ernierocker Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 (edited) I was extremely fortunate to be invited to represent Theme Park Review for the Media Day Opening of Fury 325 along with Derek Ruth (DerekRx). Now, that I have caught up from my mini-vacation, it is time for our full report! Let's go straight to the photos and I will also add reviews of the coaster from Derek and myself. Enjoy! We stayed at the Clarion Inn across the street from the park and this was our view from the 9th floor! The next morning it was time to check out the new hotness from B&M, Fury 325! Looks like Ellen was excited about the new ride! We were immediately greeted by the brand new Carowinds entrance plaza. The ride was testing as we walked in. Not only did Fury 325 dominate the skyline of the park, but it was also visible from miles away! New entrance plaza. It may be very Cedar Fair-ish but it is hard not to be impressed by the new look. I present to you the new entrance plaza to Carowinds! Carowinds rolled out the red carpet (or green carpet) for Theme Park Review! If you wanted to know the ride stats, new signs give you all the juicy details as you walk towards it. The smoke machines made for a dramatic journey to the ride. But is it more dramatic than the Carowinds' thread since Thursday?!? Indeed! We made it! The park did a wonderful job on the ride plaza. Here is the day's agenda. We had a few minutes to kill before the opening ceremonies, so we checked out the gift shop. Plenty of Fury 325 merch for you to spend your money on. Here I was minding my own business, when I was furyiously attacked! Almost time! Lot's of media showed up for the grand opening. We both felt that the opening ceremony was very well done. North Carolina Governor, Pat McCrory "called" in to express his excitement (or fear) for the new ride. Appropriately enough, South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley also called in! Even Charlotte mayor, Daniel Clodfelter wanted in on the action. The Fury 325 First Rider Auction raised over ,000 was raised for the Cam Newton Foundation! The official Fury 325 ribbon cutting! And with that, Fury 325 is officially open! I am almost positive they used some of the old Charlotte Hornets' mascot costumes to make this confetti. Immediately, the media lined up to ride Fury 325. And there goes the first official Fury 325 train! The trip up the huge lift hill really builds the anticipation! It didn't take long for the queue line to fill up! Lot's of excited future riders! And another train of first-time riders. Almost there! Here is a better look at the Fury 325 station. Ready to ride! Two thumbs up for Fury 325! Now for our reviews. Eric's Review Now onto the new ride. I thought it was a lot of fun. The first drop will take your breath away and the speed up the 2nd hill is wonderful. At this point as you soar over the entrance plaza and out to the turnaround, the ride seems to go through the emotions a bit. It is still fast of course and there are some forces to be had, but the main purpose of this section of the ride, in my opinion, is to look nice and pretty for the front of the park. Now with that said, as soon as you drop out of the turnaround and down into the tunnel, the ride picks right back up! The drop into the tunnel takes your breath away and the first airtime hill has strong floater airtime. The ride hauls to the brake run and really seems to utilize the speed it has built up well for the finale. Could the ride have done more with the height of the lift hill? Sure. As an enthusiast, I am a little jaded when it comes to what I expect in an extreme coaster. With that said, the ride is absolutely re-rideable and the General public is going to eat of up! Carowinds accomplished what it intended in building a marquee attraction that not only looks wonderful but is a lot of fun! Derek's Review Fury 325 was my 945th different coaster ridden and definitely changes the skyline of Carowinds forever. The new entrance right now seems very Cedar Fair-ish, lots of white cement and open spaces with no shade, but a giant hulking roller coaster all up in your face from the moment you park your car and walk in. So now Carowinds not only greets you at the south entrance with a B&M, they also do so at the north entrance. The ride itself sits back where the skycoaster used to be, near Hurler and the diner. Fastlane and regular entrances exist, and no loose articles are permitted on the ride and there were no bins present in the station, all things must be secured in zippered pockets or in the fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo just outside the ride next to The Hive gift shop at the ride exit. No additional queue exits for guests wishing to wait for the front row. The lift seems to move fairly well until the train reaches the top, offering ample time to check out the views of the park, planes taking off from the airport, and downtown Charlotte in the distance. The first drop is nice and long, though I felt it was a bit weaker than even other B&Ms like Apollo's Chariot or Nitro. The next sequence of turns, curves, and dips set up the sensation of speed you'd expect. To me, the banked turn over the park's entry didn't really do much and I really think they should have gone with an overbank or something. The far turn and dive below the entry plaza is great, and provides that extra push of speed before heading on to the bunny hills...until the trim grabs the train, more felt in the back. I wouldn't classify the airtime as normal floater, nor is it ejector, it's more like sustained floater, but it's good and gives the ride something else beside the speed and a bunch of turns. The helix doesn't really have much in terms of positive G's, but is a nice way to kill some of the speed instead of just slamming into the brakes. The final hills offer the same sustained floater air and make the ride seem more complete than Leviathan. It's a decent, fun coaster that is easy to enjoy, but it may not scratch all of your adrenaline itch. I would rank it somewhere around 90-100 in my rankings, which would still put it in the B range of rides. It's better than Leviathan, but I prefer the other Gigacoasters to this, as well as several B&M hypers. I wasn't disappointed in my 600 mile drive to ride it, nor was I blown away to the point of planning to do the drive on a monthly basis or move to Charlotte or get a timeshare or something like that. It's a ride that the seasoned rider could expect B&M to make these days just by looking at the computer animations and POVs, more of the same old cold and calculated B&M that doesn't do anything really unique and different, but it's also something that the general public can eat up, tolerate, and reride. In the long run, that's really all we can hope the ride does, attract the masses and raise their levels so we can get crazier coasters for years to come. Now back to the photos! Let's take a closer look at the Fury 325 trains. There was no mistaken these at B&M trains! I want what that guy is having! Before heading to check out the fare for Media Day, we made a quick visit to the other new for 2015 attraction, Slingshot As if a 325 tall coaster wasn't enough, the park also added a 300 ft. Slingshot to its impressive skyline. Previews of the ride were available as part of the media day. I have to say I was extremely impressed with the food prepared for the Fury 325 Media Day! The park really wants to step up the food offered to its guest and it appears they have accomplished their goal! There were food stations all over the park's Harmony Hall with a wide variety of delicious food! Here is a sample of some the new fare coming to Carowinds in 2015. An overview of Harmony Hall at media day. There was even entertainment for everyone as they stuffed their faces! The park even offered gelato! Speaking of cold things, these ice sculptures at the entrance to Harmony Hall were a nice touch The park was nice enough to open Intimidator for media day. Poor Intimidator is now overshadowed by its larger B&M cousin. This was my first ride on both coasters, and it really is crazy how small Intimidator feels after riding Fury 325. And now for some photos of Fury 325 in action! The park did a great job on the landscaping around the entrance plaza tunnel! One last look at the massive first drop! Overall, we had a great day at Carowinds and Fury 325 is a great addition for 2015! Now get out there and ride it! Edited March 30, 2015 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFChris Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 It's hard to comprehend how huge that ride is...except by how tiny the trains look in all the pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasternut Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 ^ Great report guys. I love Intimidater, so I know I'll love Fury. I'm a big B&M fan anyway... I haven't been to Carowinds in several years, so I'm over due now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thanks Eric, I'll leave it to you to pick an choose the best photos for the Park Index, since you may have more you didn't post. I was wonder how people will feel about Intimadator now. especially after you commented how small it feels. The folk in that area are partial to Dale Earnhardt (and quite touchy about it) and will they be upset that his ride is being overshadowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodie Warrior Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Cedar Fair parks definitely spare no expense with their special events. Looks like it was a fun day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Nice report. I'm sure the ride will be very popular with park guests this summer. dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECZenith Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Man it is a great year to be alive on the east coast! With Leviathan being my all time favorite coaster, I think I will love Fury, almost makes me forget Wicked Cyclone is coming up practically in my backyard, almost... Thanks for the report and the great photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Roast duck with boysenberry glaze--sounds like they're taking cooking tips from Knott's (which is a good thing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker27 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 It seems like this ride was just announced yesterday. Either time flew by, or they built this very fast. Or both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ape Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 That picture from the hotel room is my favorite. Thanks for the review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubaski Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 it's amazing that Carowinds is a Cedar Fair Park. They certainly do not do things the same as the other Cedar Fair Parks relative to Media Day events like Banshee at Kings Island and Gatekeeper at Cedar Point. They sure dropped the ball on this one by snubbing the majority of the members of all the coaster clubs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 ^I'm glad they didn't. There was already a lot of people there and the event ran relatively smoothly. I can't imagine that happening if they invited every enthusiast group in the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodie Warrior Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 it's amazing that Carowinds is a Cedar Fair Park. They certainly do not do things the same as the other Cedar Fair Parks relative to Media Day events like Banshee at Kings Island and Gatekeeper at Cedar Point. They sure dropped the ball on this one by snubbing the majority of the members of all the coaster clubs It shouldn't be expected that coaster clubs are invited to every media day. They're called MEDIA days for a reason. Your comment just backs up the stereotype of "whiny entitled enthusiast" that parks have of us. Coaster clubs being invited to media days is a privilege, not a right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Stratosphere Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Awesome review and looks to be a crowd pleaser for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ape Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 What Cedar Point and Kings Island did should not be expected and i have noticed on many sites people seem to expect to be invited now. It's kind of sad. I do think they should have done the first rider auctions differently though and instead of bidding on seats do it like Scream for a Kid Again where once you raised the minimum you could attend. They were able to raise much more that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmadmanray Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Great update, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraroc Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I sort of breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when I saw that picture of the larger guy on the ride. I figure that if he can fit, I can. Although I'm still dedicated to slimming down, I'm not stopping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarmor Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 it's amazing that Carowinds is a Cedar Fair Park. They certainly do not do things the same as the other Cedar Fair Parks relative to Media Day events like Banshee at Kings Island and Gatekeeper at Cedar Point. They sure dropped the ball on this one by snubbing the majority of the members of all the coaster clubs I wasn't snubbed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Nice report. Looking forward to checking it out later this year when my daughter moves close by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIAfan88 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Fantastic report! The plaza around Fury looks very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanzear Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I drove down from DC to ride Saturday! WOW! what a ride. I was kind of disappointed by the reviews but I thought it was freakin awesome! The first drop wow!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCW_Nut Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 *post moved to the Carowinds thread* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 I was kind of disappointed by the reviews but I thought it was freakin awesome! The first drop wow!!!!!!!! And this is why people shouldn't get their panties in a wad over reviews. Instead, ride it and judge for yourself. Glad you enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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