Hurler (roller coaster)

Hurler

Hurler's first drop at Carowinds
Carowinds
Park section Thrill Zone
Coordinates 35°06′18.88″N 80°56′37.39″W / 35.1052444°N 80.9437194°W
Status Operating
Opening date June 1994
Kings Dominion
Park section Candy Apple Grove
Coordinates 37°50′10.81″N 77°26′44.29″W / 37.8363361°N 77.4456361°W
Status Operating
Opening date April 28, 1994
General statistics
Type Wood
Manufacturer International Coasters, Inc.
Track layout Triple out and back
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 83 ft (25 m)
Drop 80 ft (24 m)
Length 3,157 ft (962 m)
Speed 50 mph (80 km/h)
Inversions 0
Duration 2:00
Capacity 1100 riders per hour
G-force 4.1
Height restriction 48 in (122 cm)
Trains 2 trains with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train.
Fast Lane available at both parks
Hurler at RCDB
Pictures of Hurler at RCDB

Hurler is the name of two wooden roller coasters at Cedar Fair's Carowinds and Kings Dominion parks. Both coasters opened in the same year, 1994. Built by International Coasters Inc., the coasters both have exactly the same design, with exactly the same statistics.

History

Both Hurler roller coasters opened in 1994. The coasters originally borrowed their theme from the 1992 Paramount motion picture Wayne's World, whose main characters frequently used the word "hurl."

While Paramount sold both parks in 2006, the new owners, Cedar Fair, have retained the name as fitting for a roller coaster but removed references to Wayne's World.

The Kings Dominion roller coaster was briefly closed at the start of the 2006 season to be re-tracked. It was closed again leading up to the 2010 season for installation of a trim brake immediately after the first hill. It was open in time for daily operation. It was again closed for the beginning of the 2014 season for maintenance.

Ride layout

Hurler's first drop at Kings Dominion

Riders are hoisted up a 83-foot (25 m) lift hill and make a wide turn before reaching the initial drop. During the drop, an on-ride camera automatically takes photographs of passengers. The ride continues with a wide, heavily banked, flat turn, then a series of hills and drops which jerk and shake passengers, giving the coaster a reputation of being bumpy and rickety.

The overall layout is a standard paperclip arrangement with two out-and-back style runs (in Kings Dominion this extends into the courtyard adjacent to Grizzly).

The Hurler is also a mirror image of Thunder Run at Kentucky Kingdom.

Theming

Originally, the queue wound underneath the coaster through a "hot set" on location filming scenes from Wayne's World. Upon entering the station building, park guests passed through a full-scale set of the iconic basement hideout of Wayne and Garth. Since removal of the Paramount references, the queue and station building are loosely themed with the remains of the original theming. Movie-making paraphernalia including stage lights, cameras, props and signs are scattered sparsely about. At Carowinds, some of the original props (notably baby doll pieces) were recycled into the SCarowinds Maze of Madness. Although the Wayne's World Theme has been removed from the coaster at Kings Dominion, many signs of the theme are still there, including many stickers and stamps of the Wayne's World logo around the Hurler station, such as the columns by the exit.

External links