Avis • Michael M.

This surprised me with its intensity, mainly due to the sustained positive Gs. The rattle, however, is also intense and detracted from the experience...

This surprised me with its intensity, mainly due to the sustained positive Gs. The rattle, however, is also intense and detracted from the experience. The capacity is horrid and for reasons unknown, they were only running 1 train, making it even worse. The ops were hauling though and it looks like the layout should support 3 trains, which would improve the situation somewhat. It just isn't worth waiting that long in line as it is though. That line was just as long as the one for Twisted Timbers, even though they were only running 1 train on that too.

I mean, this wasn't awful. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, was quite smooth, and the inversions (if you get them at all) are unpredictable and th...

I mean, this wasn't awful. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, was quite smooth, and the inversions (if you get them at all) are unpredictable and that adds an element of excitement, but the ride is really too short to get much enjoyment out it and the capacity is too low to make waiting in line for multiple rides worth it. Curiously, this is the first coaster I have seen where the chain lift completely stops when no train is on the hill. I also don't know why these free-spins are called 4D coasters at all. A "normal" coaster gives you 3 "dimensions", pitch, yaw, and roll. A true Arrow/S&S 4D coaster adds the seat pitch control, which I guess counts as the 4th dimension. But on the free-spins, there is no yaw control at all (you can only go forwards/backwards and up/down) and there is no fixed pitch control as any track pitch change can be and often is counteracted by the pitch of the seats. Therefore, I think "2.5D Free-Spin Coaster" would be a more appropriate name for this genre.

Wow, Premier really came a long way with their track profiling in the 10 years between Flight of Fear and this. The transitions on this one are smoot...

Wow, Premier really came a long way with their track profiling in the 10 years between Flight of Fear and this. The transitions on this one are smooth enough to be enjoyable and parts of the ride are surprisingly intense. My favorite part is the headchopper under the queue line at the very end. Shooting out of the indoor section back into the blinding light and directly towards the queue bridge is disorienting and startling. The rapid slope downward to clear the bridge even gives a quick pop of airtime. The first launch starts a bit slowly, but the second launch (which I wasn't expecting) seemed to hit harder and was more exciting, though that may have just been because it surprised me. There's plenty of theming, but I got the impression in the (clevely-disguised MCBR) helicopter scene that some of the theming might be broken. The red train is themed nicely, but the white train is just a featureless outline with no coloring or decals or anything. What's up with that?

I rode this in the very front row and I was expecting it to be awful, but I actually found it surprisingly enjoyable. It is definitely rough, but at ...

I rode this in the very front row and I was expecting it to be awful, but I actually found it surprisingly enjoyable. It is definitely rough, but at least in the front, it isn't rough enough to have actually caused me any discomfort. It also has plenty of slingy laterals, but more of the kind you might find on a wild mouse, not the headbangy bank transitions like on an Arrow looper (or on Invadr at Busch Gardens). The layout was nice and it had a few good pops of airtime. This coaster also had the strongest effect of the back of the train pushing the front of the train that I've ever experienced, with the front seeming to accelerate at all the wrong times, which made it sort of unpredictable in a fun way. I suspect the airtime would probably be better in the back, but I'm sure it is much rougher back there. At times while I was waiting I could *see* the back car jackhammering down the track. It had to have been bouncing up and down by at least a centimeter or so. All of that said, I went in to this expecting it to be a one-and-done just to get the credit, but now I can totally see myself riding this once or twice each time I'm in the park.

B&M inverts are always fun and this one is no exception. My preference is to ride from the front get the full effect of the inverted-ness. The inver...

B&M inverts are always fun and this one is no exception. My preference is to ride from the front get the full effect of the inverted-ness. The inversions are forceful and whippy (causing me to headbang a bit once). I just love how it whips through the first inversion of the batwing and then whips right back through the mirror-image second half. Despite being old, it doesn't really have any more rattle than any other roller coaster. I think the pacing here is better than on my favorite invert, Alpengeist, due to the lack of MCBR, but overall Alpengeist's extra height and speed give it the edge though.

This coaster wants *so* badly to headbang, but the poor thing has nothing to bang on… I haven't ridden a whole lot of old Arrows, but this has to be ...

This coaster wants *so* badly to headbang, but the poor thing has nothing to bang on… I haven't ridden a whole lot of old Arrows, but this has to be the jankiest one yet. On a couple different occasions, it tried to give me sideways whiplash from the tangent-radius bank transitions. The trains and restraints are also definitely not designed for my dis-proportionally leggy 6'1" frame and I could barely contort myself into a position that allowed the restraint to be closed. Ignoring all of that, I guess it was fun. The control system seems to have very inefficient handling of trains in the station though, with the incoming train being stopped fully and held for multiple seconds several times before it reaches the correct position. I know this is a completely gravity-driven design with no drive wheels, but I still think they could have done better than this. Also, a swamp cooler in the station‽ Really‽ This is North Carolina and those things do more harm than good in humid climates…

It's hard to put into words how insanely awesome Fury 325 is. The first drop has to be the best first drop of anything I've ever ridden. In the back...

It's hard to put into words how insanely awesome Fury 325 is. The first drop has to be the best first drop of anything I've ever ridden. In the back, there is great airtime as the front of the train pulls the back down the drop. Then at the bottom, it slams from airtime to high positive Gs in a split second. The intensity of the first half is amazing. It speeds through the turns so fast you can hardly tell what is going on, and it still feels incredibly fast as it goes over the airtime hills on the way back to the station. Those airtime hills definitely provide the best airtime of anything I have ridden so far, especially in the back row. I did experience rattle on some rides, and I traced it back to train 2 row 4. I didn't experience the rattle in any other row or on train 1.

Boomerangs get a bad rap, but I found this one fairly enjoyable. The inversions are fast and intense, especially when taken in reverse. (This was my...

Boomerangs get a bad rap, but I found this one fairly enjoyable. The inversions are fast and intense, especially when taken in reverse. (This was my first roller coaster to take an inversion backwards.) It is a bit rough, but nothing too awful. I do suspect the vest restraints help it significantly in that department though. I could see it having capacity problems, but there was hardly anyone queuing for it when I was there.

I'm not sure whether to call this a mine train or not. It is certainly themed like one and it doesn't have any inversions, but it goes *much* faster ...

I'm not sure whether to call this a mine train or not. It is certainly themed like one and it doesn't have any inversions, but it goes *much* faster than your typical mine train. Either way, it is a very fun ride and the backwards-running section was a complete surprise to me and was quite intense.

This was my first Arrow looping roller coaster, and after the reputation that a lot of these have for jerkiness, I was pleasantly surprised at how smo...

This was my first Arrow looping roller coaster, and after the reputation that a lot of these have for jerkiness, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth this was. It isn't B&M-level smoothness of course, but I didn't have any issues with rattle or headbanging. The loops are great, especially the first one. There's even some pretty nice airtime in a few spots, which I wasn't really expecting. This is a true piece of roller coaster history and I hope they keep it around for as long as they can.

I came into this predisposed against it, because it replaced my first "big" roller coaster and one of my all-time favorites, the Big Bad Wolf. Howeve...

I came into this predisposed against it, because it replaced my first "big" roller coaster and one of my all-time favorites, the Big Bad Wolf. However, I was pleasantly surprised overall. The indoor section is incredibly intense, making me start to grey out a bit the first time I rode it. The drop track was also a nice surprise, especially when riding from the middle or back of the train. The final drop has quite a bit of rattle though and that's just about as much rattle as I can take without getting a headache. I put Theming as both a Pro and a Con for this one. The reason for that is because the queue line and the station have Disney-level theming, but the theming in the indoor section of ride seemed to be mostly defunct when I rode it, resulting in confusing dead spots.

The inversions on this are incredible. The first part of the ride before the brake run just never lets up! It definitely slung me around some, but I...

The inversions on this are incredible. The first part of the ride before the brake run just never lets up! It definitely slung me around some, but I never had a problem with headbanging. Personally I think the front row is the only place to ride this one, to take advantage of its inverted-ness. Some people complained about it being slow after the brake run, but when I rode it I found that part to be plenty fast as well, albeit not quite as intense as the initial 4 inversions. Overall this is my favorite roller coaster period as of the time I am writing this.

This is a truly incredible ride. It is intense yet smooth, has great airtime (especially in the back of the train), and is thoroughly enjoyable anywh...

This is a truly incredible ride. It is intense yet smooth, has great airtime (especially in the back of the train), and is thoroughly enjoyable anywhere in the train. I personally recommend the back due to the awesome ejector airtime when getting launched backwards over the airtime hill. I also really like the vertical rollback element. After I rode it a few times and got used to hanging there, I realized what a unique perspective it gives staring straight down at the tops of peoples' heads from that angle. Some people complained about the low speed going over the top hat, but I think it gives a nice bit of suspense regarding whether the train will roll back or get stuck up there. The zero-g stall is fun too. It was my first 0g inversion and hanging there upside-down is definitely a unique experience.

This was my first roller coaster with inversions and, in hindsight, the roller coaster that made me realize I was an enthusiast. The darkness definit...

This was my first roller coaster with inversions and, in hindsight, the roller coaster that made me realize I was an enthusiast. The darkness definitely adds to the intensity, but it is quite a bit smoother than the other dark roller coaster at Disney World (Space Mountain), making it much more pleasant to ride overall. It is also a great example of how Vekoma has always been capable of building great roller coasters, they just had difficulty designing them well themselves in the past without Disney's involvement.

This is an impeccably smooth, quiet roller coaster to the point where it is almost boring at times. The wait times were also rather excessive when I ...

This is an impeccably smooth, quiet roller coaster to the point where it is almost boring at times. The wait times were also rather excessive when I was there due to it being new at that point. As far as mine trains go, I think Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a better choice.

I do enjoy riding this, but the combination of the classic Arrow jerkiness with the darkness and resultant inability to anticipate what is coming and ...

I do enjoy riding this, but the combination of the classic Arrow jerkiness with the darkness and resultant inability to anticipate what is coming and brace for it can make this a punishing ride. Technically it isn't headbanging since this is a non-inverting coaster with T-bar restraints, but you get the point…

I haven't ridden many mine train coasters, but this one really sets the standard. Despite not being excessively fast, it is really fun and has some g...

I haven't ridden many mine train coasters, but this one really sets the standard. Despite not being excessively fast, it is really fun and has some good airtime too. The last bit after the third chain lift seems rather pointless though.

This was my first "big" roller coaster. I rode it so long ago that I can't really compare it to anything I have ridden more recently, but the theming...

This was my first "big" roller coaster. I rode it so long ago that I can't really compare it to anything I have ridden more recently, but the theming was impeccable and the suspended design really played into the experience, with the train swinging out of the way of collisions at what seemed like the last possible moment. I am very sad this one is gone and it will always be special to me.