Time to get Furyous

There are few amusement parks out there that I would travel to solely for one roller coaster. One of those amusement parks is Carowinds and the roller coaster is Fury 325. For those of you who have followed this blog may know that I have blogged a few times in the past about Fury 325. If you have not been reading my blogs, then I encourage you to get acquainted with one of the best roller coasters ever made and read my previous posts on Fury 325. Please and thank-you. 

I am ready to ride Fury 325

Noted and well deserved!

 I decided last minute, as I often do, to take a trip to Carowinds on Friday, July 29^th, 2016. I made this decision because Ashley was taking the kids to a spend-the-night party on Friday night at their cousin’s house in Tuscaloosa. So I figured that I would take the day off of work and go to Carowinds that day. I also have a Cedar Fair platinum pass which gets me into the park for free. It ended up being a wise decision on my part.

Check out this Skyline!

Intimidator looks taller than Fury

I left Birmingham Thursday night late and drove the six-hours to the Charlotte North Carolina area. The next morning I got up early and headed over to Carowinds for their 9:30 am season pass ride time opening. From 9:30 am until 10 am in the summer Carowinds allows their season pass holders 30 minutes of extra ride time on Fury 325 before the park officially opens to the public at 10:00 am. Unfortunately, Carowinds did not have the ride running for the group of season pass holders until about 9:45 am. That was fine though because I ended up getting plenty of rides on Fury 325 throughout the day.

In Your Face!

Awesome Element

Fury Is All Over

This report is going to be fairly easy to write because I pretty much rode Fury 325 all day. I mean this was the reason I went to Carowinds in the first place so why NOT ride Fury 325 all day long. But seriously, I did ride Fury a lot on this day and honestly there was not any problem with that. Trust me. If you remotely like riding roller coasters or want to ride amazing roller coasters get to Carowinds in Charlotte North Carolina and ride Fury 325. Then please message me and tell me how awesome it was. Sound good?

Fury Clouds!

Fury Sign!

Fury Takes you into the Clouds

From about 9:45 am until 1:00 pm I got in 22 rides on Fury. Then I took a five-minute restroom/water break. During my first marathon session I made friends with the front entrance Carowinds workers as they gave me a smile with each passing lap through the queue. I also managed to talk with a local guy about all of his trips to the park during the summer. He said he would usually just come to the park in the morning for a few hours to get his season pass ride time, ride Fury a few times, along with a few other rides, and then leave when it got really hot. Yeah, well, I drove six hours just to marathon Fury 325, on a whim, so there you go. I am not crazy or anything. I mean really, I’m not.

Me Loving No Lines

Line at 10:30am

Line at 11:30am

Boom!

Over the next three hours from 1-4:00 pm I got 19 more rides in on Fury. I did not get as many rides during this time period because the line grew to a “whopping” 10-15 minute at times so that somewhat limited my rides. I almost could not handle it (sarcasm). Really though, what I almost could not handle was the 95-degree heat! Man it was hot. Yet, I was absolutely thrilled that the line was that short on a 30-million-dollar roller coaster! My joy was so great that I just kept on riding it.

Ok, it's Hot!

Taller than the Capital Building

Around 4:00 pm I decided to take another 5-minute break to use the rest room, cool down, and get some water. Speaking of water; in the Fury 325 queue line they strategically placed a water fountain, with cold water, so people who waited in line could get hydrated. It was/is the greatest idea ever and it saved me on multiple trips through the queue. Pretty much after every Fury lap I stopped at the water fountain if I could to get a much needed cold drink.

Life Saver

What a lift hill!

In the next fifteen minutes I was able to get in another two rides on Fury. Then it happened. Sadly, because of the sheer heat, which was probably in the mid-90-degree range, Fury the ride over-heated. No I am not kidding. I asked one of the ride hosts and they said if the ride/temperature got to a certain point the computer system that ran Fury would trip a sensor and the ride would need to be cooled down and reset before it could run again. The ride host also stated to me that this had happened to Fury a few times during the season too. I mean the ride was probably doing 95+ mph in 95-degree heat for multiple hours. I can see why the ride would overheat. 

That drop yo

Funky

If you are scoring at home as you read this blog post then yes, I did ride Fury 43 straight times before it stopped running due to technical issues. I wanted to get to 50 in a row but it was not meant to be. It was now around 4:30 pm and I was pretty hungry so I decided to hit up the nearby Chickie and Pete’s restaurant. I really love this restaurant at Cedar Fair parks. They have a delicious cheese steak sandwich and their fries are awesome. Seriously, they are great. They also give you cheese sauce that is great. It was nice to be able to sit in the air condition and relax as well. It was a much needed break. 

Incredible Meal

After I ate dinner I walked back over to Fury to see what was going on and it was still down so I took a ride on the nearby Hurler wooden coaster. Yeah I want to be positive about most roller coasters but this ride really needs to be burned to the ground. I cannot think of many wooden coasters that I have rode in my lifetime where you get absolutely NO airtime. Well, Hurler is the exception. Carowinds needs to put a better ride here to compliment Fury standing right next to it. Hopefully they will do so in the future.

Hurler - Burn it with Fire

I made my way over to the other side of the park and got in back to back rides on Afterburn since there was no wait. This ride could very well be the most intense inverted roller coaster model out there. It is so intense that even I cannot ride it more than a few times before I start to feel queasy. The G-forces are very strong and all of the inversions hit extremely hard and fast. It is an awesome ride. It is smooth, fast, has many loops, and even a few really cool tunnels.

I'm liking these lines

Afterburn = Awesome Coaster

Next up was a back to back ride on Intimidator. Known as Intrimiator (because it has multiple trim brakes throughout the ride) by the locals and enthusiasts this coaster is just ok. I mean it is fun and it does have some airtime and speed but it just is not that great. The trim breaks really screw up the flow of the ride in my opinion. It is a slightly above average coaster. Honestly it does not help that Fury 325 is sitting on the other side of the park. Intimidator is known as a B&M model hyper coaster and, to me, it is probably the worst one of those types that I have ridden.

Are you Intimidated?

Look at those hills!

I walked all the way back over to Fury 325 to check out the line and decided to take another spin. I noticed right away that the line was much longer than earlier. It was now around 7:00 pm and the waterpark had closed so everyone had made their way to Fury. This, obviously, caused the line to be longer. I still only waited about twenty minutes but it felt much longer after only waiting a few minutes all the other times I rode earlier. Since I now had 44 rides in on Fury I decided not to keep power riding with a twenty-minute line so I went to another attraction.

What the Fury!

That attraction just so happened to be the Carolina Skytower in the middle of the park. I must confess that as I get older I am really starting to like these observation towers and Ferris Wheel type rides. The ride was air conditioned, with seating, and it offered spectacular views of the entire park including downtown Charlotte. I was happy that I made the decision to ride it and scored some great pictures of Fury, the park, and surrounding area.

Intimidator

Fury and the Front Entrance

I see you downtown Charlotte

Back half of the park

Since I was not too far from the main entrance I decided to go out to my car, charge my phone, and take a break. I spent about thirty minutes there and then headed back into the park. Then for some reason I decided to take a ride on the Carolina Goldrusher mine train roller coaster. Built in 1973 this ride is just simply not great. I mean I wish I could paint you a pretty picture but in all honestly most mine train roller coasters suck. There are only two that I can say are decent

(Thundernation @ Silver Dollar City and Adventure Express @ Kings Island). Mine train coasters are good for kids though so it has that going for it.

Ok, so I look crazy

Southern Charm

I rode Windseeker next and went against my instinct because I normally do not like these type of swinging high-in-the-air rides. But, it ended up being a pretty decent ride and offered me a nice dusk overview of the entire park. Since I was already in the area I decided to take two more rides on Afterburn. I mean seriously this ride is freaking insane, especially at night! Fury and Afterburn alone are very solid reasons to visit Carowinds.

Pretty Lights

Coming alive at night

It was getting close to 9:00 pm and I knew what I had to do. I had to go ride Fury at night! Yup, that’s right. Over the next 45 minutes I got in four more rides on this superior giant of a coaster. I ended the day on the last Fury train of the night with 48 total rides. It was only fitting that I ended my day on Fury 325. Surprisingly enough I also managed 48 rides in a day on Fury during my visit in May of 2015 (yes there is a blog post on this). 

Spectacular

I knew after this visit that Fury 325 had surpassed Millennium Force as my new #1 coaster ridden. I never thought I would be able to say that but I just cannot deny it anymore. I thought that maybe Fury 325 had surpassed Millennium Force as my favorite coaster back in 2015 but still kept Millennium Force on top. Now Fury 325 takes that spot. I have my reasons as to why I think Fury is ever so slightly better than Millennium and I may blog about them in the future so be on the lookout.

BZZZZ

Fury deserves all of the praise it gets folks. It has great speed, it has intensity, it has height, it is smooth, and it has strong ejector air time. The view from the lift is great and the drop is even better. The directional changes are superb taken at a high rate of speed. The diving element of sideways air time midway through the ride is unbelievable and the drop in the tunnel is a thing of beauty. That is correct, Fury 325 is my new favorite roller coaster.

Me after 48 rides on Fury 325

Fabulous!

I had the most amazing visit at Carowinds today. I really could not have asked for a better day. The only negative for the whole day was when Fury broke down due to the heat issue and even then it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was a fabulous day with happiness, laughs, and fun. That is really all you can ask for during a day at an amusement park.

I'm on the state line

Furyous!

Best Coaster Ever

Look at those trees, er I mean coasters

What a ride!

What a day!

Scorecard

48x Fury 325

4x Afterburn

2x Intimidator

Hurler

Carolina Goldrusher

Carolina Skytower

Windseeker

I can even see Coasters from my Hotel room

Rampage

It is no secret that I like wooden roller coasters. It just so happens that there is an awesome wooden roller coaster just miles from my house. That would be Rampage at Alabama Splash Adventure. It was nice, for once, to be able to drive just twenty minutes down the road to ride a great roller coaster. Usually I am driving at least a couple of hours to ride any roller coaster let alone a great one.

I love Rampage

As most of you probably know, I live in a suburb of Birmingham Alabama. My local park is Alabama Splash Adventure. Sadly, I do not go to the park as often as I should but when there is a coaster event like Rip Roaring Rampage I almost feel obligated to go. That was the case when the event was held on Saturday, May 28^th, 2016. It really is a great enthusiast event, quite possibly one of the best events of the year, so I am very happy that I went.

I'm here

ACE is the Place for Coaster Enthusiasts

It was an all-day event with the main portion of the extra activities that happened later in the day. I decided to get to the park later in the day and made it to Alabama Splash Adventure around 3:30 pm. I entered the park and took my time walking around and taking pictures of everything. It was the first time in a long time that I had actually been in the park during the day with the opportunity to see all of the changes that the Koch family (owners of the park) had done. I did attend the Rip Roaring Rampage event in the fall of 2014 (see previous blog post) but it was during the evening hours and I didn’t get to see the entire park at that time (other than a few select areas). 

New Pepsi Oasis

Front of the Park

Main Midway

New Restaurant

I have to hand it to the Koch family with this park. They have really done the best they can with what they have to work with. I won’t go into much detail about that here but when the Koch family bought the park in the spring of 2014 it was a mess. They had to do a lot of sprucing up as well as build a better image/reputation of the park. It is now almost three years later and they have really done that.

Pool of Waves

Fun!

Best Waterslide in the park

Kids Area

Water Ropes Course

The owners have added a few new kids rides, a huge Pepsi oasis stand, a new restaurant, added landscaping, and new water park infrastructure. Not to mention they spent a huge chunk of money to restore the Rampage wooden roller coaster to the best it has even been in its history. They have also brought back a family atmosphere that was severely lacking from the previous owners. Oh, and they added a lot of free perks like parking, soft drinks, and sunscreen. Who doesn’t like free stuff right?

Can you handle these heights?

It's the Jump Around

Cute Train Ride

Another Coaster Credit

BOATS!

FINE CHINA!

The enthusiast group began congregating outside of the Star Theater, where dinner would be, around 5:00pm. I just so happened to notice a familiar face before we went in for dinner too. It was none other than the Fury Guy aka Doug! This time we properly introduced ourselves and hung out throughout the event which was an added bonus. It is always nice to meet a friend when attending an enthusiast event solo.

Star Theater

Dinner was really good. It consisted of BBQ pork, baked beans, and potato salad. Then afterwards they gave everyone extremely delicious chocolate cake. During dinner the owner Dan Koch and his mother Pat Koch aka The General spoke to the group and gave everyone insight on the current state of the park as well as future projects. It was a nice touch. 

Good Southern BBQ

Yup, this was good!

Mrs. Koch sharing her wisdom

After dinner it was the moment everyone had waited for. It was time to marathon Rampage for three hours! As I stated before I had the privilege of attending this same event in the fall of 2014 and I gained a greater respect for the Rampage roller coaster then so I was even more so looking forward to riding the ride now.

Rampage Pano

Rampage Overview credit: Carl Ragan

Rampage was built in 1998 with 3500 feet of track, a 120-foot-tall lift hill, and reaching speeds of 56 mph. The first drop is one of the best you will experience on a traditional wooden coaster dropping 102 feet towards the left underneath one of the structures many hills. There is great air time off of the drop and then the proceeding hill delivers some ejector air time.

DROP!

Next up the coaster makes a sharp lateral turn to the left and then a sharp left again and plunges into another drop followed by another air time hill. Then there is the moment on the coaster labeled the “pardon me” turn where it jerks you to the right as you make a hard right turn back into the wooden structure. There are some serious laterals here. This part of the ride is quite fun as you travel through the wooden structure and then hit a nice sized drop into another forceful air time hill.

Pardon Me Turn

Cool moments like this on Rampage credit: Carl Ragan

Then there are two sharp right hand turns filled with lateral forces as you descend yet again into a small ejector air time hill. This hill might be my favorite on the ride because it kind of takes you by surprise as you go over it. It is small yet offers some really nice air time. Following the small hill, you are back into the wooden structure again as you make your way around into another special element. At this point, out of nowhere, there is a surprise drop with air time and then a right turn with an air time hill into the brakes. Then just when you think the ride is over you coast through another small turn and drop right, turn, and then drop back into the station. 

See that small hill on the right? AIRTIME

Phew! What a freaking ride man. Rampage is a great wooden coaster and ranks #8 for me on my list of traditional wooden coasters ridden. Doug, who only has 25 wooden coasters left to ride in the USA (which means he has ridden a ton of wooden coasters), has Rampage ranked at #6 on his list. Rampage offers up great amounts of air time and laterals that give you a non-stop out of control ride experience. Also, the ride is very smooth for a wooden roller coaster. I think these are the reasons why it is highly rated by coaster enthusiasts. There were people all the way from Canada at the event just because of Rampage. Doug came down from Ohio for his first rides on it as well. 

Rampage is a Great Coaster

Doug and I got 25 rides on Rampage during the ERT session. Most of those rides we didn’t even have to get out of the train. We just stayed in our seats and waited for re-rides. It was a good time. As the darkness rolled in the rides on Rampage got crazier and crazier. It was rides like this tonight that really stick with you for years to come. 

Ready to Ride

Happy to Ride

I am grateful to the Koch family for putting their money and time into Alabama Splash Adventure. They really want the park to be successful and I believe they have succeeded. Attendance was up 25% in 2016 so they are headed in the right direction. The only thing I wish for the park to get is a few more thrilling rides in the future. Dan Koch (the owner) has stated through social media and at park events that the park, for now, will focus on the family and that he does not anticipate big rides coming to the park for a few more years. While that somewhat disappoints me I understand why the big rides are not a priority right now.

Free Soda! I see Mnt Dew!

On our way out of the park everyone received a goodie bag with a plush Smurf and a free one-day admission ticket to come back to the park during the operating season. Since Doug knew he would not be able to make it back from Ohio he gave his ticket to me so that I could bring my family back to the park. Thanks Doug. The tickets were put to good use later in the season so be on the lookout for a blog post. Ride on and read on and Rampage on!

Great Event