Where the Carolinas Come Together

It is now time to blog about a place where the Carolinas meet: Carowinds. I was able to spend two full days in this park on Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2, 2015. As some of you blog readers probably know my main reason for this visit was to ride the newly built Fury 325. You can find a detailed post about Fury in my previous blog. I highly recommend it; the coaster and the blog post.

New Sign

 

North Carolina to the Right, South Carolina to the Left

 

The awesome thing about Carowinds is that it is literally built in two states: North Carolina and South Carolina. You enter the parks newly built entrance with the actual state line right down the middle. This is the only amusement park that I know of that has something unique like this. The front of the park now has a statement in the new roller coaster Fury 325. It is pretty spectacular to look at as you park your car in the newly added parking lot and then pass under the ride on your way to the newly built front entrance. Carowinds wanted to make a front entrance statement and they did a fantastic job of that.

New Entrance Plaza

 

Statement Made to Front Entrance!

 

 

On the Friday I visited the park it was open from 9:00 am until 10:00 pm. That’s right if you are calculating correctly that is 13 hours! This was one of the main reasons I wanted to go at this time of the year. Most amusement parks aren’t open that many hours this early in the season. I knew where I wanted to go as soon as I entered the park: Fury 325. There was already a line forming so I waited about 15 minutes, listened to the National Anthem play over the loudspeaker, and then followed the line towards Fury at 9:00 am.

I see you Fury!

 

I am going to give you a name/review of the coasters in the park which total 14. I rode 12 of them. The best one in the park by far is Fury 325. These reviews come in the order in which I rode them.

Fury 325: B&M Giga coaster built this year 2015. As most of you who read this blog know, Fury did not disappoint. If you want a more detailed description of the ride I have one in my previous blog. This ride is 325 feet high, reaches speeds of 95 mph, and delivers intense, smooth, fun! I say it is the best B&M coaster ever made.

Holy Lift Hill!

  

Hurler: International Coaster Inc wood coaster built in 1994. Looks nice from the outside but rides pretty dull. There is hardly any airtime whatsoever which is a surprising for a wooden coaster. I honestly think Carowinds should tear this coaster down and build a nicer one to compliment Fury which is right next to it.

Looks Nice but Does Not Ride Nice

 

Vortex: B&M stand-up coaster built in 1992. Layout is dull, and the ride is a tad rough. I rode this once and that was enough for me.

Yeah, NO!

Ricochet: Standard Mack wild mouse built in 2002. These are pretty fun for what they are but tend to have a long line due to the fact they have only four person trains. I think I waited almost 30 minutes to ride which is why I only rode once on my visit.

Wild Mouse Coaster

 

Flying Ace Ariel Chase: Vekoma suspended family coaster built in 2003. A pretty fun coaster for families. It has a nice location over a little pond. I was only able to ride this one once.

Pretty

 

Harmony Hall: This is a really nice place to grab lunch indoors with air condition. They have tons of food choices here. They have Italian, BBQ, Deli, and Grill type food. They also have many other options from fruit to dessert. You can also fill up your drink cups with their Coke Freestyle machines. At various times during the day you can eat your food and watch the stage for various entertainment throughout the season as well.

Harmony Hall meets Intimidator

 

Lots of Choices

 

Food Prices

 

 

Afterburn: B&M suspended coaster built in 1999. This ride has WIN written all over it! It is probably the most intense suspended coaster I have ever ridden. The layout is very nice with 6 inversions, 2 underground elements, 113 feet height, and 62 mph speed. All of these elements are packed into just under 3000 feet of track. I rode this six times on my trip.

LOOP!

 

Woodstock Express: Kiddie wooden coaster. It was a fun little ride great for kids and this coaster enthusiast who wanted to add another coaster to his track record (haha).

LIFT!

 

Intimidator: B&M hyper coaster built in 2010. It is 232 feet tall with a 211 foot drop and 8 airtime hills after on over 5000 feet of track. It reaches top speeds of 75 mph. This is a great coaster to ride over and over again being that it is smooth and fun. However, now with Fury on the other side of the park I could only focus my attention on 8 laps for this ride.

Start Your Coasters!

 

Thunder Road: Racing wooden coaster built in 1976. It is starting to show its age. It had a few moments of airtime but overall not a very good coaster for me. I only rode it once on Friday. I was going to ride again on Saturday but I saw a line that I didn’t want to wait in.

Double WOOD!

 

Carolina Cobra: Standard Vekoma boomerang. You go forward through three inversions and then backward through those same inversions. I told the guy that rode with me this would be a “one and done” ride for me and it was.

Boomerang!

 

Carolina Gold Rusher: Standard Arrow mine train built in 1973. This was the first and only roller coaster when Carowinds opened in 1973. It really wasn’t that great of a ride to me. I didn’t really care for the layout and it never seemed to have much speed throughout the course. There are some mine train rides that I like but this wasn’t one of them sadly.

Helix!

 

Carolina Cyclone: Arrow steel corkscrew coaster built in 1980. It goes upside down 4 times but that’s only good enough to get me to ride once. These coasters are rough and just aren’t very good overall. I rode this ride my only time on Saturday. 

PAIN!

  

Nighthawk: Vekoma flying coaster built in 2000 and moved to Carowinds in 2004. This was one of only 2 Carowinds coasters that I did not ride. I could have on Saturday but chose not to. I am not the biggest fan of these type of coasters so I passed.

Flying Coaster

 

Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie: Kiddie coaster that I did not ride because you have to have a child with you to ride. It’s a cute little ride for kiddies.

Park Bench: The Ride

 

Not surprisingly enough I only managed to ride roller coasters during my Carowinds trip. I mean I love roller coasters! In all honesty though Carowinds doesn’t really have a huge thrilling flat ride lineup. They have the Southern Star, Drop Tower, Windseeker, and Scream Weaver. They have two water rides in White Water Falls and Rip Roarin Rapids. Then they have some classic rides like the Scrambler, Yo Yo swing ride, Dodgem bumper cars, Boo Blasters dark ride, and skytower. They also have an additional 13 rides located in Planet Snoopy the kids area. Carowinds does have a waterpark attached to the park but it was not opened during my visit.

Southern Star

Drop Tower

Windseeker Seeking Wind

Wheel of Death I mean Scream Weaver

 

I enjoyed my Carowinds visit very much. It was nice to be able to add seven new to me coasters to my overall track record that I missed during my visit in 2013. The operations seemed to be ok overall. The employees seemed to genuinely care about their jobs and always smiled and said “have a nice day” when approached. I spent a few minutes talking to one older employee the first day I arrived. It was nice of him to take a few moments giving me advice on what to do during my visit. I was also impressed with the overall scenery of the park as shown with some of these pictures below. 

 

The food was pretty good. The only meals I ate at the park were during lunch at Harmony Hall. I had the beef brisket and mac n cheese on Friday which was very good. On Saturday I had the Italian hoagie and pasta salad which was great and plentiful. The food prices really aren’t that bad either at around $11 without drink.

Beef Brisket Sandwich and Mac N Cheese

Italian Hoagie and Pasta Salad

 

With all of that being said Carowinds really only has three good roller coasters. After Fury, Afterburn, and Intimidator the rest of their coasters aren’t very good unfortunately (at least in my opinion). The addition of Fury 325 however makes this park a must visit even if Fury is the only ride you ride. Fury 325 is seriously that good. I hope to try and visit this park one more time this season with my family. 

Soar!

Hills!

FURY!

  

Two-day Stats:

76x Fury (OMG Amazing Ride and my #2 overall Roller Coaster)

8x Intimidator (Fun B&M Hyper Coaster #27 overall)

6x Afterburn (Possibly the most intense B&M inverted coaster #33 overall)

3x Hurler (Wood but next to no airtime = blah)

1x Vortex (Old B&M standup coaster that needs to be retired)

1x Ricochet (Typical mouse coaster with bad capacity)

1x Flying Ace Aerial Chase (Kids suspended coaster)

1x Woodstock Express (Kids wooden coaster)

1x Thunder Road (Racing wooden coaster with some airtime just ok)

1x Carolina Cobra (Vekoma boomerang is all you need to know)

1x Carolina Gold Rusher (Boring mine train ride)

1x Carolina Cyclone (Arrow looper = brace yourself for pain)

= 101x Total Rides Ridden (Fury was worth riding 76 times)

I had a Blast

 

Time Spent in Park: 26 total hours

Meals: Lunch on Friday and Saturday at Harmony Hall

Drink Cup Refills: 5x

Longest Wait of the Trip: 30 minutes on Ricochet  

Would have been Longest Wait of the Trip: 1 hour 40 minutes (if I had not of purchased Fast Lane, their skip the line system, on Saturday)

Fast Lane Price: $70 (worth every penny on a busy Saturday)

Overall Park Grade: B-

Park Rank: 12th out of 28 parks visited

See the State Line?

 

 

 

 

 

The Furiosity of Fury 325!

It is time to get Furyious! It brings me great joy to describe to you in this blog one of the greatest roller coasters that I have ever had the privilege of riding. This all started back on August 21st, 2014 when this roller coaster was announced. I saw that it was going to be absolutely huge and knew instantly that I wanted to ride this coaster sometime in 2015. Well, the time is now. I was able to ride Fury 325 on May 1-2, 2015. It was worth the wait.

Awesome Sign

 

You think I am ready to ride?

 

I will now introduce you to Fury 325! At first when they announced this ride and gave it the name Fury 325 I was a little disappointed. To me it seemed kind of plain and generic. However, now after having ridden the ride many times I can fully understand the point behind the name and it fits the ride very well. Also, I am not sure why the Cedar Fair Company likes to put numbers after the names of their big roller coasters. I guess when you make a statement like this you want people to know they are looking at a furious 325 foot monster of a coaster.

Entrance Statement!

 

Fury is Everywhere!

 

The definition of the word Fury is this: unrestrained or violent anger, rage, passion, or the like. It also uses words like, violence, vehemence, and fierceness. (dictionary.com) I will go ahead and say that Fury 325 lives up to its name and in this blog post I will try to explain to you why. The first thing you see as you enter Carowinds amusement park is Fury 325. It is also the last thing you see as you leave the park. In fact, as you are in the park, Fury 325 is seen from almost everywhere. It is quite awesome to see the massiveness of this ride. 

See, Everywhere

Through the Trees

Through another Coaster Station


 

Fury 325 is themed to a really cool looking wasp/bee of some kind. If you have ever been around a bunch of bees or wasps, and hopefully you have not, you understand that they can be relentless if they feel threatened. It is a good character to portray the ride that is Fury 325. The words relentless and unrestrained come to mind while riding Fury. Isn’t there a saying of unleash the Fury? Carowinds did an incredible job for the setup/theming of this roller coaster. I mean when you build a 325 foot tall giga coaster you pretty much have to go all out. I mean simply looking at the ride is enough to “wow” you.

Fury Mascot

 

I got my buzz on!

 

It is now time to take a written ride on Fury 325. As you approach the ride you enter the queue line through a honeycomb entrance sign with an awesome ‘F’ insignia. As you approach the station at the top of the stairs you are assigned a row from the ride operators. This can be a bit of an annoyance if you want to ride in the front row or specific row but usually if you ask for a specific row they will allow you to sit there. As you board Fury you hear the sounds of, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! This train leaves the station in 30 seconds”, from the ride operator on the microphone. Yeah, and they are not kidding. They try to dispatch trains as fast as possible and 30-45 seconds was usually the norm. Fury is Fast!

'F' is for Fury...

 

...and FANTASTIC!

 

Once in the train you buckle the seat belt and then pull down on the nifty neon green lap bar. Then you just sit there and ponder the fact you are about to climb the world’s tallest lift hill on a roller coaster. I made it a point to tell people this fact at times when they asked since, you know, I am a huge coaster nerd and all. You leave the station and head up the lift hill at a quick speed. Once you hit around 300 feet in the air the left hill speed slows down for a split send and then picks back up again right before you plunge over the ginormous drop. I must say the view from the top of the 325 foot lift hill is unreal. If you look to the left you see trees galore as well as downtown Charlotte, NC in the distance. If you look to the right you see all of Carowinds park and the cool looking water rapids ride below you. It is quite exhilarating.

I mean really...

 

...look at that lift hill!

 

The actual drop may be the best drop on a roller coaster that I have ever been on, honestly. It is 320 feet down taken at 81 degrees. The drop time from the top to the bottom is literally almost four entire seconds. (yes, I made these calculations myself while riding *coaster nerd alert*) During those four seconds of drop time you actually come out of your seat which gives you a free fall feeling. It is an insanely incredible rush. Once at the bottom of the drop you hit the top speed of 95 mph and you can feel it. There is so much wind it will turn your hair into something that people of the 1980’s would be jealous of. Seriously, it is absolutely outrageous and in a good way. Yeah, that’s right, one paragraph written just describing the Fury 325 drop. Maybe I can find a way to write an entire blog post on the subject later. Be on the lookout.

Massive Drop

325 Feet of Goodness!

 
After the drop you hit a barrel turn at 190 feet high. I mean c’mon really? A one hundred and ninety foot high turnaround on a roller coaster is just insane! Not only is it super high in the air but it is compact which gives the turn a powerful sensation no matter what part of the train you are riding in. If you are on the left hand side of the train you get a high in the air feeling and if you are on the right hand side of the train you get low to the ground feeling. I think I preferred the left hand side of the train the best. Oh and there is actually airtime as you are yanked around the turnaround which is pretty sweet.

This element rules!

190 feet in the air

   
From the turnaround element you drop into a series of high speed banked turns. The first one is called a high speed s-curve and boy is it taken at a high rate of speed. It swings you out to the left and you actually get air time on this element and lots of it! The airtime here is the closest thing to ejector air that B&M has ever come up with on any of their coasters which is really saying something. Next up is the overbanked curve which is also taken at relentless speed. This element is awesome because it soars directly over the main entryway into the park. You also get a great amount of air time here as well. I would not be surprised if both of these elements were taken at speeds of 70-80 mph! The sense of speed throughout this part of the ride may be the greatest sense of speed on any traditional lift hill roller coaster I have ever experienced.

Curvy & Fast

Say Hi to the Coaster Train

 

Next up is one of the most unique elements I have ever experienced on a coaster. It is called the horeshoe turn. This turn is 157 feet in the air and delivers a 91 degree high banked curve and weightless drop. You heard that right. This element is simply pure genius. You hit the top of the 157 foot turn and you actually get forceful air time and immediately hit a big drop into a tunnel. The drop into the tunnel also has air time. It feels like the coaster actually picks you up and throws you through the tunnel! No joke. This tunnel or “underground dive” as the coaster manufacturer calls it sends you under the main entry path to the park. It is cool because the way it is set up you get to see park-goers looking at you, through glass, as you dive into the tunnel. This is an incredibly designed one-of-a-kind piece of track that is simply a blast.

This Element is Spectacular!

  

After the tunnel you hit another high speed banked curve at 101 feet high. You get a little bit of airtime here and then hit the first big airtime hill after the initial drop. This is the camelback hill at 111 feet high. There is a trim break here that slows the train down slightly but interestingly enough does not deter from the speed of the ride. When you hit this hill you literally soar over it and get air time from the bottom of the hill all the way to the other side of it! It is what you would call floaty airtime goodness.

AIRTIME!

Ok, now here is the catch your breath part of the ride. They call this next element the double helix but honestly, to me, it is just one huge helix. After the 111 foot camelback hill you hit the helix low to the ground. The helix gradually gains height, evens out, and then drops low to the ground again, while picking up speed. The speed through the helix varies and is mostly quick. There is a really cool “head chopper” effect with a huge support from the barrel turn element. It was funny to watch people who had their hands up abruptly put them down as they passed this huge support right next to them. It is obviously not close enough to actually touch while riding but the way the ride is designed you think you can actually touch it therefore calling it the “head chopper” effect.

I see you airtime hill

 

Now onto the rides finale and it is a good one. You come out of the double helix low to the ground and hit the next camelback hill at a quick rate of speed giving you good airtime. It is also a decent sized hill so that adds to the thrill. Following this hill you reach another camelback hill that bends to the left. You receive more airtime here. After this hill you hit the final hill which gives you more airtime into the brake run. You have just taken a ride on the World’s Tallest and Fastest Giga Coaster! Fury 325!

That guy on the right loves Fury

 

Yeah, sorry, I am not done yet so keep reading. I mean what more can I say but this coaster is amazing! It is incredible! It is a game-changing ride. It is a statement ride. It is super fun. It is superbly designed. It is so great that they named it after the movie The Fast and Furious. Just kidding. This coaster makes that movie look like the cars are Ford Pintos, Toyota Corollas, and those weird looking car station wagon things. You know what I am talking about. It is visually mesmerizing and a thing of beauty to look at. When you see it you think, “Man, I have GOT to ride that coaster it looks freaking awesome,” and if you don’t think that well you are missing out. You can see people just look up and stare at it as they enter the park. It is set in a perfect location for all to see. You can interact with guests as they ride over the entryway and then dive under the entryway. The colors are vibrant and really look awesome in person. Like I said, this is a statement roller coaster and it really delivers great moments of intensity and fun. Carowinds has a huge winner with Fury 325.

Lookin Good!

Statement Ride

 

Fury 325 is by far the best B&M designed roller coaster that I have ever ridden and most likely the best coaster they have ever created. It has the strongest airtime of any B&M coaster model that I have ridden. I counted between 10-11 airtime moments on this coaster which is really an accomplishment for a ride of this size. It just may be the best roller coaster I have ever ridden. As of right now I rank it at number two directly behind Millennium Force but honestly it just might be better. *gasp* I never thought I would ever find a roller coaster that would top Millennium Force but this one might just do it. I get to ride Millennium Force in about four weeks so I will better be able to render my final verdict. In fact you will probably see another blog post on the subject so be on the lookout.

I am Ready to Ride Again

 

Yeah, that’s right, I am still going just like Fury 325 keeps going. Here are some statistics about the ride:

Cost: around $30 million

Height: 325 feet (Tallest Giga Coaster in the World)

Drop: 320 feet @ 81 degree angle

Speed: 95 mph (Fastest Giga Coaster in the World)

Length: 6,602 feet (Longest Giga Coaster in the World/Steel Coaster in the United States)

Amount of Steel Used: 2,700 tons

Ride Size: 8.4 acres

Ride Time: 3 minutes, 25 seconds

Layout credit Carowinds

 

My Stats on Fury 325:

Total Rides in Two Days: 76

Most Rides on a Roller Coaster in a Day: 48

Most Rides in succession on a Roller Coaster: 22

Front Row Rides on Fury: 14

Best Seat: Front Row

Best Seat with the most Forces: Row 6 and 7

Ok, so I have to mention how incredible Fury is at night. I mean seriously it is a great night ride and the lighting only makes it better. I rode Fury many times at night and it actually seemed like it was riding faster at night. Here are some pics to ooh and aah over.

 

OOH...

 

...AAH

Take the Honeycomb Tunnel!

OOH & AAH

 

Me after a 48 ride day!

 

 

 

 

 

Memorable Quotes:

Teenager on ride as he looks at lift hill: “That is glorious!”

Mother of two daughters who were too scared to ride Fury 325: “I can’t believe my daughters were scared to ride this! This ride is amazing! It is much better than the other roller coaster we just waited an hour and forty minutes for. This was worth the hour wait.”

Dad of daughter riding Fury: “My daughter was scared to ride this at first, but now she cannot get enough of it.”

Guy from Ohio who rode Fury 112 times in one day: “I love my Gigas”

Guy from North Carolina: “Yeah I just thought after I got off work I would just come over and ride Fury. I looked at the webcams and said, why not.”

Older Guy from North Carolina: “Now that they have built Fury, I don’t have to go to Cedar Point to ride Millennium Force or to Kings Dominion to ride Intimidator 305.”

Various People at the park: “You drove six hours just to ride this roller coaster?”

My Response: “Yes.”

Me: “I still cannot believe I rode this ride 48 times in one day. I never thought that would be possible.”

Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325 Fury 325
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