Did anyone go to a theme park over the holiday, maybe Worlds of Fun or Adventureland? I ask because the Carowinds amusement park in North Carolina had to shut down a giant roller coaster. A visitor was getting video of a friend on the ride and noticed one of the main support beans was cracked. I don’t know I cracked is the right word. When the coaster came by it, the beam moved and separated from the track it was supposed to be supporting. And again, a visitor found it, not an employee.
This particular coaster is billed as the biggest fastest giga coaster in North America. A giga coaster is one that gets up over 300 feet. This one also gets to 95 miles per hour. So, I imagine that if it derailed, it’d be the biggest and fastest fall in North America. Luckily nobody got hurt or stuck upside down like that other coaster at some fair did last week. You’ll never get me on a ride at a fair. It’s like getting the off brand version of headphones that you’d find in a dollar store. Plus, they’re rides that get taken apart and put back together every week for years by super sleepy people who may or may not be eating the left over pizza and cotton candy that kids drop on the ground.
Here’s the video of the roller coaster support beam coming apart. It makes me cringe every time I see it.
A North Carolina amusement park closed one of its roller coasters Friday after a crack was found on a support beam.
According to news reports, Carowinds shut down its Fury 325 ride. The park claims it’s the “tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America.” pic.twitter.com/DNWTdxKGQm
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 3, 2023