History
The Carowinds theme park was originally envisioned as a component of a large resort-type area which would include hotels, a shopping center, a golf course, and a pro football stadium. However, attendance at Carowinds was curtailed by the 1973 oil crisis, and plans for the proposed resort were put on hold. Hall and the other stockholders of the Carowinds Corporation continued to operate the theme park through 1974, though sagging attendance and mounting debt forced the company to sell to Taft Broadcasting in early 1975.
The park was purchased by Paramount Communications in 1993 and joined the Paramount Parks family, after ownership bounced from Taft Broadcast Company to Family Leisure Centers, a joint venture between Taft and Top Value Enterprises), to Kings Entertainment Company, which was the owner at the time of its acquisition by Paramount. The park was renamed Paramount's Carowinds in 1993. Viacom then purchased Paramount in 1994.
The name "Carowinds" was derived from the park's original theme of the history and culture of the Carolinas, and is a portmanteau of "Carolina" and "winds", representing the winds that have blown across the two states. As the park changed ownership over the years, most of the Carolina themes and cultural attractions were dropped in favor of more generic television and movie themes.
Carowinds opens in late March each year and closes in early November, after the park's Halloween event, "Scarowinds". In 2005, a portion of the park reopened during December for the Winterfest Christmas festival. However, the park did not repeat the event in 2006, citing poor attendance. A similar decision was made regarding Kings Island's Winterfest.
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