Life Is A Roller Coaster

As my last “hurrah” before I enter the working world, Lex and I made our way down to Charlotte to check out the new beast at Carowinds, Fury 325:

Immediately upon driving up to Carowinds, Fury 325 dominates the skyline.

The interaction Fury 325 has with the brand-new front entrance is unbelievable. I cannot think of another attraction (in the US at least) that allows guests to walk so close to it’s supports.

The color scheme on Fury 325 is gorgeous. The teal track with the lime green backbone and white supports looks great from every angle.

Along with Fury 325, Carowinds also completely renovated their entrance plaza. It is very similar to Cedar Point’s new entrance.

Beautiful new entrance!

Here is the ticket booth with Carowinds’s other B&M monster, Intimidator, in the background.

For those of you who may not know, Carowinds straddles the state border between North and South Carolina. The line has a marker at the very front of the park. Unique? Absolutely.

I think it is obvious as to what ride we are heading to first, but we got some pictures along the way!

Take notes Lex, this plant tunnel is something I need in the future. Also, if anyone knows the proper name for this “plant tunnel” I would love to know.

This is the reason why we came here! Fury 325 is a brand-new B&M Giga Coaster that stands at a staggering 325 feet tall (does the name make sense now?).

Fury is absolutely massive. Being 325 feet tall makes it the 5th tallest roller coaster in the world!

The first drop on Fury 325 is nearly vertical at 81-degrees, too, just in case you were not thrilled enough yet.

After the first drop, Fury 325 takes you through massive overbanked turns…

…and reaches speeds of 95 mph!

I have to confess that when I originally saw the announcement for Fury 325, I was disappointed about the lack of airhills it offered, especially in the first half of the ride. If any of you remember reading, the monster airhill on Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland was my favorite part of the ride. To my own surprise, though, the low-to-the-ground elements on the front half of Fury give the ride a ridiculous sense of speed, which reminded me of Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia.

The turnaround on Fury, also known as a treble clef element for obvious reasons, is awesome. It offered a nice bit of airtime on the top and it just looks great.

You then experience another highly-banked turn before hitting the ride’s first true airhill.

The airhill offers a nice pop of airtime in most seats depending on how hard the trim brake is biting.

The rest of the ride is hard to get pictures of, but it involves a huge helix and two airhills. The whole layout of Fury involves 6,602 feet of track, which makes it the 5th longest roller coaster on the planet!

So what did I think of Fury? I think Fury 325 is a world-class roller coaster. It offers more than its Canadian counterpart and the interaction it has with the brand-new entrance is awesome. I have said it before, but I am a fan of these new B&M beasts. Fury 325 offers incredible speed and enough airtime to satisfy anyone. I also got a chance to take a night ride on the front-row and it was an otherworldly experience. I usually go for the middle to back rows on rides that offer airtime, but Fury is definitely a front-row ride due to the insane speeds encountered on the front half before the treble clef. It is also worth noting that Fury is glass-smooth from start to finish, so anywhere you sit you will get a fun, thrilling ride. In summary, Carowinds has a winner in Fury 325.

Here is a final look at Fury before Lex and I check out the rest of the park. What a great looking ride!

The next roller coaster we decided to check out happened to be Vortex, a B&M Stand Up Coaster that has been operating at Carowinds since 1992.

Being that it is a stand-up coaster, it is unique enough to take a spin on.

Vortex does not offer much in terms of thrills, though.

Helix!

Beautiful B&M flat spin/corkscrew. If you are walking by Vortex and the line is short, give it a whirl.

Carolina Cobra is a typical Vekoma Boomerang. I went on this ride during my first visit to Carowinds and actually went on it during its previous life when it was known as Head Spin at the now defunct Geauga Lake.

The next ride we decided to head to was Afterburn, a B&M Inverted Coaster that came to Carowinds in 1999.

For being in its 17th season of operating, this 113-foot beast runs amazingly.

In fact, this may be my favorite inverted coaster I have ever been on. A ride in the back-left seat proved to be an incredible ride experience. Afterburn offered tons of forces and an incredible pace throughout it’s 2,956-foot layout.

The fact that it has been around for a good amount of time means that there is plenty of scenery that has grown in to make the ride even more enjoyable.

The Zero-G Roll on Afterburn is my second favorite element on the ride. The first being the batwing, which I unfortunately did not get a good picture of.

A train full of happy riders! Afterburn did experience some downtime while we were there, but it was up and running within 15 minutes. The Carowinds maintenance team was all over it as soon as it went down, so kudos to them for being on top of it.

Afterburn flying through one of it’s many turns. I cannot speak highly enough of this ride. I remember it being great when I visited Carowinds previously, but it was running so, so well the day we visited. It truly is a gem of a roller coaster.

The next coaster we checked out was Thunder Road.

I am sure glad we did take it for a spin with the recent news that the ride is going to officially retire on July 26, 2015. I always hate to see the older rides go after growing with a park for so long.

Thunder Road has been with the park since 1976 and has thrilled riders ever since. Is it thrilling by modern standards? No, but Lex and I were both impressed with how well it was running relative to its age. Carowinds put in a ton of work into maintaining this ride in terms of tracking and structural work, but I suppose from a business perspective, it makes sense to move on.

Carowinds announced that the removal of Thunder Road would be part of a $50 million renovation plan, so at least there is more to come from this removal. If you are at Carowinds, however, go pay your respects to a ride that helped bring the park to what it is today!

The next ride we passed by was the Carolina Goldrusher, a typical Arrow Mine Train coaster.

The front entrance area of the ride looks great. I think the landscaping team at Carowinds is one of the best I have experienced at a Cedar Fair park. The park looked beautiful from every angle during our visit.

Postcard material right there.

A train full of happy riders about to approach the turn into the main lift hill in the background.

While we were in the Carolina Boardwalk section of the park, we stopped at another Arrow Classic, the Carolina Cyclone.

If you have been on one of these Arrow Loopers before, you know how the story goes. Fortunately for us, they offer some great picture opportunities!

No matter how rough they ride, Arrow corkscrews are awesome looking coaster elements.

Ricochet is yet another coaster featured in the Carolina Boardwalk section. It is a typical Wild Mouse coaster.

We then meandered back to the front of the park and continued on until we saw Carowinds other B&M, Intimidator.

I’m sorry Intimidator fans, but this ride is right on par with Behemoth for me. There is no sustained airtime while cresting the hills like there is on Diamondback or even Fury’s bunny hills.

It is still a fun ride, but I much prefer Fury 325 and Afterburn to Intimidator.

Here are plenty of happy riders enjoying the return trip!

Here is a picture we got from the Cabela’s parking lot which is right across the street from the park. Awesome store to just walk around in for a half hour or so if you have some time to kill.

As we circled the park again, we made a pit stop to the park’s shooter dark ride, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. Do not be deceived by the line it usually has outside because unlike other Boo Blaster rides, it does not have any indoor queue.

It is a great way to beat the heat and have some friendly competition, unless your opponent starts trash talking (Lex). Then it is a serious competition and you have to win (which I did).

Carowinds also has a Wind Seeker if you are a fan of these rides. We elected to pass on it today, but they are generally fun rides.

Carowinds also possesses a piece of history in their Vekoma Flying Dutchman, Nighthawk.

Nighthawk opened at Carowinds in March of 2004, but actually operated at California’s Great America under the name Stealth for 4 years prior.

Stealth opened as the world’s first large-scale Flying Roller Coaster in 2000, which was an impressive feat. It paved the way for a boom of flying coasters world-wide from other manufacturers such as B&M and Zamperla.

As for the ride itself, it usually has one of the longest lines in the park due to a low capacity rate. If you are going to ride Nighthawk, I suggest heading to it first thing in the morning or at the very end of the night. We chose the latter and waited 5 minutes for the front.

Our ride on Nighthawk was underwhelming. I am typically a big fan of the Flying Dutchman models, but Nighthawk had a noticeable rattle throughout the ride.

Regardless, Nighthawk is extremely photogenic and the general public absolutely love it.

Nighthawk’s Double Corkscrew completes the ride’s layout.

It is also worth mentioning that Carowinds offers plenty of rides for the non-thrill seekers, too. Here is a great family coaster that everyone can enjoy, Flying Ace Aerial Chase.

Carowinds’s Enterprise model with Ricochet in the background.

Lex’s favorite type of ride is a Drop Tower (by favorite I mean she is terrified of them). She has been on Lex Luthor and Zumanjaro but still freaks out every time.

Hurler is also tucked in the back-right corner of the park by Drop Tower. It will soon be the biggest wooden coaster in the park.

We enjoyed our ride on Hurler. It is definitely a true wooden coaster experience, but it offers occasional pops of airtime.

Lex advertising guests to upgrade to a Gold Pass, which we would do if we lived in the area.

We will end this trip report on this picture of the front entrance with Fury in the background.

My overall review of Carowinds is absolutely positive. I thought the park was cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing then any other Cedar Fair park I have been to in recent memory. The landscaping team did a phenomenal job of preparing the park for the season and creating an environment that enhances the guest experience. The maintenance team also did a great job of tending to rides that needed some care throughout the day, always resolving the issue within 15 minutes.

With the addition of Fury 325, I think Carowinds now has that marquee attraction that makes it worth the trip from anywhere within the United States. The park also has a great Inverted Coaster in Afterburn, which is running far better and more intense than most other Inverted Coasters I have been on. Carowinds also sports a B&M Hyper in Intimidator and a Vekoma Flying Dutchman in Nighthawk. The line-up of coasters at this park is great and almost all of them are re-rideable, which is a testament to the work the maintenance team puts into the rides.

If you are in the Carolinas for any reason, a day of fun at Carowinds is waiting for you. It is a safe, clean, beautiful park that has rides for people of all ages. If you are a thrill seeker, Fury 325 is one of the best new attractions in the world. If you prefer the tamer rides, the park has an entire Planet Snoopy section dedicated to the younger crowd. Do yourself a favor and go have a fun, memorable day at this park!

For more information regarding ticketing and hours, visit the Carowinds home page!

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I am a huge travel and roller coaster enthusiast. I have ridden 504 unique coasters across the world and do not plan on stopping anytime soon. I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and am now working with a creative firm in Orlando, Florida.