I made a trip to Charlotte this weekend to get my first rides in on Fury 325. I made another trip last August and wrote up a report on that, so I'm not gonna be covering a lot of those other rides and will instead stick to stuff from my trip this weekend.
Fury 325 was breathtaking. It is, indubitably, the greatest roller coaster I've ever ridden. It's design is essentially flawless and it really has it all. I'm usually a proponent of riding in the back row, and my first couple laps on Fury were from the back, but since Carowinds' other B&Ms are unusually better in the front, I had to try it up there as well, and the experience is unprecedented. The graceful balance of speed, force, and smoothness is executed to perfection on Fury 325, which really cements its status. The train hauls ass the whole way, and getting whipped into those ridiculous over banked turns is a ton of fun, and yet just as smooth as I'd expect from a Beamer; maybe even a bit smoother. Somehow, year after year, ol' Walt and Claude just find a way to keep making their rides smoother than glass. All of the elements are well incorporated (there is a particularly close beam on the helix that never ceases to be unnerving), and the three blissful pops of airtime to conclude the ride really tie it all together. Each time the train hit the brake run, I was literally out of breath from screaming my head off with joy. What an amazing experience.
Fury was more than enough fun to compensate for the bumps along the rest of the day. There were a couple that made me feel uneasy, though. I usually always try to give the ride ops the benefit of the doubt, but I encountered far too many rude ride operators throughout the day. This feels indicative of a systemic problem that Carowinds needs to snuff out. They'll get by this year due to the massive success of Fury 325, but as a paying customer, nobody wants to see this. There was one lady at Fury that was repeatedly particularly rude to our group. I understand that there is a lot of pressure being put on that crew by management, but something needs to be done. Overall, the crew was very efficient, but obviously stressed, and they did not hide their coarseness. I also really hate Carowinds' park wide grouping policy. I hate groupers anyway (there are some not bright folks that can't really do the job well sometimes, and many times I've had to help them out), but they can be properly employed. Too many times we were denied a choice of row because the station would be emptied before the grouper would fill the rows with more guests. This is completely unnecessary, and not a very smart way of handling a line. After waiting an hour+, I ought to have a choice to wait 15 more minutes for the row I want. I was initially more agitated with the ride ops earlier in the day, but after seeing policies like this implemented, I really think the full-time staff in rides are making some more than questionable decisions that need to be reevaluated. Let's hope they work this out.
All in all, though, everyone needs to make a pilgrimage to Carowinds to ride the beast of Fury 325.
Fury 325 was breathtaking. It is, indubitably, the greatest roller coaster I've ever ridden. It's design is essentially flawless and it really has it all. I'm usually a proponent of riding in the back row, and my first couple laps on Fury were from the back, but since Carowinds' other B&Ms are unusually better in the front, I had to try it up there as well, and the experience is unprecedented. The graceful balance of speed, force, and smoothness is executed to perfection on Fury 325, which really cements its status. The train hauls ass the whole way, and getting whipped into those ridiculous over banked turns is a ton of fun, and yet just as smooth as I'd expect from a Beamer; maybe even a bit smoother. Somehow, year after year, ol' Walt and Claude just find a way to keep making their rides smoother than glass. All of the elements are well incorporated (there is a particularly close beam on the helix that never ceases to be unnerving), and the three blissful pops of airtime to conclude the ride really tie it all together. Each time the train hit the brake run, I was literally out of breath from screaming my head off with joy. What an amazing experience.
Fury was more than enough fun to compensate for the bumps along the rest of the day. There were a couple that made me feel uneasy, though. I usually always try to give the ride ops the benefit of the doubt, but I encountered far too many rude ride operators throughout the day. This feels indicative of a systemic problem that Carowinds needs to snuff out. They'll get by this year due to the massive success of Fury 325, but as a paying customer, nobody wants to see this. There was one lady at Fury that was repeatedly particularly rude to our group. I understand that there is a lot of pressure being put on that crew by management, but something needs to be done. Overall, the crew was very efficient, but obviously stressed, and they did not hide their coarseness. I also really hate Carowinds' park wide grouping policy. I hate groupers anyway (there are some not bright folks that can't really do the job well sometimes, and many times I've had to help them out), but they can be properly employed. Too many times we were denied a choice of row because the station would be emptied before the grouper would fill the rows with more guests. This is completely unnecessary, and not a very smart way of handling a line. After waiting an hour+, I ought to have a choice to wait 15 more minutes for the row I want. I was initially more agitated with the ride ops earlier in the day, but after seeing policies like this implemented, I really think the full-time staff in rides are making some more than questionable decisions that need to be reevaluated. Let's hope they work this out.
All in all, though, everyone needs to make a pilgrimage to Carowinds to ride the beast of Fury 325.
