Carwardine Colony

Carwardine Colony is the flagship park of the Carwardine Parks chain. It is the largest park in the Carwardine Parks chain. It is located in Newport News, Virginia.

Design and construction
During the 1973 oil crisis, real estate agent Christopher R. Carwardine had read an article about a family who were angered that they had to take a 2-hour drive to Lakeside Amusement Park in and continually refuel along the way, which inspired Christopher to feel he could develop his own theme park. In 1975, Christopher registered "Carwardine Colony" as a trademark, and used it for the name of his real estate company (Carwardine Colony Real Estate Inc.) for a few years to keep the trademark while he planned his amusement park.

After a few years of being unable to find a good site in the area, Christopher purchased a disused landfill in  known locally as the "Trash Heap from Hell". Over a 2-year period, the land was cleared & re-developed to create the Carwardine Colony amusement park. The park was mostly financed from Christopher's real estate earnings; as well as insurance money Christopher's police officer brother Jason A. Carwardine received from the when his police cruiser was involved in a head-on collision with a suspect's truck during a police chase outside.

Christopher, his wife Hiroko, and Christopher's college buddy Marv Simpleton helped with constructing the park. Christopher personally spent 12 hours a day, every day to reassemble The Flying Turns, a vintage bobsled coaster that formerly operated in Georgia and Ohio, in it's new location at the park, and Marv spent several days and nights assembling the Carwardine Mines mine train coaster, which was built by Arrow Development, while also working on the theming for the attraction.

In mid-1979, the Carwardines and Simpleton were joined by Dean Joe Fawkes, a wealthy businessman who also wanted to work on an amusement park. As new roller coasters and rides began to be added, the three parties began to hire more and more workers to get the park finished. The, the and  also invested in Carwardine Colony Real Estate Inc. as they had interest in the under-construction theme park as well. An US$15 million advertising campaign produced by the Atlantis Advertising Corporation of was plotted.

Opening
Carwardine Colony, with it's final construction cost estimated at US$121 million, was officially opened on May 25, 1980 by the  of the time, (a rarity for many U.S. theme parks) along with Christopher R. Carwardine and Dean Joe Fawkes. At the time, the park employed 230 employees and operated from Monday to Saturday, with the park being closed on Sundays for maintenance work. Carwardine Colony was described as "Newport News' answer to Disneyland" by the media due to it's ambitions. Reportedly, fellow Virginia theme parks and  were so interested in what their competition was building that staffers from the aformentioned parks would visit the park in disguise to scope it out. It was notable at the time for being one of the very few theme parks in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States where a single admission fee covered unlimited turns on all of the rides and attractions. This admission fee was $10.99 for an adult and $5.23 for a child. The park welcomed 730 guests on it's first day of operation. Within the first four months of operation, Carwardine Colony attracted 340,000 guests and was predicted to be the biggest tourist attraction in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States by the mid-1980s.

and teamed up with Carwardine Colony,  and  to produce the Carwardine Colony Album in 1981.

In 1986, The Carwardine Colony Kids Show, hosted by Christopher R. Carwardine and with an audience of kids from all over the Mid-Atlantic United States, debuted on WYAH-TV, and was produced at the studios in. The series then moved to in 1989 (along with a move from the CBN studios to the Hamptons Mediaplex in, and then later to a purpose-built studio (Carwardine Studios Poquoson Annex) in ) and again to  in 2011.

1980s
The first major post-opening addition came in 1982 with the Classic Cyclone. The Carwardine Hotel opened in 1984.

1990s
For the 1990 season, Carwardine gained the rights to the Simpsons characters for 10 years, it was extended for 5 years and 1 year twice before being sold to Universal Studios.

2000s
In 2008, Carwardine Colony was featured alongside Carwardine's Great America, Six Flags Kings Dominion and in Virginia Tourism Corporation ads featuring the slogan "".

Areas

 * Entrance
 * Coney Island (based on Coney Island in New York City)
 * Kids Kountry (renamed PBS Kids Neighborhood from 2003-2007, name changed back to Kids Kountry in 2007)
 * Mine Shaft
 * Time Machine

Roller coasters

 * American Arrow (1995; a Schwarzkopf Family Looping Coaster; had originally operated under Oscar Bruch on the German fair circuit as Skyline from 1986-1994, originally going to be moved to PBS Kids Neighborhood, before a Premier Rides variant was built) [Coney Island]
 * Carwardine Mines (1980; An Arrow Dynamics mine train roller coaster, original Arrow ride op control panel replaced with a Huss-TechEruo TE-1000 layout back in 2001) [Mine Shaft]
 * City Jet (1990; A Schwarzkopf CityJet/Jet 400 roller coaster; relocated from, trim brakes removed in 1994, repainted in 1998, repainted a second time and renamed Bionic Bunny Blast! from 2003-2007 during the PBS Kids Neighborhood era) [Kids Kountry]
 * Classic Cyclone (1982; A PTC wooden roller coaster; Formerly known as "Cyclone" [1982-1991], damaged by a hurricane in 1996, track rebuilt by CCI after said hurricane and given a transfer track to allow 3 trains, the coaster has 3 trains, 1 "buzz bar" train, 1 "orange restraint" train and 1 GCI Millennium Flyer which replaced one of the original two Buzz Bar trains, only two trains can run at once) [Coney Island]
 * Fast Forward (1980; A Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop coaster, was given replacement parts from Huss-TechEruo in 2015 after several instances of downtime throughout the years) [Time Machine]
 * The Flying Turns (1980; A John Miller Flying Turns bobsled coaster; formerly operated at Rose Park (1972-1977) and (1930-1969); gained an ACE Landmark Award in 2003, often closes for the season a month before the park does) [Coney Island]
 * The Fury (2016; A TOGO stand up roller coaster, relocated from, gained new ST-Replace trains from Huss-TechEruo in 2018) [Mine Shaft]
 * Garfield's Feline Fury (1990; A Mack Rides Powered Coaster, originally known as Rocket Train) [Kids Kountry]
 * Jr. Cyclone (1998; An Allan Herschell kiddie coaster, relocated from ) [Kids Kountry]
 * Ladybug Tivoli (1980; A Zierer Medium Tivoli coaster, repainted from yellow/brown to red/black in 2010) [Kids Kountry]
 * Lasso (1985; An Arrow Dynamics suspended swing roller coaster, originally painted Orange/White, before being painted Silver/Gold in 1995, and then being repainted Orange/Black in 2007) [Mine Shaft]
 * Monstar (1999; A Morgan hyper coaster, it is 277 feet tall) [Coney Island]
 * Nightmare: The Scream Machine (2013; An indoor Gerstlauer bobsled coaster) [Mine Shaft]
 * Nitro Rush (1993; A 210-foot tall Arrow Dynamics looping roller coaster, built as kind of a hybrid between Drachen Fire and Magnum XL-200, part of it retracked by Morgan in 2003)
 * Redwall: Escape from Malkariss (2003; A Bolliger & Mabillard flying roller coaster; damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, track rebuilt by MSC Incorporated following said hurricane; was originally part of Kids Kountry (then PBS Kids Neighborhood) before being annexed into Mine Shaft along with the former Ponyland's footprint) [Mine Shaft]
 * Sagwa's Rickshaw Run (2003; A Premier Rides Steel Coaster deliberately designed with a similar layout to it's Schwarzkopf Family Looping Coaster counterparts at Omaha Luna Park and Alabama's Backyard) [Kids Kountry]
 * Twin Spiral (2004; An Intamin Impulse coaster; clone of Wicked Twister at Cedar Point, but with a different color scheme) [Time Machine]
 * Zero G-Force (2007; A 320-foot tall Intamin Accelerator coaster with an inverted top hat element, has a similar layout to Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure, a net was added below the inverted top hat in 2008 to catch vomit) [Time Machine]
 * Zyclone (2012; a Zamperla spinning roller coaster) [Time Machine]

Flat rides

 * Carousel (1980; originally played calopy music from Capital Records, in 2000, they were replaced with Carwardine's regular stock music tracks) [Coney Island]
 * Carwardine Mover (1980; a one station WedWay PeopleMover across Carwardine Colony, rerouted in 1999 and 2003 for Monstar and Sagwa respectively) [Entrance]
 * Carwardine River Rapids (1988; Intamin River Rapids ride) [Coney Island]
 * Cosmic Avenger (1989; A Zamperla Telecombat ride) [Time Machine]
 * Dropsanity (2021; S&S Spin Shot) [Coney Island]
 * Enterprise (1980) [Time Machine]
 * Himalaya (1980) [Coney Island]
 * Logging Rampage (1980; An Arrow Log Flume, slightly re-routed for Redwall in 2003) [Mine Shaft]
 * Mega Man ZX Double Strike (2007; A Zamperla Hawk 48 ride) [Time Machine]
 * Miner's Scrambler (2021; A Kangaroo flat ride, relocated from Kennywood) [Mine Shaft]
 * Monster (1980; An Eyerly Monster ride) [Mine Shaft]
 * Phoenix Twister (1990; A Huss Condor ride) [Mine Shaft]
 * Pirate (1980; A Huss Pirate Ship ride) [Time Machine]
 * Pool Sharks (1988; A teacups style ride themed to billiard balls) [Coney Island]
 * Sky Tower (1980; A Huss Sky Tower ride) [Entrance]
 * Sky Whirl (1980; A Waagner-Biro/Intamin Sky Whirl dual triple ferris wheel ride, only remaining Sky Whirl in the United States)
 * Square Loop Sky Ride (1980; A Von Roll round trip VR-101 with 4 stations, retracked by Doppelmayr in 2012) [Entrance, Mine Shaft, Time Machine & Coney Island]
 * Super Mario World (1990; A dark ride themed to the "Super Mario" video games, refurbished in 1993 for Super Mario World, 1995 for Yoshi's Island, 1996 for Super Mario 64, 2002 for Super Mario Sunshine, 2007 for Super Mario Galaxy and 2017 for Super Mario Odyssey) [Mine Shaft]
 * Surf's Up! (2007; A Zamperla Disk'O ride with a surfing theme) [Coney Island]
 * Twister (1980; Mack Swing-Bob ride) [Coney Island]
 * Wipeout (1982; A Chance Rides Trabant ride) [Mine Shaft]

Kiddie rides
All of the park's kiddie rides are located in Kids Kountry. Kids Kountry saw two updates, first one in 1993, again in 2003 when it became PBS Kids Neighborhood, once again in 2007 to remove the PBS Kids licenses, and once again in 2015.
 * Baja Buggies (2015; A Zamperla Jump Around ride with dune buggies)
 * Blast Off! (2015; A Zamperla Jumpin' Tower 16 ride)
 * Convoy (2003; A Zamperla Convoy ride, formerly known as "Oscar's Sloppy Jalopies" [2003-2007])
 * Care Bear-y Go Round (1980; A small carousel themed to the Care Bears, Formerly known as "Kids Kountry Carousel" [1980-1986]; was the only non-PBS Kids attraction during the PBS Kids Neighborhood era)
 * Fire Chief (1993; A Zamperla Crazy Bus ride themed to a fire truck, formerly known as "Barney's Fire Department" [2003-2007])
 * Mini Motorcade (1980; A Hampton Rides kiddie umbrella ride with motorcycles and jeeps)
 * Mini Twister (1980; A kiddie Himalaya ride, formerly known as "Darren's Mine Cart Challenge" [2003-2007])
 * Rocket Ships (1980; A Hampton Rides Sky Fighters ride, formerly themed to Dragons and known as "Zak & Wheezie's Dragon Flyers" [2003-2007])
 * Roundabout (1980; A Mangles Kiddie Whip ride, formerly known as "Bert's Pigeon Race" [2003-2007])
 * Ship Ahoy! (1993; A Sartori Mini Pirate Ship ride)
 * Sky High (1993; A Zamperla Mini Enterprise ride with helicopters and robots)
 * Teacups (2015; A Zamperla Mini Teacups ride)

Playground Kountry
Built in 1993 to make a central hub for Kids Kountry.
 * Dome Climber (1993)
 * Merry-go-Roundabout (1993)
 * Monkey Bars (1993)
 * Sandpit (1993)

Restaurants and food stands

 * Beachcombers (A quick service food stand) [Colony Coast]
 * Carvel Ice Cream [Coney Ialnd]
 * Carwardine Cafe (A cafeteria style restaurant) [Entrance]
 * Coney Island Hot Dog Hut [Coney Island]
 * Kids Kountry Snack Shack [Kids Kountry]
 * McDonald's (Based on the late 1950s take-out design) [Time Machine]
 * Subway [Entrance]
 * Starbucks [Entrance]
 * Pizza Hut Express [Entrance]

Gift shops and game stands

 * Coastal Cove Treasures [Colony Coast]
 * Kids Kountry Trading Post [Kids Kountry]
 * Main Street Merchants [Entrance]
 * Redwall Shop [Mine Shaft]
 * Time Machine Arcade [Time Machine]

Live shows & meet-and-greets

 *  [Coney Island] (Added 2001)
 * Broadway's Summer Home [Coney Island] (Added 1986; venue for "summer productions" of Broadway musicals)
 * Busytown Theater [Kids Kountry] (Added 1990; animatronic versions of Huckle & Sally Cat, Lowly Worm, Lynnie Raccoon, Hilda Hippo, and Bananas Gorilla entertain guests; the showtapes were originally voiced by Carwardine staff until 1995 when they were re-recorded by the cast of The Busy World of Richard Scarry)
 * Care Bears Meet-and-Greet [Kids Kountry] (Added 1987)
 * Redwall Meet-and-Greet [Mine Shaft] (Added 2004; Matthias, Cornflower and Mattimeo mingle with guests)
 * The Rock-afire Explosion [Coney Island] (Added 1991)
 * Rock-afire Meet-and-Greet [Coney Island]

Colony Coast (water park)
Carwardine Colony/Colony Coast Gallery

Colony Coast was added to the park in 1989. It is located near the park and can be accessed via a bridge from the main park. It is extra charge. Colony Coast received a slight makeover in 2007 with a new restroom/changing room building, a new cabana area, and new attractions. In 2018, it became free for all Gold Passholders or higher.
 * Bumper (1989; A ProSlide MultiBump)
 * Catapult (2007; A ProSlide Rocket "Carwardine Parks Layout-001", 2nd of the 5 with the layout)
 * Hurricane Halfpipe (2007; A halfpipe water slide)
 * Hurricane Hill (1990; 8 New Wave Products Tube Slides)
 * Hurricane Allison (An open tube slide with enclosed sections) [Pink Tubes]
 * Hurricane Barry (An open tube slide) [Yellow Tubes]
 * Hurricane Chantal (An entirely enclosed slide that's transparent, transparent sections fabricated by WhiteWater West) [Orange Tubes]
 * Hurricane Dean (An entirely enclosed slide with lights) [Green Tubes]
 * Hurricane Gabrielle (An entirely dark enclosed slide with an open drop) [Blue Tubes]
 * Hurricane Hugo (An entirely enclosed slight completely in the dark) [Purple Tubes]
 * Hurricane Iris (An enclosed slide with an open drop) [Brown Tubes]
 * Hurricane Karen (An enclosed slide with open sections) [Red Tubes]
 * Freefall (1989; A ProSlide Freefall)
 * Kids Pond (1989; A Fred Langford Kids Slide Complex)
 * Luge Cruise (1989; A Fred Langford Mat Slide)
 * Mastodon Mountain (2007; A ProSlide Mammoth slide)
 * Quad Sliders (1989; A Fred Langford Tube Slide Complex, Several clones of the complex came up, including 'Cuda Falls, TBA and a mirrored version at New Roseland Park) [White, Alternate Yellow, Alternate White and Alternate Green Tube Designs respectively]
 * Splashin' Rapids (2007; A lazy river)
 * Tidal Wave Pool (1989; A wave pool)
 * Tornado (2007; A ProSlide Tornado, repainted in 2017)
 * Turbo Twister (2007; Two ProSlide TurboTwisters, due to the rotting structure thanks to several hurricanes, age, lack of maintenance and the fact ProSlide doesn't support that model of TurboTwisters anymore, it turned from transparent to dark with a few light patches, the track was entirely replaced by ProSlide, the ride was now made opaque with a few lights, the entrance and exit were heavily tweaked and even some of the supports were redone.)

Carwardine Studios
Carwardine Studios is an indoor/outdoor filming studio using for filming live-action commercials for both Carwardine properties and other companies, as well as being used for various TV shows & movies filmed in the Newport News area as well as music videos & commercials for other clients. The studios opened March of 1990. It was expanded with 2 more studios in 1997, another 2 studios in 2001, and another 2 studios in 2005. An effects stage and backlot were added in 2003, the first production to use the effects stage was Kids for Character TV, which also filmed in Studio 4.

The most iconic film shot at the studios was the critical & commercial success The Defects (nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Visual Effects), the second most popular was Mickey Mouse, while that film was mostly filmed at Carwardine Studios, with location shoots also occurring in other locations in the Hampton Roads area.

The facility is equipped with high-end HDTV facilities, equipment, and a backlot.

Studio 1 (Indoor, 200ft high)

 * Super Mario World ride ad (1990)
 * TMS America Offices (1991-present)
 * The Ride Op (1997, for the dorm scenes)

Studio 2 (Outdoor)

 * Donkey Kong Country ad (1994)
 * Mickey Mouse (1995, movie - )

Studio 3 (Hybrid, indoor section 100ft high)

 * Storage area (1990-present)
 * The Defects (1992, movie - Universal Pictures)
 * Nitro Rush ad (1993)
 * Waterpark Expansion announcement trailer (2006)

Studio 4 (Indoor, 150ft high) [ADDED 1997]

 * Kids for Character TV (2003 TV special)

Studio 6 (Indoor, 125ft high) [ADDED 2001]
CAMERAS: RED Dragon 5K
 * Toon Jukebox videos for "Star Trekkin'", "CAN CAN WORLD", "Girl U Want (Devo)", "Happy Children", "Whirly Girl", "Watch Us Work It", "Danger Zone (VERSION II)", "S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)", "Shake It Up (VERSION II)", "Zoolook", "That Greasy Kids Stuff", and "Butterfly" (filmed 2019; released 2020)

Effects Stage (Indoor, 188ft high) [ADDED 2003]

 * Kids for Character TV (2003 TV special)
 * Toon Jukebox videos for "Star Trekkin'", "CAN CAN WORLD", "Girl U Want (Devo)", "Happy Children", "Whirly Girl", "Watch Us Work It", "Danger Zone (VERSION II)", "S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)", "Shake It Up (VERSION II)", "Zoolook", "That Greasy Kids Stuff", and "Butterfly" (filmed 2019; released 2020)

Roller coasters

 * Blaster (2001-2010; A Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang coaster, relocated to Whalom Park as "Launchpads" in 2011; replaced with Zyclone) [Time Machine]
 * Count Coasterula (1999-2015; A Vekoma Bat Flyer family roller coaster; replaced with a Kids Kountry expansion; relocated to The World of Redwall as "Lord Cayvear's Patrol") [Time Machine]
 * Super Cyclone (1992-2012; A RCCA wooden roller coaster; scrapped for spare parts for the other wooden coasters at Carwardine's parks) [Coney Island]
 * Vortex (1988-2003; A TOGO Ultra Twister pipeline roller coaster; Replaced with Twin Spiral; relocated to Brilliance Port as "Tornado" in 2004) [Time Machine]

Flat rides

 * Calypso (1980-2010; A Mack Calypso ride, relocated to Darien Lake as "Sidewinder", replaced with a part of Zyclone's queue line)
 * Chaos (1998-2006; A Chance Chaos ride, it had various mechanical issues and was scrapped, replaced with Mega Man ZX Double Strike)
 * Beach Beast (1997-2019; A Huss Top Spin ride, Replaced with more cabanas and a restroom building, while mostly thrown into the scrapyard, one seat was chainsawed apart from the rest and resides in the Carwardine Studios) [Coney Island]
 * Fear Fall (1985-1999; An Intamin 1st generation Free Fall ride, relocated to New Roseland Park as "Mine Shaft") [Mine Shaft]
 * Skylab (1987-2006; A Huss Sky Lab ride, replaced with Surf's Up!) [Coney Island]
 * Space Capsule (1980- 1983; An Eyerly Roll-O-Plane ride, first ride to be removed from the park)
 * VR Troopers: Virtual Reality Adventure (1995-2002; A 4D motion simulator ride with VR Troopers; Replaced with Time Machine Arcade) [Time Machine]

Kiddie rides

 * Buggies (1980-1992; A Traver Kiddie Tumble Bug ride, replaced with Sky High)
 * Roadsters (1980-1992; A carousel style kiddie ride with 1960s style sports cars, replaced with Fire Chief)
 * Tiny Tilt (1980-1997; A teacups style kiddie umbrella ride with a tilting platform, replaced with Jr. Cyclone, relocated to Kid's World)
 * Kiddie Swings (1980-1992; A kiddie Wave Swinger ride, replaced with Ship Ahoy!)

Other

 * Ponyland (2003-2007; a mini zoo & "discovery farm" based off the theme park seen in the Arthur episode "D.W. Goes to Washington", replaced with part of Redwall: Escape from Malkariss' queue line when part of Kids Kountry (formerly PBS Kids Neighborhood) became part of Mine Shaft along with Redwall: Escape from Malkariss, new homes were secured for all the ponies) [PBS Kids Neighborhood]

Trivia

 * The park has a building height limit of 550 ft, one of the few parks with a height limit taller than 500ft.
 * Carwardine Colony comes in third from Six Flags Magic Mountain and Cedar Point in terms of having the most roller coasters in one park.
 * The projection tunnel added at the end of Flying Turns for Carwardine Colony in 1984 is the first ever use of CGI for a regional theme park chain.
 * Welcome to the PBS Kids Neighborhood was the name of the TV broadcast of the opening day celebrations for the Kids Kountry area when it was renamed PBS Kids Neighborhood.

Easter Eggs

 * The words "Friends don't let friends use "friends don't let friends" sentences" are written on one of the emergency exit doors for Studio 6 of Carwardine Studios. This phrase had been coined by Christopher R. Carwardine to mock an employee at Carwardine Colony who made a T-shirt reading "Friends don't let friends visit Disneyland."