- March 27th, 2010, 9:24 pm
#39225
The ride was MINDBLOWINGLY AWESOME. Best coaster I have ever ridden hands down, even topping my previous steel favorite Apollo. Here's the review I posted on my Facebook wall: sorry it's a bit lengthy.
Review:
"Today the Intimidator coaster at Carowinds opened to the public. After months of waiting, watching the construction cam, discussing the ride on carowindsconnection.com, and blowing up my facebook feed with Intimidator updates, this morning I finally got a chance to hop on the beast, well, 6 times actually.
The Verdict:
YOU MUST GET TO CAROWINDS AND RIDE THIS COASTER.
-First off, this is probably the smoothest ride I have ever ridden. There is not a single jerk, bump, pothole, or rough wheel on this entire machine. The feeling of speed gained from this smooth track and the open trains/lapbars really has to be felt to be believed.
-In addition to the speed, this ride pulls some major G's, to the point where it actually would hinder my ability to re-ride in rapid succession! Every hill feels impossibly steep both up and down, which leads to a quick pattern of "OMG I'M FLYING OUT" followed by "whoa I'm getting crushed into my seat going really really fast." The surprising grade of the hills is probably what caught me off guard the most after having ridden Apollo's Chariot, a much more floaty family coaster when compared to Intimidators intense pullouts and plummeting airtime. You'll have to ride it to understand what I mean but the positive to negative G sequence is pretty intense, much more so than Apollo's has ever been for me.
-The trains are perfect. The staggered seating configuration and greater train length when compared to Apollo's really is an upgrade. Every seat has an outside view and unique ride... which brings me to my next point...
-There is NOT a bad seat on this ride. After a few times in the front and back I was forced into a middle seat by an overzealous ride-op, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the middle is just as much fun. Here's the breakdown:
Front Row: Hanging face first down the gigantic first hill is quite unnerving to say the least. At the top of every hill you are launched out of your seat as the rest of the train pushes you over
Center Seats: Rather than experiencing a very strong pop up or plummet down, the middle seats have a perfectly designed "floater" airtime that lasts all the way from halfway up a hill to the bottom of the next, which can be more than 5 seconds on the 3rd hill! I've never felt such sustained airtime for a long period of time, the engineers nailed it.
Back Row: Prepare to plummet down ever drop, 3 of which are taller than every other ride in the park. The first drop is mental, the second twisty drop is taken very quickly, and the forces run high. I would recommend a back row ride to first timers who want to feel what the Intimidator can put your body through - hint - it's fun.
To sum it up, you can sit anywhere and enjoy this ride for different reasons, but I enjoyed the middle and back more than the front.
-There will never be a long line for this ride. Built by the best manufacturer in the industry, the Intimidator should not experience significant downtime, and more importantly, EATS people all day. At no point was the line longer than 30-40 minutes today even with a completely full queue line spilling into the midway. 32 people per train x 3 trains on the track == blazing fast line and happy guests.
-Intimidator finally gives Carowinds a skyline. No matter where you are in the park / parking lot, Timmy is visible and imposing.
-The trim brakes are very very weak. The second trim and midcourse were lightly tapping the train today which I really dislike, but with airtime on every hill and heavy g's between they really did not take away from the ride. As the ride and weather warms up it will surely pick up a few mph - hopefully the trims won't prevent that.
First Hill: Steep, huge, aggressive. The drop feels like it will never end and really rocks the back half of the train. Huge props for the silent anti-rollbacks that make for a silent and fast trip up the hill.
Second (Twisty) Hill: The front half of the train will experience airtime as the twist over to the right and fall down the hill, the back half gets pulled down said hill very quickly.
Third Hill: Airtime city - middle seats can pull over 5 seconds straight, back seats... another plummet like the first drop.
Turnaround: The twisting motion combined with the speed and near inversion give you just enough time to prepare for the next hills
Fourth Hill: After a tiny tap from the trim brake (boo) more airtime.
Fifth Hill: Floater air for the entire train.
Drop off the Mid-Course Brakes: Back seaters get tossed out of their seats pretty effectively.
Helix: Blah, gimme another hill.
Hill into the Brakes: Nice pop of air in the front as the train slides through the efficiently silent magnetic brakes.
This is roller coaster perfection people from the finest engineering firm in all the world. Get to Carowinds ASAP if you didn't today, it's worth it.
NOTE: The Dale Earndhart theme is pathetic. The country music in the line combined with his mug plastered on the walls REALLY doesn't do this ride justice, but hey, we live in the South :/. If I have to hear the Talledega Shuffle one more time... At least they can rip the dale stuff down someday and just have "Intimidator," the signs even seemed to be made in segmented pieces to allow for this in the future. Management should do this and replace the music with loud techno ala Cedar Point's MF ASAP - but the ride still kicks ***.
Next week: i305 opens in Virginia."
Good to see everyone else enjoyed Timmy as much as I did, Carowinds has a real winner.
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