Carowinds Discussion Thread

You may want to check the park app and make sure Fury is open. There was a power outage that shut down Fury, Hurler and Drop Zone. I think it is reopened but cant confirm it

According to queue-times.com Fury is currently open with a 10 minutes wait.

JJ you'll have a great time I'm sure, as I enjoyed my trip back in April. I was fortunate that the park emptied out at night, so I got a lot of rides in the final hour. Fury 325 is a masterpiece, Copperhead Strike was a lot of fun, Afterburn is a great ride, especially at night.

Towards the end of the night, swing by CS if you can and check the line for yourself. Maybe it was just the time of year I went but even though the app said a 40 minute wait, it was a walk on. And the CS crew was really hustling to get the trains dispatched.

Have fun!

I find the Cedar Fair apps are great at telling you if a ride is open/closed, but wait times are pretty slow to update. Personally I think Fury is the de facto way to end a night at Carowinds but Copperhead is great too.

We'll (kids and I) will probably be there around 4 or 5pm. Expecting light lines for everything until they close at 8.

Was planning on visiting carowinds Saturday morning, it’s the only time I can visit, forecast looks pretty terrible.. will the park open? Does fury or copperhead run in the rain? I feel I might be getting a bust on this one, unfortunately my window Saturday only

Had to duck out early so I can deal with Charlotte airport and get to Cleveland tonight, but honestly by 3 I had done everything I really wanted. Park was indeed quite empty. The operations for CS and Fury were running great, and thank goodness because honestly everything else was slow, often to the point of dreadful. Afterburn had a small wait but was running 1 train, Intimidator running 2 but ouch, it was perpetually stacked and bad. Like sitting on the breaks for 2 mins usually. Most were slow, deff rough for a slow day, waits were a good bit longer than they could've been but oh well.

Also nearly every flat wasn't running, I saw 2 or 3, was kind of surprising.

Anyway was a good day indeed. That top 4 is quite a lineup. Outside that, I wont lie nothing was really standout. I didn't expect anything from Nighthawk, though it seemed even rougher/worse than Firehawk? I also didnt expect much from Carolina Cyclone and it was what a I expected. Given how small/slower/less intense layout it is Vortex was pretty painful.

Hurler was closed all day, though I probably lucked out on that one!

As for the big four: All good, will try to rank em.

Copperhead Strike. Was fun. Deff a middle ground between Cheetah Hunt and Maverick. The hang time was pretty great and the 2 strong airtime moments were great, 1 or 2 very whippy moments. Was a good blend of intense moments in a fairly moderate ride.

Afterburn. Always heard this as one of the (perhaps last) forceful B&M inverted classics, and did not disappoint! It was exactly that, fun and forceful.

Intimidator. This was a surprise. I wasnt expecting too much but at least in the back, there was quite a lot of pull. Not just on the hills but that first weird turn and the unique turnaround. Honestly, super fun and more air time than I expected.

Fury. Well, what to say? That is epic. The speed on that thing is vicious esp when it fully warmed up. In the back there was some surprising whipy-ness on some of those turns and some crazy pull. In the 2nd to 3rd fast turn section it was hauling so much ass. POVs did not do it justice. I was caught off guard how whippy it was then you fell it pick up MORE speed and just haul it. From the start of that to near the top of the helix I barely had my eyes open from the wind! I will ride MForce tomm and give it a day to really digest but that is likely gunna top it my book, what a ride. Also reminded me that when its done well (strong and sustained) floater air really can be great. There's something about how comfy it feels but still being butt off seat for like 2-3 seconds. Deff top 5 ride.

EDIT: And yes, I dont think the wait for Fury ever topped 15 mins. I rode it for 2 hours straight and prob got 10.

I'm glad you liked Fury. When you watch it from the entrance it doesn't seem real, with how fast it's going. I couldn't get over that.

Yeah Fury feels so different from the other B&M hypers out there and it catches you off guard.

Nice report. I have very similar opinions based on my visit in 2017. I can't wait to be back later this month to ride Copperhead as well as the 3 big B&Ms too.

For the regulars, we are going on a Sunday in two weeks. Should we go straight to Copperhead strike or have lines for it not been long?

We are going to the park this Sunday. We have early admission for Copperhead at 9;30am. We have been to a lot of parks and have found that going early on Sunday is a great time to go as the crowds are in church. Does this still hold true for Carowinds ? Counting on it, but for the rest of the day, would a fast pass be needed ?

If Copperhead Strike is open when you get there, go ride it. There are times it will go down during the day, so you don't want to miss your opportunity. Most of the time, it's only down for 15 minutes or so, but can be longer.

We are going to the park this Sunday. We have early admission for Copperhead at 9;30am. We have been to a lot of parks and have found that going early on Sunday is a great time to go as the crowds are in church. Does this still hold true for Carowinds ? Counting on it, but for the rest of the day, would a fast pass be needed ?

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What did the FL+ lines look like?

Most of the time when I check queue-times, the longest wait is Scrambler, but I doubt that's on FL (and the time may not be real). CS is usually one of the shorter waits. I was there Mon. the 10th with t-storms in the forecast (didn't) and the CS line peaked at halfway down the stairs, maybe 10 minutes, but it was dead. The park is at the edge of a city though, so a nice weekend day (esp. Sat.) will surely bring them in (and, on Sun., they'll leave early to go to work Mon.).

We went back on Monday the 17th and the park had a very light crowd. Copperhead and Fury were both 15min or less. Other coasters were a walk on except Afterburn because they were only running a single train.

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Planning a trip for July, do they shuttle you to the park from any of the hotels?

Planning a trip for July, do they shuttle you to the park from any of the hotels?

Not that I know of. Depending on how close you are, Uber/Lyft might be an option.

The Comfort Inn next to the park is about a 5 minute walk and the only one without crossing a multi-lane busy road. It's not a bad hotel either. Save yourself parking and have an escape close by if you book there. Wendy's next door, too.

^ Plus Carowinds doesn't seem to open their lot until 10 minutes prior to opening. If you walk from that Comfort Inn, you'll be at the front of the rope drop crowd.

Thanks! I was looking at that place online, glad to hear that it's not a dump!

I’ve never been to a bad Comfort Inn and I’ve been to a ton. I honestly don’t even bother reading reviews of them at this point.

The Motel 6 across the street isn't bad either if you're just looking for a clean place to crash. No frills but it's a bed and it's clean and it's cheap.

The Best Western across the street is good too, but I think the convenience of not having to drive makes the Comfort Inn the top choice. That walk across the street is not safe as there's no crosswalk.

My daughter is at Carowinds today and she is reporting that a Fury 325 train has been stuck on the lift hill all day.

Edit: It's up and running. Nothing to see here.