Carowinds — Attraction in Pineville

Carowinds is a great day trip for friends and family! Just know that process for food inside the park are really high so it may be best to pack some food, re-entry to the park is permitted so just make sure you check out and back in. The roller coasters are all really fun, just about every single one has a loop and I would consider most of them intermediate. After burn is a perfect middle ground for a ride that's not too scary but plenty exciting and while Fury looks intimidating after that first drop it really is a blast! Fury is by far the best ride they have you get the most excitement for your wait. Speaking of waiting wait times aren't too bad especially if you get to the park by opening, we were able to do every ride in the park and got to meet up with snoopy unexpectedly! I would caution against some of the wooden coasters like the hurler it shook us up lots and just seemed like a rougher experience, the same for cyclone I'm sure you can enjoy them all the same but those two were a bit too rough for me and I'm only 24. I highly recommend a refillable cup for the day or of you plan on returning multiple times a year and kove close go ahead and purchase the cup for the year it's so worth it. The food even though it was pricey was pretty great taste wise the only thing I'd super caution against is sweet frog and if you do go weigh your yogurts separately because we got the smallest amount and somehow paid almost 30 dollars for it. The giftshops are worth stopping through and have a good range of souvenirs! Carowinds starbucks/auntie Anne's does not accept their rewards app just as a heads up (which was weird considering auntie Anne's literally advertises their app on the cups but I digress) we went on a cooler day and so my only recommendation is to bring a spare set of clothes no matter what you do something warm and something cool you can always leave it in the car and if you're like our group you can change and wear it for the car ride home. As a starbucks barista myself their set up is really great and I can tell you it's the only thing in the park with regular prices on stuff (still expensive because I mean it's starbucks but still something) it can also make for a good place to rest a bit. Snoopyys campground was very cute and lots of fun we went on the Woodstock express because why not? I did notice 3 seperate times that larger people were denied being able to ride because of their size and as someone who's fairly small a lot of the rides do seem to run smaller so something to be aware of! They do have seats to test if you'll fit in front of most every ride but that could still be a huge bummer for some. Overall pack some snacks or eat before you get in the park and plan to get food after if you can and go wild! The park isn't too big so you don't have to worry about loosing touch with eachother (we were able to run into my brother just walking past 5 times) so safety is no real concern and if someone does get lost our meet up (even as adults) is snoopys lost beagle scouts. I'd recommend bringing a small fanny pack or clean pouch to put everyone's phones, wallets, keys, hats or sunglasses in and while they do offer lockers for $4 we just placed our stuff on top of the lockers or asked other people to watch our stuff which they were more than happy too. Over all I budgeted for $50 to spend in the parks and successfully stayed under by 7 dollars. I think this makes for a great and not too expensive trip but I would recommend for more so 11+ kids as most of the coasters seemed intimidating to the kids I did notice there (of coarse this all depends on your kid in particular) they have excellent options like richochet and gold rush for those who need a more beginner friendly coaster. Also this is a huge reminder to everyone DO NOT TAKE YOUR PHONE OUT on a coaster it was a recurring problem and the biggest issue being if you drop it at those speeds or from that high up you could accidentally strike someone so maybe brief your whole family on that aspect because we for sure saw so many people who...

It was a great experience, overall!

Got there very early and started with the most intense roller coaster 🎢 available at that time, The Intimidator. The ride was very smooth, powerful and full of surprises at every peak and turn. Unfortunately, The Fury 325 was down for repairs due to a massive crack at the top corner (please see video on YouTube), and another crack found a week before we visited. Anyways... We continued walking the park and looking at each ride and taking it all in. There were a lot of food stands and refreshments throughout the park. Lots of things to do for kids, too. Having picked the Funday Bundle we were able to have a full meal every few hours, which was a great deal in itself. There were lots of options and food was rather good... for a theme park! Like every other theme park, price for drinks were outrageous and I will never get used to this and I will never accept it as the norm... just my personal opinion 🤷.

As we moved towards the back we were greeted by The Copperhead, a very cool launch coaster with fun twists and turns and loops that make this ride feel snake-like 🐍. Rode that one a few times and each time it became more and more fun altogether. To our surprise, The After Burn coaster was super powerful. It was short, but full of sharp tight turns just as if you were on an F-15. I think this was the biggest surprise ride we found.

The water park, Carolina Harbor, although it looked cool, I could care less for it at this time because it was so packed full of people, I definitely didn't feel comfortable bathing in any of its pools or slide. Maybe, some other time. It was part of the package bundle deal so, it was good to have. Note to park, you may want to implement a Dress Code. Some women there were NOT appropriately dressed for a children's water park, just saying.

The reason I gave it 4 starts and not 5 was because too many roller coaster and rides were down, not counting The Fury 325, because we'd seen the news and knew what to expect. Also, some rides like the Boo Blasters was... terrible. Old, dated and really forgotten in the maintenance department. Some of the Boo Blaster were not working, even if you pointed at the right spot to shoot the ghost it would not count points, some ghosts didn't even respond with movement but would make sound that you shot them.... it was overall a terrible ride. The other ride that I thought was pretty bad and needed an urgent updated was The Cyclone coaster. That ride was jerky, rough and felt old and dated, as well. The carts could use some readjusting, grease and inspection since I hit myself in the ear in one of the turns, it was so jerky. Decently fast, but not enjoyable. Also, paying almost $20 for a funnel cake is NOT my idea of enjoying a park adventure. Although we got the Funday Bundle which included the food, prices on food were just downright outrageous. The park can definitely afford to lower the price on food and they would not loose money.

On a good note 📝, there was drinking water spots all over the park, especially when we went, temperatures reach 93° F with a 102° index. It was hot 🔥 🥵 😫! And the park staff was telling everyone to keep hydrated, which was good 👍🏼 on the park's behalf. Another good surprise was the Brad's Illusionist show. Well worth the price in itself. Very eye-catching, very intriguing and always taking to a higher level. The show was also funny and super entertaining to watch with the family. I was pleasantly surprised with this.

We ended our park adventure with the sky view to rest our feet and take a peek at North and South Carolina. That view, spinning slowly, really let me enjoy where I was and where what rides I was crazy enough to get on, it was breathtaking. Definitely a great park to visit and enjoy with the whole family. I am still considering whether or not to buy the Season Pass, but that would be for next year and another review later. I hope this helps you make a better decision in visiting this park. If I missed something, please let me know. Your feedback is...

It's an amusement park and with that, as with all amusement parks, it's insanely crowded meaning you're either going to wait hours to go on a quick and exhilarating ride or you're going to fork over a lot of $$$ for their "Fast Pass". Food and beverages are super expensive with a generic bottle of water costing $5+, though they do have water fountains throughout the park.

This is a highly popular destination for many schools in the area and if you happen to visit on one of those days that they bus in thousands of kids and teens, expect to be cut in line, expect them to do stupid things like throwing basketballs into the coaster tracks as you're going by and endangering your life. They'll vape and smoke on the coasters, throw stuff at people, etc. This was my first visit and unfortunately having purchased the season pass, I'll probably be visiting again in the future. Review will update as such.

Coaster staff is very inexperienced compared to other popular theme park destinations, they will leave tons of seats open which over time will greatly impact the speed at which lines move. Guests that visit here take so long to get OFF of the coasters that they cause the gates to lock for the next crowd and that requires the next coaster to come into the station to be COMPLETELY empty. This had to of happened numerous times at each coaster we visited for the 3 days we were there. You should kick these guests out of the park as this is impacting the experience of everyone else or rather, resolve this issue with the gates closing prior to the next boarding.

Line cutting was enforced on our last day and about 2 hours prior to park closing, had this been resolved at the start of the day, the overall experience would of been much better. I don't know how people lack the slightest amount of decency and respect for others. There is no excuse for any adult aged person to act as such.

The bathrooms were filthy but that's to be expected as people of all ages apparently don't know how to pee in the toilet seat rather than on it, the floors were flooded with urine, toilets were clogged/unflushed, not sure how to fix this problem but it's a big problem and shouldn't be.

Outside of the people induced problems and overcrowded park, looking at just the rides and overall experience, I believe someone would enjoy getting to check out the coasters and other fair-style rides, they were all pretty enjoyable. A few of them did cause some discomfort with shaky tracks and head rattling around such as the wooden coaster (which is understandable) and the "Afterburner" coaster which was less-so. If you're close to the area and have the ability to visit often, the Season Passes are probably worth your purchase with the free parking and unlimited entry throughout the season as parking alone is $30 or so last I checked.

I'd HIGHLY recommend bringing food and beverages and storing them in a cooler at your car as the park prices are exorbitant, I'm on the fence about buying the food pass for the season but factoring that, almost being forced to buy a fast pass, it can get pricey.

I also think the fast pass should have a cool down period to prevent groups of riders from going on a coaster, getting off, and then sprinting back to the gate, the staff was just allowing them to do this and essentially hold 8+ seats every other coaster cart while we sat in a 2 hour line...

3 stars just because these problems plague most them parks but I also believe there is a lot of room for improvement on overall facilities and staff engagement/training on...