Fury325

[Robert]

Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).

Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

[westernpa...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:
> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

I watched a reverse POV and it looks really good.

[dr. m]

I thought the layout looked pretty solid. I look forward to hearing more thoughts on it.

Have you also ridden Leviathan and if so, how do they compare?

[Thom25]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:

> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

I couldn't agree more. Fury 325 is superb and I personally think it kicked MF's butt. After 15 years, it's time for a new Giga in town and boy does it deliver. The head chopper was quite the surprise, along with the airtime on the turnaround (who knew).

With all that said, I think the two new RMC's are going to give it a run for it's money, but time will tell.

[skiguy777]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:

> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

That's nice to hear there's some air time in the turns. I'd like to see a massive floater hill after the 1st drop but it seems they were more interested in turns like a race car. There's 2 floater hills and one leading to the brake run, but they're near the end of the ride.

Of coarse everyone who rides this will say it craps all over MF. That's what they said about I-305, but I stuck MF and the polls proved it.

Fury325
http://rcdb.com/12273.htm
MF
http://rcdb.com/594.htm

Statistically, Fury325 has the edge. But to me, it's going to depend on the floater hills and that first drop in the back seat.

[Robert]

Rode Leviathan which felt unfinished (especially ending so high up in the air). This is much more of a full experience with pacing. And if you need a floater hill right after the lift go ride Intimidator on the other side of the park. There are some very solid and separate experiences knitted together nicely on Fury325. A full package that is not repetitive of anything else out there.

Fury is a great ride, solid and surprising. It is unique in and of itself. I find it amusing to read comments pro and con from people who haven't yet enjoyed it.

But, you won't know until you ride it.

[skiguy777]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:

> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

Good point about riding Intimidator for the floater hills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOGUZmW8atI

The reason why I'm speculating is I don't have plans to ride this until later in the year when the crowds are less.

The other thing to mention, is if this ride "craps all over MF" then that would make it the #1 ride in all the land. Whether you agree or not, MF is #1 right now, flipping back and forth with Bizarro the last few years in the GTAs.

MF
http://rcdb.com/594.htm
Bizarro
http://rcdb.com/628.htm

Golden Ticket Awards are here.
http://www.goldenticketawards.com/top-10-steel-roller-coasters-of-2014/
Mitch's poll flips all of this, has an RMC coaster at the top in the USA (NTG), Bizarro at #4, and MF way down at #14.
http://www.ushsho.com/steelrollercoasterpollresults2013.htm

So to all the people saying Fury 325 is better than MF, and it's about time something else came along, that would vault this into the #1 spot (GTAs), unless you consider the RMC coasters as better rides, or want to give the #1 spot back to Bizarro at SFNE.

I'm looking into the future at the coaster polls as where Fury 325 will slot in the polls. If it gives a better experience than MF, then it becomes #1 in the GTAs and then people who don't agree can vote in Mitch's poll.

That's why I'm speculating from watching the YouTube video, to see if this ride is going to beat MF and become #1 in the GTAs and my bucket list. It will have to blow me away to do that, plus I factor the other rides at the park for the entire experience of this ride how it fits in.

[David H.--REMOVE "STOPSPAM" to reply]

MF only wins in the GTA's because more of the voters have ridden it than
any other top steel coaster in the poll, because Cedar Point is the coaster
capital of the world.

And a hell of a lot of people who haven't ridden many coasters have it as
#1.

In Mitch's poll, which only compares coasters that people have actually
ridden, it ranks at #14.

It's not just that people don't agree, it's that it gets more overall
votes because it has more overall riders.

If someone is enough of a coaster fan to be on the GTA panel, they HAVE
been to Cedar Point, and they HAVE ridden MF. That's not necessarily true
for say Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City, no matter how great it may be.
So, if twice as many of those who have actually ridden a coaster at a
different park rank it as #1 than those who have ridden MF, MF is still
going to win, because it will get more overall points.

On my steel list, MF is #94.


"With the first link, a chain is forged. The first speech censured,
the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us
all irrevocably." -Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
"The Drumhead", _Star Trek: The Next Generation_

[ansley]

Simply put, you're wrong about MF! It is no where near the #1 coaster... Look to Mitch's poll for more accurate ranking of coasters. Granted, I'm a bit skeptical about the 2 new B&M Gigas, I have not been Leviathan or Fury325. Based on B&M Hypers I suspect I'll rank them a bit lower than their Intamin counterparts. However, I do like B&M Hypers and I rank some of the higher than many of my cohorts, so I suspect I'll like Fury325 a lot, will it make into the top 5, not sure... I'll let you know after I ride it!

FYI, most popular != (not equal) best!

Ted

[Thom25]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:

> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

Perfect summary !!

I personally don't pay much attention to polls since they are so subjective, but when I compare just Gigas, imho Fury delivers a more complete ride experience as mentioned above compared to MF.

[skiguy777]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:

> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

That's why I make a bucket list instead. Interesting comparing the two polls. If we compare USA coasters only, then Mitch's poll says that I-305 "craps all over MF." His poll as NTG at the top, then an Intamin party.

While you may not agree with either poll, they do have relevance as they are in the Wiki of some coasters. Scroll down and both polls are mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intimidator_305

GTA USA coasters (2014)
1. MF
2. Bizarro
4. Diamond Back
5. Nitro
7. AC
8. NTG
9. Goliath
10. Intimidator (Carowinds)

Mitch's USA (2013) (where's the 2014 poll?)
2. NTG
4. Bizarro
5. Skyrush
6. Maverick
10. IR (SFFT)
14. MF

Robert Viands Bucket List (USA)
1. MF
2. NTG
3. Bizarro
4. Diamond Back
5. I-305
6. Alpengeist
7. Maverick
8. Dominator
9. Sky Rush
10. Phantom's Revenge

In my poll, I try to have a mix. Fury 325 will probably replace Diamond Back once I ride it. DB will move down to where Dominator is, and Dominator will drop off my top 10. I-305 is great but the ride is short, the complete experience people are talking about is missing. On MF and Fury 325, you get a full ride. Once the new RMC coasters come online this year, then it will be a question of whether the poll becomes an Intamin / RMC party with Fury 325 being the only B&M in the top 10. That's why doing a top 10 is very difficult, so many good coasters to slot.

[skiguy777]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:

> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

Actually, I may try to go sooner, like in April. I was watching the web cam this weekend. They are running 3 trains, and they seem to be hitting the marks in terms of dispatching.

Click on Live Stream
https://www.carowinds.com/online-fun/webcams

Charlotte grade school is in session for the months of April and May. They don't get out of school until June 5th.

School Calendar is here.
http://www.yourcharlotteschools.net/documents/schools/2014-15SchoolCalendar.pdf?t=1427639352321

There could still be a crowd, but going mid week in the middle of April or May would at least avoid the local school kids and the parents who are working in the Charlotte area.

This is why CF gets it, they know opening the new coaster early matters.

[surfd...@aol.com]

They open weekdays then, if school is in session?

[thekma...@gmail.com]

skiguy777 wrote: "Charlotte grade school is in

session for the months of April and May. They
don't get out of school until June 5th. "

June FIFTH? Soo late!

Up here in liberal pro-education New England
the public schools don't get out until the third
week of June.

[skiguy777]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:

> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

What we need now are some crowd reports and the wait times for Fury 325. I don't think it's going to be a problem. B&M rides have a high capacity. Was not a problem with Banshee, or Gate Keeper. I'm going to guess the crowds will be similar to when Diamond Back opened at KI.

RCDB lists the capacity of Fury 325 at 1470 PPH, while the capacity of MF is 1300.

We could watch the web cam, see how many trains dispatch in a 10 or 15 minute period, then do the math figuring 2 seats are empty on each train.

I just get there early before the crowd shows up, or stay late as the tired are leaving and the park is about to close.

It doesn't look like CF has added wait times to their phone apps. This kinda sucks because knowing the wait times before visiting lets people plan their attack. It also lets them know what rides to visit while in the park. Hershey, Busch, and Disney get it, they have apps people can use while in the park to check wait times. CF is losing out on an opportunity to get people to use their app while waiting in line (run banner ads), instead of texting friends.

Hello CF, add wait times to your phone apps and web page. Otherwise I have no reason to use them. Look at all the people waiting in line screwing with their phones. They're not using your app, they're surfing other web pages and texting their friends pictures.

[William December Starr]

In article <2559f897-d6e5-408d...@googlegroups.com>,

Up here in liberal pro-education New England they
probably have a few more snow days to make up for.

-- wds

[Robert]

North Carolina passed a state law about when school can start. "Start date no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and end date no later than the Friday closest to June 11 (unless a weather related calendar waiver has been approved, year-round school, charter school or cooperative innovative high school.) If waiver is approved the start date can be no earlier than the Monday closest to August 19."

Thus, unlike the rest of the South (or so it seems) the kids have most of August to enjoy or work while all the surrounding states start up school the 1st or 2nd week of August. But they also go to school in June while everyone else is out by Memorial Day.

[surfd...@aol.com]

In New York, school starts the Tuesday or Wednesday after Labor Day, and end the last Friday in June. Basically all of July and August are off limits for school. This is especially frustrating to plan trips to parks around the country as many of them stop daily operation in early August. Meanwhile, parks in the NY area including Sox a Flags Great Adventure are most busy in late August (something we liked to term "guilt week" where I used to work). The last week before Labor Day was our busiest week of the year in the park.

[thekma...@gmail.com]

Robert, Surfdance:


A couple of things you both mentioned in your latest posts that really stick out:


First of all, why the F are these F-ing southern states starting school mid-August?!
And that idiotic trend is spreading north by the way. The mid-August average
temperature is 20F warmer than that for even LATE June! Are they nuts??


That trend explains why so many chain parks are reducing weekday hours(or
weekdays altogether) starting in mid August instead of September. Start
school the DAY AFTER LABOR DAY the way it's been for the last 70 or more
years - stop trying to fix what ain't broken!


This frickn' 21st century....

[surfd...@aol.com]

I have no idea. Growing up where summer was all of July and August, then moving to Florida as an adult and realizing school starts here mid August or earlier (one year it started on July 31st!), was certainly a culture shock.

[Edwardo]

Thank your teachers unions. I'm not anti Union but they keep
Pushing. What we should be doing is paying teachers fairly and weeding out bad teachers, while overhauling curriculums to modern standards. Making kids go longer is not the answer.

Also, get rid of standardized tests and focus on strengthening what kids are good at, while making sure they have the basics on everything else.

[thekma...@gmail.com]

Edwardo:


Based on dates mentioned here, It seems like school year is
just getting pushed up earlier and earlier, not longer in duration.


Sept>June just made sense because it kept most of the school
year in months where air-cond. wasn't necessary. Now that most schools
have had AC retrofitted, or built as new with it, that limitation has
been lifted. Might even see school begin in July and end in April.

:-o !

[Robert]

Originally school was scheduled to allow the farm families to work together to bring in the harvest.

Now, it's all about getting finals done before Christmas, which pushes the start of school up into August (and EARLY August around here - the second week of August was dead to our seasonal business).

Plus, there are all these week long breaks; Thanksgiving, Fall, Winter, Spring, not to mention 2+ weeks around Christmas.

I think NC forcing the schools to not allow calendar creep was a good thing in that seasonal activities (and summer jobs) can remain into Labor Day.

[myselfalso]

The most logical thing to do would be to have northern schools start their school year in mid-March and end right before Christmas, instead of having school during the winter, when the roads are potentially most dangerous. This would reduce the number of snow days because you're removing the most likely snow and ice times out of the schedule.

Of course, amusement parks would logically least benefit from this, because you're taking the summer almost completely away from potential vacation time. (The long Christmas-New Year break would happen over the Fourth of July in this flipped schedule.) I can't blame them for opposing such a school schedule for the sake of their businesses.

The system is and has been broken because we selfishly send kids to school in the winter so we can have our precious vacations over the summertime. Why don't we put education first, instead of second? That's the problem with the "frickn' 21st Century," we think something isn't broken because it's convenient.

[thekma...@gmail.com]

Alright, here is a typical CT school year from back in good ol'
1985:

Day after Labor Day(Sept): 1st Day of school.
Columbus Day & Veterans, no achool.
Thanksgiving Day and day after it: no school.

Christmas recess: half day on Dec 23rd, back to
school day after New Years or Monday immediately
past New Years.

Winter Recess: Feb.

Spring Recess: Apr.

Good Friday: I do not remember if we got this off or half day.

Memorial Day: No school.

Last Day of School: during third week of June.

Worked for us since time out of mind, end of story.

We had no full weeks off between Labor Day & Christmas Eve.

[skiguy777]

Florida passed a law to stop Calendar Creep as it's being called. As mentioned up above, it has to do with teacher unions, and wanting to get done before the holidays to keep full calendar quarters.

CP used to be open full time for a couple weeks in September, but they cut back to weekend hours only after the holiday Sept 7th. That's the one that always gets me looking at the CP web cams. The best weather of the year, sunny skies, and the park is closed during the week. Auuuugh. Not enough people show up because the kids are back in school. Meanwhile, try to visit CP in May or June and it rains every morning and there's muffle bugs.

So everyone will say, "Just visit on the weekend in September." The problem there is visiting multiple parks can be difficult if all the parks are only operating weekend hours. Can usually visit 2 parks in an area, but if you want to visit 3 or more, it's tough.

The only good news about visiting a Six Flags park at the end of the year, is they run the special where you buy a single day ticket and get next year. This usually happens after Labor Day. This could be good for when Wicked Cyclone opens at SFNE and you also want to visit Lake Compounce.

[skiguy777]

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 2:28:12 PM UTC-4, Robert wrote:
> Loved it. Great first drop. Outward climbing/diving s-turns with nice surprises of airtime. Climb up through a treble-cleft maneuver that ends with a drop into the tunnel. Great airtime hill (tops of the thighs pressing into the bottom of the pad). A helix that has a strategically placed huge pole. A couple of mover great airtime hills and back into the "hive" (i.e. station).
>
> Thanks Carowinds for a fantastic event yesterday and giving birth to #FuryFever in 2015.

Rode it on Sunday 05/03/15. A back seat ride, then a front seat ride later on.

Cliff Notes: Does it crap all over MF? No. Top 5? Yes. Takes the place of the top B&M Hyper/Giga in my poll, which is the 4th slot. Used to be Diamond Back at KI, now it's Fury325. It can't beat MF, otherwise it would be #1 in the USA. I thought about it hard, does this beat MF? No. Is it top 5? Yes.

USA Top 10 Steel
Millennium Force (CP)
New Texas Giant (SFoT)
Bizarro (SFNE)
Fury325 (Carowinds)
Intimidator 305 (KD)
Alpengeist (BGE)
Maverick (CP)
Dominator (KD)
Sky Rush (Hershey)
Phantom's Revenge (KW)

Went in after 4pm, bought the ticket at the gate for $29.99. If you buy online, they charge a $6 processing fee, at the gate they don't. There were cheerleader groups attending, they had their school uniforms on, and their faces painted.

Went straight to Fury and right as I was about to get in line, it stopped at the bottom of the lift hill. They wouldn't let anyone into the line, so I started walking to Intimidator and then Fury325 started running again. They cycled 3 empty trains, then let rides on again. Wait times were between 30-45 minutes. The queue has a main area before steps leading up to the station. There's an overflow area, or a 2nd queue area that goes farther down the ride. If they are using this area, then the wait is 30-45 minutes. Later on that night, they were only using the 1st area and the wait was about 20 minutes. There is no wait board at the entrance, you'll have to ask the guards how long the wait is. The line moves fast.

You can not pick your seat, but you can ask if a row is available if they are trying to fill in seats. They even state this on the announcements, no picking seats. They don't let the station fill up, only the riders on the next rides, like Millennium Force. This is both good and bad. Good for people buying Fast Lane, they have practically no wait because no one is filling up the platform. Bad in that some seats still go empty if the guard is distracted and can't fill the platform in time. You may say how can that happen? Well Fury325 loads very quickly once the train stops in the station. Lets pretend you are a single (me), and there are only 3 people in the front seat. You can ask for the front row, but then you'll have to quickly walk there, because once the people walk on the train, the gate closes behind them. They count down the seconds until the gates close and people need to be in the train.

My first ride was in the back, waiting about 30 minutes even after the ride had stopped. My 2nd ride was in the front, waited about 20 minutes.

How was the ride? The first drop was like MF, threw my hands up in the air. Only difference was going over the top hill, the coaster is going slower than MF. The 1st half of the ride is fast, twisting turns. Some air time going down each hill, even if the coaster is turning instead of going over floater hills. The coasters goes into the "Treble Clef" to turn around, goes underground, and then we get 3 floater hills. There is a trim brake going up the 1st floater hill. I was in the back thinking "Here we go, the floater hill like MF" and then we hit a trim brake. In the back seat you feel it, in the front seat, the coaster is already at the hill and you get some ejector air as you float over the hill. A Helix, two more floater hills, and you reach the brake run. Both the front and back are worth the ride.

There is no way to get an exit re-ride, there's no cubby bins on the exit side. You must put everything into a locker. So if you want to ride it a bunch of times, Fast Lane will be worth the money. Otherwise, you'll get 2-3 rides waiting 20-30 minutes each. I'm sure that wait time will go up in the summer. I'd say that waiting for this ride is similar to Gate Keeper at Cedar Point, or Banshee at Kings Island.

Intimidator is the floater hill machine. There also was a guard who only let enough people onto the platform for 1 ride group. Good for Fast Lane. They also did this on Afterburn. Wait time for each was about 15 minutes. I had my cell phone is a velcro front pocket, worked great, didn't lose anything.