User blog:Introspector/Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena Review

Hello, guys! As you might know (or might not know), in 2016, a PvZ-themed simulator attraction was added to Carowinds. I have very recently visited Carowinds, and I am going to give my personal review of the ride. To my knowledge, I don't think anybody else has done a review of the ride, so I guess that means I could be the first.

Convenience and Queue

3Z Arena is located in the Crossroads section of the park, next to the inverted coaster Afterburn. It is in the back of the amusement park section of Carowinds, which means there is some walking involved. The minimum height for this ride is 46 inches. The entrance of the ride is heavily themed. The building resembles a Z-Tech factory and turf is placed along the entrance. There are also plant and zombie trailers, lawn chairs, and random items placed all over the makeshift lawn. There are videos you can watch that explain how to play the game, but chances are you won't get to see it because of short lines.

How to Play

Despite having Garden Warfare in the name, this attraction's gameplay doesn't resemble Garden Warfare's in the least. You are divided into plant and zombie teams. You start by putting on 3D glasses that makes the screen 3D. You sit in motorcycle-looking seats with mounted-on blasters. Your seats move throughout the ride, so don't ride if you have severe vertigo or any other sickness, but the movements are very slight, so most people won't have a problem. There is one giant screen for each team. You travel through the different sections of the Seeds of Time map and face against mobs of the enemy team. The objective is to locate and shoot several golden gnomes scattered across the maps, while also earning bonus points for destroyed zombies. The amount of points each team gets is tracked after each section of Seeds of Time. Whichever team has the most points at the end wins. In addition, your personal score is tracked through your blaster and you can view it any time on a screen on your seat. You can see your personal place in the gift shop after the ride.

Inside of the Ride

The 3Z Arena occupies the former Action Theater, meaning that the room that you're playing in is giant. The room is divided into a plant and zombie side, most likely so that you can't see the other team's scores. There are several rows, each with many seats lined up next to each other. The zombie side has purplish lights in it, while there are green lights on the plant side. When the game is over, the color of the winning team lights up the building. The gift shop is really cool, too. There is a lot of very cool merchandise in the shop and cardboard cutouts of some of the classes in Garden Warfare. There are also two mini-attractions, one being a literal Whack-A-Zombie, and the other where you have a Peashooter head mounted to your seat that you use to shoot zombies approaching on the screen.

Should You Go?

Carowinds is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, but half of the park crosses over the border of South Carolina. Although I personally liked the ride, I also like roller coasters (if you couldn't tell), which is why I went to Carowinds in the first place. If you happen to live nearby Carowinds, I'd reccommend to give it a try, even if you don't like roller coasters, because they have a variety of other rides in addition to coasters. If you live far away, as in at least 24 hours away or out of the United States and/or don't like roller coasters, I wouldn't bother. Sure, I liked the ride, but there are definetely better rides out there that are more convenient to your location. At the end of the day, it is just another fun family attraction.

Have you ever ridden this ride? If so, did you agree with my opinion. For those of you who haven't been on it or to Carowinds, does this review change your mind about it? Be sure to comment your thoughts below! If you have any questions about the ride or Carowinds in general, feel free to ask me here or on my message wall. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you in my next post!

~Coasters Confirmed!