Pear
Strata Poster
I went to Carowinds last week with some friends. This was my 2nd time at the park as I last visited in August of 2016 therefore I already had all the credits prior to visiting. The weather was great but there were some pretty decent crowds with 30-60 minute waits on pretty much everything. The only coasters I rode were Fury, Afterburn, and Intimidator (let's be honest nothing else here is worth reriding), and I rode Electrospin and some other flats. So let's get into it then.
Fury 325
I was blown away by this ride in 2016. It was my number 1 right after I rode it, but since then I've really been on a lot of things much better than it. Fury was my #7 before last weekend and even though it's still running great I had to give Twisted Timbers the edge meaning it fell a spot to my #8. Fury is a very fun ride but I honestly found it to be much tamer than I remember. While the airtime is great I feel it's just too controlled for my taste. Still a great sense of speed in the front row though. Managed to get on the last train of the night as well which was a very fun experience.
Afterburn
Still an overrated invert in my opinion. Didn't rise or fall in my rankings. Overall very snappy ride but lacks positive forces everywhere except the batwing. The zero g also lacked any zero g surprisingly. It fits well in the park, but I'd still say it's kinda "eh".
Intimidator
Now this ride surprised the hell out of me. When I rode it in 2016 it had no air whatsoever, even in the front. Now, however, this ride was going much faster than it did in 2016. The front had really great and sustained floater on every hill and by the end of the night it was going so fast there were even positives in the turnaround! Believe me I did not expect to like this ride this time around. I went in with no expectations of it being good at all. This rose a spot in my B&M hyper rankings making it 2nd to last above Nitro.
Electrospin
Very fun flat ride. I loved the version at Canada's Wonderland but I honestly found this to be better. Very weird and disorienting experience. My only complaint is that the restraints were a bit tight.
Drop Tower
Not my favorite drop tower but not my least favorite either. It's pretty decent and much better than Wonderland's.
Here are reviews of the other major coasters from when I rode them in 2016:
Nighthawk
Rode this back in 2016 when I had FL+. Didn't feel like waiting the 2 hours for this pile of garbage. Very rattly but surprisingly good forces in the loop. Even though it sucks it's still better than Superman at GADV.
Vortex
Horrible operations on this led to it having a very long line. It was fun back in 2016 and I didn't find it very painful since I actually stood and rode it correctly. It's very mediocre and absolutely nothing compared to Riddler.
Hurler
Not rough at all but extremely boring. No airtime or laterals whatsoever. Can't wait for them to RMC it.
Overall besides Fury this park really has nothing going for it. Definitely not a full day park by any means. After riding the big 3 once I was done for the day. There's quite a big plot of land cleared in the back of the park that I really hope is for a GCI or Gerstlauer launch since the park is lacking one of those. This park is definitely going places in the future though. Fury was a good investment and I love the new entrance plaza. In my opinion they should get rid of both Nighthawk and Vortex and use their spaces for new additions then they should RMC Hurler.
Anyways here's some photos I took on my phone:
Here are two photos from 2016 that I thought turned out well:
B&M's sure are pretty damn photogenic.
Anyways thanks for reading let me know what you thought below. Maybe if I'm not lazy I'll get around to doing my big Germany trip report that's been due since August.
Fury 325
I was blown away by this ride in 2016. It was my number 1 right after I rode it, but since then I've really been on a lot of things much better than it. Fury was my #7 before last weekend and even though it's still running great I had to give Twisted Timbers the edge meaning it fell a spot to my #8. Fury is a very fun ride but I honestly found it to be much tamer than I remember. While the airtime is great I feel it's just too controlled for my taste. Still a great sense of speed in the front row though. Managed to get on the last train of the night as well which was a very fun experience.
Afterburn
Still an overrated invert in my opinion. Didn't rise or fall in my rankings. Overall very snappy ride but lacks positive forces everywhere except the batwing. The zero g also lacked any zero g surprisingly. It fits well in the park, but I'd still say it's kinda "eh".
Intimidator
Now this ride surprised the hell out of me. When I rode it in 2016 it had no air whatsoever, even in the front. Now, however, this ride was going much faster than it did in 2016. The front had really great and sustained floater on every hill and by the end of the night it was going so fast there were even positives in the turnaround! Believe me I did not expect to like this ride this time around. I went in with no expectations of it being good at all. This rose a spot in my B&M hyper rankings making it 2nd to last above Nitro.
Electrospin
Very fun flat ride. I loved the version at Canada's Wonderland but I honestly found this to be better. Very weird and disorienting experience. My only complaint is that the restraints were a bit tight.
Drop Tower
Not my favorite drop tower but not my least favorite either. It's pretty decent and much better than Wonderland's.
Here are reviews of the other major coasters from when I rode them in 2016:
Nighthawk
Rode this back in 2016 when I had FL+. Didn't feel like waiting the 2 hours for this pile of garbage. Very rattly but surprisingly good forces in the loop. Even though it sucks it's still better than Superman at GADV.
Vortex
Horrible operations on this led to it having a very long line. It was fun back in 2016 and I didn't find it very painful since I actually stood and rode it correctly. It's very mediocre and absolutely nothing compared to Riddler.
Hurler
Not rough at all but extremely boring. No airtime or laterals whatsoever. Can't wait for them to RMC it.
Overall besides Fury this park really has nothing going for it. Definitely not a full day park by any means. After riding the big 3 once I was done for the day. There's quite a big plot of land cleared in the back of the park that I really hope is for a GCI or Gerstlauer launch since the park is lacking one of those. This park is definitely going places in the future though. Fury was a good investment and I love the new entrance plaza. In my opinion they should get rid of both Nighthawk and Vortex and use their spaces for new additions then they should RMC Hurler.
Anyways here's some photos I took on my phone:
Here are two photos from 2016 that I thought turned out well:
B&M's sure are pretty damn photogenic.
Anyways thanks for reading let me know what you thought below. Maybe if I'm not lazy I'll get around to doing my big Germany trip report that's been due since August.
