Afterburn

This is a very smooth coaster. One of my absolute favorites...its fast and im always anticipating that first turn before the drop off to see the entire carowinds parking lot before your feet is insane... There is always a shorter line at this coaster unless its really crowded that day...A hidden gem I would say..

Afterburn is one of the greatest inverted coasters in the world. It is super smooth and packs quite a punch. The maneuvers are all very fun and unique, especially the inversions. The theming on this ride is also pretty solid. I wish it was still themed to Top Gun, but this is fine. I also didn't wait at all for it, but I went on a non-busy day, so that's subject to change. Intensity Rating: 8/10 Overall Rating: 9.5/10

This coaster has an astonishing six inversions, that all have a snappy whip to them. The ride runs very smoothly, the operators get the line moving really fast. On my first ride I did not expect the last corkscrew, and I was surprised with one of the best inversions ever. If I had anything bad to say about the ride, it's that the restraints make my ears hurt.

B&M at their best. This coaster is aging like fine wine. This Inverted coaster is on par with its much newer sister Banshee. Afterburn looks over the newer Aeronautica Landing section of the park and the B&M train sound provides an excellent reminder of this coaster to the larger flight theme. This coaster is peppy and fun.

Today ( 04/23/2025 ) My daughter went to Carowinds with her friend and her mom. They rode on After burn and the person on the same isle had trouble with the seatbelt because supposedly the seatbelt couldn’t find the woman cause the seatbelt was supposed to be for kids. So they switched my child to the woman’s seat who had problems with her seatbelt. They checked her thinking it was all good but on the drop my daughter felt the seatbelt get loose. She told me she was screaming to her friend “ My seat belt is loose ! “ but her friend was screaming so she couldn’t hear her . My daughter had to hold on tight to the ride just so she wouldn’t fall out of the seat. She told me she was crying and told the ride operators. The ride operators never asked if she was okay or injured they just asked her what happened and what her seat was . That was very scary for my daughter and the ride operators should really check the seats well and not put people in seats when there was already a complaint for it not working well. The operator didn't report what happened, and my daughter's friend's mother was at the park for the first time and couldn't find the customer service department. She told me what had happened when she got home! I hope this comment is helpful to someone so they don't have to go through a situation like the one my daughter had to go through today.