Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Pulled up by a chain Clamshell lap bars

Carowinds, Charlotte, North Carolina

Thunder Striker

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“It’s smooth, and the ride is enjoyable.”

5,316ftNo. 16 longest of 398 US coastersThe Beast 7,361 ftFury 325 6,602 ftThunder Striker3:33ride time232fttall
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
What riders love
  • The first drop is great, but the amount of long, sustained floater airtime is what really sets this ride apart.
  • This ride is pure airtime madness. Every hill delivers, and you are launched upwards each time.
  • This is the perfect coaster for a variety of airtime that just keeps going and feels like it never ends.
  • The whip, and the floater airtime you get over that first drop is amazing.
  • Staggered seating on B&M hypers cause the first drops to be incredible in the back.
  • It has a great first drop, very good airtime and the first turn really shows you the height where you're at.
  • We are both tall and found it to be one of the most comfortable coasters we have ridden.
  • The lap bar was comfortable and still gave enough room to feel airtime.
  • Plus the ride is so smooth and comfortable, apparently I can ride it 5 times in a row without a problem.
Thunder Striker Watch Performance Should I ride it? Where to sit Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Thunder Striker - Carowinds - Front Row (4K HD POV) - March 2024

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

Thunder Striker Back Row 4K POV (Formerly Intimidator) B&M Hyper Roller Coaster Carowinds NC

youtube.com › Thrill POVs

Thunder Striker POV 5K (Formerly Intimidator) B&M Hyper Coaster Carowinds, NC

youtube.com › East Coasters

Thunder Striker (4K OFF Ride POV)- Carowinds, Charlotte, NC

youtube.com › Coaster Crusader

Intimidator Review (Thunder Striker) Carowinds B&M Hyper Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Thunder Striker Carowinds Review An Airtime-Filled B&M Hyper Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Adventures

Thunder striker Review-Carowinds. THIS IS UNDER RATED!!!

youtube.com › Railroad coaster and signs Production's

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Carowinds

Possibly the world’s most underrated hyper, this bad boy packs in as much airtime as diamondback while staying glassy smooth the whole way.

Birb from not Canada

The first drop and the 2 return hills are the highlight, all giving very solid floater or floajector air, and the rest of the hills are decent too.

Kw6sTheater

While the back may provide the best airtime on the drop, the front generally wins for me as it gives some crazy ejector over the hills.

CoasterBroCam

Pretty forceless and sluggish as with most B&M hypers but the drop and some of the hills offered ok floater and the turns were fun.

Carter Eckhart

...while i can forgive that coaster for its scenery and being the first of its kind, lacking strong airtime, my (assigned) front row ride with this and nitro arguably as well, were both very comparable...

@randompog8493

It has a fantastic first drop, and two really fun turnarounds that are twisty and smooth, and the first one even has airtime in the front.

Eric Esty

It’s smooth, and the ride is enjoyable.

Coaster Nut

went on with my dad and my aunt and we all enjoyed it, felt like it was comfortable and fun, got some airtime i enjoyed.

andrea

Plus the ride is so smooth and comfortable, apparently I can ride it 5 times in a row without a problem.

Rene Saucier

It was a mostly empty train, but there was noticeable rattle, no intensity, and very little airtime on most of the hills.

@MLDesigns

The helix is somewhat forceful and there’s unexpected ejector air out of the helix.

Eric Esty

Thunder Striker is a fun simple ride if you’re first starting to get into roller coasters and want a little surprise.

Owen Izokovic

I just wish that Intimidator had more interesting maneuvers after the mid-course, as from there it’s a tame, airtime-lacking ride unlike the other B&M hypers I’ve ridden.

Kw6sTheater

The pacing is almost perfect besides the break run and a couple dull moments but otherwise near perfection in a hyper.

Shmee

There is a rattle, especially towards the back of the train, as well as some trims that absolutely kill momentum if they are fully hitting.

GoesBy Jay

I always call this thing Intrimidator since my ride was taken at like 20 MPH due to all of the trims killing it.

Jack Schillinger

I was at the park on Memorial Day weekend and waited less than 15 minutes to ride this.

Adam Petersen

Always a short line and always fun with loads of airtime and a great first drop!

DiamondOrPoor78

the wait time was surprisingly quick only like 4 minutes to get on the ride.

liz v

got on this immediately with no line.

andrea

Maybe it’s because I waited 90 minutes with Fury being right next door, but I was pretty disappointed by this ride.

seth w.
Motion sickness risk

The constant up-down up-down makes my nauseous whenever I ride this thing unless I’m riding front row.

Sam Dickson

And what made it worst is that a girl threw up all over and they had to stop the ride to clean the cars.

@antoinebowleg5362

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Where to sit

Front of trainBack of train

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Car 8, the back: 4 of 7 riders who named a rowFront row: 3 riders

Riders who said why they pick the back: 2 for the airtime.

Specifications

232 ftHeight
325 Fury 325 232 ThunderStriker 116 FlyingCobras 113 Afterburn 95 CarolinaCyclone 90 Vortex
211 ftFirst drop
320 Fury 325 211 ThunderStriker 125 Afterburn 108 FlyingCobras 80 CopperheadStrike 80 Hurler
75 mphTop speed
Fury 32595 ThunderStriker75 Afterburn62 CopperheadStrike50 Hurler50 Vortex50 095 mph
74°Drop angle
81°Fury 32574°ThunderStriker65°FlyingCobras53°CarolinaCyclonedashed line: straight down, 90°
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Strong airtimeHuge first dropFloaty airtimeComfortableSmooth rideShort waitsComfy restraints

Criticised for

Slowed by trimsWeak layout

The ride does have a great amount of sustained floater airtime but the layout has no originality other than the fact that it was designed to fit the area.

coaster land, Captain Coaster review

This one might take the title for most boring B&M, and that’s saying something because that manufacturer is the GOAT of making dull coasters.

Cameron Vincent, Captain Coaster review

Lots of great sustained floater with a really great first drop and unique and fun turnaround.

Cooper Zimmerman, Captain Coaster review

Anyways, that first drop is phenomenal and after that is a bunch of airtime hills that all give a great elongated pop of airtime.

Aric The Kakapo, Captain Coaster review

Some really solid airtime, but the ride falls short everywhere else.

Jackie ODoyle, Captain Coaster review

If you love airtimes and being thrown out of your seat, go on this coaster, it does fall off after the mid run brakes, but man this is a top tier coaster.

Sawyer Wiggins, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Thunder Striker at Carowinds
KajisawesomeKajisawesome, CC BY-SA 3.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
mliu92 from San Mateo, CC BY-SA 2.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0
Thunder Striker at Carowinds
Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0

9 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

March 27, 2010Opened

A hyper coaster, built by Bolliger & Mabillard.

$23 millionTo build
4.3 gStrongest force on riders

Golden Ticket Awards, top steel coaster: ranked in 1 polls, 2023

15th2023, its first poll

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Height requirement: Carowinds. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), KajisawesomeKajisawesome (CC BY-SA 3.0), Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands (CC BY-SA 2.0), mliu92 from San Mateo (CC BY-SA 2.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

Quote at the top of the page: Coaster Nut, Captain Coaster review.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Savannah the Savage, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This is the best hyper I have ever ridden…”; Matthew Ebert, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop is great, but the amount of…”; GoesBy Jay, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride is pure airtime madness. Every hill delivers,…”; Shmee, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This is the perfect coaster for a variety of…”; Zachary Alexander Goitia, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop is as intense as any big…”; Ben Lilly, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The whip, and the floater airtime you get over…”; Christopher S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “Staggered seating on B&M hypers cause the first drops…”; Simon, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It has a great first drop, very good airtime…”; Joseph D., rider review on Captain Coaster: “Supremely comfortable experience, I always find myself just smiling…”; Matthew Ebert, rider review on Captain Coaster: “We are both tall and found it to be…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The lap bar was comfortable and still gave enough…”; Rene Saucier, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Plus the ride is so smooth and comfortable, apparently…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: Thrill POVs's back row POV, Thunder Striker Back Row 4K POV (Formerly Intimidator) B&M Hyper Roller Coaster Carowinds NC (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.