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Welcome to Theme Park Review! Photos & Videos of Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, and FUN!
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| Food |
| Harmony Hall is the park's largest restaurants offering many Carolina dishes. The park has three additional sit-down restaurants with air conditioning: Joe Cool Cafe (kid friendly), Jukebox Diner (50's style with burgers and grilled chicken), and Wings (pizza, chicken tenders, burgers, salads, and beer). There are plenty of other quick-service options. Chickie and Pete's, Chick-Fil-A and Panda Express and franchisees in the park with limited menus. |
| Operating Season |
| The season kicks off in early April with mostly weekend operation until Memorial Day. Then the park is in full swing until late August when the park scales back to mostly weekend operation again through the end of October. |
| Established Seasonal events |
Scarowinds occurs on Fridays and Saturdays from mid-September to Halloween. For the last couple of weekends in October the park is open on Sundays for the event.
Winterfest occurs in November and December (mostly on weekends) with limited ride openings and a focus on holiday atmosphere, entertainment and treats. |
| Access & Location |
| Carowinds is located south of Charlotte along I-77 right at the North Carolina/South Carolina border. |
| Nearby Lodging |
Camp Wilderness is part of Carowinds and has RV sites, cabins, and a tent/pop-up area. Guests can purchase discounted tickets to the park.
The park lists preferred hotels on their website. There are a Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, and Best Western all within one mile of the park, which makes it possible to walk in and avoid the parking fee. |
| Virtual Queue Options |
| Carowinds offers two levels of Fast Lane service |
| Shows |
| The park has Snoopy based shows for the kids and one of the theaters will always be hosting a music show. For 2016 Cirque Imagine appeared at the park. At night there is Luminate (a dance party) and "Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular" is a nighttime walkthrough area with lights and music. |
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| TPR Notes |
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| Carowinds is a “nice” theme park straddling the border of North and South Carolina. Fury325 and Afterburn provide a very good 1-2 punch, with the rest of the coasters being mediocre or average, at best. The grounds are attractive, and there are pretty decent offerings for kids (including a water park). Woodstock Gliders are standout flyers as the ride ops encourage snapping. The recently rethemed shooting dark ride is also well done. | |
| Member Reviews |
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| Results 1-20 of 28 for Carowinds
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(Log in to post / edit your review)
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A top Tier Cedar Fair Park
| | 10-28-2016 | |
Montu357
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If Carowinds got a dragster or something of that nature this park could rival Cedar Point! For one is the food is the best out of any Cedar Fair Park. There are plenty of places to eat or rest. There are a ton of family rides and great coasters for thrill seekers. The best are Fury325 (of course right...) and Afterburn which is a heavily overlooked and extremely intense B&M invert. The park is also beautiful overall with an exceptional layout. I would say the cons include a few not so great coasters (Vortex, Nighthawk, Caraolina Cobra, Hurler) and unshaded queue lines.... though when I went there was nobody there. Fury was a 10 minute wait all day.
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Good but overrated
| | 02-11-2016 | |
rhyano
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Okay here is the thing with this park. Cedar Fair's upgrades are nice, but lets look at the coasters real quick, Fury 325, great ride love it! Currently my #2 because Maverick cannot be beat! Intimidator- Good but not as good as Diamondback in my opinion, Afterburn- Great Invert, very intense but prefer Banshee and Montu, then the rest of the coasters are bellow average to average, some of the worse are: Carolina Cyclone (ouch) Nighthawk, Makes FIREHAWK look like Fury lmao, then Hurler- was not that bad but still, I like their boomerang though, as i got no headbang! but my overall thoughts of the park is good but overrated compared to what everyone was saying, If you are looking at a trip, only spend 4-6 hours here on weekdays as no lines!
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On the Upswing!
| | 09-08-2015 | |
Caleb
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You can really tell this park is getting a lot of TLC from Cedar Fair.
Top 3 coasters in no particular order are Afterburn, Intimidator, and Fury 325. The rest of the coasters are below average at best, but those three rides are really solid attractions.
The collections of flat rides are very good. Food offerings like Chickie & Pete's and Harmony Hall are pretty solid. Harmony Hall has a full service bar inside which is the sweetest.
Can't wait to see this park expand. If they continue to add nice additions like they are, this could be a top Cedar Fair park soon. Ride now, let's call it the best of the middle!
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Second rate park with first rate coasters
| | 07-25-2015 | |
sirspud
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Carowinds has one of the best coasters anywhere in Fury 325, and is backed up by other top shelf coasters like Afterburn & Intimidator. Fury should give any enthusiast a reason to visit as its sure to be a contender for almost everyone's top steel coaster. Unfortunately, much of the other rides and coasters are also rans, offering little worth getting excited about. The landscaping and scenery is marginal at best, and the real deal breaker comes in the fact that there is little shade to be found anywhere, either on pathways or in nearly every ride of the park. How you have a park in the Carolinas where guests are exposed to the sun at every moment is beyond me. The staff was also none too impressive, save for an excellent crew at Fury.
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Really under rated
| | 08-16-2014 | |
Muffinman3670
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Carowinds is what I would call an underdog of a park. The park itself is gorgeous but nothing to be absolutely stunned about. The rides get better with every addition to the park, and with a new 325ft tall Giga coaster to be added next year, Carowinds will sure to catch attention. The entrance fee to enter the park is an outstanding value considering the sheer number of attractions that they have added over the past couple of years; with a new Roman themed section of the park to be announced soon! Not to mention the water park is included in the entrance fee. The real downside is the food price, reaching over 12 bucks per order. However with all things considered Carowinds is slowly becoming a widely recognized park and it is worth a visit!
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Carowinds needs some love.
| | 07-29-2014 | |
tarheel1231
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I probably sound biased since Carowinds is my home park, but it's not bad like some people suggests. The park has a solid ride lineup. Intimidator might not be on par with some of the best hyper coasters, but it is a very good, re-rideable coaster. Afterburn is one of the best B&M Inverts out there, on par with Montu and Raptor. Nighthawk is a bit rough, but it does well. The landscaping is decent, and the staff are friendly. The food is okay. Overall Carowinds is a great park! Maybe it's not something you'd visit from overseas, but it's worth at least a 4 hour drive.
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| | 10-25-2012 | |
super7
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This park has a few good rides such as Itimidator, Afterburn, Thunder Road and the Gold Rusher. However, the park has detoriated so much in atmosphere and theming since it was built. Almost all the water has been removed, and the original, well-thought theming is now random and meaningless. It is a 1-time visit park and a park for locals.
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Why does everyone overlook this park?
| | 08-22-2012 | |
MrSum1_55
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I have heard quite a few things about Carowinds being uninspiring. Although inferior to Kings Dominion, I still really liked this park! Afterburn is one of the better inverts out there, IMO. I232, although not mind blowing by any means, is very fun and reridable. Nighthawk, love it or hate it, is very beautiful and excellently placed. The Carolina theming and charm is inconsistent, but effective enough. The kiddie area is quite large, and the back car of Woodstock's Express can actually provide some descent airtime. Do keep in mind that, although all popular coasters were running two or more trains, the less popular ones were running single trains, so you may have to wait longer than it appears. Do not pass this park up!
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Pretty good park
| | 05-02-2012 | |
megametal
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I've been going to Carowinds since the early 90s. In that time it's become a bigger, better park. Two of the three B&Ms are some of the best they've designed (Afterburn and Intimidator), and Vortex isn't the worst standup out there. The other coasters go from meh (Goldrusher, Cyclone) to pretty good (Nighthawk, Ricochet, Carolina Cobra). The waterpark is pretty good, but could use some more slides. It's usually very crowded.
What the park desperately needs is shade, more flat rides, and to ditch the painful Hurler. Food options are a bit better here than other Cedar Fair parks, and the layout of the park is easily navigable.
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A Good Park with Great Potential
| | 03-30-2012 | |
PhantomNick
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Carowinds is a very nice park situated on the border of North and South Carolina, and we really enjoyed our visit there. The park has a nice layout, and is landscaped rather well. However, considering how hot the area can get, there were some areas that were in dire need of some shade. Food was decent enough, albeit with the typical inflated prices. The flat ride selection was good, and with just a few additions would be great. As for the coasters, Carowinds boasts 2 home runs in Afterburn and Intimidator. Afterburn is the best invert I've ridden to date, and Intimidator is one of my favorite hypers, with plenty of air to be had. Only complaint from a coaster standpoint - they are in dire need of a good wooden coaster!
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It has coasters
| | 11-25-2011 | |
chadster
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Carowinds is one of those parks you have to visit at least once. The only standout coaster is Afterburn and by far is one of the top inverts in the world,, my #2 in fact. They have a lot of older rides and a head banging standup. Their racing woodie is neat as you get to travel to a different state that when you started.
For a CF park they lack in flats but they keep it up well. Vekoma's finest flier has a nice setting, the ride, not so nice ;) Actually it wasn't that bad. Take a trip, and for you NASCAR fans, visit the hall of fame downtown.
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Decent Park, worth a visit
| | 11-23-2011 | |
Swimace
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When it comes to parks in the South, Carowinds doesn't have the coaster collection of Six Flags over Georgia or the charm and atmosphere of Dollywood. However, it's still a nice park with some solid coasters and nice thrill rides. The park isn't as big or sprawled out as Kings Island or Kings Dominion, but it shares many similarities with these parks. It's a nice regional park, nothing amazing, but worth a visit if you're in Charlotte.
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Nice park, standard Cedaf Fair
| | 11-23-2011 | |
Hilltopper39
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Carowinds is a nice park located in Charlotte, NC with a decent collection of coasters. The park is usually fairly clean and has decent operations but only has 2 coasters that I consider to be above average, Intimidator and Flight Deck. On my last visit Thunder Road was also running surprisingly well. The park is a nice regional Cedar Fair park, but nothing to go too far out of the way for.
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Carowinds Rides
| | 11-04-2011 | |
molemaster43
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Ok, so we have 2 rides that are worth riding and riding again, Afterburn and Intimidator. Carolina Cobra is okay, but is too ordinary. Carolina Cyclone is too rough and boring. Carolina Goldrusher is too boring for a good mine train. Hurler is too rough. Nighthawk isn't that good. Thunder Road is boring. Vortex just sucks. There is a lack of thrill rides too. However, there is a good amount of family/kids rides. Overall, lackluster park that definitely needs improvement.
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How are the Carolinas a theme?
| | 08-19-2011 | |
Nozzy
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Carowinds is my 6th Cedar Fair Park, but it definitely has its own character. The concept of being built on the state line is very interesting, and really makes the park unique. Intimidator and Afterburn are both great rides- Afterburn really is an invert like no other, and gives an extremely intense ride with interesting inversions. The other coasters range from decent (C. Cyclone and Cobra) to... not (Hurler). The Flyers being turned into a game was great, though a longer cycle would be nice. Operations were average. BBQ was tasty and well priced. Didn't see any shows. Planet Snoopy is nice to hang around, overall park atmosphere is ok. Bonus points for real season pass lot.
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A Few Stars Among A Heap of Mediocrity
| | 08-05-2011 | |
Thunderhead
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The park itself is compact and nicely laid out. I enjoyed InTRIMidator and Afterburn the most out of the bunch, with Carolina Cobra stealing third place. Beyond that, the rest of the lineup was mediocre at best. The woodies were disappointing clones of rides at KD and the steel lacked much diversity outside of the stars. The operations was also a mess, with one instance of a train getting cleared without the board operator signaling on the microphone. With this being a company trip, I was almost entirely embarrassed to see this happen.Overall, a fine cred stop, but nothing to write home about.
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More charming than most Cedar Fair parks I've been to!
| | 08-01-2011 | |
bamitspat
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Carowinds felt a lot less corporate than the other Cedar Fair parks I've been to, in that it had a lot of shade toward the back of the park. The coaster lineup is decent, with Intimidator and Afterburn stealing the show, but many others throughout the park. In fact, Carowinds might have too many coasters for its size.
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Pretty good family park
| | 06-19-2011 | |
Geauga Dog
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Carowinds is a rather nice park that is perfect for a family outing. Planet Snoopy is very well done as it has a good selection of rides both kids and parents can ride together. It also helps that it's nicely shaded, which Carowinds lacks in some areas of the park.
Even though Intimidator will entice you I would highly suggest hitting Nighthawk first thing in the morning due to slow loading, which is unavoidable on flying coasters. Intimidator is a great ride and is also a people eater so your wait will not be long.
Afterburn is the star attraction here and is, IMO, the best inverted coaster B&M has created.
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Getting Better
| | 04-17-2011 | |
jedmc91
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I haven't been to Carowinds lately, or lets put it this way...I've been to SCarowinds the past 3 years, but have not been to the park during the day in a few years. It is a great park for families, with a few thrill rides for the thrill seekers. I have always enjoyed coming to this park, as it is getting better every season.
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Pretty Good
| | 03-27-2011 | |
Hang And Bang
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I went into this park expecting the usual Cedar Fair homogeny but was pleasantly surprised. While it does have so many of the typical Cedar Fair qualities, I somehow felt Carowinds was a small cut above the rest. It seems to possess some of the "intangibles" that other CF parks lack.
The coasters: Afterburn is easily one of B&M's best, Intimidator is great, and Vortex is surprisingly fun. The rest range from fair to poor. Carowinds may not blow you away, but you'll probably have fun anyway.
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| Pros |
- Props for the way they run Woodstock Gliders. Waterpark included in admission price.
- Investments are being made to the park
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| Admission Policy |
Pay One Price
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| Recent TPR Updates |
No Infomation.
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