Carowinds Discussion Thread

[RyanTPM]

^That looks really nice, thanks for posting those photos and looking forward to seeing more!

[ALT2870]

So will be at the park tomorrow. Anything special I should know? I'm expecting some crowds since it is Saturday but the park is open till 10 so I'm not concerned.

[VF15]

Had a great first visit to Carowinds yesterday. Chilly temperatures and low crowds allowed me to get in a lot of rides. I plan on posting a full trip report once I get home, but I'll share some thoughts on the coasters for now.

 

-Ricochet was closed all day, presumably due to the rain.

-Vortex: This was my first stand-up coaster and its was not a pleasant experience for the lower body. At least it wasn't a headbanger. 4/10

-Carolina Goldrusher: An "okay" Arrow mine train. First half was very weak, second half was a bit more fun. 4.5/10

-Carolina Cyclone: Typical old Arrow looper. A little rough, but still enjoyable. 5/10

-Hurler: Except for one bad transition, this was not as rough as I was expecting. Didn't deliver many positive Gs, but it had a few decent airtime pops. 6/10

-Nighthawk: Decent Vekoma flyer, but it was a lot rougher and rattlier than Firehawk. The vertical loop and double corkscrew were the best parts. 6/10

-Carolina Cobra: I know that since I'm a coaster enthusiast, I'm not supposed to like Boomerangs, but this was a smooth, pain-free, fun ride thanks to the newer restraints. Pulls some decent forces, especially going backwards through the loop. 7/10

-Intimidator: When I rode it in the front row on my first ride, I was a bit underwhelmed because I hardly got any airtime at all, but when I rerode in the last row, it was noticeably more intense with some nice floater air and. As far as B&M hypers go, it's not as good as Diamondback but better than Raging Bull. Front row: 7/10, Back row: 8/10

-Afterburn: Great old school invert. While it's one of the shorter inverts, the constant intensity and the snap you get through the inversions definitely makes up for it. Best part is definitely the batwing. I'd rank this as second favorite invert behind Banshee. 9/10

-Fury 325: This is my new favorite roller coaster. In my opinion, Fury 325 has everything that an amazing roller coaster should have. The first drop is incredible and seems to go on forever, I partially greyed-out at the bottom. The rest of the ride was very intense, it threw me around way more than any other B&M has, it has very strong moments of airtime, and the speed never lets up until the brake run. Overall, Fury 325 is an incredible experience. Carowinds and B&M hit a huge home run with this ride. 10/10

[DILinator]

Just going to jump in here again and give Vortex some love. One of the best multi loopers I've been on honestly. Great ride. Everyone should ride it at least once to see how they feel about it.

 

I've rode it about five times and every time I come off asking myself, "Why the hell did I ride that again?" It injured my wife. It's more painful than Ninja at SFOG...and since this is a Carowinds thread, Carolina Cylcone and Carowind's own Vortex is a better ride than KI's Vortex. Just my opinion here, but Vortex is the worst multi looper I've rode. But yeah, I agree...Everyone should ride it at least once to see how much pain they're in after they get off the ride.

 

I don't think KI's Vortex is great, but Carowinds' Vortex is the worst coaster I've ridden since Son of Beast! Even the wretched Hurler was not as bad, in my opinion!

[carolinaman]

Some pics of Carolina Harbor from Thursday.

[The Geek Mojo]

I'm wondering what the crowds are like for Carolina Harbor this weekend. It's all new, so I'm guessing insane. We're planning a trip next weekend...I'm guessing it'll be even more insane due to the holiday weekend. Oh joy!

[coasterbill]

Carowinds has a webcam on the water park. Since it's brand new that might be your best bet.

 

Please note: If it looks like the city of Charlotte is going to be swallowed up by an earthquake that registers 7,000 on the Richter scale that's because the webcam is mounted on Skytower and it shakes violently when the ride is operating. Just wait a minute or two and it will stop.

[cedarpointguru]

I'm at Carowinds for the first time ever right now. Taking a quick break before getting back to it, but I did notice something odd about Fury. The subsequent train seems to begin ascending before the train on the course hits the break run. I know the likelyhood of Fury valleying next to impossible with that speed, but shouldn't block procedures still follow? Or is it timed so that the train on the course finishes its course before the ascending train crests the hill, that way the chains can stop if they have to?

 

Anyone notice this? Is this the same case for other gigas, including MF? I've never really payed attention.

 

PS: really love the park! I'll post a full photo trip report later.

[coasterbill]

The chain lift will stop if the train doesn't clear the first set of brakes before it reaches the top. The lift hill is a block on just about every coaster. Also, Fury has a variable speed lift so depending on where the train is on the course it will slow down to allow it time to reach the brakes before completely block stopping.

[VF15]

The Fury crew has really been hustling and getting people through today. Last time I rode it, we were rolling out of the station just as the train ahead of us was heading down the first drop.

[jimmiemac02]

The water park was not crowded at all this morning, everything was a walk on.

 

When riding Carolina Cyclone this morning, I saw a kid hop over the air gate to try and ride with his friend. Needless to say, he got an earful from the ride ops. Lots of school groups at the park today.

[ALT2870]

The crowds have been circulating at the water park. One moment a ride is a walk on, next you know the line is out the enterance. I think the Fury crew got 46 dispatches in an hour until it reset.

[ScreaminNewEngland]

Carowinds 2016

 

 

So I did a little “surprise” visit to Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend. Hunter and I hit Lake Compounce and Six Flags on Saturday. Then it was off to Charlotte on my 5am flight to Charlotte, which was about two hours long. Let me just say, Charlotte is the nicest city I’ve ever visited and I was totally blown away with North Carolina in the two full days that I was there. So three parks in about 15 hours within each other. Not too shabby!

 

 

Scorecard:

 

Fury 325: 13x

Intimidator: 4x

Afterburn: 5x

Nighthawk: 2x

Carolina Cyclone: 2x

Drop Tower: 3x

Hurler: 1x

Carolina Goldrusher: 1x

Carolina Cobra: 1x

Southern Star: 1x

Scream Weaver: 1x

Space Spiral: 2x

Windseeker: 1x

Vortex: 1x

Ripcord: 1x

Slingshot: 1x

 

 

Carowinds:

 

 

We arrived at the park thirty minutes early and were surprised to see that guests were already riding Fury. We walked right in at 9:30, got our fast lane plus and headed right to Intimidator as I was told to ride this before Fury, because it would ruin my experience. Walking down the main street of the park, I was greeted with friendly characters and employees who showed plenty of that “southern hospitality” everyone always talks about. Intimidator and Nighthawk are the first two major coasters that you encounter at Carowinds. And we’ll start the reviews right here…

 

 

 

 

Intimidator:

 

I’ve kept my expectations for the Intimidator very, very low considering the fact that it gets shoty reviews. Another huge reason is because I really don’t care for Nitro, even though most people do. I think it’s boring as hell and it does absolutely nothing to me. Heading down the first drop was just okay, nothing special. But the second hill is what changed my whole view on this ride. After that it was fun floater air time and great drops. The turnaround was whacky, yet awesome and the whole ride is butter smooth. The operations on the ride were top notch and the NASCAR theming was nice, but not as good as KD’s in my opinion. Overall, one of the best surprises of the day and it was very re-rideable. 9/10 A-

 

 

Nighthawk:

 

I’m a minority for saying this but I loved Batwing at Six Flags America, so I was hoping the same for this one. Unfortunately it was only running one train and the line was already an hour plus. (Thanks Fast Lane!) We waited two cycles which was about ten-twelve minutes so not too bad of a wait. The ride itself was awesome. I loved how they constructed it over the water and it has an abundant amount of trees around it providing “fly-by” effects. Fast, intense and really not rough at all, sure it was a little shaky but nothing brutal. Overall it was one of my favorite rides in the park. 9/10 A

 

 

Afterburn:

 

People who know me personally are aware that I am a huge B&M invert fan. I’ve been on plenty of good ones including Talon, Montu, Great Bear, Dueling Dragons and Raptor, hearing that this was one of the best, I was excited. The ride itself is INTENSE. The loops are fast and forceful while the layout has plenty of near miss effects. The ride is a little rougher than some of the other B&M’s that I’ve been on but nothing major at all. Another very re-ridable coaster and it ranks closer to the top. 10/10 A+

 

 

Carolina Cobra:

 

Can somebody please paint this ride? Seriously it looks hideous but it rides amazingly. By far the smoothest and most enjoyable boomerang I’ve been on thanks to those awesome vest restraints. It seemed like a crowd favorite as it pulled quite the line. But pleeeeaseeeee paint it new colors soon! 8/10 B+

 

 

Carolina Goldrusher:

 

Another mine coaster to check off my list. I loved the theming in the station and it was actually one of the smoother old school mine rides that I’ve been on. Great tunnel at the end provided for a little bit of a surprise. 8/10 B-

 

 

 

Carolina Cyclone:

 

Arrow coasters go two ways in my book….bearable or un-bearable. This one was great! Smooth transitions compared to Canobie Corkscrew and the layout was nice. I think the best part was the final helix at the end, providing a little bit of force and a smooth ending. 8/10 B

 

 

Fury 325:

 

Everything it is hyped up to be. This ride is incredible. The layout is perfect, the drop feels never-ending and the speed is unreal. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s better than my previous #1 (I305), I think it’s going to be determined once I go back to King’s Dominion this summer. The dispatches were every thirty seconds, along with intimidators making it some of the best operations that I’ve ever seen. They let us wait front row and I will say this, it’s absolutely a front seat coaster. I found it funny how both I305 and Fury had trim brakes on their biggest airtime hills. But overall this ride is so worth the trip alone and is extremely re-ridable. Ridiculous. 10/10 A++

 

 

Hurler:

 

This was the only bad ride in the park. The roughness wasn’t really the issue, it was more of the fact that it’s super boring. The first turn after the drop was fun and smoother than KD’s but there was zero airtime and all it did was just shake the crap out of you. Hopefully whatever is done to King’s Dominions will be eventually done here. Surprisingly a very popular ride regardless. 6/10 D

 

 

 

Drop Tower:

 

This was my second intamin 2nd generation free fall and it was just as good as the first! Although I will admit, this ride is really looking quite sad. They need to repaint it and maybe give it a cool new name. Or maybe just get a gyro drop. 9/10 A-

 

 

Windseeker:

 

My second windseeker ride and still very fun and relaxing. I will say that this park has nicer views that King’s Dominion, with the mountains and charlotte close by. Painfully slow opperations on it unfortunately. 9/10 A

 

 

 

 

Space Spiral:

 

This was actually my first observation ride and it was actually pretty awesome! The views are spectacular and it’s a very relaxing ride. North Carolina is a beautiful state, you could see Charlotte and the mountains perfectly in the distance. 10/10 A+

 

 

Southern Star:

 

These old-school looping pirate ships are a guilty pleasure of mine. I’d say out of the three that I’ve been on, this had the best program. It was always really popular with the guests. 10/10 A+

 

 

Vortex:

 

The final credit of the day. It was just…..meh. My second least favorite ride in the park. It was much more tolerable than Apocalypse but still not that good. Stand-up coasters don’t do it for me. Floorless trains and maybe a tunnel would make this ride more pleasing for guests. 6/10 D

 

 

I also did the slingshot and the ripcord, for the first time ever. I always walk past these and say to myself, “I’m gonna do that someday.” They were so much fun! Especially the sling shot!

 

 

As for the food, we ate at the Harmony Hall, which was quite impressive in size but poor in food quality. I’d say out of the four Cedar Fair parks that I’ve visited, Carowinds had the worst food. It was also incredibly packed in the cafeteria of the hall with very slow moving lines.

 

 

As for the park appearance, I was actually pretty impressed. It had much more landscaping and charm that I was expecting, with plenty of fun out going employees to make the experience even more enjoyable. There’s certainly a number of rides that could be repainted like Cobra, Cyclone, Drop Tower and Nighthawk. King’s Dominion is the better east coaster park in my opinion, it just seems a little more “well-rounded” with rides and overall appearance. But overall I’d say this was a great park and I will definitely be back again soon!

[The Geek Mojo]

Think I'm going to skip a repeat visit to Carowinds this Memorial Day weekend. Probably going to hit Kings Dominion instead. I305 is calling my name. And I definitely need to ride it again to compare it to Fury 325. It's only been a month since I last rode Fury so that should be enough time in between to give a fair judgement. Both coasters are amazing and definitely a #1 and #2 combo whatever order they're in. And I agree with the review above...Carowinds's Intimidator is better than SFGAd's Nitro. Nitro is a good coaster, but it's pretty low on my B&M hyper list. Probably second from the bottom. Raging Bull at SFGAm is the worst.

[carolinaman]

Cyclone was just repainted this year, but your right the others especially Cobra needs painting. I wish they would have changed up on Cyclones paint scheme.

[coasterbill]

I'm glad someone else likes Nighthawk. I really fail to see the problem with Vekoma flying coasters.

[carolinaman]

I love Nighthawk too, the problem I see with it is the long loading and unloading times and usually one running one train. Not much can be done about loading times I know, but at least run both trains most of the time.

[jarmor]

As for the food, we ate at the Harmony Hall, which was quite impressive in size but poor in food quality. I’d say out of the four Cedar Fair parks that I’ve visited, Carowinds had the worst food.

 

What did you eat?!?!?!?

[DirkFunk]

I'm glad someone else likes Nighthawk. I really fail to see the problem with Vekoma flying coasters.

 

Outside seats have insane amount of vibration, load slowly due to horrendous train design, restraints suck (feels like I'm doing a push up when in the flying position as a survival tactic), half the layout is taken on your back while you face straight up into the air, and the elements that exist aren't particularly forceful. I suppose the last point is actually a positive, as if they were taken with the kind of force B&M doles out on their pretzel loops, half the train would probably return dead from closed head injuries.

[carolinaman]

As for the food, we ate at the Harmony Hall, which was quite impressive in size but poor in food quality. I’d say out of the four Cedar Fair parks that I’ve visited, Carowinds had the worst food.

 

What did you eat?!?!?!?

 

 

I was wondering the same thing

[SFOG1991]

I've had many poor experiences at Harmony Hall as well. In terms of wait times, service, and food quality.

 

It took nearly 30 minutes to get food when there was only a few people in line, when I ordered something clearly shown on the menu none of the employees had any idea they even served it and gave me the wrong thing twice, then at check out I was charged incorrectly. The only good thing about the poor service is they accidentally gave me a full refund and forgot to charge me the right amount and you can steal drinks for free because no one is paying any attention or knows what they are doing.

[coasterbill]

I'm glad someone else likes Nighthawk. I really fail to see the problem with Vekoma flying coasters.

 

Outside seats have insane amount of vibration, load slowly due to horrendous train design, restraints suck (feels like I'm doing a push up when in the flying position as a survival tactic), half the layout is taken on your back while you face straight up into the air, and the elements that exist aren't particularly forceful. I suppose the last point is actually a positive, as if they were taken with the kind of force B&M doles out on their pretzel loops, half the train would probably return dead from closed head injuries.

 

I agree about slow loading, but I never found the rides uncomfortable for whatever reason. Clearly I'm in the minority and I won't deny that B&M's are better (though I enjoy the standard Vekoma clone over a Superman clone but when you talk about something like Manta or Tatsu it's not comparable) but I don't mind them.

[BotanicalStig]

I've had bad service at harmony hall on many occasions. Probably every time I've gone. The employee's always have a hard time checking people at the registers, like they've never done it before. Maybe their registers are just hard to use.

 

My wife and I have tried food at all of the stations in harmony hall. At this point, we mostly go for the steak burgers. But the only bad food was really the pizza. The pizza at both harmony hall and Papa loogie, is nasty. Otherwise the food has always been good IMO.

 

If you really want to experience bad service, try chickie and petes. You'll be there from opening to closing waiting on that stupid sandwich and French fries. Kind of worth it though.

[coasterbill]

Calling all Pixelcaster whores (I know I'm not the only one).

 

The Fury 325 cam has made it's triumphant return.

[Vonni]

Are the temperatures in the Carolinas high enough for water park visits?