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Carowinds will be investing $50 million in the next three years!


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Carowinds to Reach Exciting New Heights

The worlds tallest and fastest giga coaster will connect the beloved Carolina parks historic past with its thrilling future

Charlotte, NC (August 21, 2014) / PR Newswire / For more than 40 years, Carowinds has been the place where the Carolinas come together. Its where the Tar Heel State and the Palmetto State meet. Its where families and friends bond over thrilling rides and entertainment. Carowinds will now unite its storied history with its future as the standard for thrills by unleashing Fury 325, the worlds tallest and fastest giga coaster.

Fury 325 will simulate the wild, daring and spontaneous flight of the hornet. The new ride will be visible from uptown Charlotte, renewing the parks skyline and serving as a symbol of changes to come. Fury 325 is part of a planned $50 million dollar multiyear investment to bring new life to founder Pat Halls original vision for Carowinds. The park will be revamped from top to bottom to celebrate Carolina culture including new rides and attractions, signature Carolina food offerings and entertainment. Opening in Spring 2015, Fury 325 will be the centerpiece of a new 8.2 acre main entrance plaza that includes a stateoftheart ticketing and season pass processing area and expanded guest service facilities.

Starting with Fury 325, we plan to make Carowinds a destination for thrillseekers to celebrate the Carolinas, says Mike Fehnel, Carowinds Vice President and General Manager. The new ride will build on the heritage of the park, creating new memories and traditions for our loyal fans and future guests from around the world.

Riders will board into three 32passenger open air trains and begin their ascent to the top of a 325foot (over 30 stories) hill. This immense hill is followed by an exhilarating 81 degree first drop. Like an angry hornet chasing its target, Fury 325 will race through a series of hills, curves and quick transitions while reaching speeds of up to 95 miles per hour. Riders will speed along 6,602 feet of track during the nearly three and one half minute ride.

The tradition of the park is so important to those who have grown up here, says Fehnel. Its long overdue that we gave our fans a new energy surrounding Carowinds, which will build on our legacy as the premiere entertainment destination for generations of Carolinians.

Those who cant wait until Spring 2015 to experience Fury 325 can take a virtual ride at carowinds.com/fury325 where they can also check out photos, virtual renderings, ride stats and more. This Fall, fans can purchase a 2015 season pass or renew current season passes for the lowest price of the year at carowinds.com. Fury 325 is designed and manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M) of Monthey, Switzerland, a recognized industry leader in roller coaster development and the same firm that brought Vortex to Carowinds in 1992, Afterburn in 1999, and The Intimidator in 2010.

Carowinds is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FUN. In addition to Carowinds, Cedar Fair owns and operates ten other amusement parks including Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH, three water parks, one indoor water park, and five hotels. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in California under a management contract.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42435&start=3900

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Most impressive.

I have to say I like the drop, the horseshoe turn and the small airtime hill finish. Few mph faster than Millie and about 100 feet more to put it into perspective.

Great new addition, and love the look of it, the color scheme is pretty top notch.

Carrowinds site is up with construction pics, webcam, stats, and renderings for those interested.

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Visible from uptown Charlotte, park revamped from from top to bottom with the new entrance plaza, more to come... Even the introduction video essentially shows a swarm flying from Charlotte to the park. And don't forget the Charlotte Hornets NBA team...

It looks to me that somebody is trying to develop Carowinds into a premier destination and connect it to the local population of Charlotte. Oh wait, I think I have heard that before. What an addition to do so!

This ride looks phenomenal. I'm blown away.

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I've always enjoyed Carowinds..it's slowly becoming the CP of the south..see how it integrates with the entrance, etc.

I will say, I hope this thing shatters Levi, that would be sweet. Lastly curious to know if train design will be different. After seeing Banshee trains I'm curious to see if any of that technology crosses over

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I like just about everything about the ride. I doubt ill go out of my way just yet to make it back to Carowinds though. The park was alright, but not great. This coaster looks to be fun, but not mind blowing. I do look forward to whenever I happen to make it back to the park to ride it.

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Err, B&M broke the 300-foot barrier in 2012 with the 306-foot Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland. Though I don't think Fury 325 would be 325 feet tall if Kinzel were still in charge- the "No Surpassing Cedar Point and Millennium Force!" rule he kinda had has clearly been broken here. Carowinds coaster lineup just got a major boost with this ride.

As for the ride itself, it looks interesting- based on the animated POV, some of the transitions looked sharper than what B&M has done in the past (dare I even say Intamin-like?), and the ride appears to have a heavy focus on twists and overbanked turns instead of pure airtime hills like the B&M Hypers (like Diamondback, Behemoth, and Intimidator) so far have had so it will be a very different ride than Intimidator. And it has a underground tunnel- almost always a plus to do that in my book. ;) And no MCBR- B&M has seemingly phased these out it seems in recent years, and if Leviathan and Banshee are good guides to use, it hasn't hurt their capacity much if at all to not have it. If Kings Island does get a Giga, I hope it's something like this- improved upon further and made even larger of course. :P

B&M has started to expand their portfolio in recent years, and this company is really looking strong right now. They at one point were unwilling to build either a launched coaster or a 300+ foot coaster...and now, in just one year, they are doing both with Thunderbird and Fury 325! And I'm still fairly sure we're going to see that B&M 4th Dimension coaster at some point in the future...

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