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

[jsus]

Nah, that's OK. I'd prefer to look at a B&M coaster over an Intamin, at least that's my current preference. Gatekeeper and Banshee kinda won me over.

[Buckeye Brad]

I have a question. Has anyone been on both an Intamin and B&M gigacoaster here on this site? If so, how do the rides compare? I've only been on Millennium force and I like it. I think it has some good floater air time and I dig the overbanked turns.

Would like to experience a B&M giga. Did you hear that KI?

I was lucky enough to ride Millenium Force and Leviathan within a week this past August.

Both in the morning and at night.

To be honest it's hard to pick a favorite. I had an absolute blast on both.

The open 2 across trains on Millenium Force feel a little faster than Leviathan's 4 across. Then again, Leviathan had more wicked curves and blends between the different elements to give it this beautiful feeling of flight. I did miss the lack of a proper finale on Leviathan, but like Holiday World's Raven there is no wasted track and it left me breathless nonetheless. Fury 325 looks to have expanded the finale so that shouldn't be an issue.

One big advantage to Leviathan (and hopefully Fury 325) was the operations. The line absolutely flew, with dispatches just over 60 seconds and a lift ascent nearly as fast as Millenium Force. I think B&M really nailed the blocking and hourly capacity with Leviathan, as with Banshee.

Bottom line: if you like Millenium Force, and if Fury 325 meets/exceeds the quality of Leviathan, start planning your trip to Charlotte. ;^)

[gad198]

Leviathan's capacity maxes out around 1600 pph, while Fury 325 will max out around 1470 pph. The difference makes sense given Fury 325's extra track length and ride time. This will likely be the B&M with the lowest theoretical throughput for any mega coaster with a 3-train operation, but it will still be higher capacity than any single Intamin coaster in the US (except for California Screamin). Those individuals who had any doubt about why capacity is important saw that highlighted last year with the installation of Banshee and at Cedar Point with Gatekeeper the year before.

One of the things I'm interested in seeing is how the seat belts are installed and how the ride operators will check them on a 4-across train. This is the first time that seat belts will be installed on a 4-across B&M mega, and I'd imagine it's going to be very awkward for the ride ops to try and check those two middle seats if the trains retain their current configuration. The thought of a ride op reaching over the person sitting on the ends of each row to do a seat belt check on the middle seats is, uh, interesting.

[JubJester]

Latest Construction Update via Carowinds Webcams ( https://www.carowinds.com/online-fun/webcams ). This picture was taken before the latest track piece was put in place which is currently in place as a type this post.

[silver2005]

Its one thing to see renderings of a ride. Its another to see a ride as it actually looks. To me, it looks a lot bigger than the renderings could illustrate.

I really, really hope I'm able to get down to Charlotte next summer.

[freaks76]

I'm impressed with how fast they are moving with this coaster.

Although I can say, I don't know much about coaster building.

Nonetheless, I'm pretty stoked, Probably looking about the second week of August.

Hopefully

[TTD-120-420]

I just read on RCDB's Facebook page that Fury will have a water feature.

[jsus]

^ Based on the picture used to back that up, I'm not inclined to believe it. It just looks like the end of the finished section of track on supports, beside a crane, all rotated ~90º. The picture is rather blurry.

https://www.facebook.com/rollercoasterdatabase/posts/876328769079168

[The Interpreter]

I have never liked the water features on Afterburn fka Top Gun: The Jet Coaster.

Not even a little.

Terp -- Some wear glasses...

[TheBEASTunchained]

The picture on RCDB's Facebook page was a joke, the way that the supports glared made them look like water jets or something to that effect.....

Just a joke......No need to get excited folks......

[The Interpreter]

Sigh.

Another reason to be glad not to have Facebook.

[MantisMan]

^ Based on the picture used to back that up, I'm not inclined to believe it. It just looks like the end of the finished section of track on supports, beside a crane, all rotated ~90º. The picture is rather blurry.

https://www.facebook.com/rollercoasterdatabase/posts/876328769079168

I hope that is a joke post......if not, RCDB lost what remaining credibility they had in my book.

[JubJester]

Track is now being put in at https://www.carowinds.com/online-fun/webcams !

[Creed Bratton]

I have a question. Has anyone been on both an Intamin and B&M gigacoaster here on this site? If so, how do the rides compare? I've only been on Millennium force and I like it. I think it has some good floater air time and I dig the overbanked turns.

Would like to experience a B&M giga. Did you hear that KI?

I've been on both. Intamin's in general are more intense. B&M Giga coasters are a lot of fun though. I can't pick a favorite from either. As far as floater air, Leviathan has a ton in my opinion. I have a feeling Fury will be the same.

[The Interpreter]

Millennium Force intense?

With the exception of the overbanked second hill, it is to laugh.

I-305? Now that's a different story. Intense is one word for it. In my humble opinion, that is the single most overrated steel coaster in the USA (as Voyage is to wood).

Moral of the story? Only YOU will know what YOU think of a ride.

Ride.

Then decide.

[MantisMan]

I really want to Like that post but the inclusion of Voyage just won't allow it.

[The Interpreter]

I far, far prefer a far superior coaster: Ravine Flyer II. There's one example. Tremors, for another. El Toro...

[MantisMan]

Opinions.......we've all got 'em

[Creed Bratton]

Millennium Force intense?

With the exception of the overbanked second hill, it is to laugh.

I-305? Now that's a different story. Intense is one word for it. In my humble opinion, that is the single most overrated steel coaster in the USA (as Voyage is to wood).

Moral of the story? Only YOU will know what YOU think of a ride.

Ride.

Then decide.

Generally speaking on Intamin (now fixed in original post).

[The Interpreter]

And to show you can't judge all of a particular manufacturer's rides on a particular ride--as much as I am not a fan of I-305 or Millennium Force, and I am not, my favorite steel is Maverick, but only in the front row. In the rest of the train, I think I'd prefer Millennium Force.

And as great as Banshee, Afterburn, Apollo's Chariot, Nitro, Great Bear, etc., are, there's "Scream!" (Which made ME, the old silent rider, want to. Out of sheer disgust. See also X-Flight at Six Flags Great America, which I'd far prefer to see than ride.)

Ride.

Then decide.

[JubJester]

They haven't did any track work of late. Which clearly is a cause of the holidays.... which they surely they deserve with the pace they have been building this (and it's the holidays). Here a picture I just took off Carowind's webcams where you can't see a thing ( photo taken from https://www.carowinds.com/online-fun/webcams ) .

[Ride On_17]

Here's an awesome aerial video showing off how truly beautiful this coaster is. Absolutely stunning.

I'm also in love with how the underside of the track pops out with the contrasting bright green color. I hope many other coasters in the future will have this unique feature. I love how the track color changes depending on your angle and the twists of the track.

https://www.carowinds.com/online-fun/webcams

[BoddaH1994]

Yeah, I like the color scheme too.

[AZ Kinda Guy]

That new front gate is gonna be sharp. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[homestar92]

And to show you can't judge all of a particular manufacturer's rides on a particular ride--as much as I am not a fan of I-305 or Millennium Force, and I am not, my favorite steel is Maverick, but only in the front row. In the rest of the train, I think I'd prefer Millennium Force.

And as great as Banshee, Afterburn, Apollo's Chariot, Nitro, Great Bear, etc., are, there's "Scream!" (Which made ME, the old silent rider, want to. Out of sheer disgust. See also X-Flight at Six Flags Great America, which I'd far prefer to see than ride.)

Ride.

Then decide.

And I liked X-Flight better than Gatekeeper (which is the only other wing coaster I've currently ridden). Or at least, I would, if it were to receive the same modifications to its restraints that Gatekeeper did.

And I definitely agree, don't judge all rides by a given manufacturer unless you've ridden them all. Millennium Force I find about as thrilling as mowing the lawn, but Ride of Steel is a rush beyond compare. I find Diamondback insultingly lackluster, but Raging Bull is in my top 10 steel coasters. Iron Dragon is the only coaster I've ridden that I can think of absolutely nothing good to say about, but I adore The Bat. You get the idea. I will say that I have yet to ride a Dinn that I didn't think was an absolute blast, but I'm most definitely in a minority there.

I can be a bit of a maverick at times. Heck, my favorite launched coaster is a blue Sky (Rocket).

- Homestar92, surprised that the capitalization filter allowed him to type that last sentence the way he did.

[bengals fan]

.I do agree Raging Bull is better than Diamondback.but X-flight is not better than Gatekeeper.Millennium Force is ok from first drop into the tunnel. I to can be a Maverick.

Edited January 1, 2015 by bengals fan

[The Interpreter]

keeper.I do agree Raging Bull is better tun Diamondback.but X-flight is not better than Gatekeeper.Millennium Force is ok from first drop into the tunnel. I to can be a Maverick.

You been in the Egg Nog again?

[Nick_Plummer]

One more track piece until the turnaround is topped off!

Image from Carowinds Construction Cam.

http://pixelcaster.com/live/carowinds/camera1.html

[malem]

Image from Carowinds Construction Cam.

Don't forget the link!

EDIT: fixed

[Aaron88stang]

Millennium Force intense?

With the exception of the overbanked second hill, it is to laugh.

I-305? Now that's a different story. Intense is one word for it. In my humble opinion, that is the single most overrated steel coaster in the USA (as Voyage is to wood).

Moral of the story? Only YOU will know what YOU think of a ride.

Ride.

Then decide.

MF is not super intense but keeps up what it has for pretty much the whole ride. I-305 on the other hand pushes you to the limit for the first half or so of the ride and then backs off substantially. I am hoping Fury 325 is more like MF than I-305 but I will find out for myself at some point this year Voyage has its good years and bad. I have had some amazing rides on it and some painful ones. It really depends on how much track work it had in the previous off season. If its a good year, I'll be in the back row hands up (if it is there, otherwise I will be in the last row available) If it is a bad year I will be spending far more time on the other two fantastic woodies at HW.