- July 18th, 2018, 1:49 pm
#101705
Ever since it was announced and then opened in 2015 I've been dying to make the trip to Carowinds to ride Fury 325. For my 30th birthday (which was the 13th) my wife and I made the trip down from Indianapolis for a two-day visit. We are regulars at Cedar Point and Kings Island and we were excited to branch out to another CF park.
We stayed at the Comfort Inn across the street. It's a nice hotel for the price and you can't beat the location. We even walked on Thursday to save the $16. On Thursday the park was absolutely dead. It was fantastic. It was SO hot (for us northerners) so we were glad to be able to take many breaks while also feeling like we were able to ride as much as we wanted and more. Friday was somewhat busier (but still pretty slow). Overall we really enjoyed the park. We rode:
I think that's all we rode. I wanted to ride Hurler but there was a long line because they were only running one train and I didn't want to wait that long. Other than that we rode everything we wanted to ride and just ended up going between Intimidator and Fury most of the time. We also saw Seasons of Cirque because we were eating at Papa Luigi's next door and we desperately wanted to spend some time in the AC. We enjoyed it much more than we thought we would.
FURY 325 REVIEW
Obviously this is a destination park thanks to this roller coaster, and it did not disappoint! Honestly, after my first ride I was actually a bit let down. I've always been a back row rider for the speed over the first drop and the airtime, but this ride was lacking in the back row. I'm sure the slow-down right before you crest the lift hill has something to do with that. Fortunately it was so slow we were able to ride in every row on either side. After a few more rides making our way up the rows I was finally able to appreciate how great a ride this is. Ultimately I settled on the far right seat in rows 2-6 as my favorite. The first drop was best from these rows. You get the feeling of being flung out of your seat at least 3 times in the first half. The turn into the drop that goes under the walkway, and the drop itself, are awesome! You get a ton of air from either side although I'd give a slight edge to the left. That was the only part of the ride I thought was better on the left side. In the second half, I got so much more ejector air over the 3 hills from rows 2-6 than in the back or front. We did ride front row once. The first drop is never as good in the front, but the rest of the ride wasn't bad. The airtime was pretty good. I will say for the front row that it felt SO FAST.
We had a really fun experience on Thursday night. It had rained for a few hours up until about 9 or slightly later. It cleared up and we went to Fury to close out the night. We wanted to get at last one night ride. We ended up riding something like 8 times without even having to leave the platform! I love that they let you do that, because they don't at KI. It is a very cool night ride, especially being able to see the Charlotte skyline in the distance all lit up.
Overall I'd have to rate Fury 325 above Millennium Force. At first I wasn't sure, but the more I rode it the more I loved it. MF still has a great first drop but the rest of the ride doesn't compare to Fury.
I am very happy with our trip to Carowinds. It was absolutely worth the 9 hour drive to ride Fury 325 (around 25 total times I'd guess). I'm excited to see what they're building for next year and can't wait to come back in the future!
We stayed at the Comfort Inn across the street. It's a nice hotel for the price and you can't beat the location. We even walked on Thursday to save the $16. On Thursday the park was absolutely dead. It was fantastic. It was SO hot (for us northerners) so we were glad to be able to take many breaks while also feeling like we were able to ride as much as we wanted and more. Friday was somewhat busier (but still pretty slow). Overall we really enjoyed the park. We rode:
- Fury 325 - in depth review below
Intimidator - fantastic first drop, sometimes even better than Fury, nice airtime...very similar to Diamondback at KI
Afterburn - we rode this twice early Thursday without having to leave our front row seats...it was ok. There were a couple cool moments going underground or going right over the top of the station. Inverted coasters don't do much for me to begin with.
Flying Cobra - this was not fun. It's rough and very short. Fortunately it was a walk on
Rip Roarin' Rapids - this was a fun one. It's laid back but a really nice ride in the middle of a hot day. I got more wet than I anticipated but it didn't take long to dry off.
Windseeker - A fun ride we've been on at other parks. I love the views you get and it was slightly cooler up there so it felt good in the heat. Good for drying off after RRR.
Ricochet - it had been many many years since my last wild mouse coaster. It wasn't as fun as I remembered.
I think that's all we rode. I wanted to ride Hurler but there was a long line because they were only running one train and I didn't want to wait that long. Other than that we rode everything we wanted to ride and just ended up going between Intimidator and Fury most of the time. We also saw Seasons of Cirque because we were eating at Papa Luigi's next door and we desperately wanted to spend some time in the AC. We enjoyed it much more than we thought we would.
FURY 325 REVIEW
Obviously this is a destination park thanks to this roller coaster, and it did not disappoint! Honestly, after my first ride I was actually a bit let down. I've always been a back row rider for the speed over the first drop and the airtime, but this ride was lacking in the back row. I'm sure the slow-down right before you crest the lift hill has something to do with that. Fortunately it was so slow we were able to ride in every row on either side. After a few more rides making our way up the rows I was finally able to appreciate how great a ride this is. Ultimately I settled on the far right seat in rows 2-6 as my favorite. The first drop was best from these rows. You get the feeling of being flung out of your seat at least 3 times in the first half. The turn into the drop that goes under the walkway, and the drop itself, are awesome! You get a ton of air from either side although I'd give a slight edge to the left. That was the only part of the ride I thought was better on the left side. In the second half, I got so much more ejector air over the 3 hills from rows 2-6 than in the back or front. We did ride front row once. The first drop is never as good in the front, but the rest of the ride wasn't bad. The airtime was pretty good. I will say for the front row that it felt SO FAST.
We had a really fun experience on Thursday night. It had rained for a few hours up until about 9 or slightly later. It cleared up and we went to Fury to close out the night. We wanted to get at last one night ride. We ended up riding something like 8 times without even having to leave the platform! I love that they let you do that, because they don't at KI. It is a very cool night ride, especially being able to see the Charlotte skyline in the distance all lit up.
Overall I'd have to rate Fury 325 above Millennium Force. At first I wasn't sure, but the more I rode it the more I loved it. MF still has a great first drop but the rest of the ride doesn't compare to Fury.
I am very happy with our trip to Carowinds. It was absolutely worth the 9 hour drive to ride Fury 325 (around 25 total times I'd guess). I'm excited to see what they're building for next year and can't wait to come back in the future!
It's 7 hours for me.