Carrowinds Amusement Park of the Carolinas Reviews

It's a good sized park. They try to make money in lots of ways once you are in the park, but it is still a good experience.

What to say other than Great... This Winterfest was excellent and the talent they hire always making sure the kids where happy and having fun... They mingle with kids,talk, dance and specially listen to them. Great environment...

Enjoyed family & rides. The Intimidator was exciting with Breyona, my daughter!

*Cough* I love it when I go to Panda and they don't have the great walnut shrimp and they don't have taps for there drinks and don't serve chopsticks

Season passes are the way to go. Great service and people working here. Only downfall is eateries who close when they want. Even manager said some close at 9, 930, and some not till 10. How is that a known fact, as we have the dining plan too? Still, great times and look forward to many more.

Visited the Scarowinds and had a blast, recommend keeping a phone as its an event at night and easily get separated from your group. Even while lost it was fun. Loved all of the haunted houses and the characters walking around. Can't wait to return next Halloween.

Great rides, nice and helpful emoloyees. We are passholders and have been for years.

This is the absolute best amusement park I ve ever been too. The bathrooms are clean, the prices are responsible. The rides are very well maintained, as well as the grounds. Lots of awesome roller-coasters!! Not to mention the water-park is a blast!! Get a season pass it s well worth it, especially if ur military. Plus you get added discounts throughout the park.

Very good place to have fun with your family they have rides and water park and they sale stuff and food and bathroom and wheel chairs and baby s.and much more

It s not Disney World.

My family has a season pass because it s so close to home. As far as roller coasters and thrill rides go, this park has a lot to offer. I grew up working out and going to Paramount s Kings Island in Ohio. This is easily on par with that.

New this year is Winterfest . I wouldn t spend the money to go here if I didn t have a pass though.

We get the season passes with parking ,drinks and meals. I'm looking forward to taking on the Copperhead !!!! Great place for all ages. We take 3 generations, we love it.

I went to visit Scareowinds. It was beautifully decorated and the actors costumes were really nice. There were so many different attractions to visit. You can purchase a "no scare" necklace if you don't want to be bothered by the actors. There is A LOT of fog/smoke (so if you have asthma, I would pass). The coaster wait times are 40-60minutes. In a 5 hour period (7pm-12am) it only gives you time to realistically ride 4. The food is extremely over priced and not good. That was the only downside. Buy your tickets online to get them much cheaper. All the actors/employees I encountered were friendly and helpful. The shows were neat and engaging. I will definitely be coming back.

A lot of people ofcourse but other than that great time lines moved faster than i thought it would being as though it had 3 roller coasters moving.

Perfect size for amusement. The park is well organized and there is no need to wonderful around looking for the next ride, the property maximizes the space for each. Lots of thrills, well maintained and perfectly priced.

A lot of fun! If you're close enough to go more than twice, definitely get a season pass!

Get there before it opens for good parking. Great place for the family, and they are adding on. If you plan on going to Carolina Harbor bring water shoes or flip flops, the sidewalks are ridiculously hot.

Went online and checked to see how tall my kids had to be to ride the rides. Measured them myself and when we got to the park they wouldn't let my daughter ride half of the roller coasters. They need to teach their employees how to read a measuring tape and get rid of the sticks because they are no marked properly.

Very fun place to be could use more drink stands and the food and drink prices are sky high but a good time

Brought the parking, admission, and a meal ticket. It was really nice. Love Furry 325....it was so much fun. I will be going again!!!

It was my first time going. And i absolutely loved it :)

The experience was so exciting and children will love it.
Sometimes they do dollar days where certain things are only a dollar...WITH NO TAX

This was a great place to stop during our vacation!! They have some great rollercoasters and plenty of things for none coaster people. Park for the most part is clean, didn't see anything gross. The day we went there were almost no lines even on the big coasters, we road the fury 325, 3 times in about 20min!!

Love putting my season pass to good use! Always a fun day!

The best coasters in the Southeast. Also, I lost my cell phone on the Fury 325 and they found it and sent it back to me. I had to pay for shipping. You can't buy service like that. I much appreciate all the staff that made that happen. They saved me a huge amount of trouble. Highly recommend.

Biggest fastest and longest giga on the planet....great cedar fair park....only 7.5 hrs away from kings island ! Great water park to cool off in!

Great family park. Something for everyone. A great place to play. Very reasonable season passes, with parking included

This place is AWESOME, I've got 2 babies, 8m & 27m, & they LOVE this place...the water park side & snoopy town is GREAT for kids, small children, toddlers & babies...theyve got plenty to do for everyone!!!!! Wonderful place, & season tickets r WONDERFULLY priced & SOOO worth it especially if u live in the area!!!

It is so much fun! I love it so much! Definitely go with a friend!

Only theme park within day trip so that is a plus. If you take advantage of the unlimited refill season cup, $30, beverages are reasonable and the hike back to the car for lunch is easy. Showing up early keeps you from hitting the biggest lines but in 2 trips this summer there have been multiple rides down each day for extended periods. PRO TIP: enter the park early and go right, the majority of the crowd goes left so you can hit more rides faster. The Fury 325 is awesome, as good as anything at Universal Studios.

Roller coaster lovers will definitely enjoy the many thrilling and heart stopping coasters Carowinds has to choose from. Kids 48inches and up have a variety to choose from, but until they reach 54inches they cannot ride everything. There is a fun kids area with rides that made me nauseous but my kids loved. The reason I gave it four stars is because while I feel admission prices are fair for what you get, everything beyond that point is outrageous. They charge so much if you want fast passes, like I refuse to spend $65 just to skip lines for one day. Then you have some fast food restaurants like Chick fil a, Starbucks, etc., and their prices have been raised considerably that you are forced to spend around 10 to 15 dollars a person to eat. That's fine in a sit down atmosphere just not for fast food. My only other complaint is the amount of ride technicians or lack of training. In certain rides the line built up because there was only one tech and they insisted on seating everyone one by one and in the end they were still leaving whole rows empty. Or in other rides, they have to go around and lock everyone's safety bar/belt and it takes a while with only one tech. With more techs running the rides, or better training, they could improve wait times and make things more enjoyable. Overall, it is a very clean park, bathrooms are air conditioned and it's a nice walk from ride to ride.

Disney or Universal its not. This is a cross between a theme park and a state fair. There are a number of roller coasters and thrill rides that are ok to good. Its somewhat dirty. The food is not very good and expensive if you are not doing the meal plan : the pictures quesadilla which was awful was $15. The Ultra was $10. Waited 25 minutes in a line to get a lemonade but ended up having to give up as the line barely moved. Given that they have no competition it does get packed and thats probably the ticket. We did attend the engineering talk and thats probably the only highlight of the day.

Awesome fun and adventure. Lot of water and non water rides. Lot of options for kids . Must go location for kids as the become more strong and adventurous .

i think that carowinds is a realy good place to go in the summer with your familey.i think the food is realy good and they are realy nice.

Great place to hang out with friends and family and have fun at the same time. I want there last week with my boyfriend. And most of the rides were closed and the water Park .they really need to hire more people so everything will be open when people go

Love this place! Lots to do for a reasonable price.

Fun park! We will definitely continue to get the fast lane plus tickets .... The best way to ride all the rides in a short amount of time

Absolutely amazing. 100/100 recommend Intimidator and then Fury 325

Check the website for random closures of the water park!! We drove hours to get to this park and the water park was closed?! It was 98 degrees, no water park and the lines at the theme park were over an hour. We went mid-May, Tuesday... so we thought it would be a good day but since it was low volume they had less cars running and it was a disaster! Horrible service, unhelpful and so not worth the trip. We reminded a refund.

Lots of rides but lost a lot of the cool older ones. Concrete all over, carnival style food....(Spoiled by Busch Gardens)....Tween/Teen paradise - hot as 50 Hells in the summer BUT they have an attached water-park but C-R-O-W-D-E-D...Other: They do allow tailgating, so you can save a lot on food and save your guts, bring a big cooler and a grill!....They do a great job at Halloscream in October - very cool

Totally worth spending a whole day. One of the best amusement parks in the south east

Staff was rude when they even were paying attention to you, the souvenir cup wasnt available anywhere, and if it was, then they didnt have the drink that went into it. Top it all off, the "gem mining" was a bag of candy and a throw away doll and the worker refused to answer me about if they actually get something related to gems despite me asking directly 4 times leaving 2 thirsty and very disappointed young boys. We go often...think it will be a long time before we go back.

Great rides with very little wait even though the park was very busy,

Great times spent at Carowinds. Rides for people of all ages and sizes. Plenty of food options. Weekdays aren't as crowded and lines short, but soon they will only be open weekends and select nights. Only downside is food costs. Prices are double, at minimum, than you would pay outside park. Nice to have option to purchase large refillable drink cup. Ice water free. Plenty to do, ride, eat and see here. Also have great water park.

Had a great time. There's something to do for everyone young and old. A great family, friendly place!

All I can say is season passes, season passes, thank God for season passes. The best water park I've ever been to. They have something for all ages. The water park is included in the pass so you can enjoy the entire park in one day. I prefer to do one or the other which is a perk of having the passes. I also enjoyed the option to upgrade the souvenir bottles to unlimited drinks. Very much needed if you are gonna stay all day. Thank you Carowinds for making my summer enjoyable.

Had a wonderful time and made some great memories with our grandchildren.

We're in the woods, it quiet & peaceful. The staff is a~mazing.
The cleanest restrooms I've ever been in. Good spacing between RV's too.

I have a blast every time we visit. Feel super lucky that this park is close by and is such a fantastic coaster destination!

It was hot , very hot and the line for the rides are longgg but it was fun while it lasted.

Winterfest exceeded my expectations! We have kids with age range from 5 to 17 and they all enjoyed it.

It's a fun place to have fun with family and friends. It's a little pricey for some, but the rides, food and games are great.

Winterfest 2019 was beautiful
Even a few roller coasters were open!

Loved the rides and food! Great place for the family.

There was no lines at all! I had a really great time here. I don't recommend going before or on holidays, though. We drove 4 hours and it was worth it! I really recommend this place to people who love coasters. There is a big variety of rides and everything is close together. It's very handy. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience!

Nice park but lines can be ridiculously long. We waited 1hr 45 minutes for a single ride on the Carolina Corkscrew. Awful.

Always a fun time . Sometimes over crowded but to be expected.

This place is so amazing and to enjoy here at full potential of this place, get a gold season pass. Enter early, enter several times, free parking, discounts on food and souvenir, free movies, free entry to special events. My kids were happy and so am I.

It's a really nice place for bigger kids/adults, not really a lot of rides for smaller kids. The smaller kids I saw ALL looked hot and frustrated bc there's not a lot of activities for them. On the contrary the bigger kids(11 years..if tall.. and up) were having a blast! I deducted 2 stars bc EVERYWHERE I stopped to shop or get food ( except the spray paint hat/shirt and henna stations) the people were very rude and never smiled.

It's always great. Staff is nice. The kids have fun and they offer so much in 1 spot than anywhere around.

We're so lucky to have such a family friendly park so close to us! I it's a perfect day trip. The park is large enough that you can fill a day and small enough that you don't feel like you're not going to take it all in. The kids area is awesome and there is plenty for the coaster enthusiast. We didn't visit the water park area the last time, but you could also send your whole day there. It was easy getting in and out, even with the security check. Food and drink pricing is pretty much what you would expect in any park... or movie theater... But what we ate was tasty and didn't feel like packaged food. It was an all around great experience!

It has been a little over a year since I have last been to Carowinds; the theme park that is famed as still being the only theme park in America to fall with part of it spreading across two states. Since then, some things have changed for the better, and some are still matching what I remember.
I love that Carowinds is really beginning to push consumers towards the use of their app! While walking around the park, I noticed so many guests using paper maps of the park, while I used the map within the app. Not only did it give me GPS-style walking directions, but it moved with me so I would not lose my place on a paper map. The app also provided me with wait times. These were not as accurate as I have seen at other parks, but it is nice to see Carowinds moving with the times and looking at bigger parks such as Disney World as a model for how to provide customer service and help with consumer needs. My only issues with the app were the constant reminders that I could get a season pass. Yes! I get you! For just over $100 I can get a Gold Pass with unlimited visits for 2019 and 2020! Yes, I am aware I can pay all at once or make monthly payments! If I wanted it, I would have bought it 13 reminders ago! Thanks though!
Being a history-buff I have always had a soft spot for "The Hurler." I love how it is the red-headed stepchild of the park, but is still hanging in there as an attraction! The ride was quite fun, although please for the love of God, get some more padding in the seats! I know it is historical, but hours later I have 4 bruises on my left thigh from it hitting the side of the car! The ride is a blast, but the pain kinda puts a damper on the joy in the moment!
I highly recommend getting there about 15 minutes before park opening. I arrived through security right as the National Anthum ended. The park opened at 10. By 11 I had ridden "Nighthawk," "The Intimidator," and "Fury" and was next in line at "Hurler." I also suggest going to "Nighthawk" first as it tends to break down as the day goes on. The other two rides tend to have a staggered opening and they open them a few minutes later. Today I rode "Nighthawk" first and then waited 2 minutes before they opened up "The Intimidator." I got on the second car. By then I walked to "Fury," got a locker, and was the fourth car on it as it opened third.
Overall, I enjoyed my trip greatly. I ended up with a migraine and had to leave early but by 1:10 pm I had ridden 9 rides, shopped in 3 locations, and eaten the BBQ at Harmony Hall (SO YUMMY!). The crowds began picking up by that time and the app showed most rides either closed or with 40+ minute waits. I took that as my sign to head for the hills! Visiting the first Sunday in October before a "Scarowinds" event turned out to be a great plan and if I did not live four hours away, I would definitely come back more often!

First time attending Winterfest and it was wonderful. Fun night out with my daughter, will do it again!

Very clean park. No shows the day i was there that's why I'm giving it a 4 star. Plenty of smoking sections. So awesome you can be in 2 states at 1 time as the park is in both SC and NC

Customer service is awful. Good luck if you have to call.

Lots of fun rides for my son (4 years old) and lots of fun coasters and other rides. The water park is also great, especially for those super hot summer days. Food is good and price is comparable to Disney world. Staff is friendly and accommodating.

I enjoy taking my daughter here every chance I get. We have a great time. It has gotten pricey over the last few years. We don't go as often as we like since they no longer honor tickets for families.. only for the active duty soldier... well the soldier is not always present.

My husband and I love going here alone or with our 2 children. It's so much fun with so much to do. We really enjoyed the Winterfest this year. Hope they continue to do this every year.

Great attractions, fun for the whole family and remarkably great staff.

Lines were long but it was peak season. We rented a cabana, definitely worth the money!

Love love love Carowinds! It has become such a wonderful park. Love it all year long. Great amusement park.

It's a good place for the entire family big water park plenty of rides

OMG!!! It was so fun I would totally go back again I would recommend it to anyone for a place to have fun with family and friends

Great rides and small lines. The layout is confusing at times, as it is easy to get stuck walking towards something only to find at a dead end.

The parking was decent. The price of tickets were affordable. The perks associated with a season pass we're attractive. I really enjoyed my time and would go back.

Not enough burger kid friendly eatery's. Very limited shaded seating. Good trip. Parking is awful.

This place is very Overrated...Long lines 45 mins. To hour wait....Rude people running the rides....Cost of 1 beer is $6.00