Im right there with you! Was surprised how much I liked it and definitely was my favorite at KI. Going to Orlando next week to ride Mako for the first time and hope its half as good
I got to go back to Carowinds earlier this year in June and I really was able to appreciate this ride for what it offers. It's not my favorite hyper, but like you said in the video it's a very solid attraction and I wish it got more love than what it gets. Obviously, with Fury 325 in the same park it's kind of challenging but that shouldn't take away from Thunder Striker still being a great coaster as well.
Charlotte metro, being the hub of NASCAR, the fans have all blamed the license lose of Intimidator on Teresa Earnhardt, who is notorious for digging deeper and deeper into people’s pockets for Dale’s namesake. And the probably did not want to take a chance on litigation with the colors. She would quickly bring it. As for Copperhead Strike, it’s really themed for moonshining, but the lady falls just short of outright saying the word “revenuer” and the snake in the front is the place you see a copperhead snake. The copperhead is another name for the still coming from the copper still. I’m guessing they didn’t want to cross the line into glorifying illegal activity too far. And, of course, the moonshining theme is deep into the NASCAR roots. The cars on the ride are also replicas of a 1940 Ford, which was the moonshine runners preferred ride. Love both rides, but prefer the back seat on Thunder Striker.
Thunder Striker/Intimidator is one of the best hypers I’ve been on. I have been on diamondback but I didn’t have the best experience in it as I felt sick after it. I think I was expecting ejector airtime on diamondback but I never got it, I also rode diamond in the morning/row 16. Although I think intimidator had Candymonium level airtime, when you’re not stapled. Also the trims have been toned down for the 2024 season. I’ve been on all the B&M hypers you have mentioned but I don’t remember them that much. The drop off the midcourse on intimidator is way better than diamondback. I rank intimidator over diamondback for the soul reason that I’ve only ridden diamondback once. I think intimidator is also way smoother then diamondback which also leads me to putting it above in my rankings it is my #1 hyper as I’ve ridden it the most and It gets better and better everytime I ride it!
I've ridden Thunder Striker, Diamondback, Behemoth, Nitro, and Candymonium, and I thought Thunder Striker along with behemoth to be the worst of the bunch, but only because I just don't remember them. I used to feel the same way about Diamondback until I rode it in the 8th row, I think the B&M hypers with the staggered seating may be the only middle row roller coasters there are, and now I feel I need to give the others another chance. Diamondback is a phenomenal ride and I only place it below Candymonium, man I could go on and on about how much I love Candymonium, the first camelback on Candymonium may just be the single greatest moment of airtime on any roller coaster, I had gotten a trimless back row after closing hour night ride on Candymonium, and if I was going just off of that it'd probably be in my top 5 overall even above Fury 325!
Please don't hate me but when I rode diamondback, it was highly underwhelming. You said you've only rode 4 so far, so you definitely gotta get on more because I can confidently say Mako at SeaWorld Orlando pushes diamondback out the way. & I definitely got more of a thrill on Banshee than I did diamondback. But nonetheless it's still a great coaster.
I went to Carowinds twice this summer. In June I put Thunder Striker towards the bottom of myB&M hyper list. When i went for labor day, it was a whole different ride, lots of airtime and pure fun. In june i got 4 rides in, in September I got 15/20 rides in. I honestly lost count, and the line was practically non existant.
I love Diamondback so much! Haven’t ridden Thunder Striker yet but Behemoth is at my home park and I love it so much! Maybe I’m biased because I worked at it for 2 years but it’s slightly better than Diamondback. I think there’s a little more variety after the Blocks. I’m also not a fan of the two hills after the Blocks on Diamondback. I find them a little weak but the drop of the helix and Blocks make up for it. Behemoth has a strong double helix followed by a great drop off an upward helix and one more strong bunny hill. Also the hammerhead turn is great as well and the trim isn’t that bad (don’t listen to anyone abt it lol).
There are actually drop stats for Intimidator aka Thunder Striker and Diamondback. Thunder Striker has a 211' drop and Diamondback has a 215' drop. I've ridden the 3 B&M gigas; Behemoth, Nitro, Raging Bull, Intimidator and Diamondback. Of those: Orion and Leviathan come out at the bottom, abut Diamondback is the 3rd favourite coaster, only beaten by Fury 325 and Steel Vengeance. Thanks for this awesome video!
I’m a big fan of Diamondback, but Thunder Striker just about ties it for me. I may take Diamondback for the setting, but other than that they’re basically the same and tied for my favorite B&M Hyper. I wish I could give Behemoth a ride.
I honestly think they could have just gone with Thunder Road. They wanted to pay homage to the old dueling wooden coaster, and it's name was good enough for that. The re-theme seems like they didn't have much time to put it together, as if the decision not to renew the license was made just before it expired.
@@ThemeParkRowan THATS GENIUS.. they really should have gone with that. Very smart idea. they literally had a thunder road car in the exit gift shop, smh.
I prefer thunder striker over fury 325 as its got way more airtime. Trims weren't on or barely hitting when I rode it last. Just copious amounts of sustained floater
I marathoned this during the Fury crack situation (19 rides within the span of like >5 minute waits) contributed a bracelet to that break run too. But before those rides i was an avid disliker of Thunder striker. It was just a lamer vers of Mako to me and still is, but idk riding it 19 times in a row gave me a strange appreciation for it?? Like its still bad imo, but now in a "so bad its good" kinda way. This was when it was still Intimidator and i feel like if i marthoned it as Thunder Striker it just wouldnt be as fun idk lol
Thunder striker to me is borderline boring after the first drop and first two elements. It is glossy smooth however and I still ride it often but for me is the fourth best in the park.
The problem isn't that it has trims. Almost every hyper has them. It's the placement and the amount of force it has when it clamps down. Unless you sit in the very front you get almost no airtime which defeats the whole purpose of a B&M hyper. For some reason only cedar fair hypers have the trims near the crest of the hill. Six flags understands that they'll need a lot of trims but to save airtime they put them in the valley. Which makes the most sense. Hence why besides diamondback the other hyper that everyone says is their number 1 is Goliath at over GA
Thunder Striker is just a very weak B&M hyper. My favorite coaster is Mako. Took my son to Carrowinds specifically to ride Fury and Thunder Intimidator Striker or whatever it's called. Fury absolutely delivered, it deserves its 8 golden tickets, intimi/thunder just felt so dialed down. One of my favorite coaster rides ever was a night ride, front row on Mako, I explained it to my wife as the closest sensation to flying you can get on a coaster, your butt is rarely in the seat during the ride time. Striker just doesn't do that. Fury's first drop and incredible speed give an incredible ride experience that's hard to find anywhere else.
The only B&M hyper I’ve ridden are Goliath, Apollo’s and Thunderstriker and both Apollo’s and Thunderstriker were very underwhelming. Maybe I was just comparing them to Goliath which slaps
My 9 y.o. son loves Fury, and not quite as much Thunderstriker, but he was so bored on Diamondback that it ruined it for me 😅 I gotta do it alone to form a new opinion
Anyone else who says that Diamondback is their favorite coaster gets a major thumbs up from me. I freaking LOVE Diamondback!
Im right there with you! Was surprised how much I liked it and definitely was my favorite at KI. Going to Orlando next week to ride Mako for the first time and hope its half as good
I got to go back to Carowinds earlier this year in June and I really was able to appreciate this ride for what it offers. It's not my favorite hyper, but like you said in the video it's a very solid attraction and I wish it got more love than what it gets. Obviously, with Fury 325 in the same park it's kind of challenging but that shouldn't take away from Thunder Striker still being a great coaster as well.
Charlotte metro, being the hub of NASCAR, the fans have all blamed the license lose of Intimidator on Teresa Earnhardt, who is notorious for digging deeper and deeper into people’s pockets for Dale’s namesake. And the probably did not want to take a chance on litigation with the colors. She would quickly bring it.
As for Copperhead Strike, it’s really themed for moonshining, but the lady falls just short of outright saying the word “revenuer” and the snake in the front is the place you see a copperhead snake. The copperhead is another name for the still coming from the copper still. I’m guessing they didn’t want to cross the line into glorifying illegal activity too far. And, of course, the moonshining theme is deep into the NASCAR roots. The cars on the ride are also replicas of a 1940 Ford, which was the moonshine runners preferred ride. Love both rides, but prefer the back seat on Thunder Striker.
Thunder Striker/Intimidator is one of the best hypers I’ve been on. I have been on diamondback but I didn’t have the best experience in it as I felt sick after it. I think I was expecting ejector airtime on diamondback but I never got it, I also rode diamond in the morning/row 16. Although I think intimidator had Candymonium level airtime, when you’re not stapled. Also the trims have been toned down for the 2024 season. I’ve been on all the B&M hypers you have mentioned but I don’t remember them that much. The drop off the midcourse on intimidator is way better than diamondback. I rank intimidator over diamondback for the soul reason that I’ve only ridden diamondback once. I think intimidator is also way smoother then diamondback which also leads me to putting it above in my rankings it is my #1 hyper as I’ve ridden it the most and It gets better and better everytime I ride it!
I've ridden Thunder Striker, Diamondback, Behemoth, Nitro, and Candymonium, and I thought Thunder Striker along with behemoth to be the worst of the bunch, but only because I just don't remember them. I used to feel the same way about Diamondback until I rode it in the 8th row, I think the B&M hypers with the staggered seating may be the only middle row roller coasters there are, and now I feel I need to give the others another chance. Diamondback is a phenomenal ride and I only place it below Candymonium, man I could go on and on about how much I love Candymonium, the first camelback on Candymonium may just be the single greatest moment of airtime on any roller coaster, I had gotten a trimless back row after closing hour night ride on Candymonium, and if I was going just off of that it'd probably be in my top 5 overall even above Fury 325!
K
Thanks for the love towards our b&m hyper. Intimidator just sucks and is trimmed to death, candy is just that good😊
Behemoth is fire bro wym
Never had a bad run on it
That last hill before the break run is crazy ejector
Please don't hate me but when I rode diamondback, it was highly underwhelming. You said you've only rode 4 so far, so you definitely gotta get on more because I can confidently say Mako at SeaWorld Orlando pushes diamondback out the way. & I definitely got more of a thrill on Banshee than I did diamondback. But nonetheless it's still a great coaster.
I went to Carowinds twice this summer. In June I put Thunder Striker towards the bottom of myB&M hyper list. When i went for labor day, it was a whole different ride, lots of airtime and pure fun. In june i got 4 rides in, in September I got 15/20 rides in. I honestly lost count, and the line was practically non existant.
I love Diamondback so much! Haven’t ridden Thunder Striker yet but Behemoth is at my home park and I love it so much!
Maybe I’m biased because I worked at it for 2 years but it’s slightly better than Diamondback. I think there’s a little more variety after the Blocks. I’m also not a fan of the two hills after the Blocks on Diamondback. I find them a little weak but the drop of the helix and Blocks make up for it.
Behemoth has a strong double helix followed by a great drop off an upward helix and one more strong bunny hill. Also the hammerhead turn is great as well and the trim isn’t that bad (don’t listen to anyone abt it lol).
There are actually drop stats for Intimidator aka Thunder Striker and Diamondback. Thunder Striker has a 211' drop and Diamondback has a 215' drop. I've ridden the 3 B&M gigas; Behemoth, Nitro, Raging Bull, Intimidator and Diamondback. Of those: Orion and Leviathan come out at the bottom, abut Diamondback is the 3rd favourite coaster, only beaten by Fury 325 and Steel Vengeance. Thanks for this awesome video!
I’m a big fan of Diamondback, but Thunder Striker just about ties it for me. I may take Diamondback for the setting, but other than that they’re basically the same and tied for my favorite B&M Hyper. I wish I could give Behemoth a ride.
I honestly think they could have just gone with Thunder Road. They wanted to pay homage to the old dueling wooden coaster, and it's name was good enough for that. The re-theme seems like they didn't have much time to put it together, as if the decision not to renew the license was made just before it expired.
@@ThemeParkRowan THATS GENIUS.. they really should have gone with that. Very smart idea. they literally had a thunder road car in the exit gift shop, smh.
Dang.. they still didn't get rid of that Urban Decay Amphitheater.. lol. Used to work at that theater Winterfest 2022..
I prefer thunder striker over fury 325 as its got way more airtime. Trims weren't on or barely hitting when I rode it last. Just copious amounts of sustained floater
Nice video
I’m with you…..Diamond back is great. Lots of air time, very smooth.
One of the best for sure. Hate the name. Hate it. The ride is pure fun tho
I marathoned this during the Fury crack situation (19 rides within the span of like >5 minute waits) contributed a bracelet to that break run too. But before those rides i was an avid disliker of Thunder striker. It was just a lamer vers of Mako to me and still is, but idk riding it 19 times in a row gave me a strange appreciation for it?? Like its still bad imo, but now in a "so bad its good" kinda way.
This was when it was still Intimidator and i feel like if i marthoned it as Thunder Striker it just wouldnt be as fun idk lol
Thunder striker to me is borderline boring after the first drop and first two elements. It is glossy smooth however and I still ride it often but for me is the fourth best in the park.
The problem isn't that it has trims. Almost every hyper has them. It's the placement and the amount of force it has when it clamps down. Unless you sit in the very front you get almost no airtime which defeats the whole purpose of a B&M hyper. For some reason only cedar fair hypers have the trims near the crest of the hill. Six flags understands that they'll need a lot of trims but to save airtime they put them in the valley. Which makes the most sense. Hence why besides diamondback the other hyper that everyone says is their number 1 is Goliath at over GA
Thunder Striker is just a very weak B&M hyper. My favorite coaster is Mako. Took my son to Carrowinds specifically to ride Fury and Thunder Intimidator Striker or whatever it's called. Fury absolutely delivered, it deserves its 8 golden tickets, intimi/thunder just felt so dialed down. One of my favorite coaster rides ever was a night ride, front row on Mako, I explained it to my wife as the closest sensation to flying you can get on a coaster, your butt is rarely in the seat during the ride time. Striker just doesn't do that. Fury's first drop and incredible speed give an incredible ride experience that's hard to find anywhere else.
Fury slaps hard. It ruined 95% of coasters for me
I will accept you saying mako is your favorite but how dare you call mi amore a weak hyper
The only B&M hyper I’ve ridden are Goliath, Apollo’s and Thunderstriker and both Apollo’s and Thunderstriker were very underwhelming. Maybe I was just comparing them to Goliath which slaps
Give me a back row night ride on Mako any day of the week over Thunder Striker.
this ride is underrated
My 9 y.o. son loves Fury, and not quite as much Thunderstriker, but he was so bored on Diamondback that it ruined it for me 😅 I gotta do it alone to form a new opinion
Diamondback used to be my favorite B&M hyper but know behemoth is
Rode Intimidator first in 2015 and last in 2019 it was fine I actually like Diamondback more
Should've called it White Lightning
Intrimidator! I really hate the new name. Intimidator was perfection. I do really like this hyper but DB is definitely better
What about magnum.xl. it is a hyper
thunder striker is currently my #7. cry about it
@@CoasterBroCam thunder striker is currently my #15. cry about it
@@themeprknerd #15 Thunder Striker Foot Lettuce
Thunder Striker #11 checking in
Thunder striker #1. Cry about it
The only thing Dback has better is the setting other than that they are the same ride
Thunder Striker looks sooo slow online for off ride pov's lol
@@CentralFloridaCoasters so true LOL
Imma still call it Intimidator
fury 325 the best
😂 thunder striker is not a b&m 🎉
Omg a dram queen ,, waist of time. 325 is better than both.