MidlifeCoasterCrisis
Roller Poster
My brother and I made our first trip to Carowinds last week and had a lot of fun. This was the first full operating week for Carowinds. We had 2 nice days that weren't super hot. The first day we didn't arrive until 2PM, so we just focused on hitting as many coasters as possible. For the 2nd day, we got there before park opening and also got the all day meal plan.
General Thoughts
The park was nice. I liked how it was small enough to be able to go from the front to the back in only a few minutes. Parking was a little bit confusing. Because of the lack of guides and various concrete barriers, we really didn't know where we were supposed to go. Food was average for amusement park food. There was nothing exciting about it, but we're glad we got the all day dining plan. Our other stop on this trip was Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which has amazing food. So, that made the food at Carowinds seem that much worse. I totally agree with the general consensus that Carowinds is a very "top heavy" park. Outside of the top 4, we didn't feel like anything else was worth a re-ride. Also, the assigned seating was SUPER annoying and inefficient. There were only 2 times we were actually able to pick our own seats. We got a back row ride on Fury and a front row ride on Copperhead Strike. We also got a back row ride on Afterburn, but when we immediately got in line for a front ride, they had switched back to doing the assigned seating. Also, this process was really slowing down the lines and many trains were launching partially full since the staff member couldn't keep up with the dispatches. PLEASE GET RID OF THIS NONSENSE. It makes no sense and just irritates the guests. Overall, we had a great time. It was definitely worth visting the park for the top 4 coasters.
Rides
Fury 325 (7 rides) - My favorite in the park and currently my #2 overall. I could ride this one all day. I love how it both makes great use of its speed and still delivers great air time. Lines weren't too bad. The wait was generally between 20 and 45 minutes.
Copperhead Strike (6 rides) - This was a big surprise. This is like the Maverick of Carowinds. I loved the variety of elements on this one. It gets criticized for its weaker launch, but I thought it had plenty of power. The wait was around 45 minutes most of the day, but it varied a lot depending on other factors. So, we got a lot of our rides first thing in the morning or near the park closing time.
Afterburn (4 rides) - This is now my favorite B&M invert coaster. I loved the intensity on this one, especially the bat wing. This was little to no wait for this one even though the wait time was always showing 60 minutes.
Thunder Striker (2 rides) - Another great B&M hyper coaster. It reminded me a lot of Nitro with lots of hills and good floater air. It definitely gets overshadowed by Fury being in the same park. The wait seemed to stay around 20 minutes.
The following were our "one and done" rides
Hurler (1 ride) - Not a great ride. Too rough. It needs the RMC treatment.
Carolina Cyclone (1 ride) - Not bad for an old Arrow coaster. I thought it was fairly smooth.
Vortex (1 ride) - This was a rough one. I've only been on 2 other stand up coasters (both old Shockwave coasters) and this one was the worst of them all. If they could change the restraints to something better in order to prevent the head banging, this could actually be a really good coaster.
Flying Cobras (1 ride) - I got a headache on this one, even with the newer restraints. Plus, we waited about an hour for this coaster credit. This made me realize how spoiled I've gotten with all the modern coasters which are much smoother.
Carolina Goldrusher (1 ride) - This was actually a fun mine train coaster. It was pretty long and had some decent elements.
General Thoughts
The park was nice. I liked how it was small enough to be able to go from the front to the back in only a few minutes. Parking was a little bit confusing. Because of the lack of guides and various concrete barriers, we really didn't know where we were supposed to go. Food was average for amusement park food. There was nothing exciting about it, but we're glad we got the all day dining plan. Our other stop on this trip was Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which has amazing food. So, that made the food at Carowinds seem that much worse. I totally agree with the general consensus that Carowinds is a very "top heavy" park. Outside of the top 4, we didn't feel like anything else was worth a re-ride. Also, the assigned seating was SUPER annoying and inefficient. There were only 2 times we were actually able to pick our own seats. We got a back row ride on Fury and a front row ride on Copperhead Strike. We also got a back row ride on Afterburn, but when we immediately got in line for a front ride, they had switched back to doing the assigned seating. Also, this process was really slowing down the lines and many trains were launching partially full since the staff member couldn't keep up with the dispatches. PLEASE GET RID OF THIS NONSENSE. It makes no sense and just irritates the guests. Overall, we had a great time. It was definitely worth visting the park for the top 4 coasters.
Rides
Fury 325 (7 rides) - My favorite in the park and currently my #2 overall. I could ride this one all day. I love how it both makes great use of its speed and still delivers great air time. Lines weren't too bad. The wait was generally between 20 and 45 minutes.
Copperhead Strike (6 rides) - This was a big surprise. This is like the Maverick of Carowinds. I loved the variety of elements on this one. It gets criticized for its weaker launch, but I thought it had plenty of power. The wait was around 45 minutes most of the day, but it varied a lot depending on other factors. So, we got a lot of our rides first thing in the morning or near the park closing time.
Afterburn (4 rides) - This is now my favorite B&M invert coaster. I loved the intensity on this one, especially the bat wing. This was little to no wait for this one even though the wait time was always showing 60 minutes.
Thunder Striker (2 rides) - Another great B&M hyper coaster. It reminded me a lot of Nitro with lots of hills and good floater air. It definitely gets overshadowed by Fury being in the same park. The wait seemed to stay around 20 minutes.
The following were our "one and done" rides
Hurler (1 ride) - Not a great ride. Too rough. It needs the RMC treatment.
Carolina Cyclone (1 ride) - Not bad for an old Arrow coaster. I thought it was fairly smooth.
Vortex (1 ride) - This was a rough one. I've only been on 2 other stand up coasters (both old Shockwave coasters) and this one was the worst of them all. If they could change the restraints to something better in order to prevent the head banging, this could actually be a really good coaster.
Flying Cobras (1 ride) - I got a headache on this one, even with the newer restraints. Plus, we waited about an hour for this coaster credit. This made me realize how spoiled I've gotten with all the modern coasters which are much smoother.
Carolina Goldrusher (1 ride) - This was actually a fun mine train coaster. It was pretty long and had some decent elements.
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