Carowinds tips and suggestions

I will be going to Carowinds next week on Monday and Tuesday. What are some tips and suggestions to maximize my enjoyment of the park? Fast Lane is out of my budget, but since I will be there 2 days I don't see the need for it. Any good food places to try out? I thought about getting an All Day Dining Plan one day and splitting it with my group, but the downside is it can only be used once every 90 minutes, which isn't an issue for me but maybe for others in my group. Any of the meals big enough to split with 2 people? When is the best time to hit Fury? I've been reading that the line goes fast and they dispatch very quickly, so I'm thinking that may not be an issue. Any rides I should try to go for at a particular time of the day?

To be fair, I haven't been there since before Fury, but I was there on a summer weekday and got on everything within a 4 hour window. The only ride I remember waiting a good 45 minutes for was the Vekoma flyer and that was due to one train operation. Everything else was a walk on to 15 minute wait as everyone was in the waterpark.

Sounds like Firehawk at King's Island. Either ride it early or wait in long lines. Flyer's are capacity nightmares.

Get the dining plan...even if you eat 3 times, it'll be worth it. Last year it covered non-meals too like funnel cakes but I don't think that is the case this year.

Honestly, my favorite non-coaster there was Carolina Skytower. Gives you a beautiful view of the city and of the park.

Harmony Hall has a lot of good food options.

Have a good time. My day at Carowinds blew me away. Not that I had poor expectations, but the place exceeded every expectation I had. Intimidator was my favorite, but again, that was pre-Fury. The only "meh" ride for me was Hurler. I even liked the Boomerang, the new style train was great.

Other than getting Nighthawk out of the way quickly, make sure you do Intimidator before Fury. I did the opposite and got nothing out of Intimidator as a result.

It's interesting that you mention Kings Island, because they're *kind of* similar. If you study Carowinds, which I'm sure you have, just treat it like a visit to Kings Island. And not to worry, you'll get it all in. Twice.

Carowinds is a fantastic park, but it's full of rides you've tried elsewhere. Not many exact clones, granted, but at the same time nothing too exotic style-wise. I already had Intimidator from a previous visit, so I went straight to Fury on my latest. To reverse that is a good suggestion I suppose. (Oddly, I liked Intimidator better the second go around than I did the first time) And Fury 325 blew me away. I can't wait til one of those shows up in Ohio. Please.

Btw, DON'T forget the Flying Scooters in Snoopyland. They're the original Bisch Roccos from KI and are awesome.

Have fun, I'm jelly.

Thanks for the suggestions. I look forward to visiting this park. I'm going to the race on Sunday, but it's looking like a possibility of rain. I hope the race doesn't get pushed into Monday and I end up losing a day at the park.

We went last year on a Sunday in May, and then Sunday-Monday in July. There really weren't any lines. The line for Fury was about 30 minutes at most on Sunday and about 15 minutes on Monday. It really doesn't seem like its a very high attended park overall. Hopefully you will experience short lines also.

RCMAC said:

Btw, DON'T forget the Flying Scooters in Snoopyland. They're the original Bisch Roccos from KI and are awesome.

+10! Seriously though, even Knoebels has REALLY cut down on the snapping. At Carowinds, it's welcomed and encouraged. As IF we needed encouragement... ;-P

I got some decent snaps and almost some backwards action on the Larson L.E. Eagles at CP last week. The ops were impressed.

Oh, and Brian, buddy? I got two words. Race Schmace!

Honestly, I think two days at the park is way too much. Even for an enthusiast. Monday will likely be packed but Tuesday will likely be dead. It's the fist week of daily operation. I would save money on Fastlane on Monday and play by ear. The park isn't that big. There are lots of other things to do in CLT (since you're going to the race the Hall of fame is here for NASCAR). I'm about 20 min north of the racetrack and that's why I usually head out of town Memorial Day weekend. (Traffic).

If you decide you got enough of the park there is always the Whitewater Center. And Charlotte has a lovely and very walkable uptown.

Enjoy! Fury is the poo!

We decided that we are going to stop in tomorrow night as well and try to squeeze in a couple rides. Our hotel is the next exit in Rock Hill, so it's right on the way. From the looks of the forecast, Sunday isn't looking very good for the race and the race being on Monday is a possibility. But I hope worst case scenario is the race starts late on Sunday. I know this will be a good trip regardless.

Edit: The forecast has changed for the better. It looks like they will be able to race on Sunday night now.

We stopped in and got one ride on Intimidator tonight. The park was packed, there were cars parked in the grass. But the line for Intimidator moved fairly quickly was only about a 40 minute wait. The operator announced when the last train went through the blocks and they needed to dispatch. But we had someone who did the walk of shame on our train and caused them to stack. I like how they try to push trains out. I only got one ride because it was 8:30 by the time we got there but it was worth it. I'll ride the rest on Monday (if the race isn't rained out tomorrow) and Tuesday.