Carowinds

Visited: June 18, 2017

Attending: Brian, Carole, and Alex

The next stop on our trip was Carowinds, outside of Charlotte, on the border between North and South Carolina. The park literally straddles the border, and some rides cross from one state to the other and back. The weather was sunny and hot, but we got there early, and the lines were fairly short most of the day. The park is very pretty, easy to navigate, and the operations on the larger rides were crazy-fast. (I think there may have been a competition between Fury and Intimidator for fastest operations.) We ate lunch inside in a large hall, which turned out to have a rather loud kiddie show in it, but at least it was inside and cool.

Fury 325

This is what I was there to ride, a super-tall B&M giga-coaster, so we went for it immediately. Alex didn’t want to ride it first thing, so he waited until later in the day. There was virtually no line, and we only had to wait a couple of cycles. I admit I was very nervous going up the first hill. I knew it had a chain lift, and I thought it would take a long time, but they had the chain on a fast motor, and the hill didn’t take any longer than 200-foot coasters I’ve ridden. It has the usual clamshell lap bars found on all B&M hypers, so I felt pretty secure...although not secure enough to throw my hands up on the first drop. The overbanked turns were a little scary, as they go just a bit past 90 degrees, but the hills had the best airtime of anything I’ve ever ridden. It’s all floater airtime, but it feels like the floats last several seconds, as opposed to regular hypers. It’s possibly my new all-time favorite coaster. I went back again later in the day, and the lines were still fairly short. Alex rode once with me, and once with Carole, and said it was fantastic. I didn’t do front or back car, nor at night, so if I ever go back again, I’ll do that.

Ricochet

After Fury, we headed deeper into the park, and Ricochet was the first thing we came to, so Alex and I rode that while Carole sat out. Nothing much to say about it, really; it’s a standard wild mouse.

Carolina Cyclone

While we were waiting for Ricochet, we could see Carolina Cyclone, an old Arrow looper, right nearby, so we went on that next. To nobody’s surprise, there was no line at all. It wasn’t nearly as rough as I expected from an old Arrow, but it also wasn’t particularly high or fast. It has two vertical loops followed by two corkscrews over the midway, a helix, and that’s it. If anything, it’s a little dull, but it seems to have held up well over time.

Vortex

Vortex was nearby to where we were, so we rode that next. It’s another B&M stand-up, on the small side, but I was collecting those on this trip, so we rode it. The experience was nearly the same as Apocalypse; it’s a short ride, with a fair amount of head-banging. Rumor has it this is about to be rebuilt as a floorless coaster. That’s probably for the best.

Intimidator

We eventually made it over to Intimidator, and even though it was nearly noon, there was still no line. It’s a B&M hyper with the two outside seats set slightly behind and outside the middle two, and the same race-car theme as Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion. Normally, I’d love a B&M hyper, but after riding Fury, Intimidator just seemed OK. The first drop was good, the airtime was fun, but it just didn’t make an impression the way Fury did, which is a shame, because in any other park, it should have been the main attraction.

Flying Ace Aerial Chase

This one was pretty much the definition of “ride it for the credit,” so we did it right after lunch. This is a Vekoma suspended family coaster located in the kiddie portion of the park. As a result of that, and the timing, it was probably the longest line we stood in to that point. It went faster than we anticipated, although there’s no big drops. Fortunately, there was very little headbanging.

Carolina Goldrusher

This is a pretty standard mine train, so there’s not a lot to say about it. Portions are below ground level and in tunnels, so that’s kind of neat.

Flying Cobras

This Vekoma boomerang was nearby, so Alex and I rode it next. (Carole doesn’t like coasters that go backwards.) It has a new coat of paint, so that’s nice. It was a longer line, relative to what we’d been seeing so far, and most of it in direct sun, so that was less nice. It’s a fairly standard example of a boomerang, not particularly good or bad.

Afterburn

We finally made it to the back of the park to find this B&M invert. I generally like B&M inverts, but I didn’t see anything special about this one. It’s not particularly tall, and while I like that it’s not as intense as the Batman clones, it doesn’t stick in the memory. It goes through a tunnel, which is pretty unusual for an invert. I probably should have ridden it from the front car, as there was almost no line.

Hurler

We went back to the front of the park to ride Fury a few more times, and I quickly ducked over to ride Hurler by myself, as both Carole and Alex were turned off of older wooden coasters at this point. It was smoother than I expected for a wooden of its age, especially given its poor reputation, but nothing particularly special.

Nighthawk

We had been trying and failing to ride this Vekoma Flying Dutchman all day. After riding Batwing, we were curious to compare the two experiences. Unfortunately, while it was open when we arrived, it closed down shortly before we tried to ride it, and was closed every time we passed by after. Just before we left, though, we went by one more time, and it was running. Carole and Alex were tired and chose not to ride, as it was pretty hot in the afternoon, but I wanted the credit. The line was probably the longest I stood in all day, entirely because of slow operations, not number of riders. After riding both, I prefer Nighthawk to Batwing. Nighthawk swoops over the water, which is cooler than grass. It also has a covered brake run with fans, and given the way the operations go, you’ll be sitting there a while. It doesn’t have Batwing’s hand-holds, but that doesn’t make a big difference.