Fury 325

Fury 325 is a steel roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Fury 325 opened to the public on March 28, 2015. It features a track that reaches a maximum height of , making it the fifth-tallest roller coaster in the world and the tallest overall among roller coasters that use a traditional . Riders experience speeds of up to , winding through high-speed curves and passing over and under the park's main entrance. Fury 325 was voted the world's best steel coaster in ''Amusement Today''s Golden Ticket Awards for four consecutive years between 2016 and 2019.

History

In September 2012, the Charlotte City Council discussed plans for a proposed roller coaster in one of its meetings and it was revealed the ride would cost approximately $30 million. In a closed-session meeting, it was mentioned that the roller coaster would stand higher than the park's Intimidator roller coaster which stands at , meaning the new coaster would be high. On October 18, January 23, 2014, and June 9, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, the owners of Carowinds, filed trademark applications for the names ''Centurion'', ''Fury'', and ''Fury 325''. In February, the ''Centurion'' trademark was suspended after another trademark application using the same name was found by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In July, the blueprints for Fury 325 were leaked showing the exact layout of the roller coaster. At the beginning of August, the park sent a beekeeper to deliver a partially burnt bug net with a card saying, "you're gonna need a much bigger net to capture the thrills of the 2015 Carowinds season", to several media outlets in the Charlotte area. On August 12, a microsite on Carowinds' website was found advertising a new ride called Centurion. A similar hoax was conducted by Kings Island leading up to the announcement of Banshee in 2013.

Carowinds officially announced Fury 325 on August 22, 2014, at an event held at the park's Harmony Hall Marketplace. The first piece of track was installed on September 29, 2014. Within the week, the structure for the storage track was erected. By October 22, the majority of the brake run was complete; two days later the final pieces for the section were put into place. By October 26, the base of the lift hill was installed. On December 4, the lift hill and first drop were completed. On January 30, 2015, the final piece of Fury 325's track was put in place. Fury 325 completed its first test run on March 4, 2015. On March 25, 2015, Carowinds held the coaster's media day.

Ride experience

Once the train is loaded and secured, it dispatches from the station and immediately passes over the transfer track. Afterwards, the train climbs the chain lift hill. The humming sound of a hornet is played twice on the lift hill, the first after it begins its ascent and the second after a voice reiterates directions to the riders. Once at the top, the train drops toward the ground at an 81-degree angle reaching a maximum speed of approximately . Following the drop, the train enters a high barrel turn. It then travels through a high speed s-curve, making its way to the park's north entrance. Passing over the entrance, the train makes a banked turn to the left leading into a high horseshoe. At the top of the horseshoe, the train hits a 91-degree angle before dropping toward the ground and under the entrance pathway. It then enters a second banked turn to the left, reaching a height of . Following a straight section of track, the train goes over a camelback hill and makes a near-180-degree turn. It then enters a second camelback hill, followed by a left turn into a third camelback hill that ends with the final brake run. The train makes a 180-degree turn as it returns to the station. According to Carowinds, the total ride time is three minutes and 25 seconds.

Characteristics

Track

The steel track of Fury 325 is long and the lift is high. Due to the ride's height and proximity to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the park had to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to build the attraction. The track is mostly teal with a lime-green bottom, while the supports are white. A total of of paint was used and the total weight of the track is approximately . The roller coaster occupies approximately of land.

Trains

Fury 325 operates with three open-air, steel and fiberglass trains, each containing eight cars. Each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train. Every seat has its own lap bar restraint and seat belt. This configuration of trains gives the roller coaster a theoretical capacity of 1,470 riders per hour.

Theme

The roller coaster is themed after a hornet: riders chase their target at high speeds, similar to a hornet. The inspiration came from the American Revolution when Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion". Despite the teal color of the track matching the teal of the Charlotte Hornets logo, Carowinds did not say if the NBA team had any influence on the final color scheme of the ride. The team's original name had been restored from "Charlotte Bobcats" for the 2014–15 NBA season.

Records

Fury 325 set new records and came close to breaking others when it opened in 2015. It became the world's tallest giga coaster – a roller coaster that exceeds in height – surpassing Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land by . Its maximum speed of ties it with Steel Dragon 2000 for being the fastest among roller coasters with a traditional lift hill. , Fury 325 is the seventh fastest, fifth tallest, and fourth longest roller coaster in the world. In North American rankings, the roller coaster is the tallest, fastest, and longest among non-launched, steel roller coasters.

Fury 325 is also the tallest to be built by Bolliger & Mabillard, following on the heels of the company's first giga coaster, Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, which opened in 2012. Leviathan reaches a maximum height of .

Reception

Initial reception following the announcement of the ride was positive. Chip Sieczko, a representative from American Coaster Enthusiasts, said, "This is not a Carolina story, this is not a national story. This is an international deal. It's going to be insane."
Arthur Levine from About.com stated that the roller coaster will make an impression at the front of the park.

Awards

Fury 325 claimed the Best New Ride of 2015 from the 2015 Golden Ticket Awards (GTA), ranking fourth overall among steel coasters. It was voted the best overall steel roller coaster in the same awards publication the following year, and has retained the top position ever since.

References

External links

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{{Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride

Carowinds
Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair
2015 establishments in the United States
Best New Ride winners
Hypercoasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard