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My very first trip to Carowinds yesterday. Coulda probably went last year but decided to wait on it when I heard the news last year about Fury 325 coming this year. This was a Friday and the park was about midsize packed. Definitely not dead but definitely not too crowded. I think the park actually looks quite attractive and Fury 235 being what you see from the parking lot and entrance is a very pleasant visual experience. Unfortunately, I didn't get the best pictures of all the rides but I tried, yeah, I kinda suck with taking pictures.
One thing I must say I was pleasantly surprised with was the taste and portion of the food. I've paid about $10 for a loaded funnel cake at my hometown park and felt it was a decent deal. But at Carowinds, they put 3 full scoops of ice cream, 3 swirls of whip cream, the funnel cake, a decent portion of strawberries, chocolate sauce, and chocolate sprinkles for 10 bucks. The thing probably weighed about 3 pounds. Now, that's what I call not being stingy for the price. We got some other food too such as corn dog with cheese fries, pizza, and pulled pork barbecue sandwich. Every piece of food was delicious and pretty much enough to feed a really hungry person or two people.
Alright, stuff other than the rollercoasters.....
The forecast for today was 30% chance of rain and partly sunny. Wow, it fulfilled the rain part. One time it was blasting rain while we were on the Boo Blasters so we stood underneath some tents. To be honest, at first the rain was a bad experience but we kinda liked it when it stopped cuz it seemed to lower the temperature. The Boo Blasters game/ride was not working as well as it did at my hometown park. It didn't have the red dot aim mark and the gun seemed highly inaccurate or wasn't working as well. Oh well, not a big deal.
The rollercoaster dispatch workers were the BEST I've ever seen in a theme park so far. Every line except NightHawk (which is a flying coaster) went very very fast. From the entrance of the line to the trains of Fury, the longest line, took only about 15 minutes even with a little bit of zigzagging. I noticed they were making a joke over the microphone about how the dispatch time was gonna be 15 seconds and they started the countdown to have everybody get in and out of the train very fast. Obviously it wasn't a rule and sometimes they counted all slow but it was a funny way to hurry up the crowd. Afterburn, Intimidator, and Fury 325 didn't allow you to pick seats, they just put everybody in order of seating as they got on. Somewhat disappointing but hurried up the lines. We did manage to get in front at Intimidator and Afterburn after many tries though but not Fury.
Alright, the rollercoasters......
Afterburn - 10/10. Wow. This rollercoaster proves that bigger and faster does not always mean better. Alpengeist is bigger and faster than this but Afterburn is way more intense. Each element of the ride seems to happen much faster and pull you with more force. This was the top rated coaster at Carowinds for the longest time before Intimidator and Fury hit and I can see why. An awesome inverted coaster.
Intimidator - 10/10. While its not as crazy as its big brother in my home theme park. I love this ride a lot too. You get excellent wind and decent ejector air many times throughout in the front seat. The transitions between each part of the ride was excellent and extremely smooth.
Fury 325 - 10/10. The big one. I have to say, this is probably the #1 most epic and one of the top 3 best rollercoasters I've been on so far. I guess I can put it this way. A good rollercoaster is like playing a good game in the arcade and beating that game that takes about 30 minutes or less. This rollercoaster felt like a 50 hour excellent Final Fantasy game. It just so overwhelming, fast, intense, and consumes you. Its like reading an engrossing story from front to back. Everything about this rollercoaster is just so huge and immense and packs a knockout punch. Out of all the rollercoasters I rode so far, Intimidator 305, Skyrush, and Fury 325 are in a class of their own.
Thunder Road - 7.5 out of 10. When I looked at this coaster at first, I thought it was gonna be exactly like Rebel Yell at my hometown park. While its the same layout, its so different. This one is rougher and more rigid. Is that bad? Actually, no, makes it better. Seemed like the drops were more intense, gave you a clickety clank feel, and near the end shook a lot seeming out of control. I think this one is just rough enough before it would start losing major points for its roughness. Fun ride.
Well, sorry guys, but that's all the rollercoasters we rode, we liked them so much that we kept riding them over and over again. I'd love to do a critique of every rollercoaster and give a more professional review, but that's not who I am. I just love theme parks and love telling about my experiences at them.
Overall Score (not average score of each rollercoaster)- 10/10. Had a fabulous time, awesome food, great portions, fast lines, awesome main attraction rollercoasters. Can't wait to come back to visit Fury 325 again!
