Wikipedia

Fury 325

Fury 325 is a steel roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The Giga Coaster model from Bolliger & Mabillard opened to the public on March 28, 2015, featuring 6,602 feet (2,012 m) of track and a maximum height of 325 feet (99 m), making it the fifth-tallest roller coaster in the world and the tallest overall that uses a traditional lift hill. Fury 325 also opened as the world's tallest giga coaster – a classification defined as any coaster with a height or drop between 300 and 400 feet (91 and 122 m).

Fury 325
Fury 325's entrance plaza
Carowinds
LocationCarowinds
Park sectionThrill Zone
Coordinates35°06′20″N 80°56′33″W / 35.10548°N 80.94246°W / 35.10548; -80.94246
StatusOperating
Soft opening dateMarch 25, 2015 (2015-03-25)
Opening dateMarch 28, 2015 (2015-03-28)
Cost$30 million
ReplacedRipcord
General statistics
TypeSteel
ManufacturerBolliger & Mabillard
ModelHyper Coaster
Lift/launch systemChain lift hill
Height325 ft (99 m)
Drop320 ft (98 m)
Length6,602 ft (2,012 m)
Speed95 mph (153 km/h)
Inversions0
Max vertical angle81°
Capacity1470 riders per hour
Height restriction54 in (137 cm)
Trains3 trains with 8 cars. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.
Fast Lane available
Fury 325 at RCDB

The ride reaches a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h), winding through high-speed curves and passing over and under the park's main entrance. Fury 325 was the Best New Ride of 2015 in the annual Golden Ticket Awards published by Amusement Today, and since 2016, it has consistently ranked as the world's best steel coaster in the same annual publication.

History

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Sections of track waiting to be installed in 2014

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.[1] 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.[2] On October 18, January 23, 2014, and June 9, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, the owners of Carowinds,[3] filed trademark applications for the names Centurion, Fury, and Fury 325.[4][5][6] 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.[4][7] In July, the blueprints for Fury 325 were leaked showing the exact layout of the roller coaster.[8] 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.[9] On August 12, a microsite on Carowinds' website was found advertising a new ride called Centurion.[10] A similar hoax was conducted by Kings Island leading up to the announcement of Banshee in 2013.[11]

Carowinds officially announced Fury 325 on August 22, 2014, at an event held at the park's Harmony Hall Marketplace.[12] The first piece of track was installed on September 29, 2014. Within the week, the structure for the storage track was erected.[13] By October 22, the majority of the brake run was complete; two days later the final pieces for the section were put into place.[14][15] By October 26, the base of the lift hill was installed.[16] On December 4, the lift hill and first drop were completed.[17] On January 30, 2015, the final piece of Fury 325's track was put in place.[18][19] Fury 325 completed its first test run on March 4, 2015.[20] On March 25, Carowinds held the coaster's media day.[21] The ride officially debuted three days later on March 28, 2015, when Carowinds' 2015 operating season began.[22][23]

Fury 325 suffered a setback in the summer of 2023 when a large crack on one of the ride's support pillars was spotted by a park bystander.[24][25] The ride was closed later that day and remained closed for more than a month following an investigation and replacement of the pillar.[26] The park also enhanced its safety inspection procedures,[27] and the investigation later determined that "unidirectional bending fatigue" was to blame,[28] which caused a crack to form along the weld line of the pillar.[29][30]

Ride experience

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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. The humming sound of a hornet is played twice during the ascent – once at the beginning and a second time after a voice announces safety directions to the riders. Upon reaching the top, the train drops toward the ground at an 81-degree angle and reaches a maximum speed of 95 mph (153 km/h). The train then enters a 190-foot-high (58 m) barrel turn, followed by a high speed s-curve that crosses the North Carolina and South Carolina state line. After passing over the park's north 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 entrance pathway. The train passes through several illuminated hexagons under the pathway, an element the park refers to as the "hive dive".[31]

This is followed by a second banked turn to the left, which reaches a height of 101 feet (31 m) and crosses the state line once again. After a section of straight track, the train travels over a 111-foot (34 m) camelback hill and makes a near-180-degree turn. It enters a second camelback hill, then makes a left turn into a third camelback hill, which ends with the final brake run. The train makes a 180-degree turn as it returns to the station. According to Carowinds, one complete cycle of the ride lasts three minutes and 25 seconds.[16][32][33][34][35]

Characteristics

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Track

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The steel track of Fury 325 is 6,602 feet (2,012 m) long and the lift is 325 feet (99 m) high. Due to the ride's height and proximity to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the park had to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to build the attraction.[36] The track is mostly teal with a lime-green bottom, while the supports are white.[16][37] A total of 3,400 U.S. gallons (13,000 L; 2,800 imp gal) of paint was used and the total weight of the track is approximately 2,700 metric tons (3,000 short tons). The roller coaster occupies approximately 8.4 acres (3.4 ha; 0.0131 sq mi) of land.[37][38]

Trains

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Fury 325 operates with three open-air, steel and fiberglass trains, each containing eight cars.[16][37] The trains' seats are colored teal with lime-green lap bars. The front of each train is either silver, dark grey, or black respectively and features the ride's logo. Each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.[16] Every seat has its own lap bar restraint and seat belt.[37] This configuration of trains gives the roller coaster a theoretical capacity of 1,470 riders per hour.[16][38]

Theme

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The roller coaster is themed after a hornet: riders chase 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".[12][34] 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. The team's original name had been restored from "Charlotte Bobcats" for the 2014–15 NBA season.[12][39]

Records

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Fury 325 set new records and came close to breaking others when it opened in 2015. It became the world's tallest giga coaster – a roller coaster that exceeds 300 feet (91 m) in height[40] – surpassing Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land by 6.7 feet (2.0 m).[34][41][42] Its maximum speed of 95 mph (153 km/h) ties it with Steel Dragon 2000 for being the fastest among roller coasters with a traditional lift hill.[43] As of 2024, Fury 325 is the fifth-tallest and fourth-longest steel roller coaster in the world, and it is tied as sixth-fastest.[41][43][44] In North American rankings, the roller coaster is the tallest, fastest, and longest among non-launched, steel roller coasters.[45][46][47]

Fury 325 is also the tallest roller coaster to be built by Bolliger & Mabillard, following on the heels of the company's first giga coaster, Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, which opened in 2012. Leviathan reaches a maximum height of 306 feet (93 m).[34][48][49]

Reception

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Initial reception following the announcement of the ride was 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."[50] Arthur Levine from About.com stated that the roller coaster will make an impression at the front of the park.[51]

Awards

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Fury 325 claimed the Best New Ride of 2015 from the 2015 Golden Ticket Awards (GTA), ranking fourth overall among steel coasters.[52] It was voted the best overall steel roller coaster in the same awards publication the following year[53] and has retained the top position ever since.[54]

Golden Ticket Awards: Top steel Roller Coasters
Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Ranking 4[52] 1[53] 1[55] 1[56] 1[57] 1[58] 1[59] 1[60] 1[61]

Incident

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Main article: Incidents at Six Flags parks

On June 30, 2023, a park guest bystander spotted a large crack at the top of a steel support pillar on Fury 325 and recorded video footage of the pillar briefly separating as coaster trains passed by safely.[24][25] He reported the issue to park officials, and the ride was closed later that day, with park spokeswoman Courtney McGarry Weber stating that the North Carolina Department of Labor would be launching an investigation.[24] A thorough inspection by the park and the manufacturer, B&M, concluded that the fracture occurred along the weld line of the support column.[29][30] A replacement column was fabricated by B&M, and additional safety inspection procedures were added, which included the use of drones for "hard-to-reach areas".[27] Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson reported that photos taken earlier indicate the crack may have started to form 6–10 days prior to June 30.[62][63]

A new support column was installed in mid-July,[64] and Fury 325 reopened to the public on August 10, 2023.[26] The Charlotte Observer obtained documents from the North Carolina Department of Labor on March 15, 2024, which showed through metallurgical failure analysis that the fracture was caused by "the result of unidirectional bending fatigue".[28]

References

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  1. ^ Elkins, Ken (September 12, 2013). "Carowinds could get city, county incentives for planned $50M expansion". Charlotte Business Journal. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  2. ^ Steve Harrison, Steve (September 18, 2013). "New Carowinds ride to be 70 feet taller than Intimidator". Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
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  54. ^ "Golden Ticket Issue 2019" (PDF). Amusement Today. 23 (6.2): 51. September 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 30, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2019. "We are incredibly excited that Fury 325 has won best steel coaster in the world for the fourth consecutive year!..."
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  64. ^ Lee, Hank (July 19, 2023). "Fury 325 update: Testing now underway after cracked support beam replacement". wcnc.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
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