Carolina Cobra

Infobox roller coaster
name=Carolina Cobra
location=Carowinds
type=Steel
type2=Shuttle
type3=
status=Under Construction
opened=Spring 2009
manufacturer= Vekoma
designer=
model=Boomerang
track=
lift=
height=116
drop=
length=935
speed=47
inversions=3
duration=1:48
angle=
capacity=760
cost=
acceleration=
gforce=5.2
restriction=
rcdb_number=4269

The Carolina Cobra is an upcoming ride at Carowinds on the North Carolina–South Carolina state line. It was built in 1996 at Geauga Lake as Mind Eraser and renamed Head Spin in 2003. The ride is one of the many "boomerangs" built by Vekoma.

The Head Spin operated at Geauga Lake until 2007 when it was removed along with all of Geauga Lake's coasters when Cedar Fair announced plans to re-open Geauga Lake as a water park only. It was confirmed on September 10, 2008 that Head Spin would be moved to Carowinds under the name Carolina Cobra.

Rollercoaster enthusiasts dislike the boomerang coasters because there are so many of them and they do not have the smoothness of most newer coasters. The boomerang model is extremely common being that there are about 20 of these with exactly the same looping shuttle track. Most enthusiasts will ride such a coaster to bring up their total number of coasters ridden but a ride on such a coaster is not considered a priority.

While this coaster will have the all too common layout, the experience will be different. This coaster will debut a new train fitted with a new more comfortable "Over-The-Shoulder" restrant system to eliminate head banging and provide a much smoother ride experence. It will be the only boomerang coaster to date with these lighter more spacious state of the art trains. Its stated this experience will be much different than the other 20 or so boomerang coasters out there. The Carolina Cobra is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2009.

Ride Layout

The track itself is all too common. Once riders are safely onboard, the train is pulled up the lift hill backwards and then passes through the station, enters a Cobra roll element, then travels through a loop. Upon exiting the loop, the train runs up a second lift hill, parallel to the first. Once out of momentum, the train is towed to the top of the lift hill, and is held for several seconds before being released; traveling through the roller coaster in reverse before returning to the station.

External links

* [http://carolinacobra.carowinds.com/ Carolina Cobra page at Carowinds]
* [http://carowinds.com/ Carowinds Official Website]