{{Short description|Former monorail at Carowinds amusement park}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox Public transit |name = Carowinds Monorail |image = Carowinds monorail.jpg |imagesize = |locale = [[Carowinds]], [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], [[United States]] |transit_type = straddle-beam [[Monorail]] |began_operation = June 2, 1973 |ended_operation = August 1994 |system_length = {{convert|2|mi|km|2|abbr=on}} |lines = 1 |vehicles = |stations = |ridership = 7,000 |track_gauge = |reporting marks = |operator = |owner = |average_speed = {{convert|18|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} |top_speed = }} The '''Carowinds Monorail''' was a [[monorail]] at the [[Carowinds]] [[amusement park]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], [[North Carolina]]. Opening on June 2, 1973, it existed solely for entertainment, not transportation, as it had only one station. The ride was closed in August 1994, and relocated to the Vidafel Mayan Palace resort in [[Acapulco]].
==History== The Carowinds Monorail was built by [[Universal Mobility Incorporated]] and opened on June 2, 1973, with both [[Governor of North Carolina]] [[James Holshouser]] and [[Governor of South Carolina]] [[John C. West]] present for the inaugural ride.<ref name="August 23, 1994">{{cite news | last =Pendergrast | first =Lolo | title =Carowinds retires monorail attraction | page =1C | work =The Charlotte Observer | date =August 23, 1994}}</ref> The {{convert|2|mi|km|adj=on}} ride traveled at an average speed of {{convert|18|mph|km/h}} and took 10 minutes and 14 seconds to complete.<ref name="August 23, 1994"/> Originally, the monorail was to have connected the park with a hotel that was never built.<ref name="Hotel">{{cite web|title=Carowinds Celebrates 36 Years of Providing Family Entertainment |publisher=Carowinds |url=http://www.carowinds.com/news/detail.cfm?item_id=183 |accessdate=January 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104020813/http://www.carowinds.com/News/detail.cfm?item_id=183 |archivedate=January 4, 2009 }}</ref> The attraction would reach a peak of 500,000 riders in 1982, only to fall in subsequent years resulting in its closure in August 1994.<ref name="August 23, 1994"/> At the time of its closure, the monorail had a daily ridership of 7,000.<ref name="Ridership">{{cite web | title =Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual | publisher =Kittelson & Associates, Inc. | date =January 1999 | url =http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_webdoc_6-a.pdf | accessdate =January 26, 2010|format=PDF}}</ref> Its deconstruction would commence in November 1994 and be complete by December.<ref name="November 3, 1994">{{cite news | last =Pendergrast | first =Lolo | title =At age 21, monorail goes south | page =1Y | work =The Charlotte Observer | date =November 3, 1994}}</ref> The deconstructed monorail was then shipped to [[Acapulco]], [[Mexico]], by way of [[barge]] and reassembled in 1995 at the Vidafel Mayan Palace resort.<ref name="November 3, 1994"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Carowinds}} {{USpplmver}}
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in North Carolina]] [[Category:Passenger rail transportation in South Carolina]] [[Category:History of Charlotte, North Carolina]] [[Category:Fort Mill, South Carolina]] [[Category:Monorails in the United States]] [[Category:Railway lines opened in 1973]] [[Category:Railway lines closed in 1994]] [[Category:Amusement rides introduced in 1973]] [[Category:Amusement rides closed in 1994]] [[Category:Carowinds]] [[Category:Entertainment monorails]] [[Category:Defunct monorails]] [[Category:1973 establishments in North Carolina]] [[Category:1973 establishments in South Carolina]] [[Category:1994 disestablishments in North Carolina]] [[Category:1994 disestablishments in South Carolina]]