Carowinds announces Fury 325
Posted
[Ed. note: The following is an excerpt of a press release. -J]
For more than 40 years, Carowinds has been the place where the Carolinas come together. It’s where the Tar Heel State and the Palmetto State meet. It’s 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 world’s 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 park’s 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 Hall’s 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 state–of–the–art 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 32–passenger open air trains and begin their ascent to the top of a 325–foot (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. “It’s 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 can’t 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.
Visit the electronic news release.
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Jeff said:
I totally see "furry" every time. And no, I'm not into furries.
I know excactly what you mean! I was thinking Furry 325 soon after I heard of the new Trademark. So I will never be hearing the end of it if you know what I mean. I want to go back to Carowinds but it's costs an arm and leg to fly there to Charlotte from Kansas City. I guess I have to settle on Pittsburgh July 7th-13th, 2015. I have to somehow get money and time to go to Charlotte next year.
Chris Knight
Yet another awfully enticing coaster for 2015!
The approach to the park entrance, with Fury passing above and below guests as they walk, looks very well done. I'm curious to see if Cedar Fair will incorporate coasters with park entrances at any other of its parks.
I've been doing research on an article about Geauga Lake, and when Big Dipper opened in the 20s (then known as Skyrocket), guests entered through the coaster structure. The more things change, the more they stay the same...
Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep.
--Fran Lebowitz
sirloindude said:
Yes, but this is only the 3rd one that matters. ;)
Actually, I kind of enjoyed my last lap on Vortex.
The Vortices are actually a big reason that I want to make it out to both Carowinds and CGA.
The trick was to surrender to the flow.
Just for the record, the Leviathan trains at CW are also 4 seats straight across. Only the B&M hypers since Behemoth have the staggered seating trains.
LostKause said:
Are there any other insect themed coasters? I know of The Fly at Canada's Wonderland. That's all I know of.
Sarge27 already mentioned Mantis (the most obvious one), but there's also Spider at Lagoon, and a modicum of other bug-themed coasters.
Tommytheduck said:
And this is precisely why I like Millennium Force so much. I never understood the hate for MF. In fact some of the start/stop/start of older B+M's (Apollo leaps to mind) can actually make me slightly nauseous on a bad day.
I totally agree, Tommy. I almost made the same comment about Millennium, but I really didn't think I needed to defend it. And yes, I too can get nauseous from too many ups and downs. During last year's BeastBuzz I took three laps on Diamondback before the Beast ERT started and it wiped me out. I love the ride, but it's not quite as...marathonable...as something like MF.
Chris Baker
www.linkedin.com/in/chrisabaker
You have to wonder what the management at ole' Intamin has to be thinking right now. B&M has basically chopped them off at the knees at this point. What was probably their best model (Giga) has now been eclipsed as well.
Intamin would be a good case study on what happens when arrogance takes over at every level of an organization.
In happier news, this ride looks absolutely amazing. Like MF it has that feeling of "going somewhere" than I-305 is missing. The layout is absolutely perfect.
None of those things matter... if Intamin is suffering it's because of the lack of reliability and various accident involving their rides. The competition is the least of their worries.
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
LostKause said:
Looks like my dream coaster! I'll be paying a visit to Carowinds early in the season next year for sure!
Start booking your trip now!
Hobbes: "What's the point of attaching a number to everything you do?"
Calvin: "If your numbers go up, it means you're having more fun."
Jeff said:
None of those things matter... if Intamin is suffering it's because of the lack of reliability and various accident involving their rides. The competition is the least of their worries.
Respectfully disagree. The competition never stopped moving when Intamin became increasingly arrogant. Once the arrogance crept in the reliability and safety worries started appearing. The competition has to be part of their worries since there are a half-dozen competitors who were hungry to jump at the opportunity.
VetteElite said:
[The competition never stopped moving when Intamin became increasingly arrogant. Once the arrogance crept in the reliability and safety worries started appearing.
Uh, perceived arrogance? Or was their PR guy actually a dick or something
Also Re: multiple comments regarding B&M hypers being ONLY airtime hills - the only other B&M giga only has two (Leviathan). Fury is more like an extended version of that ride... with a brake run which is like 60 ft closer to the earth.
Let's not over-estimate the size of the industry here. There are so few players and so few customers. It's an awful business to get into in terms of actually creating attractions, especially roller coasters. Intamin sold a lot of rides because they were a little cheaper, and that made the reliability issues just tolerable enough. It's been that way for almost 15 years now.
I can tell you from very candid conversations with execs and park owners that any distaste for Intamin is not rooted in competition, it's rooted in reputation, reliability and safety, and even working with the company and especially its US rep.
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Vater said:
LostKause said:
Are there any other insect themed coasters? I know of The Fly at Canada's Wonderland. That's all I know of.
Sarge27 already mentioned Mantis (the most obvious one), but there's also Spider at Lagoon, and a modicum of other bug-themed coasters.
Not to mention Ant Farm Express, and a couple dozen Caterpillar rides... http://rcdb.com/qs.htm?qs=caterpillar
ApolloAndy said:
Start booking your trip now!
NO thank you. I'll wait until it's open. lol
Although, I'll bet it's open by opening day, with no hitches. I do not foresee "the weather" keeping this coaster from opening until halfway through next season.
Judging by Banshee's opening, due to crowds, I'd advise people to stay away on opening day, if it can be helped. The day after opening day may be tolerable, from my observations of past new coasters, however, each park is different, and I could be wrong.
-Travis
www.youtube.com/TSVisits
Jeff, BuzzBuzz needs to happen next year! There won't be enough ERT for me on this thing.
This has me far more excited than Intimidator, and it's a solid coaster.
From what I understand Jeff read the name of the ride too fast, because he's been trying to setup FurryBuzz for next year.
Or so I heard...
~Rob
I think it's a great addition for Carowinds, and looks like it will be a great ride. I have already told some friends in NC to expect a visit from me next summer.
One question, and maybe I missed this, but is the ride using a traditional chain lift? It appears to be in the video, and I thought someone (maybe it was Dave) posted something about why MF should be using (and does) a cable lift, because the weight of the chain would require some huge horsepower motor to just keep the lift running, let alone lift a train up it.
Just wondering.
I presume it will use a chain lift like Leviathan. I admit to being surprised by that, but sure enough, it's a chain.
13 Boomerang, 9 SLC, and 8 B-TR clones
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