CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carowinds saw thousands of visitors for its reopening. The park closed for the first time in its history last year because of COVID-19.

What You Need To Know

  • Carowinds opened in 1973

  • It's one of the largest employers of seasonal workers in N.C.

  • For the first time in its history, COVID-19 forced the park to close for the whole season in 2020

 

According to Jerry Helms, the park’s vice president of operations, the park is one of the largest employers of seasonal workers in the state.

Because there were no guests last year, there wasn’t a need for more than 2,000 employees, many of them college students.

"We had all those kids we would bring up, and they would have the opportunity to earn money for school and clothes, and it broke my heart," Helms said.

In previous years, the park has closed for a day or a week because of bad weather, but the park had never experienced anything like COVID-19.

"We dealt with Hurricane Hugo, and we were closed for a weekend to clean up the park, but we did and we bounced back," Helms said. For this, you collaborate with your procedures for COVID. We did all that. We worked on that. We just had to wait for the time to open up. There was no magic formula."

For Helms, this reopening means a lot. He’s been working at the park since it opened in 1973 and is retiring next month. He met his wife at the park, and says it’s time to spend more time with his family.

He’ll do his final walk through of the park with his family on June 4.

Carowinds is now open for the season. Click HERE for updates on COVID-19 procedures and schedule.

* 2020 season closure was first in park's history