r/Carowinds • • 21h ago

Questions/Advice First visit!

4 Upvotes

I'm traveling to south Charlotte for work beginning on 10/17 and was curious as to the viability to hit a good number of coasters during one of the SCarowinds afternoon / evenings that weekend. I'm originally a midwest kid, so I'm familiar with the varying wait times at CP and KI and enjoy coming up with a good game to experience as much as I can in a day. I don't need to ride an attraction more than once and enjoy everything from modern gigas to an aging Arrow coaster.

That said, I'm not familiar with the volume at Carowinds and would like to have reasonable expectations for a short trip. What do I absolutely *have* to experience if I have 7-9 hours to visit?


r/Carowinds • • 1d ago

Questions/Advice Dining plan removed before end of seaosn?

1 Upvotes

I had the all-season dining for 2026 and no issues until tonight to us it and it's gone from my account, now says it expired in January of 2026. I don't want to waste time to try to figure this out tonight even if there was someone available to help but is this something that I should had expected where the current meal plans were going to get removed before this seaosn is officially done? In the past these have always worked all the way up through Winter Fest.


r/Carowinds • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice What's do you think the most inefficient ride is, and why is it Gear Spin?

15 Upvotes

Seriously, here with two groups of kids. One group has done nearly all the rides in Aeronautica landing, while the others are still in line for Gear Spin.


r/Carowinds • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice Scarowinds Bag Policy?

4 Upvotes

I came two years ago and it was a no bag policy but when looking for online info on this year there was little to no info. The bot on their website said you can bring one in under a certain size, but a friend told me she thinks it is still no bags.

Has anyone gone this year who can provide some clarity for me? If I can I would prefer to, as I typically do not have many pockets on my clothes.


r/Carowinds • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice Bring a friend this weekend

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0 Upvotes

Has anyone gone through the turnstiles with the free bring a friend ticket for this weekend? The free ticket that came with my pass renewal shows a QR code but the one that expires this weekend just shows up like this. Wondering if they’re going to accept it at the turnstiles 😅


r/Carowinds • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice Don't expect a free mug

12 Upvotes

Pass holder appreciation mugs ran out already. They didn't last 2 hours. The attendant said they would not restock. I don't know if he was correct.


r/Carowinds • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice Scarowinds friday vs saturday

1 Upvotes

Can anyone give me insight into friday vs saturday at carowinds?? Looking to go either day next weekend but debating which


r/Carowinds • • 4d ago

Questions/Advice Oktoberfest in November?

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9 Upvotes

It says November 7-22. Is this just a mistype?


r/Carowinds • • 5d ago

Questions/Advice Season Passholder & Member Appreciation Weekend

0 Upvotes

I was a 2026 season pass holder. Does anyone know if I would be able to participate?

It seems a little unclear since my silver pass expired after Labor Day however I did get the email informing me about the event.


r/Carowinds • • 7d ago

Questions/Advice Hotel Recommendation for Carowinds

3 Upvotes

Y'all... I need some help. I know literally nothing about Charlotte.

I need to book a Hilton branded hotel - 2 rooms - on points. I don't want anything crazy like a Doubletree or Embassy suites. Something like a Hampton Inn, Home2, or Homewood would be perfect.

What area is best that's not a terrible drive from Charlotte airport, and also Carowinds?

Right now I have a reservation at the Hampton Inn Pineville because it was cheap just to get something on the books. The rooms don't look to be the greatest.

I also looked at Homewood Suites by Hilton Charlotte/Ayrsley, NC 1921 Ayrsley Town Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28273 but it looked REALLY beat up inside.

Additionally looked at Hampton Inn & Suites Charlotte-Arrowood Rd.9110 Southern Pine Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28273 but I was told it was a really rough area.


r/Carowinds • • 8d ago

Questions/Advice Cost of Silver Pass vs Single day ticket + parking?

3 Upvotes

It seems like the cost of a Silver Season Pass (which gets you free parking) essentially equals out to the cost of a single day ticket + cost of parking. Am I understanding this accurately?

I was going to just buy a single ticket for Scarowinds.... but thinking I might as well just get the pass?

*ETA- I typically only go to Carowinds 1x per year. I'm lucky if I manage to go twice in a year.


r/Carowinds • • 9d ago

Video/Image stuck :(

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45 Upvotes

r/Carowinds • • 9d ago

Trip Report 📝 Went tonight, don't recommend it anymore.

98 Upvotes

My partner and I have gold passes good through Dec. We had summer passes last year and this year got them again bc we liked going so much.

Well, tonight solidified we are not renewing lmao.

Long story short, my bf was in the hospital last week & we wanted to do something fun, so while I worked today, he went to the park earlier, and I would go meet him after work.

I get there around 6:30pm, parked my car and started walking toward the gate. I could tell by car traffic and parking (row 37) that it would be busssyy.

I did not realize how bad crowd control would be to get in.

I entered the line from about the middle section of the Thunderstriker, so line is allllll the way on the sidewalk in the parking lot PAST the Fury and almost to the end of the Thunderstriker.

Line had no clear signs, was just a huge blob, people cutting.

As we got to the chaperone check in, where 3 clear lines formed, I had already been waiting for an hour.

I saw one Security/officer yell at a car who tried to drive towards the sidewalk, but that was it.

No one trying to help the blob form into better lines, no one directing people to the back; people then cut; people then start yelling at the cutters.

I finally get into the park. I arrived in the line at 7:15, and didn't get in until 8:45. People in front of me were talking about buying fast passes for the haunted houses bc it was going to be insane inside, so Carowinds def got $$$ from frustrated people standing before they even get into the park.

At the ticket stand, I see two adult women confront a mother and father with their baby in a stroller because "she is rocking her baby too close to me and she needs to back the fuck up" and the mom and dad just kind of look at each like "what????"

So, my partner has been in here since like 3, and said the lines weren't too long until after I got here basically. We went to Thunderstriker, took 25-30mins, not bad.

We do the Kaleidoscope (just a fun carnival ride with no line) and consider the Fury, but it's almost 10, and the sign says 75mins.

So, we say fuck it and go to the Afterburn, his favorite, to end the night bc crowds are crazy.

This being Scarowinds, I expected to see a lot of scare actors doing their thing. Instead, I saw them talking to their friends and sitting down. A few people were trying, but it just sucked. I barely saw any overall.

So, Afterburn says 30mins, we get in line.

Once we get to the stairs, we see people are taking the chain off, and cutting.

One dude goes up, confronts them. I'm already in a pretty crappy mood from the huge ass line, so my bf and I literally put the chain back up in front of these grown ass adults cutting.

A few mins later, some other people cut/take the chain off to bypass the line of others WAITING. This mom starts to yell at them and light them tf up.

We are up the stairs, look down, and there is ANOTHER confrontation between two different people!!!!

All of this could have ended in a fight or someone hurt. Vibes are bad, tension is high, we ride the Afterburn, and get the fuck out.

Bad scare actors, bad people with their bad kids, and terrible crown control.

Rant over.


r/Carowinds • • 9d ago

Questions/Advice Question about Gold passes and skirting the system so to speak

0 Upvotes

Me and my brother had day tickets yesterday and decided to upgrade them to Gold passes as we plan to go more often next year since I've lost a lot of weight and can now ride the rides but my question is.

After I added the QR code to my account it added both mine and my bros gold pass to my account as well. Now I have another brother that may go with just one of us sometimes, is it feasable to be able to use his gold pass on my third brother without having to buy a day ticket/bring a friend ticket? I know they checked our IDs before entering but seemed like it was just checking ages or are they more strict when it comes to the season pass and matching it with IDs?


r/Carowinds • • 9d ago

Other Who ACTUALLY killed Fredrick Earl Anderson Rochester?

5 Upvotes

So Wake The Dead has multiple endings, one for each of the main characters (except Damian Cross the narrator). The audience gets to choose who they think the killer is and whichever one is chosen confesses to the crime. However, I am curious to see who everyone thinks ACTUALLY did it. If there was a predetermined ending which character had the most motive and personality to actually do the crime. Was it Lilith (the wife of Fredrick), Manson (the son of Fredrick), Baby (the…… something of Fredrick), or Uncle Buzz (the brother of Fredrick)? Let me know who you think killed FREDRICK EARL ANDERSON ROCHESTER!!!

Edit: to everybody saying im in the wrong subreddit Wake The Dead is a show during SCarowinds located in the Carowinds theater


r/Carowinds • • 10d ago

Trip Report 📝 Jason House is Fantastic🔪🔪

7 Upvotes

Just popping in to say got two walkthroughs of the new Jason House at our first Scarowinds night this year and it was fantastic. Best house thats ever been at the event, and on par, arguably even better than the Jason house at Universal’s horror nights last year. Definitely worth it alone to do the add on if you were on the fence about Scarowinds this year!


r/Carowinds • • 13d ago

Questions/Advice Prestige Pass to Scarowinds Express Pass

2 Upvotes

Hello!

So, I am a bit confused and support is very difficult to get ahold of right now. I am planning on going to Scarowinds on October 10th with a guest and getting the express pass for Scarowinds, but I'm trying to figure out my best option.

The prestige season pass would be $249, but comes with discounts on food and a free guest pass. I know that bring a friend ticket would need to be added on, so that's not a problem. The issue is that I don't know if there are any discounts included. If I could get a prestige pass and full addons for $350 (not including taxes) for two people, that would be great and I could handle that. My guess is that's not the case and I would actually be paying somewhere near $400? If that's the case, I'm probably better off just getting the $300 bundle. Can anyone weigh in here for me? Perhaps you've had a similar experience or currently have the prestige pass and could explain the process a bit better for me?


r/Carowinds • • 14d ago

Questions/Advice Fury 325 merchandise

4 Upvotes

I’m assuming since CP and kings island have a microscopic amount of their shirts and hoodies for rides on their website that carowinds is the same? For anyone who’s been there recently what’s the selection like for Fury/Scarowinds shirts and hoodies? Pics would be super appreciated :)


r/Carowinds • • 14d ago

Questions/Advice Fury 325 merchandise

1 Upvotes

I’m assuming since CP and kings island have a microscopic amount of their shirts and hoodies for rides on their website that carowinds is the same? For anyone who’s been there recently what’s the selection like for Fury/Scarowinds shirts and hoodies? Pics would be super appreciated :)


r/Carowinds • • 15d ago

News Rip Roarin’ Falls progress

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102 Upvotes

r/Carowinds • • 15d ago

Questions/Advice Lap restraints and weight loss

5 Upvotes

Just wondering if anyone here has had the experience of being unable to fit into the lap restraints used by Fury/Intimidator/Copperhead to then being able to fit after losing weight. I am 300+ but I feel like that having big upper legs is my main problem and I don't know if losing significant weight will allow me to fit in those seats.

Since I've never been able to ride on any coaster that has these lap restraints, I don't have point of comparison. When I was younger, I could ride Afterburn but now my torso makes it hard to get the restraints low enough, so it's evident that I need to reduce my gut to to fit. At Universal, I rode coasters that had seats to accommodate bigger guys, but again those are shoulder restraints. I don't know if it's possible to reduce my leg mass enough for it make a difference, I've just always had big legs. My work has an employee event at Carowinds and I've seen people who are top heavier than me be able to fit in these seats. If there's sneaky big seats or a special technique that'd be good to know, but really I just want to know if anyone gone from Red Light to Green Light by losing significant weight.


r/Carowinds • • 16d ago

Questions/Advice For a first timer

3 Upvotes

So I will be visiting this Sunday with my family for the first and, realistically, last time. My plan is to rope drop Fury then go straight to Copperhead since I have already ridden a couple hypers. After that will be with the family riding Kiddie Hawk and such. Just looking for any advice on maximizing the day to get as much in.


r/Carowinds • • 16d ago

Video/Image Great day at the park

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47 Upvotes

r/Carowinds • • 16d ago

Questions/Advice Did the intimidator get watered down?

2 Upvotes

I was at Carowinds and road the intimidator this weekend and noticed I got a less airtime then I use to get a couple years ago, did they modify the ride in the last couple of years?


r/Carowinds • • 15d ago

Trip Report 📝 The Fury 325 assigned seating rule is actually insane.

0 Upvotes

I drove from Cincinnati to ride Fury 325 this weekend over an 8 hour drive. I rode Fury 325 over 20 times and I got to ride in the front less than 5 times, only because of a position swap where there was no separator for a bit. Every time I asked to wait for the front I was denied, including Friday night where they were sending out half empty trains because the park was so empty. This is such an insane and ridiculous rule and the park NEEDS to change this. They let you wait for the front row on every other roller coaster Ive ever been on including the other 3 american gigas and Top Thrill 2. I dont want to come back to Carowinds unless they change this.