Watch the plunge from this new 325-foot roller coaster
A view from the top of the 325-foot-tall Fury 325 roller coaster that will open later this month at Carowinds amusement park in Fort Mill, S.C.(Photo: Carowinds)FORT MILL, S.C. — While most of the country is shivering in the cold, a theme park wants you to shiver with excitement at what it calls the world's tallest and fastest "giga" coaster expected to make its debut later this month.Carowinds, one of 11 amusement parks operated by Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair LP (NYSE: FUN), made the first test run Wednesday of its 325-foot-tall Fury 325 earlier this week. Its first passenger was a video camera, but when it opens March 27, 32 visitors in each open-air train car will be able to experience the climb to the top of the hill, a 81-degree drop and speeds of up to 95 miles an hour.A giga coaster, a term coined by Cedar Fair's first park, Cedar Point, has a drop from 300 to 399 feet. The next class is a "strata" coaster with a height of more than 400 feet.In comparison, the Statue of Liberty stands 305 feet, 1 inch from the ground to the tip of the torch, according to the National Park Service.When the Fury 325 opens, it will be among the five tallest roller coasters in the world, coming in at No. 3 or No. 5 depending on whether you're including shuttle roller coasters, according to UltimateRollercoaster.com and EntertainmentDesigner.com. Steel-track shuttle coasters don't travel a complete circuit.In the USA, only Kingda Ka at 456 feet at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J., and and Top Thrill Dragster at 420 feet at Cedar Point in Sandusky are taller steel coasters.The Fury 325 will be North America's longest steel roller coaster, giving visitors a 3-minute, 25-second ride, according to officials at Carowinds, about 12 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C. In one portion, the coaster takes a sharp dive underneath a pedestrian bridge.But the Fury isn't the only new roller coaster debuting this year:• In April, Holiday World in Santa Claus, Ind., will open its 140-foot-tall "wing" coaster called Thunderbird. In this type of steel roller coaster, pairs of riders sit on either side of one track and nothing is above or below them.• By summer, Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio will open its 120-foot tall Batman wing coaster in which riders will flip head over heels at least six times and experience two vertical free falls.Want to be among the first to experience the Fury? Carowinds officials said 2015 season pass holders will get exclusive access to the park 5 to 10 p.m. March 27 to ride the new roller coaster.Last SlideNext SlideRelated:See, hear chaos surrounding Harrison Ford plane crashMar 06, 2015
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น :
แสดงความคิดเห็น