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This week I had the chance to travel to a park I'd never visited before: Carowinds! Spoiler Alert: I did not get to ride Fury 325 because of maintenance issues. But if you want a review of the park overall, stick around because this was a very nice and exciting adventure despite Fury's closure.
The Park:
Carowinds is "where the Carolinas come together," and sits right on the state line between North and South Carolina. It's a legacy Cedar Fair park, and first opened in 1973. This week, I had the chance to spend 3 days at the park and riding attractions that have been there since its open (Carolina Goldrusher) and its newer and most unique coaster: Copperhead Strike.
Despite the closure of Fury 325 and Vortex, Carowinds still had plenty of rides for us to visit. They also had a lot of options for food, plenty of clean restrooms, and good operations all around. The park I've been to before that I think it is most like it is King's Island, because they both have an extensive Camp Snoopy and large air conditioned dining hall for live entertainment. That dining hall? Honestly one of the best larts about the park. Harmony Hall has cozy lighting and is a relief for tired guests. My husband and I hung out there for a long while. They also have restrooms, claw machines, live shows starring Peanuts characters, a bar, and a food court! What more could you need in your downtime? Carowinds weakest element, however, is probably its theme. The park seems to have no distinct visual theme to make it unique from other legacy Cedar Fair parks, with the exception of a line paved in the cement to tell you where North and South Carolina meet. Is the theme Carolina? It doesn't feel like it. It would be nice to have more state pride on either side of the line, but as an outsider, I didn't see it at all. Snoopy has a stronger pressence to the park, and he's everywhere anyway.
Before we get to the rides, I just want to lightly touch on the merch available at Carowinds. Its... okay? It's not great. The shop by Thunder Striker has shirts, hats, and other odds and ends for Fury 325, Copperhead Strike, and Thunder Striker, but that is about it. There is also a LOT of Fury 325 merch, which is understandable, but when you see how many rides are at this park, you realize they are severely neglecting several good rides. There are no patches or enamel pins, with the exception of a set of dated 2024 pins for Coppperhead Stike at a tiny gift shop at the front gate. The best merch is the Peanuts merch, of which I bought a bag because I forgot mine at home, and my husband bought a snoopy shirt. We also bought a general Carowinds shirt with a skyline of the coasters because I was afraid of picking an AI design from a specific coaster, and a pretty cool Thunder Striker keychain, that was again hidden at the tiny gift shop at the front gate (notably far from the ride itself). Speaking of, lets get to our first ride...
THUNDER STRIKER
Formerly Intimidator, this hypercoaster is the second tallest coaster here, and was my favorite ride on the trip. It's smooth, and has many hills with fantastic airtime. It's quite a bit like Orion, travelling down and back and finally breaking on a downhill slope. The seats mirror those used on Diamondback at King's Island, another reason why I think this park feels so familiar. Operations on this ride was VERY well done, they had two cars running constantly, with very little downtime as the operators encouraged riders to move quickly in and out of the loading area. I think Thunder Striker's greatest weakness is perhaps that it has a very bad name. Who thought that renaming this ride to have strike in its name was a good idea when Copperhead Strike is also on the property? This is silly. This coaster deserves a better name.
AFTER BURN
I've ridden a lot of bad inverted coasters, but this is where I draw the line between what makes one good or bad. I have mixed feelings: on the one hand, After Burn is incredibly fast and has many fun turns and loops. The most showy element being when it takes you down through a tunnel. On the other hand, it can be a bit shaky, has just the right amount of intensity to give that tinglying sensation in your feet. The beginning is smoother than the end, and I definalitely wouldn't ride it twice in one day. But, it's not the worst offender among its class or even the other rides at Carowinds, and I think the speed and thrill of this attraction is enough for me to reccomend riding After Burn to everyone interested in extreme thrills.
COPPERHEAD STRIKE
This ride has a very unique layout, with its standout features being the 2 slow loops that wrap over other parts of the track. It's not a very fast coaster, but that's what makes it interesting. You crawl over the loops like the copperhead snake itself. It's very smooth too, definitely a must-ride for new park-goers. This was my second favorite ride, but I can see a lot of people liking it more than Thunder Striker-- I myself am just more partial to giant drops and hills with lots of airtime. Operations were nearly as good as Thunder Stiker, where again the operator would encourage guests to get in and out of their seats quickly to make way for the next group.
To all riders, I want to point out that this ride has a more complicated bag storage situation than others here. Copperhead Strike says you cannot have any loose articles past the beginning of the queue, and that all bags and such need to be stored in a locker or left with a non-rider. This is not accurate. Loose articles can be secured in zipper pockets or bags that are small enough to be attached to your person (fanny packs, hip pouches, etc.). Earlier I mentioned I purchased a snoopy bag at the gift shop. I think this bag is available at other Cedar Fair parks too and it was allowed to ride with me on Copperhead Strike, so here is a picture of it so you can have an idea of what kinds of bags are allowed:
BOO BLASTERS ON BOO HILL
It has come to my attention that unfortunately, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill at Kings Island was shut down for good last year. This breaks my heart, because I think dark rides like these are very important at theme parks to help guests get out of the sun or rain on a long day trekking around the park. I LOVE this ride. I love the game aspect and competing against my family to get the highest score, and I love zapping the cute silly ghosts. We need dark rides at all parks, because sometimes we need a break from the big guys, right?
WOODSTOCK EXPRESS
Genuinely a fun little wooden coaster, suitable for all ages, provided your legs are short enough. We rode as adults, sitting one person per row, but parents usually sit with their children beside them in the small seats. I belive it is shorter in length than its sister ride at Kings Island, but it is all the same fun.
THE FLYING COBRAS
I probably wouldn't have ridden this ride if not for my sister's reccomendation. Flying Cobras is a boomerang coaster-- it shoots through a short series of corkscrews and a vertical loop before dropping you right back through the same series backwards to the start. It's an interesting gimmick, but I've been burned before on a ride just like this at my home park, Worlds of Fun. Boomerang at Worlds of Fun is my least favorite ride there. It's shaky and can jostle your head uncomfortably against the overhead restraint, much like Carowind's Carolina Cyclone. Flying Cobras, however, has a different restraint system that makes a world of a difference. This newer restraint hugs your shoulders and lies more flat, meaning you don't have two stiff pads sandwiching your head and knocking it around. The thinner restraint cushion is held in place by wider positioned bars that your head cannot reach. Without having to worry about hitting my head, Flying Cobras is a great ride overrall.
HURLER
This classic wooden coaster is very fun! It's pretty short, we rode towards the front and my sister reccomends to not ride in the back as it is pretty rough back there. It has the same feel as other wooden rollercoasters its age: Timber Wolf, The Beast, Great American Scream Machine... but it doesn't really do anything amazing to make it stand out from them. It wouldn't be so bad to miss if you were strapped for time, but it is excedingly better than the remaining rides I have left to write about.
CAROLINA GOLDRUSHER
This ride is genuinely very exciting, and is original to the park, having opened in 1973. Its got some good force behind it, but it definitely isn't something I would ride regularly as an adult. The seats are extremely shallow, so much so I felt like I could slide forward off of it and get stuck on the floor-- a truly horrific picture that haunted me throughout this entire experience. Could that have happened? I don't know, but I'd rather let the kids have this one than find out the hard way.
ELECTRO SPIN
Not a coaster, but it was a flat ride I'd never had the chance to ride before, so I thought I'd give it a go too. I'll say from the start this ride is not for everyone. It's difficult to get into the seat for one, and for the other the seat will swing when you try to get in or out of it, and the rise of the seat meant to separate your legs will nail you in the crotch if you are not careful. The ride will also have you constantly leaning into the arm of whoever may be riding to your left or right, so if you can, I'd avoid riding next to someone at all. I'd hate to be elbowed by someone on this attraction. The swinging and spinning elements are fun and unpredictable, but maybe not worth it if the other downsides seem like too much.
ROCK N ROLLER
Another flat ride, this one I rode for nostalgia's sake. Worlds of Fun used to have a similar ride called the Rock N Reeler that also swung guests around in a circle. It was a little fun, but the Worlds of Fun version used to spin backwards as well, and this version did not. I wouldn't wait very long for this ride, and I may skip it altogether if pressed for time anyway.
CAROLINA CYCLONE
I'd heard the rumors about this one, and they were right. Carolina Cyclone is a disaster of a ride. It's incredibly rough and thrashes you around like a rag doll. This is exacerbated by its overhead restraint that your head will be knocking into constantly (unless you are aproximately 6' in height or taller). Part way through the ride the coaster flung me out of my seat and I realized I had enough leverage with my feet to force my head over those restraints to avoid being knocked around too much more, but the bracing did not prevent the overall jostling, and by the end I was just thankful to have survived. Why did I ride, knowing it would be just as bad as the similarly built Colossus at Thorpe Park? Experience. Just to let you know it was as awful as I thought it would be, and it was. I would reccomend your least favorite billionaire ride this attraction, and nobody else.
Final Thoughts:
Carowinds is a great park with a few very well operated rides, but a lack of interesting theming and unique rides make it hard to stand out from other parks around the country. At some point, I'd love to come back and ride Fury 325, but this time it just wasn't in the cards.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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One of the weirder parts of becoming an adult was realizing that roller coasters were still really scary to me, but for an entirely different reason than when I was a kid.
Children are scared of roller coasters because they are fast, and scary, and do sick-ass loops.
Adults are afraid of roller coasters because they are giant machines that seem to be engineered to throw your phone out of your pocket at high velocity.
