Help trip planning (Carowinds, KD, BGW)

I’m planning a trip this summer to Carowinds, KD, and BGW. I currrently have a Dorney Park gold pass that i will upgrade to a Platinum. The other person traveling with me has a gold pass. We think based on our plans, only one of us should upgrade (and we are picking me since i live closer to Dorney and will likely Also put a meal and drink plan on my pass, travel companion doesn’t live close enough to make meals worthwhile). Based on current plans, we could probably depart for this on 6/16 (Saturday), but will probably leave that Sunday. We’re leaving from near Dorney Park (mapping says 8-9 hours to Carowinds from my house). I’m thinking of leaving Sunday morning and driving to Carowinds first. We’d then spend Monday there, and i think sleep there Monday night. From there, i think our next stop would be leaving Carowinds Tuesday morning after rush hour, and heading to BGW. We’d go there Wednesday, then i think drive Wednesday night to KD. Thursday would be KD. I’m hoping that if KD and or Carowinds are getting any Cirque shows, they will be open that week, as i think we may be stuck with that one now. Some other members of my family may drive down and meet us for KD and or BGW. I could probably push back a week, i don’t think the person I’m going with is able to do that.
Any hotel recommendations in the area? I may bring a dog with. I have used the kennels at BGW and KD before, this would be our first time to Carowinds. Any reason i should change my order? We typically get to the park first thing in the morning when we travel, and we’re often lined up to get into the parking lot before it’s open.
Alternately, i could possibly be convinced to go to Ohio to KI and CP, but I’ll probably make that for another year.

There is NOTHING around KD except a couple hotels across the road, a Burger King, a gas station, and a KOA campground. Having said that, the LaQuinta across the street was pretty nice. KD offers a shuttle to the hotels and KOA. Was hoping to check out the KOA this spring but the wife squashed that. The BK sucks.

We also stayed at LaQuinta for Carowinds, it was VERY nice. Nicest hotel bed I’ve slept on in years. Very nice pool. About a 10 minute drive to the park.

Just a heads up, Carowinds to Kings Dominion took us a lot longer than Google said and it took us through some real backwoods areas. And I-95 is a nightmare.

As for Dorney Gold => Platinum Passes, looks like the difference is about $90. That’s gonna pay for itself with a ticket to KD and a ticket to Carowinds. Add in free parking, 10% discount on food & Merch, and early entry while you’re at a road trip park for only 1 day, I would say that’s the way to go. Tell your friend to suck it up and get the Platinum Pass. The early entry for Fury 325 and Twisted Timbers are a big perk.

Oh, she has no issue getting the platinum if that’s going to be the cheaper way to go. We were just figuring that with the usual discounted tickets they sell, we weren’t sure if it was worth it for us to both have it. Tickets to KD and Carowinds purchased right now through their websites are $45 and $46. Obviously we don’t want to buy this early since we’re not local just in case for some reason we can’t go, but presumably some coupon will be available during the season, or we can get tickets from AAA. We’ll use my pass to do parking and any purchases we might want to make while we’re there
I’m figuring on the drive between Carowinds and the next stop on an off day since that’s a long and potentially unpredictable drive time.

There are a lot of hotels near Carowinds. What’s your hotel budget like?

As for hotels for the BGW and KD portion, I’d suggest staying in a hotel near where 95 and 295 intersect. There’s a lot of options. That’s what I usually do since coming back from BGW there’s not quite as far to go yet it’s still close to KD.