnic lunch and cut out the $7 meal Picnic facilities are available Also the price of the admission ticket can be cut to $525 for adults and $4 for children when a group of at least 25 persons buys its tickets together with at least 10-days notice to Carowinds officials The park is expected to attract 15 million visitors during its 1973 season Here are some tips on how to get the most for your money Pick a sunny day to visit Carowinds because rain checks aren't given The park will continue to operate even during a gully-washer except where there is a safety factor with a ride You won't have much fun if you're drenched There are however shelters throughout the park to wait out a summer (hundershower and many of the shows are inside buildings Most people probably will drive to Carowinds on Interstate 77 from North Carolina or on US Highway 21 from South Carolina (1-77 becomes US 21 at the state line) There are signs showing where to turn off on to SC Highway 48 to get to the park The South Carolina Highway Department plans to arrange a temporary interchange at US 21 and SC 48 by March 31 opening day Currently at that intersection a section of 1-77 is under construction between the state line and Rock Hill SC You'll then drive out SC 48 to the Carowinds entrance and turn onto Avenue of the Carolinas a six-lane street which Carowinds officials claim can hold 20 0 0 cars bumper-to-bumper without any cars spill CAROWINDS This map shows primary Carolinas' highways leading to the giant amusement park 'As a comparison tickets to Atlanta's giant amusement park Six Flags Over Georgia cost $595 for adults and $495 for children 11 and younger Like the Carowinds ticket the Six Flags ticket allows you to see all the attractions and ride all the rides as often as you want to for one day Next the hypothetical family of four would have to pay a one-day 50-eent parking fee bringing the total cost to $2225 Since the family will spend about eight hours at Carowinds it would probably want to eat one full meal At the Carowinds Country Kitchen a 400-seat cafeteria adults can buy a three-piece chicken dinner with two vegetables bread and a soft drink for $190 tax included The youngsters might want a similar two-piece chicken dinner at $160 The cost of the four meals would be $7 bringing the total cost of the visit to $2925 The family also would probably want to Ret a light afternoon snack They can buy soft drinks for 20 cents and a bag of popcorn for 25 cents For four people that's a total of $180 Now the total cost for the day's visit is $3105 Observer Photo by PHIL DRAKE 'The A Sternwlieeler Will Carry 400 Passengers a Dixieland band will entertain on this 109-foot long boat What You Can See AikI Do many times as you want again during one day ing over into a public highway Attendants will direct you to Carowinds' 6000-car parking Int You'll get out of your car there and wait only several minutes Carowinds officiais promise for a tram a train-like vehicle which will take you to the park entrance without charge At the entrance there will be eight ticket booths You might a id line-waiting by purchasing advance tickets good for any day during the park's open season You can get these tickets by mailing a check or money order to Carowinds along with your neme and address You can pay for your tickets at the entrance with cash or with two kinds of credit cards BankAmericard and Master Charge according to park officials Or you can pay for your tickets with a personal check even from outside the Carolinas with identification such as your driver's license If you must leave the park during the day you can get your hand stamped and return the same day without charge Here's what you'll see and do for your money at Carowinds Plantation Square ornate Southern Mansion with a replica of a main street of the Old South of the 1800s with a waterfront like Old Charleston Queen's Colony exhibit of early colonization of the Carolinas under the influence of British rule Indian Thicket reconstructed Indian village highlighting the history and culture of the Cherokee and the Catawba Indians Country Crossroads life in rural Carolina with a replica of a covered bridge and live farm animals Pirate Island recalls days when pirates roamed the coast of the Carolinas Frontier Oulpost exhibits of pioneer settlers with singing troubadours Contemporary Carolinas features rock bands and a magic show Major Piides at Carowinds include: the Skytower a revolving cabin that takes passengers 300 feet into the air Goldrusher a roliercoaster that goes through the pionecer section and a haunted gold mine the Cable Skyway cable cars pi throughout the park 100 feet in the air "The Carolina" a sternwlieeler "Me'o-d i a an authentic narrow-gauge locomotive and the Powder Keg Flume which is a ride over a waterfall Observer Photo by PHIL DRAKE Cable Cars JJegin And End Trips From This Building this view is from the mine train station uously at a first-aid station which includes an ambulance Park maps will be available at the enlrance for 50 cents but maps will be posted throughout the park so you'll know where you are Inside the entrance is a check-cashing booth where you can cash checks for up to $25 Carowinds officials discourage paying for food in the park with checks because this will tie up lines while identificaton is examined but they won't refuse your money in check form There is an information booth at the entrance if you need help Baby strollers and wheel-chairs are available without charge No pets except for seeing-eye dogs are allowed in the park But for 25 cents you can leave your dog or cat at the park's kennel all day where it will be fed and watched by an attendant Coin-operated lockers like those at airports are available for 25 cenls You could leave a picnic lunch or valuables in the locker The park has no day-care facilities for small children but it docs have a "Lost Par-e building for children separated from their parents The park has a public address system for emergencies a registered nurse is on duty contin ride to be sure they aren't so small that they could fall out of their seats An attendant is stationed at each of these rides and if the child isn't tall enough he won't be permitted to ride Carowinds officials promise that all rides and attractions will be operating on opening day except the Carolinas Heritage Show which will dramatize the history of the Carolinas in a slide show and the park's 25-mile monorail Both attractions are expected Please turn to Page 5D Col 1 Once you're in the park you can go in whatever direction you want to but if you travel in a clockwise direction you can follow the historical attractions in generally chronological order starting at the 10th Century Plantation Square at entrance to Contemporary Carolinas Scattered throughout the park are the various rides which Carowinds officials say are safe Several of the faster rides like the Goldrusher similar to a roller-coaster are restricted to children of a minimum height depending on the THEY'RE SINGING SAM'S SONG What does a second-term North Carolina attorney general have in common with the president of the Chicago Board of Trade? Ask Sam Ervin he'll tell you Bobby Morgan and Henry Hall Wilson both hunger after the 76-year-old Ervin's seat in the Senate But Morgan doesn't want Republican Gov James Holshouser picking a Republican to replace him at least not for long So Morgan will hold on to his state post until August of '74 then quit Holshouser will have to appoint a successor but he'll get to serve only three months until the November elections And Henry Hall Wilson the boy who worked in the 'White House for John Kennedy and then ma'de good in Stockyard City has been making good for so long that voters don't remember him The first advice he got from friends was: "You're making $115000 a year Take it and be happy and forget Carolina politics" That didn't work Next advice "Well if you've just gotta get on back here and let people know who you are" Hall will make a speech to the United Community Services luncheon March 13 It'll be the first time he's been to Charlotte in five years SHANGHAIED Central Piedmont Community colleee President Dr Richard Hagemever traveling in the Far East got some inscrutable looks the other day when he pulled out his American greenbacks The international money situation being what it is nobody wanted them "1 got caught between Singapore Pantr-kok and Hong Kong" Hagemeyer postcarded CPCC friends "with 80 cenls and some travelers checks nobody wanted to cash" Everything worked out okay in the end but said the president who makes $37000 a year "It was a funny feeling to be flat broke again" BIG PAYOFF AT CAROWINDS When Carowinds opens its arms to the public three weeks from now no one will savor the embrace more than Duke Power Co Duke will be sharing in the profits in a big way Duke's subsidiary Crescent Land Timber Corp has already loaned Hall $3 million and gave 1150 acres of land in exchange for part ownership in Carowinds Hall and Crescent will each own 45 per cent of the stock by opening day (Carowinds executives will find the other 10 per cent of the pot set aside for them to buy) Duke Power President Carl Horn Jr says if Carowinds is successful stock will be offered to the public later on and that is where the real gains for Hall and Crescent will be made DINNER BUT NO SHOW Gov and Mrs John West of South Carolina plan to host a quiet reception or dinner at the mansion for the state's POWs who have returned and their wives plus the wives of South Carolinians missing in action who didn't return The Wests will have the affair after the entire issue has been settled and with the idea "to avoid putting the POWs on show" The governor and his wife have worked quietly with POW-MIA groups for some time stra- Restrooms are located tcgicallv throughout the park in each of the "-even historical theme areas You don't have to pay to use them Drinking fountains with chilled water are located near each rest-room facility along with ciga-r 1 1 vending machines and pay telephones 7ricii(ls Sav He'll Switch Parties John Connally Soon And Launch A Presidential Bid By ROLAND LINDSEY United Press International AUSTIN Tex The political cartoon showed a strange beast sitting on a psychiatrist's couch legs crossed one leg a donkey the other an elephant A fatherly man taking notes leaned over his patient and said: "It's okay if you're FOR the two-party system Mr Connally but you just can't BE the two-parly system" John Connally handsome suave silver-haired millionaire who as Lyndon Johnson's political protege was heir apparent to LBJ's tightly-run Texas Democratic Party soon may shed his donkey's leg for the regalia of the national Republicans Texas friends predict he will announce "soon" his switch from Democrat to Republican to lay the ground part of 1973 changing what normally is a deidh' 1 1 nostplecMon no'itH'l reason into a field day for commentators and pundits The man responsible for these boosts is President Nixon Last week speaking at a news conference about yet another Connally fore gn mission dealing with oil and the energy crises Nixon said there was "no better man" for such a diplomatic jaunt In fact Nixon rarely lets an opportunity pass to champion his former Treasury Secretary The President's laudatory remarks very definitely do not go unnoticed by the supporters of Vice President Spiro Agnevv himself an obvious possible candidate to succeed Nixon The President i I conceding Connally went to Saudi Arabia and London recently on private law business said "lie has at my request undertaken some informal discussions Please Turn To Page 51) Col 1 work for a presidential bid in four years "Philosophically he's already crossed the bridge in terms of what the President is trying to do" said LBJ's former press secretary George Christian who also was news secretary for Connally when be was governor of Texas in the mid 1960's "What he has to decide now" Christian added "is if he should change party affiliations or be a nominal Democrat and be out of the current Democratic Party" Connally bolted the party in 1972 to head the Democrats for Nixon nation a 1 organization Some observers believe he burned his bridges to any possible Democratic presidential nomination with that acl and that this unconventional restless 1 i ti i a is mapping his strategy for the 1976 GOP presidential nomination Connally's political prospects have been boosted repeatedly in the first ROOTING OUT WRONG-DOERS The state is going to get you if you don't watch out was the substance of a letter sent out by John Sokol's State Day Care Licensing Board Scanning ads for nursery care the board advised nurseries that if they didn't apply for a license like everybody else it would go bad for them The head of the Tuckaseegee Valley Nursery in Cullowhee was unafraid He returned his letter and scrawled across the bottom: "Sorry buddy we grow trees not children" John Connally.