Carrowinds Amusement Park of the Carolinas Reviews

Carowinds is always a blast. We've been a season pass holder for 3 years now. Great food selection too.

As far as theme parks good they have great rollercoasters, but the park itself is a dump. It's not well maintained and the parking lot is in terrible condition. If you have been to any of the parks in central Florida going to this one kind of makes you've feel like stepped into a county fair. As for the food, other than Auntie Annie's and the funnel cake place it's aweful and way over priced. However, I'm a rollercoaster junkie so I've let some of the sub-par ammenities slide.

Kids enjoyed themselves, weather was nice, lines were short...The only reason I gave it four stars is because I went to a restaurant and ordered food to take home and I was told by staff that they were told not to give customers aluminum foil nor did they have bags in this one particular place.. Food was good

Funniest amusement park in North and South Carolina. Amazing service and best is scarowinds. I go there every year. Get scared and ride the tallest coaster there. Prices can be high, but is worth it

Waiting in line for a roller coaster that broke down twice for 3 hours sucked. At 6ish they shut down all but 3 of the major roller coasters when they are open until 11?!?!?! What a joke. Horrible experience. The 4 rides we actually got to ride were great. Otherwise they wouldn't even receive a single star. A lot of money to spend on 4 rides in a day. That's a total of 3.5 minutes of actual riding. Save your money and go to a park that is worth it and keeps their rides OPEN till the park closes.

Awesome amusement park! Plenty of rides to keep you busy all day long and they didn t disappoint not one bit

For the money we spent, we definitely won't do it again. Super expensive and not worth it.

Carowinds was fantastic. Our family had a wonderful time. The staff was helpful and patient. The Fury and Intimidator alone are worth the visit. Go and have a great time!! The Cedar Fair Platinum Passes are well worth it as you can make monthly payments and use all season long at ALL Cedar Fair Parks!! Check them out if you love their theme parks as much as our family does!!

Loved the roller coasters and the dino exhibit is a must! Great tour that only cost $5!

Fun place but prices inside the park are crazy. $12 for a slice of pizza and breadstick. $1.19 pizza from food lion taste better. $4 for a bottle of water?

Great park. They get 3 stars because they are not environment friendly. Where is all the plastic and aluminum going?

Lots of rollercoasters but not much else. 1 log ride. Some other smaller carnival rides. Needs a bigger better waterpark.

New Roller Coaster is okay. 325 Feet And The fury Is still tha ToP Dawg HomiEeee

The park has grown so much since I was little. I loved the new ride! My family and I went together and there was something for everyone. We also really appreciated that the tester seats had light indicators to let us know if people could ride.

Fun very hot disappoint bc no shows and my favorite ride gone ripe water ride bathroom s where horrible nasty piss in floor no toilet paper drinks are too much . That is insane. Prices are way too much people dont have money as we did 10 years ago .I'm coming tormw best damn be clean bathrooms an toliet paper and some shows .thank u hope hear back soon .also think waiting in line too long need speed it up . Thanks

Carowinds is a fun stop but I wouldn't reccomend it unless you have a cedar fair season pass.... Being from Ohio, the park has a really similar vibe to Cedar Point. It is a pretty small park compared to CP and the only ride that really stood out to me as a good ride was Fury. My boyfriend really liked Nighthawk but personally I think it's a little rough. Also, food and drinks are SOOO expensive. Definitely eat before you go or pack a lunch that you can eat quickly in your car. Also, bring LOTS of water. A small powerade that you could get at a gas station for less than $1 was $5. Definitely not good for the pocket when you have to buy about 10 of them just to keep your family from passing out in the South Carolina heat. Luckily, we have a drink pass with our season pass but most of the coke stands were closed. The other think that is nice is some of their lines have those fans with water and some even have a water fountain. The other thing that is kind of frustrating is that they will shut pretty much the entire park down at the slightest hint of a storm, so go on a nice day. Overall, Carowinds is a solid 8/10.

This was opening weekend and the pass holders preview event. They did not have the ice rink open, they did not have all of the special holiday snacks as they had advertised with signs everywhere through out the park and their holiday vendor section was mostly empty booths. There was also only one person working each ride so every single attraction took forever to get on and off of even though it was not busy AT ALL! I did speak with two very nice and helpful employees that helped me to understand why the vendor section was sparse and did their best to make the rest of my family's night fun which was very much appreciated. However, almost everyone else that works here is completely uninformed, unhelpful, unfriendly and has no sense of urgency in doing any aspect of their job. There is no magic holiday spirit here. (Except for those two really helpful employees I mentioned before) The park is decorated beautifully and the shows are lively and festive, but other than that, it's a bust. This park has the potential to be great, but it is run so poorly by a majority of people who really don't seem interested in even being there that it won't ever become anything more than a disappointment. I hope I'm proven wrong in the future.

People were nice
Rides were fun
Recomend hurler-short but fun

The park has evolved into a true vacation destination from being a small tiny little local theme park

Visited at Christmas time while it was decorated with Christmas decorations, very pretty.

Scarowinds was great! Really cool to walk around and get scared or watch people get scared! Took my 9 year old and at first he was nervous but then had a blast after we sat on a bench and he watched the actors scare people. Great job carowinds!

The kids love it and want to go every chance they get!

If I could describe Carowinds in one word, it would be cheap, and not in a good way either. The park has the feeling of a cheap carnival, and that's all I really have to say. Carowinds is well overpriced, but is perfect for the thrill-seeker in your family, which is why I've given it 3 stars.

Amazing place to take the kids. Even mom of 3 had the best time at the water park!! Lines are long if you dont have the fast pass. Scarowinds is awesome! It pays to have the meal plan for season pass holders. I've saved so much.

Staff was fabulous and we had alot of fun on the standing coaster and the dangle coasters.

It was great but tbh we spend most of the day trying to navigate the map. It would be awesome if they painted arrows on the ground pointing u in the direction of all the main attractions

lots of fun rides and things to do. But there are long lines and in this heat its a killer. They need more misting fans and water fountains asking the ride lines. The water park gets too crowded and not enough chairs and recliners.

Very commercialized. Staff was courteous. Worth the price paid? NO

So many new Rollercoasters. And a brand new water park.

Fun park. Early in the day and on half days, there is almost no lines!

Loved the rides especially fury 325- longest ride of all. Must try intimidators, it's really good. Vortex, first ever ride where you stand and ride. It was raining heavily and rides were still on, thank you Carowinds..it was fun.

Pretty fun but crowded since everyone around the Carolinas come here

Fun place to visit not to work.

If you work here you will be miss treated and basically come down with heat stroke.
It might have changed now but when I worked there I was constantly mistreated and not able to receive water but once in a blue mood. Left my post because I was about to pass out from heat exhaustion and got wrote up.

And if your thinking oh just bring some water from home i wish we could have but you cant bring any food or drink in from outside or i would of brought gallon water jugs.

Ready for the best part. They fired me because I let my brother use one of my free tickets you receive.

At the end of the day I would not recommend working here.
Day trips sure but just make sure that when u see a not so happy worker ask them why and I bet it will be something off the wall that can be fixed but management is lacking.

Things have changed now probably. But still that was my worst job ever still have flashbacks of puking from heat stroke.

I was 16 at the time so let that set in as well..

Our second year attending Winterfest. It is even better this year! What a great way to enjoy the holidays!

Everytime I go to Carowinds they've always got something each of my kids like. My three youngest kids LOVE it there and I really enjoy both the water park and camp Snoopy because camp Snoopy is a cute place to take my 3 year old to where he can ride all of the rides and he'll have a blast while doing so. I only have pictures of my two youngest girls and me at Carowinds right now on this phone, so I'll just post them.

Expensive place to go. You better have some money to go to carowinds. The food is expensive water is like $3 and the food is ridiculous. Eat before you go. But fun.

Great job with Winter Fest! Beautiful light displays and quality shows. The small crowds make it a great time to visit the park in the off season.

I absolutely love carowinds cause I am a huge thrill seeker. Every year I am. Excited to see what is new. Scarowinds is probably my favorite time to go cause the weather is perfect and I love to get scared!

We were planning a birthday party for our daughter and we had 9 people coming up from Georgia to surprise her and go with us. We ordered 5 tickets from Groupon and the hurricane Dorian made our friends have to evacuate a week before the party. They had to cancel and so we have our tickets and the extra ones we bought for kids to come to her party and Carowinds is refusing to reimburse us for the tickets. The customer service is not okay. It was an act of God that trashed our party... have a heart!!

Carowinds is a beautiful park- amazing rides, super clean and lots of food options! Winterfest is simply spectacular - truly a sensation and worth every penny! The annual passes for Carowinds are absolutely worth it - so very reasonable and an incredible bargain for what you get. Truly a great experience!

We always have a great time here! Plenty of fun for all ages. Always buy ahead online for best prices.

Absolutely the best place to take your kids for a week. And the campground is the bomb! My entire family love it! Can't go wrong riding the roller Coasters and other rides.

One of my family's favorite places! And we go to Disney every year.

Enjoyed our day here. Areas for everyone in the family. Last time we went we spent most of the day at the water park and then took our kids on a few rides and also did the dinosaur park. We all had a good time and look forward to our next trip there!

Great, but not enough shade!

Addition from7/27/18.
I was very surprised to find out Carowinds Starbuck closed the half of the room. The open part is incredibly unkempt, there's a piece of chewed and soft chewing gum right in one of the display sections, there are practicallyno available tables. Of people leave, nobody bothers to clean them. Chairs are higher than tables, nor enough chairs, tables are very unstable and rickety.
What can I say? Disgusting! The manager on duty on 7/27/18, one Brandon, showed up upon my request, bit couldn't fix anything by simply opening the doors. I got a spiel how it is coordinated with the attendance numbers in the park. What it had to do with to many people in the actual coffee shop is beyond me. It is a very hot day with the heat index of 102 F , and certainly not too many places to cool down. I came there with my kids to give them good time, and I was embarrassed for the place. Such disregard for customers, really? Is carowinds going to stand for it?
SHAME!

Carowinds is by far the most exciting amusement park in the area. If you get hot during the day out in the sun, I recommend you take a trip over to Harmony Hall where there is nice and cool air conditioning and a thriving food court with highly experienced chefs ready to cook up something special for you. I was served by Andrew and he offered quick and helpful service and was very friendly. The employees of Harmony hall (specifically Andrew) made my entire Carowinds experience more enjoyable because of their great attitude and charisma. They also had a band playing up on the state in there which was cool as well. Anyways, this place offers fun rides and the season pass is great because it rained but it doesn't matter since we can go back another day.

We went to the park during Spring Break and I must say that I am a little disappointed that they didn't have all the rides operating. We also purchased a park bottle where you get free drink refills through out the day and some of the refill stations were even closed. The park was well maintained though, and they have a great selection of rollercoasters.

I highly recommend going first thing in the morning on a Sunday. Not busy and we had almost no waits! The rides were crazy awesome.

If you can, get Fastpass Plus, we went on a Saturday, and we were able to ride everything, a few rides we rode twice. Fury is awesome!!! Note: if you are on the heavier side, you may want to try the line entry test seats. We watched several people be pulled from rides because they couldn't fit safely.

My experience with carrowinds was awful I drove 2 hours to get there. I waited in line for bout 45 dint know I had to have tickets! So we got in line 2 purchase tickets waited bout 20 more minutes! I had a wendy coupons for 20.00 dollars off I even had to pay 49.00 for a 4 year old! Finally went through the water park side let them kids play on the waterpark side. I kept asking the park attendant is there a kiddie side they kept sending me to the water park side! Finally we starting walking on the other side and we found the kiddie rides by that time the kids rode the rides b cuz yall shut down the park due to bad weather!

Great place to go with the kiddos. Not bad on the lines for the rides or getting in. Reasonable prices for everything. Wish parking was a little better. Very Welcoming

A lot of rides were not open. The ones that were had the slowest attendants they could possibly find. I always love Carowinds but this trip was disappointing.

Good park, could have more coasters but Intimidator, Copperhead strike and escpecially Fury 325 makes it worth a visit. Other coasters nothing special

Solid selection of roller coasters. Great newly redone kids area! Fun entertainment as well.

Carowinds Scarowinds and the Christmas time are awesome. I can not yell you about the regular park as I never get to go but I do go at Halloween and Christmas several times. : )

Love this place! Been a couple times already and had a good day every time. Highly suggest going to the new copperhead strike coster lots of fun!!!

It was a good weather and the workers were very pleasant!!

Had great time on weekday so lines where great. However Fury the fact that you cannot take bag like you do on every other ride is ridiculous. Basically you have to buy a locker in order to ride. So they should say that up front. They actually have someone at standing at the entrance so she
should have said something.

Nice place for family, only down side is food is a bit high. We ate there a place with smoked chicken and beef, food had no taste, cold, and the chicken was extremely dry. Will never eat there again will just bring food in a cooler and go to the car and eat.

Awesome park. Been a Gold Member for years. The rides are very well taken care of and the park is very clean. They are known to be occasionally short staffed, but overall excellent park, lots of fun roller coasters, and fair rides. Highly recommend for a fun family experience.

Always have a great time. Food is as expensive as ever!!! But rides are awesome.

Took a church bus of 50. We had a blast, no line waits, everyone had a great time!!

Me and my family and unfortunately I got very sick. They treated me like gold. I was vomiting weak couldn't deal with the heat. The staff took me in the kitchen and staff member Gene he gave me a cold rag for the back of the neck, gave me cold water, Powerade, watermelon. I also met Rowen in First Aid and he was so awesome.
I couldn't walk to the water park because I was so sick so Shannon Davis who works in Guest Relations. Staff drove me in a golf cart to the water. She was amazing! Than at the end of the day Secuirty picked me up with a wheel chair and than drove me to the bus. The customer service here is so AWESOME!! We went to Carowinds with my son's class as a field trip. I love the Customer Service here so much. It was a GREAT experience. Kudos

We made a spontaneous trip to Carowinds from WNC. We we're able to get discount tickets online by using codes. We we're lucky and lines were not long and we even had time to go to the water park. The park itself is well designed, safe and clean. Most of all it's a lot of fun!!

It's a great amusement park for the area. Every year they try to add a little bit more.

It's a good park, I bought a fast pass thinking that it includes admission ticket but it didn't so that kinda sucked. But overall its a good park.

Super fun! Some of the best rides and all the amusement parks I ve ever been to. I love Halloween at Carowinds, Scare-o-winds is amazing!

Had a great day there and fun riding all the rides. Its a little pricey with admission and parking and food and drinks and everything in there but me and my son had a great time here.

We had lots of fun. Enjoyed the rides with a map to navigate the park. Shopped in the souvenir shops. Ate at several eateries in the park. All top notch! Will definitely be back.

Our Family Loves Carowinds! If you're going to visit at least twice, spend the money and go ahead and get the Season Pass. It will definitely save you $$$ I would suggest purchasing the food pass as well, it pays for itself!