Coaster reviews

First Drop Capacity Pace Theming

Man, B&M knocked it clean out of the park on this one. The single best B&M I've ever ridden. Bar none. The rides I got in 2018 still make a very strong case for the most joy-filled coaster experience I've ever had. If the view of the train flying overhead as we walked into Carowinds's entrance plaza wasn't enough to show that this coaster would be different from other B&M hypers/gigas, then the first few rides definitely hammered in that nail the rest of the way. From the first ride I was floored instantly. The way this thing focuses on a sense of speed and strong forces with low to the ground elements and quick transitions while still delivering great airtime moments, where most other hyper model B&Ms mostly just stick with airtime, sets it apart in the best way. It's perfectly executed while still being completely reridable. There's barely any theming to speak of but the queue line and entrance plaza are stylised nicely enough and the ride experience more than makes up for any need for theming. Night rides are what sealed it as my #1 for a year. I still have yet to get some of the most storied night rides out there (Voyage, Outlaw Run etc) but Fury is truly among the best night time coaster experiences I've ever had, if not the best. A word has to be said about the operations on this thing also. In 2018 it had the best operations I'd ever seen on a coaster. I was enamoured firstly by how quickly it ate queue lines, and then secondly seeing how intelligently the ride is set up, to avoid stacking as much as possible. The ride crew were flying to get guests unloaded and loaded as efficiently as possible. As an ex ride-operator I was majorly astounded and impressed. Lightning Rod might have beaten it to my #1 spot, but I can't imagine Fury leaving my top 5 for a good while. B&M clearly still has the world-class gene when parks want to bring it out of them.

Location Intensity Ejectors

This damn ride... my good lord. To this day, Lightning Rod is the one and only coaster that has given me an adrenaline rush that felt legitimately addictive. After almost every one of my 10 rides I NEEDED to get right back on it. Although it's had its well-documented reliability issues, I was lucky enough for it to be running very consistently when I visited last summer, to the point where a friend and I managed to marathon it for an hour or so on the first of our 2 days at Dollywood. The only time I didn't feel to re-ride was after that marathon session where I looked at my friend and said "yo my body needs a break." This thing is absolutely relentless from start to finish, and even so, it somehow hits another gear halfway through it. There are so many moments which characterise the nature of this coaster, but everything after the two wave turns is why Lightning Rod is my #1. From the off-axis airtime hill onwards, it's complete bedlam, and the quad down and subsequent speed hill might be my favourite coaster sequence I've ever experienced. As if the avalanche-like nature of the quad down wasn't enough, the speed hill which flies between the launch and the brake run, feels as though the train is crashing through a brick wall. Pure, unadulterated aggression. This coaster showed me definitively what my favourite coaster characteristics are - sense of speed, aggression, whippy elements and transitions, strong forces. Airtime is cool, but I much prefer it when it is implemented with the purpose of a sense of speed/aggression behind it, eg. LRod's world beating finale. LRod has the potential to stay at my #1 spot for a very long time. A truly special experience that very well may not be beaten for me anytime soon.