If you’re in the Carolinas this ssss…summer, you better watch where you sss...step.
The Carolina Cobra will rear up and spread its frightening hood beginning in March at Carowinds Park, located on the North and South Carolina border.
The 125-foot tall towering, twisting serpent will send riders speeding through three inversions, including a cobra roll and a 360-degree loop - both forward and then backwards. Ssssounds ssssizzling.
The Boomerang steel coaster, built by Netherlands-based Vekoma International, travels along 935 feet of steel tubular track at speeds of 48 mph.
The boomerang experience is unlike any coaster at Carowinds. Riders on the Carolina Cobra are pulled up a steep 125-foot lift hill and sent diving down a 120-foot drop, speeding along a 65-degree descent into three inversions, including a cobra roll and a 360-degree loop. The train is then “caught” by another lift hill, and, once it looses momentum, is towed to the top as riders wait in anticipation for the second descent. When the train is finally released, riders are sent racing into the inversions again…except this time in reverse!
According to the Carowinds Web site, the Carolina Cobra is equipped with newly designed trains exclusive only to its tracks. No other parks in the United States have utilized these spacious trains, designed specifically for a heightened rider-experience.
The sleek, semi-open 28-passenger trains will create an aerodynamic experience unlike any other on a coaster as riders undergo the sensations of wind and speed at an amplified level, for a smooth enjoyable ride.
Aside from its unique passenger trains, the coaster is the spitting image of one of my favorite coasters at Hersheypark - Sidewinder. While coasters like Fahrenheit and Stormrunner have eclipsed the smaller Sidewinder, I still enjoy the venomous-like ride. And if the Carolina Coba is anything like Chocolatetown's snake-like cousin, riders at Carowinds are in for plenty of thrills.
The Carolina Cobra will be the park's 11th roller coaster, joining Afterburn, Vortex, Carolina Cyclone, Nighthawk, The Hurler and Thunder Road in providing non-stop fun for park visitors.
"Carowinds has always been a perfect blend of family-entertainment and thrill attractions," said John Shanrock, the park’s vice president and general manager. “For 2009, however, we plan to tilt the scale more to the thrill side! Carolina Cobra will be exhilarating and unlike any coaster that we house at this park. Only serious thrill-seekers should venture into the queues of this towering twisting serpent.”
Every park has its unique characteristics and Carowinds is no exception. I think it's pretty cool that the park straddles the border of two states - you can actually walk back and forth across the border or even ride a coaster over the state line.
Now, with the Carolina Cobra slithering into the park, it’s going to make the park that much more ssssuper.
