Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Another year, another trip report topic! These seemed to have been well received so I might as well continue, although this year I'll be photo hosting on Imgur instead of Facebook such that the topic won't have dead links in six months.
First up this year was Carowinds! I hadn't been since one of the week long Live road trips in 2010. The park did not leave a good impression on me back then so I felt that there was no reason to return, even with the addition of Fury in 2015. But Copperhead Strike and Fury were the perfect reasons to hold a Live at the park. I ditched work a bit early, stopped at home to grab my bag, and headed to the airport. I was through security and at my gate in no time. The flight down to Charlotte was quick and painless (they actually got us there early), and @Snoo and @Error were pulling up to get me as I was walking out of the terminal. We checked into the hotel before heading to a hibachi restaurant with the Larsons, who would be attending the Live with us. Delicious!
We rendezvoused with the entire group just before opening at the Carowinds sign at the front entrance. In total, it was me, @Snoo, @Error, @Sky and her husband, the Larsons (father and son), @yawetag and his kids, @jay37415 and his family, my buddy Dan and his friend, Grace, and a father/daughter duo whose names are escaping me at the moment. This turned into the biggest US Live since 2012!
Afterburn - Hell of a way to start off the season for me. Afterburn is everything you could ever want from a B&M inverted coaster and then some. The drop is quick, every inversion is ultra intense, and the ride's trenches, tunnels, and ground hugging layout really make the coaster feel fast. Although Flight Deck in California is more intense somehow, Afterburn has much more substance. It's a highly underrated hidden gem that wasn't talked about hardly at all pre-Intimidator and is now overshadowed by Fury and Copperhead. Seriously - this ride rips.
Flying Cobras - Carowinds takes pretty good care of this ride and the new trains certainly help with rider comfort, but it's hard for me to look past the fact that it's a boomerang. It's one of the best of the bunch, but like @Hixee, I'm getting sick of riding these.
Carolina Goldrusher - I had no recollection of riding this during my last visit (although I knew I had the credit) so I was...intrigued at most. I was promptly reminded why I didn't remember - there's nothing noteworthy about the ride whatsoever.
(Fortunately, we were able to avoid slogging through all the creds and stuck to riding the good rides. I'm sure this report would sound more bleak like the last two rides had we ridden Corkscrew, Hurler, and a few of the other garbage creds this past weekend)
Fury - I was more excited about Fury than Copperhead, if I'm completely honest. After all, I've been hearing about how good this ride is for four years now and have gone as far as poking fun at the hyper-fanboys and their collection of Fury t-shirts. I always thought the ride looked great, but does it REALLY live up to the hype? Yes, it absolutely does. Fury is B&M at their best. I was completely blown away by the speed and strength present in every turn on the ride - even the helix towards the end which looks like a lull in the action. Many of the transitions contained a brief pop of airtime which added to the 90 mph rambunctiousness of the first half. Each hill had surprisingly strong airtime for a Beemer, including the nice bit of air at the top of the treble clef. I didn't buy a t-shirt, but the ride was fantastic.
Harmony Hall - At this time, we grabbed some lunch at Carowinds' version of the Festhaus. Some of us got a massive slice of pizza while others grabbed some BBQ. I got some brisket, which was pretty good for park food. Although the hall can seat a good number of people, we ate more or less at peak lunch time so it took a bit to get our food and grab a table. Harmony Hall is one of the numerous upgrades that the park has received since I last visited and it's surely an upgrade for the better.
Intimidator - Well...this ride has aged well. I'm not sure what the park has done with it (or Canada's Wonderland to Behemoth, for that matter), but Intimidator was running fantastically all weekend. I recall a ride crawling over hills with the new age B&M rattle and not providing much of an experience at all. Intimidator now rides like a discount Behemoth. The pacing has greatly improved and the hills provide some good floater that's familiar to this family of hyper coasters. This was such a welcome surprise as it seems like everybody's always viewed the ride as the red headed step child. Now if only we could get Kings Island to figure out what the other two parks did and fix Diamondback...
Wilderness Run - This was a cred that I did not consider trying to grab during this visit, but we had quite a few kids in our group so we figured we would try it out. Turns out, we didn't need to kidnap and this kiddie coaster is actually pretty fun! We almost stalled out on the first couple hills and the final bunny hops threw us around pretty good. Worth it!
Plants vs Zombies - at this point, inclement weather began to surround the park as we queued for Copperhead Strike and all rides shut down. We waited it out until we saw a thunderstorm approaching the park and headed for Plants vs Zombies. This ride was an interesting concept and a good way to kill 10 minutes. I initially had trouble identifying which blaster I was on but once I saw the ID number between my legs I was all set. Kinda fun!
Copperhead Strike - After grabbing a few rerides on neighboring rides, Copperhead opened back up and we finally got on. The best way to describe it is that it's excruciatingly fun. Neither launch is particularly intense, but the first one picks up towards the end of the launch and the second offers a unique bit of airtime. I was a bit apprehensive about all the hangtime moments but they were sequenced into the ride nicely and it wasn't overbearing. The airtime was surprisingly strong - it isn't Intamin intense but you're still thrown skyward over every hill. While I disagree with those who have said they prefer it to Maverick, I will say that it does have a bit more substance. Each ride is executed differently - Maverick takes the relentlessly intense route whereas Copperhead is a slightly slower paced toss you around but don't break you type of ride. Despite their similarities and differences, everybody was smiling and giggling during the duration of the ride: I cannot stress enough how fun it is.
Drop Tower - Our evening was winding down so we took a few more laps on our favorites and finished the night off on Drop Tower. It was a quick lift and a pretty good drop, but it's a bummer that it's such a short tower and got shoved in a strange corner of the park.
Dinner time! We stopped at Wing Stop and POUNDED some wings before heading back to the hotel and crashing the **** to sleep. We stopped at Waffle House for breakfast, per tradition, and spent much of Sunday marathoning Fury and grabbing a few more rides on Copperhead Strike. We did split up briefly such that various parts of our group could grab the last cred or two that they were missing. I headed to Vortex because I wanted a second opinion.
Vortex - This ride has a ton of potential for a conversion. I like the layout and the intensity present throughout the ride - that's something that the California variant was lacking. Unfortunately, the trains are old and rattly, and loading/unloading takes half a day per train. Converting it and giving it some TLC would solidify it as one of the better rides in the park.
At this point, it was time for the group to disband and start heading home, but I had a few more hours to kill before my flight left. We said our good byes and Dan and I took another lap on Fury before grabbing a beer at Harmony Hall (It was a Copperhead Strike IPA by Sycamore Brewing...pretty good!). For our final rides, Dan took a lap on Windseeker and I bravely trialed Nighthawk.
Nighthawk - Ok. Flying Dutchmen are not good, and Nighthawk is still the worst of the three. It's just not comfortable in the slightest and the ride's rattle shows its age. Please melt it down.
Overall Thoughts - I haven't had this much fun with a group of people at a park since @Hixee's visit last summer, and even then, this weekend might have won out. Avoiding the garbage creds certainly helped, but Carowinds has drastically improved from the shadow of its Paramount Park ownership. Fury and Copperhead bring an enormous amount of firepower to the park's lineup. The Camp Snoopy expansion, Blue Ridge Grove, Harmony Hall, Intimidator's improvements, and all the rest of the park's quality of life upgrades and additions have done wonders to the place where not only is the park worth visiting, but it's a desirable destination now. And of course, our group of attendees was a blast to ride with. It was so great to catch up with some old faces and meet a bunch of new ones too! I know I'm not the only one who left with a bunch of happy memories - it seemed like everyone had a fantastic time! Definitely one of the best Lives we've had this side of the pond! I'm glad it was such a success and I can't wait for the next one!
Bonus photo: my return flight flew right over Cedar Point!
Roadmap
First up this year was Carowinds! I hadn't been since one of the week long Live road trips in 2010. The park did not leave a good impression on me back then so I felt that there was no reason to return, even with the addition of Fury in 2015. But Copperhead Strike and Fury were the perfect reasons to hold a Live at the park. I ditched work a bit early, stopped at home to grab my bag, and headed to the airport. I was through security and at my gate in no time. The flight down to Charlotte was quick and painless (they actually got us there early), and @Snoo and @Error were pulling up to get me as I was walking out of the terminal. We checked into the hotel before heading to a hibachi restaurant with the Larsons, who would be attending the Live with us. Delicious!
We rendezvoused with the entire group just before opening at the Carowinds sign at the front entrance. In total, it was me, @Snoo, @Error, @Sky and her husband, the Larsons (father and son), @yawetag and his kids, @jay37415 and his family, my buddy Dan and his friend, Grace, and a father/daughter duo whose names are escaping me at the moment. This turned into the biggest US Live since 2012!
Afterburn - Hell of a way to start off the season for me. Afterburn is everything you could ever want from a B&M inverted coaster and then some. The drop is quick, every inversion is ultra intense, and the ride's trenches, tunnels, and ground hugging layout really make the coaster feel fast. Although Flight Deck in California is more intense somehow, Afterburn has much more substance. It's a highly underrated hidden gem that wasn't talked about hardly at all pre-Intimidator and is now overshadowed by Fury and Copperhead. Seriously - this ride rips.
Flying Cobras - Carowinds takes pretty good care of this ride and the new trains certainly help with rider comfort, but it's hard for me to look past the fact that it's a boomerang. It's one of the best of the bunch, but like @Hixee, I'm getting sick of riding these.
Carolina Goldrusher - I had no recollection of riding this during my last visit (although I knew I had the credit) so I was...intrigued at most. I was promptly reminded why I didn't remember - there's nothing noteworthy about the ride whatsoever.
(Fortunately, we were able to avoid slogging through all the creds and stuck to riding the good rides. I'm sure this report would sound more bleak like the last two rides had we ridden Corkscrew, Hurler, and a few of the other garbage creds this past weekend)
Fury - I was more excited about Fury than Copperhead, if I'm completely honest. After all, I've been hearing about how good this ride is for four years now and have gone as far as poking fun at the hyper-fanboys and their collection of Fury t-shirts. I always thought the ride looked great, but does it REALLY live up to the hype? Yes, it absolutely does. Fury is B&M at their best. I was completely blown away by the speed and strength present in every turn on the ride - even the helix towards the end which looks like a lull in the action. Many of the transitions contained a brief pop of airtime which added to the 90 mph rambunctiousness of the first half. Each hill had surprisingly strong airtime for a Beemer, including the nice bit of air at the top of the treble clef. I didn't buy a t-shirt, but the ride was fantastic.
Harmony Hall - At this time, we grabbed some lunch at Carowinds' version of the Festhaus. Some of us got a massive slice of pizza while others grabbed some BBQ. I got some brisket, which was pretty good for park food. Although the hall can seat a good number of people, we ate more or less at peak lunch time so it took a bit to get our food and grab a table. Harmony Hall is one of the numerous upgrades that the park has received since I last visited and it's surely an upgrade for the better.
Intimidator - Well...this ride has aged well. I'm not sure what the park has done with it (or Canada's Wonderland to Behemoth, for that matter), but Intimidator was running fantastically all weekend. I recall a ride crawling over hills with the new age B&M rattle and not providing much of an experience at all. Intimidator now rides like a discount Behemoth. The pacing has greatly improved and the hills provide some good floater that's familiar to this family of hyper coasters. This was such a welcome surprise as it seems like everybody's always viewed the ride as the red headed step child. Now if only we could get Kings Island to figure out what the other two parks did and fix Diamondback...
Wilderness Run - This was a cred that I did not consider trying to grab during this visit, but we had quite a few kids in our group so we figured we would try it out. Turns out, we didn't need to kidnap and this kiddie coaster is actually pretty fun! We almost stalled out on the first couple hills and the final bunny hops threw us around pretty good. Worth it!
Plants vs Zombies - at this point, inclement weather began to surround the park as we queued for Copperhead Strike and all rides shut down. We waited it out until we saw a thunderstorm approaching the park and headed for Plants vs Zombies. This ride was an interesting concept and a good way to kill 10 minutes. I initially had trouble identifying which blaster I was on but once I saw the ID number between my legs I was all set. Kinda fun!
Copperhead Strike - After grabbing a few rerides on neighboring rides, Copperhead opened back up and we finally got on. The best way to describe it is that it's excruciatingly fun. Neither launch is particularly intense, but the first one picks up towards the end of the launch and the second offers a unique bit of airtime. I was a bit apprehensive about all the hangtime moments but they were sequenced into the ride nicely and it wasn't overbearing. The airtime was surprisingly strong - it isn't Intamin intense but you're still thrown skyward over every hill. While I disagree with those who have said they prefer it to Maverick, I will say that it does have a bit more substance. Each ride is executed differently - Maverick takes the relentlessly intense route whereas Copperhead is a slightly slower paced toss you around but don't break you type of ride. Despite their similarities and differences, everybody was smiling and giggling during the duration of the ride: I cannot stress enough how fun it is.
Drop Tower - Our evening was winding down so we took a few more laps on our favorites and finished the night off on Drop Tower. It was a quick lift and a pretty good drop, but it's a bummer that it's such a short tower and got shoved in a strange corner of the park.
Dinner time! We stopped at Wing Stop and POUNDED some wings before heading back to the hotel and crashing the **** to sleep. We stopped at Waffle House for breakfast, per tradition, and spent much of Sunday marathoning Fury and grabbing a few more rides on Copperhead Strike. We did split up briefly such that various parts of our group could grab the last cred or two that they were missing. I headed to Vortex because I wanted a second opinion.
Vortex - This ride has a ton of potential for a conversion. I like the layout and the intensity present throughout the ride - that's something that the California variant was lacking. Unfortunately, the trains are old and rattly, and loading/unloading takes half a day per train. Converting it and giving it some TLC would solidify it as one of the better rides in the park.
At this point, it was time for the group to disband and start heading home, but I had a few more hours to kill before my flight left. We said our good byes and Dan and I took another lap on Fury before grabbing a beer at Harmony Hall (It was a Copperhead Strike IPA by Sycamore Brewing...pretty good!). For our final rides, Dan took a lap on Windseeker and I bravely trialed Nighthawk.
Nighthawk - Ok. Flying Dutchmen are not good, and Nighthawk is still the worst of the three. It's just not comfortable in the slightest and the ride's rattle shows its age. Please melt it down.
Overall Thoughts - I haven't had this much fun with a group of people at a park since @Hixee's visit last summer, and even then, this weekend might have won out. Avoiding the garbage creds certainly helped, but Carowinds has drastically improved from the shadow of its Paramount Park ownership. Fury and Copperhead bring an enormous amount of firepower to the park's lineup. The Camp Snoopy expansion, Blue Ridge Grove, Harmony Hall, Intimidator's improvements, and all the rest of the park's quality of life upgrades and additions have done wonders to the place where not only is the park worth visiting, but it's a desirable destination now. And of course, our group of attendees was a blast to ride with. It was so great to catch up with some old faces and meet a bunch of new ones too! I know I'm not the only one who left with a bunch of happy memories - it seemed like everyone had a fantastic time! Definitely one of the best Lives we've had this side of the pond! I'm glad it was such a success and I can't wait for the next one!
Bonus photo: my return flight flew right over Cedar Point!
Roadmap
- Cedar Point (multiple dates)
- CJ Barrymore's Fun Center (TBD)
- Bay Beach (5/24 if open to public)
- Kokomo's Family Fun Center (TBD)
- Kennywood (6/22 unless flexed)
- Kentucky Kingdom (7/20)
- Holiday World (7/21, October)
- Kings Island (7/22, September)
- Canada's Wonderland (TBD)
- Six Flags Great America (TBD)
- Six Flags over Texas (9/22)
- Sea World San Antonio (9/27)
- Six Flags Fiesta Texas (9/27)
- ZDT's (9/28)
- Kemah Boardwalk (9/28)
- Galveston Pier (9/28)
Last edited:
