ThrillRide! Special Features

This park, like so, so many, could really use a GCI, or Rocky Mountain, or Gravity Group woodie. Thunder Road is by no means a bad ride; it's just not all that distinctive if there's no racing, which was the case during our visit. And I'm really sorry they don't have the original trains, themed to a hot rod and police patrol car (when it was still referencing the old Robert Mitchum movie). That said, it was riding pretty smoothly, and does travel through two states.

Arrow's second steel ride here, the Carolina Cyclone, was the world's first quad-looping roller coaster, so we had to ride this one.

It looks great, boasting another very-recent-looking coat of paint.

But wow, it was a bruiser. If you need the credit, cowboy up, get it over with, and then go do something fun...

...like the Vekoma Boomerang. Because the Carolina Cobra, the transplant from Geauga Lake, is running trains with Vekoma's new restraints AND THEY ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THOSE AWFUL HEADBANGERS YOU'RE USED TO! HOORAY!

Seriously, I used to LOATHE Boomerangs. They'd even make me a little queasy. But we tried the Cobra and it was downright enjoyable! Very Pleasant Surprise No. 2, a HUGE one.

(If I may, I would humbly suggest that from this point forward, Carowinds refrains from naming a new ride, or area, or restaurant, or whatever, by sticking "Carolina" in front of another noun. (Except for adding "Caro" to Windseeker.))

Hurler, the park's other major woodie, needs some attention. On the Mean-Spiritedness Scale, it's just about at "Schoolyard Bully" levels. I actually like the layout a lot; back when the Hurlers were all new, we could marathon the one at Kings Dominion, so smooth and fun. (And I miss the Wayne's World safety videos so much, alas...)