Carowinds Discussion Thread

[WillMontu]

I think that it's a solid ride and something that will work out well for the park with its high capacity. As mentioned above, the front and back seats are the best places to be, though getting stapled by the operators several times isn't so much fun.

 

The Boomerang was pretty bad (just as it was at GL), though it ran a bit quieter. We overheard people exiting the ride saying how they would "never do that ride again"

[bgwfreak777]

For the record:

 

Intimidator- I've experienced a lot of different rides on this coaster in my 47 rides so far, (I'm not saying that to impress you, but just to give you a reference). I've had back seat rides that verged on ejector air, and were incredible. I've had a few that were blah, and I know for a fact one of the trains runs slower than the others or it sure seems that way. My top 4 steel are all B&M hypers, and basically when I look at all these quality rides, the one thing that pushed Intimidator to my personal No. 1 was the fact that I've gotten so many different feels throughout the trains. But all 4 are excellent coasters and I'd love to ride all 4 every day if I could. Intimidator in my mind is not a cookie cutter B&M, as much as the layout looks that way. Anyway, I feel you're all entitled to your opinion, and if you don't really find it that great, then that's your opinion and I respect it. I just get tired of people putting down a coaster, just because it's not at their home park, or at a certain park on Lake Erie.

 

Cobra- I don't know what the deal is, but the coaster doesn't bother me the way people say it does. I also rode it at Geauga Lake, still no problems. I rode Zoomerang, still no problems. Maybe it's the fact that I've got bigger shoulders/arms than maybe average guys and that's padding me from the blows. Is Cobra something I'd marathon? No, but frankly after my Nighthawk ride this a.m., I'll be riding Cobra again before I ride Nighthawk.

[coasterbear30]

I was at the park on April 24th and I don't know if it was a bad day for the ride. I mean it was threatening to rain and there were low clouds all day. I know how things like that can effect a rides performance. But all joking aside, maybe I just had too high of hopes for the ride. As I stated before B & M hypers are my favorite type of coaster out there and I was really excited about this ride but from the front to the back it really did not make a difference. This thing did not even break into my top 10. I would rather ride Afterburn if that tells you anything. The only thing I guess that could have effected my ride was that all the trims were on and although they were not on super hard they still just totally ruined the ride for me and the 10 other people I was with. No one thought it was that good. Then again, we are from Atlanta (3 hours away) so that may have been the reason too.

 

Pufferfish, sorry I missed you. I think you were in the dispatch box when we rode.

[cfc]

^It was great meeting you guys today. I was worried that by me coming in for closing shift I might have missed you. I'm really glad you guys were able to come today, today was one of its better days. While it still wasn't running the same it was when I got my best ride on it, it was pretty close.

 

Now to add into everyone's conversation on the inconsistencies, yes we have them. At the start of the year it was running pretty consistent, but recently there have been a couple bad days, but at the same time there have been a few good days, and at least one perfect day for the ride. On the bad days, yes I'd rank it pretty low, but I've had enough good experiences that it has been able to keep it's number 1 steel spot with me. Also to the people talking about local bias, if positive opinions were only coming from people within an hour's drive of the park, I would agree with you. Sadly the bulk of the positive comments I myself have been hearing are from people completely out of state. I think we've had more visitors in the park so far this year than locals.

 

The Intimidator crew was doing a great job last Saturday--nice work! I enjoyed the ride quite a bit (it compares favorably with Diamondback, I think). You do get some nice airtime in the backseat.

[bgwfreak777]

Sounds like the week of 4/24 they were messing with the trims. LOL

 

The past 2 Fridays though, and Sunday I didn't have any issues with the trims, and in fact the 2nd trim didn't even fire at all Sunday.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Yeah the best rides I've had yet were yesterday. It was hot, humid, and the trims were almost completely off, with a small grab on the first and basically no grab on the 2nd.

[Coasterlvr_nc]

^Same here. Last weekend was practically trimless, caused for some amazing rides! And for those of you who have talked about local bias. If anyone had been looking forward to this ride more than me, then I will put my foot in my mouth. But to be completely honest, my first ride sucked something else. It didnt help matters when my second ride was blah as well. Like many have stated, the ride has its good days and bad days. You just need to catch it on a good day.

[bgwfreak777]

One thing I find interesting is that empty trains seem to run faster on Intimidator, than full trains. Seems like it's usually the other way around on most coasters.

[Cosmo_tad]

^They may seem faster as the trims grab less on emptier trains, but time wise it runs considerbly slower, and yes I have timed it hundreds of times (i may or may not have a life, to be determined).

 

Also to weigh in on the local vs out of town bias topic, the locals ride it every weekend and get to see the coaster as it sorts its self out. I actually enjoy reading the out of town reviews more, as they tend to be more in depth. Its just all the out of towners "research" comes on one or two days where the locals get to live and learn every weekend.

[coasterbear30]

My only thing is that you should not have to ride a coaster 50-100 times to get a good ride out of it. A couple of times should be enough. ALMOST any coaster is going to have a good ride at some point.

[jsz1002]

I've rode the coaster 5 times and got a good ride 4 out of 5 times on it.

[Brad]

I could not find the answer to this question, so I apologize if this has been asked before:

 

On the new B&M Hyper Trains (like on Intimidator), when you get to the station, are the lines for the entire car, or a row of 2? For example, if a group of four were together, would they wait in the same line or split up 2&2?

 

I am picturing similar to Dejavu, where you have 8a & 8b, with 8b being the 'wing seats'.

[CPmaverick]

^Assuming Intimidator is the same as Diamondback, it's two per row.

[Skycoastin Steve]

There are 16 separate lines in the station, and two guests go in all 16 rows.

[robbalvey]

Just saw this video from SeaWhippet of Hurler's new trim brakes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtiB-ZKtnXw

 

You can hear them right as the train levels out at the bottom of the drop. Anyone know why they were put in and will KD's get the same treatment?

 

--Robb

Edited June 1, 2010 by robbalvey

[B-RadG]

Hurler at KD already has the trims there, and they're supposedly to keep it from tearing up the structure as much as it does to make it "smoother".

[deathbydinn]

According to this KD;s Hurler got trims in the same spot.

 

On with the trim report, I also rode the new Hurler. There are 2 newly added trims at the base of the 1st drop right before entering the turn. They are speed adjustable as when I rode in the back, I did not hear or feel them contact the train, but over the rest of the course it was obvious they had done their damage. No big air ANYWHERE on the 1st 3 bunny hills. NOTHING!!

EDIT: ^Beat me to it!

Edited June 1, 2010 by robbalvey

[robbalvey]

Why do I get the feeling that if this retro-fit project on Texas Giant is a hit with the public, AND proves to be cost effective, we'll see it happen to quite a few more of these older woodies.

 

--Robb

[bgwfreak777]

Last time I rode Hurler around 5/8 the trim was on and I don't know if it was just sluggish in general, but the coaster had no air at all on the hills that day.

 

They actually installed the one at Carowinds last fall around September.

 

Maybe it's just a temporary thing until Carowinds can spend the money to completly rehab the ride, like Bart Kinzel said they are planning to do once Thunder Road is done.

[thrillrider]

What I find weird, is that the coaster has been running since 1994 and it gets trims now? Why after 16 years does it now need trims?

 

It does not make a difference to me as I did not care for the ride to begin with, but just kind of curious as to why they added them after all this time.

[nitrofan]

I think the trim is probably a good thing. Hurler was painfully rough in April.

[angryemobeaver]

I think the trim is probably a good thing. Hurler was painfully rough in April.

What!? You must of rode on a wheel seat! I rode it in April also (April 3rd) and it was very smooth and had pretty good airtime! I also rode in the front seat of the second car.

[DBru]

^^But what is the point in even riding the thing if all the airtime is killed?

[DarkStitch626]

I think the trim is probably a good thing. Hurler was painfully rough in April.

What!? You must of rode on a wheel seat! I rode it in April also (April 3rd) and it was very smooth and had pretty good airtime! I also rode in the front seat of the second car.

 

Wheel seats are on ALL of Hurlers train my friend. Thunder road does not have them in the "middle of the train" because each car has 3 rows. Hurler only has 2 rows per car thus preventing a "non wheel seat".

[KDcoasterMAN]

I have ridden both Hurlers this season with their new trim brakes and all they do is slow the coaster down and kill its airtime.

 

They are rough as ever and not worth keeping in both parks. They would both be my choice for the next coasters to go in both parks.

 

BTW, Robb, I was entering Rebel Yells line today and could hear Hurler's trim brakes hitting...