Carowinds Discussion Thread

[the_man]

I don't mean to be overly negative because I like the idea of what they did to the entrance, but holy cow they butchered that area bigtime. To me looks very stereotypical Cedar Fair "pave it and put a coaster over a grass field."

Awful

Would you rather the coaster to be sitting on a parking lot

No I have no problem with a coaster being built over grass, i'm just saying the entrance re-do [to me] looks really lackadaisical. They could have blended the old with the new and made it look really neat, instead they just bulldozed everything and made a very bland look that Cedar Fair historically is known for.

As the pictures show they had a neat entrance before that was kinda southern and kinda colonial, and looked really inviting. Now it was bulldozed to appeal to the YOLO crowd - lots of concrete, stereotypical urban gentrification looking ticket booths, and BIG SCREEN .

[SFOG1991]

I don't mean to be overly negative because I like the idea of what they did to the entrance, but holy cow they butchered that area bigtime. To me looks very stereotypical Cedar Fair "pave it and put a coaster over a grass field." Walking up to the park and seeing large open space with lots of concrete, little landscaping, and the blue sign with white letters with the generic Cedar Fair Carowinds logo. Even the stone work in the lamp posts are gray and just blend in with the concrete. The ticket windows just look....meh. It's like they said "well this looks fine at Cedar Point so maybe itll look decent at Carowinds." I do like that the metal detectors and turnstyles are gone though, thats always nice.

 

I just hope it isn't finished and there is major landscaping work coming.

 

Cute

 

Awful

 

 

I completely agree. I thought the old entrance was beautiful, unique and fitting. The new entrance is extremely generic and boring. The amount of gray is painful.

 

Also, while the new entry process is more open and fast, it also didn't feel safe. Metal detectors are very important for public safety and with such an open entrance people were just strolling through with bags completely unchecked. I saw this dozens of times in a matter of minutes. People were complaining about it on their Facebook as well.

 

So basically in the end I see no positives to their new entrance other than capacity, but that is something that could've been resolved while keeping their original entrance.

[MagnumFreak25]

You do realize you just said that the entrance was to convenient for you right. Would you rather wait in a long inefficient line? Just because there's no metal detectors it doesn't mean it's unsafe, Cedar Point gets a way with it fine so there's no danger either. And by the way, there are tons of good reviews.

[ernierocker]

You do realize you just said that the entrance was to convenient for you right. Would you rather wait in a long inefficient line? Just because there's no metal detectors it doesn't mean it's unsafe, Cedar Point gets a way with it fine so there's no danger either. And by the way, there are tons of good reviews.

 

Exactly. That has to be new one, someone complaining about the lack of metal detectors/bag check at an entrance.

[coasterfreak101]

Wow those pictures are gorgeous. Can't wait to ride this thing in August!

[jarmor]

If we actually looked at the number of parks with metal detectors compared to those without you would learn very, very few have them. We go to malls with no metal detectors, we go to festivals with none, we go to restaurants without them and so on. All these places are public so where is the outrage about public safety in those places? Why do we have such outrage when we go to a theme park without them? Do we feel less safe in a theme park that cost to get in compared to a mall that doesn't require anything to get in?

[cwgator]

Also, while the new entry process is more open and fast, it also didn't feel safe. Metal detectors are very important for public safety and with such an open entrance people were just strolling through with bags completely unchecked. I saw this dozens of times in a matter of minutes. People were complaining about it on their Facebook as well..

 

You do realize that Disney, Universal, Seaworld/Busch Gardens, Hershend Parks and most Cedar Fair parks do not have metal detectors right? Most of those parks get well over double the attendance Carowinds gets and there isn't a problem there. Since it looks like SFOG may be your home park from your screen name I guess I can see where you would feel unsafe. I would say however I think a bag check like the previous mentioned park chains have at the gate would be good to have. Those metal detectors (that Paramount put in) made the park's entrance look trashy and fugly. I'm glad they didn't put new ones in with the remodel.

[the_man]

I can agree with all of you on that - the one good thing about the new entrance is the lack of metal detectors / turnstyles

[parkjunkie]

I can say that I can see why certain parks have metal detectors. Mainly alot of Six Flags parks like SFoG, SFSTL, SFMM, SFGAd, are known to have some rough crowds from time to time. Yes they're ugly, yes they're a pain to have to go through, and yes, its a larger budget for security departments, but they're there for a reason. Six Flags corporate teams have wanted to remove the metal detectors from many of their parks... how they measure if they will or not for the following season is based on security incident reports, input from the security departments and local law enforcement, and the demographics and crime statistics for the metro area for the year. It is sad to see that parks have to have these, but after working in a certain unnamed park for over a decade and seeing some of the incidents that have happened, I'm very glad they had them and still do have them for that park. In the long run, its all about deterring and preventing to keep everyone safe.

 

But back on topic with FURY... I hope to get out to Carowinds this year to ride this beauty. I know people are gonna think I'm crazy, but I love B&Ms, especially their hypers... Yes, some of their coasters are gonna slow and blah, but Out of the 39 I've ridden, I can honestly say I really like the majority of them. Just from the looks of it, IMO this looks like B&Ms finest creation yet, but the only way to know is to actually ride it... but I feel it won't let down.

[JeromyL]

I liked the new entrance. It was spacious and streamlined. You enter the park very quickly. I want to get in fast with no headaches so I can make to the rides, That's what I come for

[Keetz]

I visited Carowinds for the first time ever this Saturday and Sunday with a friend. We had an amazing time! The park was extremely clean. The weather was fairly cold and resulted in coasters opening late, but operations were overall very good.

 

Fury 325 - This ride is my favorite B&M. I got to ride 3 times, once in the back, once in the middle, and once in the second row. I wanted a front row ride but the rows were assigned. The drop in the back seat is amazing. You get a nice forceful pop, and then float for a good 3-4 seconds. My 3rd favorite drop behind El Toro, and Sky Rush, but ahead of i305. The pull out is forceful and made me grey out once. The opening twisty bits are really fun giving a good but controlled sensation of speed while still throwing you around a little bit. The turn around and 91 degree dive into the tunnel was a really fun element with strong sideways floater. The return turn was more fun than I expected, and the following airtime hill provided really strong floater. The trim was variable, one ride it didn't engage, and one ride it engaged pretty strongly. The airtime was good on all rides. The helix wasn't very forceful, but the headchopper was a good effect. The last two airtime hills brought some nice air.

 

Overall it's my favorite B&M and has a nice mix of elements for a really long entertaining ride! The ride experience is very complete. For me it ranks ahead of AC, Nitro, i232 and is about even with Bizarro at SFNE (granted it's been a long time since I rode that ride). Rides like i305, Skyrush and El Toro are in an entire different class though. The ride is gorgeous, and is a fantastic investment to the park. I loved it and the GP were loving it. I can't wait to ride it in the front seat later this year.

 

All seats were assigned when loading Fury 325, and the crew was really churning out trains. Most trains went out very full, however sometimes the crew would get slowed down and sent out empty rows, and multiple rows with only 2 people. Some trains had as many as 12 empty seats by my count. When I asked for the back row, that was granted, but twice I asked for the front row, and got denied. It seemed very weird that there was no procedure to wait extra for the front row. I mean I already waited months to ride, I was willing to wait extra for the front. To add salt to the wound, both times I asked for the front row they ended up giving the front seat to people only a few spots behind me in the queue that didn't even ask . Oh well I'll be back, I knew causing a scene for the ride ops wouldn't do anything.

 

Afterburn was an amazing invert, probably my favorite, tied with Alpengeist. The pacing was excellent, and the batwing was so forceful in the back seat and it was a really snappy invert. The line was never longer than 10 mins the whole weekend.

 

Intimidator was fun, but felt like the most calculated B&M ever. It was really smooth, had decent floater, but just felt very slow paced. The ending helix felt like a joke compared to Nitro's helix.

 

Thunder Road was a pleasant surprise. It was only racing if you yelled RACE to the operators enthusiastically. The ride had a good rumble to it and had some fun pops throughout. Fairly smooth throughout, and it only got "rough" towards the end, but it was still fun and not back breaking by any means. It would be weird to see it go considering that it is in great condition.

 

Overall, Fury 325 got me to visit the park, and I left feeling very impressed with all of my expectations exceeded. Cedar Fair seems to have done a great job with the park. I will be back there soon. It makes me look forward to visiting Cedar Point this summer!

[chargersmichael]

Judging by the webcams...today was a slow day. 2 train operation for Fury and the new parking lot is not full at all. Wish I was there to hit up some rides!

[chrissycat]

Hey, I am visiting the park on Thursday, April 9th, and I'm wondering if it will be worth it to buy the fast lane pass for me and 3 friends. Any opinions are appreciated. Also, when do tickets normally sell out?

[cwgator]

^^Charlotte schools are in session this week. Depending on if the snow days didn't eat it up, spring break for them is next week (starts this Fri) and should be busier. I anticipate this weekend to be quite busy because of Easter (Fri-Mon).

[Vicmike14]

Great post guys...Fury 325 looks a lot like Millenium Force which is my Favorite Coaster...Plan on checking it out this summer...thanks again for the great review!!!!!

[rcjp]

How loud is Fury? From some offride POVs it kind of looks like it's louder around the lift/drop area (and airtime hills under it) than on the part that goes over the entrance. Is that true?

[SFOG1991]

You do realize you just said that the entrance was to convenient for you right. Would you rather wait in a long inefficient line? Just because there's no metal detectors it doesn't mean it's unsafe, Cedar Point gets a way with it fine so there's no danger either. And by the way, there are tons of good reviews.

I never said that and I've never had a problem with getting through Carowinds old entrance and even if I did, they could've easily added to it. It is less safe as well and you can't really argue that no metal detectors and not checking bags is more safe than having metal detectors and bag checks. Just because nothing bad has happened yet doesn't mean nothing bad can happen. Every type of incident has a first. Regardless it is just my opinion that the new entrance is bland, generic and ugly while the old one was unique and more attractive. I really enjoy the park but that's just how I feel about it and a lot of recent Cedar Fair structures.

[SFOG1991]

You do realize you just said that the entrance was to convenient for you right. Would you rather wait in a long inefficient line? Just because there's no metal detectors it doesn't mean it's unsafe, Cedar Point gets a way with it fine so there's no danger either. And by the way, there are tons of good reviews.

 

Exactly. That has to be new one, someone complaining about the lack of metal detectors/bag check at an entrance.

Definitely not a new one as I've heard the same from many other people. I doubt I'm the only person who likes to know they are safe. Metal detectors and bag checks don't mean a long inefficient line.

[JamminJ]

The medal detectors are just giving you a perception of safety. They don't actually make things safer. When's the last time you heard of a weapon being confiscated at an amusement park? If someone wanted to pull a Columbine and shoot everyone, it would be just as easy to do before you pass through medal detectors.

 

This is similar to people on Facebook saying they wish Fury had OSTR's because it would be safer.

[dippindotsguy8]

^^There are better ways to deal with this, though. The CF parks I've been to just use hand-held wands on specific days (most often during haunt). Usually they have plenty of security there, and it doesn't slow stuff down much or make the entrance area look ugly.

 

On the contrary, most parks I've been to that have permanent ones installed slow things down a lot. Magic Mountain, for example, often seems like they don't open enough of them up, and you end up waiting in a line every time.

[SFOG1991]

The medal detectors are just giving you a perception of safety. They don't actually make things safer. When's the last time you heard of a weapon being confiscated at an amusement park? If someone wanted to pull a Columbine and shoot everyone, it would be just as easy to do before you pass through medal detectors.

 

This is similar to people on Facebook saying they wish Fury had OSTR's because it would be safer.

They do not just provide a perception of safety. That statement would only make sense if they were turned off and being used as a prop of sorts. Anyways I am not saying they are necessary I am mostly just noting that the park went from having high safety standards upon entry to having almost none. The real point of my post was that I simply found the old entrance to be much nicer looking. I do love the bridge with Fury passing over and under it though.

 

Edit: I've physically seen knives confiscated at park entrances before and maybe you haven't, but it isn't like there is a news report every time someone has a weapon confiscated.

[JamminJ]

I saw a lot of security guards walking around all over the park over the weekend. So they definitely aren't skimping on safety standards.

[DrachenFire2]

Fury 325 - This ride is my favorite B&M. I got to ride 3 times, once in the back, once in the middle, and once in the second row. I wanted a front row ride but the rows were assigned. The drop in the back seat is amazing. You get a nice forceful pop, and then float for a good 3-4 seconds. My 3rd favorite drop behind El Toro, and Sky Rush, but ahead of i305. The pull out is forceful and made me grey out once. The opening twisty bits are really fun giving a good but controlled sensation of speed while still throwing you around a little bit. The turn around and 91 degree dive into the tunnel was a really fun element with strong sideways floater. The return turn was more fun than I expected, and the following airtime hill provided really strong floater. The trim was variable, one ride it didn't engage, and one ride it engaged pretty strongly. The airtime was good on all rides. The helix wasn't very forceful, but the headchopper was a good effect. The last two airtime hills brought some nice air.

 

I really hate that. Don't tell me where to sit. I sit where I want to damnit. If I want to sit in the back then I'll wait at the back row gate. God, I really hate that LOL.

[Brassinthegrass]

It is possible they were only doing that because it was the opening weekend, and they were more concerned about getting people through the turn styles in an orderly fashion than allowing for people to decide... I'm sure it will change over the next few weeks

[beenagins87]

It is possible they were only doing that because it was the opening weekend, and they were more concerned about getting people through the turn styles in an orderly fashion than allowing for people to decide... I'm sure it will change over the next few weeks

 

I went in 2011 and 2012 and during the week when they had 5 minute waits for everything but Nighthawk, and they were assising seats on Intimitador all four days.