Carowinds Discussion Thread

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! I've felt rattles on a few Macks like Capitol Bullet Train, Velociraptor, and Alpina Blitz, but the super comfortable trains make it a non-factor for me. I don't remember one on Copperhead, but I rode it the second weekend.

[hoppedup]

Nighthawk - I'm a real sucker for these things and I don't care if this was the first - it still rocks the socks off every B&M flyer in the US. I will never understand why people call these things rough because they're not.

 

 

Hurler: Not as bad as everyone makes it out to be,

 

Vortex: finally got to this abomination, only to find it's also not as bad as everyone says.

 

Afterburn: a good invert, but not my favorite. The mist on my feet in the tunnel was a nice surprise. I often forget this ride exists. Raptor and Montu are still my favorites. One and done for me.

 

 

Wow.

 

At least you are right about Fury. And the Whitewater Center. It is awesome.

[bill_s]

I felt some sickness from CS also, but didn't consider that the rattle had anything to do with with it.

Nighthawk's first drop and swoop over the lake is great, the loop is killer all right, yikes. As all B&M flyers also have loops, I see no reason to say they're good coasters either. That makes sense about the corkscrews, maybe I will try Batwing again, but those were terrible.

 

As to Hurler, you said "Overall, a lot better than the King's Dominion version ever was. " ... while that is technically true 2010 and later, neither when trimmed should be considered in any way representative of those rides and unless you're actually comparing it on the basis of back then, you have no evidence of any use. Hurlers before 2010 and maybe Caro's for a total of 12 weekends since (yours not one of them) were real coasters, popular or not. Again I say turn off the trims and run it to death and then close it or do the maintenance. It serves no real purpose at the moment. There is no reason to invest into it for these results.

[HellboyBegins7492]

I’m curious as to what they’ll do with rip roaring rapids since the ride is indeed closed parts of the ride still remain at the park. So I’m wondering will they do an update like they did to the raft water ride at Knotts Berry Farm or tear it down completely and replace it with a roller coaster or thrill ride or a flat ride. Carowinds doesn’t have anymore water rides if the rip roaring rapids go not talking about the water park either. So will the park just go without dry water rides in the park. Not even a flume ride for the future?

[kylexy2298]

Was at the park this past Tuesday and noticed that Copperhead Strike does have a pretty bad rattle to it, especially on the wheel seats. Rode it again on a non-wheel seat and was better but the rattle was still definitely there. Hopefully it's just a problem with the wheels and not the coaster itself.

[Invertalon]

Are the trains the same as Blue Fire? That ride was one of the most eerily smooth coasters I've ever been on. That was just last month and that ride has some age on it.

[tndank]

Ricochet is good stuff. Skipped it first trip. Rode it today and we had a blast on it. Can't wait to find more like it in the future.

 

Ended the night with 6 or 7 rides on Fury. Last one was front row with a girl just tall enough to ride for the first time. She wasn't talking as we loaded and went up the hill. Bottom of the first hill I peeked over and she raised her hands. Kept them up the rest of the way. Her parents and I loved it.

[yawetag]

Hurler: Also, who the F**K designed the stations for these things? What the hell were they going for?

 

Hurler was originally based off Wayne's World. The station was designed to look like the outside of a movie studio. IIRC, the garage area below the station (the door is closed now) used to be a replica of the Wayne's World studio.

[HellboyBegins7492]

I heard the new rumored ride going into Carowinds next year could be a zamperla ride according to coaster net I am

Not sure if these rumors are strong or not. If this is the case to me it would kinda suck since the park still doesn’t have a single water ride in their dry section of the park. Rip roaring rapids I guess will continue to sit their unused since the parts of the raft ride still remain. People can go to the waterpark sure but not having one single water ride in the park sounds weird. Carowinds might be the only theme park in the country without a dry water ride at all. Yes water rides are fading away at dry parks but I don’t think they need to totally disappear for good. I’m hoping that the Mack power splash will be a success since it seems like it will be coming to Six Flags Over Texas. If it does well I hope this new type of water ride will start to go to other theme parks around the country. Mack power splashes and super splashes have yet to make their debut in the states for some strange reason.

[Samuel]

Hurler: Also, who the F**K designed the stations for these things? What the hell were they going for?

 

Hurler was originally based off Wayne's World. The station was designed to look like the outside of a movie studio. IIRC, the garage area below the station (the door is closed now) used to be a replica of the Wayne's World studio.

 

 

This was shot for King's Dominion, but it's the same concept.

[yawetag]

I heard the new rumored ride going into Carowinds next year could be a zamperla ride according to coaster net I am

Not sure if these rumors are strong or not.

 

Is this based on the shipping container headed to Charlotte? It's only 2 tons - not nearly heavy enough for a new ride. The prevailing thought is that it's going to Frankie's, not Carowinds.

[carowindsman]

Looks like Dino’s alive is finally closing down

[HellboyBegins7492]

I hope carowinds gets a water coaster like this one day I think theme parks should start looking at a water ride/roller coaster combo like this......

[TurnOfTheCentury]

I am considering visiting Carowinds for the first time next week on either Thursday (August 8?) or possibly Wednesday. I notice that they have a promotion with tickets and parking for $29.99. I am *assuming* it's because that's a typically slow day? Has anyone been to these promo Thursdays yet and have a sense of crowds?

 

I have read from earlier trip reports in this thread that fast lanes are probably not necessary on Wednesday or Thursdays?

[coasterbill]

I have read from earlier trip reports in this thread that fast lanes are probably not necessary on Wednesday or Thursdays?

 

That would be correct. You never know for sure, but I wouldn't expect crowds. Don't buy Fastlane in advance unless you really, really, really like Vekoma flying coasters.

[djcoastermark]

Just wanted to add, we went on a Sunday in late June and had our longest wait of 20 minutes at dark for Fury. That included down time for a breakdown too. We skipped the Vekoma flyer and Ricochet due to those 2 rides having long waits, but we really didn't mind skipping those 2. Yeah, a mouse and a Vekoma device, been on those at other parks before, would rather ride Fury and Intimidater multiple times over just 1 on either of those 2. Our last 3 rides at closing were for Intimidater, which was basically walk on. I would wait to buy a Fastlane.

[RollerManic]

Hit Nighthawk and Vortex first in that order and you'll be good.

[yawetag]

Mirroring the others here. Thursdays are slow. You should have no problem without FastPass.

 

Unless Ricochet's line extends to the metal queue railings, the wait isn't more than 15 minutes. Nighthawk is only slow because there's approximately 65 minutes between each dispatch.

[hoppedup]

Hit Nighthawk and Vortex first in that order and you'll be good.

 

If you have to get the credits, by all means do so and follow the advice above. But IMO, skip Nighthawk and Vortex and you'll be better. I skipped Firehawk at KI last year knowing that I would never get a chance to ride it again. That was based on my experiences with Nighthawk and Batwing.

 

Vortex is the worst of the three stand-up coasters I have done.

 

That said, some people like them both. Those people are masochists.

 

You will probably not have big crowds on a midweek day. FL+ should be a decision made in the park. If it does get busy, buy your FL+ at a store or ride gift shop. Lines at the front gate Fast Lane counter can get ridiculous. Again, unlikely on a Wednesday or Thursday.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

Just visited the park yesterday for the first time and had a great time! Crowds were super light and my friend and I didn't wait more than 20 minutes for any of the rides. Overall I got 26 rides in: 3x CS, 2x Afterburn, 2x Cobras, 1x Goldrusher, 5x Fury (great ride!), 1x Hurler, 1x Nighthawk, 2x Intimidator, 1x each per kiddie credit, 3x Cyclone, 1x Ricochet, 1x Vortex, and 1x Windseeker.

 

I see now why Fury is in most people's top 5; that thing is relentless! The drop is HUGE, right after the drop the thing hauls through it's twisty section, and after the trim you have a few nice pops of awesome ejector air before hitting the station again. It's a real masterpiece and has become my new #1.

 

Copperhead was awesome, too! It fits the park really nicely and has a few really cool moments. I take back what I said (a few dozen pages ago) about it looking like "Manta with inversions." They're completely different rides; Copperhead has less airtime but some AWESOME hangtime moments. I enjoyed Intimidator as well. The three B&M Hypers I've ridden (DB, Intimidator, Nitro) all have something special to offer, and in this case it's the turnaround. The twisty section on those long trains is a neat experience.

 

Vortex, Nighthawk, Cyclone, and Flying Cobras neither exceeded nor fell short of my expectations. Nighthawk gets a + for having better scenery than Firehawk in the first half, but a - for having a (comparatively) terrible ending, so I'd rank it about the same as the late KI version. I like flyers, so it's a fun ride, but I'd take a B&M any day over a Vekoma. Vortex is a solid stand-up, it's essentially a smaller version of Green Lantern. Definitely an enjoyable ride that I'd probably marathon if I lived nearby. I got to do three consecutive rides on Cyclone since nobody was riding; there's nothing quite like a classic Arrow. I like 'em for what they are: quirky, but with some fun forces on the inversions. Flying Cobras was only my second traditional boomerang. I actually really enjoyed the version at Knott's years ago, but the trains on the Carowinds version are significantly better, making for an overall excellent ride (Yes, I like boomerangs. Sue me).

 

And now the beef. The two rides that fell short of my expectations were Afterburn and Hurler. I'll start with Hurler. I was surprised by how smooth the ride was, especially the first turn was after the drop. The reason I didn't like it too much is simply that it doesn't do much. The hills don't have airtime, and there's nothing particularly forceful about any of the other turns or anything.

 

But Afterburn. This is probably an unpopular opinion, but it's my least favorite B&M invert of the ones I've ridden (Banshee, Raptor, Silver Bullet, and two Batmans). I generally enjoy these rides quite a bit, so I don't know why but it just didn't do much for me. It's a weird middle ground where it's not as smooth as Banshee or Silver Bullet but also not as forceful as Raptor or the Batmans. I did have fun on the ride, but as an enthusiast who's been to several parks and ridden 119 different coasters, I'd say that there's nothing to really look forward to about this ride. It's fun, but it's not the best of its type and certainly not a standout coaster at Carowinds.

[DILinator]

I have read from earlier trip reports in this thread that fast lanes are probably not necessary on Wednesday or Thursdays?

 

That would be correct. You never know for sure, but I wouldn't expect crowds. Don't buy Fastlane in advance unless you really, really, really like Vekoma flying coasters.

 

 

Both times I've been to Carowinds, it's been beautiful, hot days in the middle of the Summer, and I have yet to wait more than a half hour for anything there, besides the dreadful Nighthawk! Afterburn was only running one train the one time, and was pretty slow, resulting in the other half hour wait. So yeah, aside from that one coaster, I found Carowinds to be a nice park for smaller lines.

[TurnOfTheCentury]

I have read from earlier trip reports in this thread that fast lanes are probably not necessary on Wednesday or Thursdays?

 

That would be correct. You never know for sure, but I wouldn't expect crowds. Don't buy Fastlane in advance unless you really, really, really like Vekoma flying coasters.

 

My relationship with Vekoma flying coasters is probably best described as "abusive."

 

Thank you all for the responses. I can't wait to ride Fury 325.

[tndank]

I want to like Nighthawk but it's just not comfortable for me. I'll still ride it once every visit, but that's typically it. I like B&Ms take on these much better.

[RollerManic]

So much hate for Vekoma Dutchmans, and I’ve never understood where it comes from. You people are relentless ... but I get it. Vekoma has a bad rap and enthusiasts are babies. They’re not rough.

 

If B&M made more flyers like Sky Scrapper, Air, and Flying Dinosaur I’d be more interested, but all the B&M flyers in the United States at least don’t take full advantage of the system.

 

That’s why I said the Vekomas rock the socks off the US B&M flyers at least. 3/5 are complete snoozefests, and the other two are actually pretty awesome, but they’re not as impressive as the Vekoma’s with all the lie-fly transitions.

 

Oh, and Vortex is not bad at all. Ride it defensively (the same way you should approach any standup) and you’ll be fine. I got a perfectly smooth ride on it using the usual standup-riding technique, which came even to my surprise. Prozach supposedly got a perfectly smooth ride of Green Lantern using the same technique, something even I wasn’t able to pull off, so maybe it’s not so crazy after all. However, it’s layout is rather unexciting, so I wouldn’t defend it like I would the other stand-ups. Green Lantern might be rough, but forces considered, it’s at least got an interesting ride experience to tout, and Georgia Schorcher and Riddler are meanwhile in their own league as rides I thoroughly enjoy and find interesting.

 

TLDR; maybe skip Vortex, but don’t be scared of it. Don’t miss Nighthawk. Or, don't listen to me at all because maybe I’m a masochist.

Edited July 31, 2019 by RollerManic

[coasterbill]

I don't mind them. I probably prefer them to Superman at Great Adventure and Great America, though the Georgia one is great and Manta and Tatsu run circles around them so I won't go quite as far as you.

 

Still, it's been a long time since I bothered with Nighthawk thanks to it's long wait times. When Fury and Afterburn are usually 10 minute waits tops it's hard to pry myself away to stand in an hour long line for a flying Dutchman.