Carowinds Discussion Thread

[Pseybert]

Quick question:

 

What is Carowinds' loose article policy? Are they strict with the use of fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo, or am I okay carrying a drawstring backpack in the queue and putting it in cubbies (if any) before boarding?

 

Unless they've added any new of those storage things that you pay for this year, the only coaster that had them was Fury 325. The rest of the rides have bins available in the station.

Will be heading to the park for the first time ever this Friday night and Saturday! Very excited. Hoping the weather holds up.

 

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[bgtlover]

^Looks promising for the most part. Pretty average for this time of year there (the weekend anyway). There's always a chance of passing thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Since they are forecast for Saturday evening all should be good if you're there early that day.

[Pseybert]

^Looks promising for the most part. Pretty average for this time of year there (the weekend anyway). There's always a chance of passing thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Since they are forecast for Saturday evening all should be good if you're there early that day.

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Thanks for the reassurance. It's the first stop on a week and a half coaster road trip and I'm anxioisly keeping an eye on the weather for all of these places.

 

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[jonskinny12]

What are crowds like for Rock the Park? The day I'm planning to go apparently is the same day and I'm wondering if I need to switch my trip around a bit.

[carolinaman]

^ VERY BUSY !!! I have been the last three years and it is slammed.

[jonskinny12]

^ Are all the lines long or are there just a ton of people there to watch the concerts? Sounds like we may need to rearrange our days or get FL+.

[carolinaman]

Long lines all day.

[jonskinny12]

^ Thanks for the info! Not what I wanted to hear obviously, but I appreciate the info anyway.

[TBpony414]

^ Thanks for the info! Not what I wanted to hear obviously, but I appreciate the info anyway.

 

If you get FL+ you'll be good to go even though it'll be busy. I've been there when it's absolutely slammed and FL+ was a lifesaver. We got on an unbelievable number of rides even with super long standby lines thanks to it.

[PKI Jizzman]

Just had a beautiful visit to the park [9am to noon, haha...I've got an island to get to!]. Limited photos since I left the phone in the locker.

 

The park looks great. There are even entertainers around the park in character!

 

Electro Spin is crazy! Whew. Kind of like a choas ride.

 

 

Intimidator was just fine! The extra twisty bits were fun and I'm in the minority of loving the front over the back. If I closed my eyes I wouldn't be able to tell if I was on Diamondback or Intimidator.

 

Ffffuuuuuuuurrrrrrrryyyyyyy! This is such a fun ride. I will take the low to the ground transitions over airtime hills all day erry day. I'm impressed with how quickly you climb the lift for a chain lift. Is it the best ride in the world? Go and decide for yourself. Carowinds has a winner here and I hope future hyper/giga designs take notes from this ride. I like it a lot.

 

Afterburn is still my park favorite. The trees have REALLY GROWN IN AROUND THIS RIDE! The flat spin should be illegal. I love this ride. I love it. I may be a little sentimental here...but I was excited they still have the "clear for take off" upon exiting the station. Epic first drop, love the little twist after the loop, the zero g is perfect (but I haven't rode Kumba so what do I know), and there's no push/pull to the ride at all. The whole train is just a blur.

 

 

Oh also there's a truck currently parked directly under Fury's first drop so it makes for a pretty good scare as you pull out 10ft above it, haha.

 

Big shout out to Doug for being a great friend and making our day excellent.

Edited May 26, 2017 by PKI Jizzman

[michaellynn4]

^ Wow, no kidding on the limited photos.

 

Glad you had fun!

[bgtlover]

It's nice to finally see the addition of more string lights in County Fair.

[Ride On_17]

I finally was able to get to Carowinds for the first time and ride Fury! I had a great time at the park and wrote up a detailed trip report about my experience and added some pictures I took too. It's such an incredible coaster and I really enjoyed the park overall. Check out the report on my blog here! http://thrillsawait.weebly.com/trip-reports/finally-fury-and-my-100th-coaster-carowinds-518-519

[kahill04]

Hey guys, I'm planning a trip to Carowinds or Kings Dominion for Friday, June 2, but am in a bit of a situation.

Both parks have been on my bucket list for a while but I'm torn. My boyfriend and I only haveenough time to make it out to one of the parks and we don't know which to go to. My question is which park would be the best for us to go to? We plan on getting FL+, but other than that both parks equally draw us in which doesn't make this decision any easier. Any suggestions for which park to choose would be greatly appreciated

[I Like Theme Parks.]

Hey guys, I'm planning a trip to Carowinds or Kings Dominion for Friday, June 2, but am in a bit of a situation.

Both parks have been on my bucket list for a while but I'm torn. My boyfriend and I only haveenough time to make it out to one of the parks and we don't know which to go to. My question is which park would be the best for us to go to? We plan on getting FL+, but other than that both parks equally draw us in which doesn't make this decision any easier. Any suggestions for which park to choose would be greatly appreciated

I personally prefer Kings Dominion slightly, but it's a really difficult choice. Kings Dominion has a better coaster lineup in my opinion and has a really good log flume, and both parks have pretty equal flat ride lineups (I prefer Carowinds because of their insane flyers and Schwarzkopf enterprise.) I suppose Carowinds has a slightly better atmosphere, especially with the impactful entrance and skyline, but they're both simple and don't have much theming, yet are well-kept and pretty. It sort of depends on what you want the most.

[bgtlover]

Hey guys, I'm planning a trip to Carowinds or Kings Dominion for Friday, June 2, but am in a bit of a situation.

Both parks have been on my bucket list for a while but I'm torn. My boyfriend and I only have enough time to make it out to one of the parks and we don't know which to go to. My question is which park would be the best for us to go to? We plan on getting FL+, but other than that both parks equally draw us in which doesn't make this decision any easier. Any suggestions for which park to choose would be greatly appreciated

 

In terms of which park? That really is a hard decision. Carowinds is my original home park so I may have some bias. They are both great parks, tho currently I believe Kings Dominion is a bit more well rounded with it's variety of coasters and with the log flume.

One thing to think about however: Kings Dominon is getting an RMC next year. If you think you'd be able to go there next year or in the next few years, I would chose Carowinds for this year since based of current info a coaster addition is not likely for next year there. Which ever park you choose, I wouldn't buy a fast lane in advance. You would be better off arriving and seeing how busy it is first so you don't feel like you wasted the extra $.

 

If you choose Carowinds, you likely wouldn't need a Fast Lane as the area schools are still in session until June 9th. It may get busier in the late afternoon, but most rides would have short lines during the morning and early afternoon. I've been to Carowinds the first week of June while school was in session in recent years and everything but Nighthawk was a walk-on to 10 minute wait at most. The water park is usually busier than the dry side during the week. Really the only day Fast Lane would be worth it is Saturdays when obviously more people are off work/school.

 

If you choose Kings Dominion, their schools are in session until Mid-June so the same would apply in terms of crowds. I hadn't been there in a long time, but others may be able to guide you on if you'd need a Fast Lane. I would think it would be similar to Carowinds...getting busier in the late afternoon as people get out of work/school.

[coasterbill]

Kings Dominion is the better park in my opinion. It has better atmosphere overall, better non coaster rides and a better coaster collection. Both parks are nice though and I do prefer Fury to anything at KD but I'll get some major pushback on that (Yes, I know I305 exists and I love it, I just prefer Fury).

 

That being said, KD is getting an RMC next year. If they're both bucket list parks that you can't get to often, do Carowinds this year and go to KD once they have an RMC.

[DILinator]

Kind of piggybacking on what the others above have said, I think I'd go to Carowinds this year. KD has the better coaster collection currently in my opinion, but will be getting an RMC next year. Carowinds has the best coaster overall in my opinion (Fury), and you won't have to spend the extra money on Fast Lane, as lines are pretty non-existent outside of Nighthawk this time of year. So if you have the ability to return to the area next year, I'd wait and do KD next year, and Carowinds this year. I know I postponed my Virginia trip a year, to catch RMC Hurler next year for that very reason.

[TBpony414]

Kings Dominion is the better park in my opinion. It has better atmosphere overall, better non coaster rides and a better coaster collection. Both parks are nice though and I do prefer Fury to anything at KD but I'll get some major pushback on that (Yes, I know I305 exists and I love it, I just prefer Fury).

 

That being said, KD is getting an RMC next year. If they're both bucket list parks that you can't get to often, do Carowinds this year and go to KD once they have an RMC.

 

Just typed a reply and the site ate it. 100% agree with Bill - Fury is fantastic and if you're into flyers then Carowinds has some of the best flyers out there and they encourage snapping! However, Carowinds is a small park and depending on what type of rides you're into and if you like to re-ride things then you may be done with it in half or 3/4 of the day. Kings Dominion is significantly bigger and has a much larger coaster collection both tall and small, they have more flat rides, a great log flume, decent shows and the Eiffel Tower which is always fun to go up in. Volcano is my absolute favorite ride at KD.

 

With RMC Hurler opening in 2018, if you're only able to go to one park this summer then go to Carowinds now and Kings Dominion next year. If you can swing going to both parks this year but only one park next year, do Kings Dominion now before the entire DC area lets out of school and go to Carowinds later on in the year. Then hit up KD again in 2018. HTH, have a great time and of course take pics to post here when you're back!

[CedarFanboy]

I always hear good things about Carowinds flyers, but I could never get them to snap out of all my rides on it. Meanwhile at Kings Dominion I get really good snapping every time I ride their flyers. Maybe when I go back down this year I can figure it out.

[bluestreak]

Hello all, heading to the park from Cleveland the 21st and 22nd of this month (a Wednesday and Thursday I believe), and was wondering what kind of crowds to expect. We were there fury's opening year during the middle of the week in August and didn't wait much for anything. Everything but Intimidator and Nighthawk was a walk on. Intimidator was around 20 minutes and Nighthawk was like 1.5 hours.

Should I expect similar, larger, or less crowds?

[BigBad]

I was there around that time a year ago and experienced crowds similar to what you saw in 2015.

[bgtlover]

^^Weekdays (well M-TH) are very manageable for most of the rides on the dry side. Carolina Harbor may be more crowded. As stated many times in here before, Nighthawk, Ricochet & Flying Cobras have the longest waits on any given day due to capacity. The rest should be no problem so a Fast Pass wouldn't be needed.

[bgtlover]

The webcam that was showing County Fair is now pointed at Vortex. Floorless conversion confirmed... (lol)

[coasterbill]

That actually is a pretty interesting development. That webcam never moves and has only been used to show construction of new rides / areas. They're definitely playing with us a little bit right now.