We visited Carowinds on June 17, the only theme park that is actually in two states, with many rides crossing the border between North Carolina and South Carolina. It prides itself as being "Where the Carolinas come together!" for the rides and shows. Here's our review of the day:
Fury 325 has instantly become one of our all time favorite roller coasters, a gargantuan ride that is the tallest and fastest giga coaster in the world and the fifth tallest overall. It reaches a top speed of 95mph, and despite not featuring any inversions this ultra smooth ride is a truly exhilarating experience. The huge swooping curves, hills and dives are so stunning to look at and really incredible to ride.
Intimidator is one of the world's best roller coasters, delivering an airtime filled ride and it's themed nicely with a NASCAR look and feel. However, with the recent addition of Fury 325 it is essentially a smaller, slower and shorter version albeit with more camelbacks. At another park this could be the star attraction and deservedly so, but at Carowinds it is overshadowed by the similar and better Fury 325.
Afterburn was a surprise hit, on paper it's just another inverted B&M roller coaster with an unremarkable specification, but we loved this ride. The theming is done really well, with a huge jet plane among the track and an aircraft hanger for a station. It's an intense ride with some great low to the ground moments and a tight tunnel.
Nighthawk is pretty much the same ride as Firehawk at Kings Island, the flying coaster that we rode last week. However, at Carowinds it has an attractive setting, set among trees and over two lakes which adds to the experience and so gives it the edge.
The new Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena is a brilliant interactive 4D attraction based on the popular game. It is well themed inside and outside. Players join either plants or zombies teams and battle each other in a live game on seats that move in sync with the action on the screen. It's easy to play, the graphics are good, and points are awarded to individual players and teams then displayed on screens during the game and on scoreboards after.
For some lovely views across the theme park and the two states that it straddles, we took to the skies on the 262ft Carolina Skytower rotating observation deck and the wonderful 301ft WindSeeker thrill ride, not to be missed.
Carowinds isn't on the coast, so they've brought the coast to Carowinds, with the water park Carolina Harbor. It's included in general admission and following a major expansion looks really fresh, most of the areas and slides are either completely new or as good as new.
Not all of the rides at Carowinds at up to the same high standards. The standup coaster Vortex is terrible, it's not very tall, long or fast and is uncomfortable to ride. After being quite disappointed with Boo Blasters on Boo Hill at Kings Island we gave it another go here, but it has the same poor sets, broken targets and dodgy laser blasters. There are also plenty of carnival type rides and rickety old roller coasters best avoided.
The park was surprisingly quiet so we had minimal or no queues for all of
the rides, allowing us time to re-ride the best. The
staff were some of the friendliest and most efficient so far and the park was very clean and tidy. Although there is very little in the way of area theming, a few of the rides are done quite nicely. There are also a selection of live shows on offer.
