Carowinds
Located on the border between North and South Carolina, near the city of Charlotte, Carowinds is home to one of the World's best coasters - Fury 325. It is owned by the Cedar Fair company who also own Knott’s Berry Farm and Cedar Point, along with several others in the USA and Canada.
As well as the magnificent Fury 325, the park hosts a range of other coasters as well as an attached water park.
Last visited May 2022
INVESTMENT
7
THRILL FACTOR
7
FUN &
LAUGHTER
6
STAFF &
FACILITIES
8
UNIQUNESS
4
VALUE
6
THEMEING &
IMMERSION
4
THOMPSONS'
RATING
6
Fury 325
BEST BITS
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There are two outstanding rides. Fury 325 is one of our favourite coasters in the World. Intimidator is also an excellent B&M hypercoaster.
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There is a good selection of places to eat and drink during the day, although none of them cater for full evening meals.
-
Having a water park as part of the park (and included within the single ticket price) is really good as it gives a much wider range of things to do.
DOWN-SIDES
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The organisation of the queues was not as good as other USA parks. Trains with empty seats were common, even when there were queues.
-
Lockers are more expensive than other parks and it is not always made clear if you need a locker or if you can leave your bag at the ride station (see our top tips).
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There are no water rides (e.g. log flumes or rapids) within the main theme park area. Obviously, there is a water park.
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There are no queue time boards and none of the rides have queue times displayed at their entrances. They are on the app, but we found that quite inaccurate.
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There are no printed park maps, although there are maps on boards within the park. It might be a bit unfair to hold this against Carowinds because most parks seem to operate like this post-Covid.
TOP TIPS
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You can get free water at any stall with a drinks machine.
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You will need to use lockers for Fury 325 and Copperhead Strike, as they are very strict on prohibiting any loose articles. Other rides have places where you can leave bags at the station.
-
We suggest getting to the park early to avoid queues, as people seem to arrive later.
Fury 325
Thompsons' overall rating 10
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
10
10
5
7
10
Intimidator
Thompsons' overall rating 9
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
9
10
5
8
9
Vortex
Thompsons' overall rating 5
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
6
4
1
4
5
Nighthawk
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
8
7
2
5
5
Carolina Cyclone
Thompsons' overall rating 2
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
6
2
1
4
4
Copperhead Strike
Thompsons' overall rating 6*
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
6
6
7
6
8
Hurler
Thompsons' overall rating 3
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
4
3
1
3
2
Windseeker
Thompsons' overall rating 3
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
5
3
1
3
N/A
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
1
6
5
3
N/A
Plants vs Zombies
Thompsons' overall rating 5
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
3
6
5
4
N/A
Afterburn
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
7
6
5
5
7
Flying Aces
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
6
5
1
4
4
Carolina Goldrush
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
3
6
3
4
5
* Copperhead Strike is rated by Hayley only
Afterburn
Windseeker
Indimidator
Fury 325
Flying Aces
Our view on the rides
By far the stand-out ride here is Fury 325. This is constantly rated as the best coaster in the World, and we can see why. It has a great mix of large drops, fast corners and buckets of airtime. It is also wonderfully smooth. Unusually, it really makes no difference where you sit - it's brilliant both front and back. Intimidator is also a really excellent ride with loads of airtime.
Carowinds' newest ride (at time of writing) is the multi-launch coaster Copperhead Strike. We're big fans of Mack Rides so we were excited to go on this. However, we've had some difficulty rating it. Hayley really liked it as long as she was sat at the front (it's too rough sat towards the back; very similar to Icon at Blackpool). For Joe the experience was completely ruined by the harness which has a bit that closes between your legs and constantly bangs on a very sensitive bit of anatomy!
The pick of the other rides is Afterburn, which is a good inverted coaster with multiple inversions. We also enjoyed the two kids indoor rides Boo Blasters and Plants vs Zombies. Although not thrilling, they are a fun way to take a break from the high-intensity coasters. Whilst some of the other coasters are okay, they're not worth a ride unless the queue is short. Carolina Cyclone and Hurler in particular are very jerky and best avoided altogether.
Having the water park within the theme park is great because it means you can transition between the two on the same day, although that requires carrying your swimwear and a towel. It also means that you really need at least two days to fully enjoy the park.
Intimidator