Carowinds

Visited: April 9, 2022

Attending: Brian and a whole bunch of Buzzed Bars

The official Stumble 325 event was Saturday and Sunday at Carowinds, but I knew that I’d only be able to attend on Saturday, needing Sunday to drive back. Nevertheless, after a positive experience on Friday, I was looking forward to Saturday. I met up with Matt outside the gate, introduced myself to Alison and Steven, met Gabby, and a handful of other people. We were all inside by rope drop, because we were a coaster crew on a mission: Fury 325.

Hurler

…and unfortunately it wasn’t open right at 10:00. It looked like it was going to be a little while at least, so we decided to ride Hurler, as the next nearest coaster. I’d ridden Hurler in 2017, but remembered nearly nothing about it. Now that I’ve ridden Twisted Timbers more than a few times (which was identical to Hurler before it was RMC’d), it’s an entirely different experience. The queue line and the station felt identical, although we weren’t waiting long. In fact, it was very clear to the ride ops that this was a coaster club, because there’s no other way a group of 100 people would show up to ride Hurler at 10:00. We got seats pretty much in the middle, because we didn’t really care where we ended up. The layout was almost exactly the same as Twisted Timbers, with all the fun parts taken out. I hoped for some airtime on the camelback hills that come after the first turn, but alas, there was none to be found. It’s really not fair to compare Hurler to an RMC, but when it basically provides a “before and after” like that, what else can you do?

Carolina Cyclone

Carolina Cyclone is an old Arrow looper, which many parks seem to still have one of. In 2017, I thought this was amazingly slow and janky, to the point where I was just laughing at it. This time, we went for the back row, and I thought there was a little bit of a bite to it. The transitions are still janky, and the corkscrew isn’t a lot of fun, but the two vertical loops have some intensity. It’s certainly not my favorite ride in the park, but I’m glad I rode it today.

Fury 325

At this point, Fury opened up, and the Buzzed Bars filled several trains. I snagged a back-row ride along with Matt and another guy who’d never ridden it before. The ride was excellent, as back-row rides on Fury often are, but it was still fairly cold out, and these were among the first trains of the day. It was still a better experience than most coasters, but I did think it was running a little slow. Matt and the other guy were impressed, but not blown away, which makes sense. We decided to go for the other credits and come back to Fury again later.

Copperhead Strike

Because Matt had two days at the park, he decided to hit his highest priorities today rather than picking up “junk” credits like the wild mouse and mine train. (And Vortex was closed, which I was not at all sad about.) The club headed en masse to Copperhead next, so we followed. This time, there actually was a queue, so we ended up waiting a while in line, which was perfectly fine, because it gave us a chance to talk about coasters. Once again, we took over several trains in a row, which was the intent. Once again, I found myself enjoying the launches here more than the more violent launches of a Kingda Ka or Dragster. The absurd amount of hang-time in the loops continues to impress me, and every time I rode this today, I couldn’t keep my hands up through the jo-jo roll. The seats remain very comfortable, and the ops weren’t inclined to staple, but the nature of the restraints means they tighten as the ride goes on.

Afterburn

After that, the group split up somewhat, and my small subgroup headed over to Afterburn. I previously had two rides on this from the back row, and I wanted to go for the front, as I enjoy inverts from the front, but for various reasons, hadn’t done this one yet. As I expected, one can appreciate the layout more from the front, and being able to see what happens adds to the enjoyment – with the exception of the sharp zero-g roll right after the station flyover; you just can’t see that one coming. As usual, being in the front provided some odd sensations, especially in the inversions, but we knew that was coming. My opinion of Afterburn has improved since I first rode it, but without riding Banshee or Montu, I don’t really know how to rank the inverts.

After that, we’d accomplished most of the major coasters, and it was early afternoon, so we went over to Harmony Hall to get some food. I had a grilled cheese with picked chicken inside, which wasn’t as interesting as I expected. Not enough cheese. Still, I like Harmony Hall’s atmosphere.

More Copperhead

After lunch, the group planned to meet up again for some unofficial ride takeovers. Copperhead was first, and it was still pretty much the same as before. I can’t remember where I sat on this one, but I think it was toward the back.

Plants vs. Zombies

After that, the whole group went to do the Plants vs. Zombies theater…thing. It’s kind of like a shooting dark ride, without the ride. It takes place in a theater, and we filled the whole thing by ourselves, which was pretty much the point. I’d never do something like this on my own…in fact, I had no idea it was there before that day. I was also surprised at how long it’s been since I even thought about Plants vs. Zombies; that theme is really played out. I have absolutely no idea how I personally did in the game, but my side won, so there’s that.

Somewhere around this point, it started getting very cold and rainy. It was later in the afternoon, and I was getting kinda tired. And I wasn’t alone in that; lots of club members felt the same way. The original intent was to have a tailgate in the parking lot, but it was really too cold. Lots of folks were staying at the hotel on the property, so we went back over there for a rest and some drinks. Unfortunately, we got chased out of the bar onto the patio, which was lacking in heat sources. After I’d been there for a while, it became clear the weather wasn’t going to clear, so I thought I’d go back into the park, eat something hot, and then bail. I met up with Matt and a few others at Chickie’s & Pete’s for a cheese steak and crab fries, after which I was feeling much better, and the skies had actually cleared a bit, so I decided to stay.

Intimidator

After the tailgate, there was supposed to be more group riding of Fury, but folks were really slow getting back from the hotel, so people were just riding it whenever they felt like it. In chatting with Matt, it came up that I hadn’t ridden Intimidator that day (the rest of the club rode it mid-afternoon), and that it was supposedly running well. I had a couple of rides on it before, and it never impressed me; it always seemed like the trims were running too heavy. However, Matt and I decided to take a chance on a night ride. Fortunately, the rain had cleared out the park, so it was a walk-on, and we grabbed the back row pretty easily, although the center seats rather than the wings. I have to say that was a substantial improvement over my previous rides, as the speed was working properly, and I was able to get the airtime I expect from a hyper. As many others have said, in any other park, that would probably be my favorite ride. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works.

Fury 325 again

After Intimidator, we headed back to Fury and found that the club had shown up, although the riding was pretty disorganized. So we went again, from the back row. While it was getting colder, there was less wind, and the wheels had warmed up nicely, so it was an awfully good night ride. I wish I’d brought my gloves, but what can you do. The folks who’d been skeptical before were convinced now, which was gratifying. The club stayed to do more, but it was after 9 at this point, and I had a very long drive on Sunday, so I decided to call it a night.

Overall, I’m very happy to have taken this trip, and to have joined the club. The members are mostly younger than me, but not a ton, and it wasn’t as awkward as I’d feared. In fact, they were all quite friendly and welcoming, and they mostly had social skills. After a couple of years of going solo, I really enjoyed riding with other enthusiasts again.