Still between jobs, Olivia and I were lucky enough to spend a fantastic day together at Carowinds just outside Charlotte, North Carolina. We consider this one of our two home parks (Busch Gardens Williamsburg being the other), as we live about two and a half hours east. We always love visiting Carowinds, and this time around was no different, as we were able to score a cabana rental for the day with our platinum passholder discount! Check out the video below to see all the action from our day at Carolina Harbor:
We were able to book the cabana about a week or so out from our visit, and at a price of just around $95 for the day, we decided to spring for it. This turned out to be an excellent choice, as the weather was absolutely perfect for our weekday visit, and we were able to enjoy all that Carowinds had to offer.
Our morning started bright and early in Raleigh, and with a 8am departure we were able to arrive at the parking gates just before they opened at 10:45. Parking and security were a breeze, and we were in the entry plaza in no time. We decided to head to a gift shop to grab our Fast Lane Plus wristbands, then we jumped in line for a quick ride on Intimidator before heading back to our cabana. Intimidator is a fantastic attraction, and one that is overshadowed by its taller sibling on the other side of the park. It offers great airtime and a nice smooth ride. We enjoy both the back and front on this coaster, as both provide some pretty solid airtime, while the back offers a nice yank over the first drop.
We got off Intimidator and headed straight back to Carolina Harbor to see about our cabana rental. We were one of the first to check-in for the day, and we were quickly escorted back to our cabana. It was located in the surf club section of the park near the back of the wave pool. Its an excellent location to be out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the main area, but still offers a great viewing of the park. The cabana itself has two great seating areas (w/ plenty of shade), a fridge stocked with bottled water, a lockable storage area, and even a flat screen with a DirecTV package! It really is a killer deal for the price we paid, and we were content to throw our things into the locker and head back to the dry park for a few more coaster rides.
Upon exiting the waterpark, we made a right to head for the newest themed area of the park, Blue Ridge Junction. This area houses the new for 2019 addition Copperhead Strike, and we were excited to get a few more rides under our belt. We have been to the park on two separate occasions since this ride has opened, but we’ve enjoyed it every time, so we were eager to get back on. It definitely did not disappoint, and after two rides we were both smiling from ear to ear. Copperhead Strike is not the most intense coaster around, but it is just flat out fun. The ride is comfortable and offers some pretty unique forces, including the ridiculous amount of hangtime through the inversions. It is a slam dunk for the park in my opinion, and I am thrilled to see Carowinds continue to add attractions that complement their already stellar lineup.
We continued on our counter-clockwise loop around the park and made it to the back left corner for a ride on one of my favorite inverts, Afterburn. Formerly Top Gun back in the good old Paramount days, this coaster has not lost a step from the day it was open nearly twenty years ago. I am always so impressed by how well these older B&M’s have held up over time. It is no doubt a tribute to their world class design, but also to the maintenance staff at Carowinds for keeping it running so great after all these years. Our rides today were just as good as any others, albeit just a bit longer of a wait due to a reduced crew size. No matter; we were still able to get on the front row in 15 or so minutes, and we were off the attraction in no time and heading to grab a quick drink.
We landed on Harmony Hall as our watering hole of choice. Harmony is a huge banquet hall towards the front of the park, and this would definitely be my recommendation for dining at Carowinds. At offers plenty of variety, and everything we’ve ordered has been pretty solid for theme park food. They also have a full bar and a nice large seating area, perfect for the entire family or a large group. The A/C is always pumping as well, and we certainly took advantage of it this morning. After ordering a round of adult beverages and cooling off a bit, we were back out into the park headed to the tallest attraction at Carowinds.
Fury was awaiting us at the far righthand side of the park, and we were so psyched to get back on this beast. It sits at the top of my roller coaster rankings (#5 overall), in addition to the majority of its other riders and enthusiasts out there. For good reason, as this is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. The sheer height and scale of this ride are enough to make your neck hairs tingle, and the first drop feels like its literally never going to end. This is a masterpiece of a roller coaster and we are unbelievably fortunate to have it so close to home. Our two rides in the back and front were epic as usual, and although we probably could have lapped this coaster for the remainder of the day, we had a cabana that was calling our names.
We stopped for a few more drinks on the way back to home base, but other than that we pretty much took the next few hours to chill out and relax at the cabana. We did order some lunch, and unfortunately the options for food service were slightly limited, but we were able to get a chicken finger tray that was good enough to fill us up. We spent about two hours just vegging in the lounge chairs, and it was so relaxing to sit back and watch the coasters of Carowinds go around and around. We both ended up taking a quick nap to recuperate.
After waking back up and getting our energy restored, we were ready to explore the water slides of Carolina Harbor. Although just a regional theme park, Carowinds has put a good deal of money into this waterpark in recent years. There are a decent amount of slides to choose from, and each offers a different experience from the last. We started with their newest addition, the brand new for 2021 Boogie Board Racers, a lay-down mat slide. We were pretty surprised by this one, as this relatively unassuming slide offers some great speed and an awesome racing sensation. I beat Olivia on our first trip down, so of course we had to get back in line for a second ride. It is an excellent addition to their growing slide collection.
Next up was our personal favorite, the Blackbeard’s Revenge slide tower. This tower offers 6 different experiences, 3 trap-door style slides and 3 tube slides. We did one of each type, and both rides were a ton of fun. The trap door slides are always a freaky sensation, but these are rather tame compared to some of the others we’ve been on. The free fall is not nearly as lengthy and the runout is not nearly as intense. Olivia was very thankful for this fact though, and I quite enjoyed it as well. The tube slide experience is always fun, especially since we are able to ride together in a double tube. This was pretty much the end of our waterpark time though, as Carolina Harbor closed at 5pm on this weekday in June. After our tube slide, we headed back to the cabana one last time to pack up our things.
We were, however, not done for the day just yet, as the dry park of Carowinds was open for another two hours until 7pm. After returning to the car to drop-off our bags and swimsuits from the waterpark, we were on our way back through security and into the park for one final round of coasters.
We immediately headed for another lap on Fury, but unfortunately our timing could not have been worse, as a large group clogged up the fast lane queue just before we were able to get in line. Although probably not a super-lengthy wait, we opted to skip it and head for another ride on Copperhead Strike. After another great back row ride, we had to celebrate with one more round of drinks from the newly added bar nearby. They actually have a beer on tap called “Copperhead Strike” that is an IPA brewed by a local brewery. Its quite delicious and I ordered one on multiple occasions this visit.
With just about thirty minutes left until park closing, we decided to end out our afternoon with a ridiculously intense back row ride on Afterburn, followed by a graceful and relaxing lap on Intimidator. It was a fantastic way to shut the park down, and we even hit up our favorite Italian Ice stand on the way out the gate. An absolutely perfect afternoon, thanks Carowinds!
We always love coming down to Charlotte for a visit at our home park, and this time around was no different. We are very fortunate to have such a great theme park nearby, and we can’t wait to see what Cedar Fair has in store for the future of Carowinds. Thanks again for tuning in to another trip report. Be sure to drop me a comment if you have any questions about our visit. Until next time!
– Walker
Texas-Ranger Travels 