In June 2022, I embarked on my first week-long road trip to visit four bucket list parks and see how some of the most elite roller coasters in the United States compare to Florida's latest additions. Join me for my reactions to the likes of Copperhead Strike, Afterburn, Intimidator, and my 100th roller coaster, Fury 325 on my first visit to Carowinds.
If you enjoyed this episode, please help me out by rating, sharing, and subscribing. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @coasterredux.
In June 2022, I embarked on my first week-long road trip to visit four bucket list parks and see how some of the most elite roller coasters in the United States compare to Florida's latest additions. Join me for my reactions to the likes of Copperhead Strike, Afterburn, Intimidator, and my 100th roller coaster, Fury 325 on my first visit to Carowinds.
If you enjoyed this episode, please help me out by rating, sharing, and subscribing. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @coasterredux.
Welcome to episode 4 of Coaster Redux. My name is Erik and I am a life-long roller coaster enthusiast, but up until lately, I’ve been kind of a lazy one. Through high school and college in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I was a full on coaster nerd, then I entered the working world, and I went on a lengthy hiatus, only attending parks every few years. During the pandemic, I returned to following the amusement industry more closely through podcasts and social media. When the parks re-opened, I rode some of the new attractions that debuted in my home state of Florida, and my enthusiast flame is now fully re-ignited.
Around the turn of the millennium, I lived in the Boston area, at that time home to two of the best roller coasters in the world: Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England, and Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce. After my most recent trips around Florida, I feel the same way again. Not only do we have some of the world’s best family theme parks in our state, but we have a stellar collection of high thrill roller coasters, headlined by the new Velocicoaster at Islands of Adventure, and Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa. Now it’s time to leave my bubble and hit the road to see how my new top two stand up against some of the best rides in the country. I’ve never done anything like this before, but it’s time to get back out there.
This is the story of my revived roller coaster fandom, and I am finally embarking on my epic week long road trip that was the inspiration for starting this podcast. I’m going to visit four incredible parks with some of the most elite rides on the planet: Carowinds, Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Dollywood.
I know as a roller coaster fan that one of my favorite parts of the hobby is getting the reaction of somebody coming off of a ride they’ve never ridden before. That’s what I want to share with you.
And with that, let’s go in depth on my first ever visit to Carowinds, as we drop into Episode 4 of Coaster Redux.
I can’t believe it, but it’s finally here! I haven’t had a real vacation in years because of the pandemic, and I’m so excited to finally visit some new parks. My bags are packed, my hotels are booked, my park passes bought, and there’s nothing left to do but hit the road. Day one would be a travel day, and I would clock up nearly 700 miles on the road between South Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina. The bummer about living in South Florida is how long it takes just to get out of the state: 5.5 hours to the Georgia line. When I was mapping out this trip, I was surprised how once you finally get outside Florida, it’s pretty easy to connect the dots and drive between so many amusement parks. If this goes well, I’ll be doing a whole lot more trips just like it.
As I approached Saint Augustine on I-95, I kept passing signs for Buc-ees, a famous truck stop, and decided to pull in for lunch. It’s a massive emporium filled with anything a traveler could need, and the people watching rivals the best days at your local Wal-Mart. They have killer fresh-made barbeque sandwiches, so I grabbed a pulled pork, and continued on my way.
As I left the state of Florida, I thought to myself that Six Flags Over Georgia is just another few hours further north. I have heard great things about that park, but decided to postpone my first visit there because Arie Force One, a wild-looking ground-up RMC is under construction at nearby Fun Spot Atlanta. I figured those two parks would make for a perfect long weekend trip during the winter months when other parks are closed.
As the hours and miles ticked by uneventfully, I was thinking about the day to come. I had the chance to go to Carowinds back in 2018 when I visited my brother in North Carolina. We decided to go to Kings Dominion instead, choosing their Intamin giga, Intimidator 305 and their newly opened RMC, Twisted Timbers, over the B&M’s at Carowinds. With those two coasters now under my belt, I wanted to experience Fury 325, widely considered the top giga coaster in the world. Carowinds also debuted Copperhead Strike, a Mach multi-launch coaster in 2019, and I had never ridden anything like that. The park’s final two headliners are Intimidator, a B&M hyper, and Afterburn, a B&M inverted. This was going to be a great way to set the tone for the trip, and I was so ready to check a new park.
I caught my first glimpse of Carowinds at about 7pm as I approached my hotel. Those red parabolic airtime hills on Intimidator were right there, so was the tallest lift hill in the world on Fury 325. When I got out of my car in the hotel parking lot, I could hear the screams and the B&M roar from Afterburn. The park was open for a few more hours, and I was tempted to pop in for a few quick rides. I had my seasons pass, so it wouldn’t have cost any more money, but I was tired and hungry from the long drive, and I had the entire next day to spend in the park. Pace yourself, Erik, you’ve got a long road ahead.
My hotel for the next two nights was a Marriott TownePlace Suites. It was essentially brand new, and cost just over $100 a night. Every room had a full kitchen, and they had a pool, and continental breakfast. I would highly recommend this property to anybody visiting Carowinds.
So I settled in for the night and pulled up my coaster count. I’m sitting at 93, and I wanted Fury 325 to be my 100th roller coaster, so I would have to ride six other coasters before taking on the park’s star attraction. This was going to be tough.
The next morning, I grabbed a quick coffee at the hotel, and drove across the street to the park. The Cedar Fair Platinum Pass includes parking and admission throughout the chain, and it was so easy to use! My pass was linked to the Carowinds app on my phone, so all I had to do was hold it out for the parking attendant to scan, and I was in! To the right, Fury’s record-breaking lift hill seems to touch the sky, and to the left, the red undulations of Intimidator rise and fall to the horizon. Over the next five days, I would be visiting three parks, each one featuring a 200+ foot hyper coaster and a 300+ foot giga. How cool is that? No more time to think. I’m here. Let’s do this.
The park had opened only a few minutes ago, and trains were already flying through Fury’s course which winds over and under the park’s entrance. I paused for a second to watch the ride absolutely haul through its low-to-the-ground banked turns, then rocket up into Fury’s iconic treble clef turnaround and plummet beneath the pedestrian bridge leading to the gate. This ride looks epic!
Speaking of epic, the Jurassic Park theme was playing as I walked towards the entrance. Pretty sure this isn’t Universal, but it sets the mood just fine. Then it was time to go through security to enter the park. The lines looked long! I heard stories from last season about abysmal operations coming out of the pandemic as parks struggled to hire and maintain employees. Was this going to be the norm over the coming week? I sure hope not. Plus this was Father’s Day Sunday, sure to be a busy day. Hopefully I can get on everything. The security line moved quickly enough and finally I stepped into the park.
Welcome to Carowinds. Where the Carolinas come together. It’s a catchy slogan that is fits so well because the park straddles North and South Carolina, and the border is paved right into the midway. The park seems to have a bouquet of roller coasters at its center, including Nighthawk, a Vekoma Flying Dutchman, Vortex, a B&M stand-up, Kiddie Hawk, a family inverted coaster, and Carolina Goldrusher, an Arrow mine train. The pathways forming the park’s main loop run outside those, and then more roller coasters are sprinkled around the periphery. My mission was to ride six coasters before Fury, so I headed to the back of the park for my first ride of the day, Copperhead Strike. I was intrigued by this one. The newest coaster in the park, this tangled multi-launch coaster with burnt orange track is the only one of its kind in the United States. It features two launches, and five inversions, including a jojo roll, a heartline roll taken at very low speed right out of the station. The coaster’s entrance and queue is well themed for Cedar Fair. The story is loose, but it has something to do with granny’s old farmhouse where she known for making jam, but it’s actually a cover for a moonshine operation. Signs around the property warn of snakes to ward off onlookers. The coaster’s first launch takes place in the moonshine distillery where you escape as a bootlegger. The beautiful trains resemble black 1920’s era trucks.
Copperhead Strike has received a lot of hate from coaster enthusiasts. Many say it is forceless and uninteresting, and that $26 million could have bought a lot more. But I love me a good launch coaster, especially one that blends airtime with inversions, so let’s give it a shot.
They were running three trains despite minimal waits. Attendants were assigning rows, and I landed in the back row for my first ride. Sweet! The seats are mounted high, and very comfortable. The trains feature lap bars that come down from over the shoulders, as well as seatbelts. The ride ops were in training from a more senior employee who was calling out the location of the train running the track. It seemed like they were supposed to be at a certain point in the loading process when the other train was at a select location on the ride.
All good, here we go. Out of the station, you hang out of your seat through the jojo roll. It’s a neat, yet forgettable gimmick. Then you pause in the moonshine shed before the first launch. You then accelerate moderately into a vertical loop. The ride crawls through this element. The hangtime at the top is glorious. Then it flies into an airtime hill, followed by a corkscrew. It twists and turns through a spaghetti bowl of track and then hits the second launch. You then head skyward again into the cutback, an inverted top hat, which delivers even more ferocious hangtime. Then it’s a vertical loop, and a strong airtime moment as the ride rises and banks hard through the first vertical loop. You twist and turn a few more times, and then hit the brakes.
OK, that was pretty darn good! The hangtime is outstanding, and there are several strong airtime moments. The twisted track is fun and couldn’t be smoother. Unfortunately, the launches on Copperhead Strike are not thrill elements, but merely serve to get the trains moving. I love me a good strong launch, and the ones on the ride are mediocre. Still, the rest of the coaster is no slouch, and I don’t think it deserves the hate. I’ll give it to coaster boys that the price tag was high for what it is. Hey, Fury 325 was only $4 million more, and it’s way bigger. But I’ll let the bean counters at Cedar Fair worry about that. This is a really fun roller coaster that perfectly bridges the gap between family and extreme. I’d place it halfway in between Cheetah Hunt and Velocicoaster, a sweet spot for the general public.
I took Copperhead Strike for another quick spin, and then headed next door to Afterburn. This B&M invert originally opened as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster when the park was owned by Paramount. It still looks the part, except Cedar Fair removed anything that might put them into copyright trouble. The station is still adorned with military block letters reading, “Fightertown USA.” There is a model F-14 Tomcat by the entrance. The coaster has that infamous B&M roar, and it’s tucked away in a back corner of the park atop a hill. I actually had a difficult time finding the entrance. The ride zooms through trees, but also interacts with the pathways. Shall we take it for a flight?
There was a very short wait, and I selected the back row. This coaster was running two trains and the operators were turning and burning. Soon, I was heading up the lift hill looking out over the back parking lot. As Goose would say, let’s kick the tires and light the fires. You careen down that first drop in the back row, then soar into a vertical loop, dive into a canyon, and then head upside down again through an Immelman. Then it’s a quick snap through a zero-G roll, and you twist through a batwing element in a trench similar to Montu. “Tower, this is Ghostrider, requesting flyby.” You rocket over the station in a quick bunny hill, which unfortunately doesn’t have any airtime, then whip into a corkscrew before turning into the brakes.
This is a great B&M inverted coaster. It’s pretty much a mini Montu. It’s got a lot of the same elements, but they’re taken in rapid succession with no mid-course brakes. I love the way it interacts with the terrain and dives through trenches. Florida’s Egyptian God still reigns supreme for me, but this ride gives it a run for its money.
OK, four coasters to go before Fury. I’m in the back of the park, so let’s just knock off some credits so I can finally go take the big plunge. Next up, Flying Cobras. This is another Vekoma Boomerang. It was a walk-on. I was pleasantly surprised that this ride featured vest restraints, so even if it was rough, I wouldn’t bang my head. I rode in the back, and I actually had fun on this coaster. The first drop and positive G’s were pretty good, and it was far from the roughest coaster I’ve ridden. Boomerang credit? Check.
Next up is the Carolina Cyclone, an old school Arrow double loop, double corkscrew model. This ride opened in 1980, and at that time, it must have been the new hotness in the park. Freshly painted, it reminded me of Corkscrew at Cedar Point with final two inversions placed right over the midway. It was running two trains, and I walked on and just grabbed a seat in the middle. The first drop was pretty good, but that was it. I have heard of side to side headbanging on Arrows, but this one featured a first for me. Between the two vertical loops, I got forwards and backwards headbanging as the train buffeted frontwards and back. I survived the subsequent two corkscrews, and walked off. Once was enough.
My head needed a break, so I decided to hop on Carolina Goldrusher, right across the path. This is an Arrow mine train, and because it has as low height requirement, it’s popular with families with younger children. I waited about 10 minutes, and sat down in the train. I’m only 5’ 11” but this seat is really too small for me. My knees were right up against back of the next seat. A dad sitting in front of me shared the same lament. We also waited forever in the station because there were kids who were not tall enough to ride accompanied by argumentative parents. Drama resolved, we were eventually off to take a family-friendly tour of the center of the park with some helixes and shallow drops, before returning to the station to wait way too long on the brakes to be able to free our knees from this penalty box.
OK, I’ve suffered enough. I only need one more coaster before I can ride Fury to make it my 100th. So, it’s time for some more airtime! I made my way to the front of the park to ride Intimidator. Like I305 at Kings Dominion, this coaster is themed to NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. He was born right here in Charlotte, and with this city hosting the Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR’s biggest races, the theme is perfect. This out-and-back hyper features seven airtime hills, and it has some unusual trains for B&M. Rather than having four-across rows like most of their rides, Intimidator has staggered seating. Each car has two rows, and each row has two seats. The front row in each car has the two seats next to each other in the center, while the back row has two seats outside on the wings with a large space in the middle. This makes the trains twice as long as most B&M’s.
The ride is running three trains, and like Copperhead Strike, the attendants were calling out the location of the train on the course as if to cue where they should be in the loading process. If the third train was holding on the brake run, they would come on and say, “We’ve got a stacked situation,” obviously to be avoided. This clear effort to keep the trains moving despite no line was hugely appreciated. I’m optimistic that operations will continue to shine through the rest of my trip. One strange thing on these B&M hypers and gigas was that we were instructed to board our rows and buckle the seatbelt only. They did not want us to lower our own lapbars. The attendants would come around and check seatbelts and lower them for us. That was fine, I never got stapled or anything, so whatever makes the line move more quickly works for me.
The ride ops announce, “Drivers, start your engines!” The train leaves the station and heads straight into the 232 foot lift hill. The view from the lift is stellar, but there’s not much time to enjoy it. The back row gets yanked down 211 feet to the ground. Love it! Then it’s skyward again and into a 90 degree turn to the right, followed a trimmed airtime hill. Bummer there, but you still get floater on the descent. Then it’s into a blue ribbon shaped turnaround, two more airtime hills, and a turn into the mid-course. Next, Intimidator banks into a 360 degree helix, and there’s one more airtime pop into the brakes.
Intimidator is a fun ride that is an all-you-can-eat buffet of floater airtime. Because there was no wait at all, I jumped back in line and rode in the front.
B&M has got this ride type figured out. It’s pure wind in your face fun. It’s big, impressive to look at, and delivers a thrilling ride, while not being too much for the average guest. The airtime on this was not as strong as Mako at SeaWorld Orlando. Riding in the front, you get strong floater on the first half of each hill, and riding in the back, you get the same on the second half. I later came back and rode in the middle and got weak sustained floater through the whole hill. I think this is due to the longer train length. I don’t think the staggered seating helps or hurts the experience of the ride, but I think a shorter train like most B&M’s would allow every row to get more consistent airtime. I’ve got plenty more of these coasters coming up on the rest of my trip, so we’ll continue to test this theory.
With six rides at Carowinds under my belt, I can proudly say I have ridden 99 different roller coasters. It’s time to tackle my main reason for coming here. Fury 325 would be my second giga, and I was psyched for my 100th roller coaster! It’s pretty much universally loved by coaster enthusiasts. It’s known for a long smooth ride with intense low-to-the-ground elements that emphasize pure speed. The color scheme really pops. Teal track with lime green on the back of the spine and white supports. It is loosely themed to a hornet, probably a nod to Charlotte’s backetball team. Again, three trains are running, and I only had to wait about 10 minutes to board. They were not assigning seats, and like the park’s other major coasters, they were working hard to pump the trains out as quickly as possible.
I hopped into the back row for my first ride. All clear. The train rolls forward and immediately engages the steep chain lift. It moves quickly uphill, and I’m fully reclined looking into the clear Carolina sky, just waiting for that 320 foot drop. This is it. The world’s biggest B&M. The hype meter is pegged to the max. Getting close. Hands up. Here it comes. Time to fly. Down we go …..and……….Wow, that’s a nasty rattle! As the train pulled out of that ferocious descent at 95 mph, it was vibrating badly. This is unexpected! Then the ride heads upward and into a banked twisting turn before navigating two low 90 degree knife-edge turns across the entrance plaza. The next element is Fury 325’s finest moment, the treble clef. You spiral upwards, and then while still banked at 90 degrees plummet into a tunnel beneath the main entrance pathway that’s illuminated with green LED hexagons. You then rocket into another high banked turn, and then soar into Fury’s first airtime hill. It’s really great! Next up is a helix to the right, and there is a great hand chopper as the train gets close to one of the taller supports. Pretty much everybody puts their hands down in this moment. Fury then completes two more solid airtime hills and we’re into the brakes.
Initial reactions? Mixed. Mind? Definitely not blown. That rattle is a real bummer. It didn’t kill the ride, but I wasn’t expecting it. The first drop is great as expected, and the treble clef is the star of the show. It’s a great whippy turnaround with some phenomenal airtime heading to the tunnel. I’m going to have to get a few more rides in on this before I make a final judgement here.
So I wanted to stew on Fury a bit before riding again, so I headed over Vortex, a 1992 B&M stand-up. This was the model that started B&M’s career. They initially worked for Intamin before breaking off to start their own company, and these stand-ups preceded all the other goodness they would go on to create. This was one of their earliest models, so it would be an interesting comparison after just getting off one of their latest and greatest creations.
The ride op in the control booth was hilarious. She telling us to bend our knees when boarding so the bicycle seats between our legs wouldn’t be too high to hurt the guys on the ride. Then she said to be sure to put our heads forward after the first loop because the ride gets bumpy. Words of wisdom heeded. And yeah, this thing was rough. At one point I’m sure it was something special because of the unique ride position and computer designed trackwork, but that’s no longer the case. One and done.
While sitting on Fury’s holding brake, I had watched the Hurler wood coaster run through the end of its course, and it looked……shaky. I could see the trains bouncing up and down over warped wooden pot holes during the final part of the ride. Seeing this, I thought about skipping it completely, but after I had ridden everything else I wanted to for the day, I decided to suck it up and get the credit.
Walking into the queue for this wood coaster brought back memories of Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion, the RMC conversion of this coaster’s twin. I walked right into the station and boarded the first available row. Fortunately, the PTC trains are well padded. I settled in and we rolled out of the station, and turned towards the lift. Cresting the top, it turns around and heads into the first drop and then a banked 180 degree turnaround. This was an overbank on Twisted Timbers. Hurler had new track here, and was smooth enough. Next up are three larger hills which were fine, but they were nothing like the sublime ejector airtime hills on Timbers. Then there was another about face, some bunny hills, and another turn. This was where Twisted Timbers did that wonky outerbank going through the structure of the lift. Finally it’s one more bunny hill, and a final turnaround before entering the brakes.
We sat on the brake run for a considerable moment, and then the ride ops came over the PA and asked us to please be patient. It would be a few minutes before we could disembark. I looked ahead and saw them hosing off and disinfecting the train in front of us before sending it out empty. Guess the Hurler lived up to its name. I baked in the Carolina sun for longer than I would have liked, and we finally re-entered the station.
As it currently stands, Hurler is simply not enjoybale. Cedar Fair has worked with both GCI and RMC in the past, and while their relationship with the latter is said to be a bit rocky, I would love to see either outfit come in and retrofit this coaster, or replace it with something more modern. Using some of the existing supports would give the park a lot of bang for the buck.
By this point, I had ridden everything I wanted to in the park. The Nighthawk flying coaster was closed. As I record this, it hasn’t been open all season. I guess they’re waiting on a part because of supply chain issues. I also did not ride any of the kiddie or family coasters in the park because they all had super long lines, over 45 minutes, and when I could basically walk onto major coasters, I wasn’t about to wait in those kinds of lines just to get the credits.
I made a couple more laps around the park to get more rides on the big four. Copperhead Strike continued to impress me. Sure, the launches are nothing to write home about, but this is a really fun ride. I loved the hangtime in the first vertical loop and the cutback. And the airtime was nothing short of ejector in the front part of the train. It’s a comfortable, smooth, easily re-ridable roller coaster that is completely unique in this park. I really like a looping coaster that also features airtime, and especially one that doesn’t have over the shoulder restraints. Copperhead Strike is an example of this new style of roller coaster that I really enjoy. It’s like Velocicoaster light. It’s not all about size and stats. It doesn’t just do one thing, like just loops, or just airtime. It combines a myriad of different elements and experiences into one attraction, and it’s something everyone can enjoy. I rode it four times that day, and I loved this tangled little mess of track.
I also rode both Intimidator and Afterburn four times each. When I talk about liking Copperhead Strike for its variety, I am contrasting it with these two rides. Both are big and fun, but they have only a single focus; either airtime or inversions. Both accomplish their intended purposes flawlessly, but I am starting to prefer roller coasters that have more variety in their layouts.
Now let’s get back to Fury. I was able to ride a total of five times that day. As I rode it more in different rows, I really came to appreciate the unique blend of elements on this ride. It’s about way more than just straight airtime hills like Intimidator. That first drop is world class. The ride has phenomenal speed, graceful turns that hug the ground, and strong floater, bordering on ejector airtime in its last three hills. I can’t praise that treble clef element enough. I love the feeling of descending into the tunnel while still banked hard to the right. In the back row, you are ripped downward in what is unequivocally ejector airtime, perhaps the only moment like that on a B&M I’ve ridden.
I was able to get past the rattle. It was there, and once I accepted that, I could appreciate Fury for what it delivers, which is an unrelenting series of speedy turns, whippy transitions, and airtime. This roller coaster didn’t wow me on my first ride, but as I rode it more, I really appreciated just how good the layout is. Perhaps Fury is more like a fine wine, or maybe a cordial, where it takes some time to get a true impression of all the flavor notes. In that way, this roller coaster delivered for me. It’s not my number one, but it’s definitely earned a spot in my top ten. And hey, I still have two more gigas coming up in my next two park visits on the trip, so it will be really fun to put this ride up against the original giga, Millennium Force, and the baby of the family, Orion.
So, I have a couple more notes about Carowinds before I wrap up. First, I have to give them a massive shout out for operations. Lines on the major coasters were very short all day, and yet they were still running the maximum available trains on every ride, and the operators were doing their best to get every train dispatched in short order. Something else I noticed is that the operators in the control boothes were not the one making the announcements over the PA’s in each station. That responsibility was left to another team member who was working the platform, and checking restraints while giving instructions via wireless headsets. This allowed the people pressing the buttons in the control boothes to focus on safety and allow the crew members to have some fun with the park guests, and add in some antics and funny commentary while doing their jobs. This really worked great, and many of these ride ops with microphones did a great job interacting with us.
I also want to talk about lockers. Carowinds has a great locker system. It’s similar to what SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have. You can pay $10 for the day for a small locker large enough for items like keys, wallets, and phones. They had locker kiosks near all the major rides, and you could move your rental freely from one location to the next as you go about your day. I really liked this. None of the coasters required guests to ride with nothing in their pockets like Velocicoaster, but I personally preferred to have my valuables safe and secure while I was riding the coasters so I didn’t have to worry about my car keys digging into my thigh during airtime, or much worse, losing them on the ride.
Carowinds also would not allow me to ride with my sunglasses on, unless I had a neck strap for them, which I did not. I had never seen this before. I have ridden so many roller coasters with my sunglasses on, and never had a problem. I hit up pretty much every gift shop in the park, and they were all sold out of sunglass straps. We’ll see if Cedar Point has this same policy.
I spent about ten hours in the park. I rode nine different roller coasters and got a total of 22 rides in. Not a shabby start to the trip. I wish Nighthawk had been open so I could have experienced my first Flying Dutchman, but, I still left the park happy, and super excited for my next stop at Cedar Point. Overall, Carowinds had phenomenal operations, and was in beautiful shape. It was clean, and well laid out. I appreciated their announcements over the PA all day that complimentary water was available at any food and beverage location. In this kind of heat, staying hydrated is so important, and it’s nice that the park provided this necessity. Carowinds has a good number of coasters, but they really only have four in that top tier that you’re going to want to ride multiple times. The rest are pretty lackluster, but how many parks out there have four excellent coasters to re-ride all day? I think making some sort of improvement to Hurler would be a massive boone for this park.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any night rides because the park closed at 10, and it didn’t even get dark until about 9:30. I was exhausted well before that. I retired to my hotel back across the street. My mind was racing as I recounted the day. It was so much fun, and I was only getting warmed up. As I scrolled through my socials, I learned that others had noticed Fury’s rattle. Apparently, new wheels were hard to come by because of the supply chain. Hopefully this improves in time. I would love to come back and ride this coaster running as smoothly as expected.
I had a blast at Carowinds, and I still had three more outstanding parks to visit. The next day would be another travel day. I had 574 miles in front of me, which Google Maps put at just over nine hours of windshield time. I would be returning to America’s Roller Coast for the first time since ‘99. So many record-breaking roller coasters had been added since then that this would almost be like a brand new park for me. Join me for the next episode when I revisit the coaster enthusiasts’ holy grail, none other than Cedar Point. Next time on Coaster Redux.