Nighthawk • Carowinds

Nice surprise! Intensity Discomfort

Surprisingly fun when ridden in the right seat. (Front, middle two seats, every other seat is terrible)

Nice surprise! Location Layout Rattle Capacity Reliability

I'd only ever done this ride once roughly 6 years ago, and I went in expecting little. I was actually blown away by how much I liked it. Maybe it's the fact that it's the only flying coaster I've ever done, but Nighthawk is just a really enjoyable experience. Minus the corkscrews at the end it has a fantastic layout, and flying over the water is amazing. The rattle is intense, but with little to bang up against it actually didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. The two most obvious issues are its awful capacity and tendency to break; I've never been in queue for this thing without it going down, and this ride was the first time I've ever seen it operate a second train. Overall, Nighthawk is a very underrated coaster at Carowinds, but probably not worth the 90 minute average wait. 7.5/10 - why does the restraint have a nipple

Inversions Comfort Fun

Underrated gem. I did have a odd experience with the restraint. The lap bar wasn't snug and I had about 7 inches of room. On a RMC I would not be complaining but it was quite odd on a flying coaster. I needed to hold myself up because it was hard to rest on the restraint so I got very tired by the end. It definitely made it a memorable ride.

Nice surprise! Masterpiece Intensity Capacity

The most underrated coaster I've done to date. I can't understand how people don't consider this one of Carowinds's best. This is one of the most unique coasters I've ever been one. After going up the lift hill backwards, you flip over and truly take off on a journey. You fly, you soar, and you are disoriented to the point of not knowing where you are. This aspect makes it a joy to ride. Best part: the pretzel loop. Holy cow does that pull some forces. Just watch out at the end for the two corkscrews- it gets rattely at that part. This ride is superior to what most people label America's best flying coaster- Tatsu. Sorry B+M, but Vekoma has you beat.

Inversions Fun Layout Headbanging Harness Discomfort

This one is very hard to rate because I had two completely different rides that day. We were told to go straight to Nighthawk when the park opens because the lines can be brutal. It was still a bit chilly and cloudy that morning and we got a back-row ride. This was the ride that made it get a high score. I can't tell if it was because it was running slower in the morning or the back row made the difference but it was super smooth and the reverse loop got super intense at the end of the complete revolution. Then we rode it mid-afternoon when it was hot and got a third-row seat. This was the ride that was way worse than the morning. It was way more discomforting this time around with some headbanging and it felt like the restraints on this row were too loose and made us feel nervous. I still had great rides both times but I can easily see how this coaster can be so polarizing. I have to give it props for more effort in the layout compared to the boring twists that most flying coasters have throughout their entire run. It really put an effort to make this unpredictable and you never knew what forces to expect. 4/5 stars

Intensity Capacity Discomfort

This may be one of the more intense rides at Carowinds. There are plenty of cons though because of the painfully slow operations, this was by far the longest line at Carowinds. Some of the elements make your head shake all over the place. At some moments you have no choice but to look directly at the sun or to clench your eyes shut. Very interesting coaster.

Location Fun Intensity Rattle Capacity

Pretty underrated coaster overall. I’ve enjoyed this and the other Flying Dutchman I’ve ridden in firehawk but I found that these 2 coasters feel very different than each other. Nighthawk is rougher but still manageable, and the restraints were great on this one too. The positive G’s in the flying position weren’t as good on firehawk but I found the forces in the lying position to be better here, especially on the vertical loop. I also love the setting over the lake and the fresh color scheme. One bad thing about this ride though is the capacity, especially when they are only running one train like they were for me. Overall a coaster that gets way too much hate and is just a solid fun and intense ride if you can overlook the cons.

Location Fun Intensity Rattle Capacity Discomfort

Nighthawk is good coaster. It’s very shaky, I only rode it in the back. The corkscrews are horrendous, the capacity is atrocious, and the restraints are not comfortable. Moving on, the ride is a lot of fun, the loop is very forceful, and the setting is pretty. Then the flying position is downright freaky. Overall 6.5/10. One note I rode in the front and was pretty great.

Headbanging Discomfort

I had an extremely rough ride. The only wait in the park and extremely disappointing

Location Intensity Layout Discomfort

I prefer Batwing a fair amount to this but Nighthawk is still really great. The intensity and flying coaster airtime is super fun on this but the roughness in the back is pretty bad and the corkscrews are horrible.

Fun Intensity Discomfort

It's interesting to say the least. Fun ride but not very comfortable and on a hot day, you bake in line and on the ride.

Location Fun Intensity Capacity Reliability

So underrated in the enthusiast community, rode second to back row, no rattle (at least not very noticeable) just go immediately at open, terrible capacity and ops, give it Fury’s crew and lines will be short! ( Don’t actually tho cuz we need short Fury lines!)

Pace Fun Intensity Capacity Discomfort

This ride is criminally underrated. This ride has some of the most intense and disorienting maneuvers I've ever experienced. This was my first flying coaster, and I love that sensation. This is one of those rides, that feels like it's going to fall apart, but it just adds to craziness of the ride. That Vertical Loop is one of my all time favorite inversions. This is one of maybe 2 or 3 coasters where I was uncontrollably laughing by the end of the ride. The operations are abysmally slow, and sitting on your back on the brake run isn't exactly fun. My only real complaint is that the reride value isn't super high, but I can't deny how insane this ride is.

Inversions Intensity Rattle Capacity Reliability

I rode Nighthawk again this weekend, and....the rattle was absolutely unbearable. That combined with the whip through the back row, it really wasn't a great ride. Or even a good one.

Inversions Nice surprise! Intensity Discomfort

This is such a great and underrated ride. It feels very similar to batwing in the way that all the inverisons are very intense and awesome. I don't know why people hate this ride so much. I didn't find this ride to be rough at all and I found it to be nearly as intense as batwing. This ride does have the same flaw batwing does and it's that the break run is really akward but this ride is still awesome and it deserves more love

Inversions Location Intensity Capacity Discomfort

My favorite of the 3 Flying Dutchmen that were built. This is definitely a front row ride because all other rows are just not that great to be honest, except maybe the back if you want some whip and don't mind getting beat up a little.

Location Intensity Capacity Discomfort

One of the scariest and most disorienting coasters I've ridden and I have 53 credits under my belt. The feeling you get plunging into the water with all your body weight on the restraint is a strange feeling. It flips you around a lot and half the time you don't even know what is going on. Nighthawk is definitely not for everyone, but it's a very unique experience. My only complaints are that sometimes the restraints were a bit uncomfortable, and the dispatch times are notoriously bad.

Nice surprise! Location Pace Capacity

I finds myself liking these Vekoma flyers...they're weird, they have interesting forces, they aren't uncomfortable...certainly not comfortable either. I dunno, I'm glad Nighthawk and Batwing are still around and it looked like they plan on keeping it around for the long haul as the old Firehawk trains were sitting at Carowinds (maybe just for parts, but still a good sign). It's a beautiful ride, seems well-maintained and has great location and signage. I was actually impressed with the ops when I rode it as well, they were moving the trains out pretty fast. It's not great but its definitely one I hope stays around along with Batwing at SFA (which I prefer by just a hair).

Headbanging Capacity Discomfort

No

Intensity Layout Rattle Capacity Discomfort

Nighthawk to me is a bad but necessary coaster at carowinds. What i mean by this is it makes sense why its there and it has many reasons that it is bad, but also some reasons that it is good. While i dislike it i can see why someone could like it, the ride has intensity and a solid layout that really helps keep this coaster from being my least favorite of all time. I think the nausea factor was what bothered me the most, and add the discomfort and you get an unhappy guest in my experiance. That all being said I encourage you to ride this ride and form your own opinion on it as everyone in your group may think differently about it.

Nice surprise! Comfort Rattle Capacity

Nighthawk was far better than I was expecting. Nighthawk isn't the best coaster ever, but it's a pretty solid depth coaster. I rode in the back row and felt a small rattle being absorbed by the seat pretty well. The seat was actually fairly comfortable. The vertical loop was outstanding. Nighthawk does suffer from long lines though, so be sure to hit it up early.

Inversions Discomfort

なんとなくずっと辛いです。

Nice surprise! Pace Fun Capacity

An astounding surprise. Back row, middle seat, and it didn't feel rough in the slightest. Fantastic layout and stunts. I had a one-in-a-million night ride on this thing and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

First Drop Location Intensity Inversions Discomfort

Fun, but I wouldn't ride it again.

Inversions Nice surprise! Location Rattle Harness

The first Flying Dutchman, and first real flying coaster, Nighthawk is far better than most people say it is. While the restraints are indeed pretty awkward and the track rattles like hell, there's still a lot to love about this revolutionary flying coaster. The layout flies predominantly low, skimming the pond that it's situated over; the layout also squeezes in a healthy amount of inversions, along with an intense vertical loop that almost feels like a pretzel loop on a B&M flyer on about the last third or so of the loop (especially in the back). Another element that really stuck out to me was the corkscrew towards the end, which was really unique and interesting in a flying position. With all of its faults, this classic still has a lot to give even today; here's to hoping that this example of this very rare model sticks around for years to come.

Location Capacity Harness Discomfort

The only good thing about this coaster is the needlessly gorgeous landscape, and its status as the first proper flying coaster. The line moves slow, the loading is slow, the capacity sucks, and it's the most uncomfortable I've ever been on a coaster. Crappy ride.

Harness Discomfort

The Vekoma Flying Dutchmen are... ok. I'm not a fan of the flying position overall, the restraint system of the Vekomas causes long loading/unloading times and they all lack the Pretzel loop (which is the only thing a flying coaster is worth for).

Intensity Discomfort

Intensity Rattle Discomfort Lap Bar

Headbanging Capacity

Inversions Nice surprise! Intensity Capacity Discomfort

Intensity Discomfort

Location

Inversions Location Intensity Capacity Discomfort

Location Pace Intensity Capacity

Capacity Discomfort

Headbanging Capacity Discomfort

Fun Capacity Discomfort

Nice surprise! Capacity

Fun Capacity