Carowinds Discussion Thread

I think it could happen. Cedar Point did the Mantis conversion and a 223ft B&M in consecutive years.

So in reading Screamscape today. They seem to be hearing a rumor of a 2019 Iron Hurler, which I don't doubt would happen in the future. However, I really expected to see a Rougarou treatment of Vortex next. Anyone think we could see two conversions in two years? Honestly, if there was an RMC next to Fury I would never leave that junction of the park...

Cedar Fair's pattern has been to do the floorless conversion and then a new coaster the next year. Happened at Cedar Point and CGA. Vortex Conversion 2019 and 2020 ground up coaster. Couple of things working against RMC Hurler at Carowinds are they are doing Hurler at KD. Second, the park needs to add to their coaster count. I could actually see them getting a launch coaster or a B&M wing coaster, maybe a GCI, but less likely.

Cedar Fair's pattern has been to do the floorless conversion and then a new coaster the next year. Happened at Cedar Point and CGA. Vortex Conversion 2019 and 2020 ground up coaster.

That's considered a "pattern"? Seems just a coincidence to me. But ok . . .

Cedar Fair's pattern has been to do the floorless conversion and then a new coaster the next year. Happened at Cedar Point and CGA. Vortex Conversion 2019 and 2020 ground up coaster.

That's considered a "pattern"? Seems just a coincidence to me. But ok . . .

Cedar Point getting a Rougarou and then Valravyn was expected. Floorless conversions are pretty cheap and CP is the flagship park. CGA getting Patriot and then whatever in 2018 to me means whatever coaster order for parks CF has, a floorless conversion doesn't change your place in it. It's treated like getting a flat. The only park that got back to back coasters before was CP before CGA (the 7th or 8th best park in the chain) in 2017, 2018. One would expect the same for Carowinds 2019, 2020.

^Yes, it could happen.

We received Carolina Cobra (now Flying Cobras) in 2009 and then Intimidator in 2010.

I don't know if I think Hurler will get the RMC treatment. It's their only major wood coaster now. Dominion has two others with Hurler being the worst of the three (in my opinion). I COULD see a GCI wood twistie in Crossroads since Thunder Road is gone.

Looking at Carowinds' drop tower, it seems a bit small--especially with Fury 500 feet away. I would love to see it replaced with an Intamin Sky Jump (Falcon's Fury).

Looking at Carowinds' drop tower, it seems a bit small--especially with Fury 500 feet away. I would love to see it replaced with an Intamin Sky Jump (Falcon's Fury).

That tower is small but intense.

I agree. It's still tall enough that you get a really good drop. Six Flags America's is the only Intamin tower that definitely seemed way to short when I rode it.

Saw this on Carowinds connection.

Also so that they filed for petitioning some acres of land.

got to spend 3-4 hours at Carowinds today for the first time in somewhere around 18-20 years. i'm sure i'm not saying anything new, but Fury sure does ride with power. first couple rides were in the 3rd row. i wasn't prepared for the pop out of your seat you get near the front of the train. later in the day, or at least for a bit, there was no grouper, so got to ride the front and back at will. anyway, plan to get back soon for more riding!

I will be going to Carowinds on Saturday, August 19. I will be going with my mom, my brother, and one of my best friend. What do you recommend for us?

Thanks, Troy

For Carowinds regulars, I'm curious because I plan on visiting soon, have they starting running the new flat rides with decent programs yet? When they opened the swings were barely spinning vs. the old ones they had removed, the Top Scan was crawling, and the Music Express wasn't going backwards. Did they fix things or is that just how it's going to be?

I'm planning to make my first ever Carowinds visit today.

I'm on a last minute work trip in Columbia, SC. I didn't even put two and two together until I drove right past the park yesterday and saw Fury 325 towering over highway 77.

My plan is to get off work at 5 PM, purchase a discounted afternoon ticket, drive the 1.5 hours to Charlotte, and sneak in as many rides as possible between 7-10 PM tonight. I don't know much about Carowinds, so I'll probably just lap Fury 325 and Intimidator, unless I'm missing something. Hopefully crowds won't be too bad on a cloudy Tuesday.

Wish me luck!

Swap in Afterburn for Intimidator, and you have a good plan.

so I'll probably just lap Fury 325 and Intimidator, unless I'm missing something

You're missing Afterburn, the second best coaster in the park by a mile. If you ride Intimidator but not Afterburn, you're doing it wrong. Ride it once in the front and once in the back for the insane batwing / pretzel thing.

If I were you I'd start out with Intimidator (it'll feel like a kiddy ride if you ride it after Fury), then loop around to Afterburn and follow the loop to Fury where you can just spend the rest of the night. I guess you could also just go right to Fury to make sure you get a ride in and then loop around to the other rides.

PS: Some a**hole is about to show up and tell you to waste your time riding their overrated flyers, ignore them. If you have a full day then sure, but if you only have a few hours then don't waste your time.

so I'll probably just lap Fury 325 and Intimidator, unless I'm missing something

 

You're missing Afterburn, the second best coaster in the park by a mile. If you ride Intimidator but not Afterburn, you're doing it wrong. Ride it once in the front and once in the back for the insane batwing / pretzel thing.

 

If I were you I'd start out with Intimidator (it'll feel like a kiddy ride if you ride it after Fury), then loop around to Afterburn and follow the loop to Fury where you can just spend the rest of the night. I guess you could also just go right to Fury to make sure you get a ride in and then loop around to the other rides.

 

PS: Some a**hole is about to show up and tell you to waste your time riding their overrated flyers, ignore them. If you have a full day then sure, but if you only have a few hours then don't waste your time.

Great info, thanks for sharing.

Good call on Afterburn. I’d assumed it was just another batman-clone-style B&M inverter, but it sounds like I totally overlooked it. I’ll prioritize it.

Your progression sounds ideal. If Fury somehow closes early during my rides on Intimidator and Afterburn, I’ll be kicking myself forever. But logistically that progression makes too much sense, and probably ensures the most overall rides in such a short time frame.

I agree about the flying coasters. I know my coaster preferences enough to know that I typically find them overrated. Would much rather spend my time on the ABSOLUTELY INSANE looking ride that is Fury!

Hopefully all goes according to plan, and I’ll have a great mini trip report to share later tonight!

If Fury somehow closes early during my rides on Intimidator and Afterburn, I’ll be kicking myself forever. But logistically that progression makes too much sense, and probably ensures the most overall rides in such a short time frame.

That's often my way of thinking also. Maybe in that case just do the loop in reverse, ride Fury first, then do Afterburn a few times and then loop around for Intimidator before heading back to Fury. Don't ride Intimidator right after Fury though because Fury really does make it look like a steaming pile of crap.

Afterburn is definitely not your typical Batman clone. If I only had a few hours at the park I wouldn't spend any time doing anything besides marathoning Fury as much as possible with a a bunch of rides on Afterburn in there somewhere. Maybe I'd ride Intimidator once if I was walking past and there was no line.

PS: Some a**hole is about to show up and tell you to waste your time riding their overrated flyers, ignore them. If you have a full day then sure, but if you only have a few hours then don't waste your time.

Great info, thanks for sharing.

 

Good call on Afterburn. I’d assumed it was just another batman-clone-style B&M inverter, but it sounds like I totally overlooked it. I’ll prioritize it.

 

I agree about the flying coasters. I know my coaster preferences enough to know that I typically find them overrated. Would much rather spend my time on the ABSOLUTELY INSANE looking ride that is Fury! Hopefully all goes according to plan, and I’ll have a great mini trip report to share later tonight!

A-hole reporting for duty! Their flyers are incredible - Kweiss, we are talking about the flying scooters in Snoopyville that you can snap basically without any knowledge of how to do it (and they encourage snapping!) Since you are on a time crunch though, absolutely skip them this visit. I would never, ever recommend doing their POS flying coaster Nighthawk unless you want to have a miserable rest of your life. Fury is #1, Afterburner #2 and Intimidator 232 is #3. We thought I-232 was best in the front row at night. If it comes down to skipping something though, definitely skip I-232! Make sure to report back

Dont skip Nighthawk. Its a fun ride if your not a cry baby about roller coasters.

I was in your exact same boat about three years ago (work trip to Columbia, drove up to Carowinds, spent 7-10 at park). Fury was just a pile of dirt and a "Centurion"-sized dream in enthusiasts' minds then, so it wasn't a factor in my planning. I wanted to take the loop around the park and get on all the coasters and managed to do so with extra rides on Afterburn and Intimidator. However, if credit whoring isn't in on your agenda, I agree with Bill - get a ride or two in on Intimidator, then a few on Afterburn, then make your way around the loop and stick to Fury for the rest of the night.

DEFINITELY don't ride that ever-loving piece of s**t Nighthawk - not only does it suck ass, but it'll have the longest, slowest-moving line of the night. The three hours will go by a lot faster than you may realize (it did for me), and It's more time that could be spent on Afterburn or Fury. If you were gonna be there the whole day, maybe, but you need to focus on what counts.

I firmly cast my vote in the "skip Nighthawk" column. The only thing it's got going for it is that it's over water. Other than that, who cares?

I'm not about to call Intimidator a kiddy ride like Bill, but that might be because I got some of the legendary, talked-about-in-hushed-tones trimless rides on it during opening day this season. In that state, it had a verifiable ton of airtime (I'd be counting to myself "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, four-o--" over every hill. I can't imagine they're still running it trimless though, but if they are, enjoy!

As an enthusiast, I would never tell anyone to skip a coaster so with that said . . . Ride Nighthawk. If you have the time, I would do it first thing as the lines get long. I've been on rougher coasters and I didn't die. Who knows, you may love it.

I'm sure that, as an enthusiast, you'd also suggest that he ride all the roller coasters in the park and form his own opinion on them, which is cool sure but considering he said he has best case scenario about three hours to spend at the park at the end of a night, even you'd agree that Nighthawk is pretty easy of a skip in favor of Intimidator, Fury and Afterburn. Not just because it's a piece of crap, but also because it's a slow-moving, lumbering piece of crap.