Fury 325

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 70 feet (21 m) higher than the park's Intimidator roller coaster which stands at 232 feet (71 m), meaning the new coaster would be 302 feet (92 m) 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 325-foot (99 m) chain lift hill. Once at the top, the train drops toward the ground at a 81-degree angle reaching a maximum speed of approximately 95 miles per hour (153 km/h). Following the drop, the train enters a 190-foot (58 m) high barrel turn. It then travels through a high speed s-curve, making its way to the park's main entrance. Passing over the entrance, the train makes a banked turn to the left leading into a 157-foot (48 m) high horseshoe. At the top of the horseshoe, the train hits a 91-degree angle before dropping toward the ground and under the guest pathway leading to the park entrance. It then enters a second banked turn to the left, reaching a height of 101 feet (31 m). Following a straight section of track, the train goes over a 111-foot (34 m) 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.

Track

The steel, box track of Fury 325 is 6,602 feet (2,012 m) long and the lift is 325 feet (99 m) high. Due to the height, the park had to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to build the attraction. The track is teal with the bottom being lime green; the supports are white. A total of 3,400 US gallons (13,000 l; 2,800 imp gal) of paint was used and the total weight of the track is approximately 2,700 tonnes (3,000 short tons). The entire roller coaster uses about 8.4 acres (3.4 ha; 0.0131 sq mi) 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 theoretic capacity of 1,470 riders per hour.

Theme

The roller coaster is themed after a hornet such that riders are chasing 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 as the team was renamed back to its original name for the 2014–15 NBA season.

Records

When Fury 325 opened in 2015, it both broke and ranked near several current roller coaster records. It has become the world's tallest giga coaster (any roller coaster that is between 300 feet (91 m) and 400 feet (120 m) in height), surpassing Steel Dragon 2000 – the record holder since its debut in 2000 – by 6.7 feet (2.0 m). It is also tied with Steel Dragon 2000 for the fastest giga coaster record as both roller coasters reach a maximum speed of 95 miles per hour (153 km/h). In terms of length, Steel Dragon 2000 retains the record as Fury 325 is 1,531.2 feet (466.7 m) shorter. Fury 325 is currently the sixth fastest, fifth tallest, and fourth longest roller coaster in the world. In North American rankings, the roller coaster is the tallest, fastest, and longest non-launched steel roller coaster on the continent. The roller coaster is currently the tallest in the world to use a chain lift hill.

Fury 325 is also Bolliger & Mabillard's tallest roller coaster built to date. In the company's 26-year history, they'd never built a roller coaster exceeding the 300-foot (91 m) mark until 2012 with the construction of Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland which stands at a height of 306 feet (93 m). Fury 325 is the second roller coaster designed by B&M that is taller than 300 feet (91 m), exceeding Leviathan by 19 feet (5.8 m).

Reception

Initial reception following the announcement of the ride was generally 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.