Negative-G - Carowinds Theme Park -2026

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The Hurler roller coaster at Carowinds Theme Park, Charlotte North & South Carolina

Moving on from Fury 325 our goal was simple...make our way around Carowinds riding as much as we can while attempting to sweat to death. I'm not sure what it is, but for both of my visits to Carowinds we have experienced heat indices of well over a hundred degrees farenheit.

As Hurler is right next to Fury that was to be our second coaster of the day.

Hurler is a clone of Wilderness Run at Kentucky Kingdom, which we rode the day before. The original is an aggressive coaster that delivers speed and plenty of airtime. This Hurler and the copy at Kings Dominion that both opened in 1994 were both Wayne's World themed rides that were added to those parks during the time Paramount owned both of them. Gone is Garth's "Mirth-Mobile" and the "Stan Makita's Donuts" from the movie, but this ride and the name remain. On a side note Kings Dominion's Hurler was transformed into the hybrid Twisted Timbers coaster by Rocky Mountain Construction leaving this the only remaining Wilderness Run clone.

The big question is which is better: the original Wilderness Run, or the clone Hurler? Hurler unlike Wilderness Run was bumpy, rough, and slow as heck. It was absolutely horrible. Of course this isn't surprising as both of the Hurlers were built by a VERY short lived coaster company called International Coasters, Inc. That company just cloned an already established design from another company and built the two Hurlers in 1994 before going under. As both rides have been notorious for roughness and are not crowd favorites it is no surprise that Kings Dominion decided to put theirs under the knife to become a hybrid. What is surprising is that Carowinds hasn't brought in someone like Great Coasters or The Gravity Group to work their magic to make it something people would want to ride.

While I really don't like to hate on a coaster take my advice that Hurler is a "one and done" ride.

The Vortex roller coaster at Carowinds Theme Park, Charlotte North & South Carolina

Carowinds has an increasingly rare stand up coaster by Bolliger & Mabillard.

Vortex was Bolliger & Mabillard's third coaster when it opened back in 1992 and with Iron Wolf/Apocalypse at Six Flags America converted to a sit down before that park closed and Patriot at California's Great America being converted to a sit-down coaster Vortex is currently the oldest B&M stand-up coaster in existance.