Carowinds Discussion Thread

[DILinator]

The only ride that doesn't have bins is Fury, I wear my glasses on everything and I have no straps.

 

So is Fury an "I need to rent a fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo" scenario, or an "I can toss my stuff onto the platform" scenario?

 

Yes, you do need to rent a fluffy fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo to ride Fury.

 

Or you can just do what I see a lot of people do when I've been there, who chuck their backpacks and bags behind the hedge at the entrance to the queue! (Please note that I am NOT recommending this practice, and would never personally do it myself! But it's definitely "a thing", much to Carowinds' chagrin!)

[CaptainUnknown]

Unfortunately, it's looking like my trip next week will be a wet one. High chance of thunder and rain my entire visit. So on a scale of Six Flags Great Adventure during Holiday in the Park to Six Flags Great Adventure in the Summer, how is the weather policy? I expect the high rides to shut down for lightning, but what rides shut down for anything more than a light drizzle?

 

Also, while I expect the magic seats on Intimidator/Fury to be the back, do any of the other coasters have magic seats? What seats are recommended--especially on Nighthawk/Hurler/Vortex?

[zburns999]

^From one trip, so take with a grain of salt...

 

On my visit, every major ride in the park shut down in the afternoon simply due to the threat of storms. There had been no lightning visible, and the rain didn't begin for well over an hour later. Nothing ever reopened, and the park shut down at 7:00 PM (I assume that, up until then, shops and restaurants were open). So yeah, if you have thunder and lightning in the forecast, be prepared for the possibility of a near-total shutdown. As for light rain, I cannot speak to that.

 

My experience with Fury was that the front was far-and-away the better spot, and I'm usually a back-seat purist in most cases. I also found Intimidator to be much better in the front, which is odd because I think that Behemoth and Diamondback are back-seat rides. Everything else I only had a chance to ride once, so I can't give you an informed opinion. Perhaps a Carowinds local might be able to chime in...

[Card]

Unfortunately, it's looking like my trip next week will be a wet one. High chance of thunder and rain my entire visit. So on a scale of Six Flags Great Adventure during Holiday in the Park to Six Flags Great Adventure in the Summer, how is the weather policy? I expect the high rides to shut down for lightning, but what rides shut down for anything more than a light drizzle?

 

Also, while I expect the magic seats on Intimidator/Fury to be the back, do any of the other coasters have magic seats? What seats are recommended--especially on Nighthawk/Hurler/Vortex?

From my experiences a few years back, I would honestly say that for those three - especially if you're anything like me - you will hate them no matter where you sit. Grab the coaster credits, then go ride something that's actually fun instead.

 

Oh yeah, and while Fury is amazing fun in both the front and back (that feeling of getting yanked over that first drop is UNREAL), I notice you also forgot to mention Afterburn, which I also like as a backseat ride. You'll know why when you get whipped like a muhvugga through that batwing.

 

Man... Afterburn's a damn good invert, save for the anti-rollback being deafening (not sure if that's still the case or not) and the lame-ass "clear for takeoff" dispatch where the guy doing the voice-over was either (A.) on Prozac, or (B.) a recent victim of cranial drill intrusion.

[Ed Farmer]

Haven't ridden Vortex, but you should shoot for the front on any B&M Stand-Up. Also, keep your knees bent a little/crouch prior to the restraints locking so the "seat" stays a little lower. Don't ride like that, though- after it locks, stand up straight and lean forward a little. If you ride these defensively, you might enjoy them. They're really intense rides.

[jonskinny12]

It seems that most people on here say that Fury is a front seat ride. Maybe it had to do with riding the front seat on the first train of the day before it warmed up, but I greatly preferred the back to the front. That first drop in the back goes on forever. It's an amazing ride either way though.

[pryonisys]

Haven't ridden Vortex, but you should shoot for the front on any B&M Stand-Up. Also, keep your knees bent a little/crouch prior to the restraints locking so the "seat" stays a little lower. Don't ride like that, though- after it locks, stand up straight and lean forward a little. If you ride these defensively, you might enjoy them. They're really intense rides.

From my experience riding Vortex (a grand total of 1 time) I had kept my knees bent as one does on a stand up coaster, but the issue was bashing my head on the restraints. It was a just an unpleasant ride for my head.

[Samuel]

Given Cedar Fair's efforts to address aging coasters and improve parks from within, is anyone else surprised that this new coaster is coming before a Vortex or Hurler transformation? And disclaimer: this isn't a complaint! I look forward to the new Mack; a unique coaster that spreads out the quality attractions in the park sounds good. But even if Hurler/Vortex are addressed next, they'll be a few years behind the other parks that moved on redos like Patriot, Rougarou, & Twisted Timbers.

[PKI Jizzman]

On the Whyte Lightning poster in the park:

 

"Durable, dependable, guaranteed over 137 miles."

 

137 miles = 1 minute 37 seconds for the ride time?

[defrocker]

There was recently a teaser that said something about a duration being 2:25 I think. I may be pulling that number out of nowhere but I seem to remember that being the case.

 

Also, 137 was seen at CP on the teaser poster for CW's dive coaster. Not sure if there's a connection or not.

[pproteinc]

^ This is the most recent teaser off of there IG page.

 

[Sven20]

Ride time 2:27

Passengers 16 per train

Track length 3255ft

Inversions or launches 2 could be both as ICON has 2 launches and 2 inversions.

 

530?? Barn length or tunnel

[bluestreak]

#WhatsInTheBarn

[CaptainUnknown]

After my flight was delayed 2 hours, I arrived at the park around 7:30. Rain and other bad weather had driven everyone else out so that most everything was a walk-on or a cycle wait.

Scorecard:

Intimidator 2x

Fury 2x

Drop Tower 1x

Carolina Cyclone 1x

Vortex 1x

Carolina Goldrusher 1x

Flying Cobras 1x

Boo Blasters 1x

Afterburn 2x

Nighthawk 1x

Intimidator 1x

Fury 3x

 

Rather impressive for only 2.5 hours.

[DBru]

Is this thing going to star with a barrel roll out of the station?

[bgtlover]

^That's what many are thinking (based on the leaked layout).

[prozach626]

Rather impressive for only 2.5 hours.

Damn! That is impressive. I was questioning why you only rode fury a couple times until I saw the last part of your post. Well played. First time at the park?

[CaptainUnknown]

^It was my first time at the park and I just got back from the trip. Park closed early the past 2 days because of severe inclement weather. The forecast made me think that I would have very little time to ride everything I wanted to at the park over 2 and a half days. So yeah, I had to leave, but once I got on most everything, I had to go back to Fury. I'm glad the last ride I got at the park on this trip was on Fury.

[pproteinc]

Dark brown supports are starting to arrive on today.

 

[CoasterInk]

^Great news! Hopefully we'll see some sort of vertical construction soon (if there hasn't been any yet). We don't know the color of the track yet... right?

Rather impressive for only 2.5 hours.

Damn! That is impressive. I was questioning why you only rode fury a couple times until I saw the last part of your post. Well played. First time at the park?

I'm going to ditto this... that's crazy you were able to hit up that many rides in such a short amount of time. Must have been walking speedily!

[pproteinc]

^ I’m going to assume with the trend CF is doing track will be burnt orange or rust brown like Valraven, RailBlazer and CW new dive coaster. Track should be showing up too by end of week. As for vertical all we have are 6 tall footers. Also we can tell where the gliders will be moved too which is curled here. Unless that’s a turnaround into the station idk.

 

[thrillseeker4552]

I'm very excited to see this project unravel. Anything remotely similar to Icon or Helix or even smaller scale like Manta will get an A+ in my book!

[pproteinc]

^ I’m with you in this.

[prozach626]

Given Cedar Fair's efforts to address aging coasters and improve parks from within, is anyone else surprised that this new coaster is coming before a Vortex or Hurler transformation?

Yes and no. As far as Hurler goes, isn't this the only full size wooden coaster offering in the park? It doesn't surprise me that it's sticking around, rough or not. If we're talking Vortex, can anyone speak for Patriot's popularity? I'm asking, because I know over the past 5 days spend within CP since the transformation Rougaru has been a walk-on even on busy days. Granted it's a capacity monster, but I think the moderate amount of head banging steers people away. Even riding in the middle train I've yet to have an enjoyable ride on Rougaru. My wife also doesn't like it.

[thrillseeker4552]

^I cannot speak for the original Vortex at CGA, but Patriot was a complete walk-on (and I *literally* mean walk-on) all day on a Wednesday a couple weeks ago when both Railblazer and Gold Striker had healthy lines (granted, these are both lower capacity than Patriot).

 

To be honest, I feel that if anything were to happen to this Vortex anytime soon, Carowinds would simply scrap the ride, or relocate it to another CF park (maybe MA or Valleyfair) and convert it to a Floorless on the way. I think Floorless-ing CGA Vortex was a stretch, and at a park like Carowinds with bigger coasters than CGA, would Floorless-ing Vortex even be marketable or beneficial?

 

I'm sure it would be better than its current state as a Stand-Up, but Patriot is by no means a "good" ride. Part of me wishes CGA just scrapped the thing and put in something else.

 

With that being said, I think the case for Rougarou is a little different since the coaster is much bigger and actually really fun now (I GREATLY prefer it to Mantis). These smaller Stand-Ups though? I don't know.