Carowinds Discussion Thread

Season Passholder night has been officially ANNOUNCED and one thing that stands out to me is . . .

To make the night even sweeter, we'll be offering each attendee one $9.99 Bring-A-Friend coupon- valid any single day from March 23 - May 19, 2019*(while supplies last). Trust us; you’ll be a favorite among your friends!

So, if any of you are Season pass holders and were on the fence about heading to Season Passholder Preview, I think that's incentive enough.

Has anyone visited the park on Easter weekend in the past? If so, how were the crowds?

Also, has anyone had experience staying at Comfort Inn At the Park? Good/bad?

Also, has anyone had experience staying at Comfort Inn At the Park? Good/bad?

I stayed at the Comfort Inn three years ago and it was good overall. Nothing fancy but room was comfortable, it has free breakfast, and it's within walking distance of the park if necessary.

I stayed at the Best Western across the street and thought the hotel was nice, but it wasn't safe to walk to the park. The park is basically across a highway and there isn't a crosswalk.

The Comfort Inn is the one hotel I remember being on the same side as the park so if you plan to walk to the park, that is the best option by far.

You should all know by now that if you mention a Choice Hotel I magically appear. I'm like the point-whoring fairy.

Here's the thing, there's no such thing as a bad Comfort Inn. It's at the point where I barely even bother to read reviews of Comfort Inn or Comfort Suites because they're all good. Don't expect the Ritz Carlton but expect a clean, nice hotel with a decent free breakfast and a good price.

PS: If you're staying two nights and you have a car then sign up for this promotion and hop to this hotel on the second night. Doing this will net you 8000 points which is enough for a free stay at many Choice Hotels that you can use in the future (assuming you book through Choice which you should).

Even without a car, you could Uber across the street. I ended up doing that after I saw a family almost lose a real-life game of Frogger dodging traffic.

^^Thanks. I have the Comfort Inn booked for pass holder preview night. Going to book one of my rooms on my spring break trip at a Choice hotel to get that bonus.

Awesome! By the way, you can get that bonus an infinite number of times. We've collected like 30,000 points just in the last 3 weeks.

If it's a long trip and you stay at their hotels exclusively (and hop every night) you'll absolutely clean house.

Awesome! By the way, you can get that bonus an infinite number of times. We've collected like 30,000 points just in the last 3 weeks.

Wow. Did not know that. If that is a recurring promotion, then it's bye bye, Wyndham for good. I figured all the hotel hopping was for a purpose, but damn.

They usually do this promotion twice a year. It's crazy easy to earn points with them. I'm a Hilton Honors member and a Marriot / SPG Bonvoywhateverthefuckit'scalledtoday member but we almost always stay with Choice since they have the best rewards program by far.

Basically we always pay for the rooms (or use a cashback travel rewards card to make Choice think we paid) during this promotion since the points earning is so good and then once it's over we're always sitting on a mountain of points so we usually end up at Choice since we never have to pay for the rooms. I have 97,000 Choice Points right now and we're still "paying" for rooms during this promotion.

They're pretty good at keeping us loyal. lol

A new choice hotels card will net you 38,000 free points!

Yeah, there's also that (though the public offer is 32,000).

I've sort of given up promoting credit cards to the masses because I realize that they're taboo and people apparently hate free, non-taxable money but the card has no annual fee so it's a great way to supplement their already awesome free rewards program. The best play for this card is to churn it for the signup bonus and then never use it again unless you're at a Choice Hotel (where it earns 5 points per dollar) or you have expiring points and you want to keep them alive.

And I'm sitting here with a stay booked at the Motel 6. Not my choice. I'm under 21 and that's the only hotel in the area that would allow me to check in.

Just wanted to thank coasterbill for the Choice deal. Hadn't seen it before I saw him mention it. At a Choice tonight at Six Flags. Will do a couple in Charlotte in 2 weeks. Banking a room or two for later in the season sounds good to me.

I’m planning on visiting the 29th. The park is open 9am-8pm. Why are they even open? Is it a special day for schools? Any other event?

Seems like a great day for an empty park but they must have some reason to be open. I’d appreciate any insight!

PS: If you're staying two nights and you have a car then sign up for this promotion and hop to this hotel on the second night. Doing this will net you 8000 points which is enough for a free stay at many Choice Hotels that you can use in the future (assuming you book through Choice which you should).

Thanks for the tip! I'm a choice hotels member and that is the exact hotel I was planning on booking! Can't wait to be back at Carowinds on Saturday!

I’m planning on visiting the 29th. The park is open 9am-8pm. Why are they even open? Is it a special day for schools? Any other event?

 

Seems like a great day for an empty park but they must have some reason to be open. I’d appreciate any insight!

Teachers work day for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Might not be as empty as you think.

And I'm sitting here with a stay booked at the Motel 6. Not my choice. I'm under 21 and that's the only hotel in the area that would allow me to check in.

I stayed at the Motel 6 last June, and it is actually really nice. I walked from there to the park, just be careful. There are no cross walks for some reason.

And I'm sitting here with a stay booked at the Motel 6. Not my choice. I'm under 21 and that's the only hotel in the area that would allow me to check in.

 

 

I stayed at the Motel 6 last June, and it is actually really nice. I walked from there to the park, just be careful. There are no cross walks for some reason.

Well that's comforting actually. Not worried about that as I plan to drive over to the park anyways

I’m planning on visiting the 29th. The park is open 9am-8pm. Why are they even open? Is it a special day for schools? Any other event?

 

Seems like a great day for an empty park but they must have some reason to be open. I’d appreciate any insight!

 

Teachers work day for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Might not be as empty as you think.

Also for Fort Mill, SC schools.

It's also a Friday. They're open every Friday through the spring.

Copperhead Strike has been testing this morning. The Carowinds live cam isn't great, but I'm watching anyway.

^^-- yeah was continuous. Now doing blocking tests: it stops on the second launch, backs up, goes forward very slow over the hill, backs up again and up a bit of the preceding element, and then back forward fast and completes the course. !!

Even with all the tests I've seen on the webcams my anxiety is through the roof that this thing won't be ready on opening day for no real reason. I guess it's partly because I'm making a nine hour drive for it.

From what I've gathered, media day on Thursday is still going on. I'd suspect they'd cancel it by now if it wouldn't be ready.

Even with all the tests I've seen on the webcams my anxiety is through the roof that this thing won't be ready on opening day for no real reason. I guess it's partly because I'm making a nine hour drive for it.

You don't win a prize for being first, so why not wait awhile if it's making you anxious? All of this seems completely unnecessary.

All indications are that everything will be fine though and if not you can just ride the giant, awesome giga that's (most likely) an infinitely better ride anyway.