We're looking to make a weekend trip up to Carowinds in the next few weeks (before July 4th), and as I've never been there, I'm looking for advice! How are crowds / lines on the weekends (has to be a weekend trip, unfortunately)? Would Saturday or Sunday make much difference? Where to go first, what to do? Any likely hotels nearby? Road construction?

Thanks!

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Walk Beyond...

This probably won't be much help (I haven't been to Carowinds sicne I moved to Texas ... I really miss that place!) But I'll give it a shot ...

I've never been on a Sunday, but I can only guess the crowds would be a little lighter then. (However, if you're going the weekend of the 22nd/23rd, know that the park closes at 6:00 on that Sunday! So I would go on Saturday -- the 22nd -- if you come that weekend.) Get there a little before the park opens (it opens at 10:00, but they've always opened the gates -- and the shops -- before then.)

If you're planning on riding the Super-Saturator, ride it early in the day, because the lines get longer the later in the day you go. You don't really like water rides, from what I remember, so Rip Roarin' Rapids and WhiteWater Falls wouldn't be for you. The Powder Keg Flume (Log Ride) is loads of fun and you don't get wet at all, if you're into that sort of thing. Make sure you ride Top Gun (B&M Invert), Thunder Road (racing PTC woodie -- backwards is my favorite!), and the Hurler (wooden triple out and back with some nice air-time.) Vortex is nice (a 2-inversion B&M stand-up) but from what I hear it's nothing special once you've ridden some "bigger" B&M stand-ups. I still like it, though. The Drop-Zone (Intamin free-fall tower) is OK, but not worth a long wait. Go only if the lines are short.

I know very little about the new section they've opened up this season, except there's a new Mack Wild Mouse there. The lines for that will probably be pretty long. I hear they've torn out some of my favorite restaurants, so I don't have a lot of advice about where to eat. (If the burger joint near the Gauntlet -- "The Village Tavern", I think -- is still open, you might want to try there. The prices were reasonable and the food was pretty good -- last time I went, at least ...)

There's a really nice Comfort Inn directly across the street from the park. We've never stayed there (we lived close enough to not need a hotel when we went) but all of my friends who stayed there said it was rather inexpensive and was very nice. Here's a link to some info. on it:

http://www2.choicehotels.com/ires/en...l=SC416&int=no

Charlotte roads are always under construction, but luckily you won't have to go that far north. You'll exit on the S.C. side of I-77, if I remember correctly. "Carowinds Boulevard". At any rate, the roads should be fine.

Well, I think that's about all the advice I have for now. I hope you have a good time there! (I'm jealous! I want to go there again!! ) I'll post more if I can think of anything else. Or you can P.M. me if you'd like.

Hope this helps!!

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"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen."
-- Philippians 4:23

I'm glad to hear the Comfort Inn across the street is nice, that's where we plan on staying. Can you walk to the park from there? That's what we did for PKD and I like being able to watch the park open. We were the first ones there and talked to the employees while they got everything ready. Also, how long do Saturator lines get? I want to ride it, but was going to do all the water stuff and the waterpark in the afternoon.

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"BECAUSE someone like you cared a whole afwul lot, this park is alive where before it was not." -The Street of the Lifted Lorax, IOA

the only two lines that get annoying long are topgun and supersaturater. however i know that last season they ran only one train foward on thunder road which made the wait time so long (backwards is so much fun though). if it was me i would hit top gun early and then work my way to supersaturater, carolina cyclone, and the hurler. then vortex, lunch, top gun again, then thunder road (foward and backwards) On a slow day last season me and my buddy could hit every ride at least twice with the exception of topgun which we could hiy about 10 times (via exclusive season pass ride time) and be out of the park at 2. also note i haven't been this season and have no clue about ricochet.

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"foolish earthlings, cower before the awesome techno onslaught of nine-hundred-and-nine robots dancing in unison"