Local

Carowinds rides closed for hours after power outage

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carowinds experienced another power outage Wednesday.

Wednesday’s power glitch happened around 9:30 a.m. as the gates were opening. The outage lasted about six minutes but the rides were down for even longer.

Visitors waited hours for the rides to reopen.

Dominick DiFrancisco and his son arrived at Carowinds just as the gates were opening.

"They wouldn't even let us into the park until about 5 minutes to 10," DiFranciso said.

Chopper 9 flew over the park minutes after the gates reopened.

A Carowinds spokesperson said operators had to check their systems and inspect each ride before allowing anyone on the rides.

"We rode one ride and were, like, ‘Let’s just go home.’ We are season pass holders so we can come another day, but it was disappointing," DiFrancisco said.

Almost three weeks ago, another power outage forced half of the park coasters to suddenly stop.

The power glitch left 17 riders trapped on the WindSeeker ride.

Then, days later, bad underground cables caused another outage.

That problem led to a long line of people looking for refunds.

"Why is it happening? Why is it happening so frequently? ‘Cause you are hearing about it a lot.” parkgoer Devan Gray said.

Gray and his family were excited to get on the thrilling rides Wednesday, but after the third outage this year he’s not so sure.

"People go here to have fun.  If you get stuck on a ride, it's pretty bad," Gray said.

Carowinds officials said they can't control the power issues.

Duke Energy officials said they are trying to determine what went wrong at the substation today.

The unanswered question worries Kristina Maddox.

"That actually scares me a lot ‘cause I think of having the boys on the ride and then it just stops," parkgoer Kristina Maddox said.

Her family had planned to get on the roller coasters today.

Instead, she decided they would only go to the water park until someone determines what's behind the power outage.