Carowinds Advice and crowds

[ohiocolts]

My family is going to Myrtle Beach for spring break, and on the way we are probably going to Carowinds, even though we don't have a season pass. We are probably going to Carowinds on Sunday, April 1st, which is the 2nd day of operation, and April Fool's day. Does anybody know how bad the crowds will be that day? I'm not sure because Kings Island is never open on the day after opening, for a private event. I'm planing on riding Afterburn, Hurler, lots of others, and of course Intimidator. Also, does anybody know if WindSeeker will be open for opening day?

[kingsrattler]

For both questions, weather will probably be a huge factor. Cold and cloudy versus Warm and sunny will create two different experiences. As far as I can find, the only date on WindSeeker is "Spring 2012" which covers a span of almost 3 months of operation. I would plan on it not being open, and if it is, will be a nice pleasant surprise.

[ohiocolts]

Thanks, and if it's stormy, we might not go. If there's just off and on rain, we'll probably go. On WindSeeker, I was just wondering, because I'm not during to ride it, considering I've rode it before at KI.

[kingsrattler]

^ Just because the rides are the same, does not mean they give the same experience. I rode both CP's and KI's WindSeeker this past year, and its two completely different rides. Is the structure, and ride path basically the same? Sure. But the view of Ohio's rolling hills, compared to the view of looking over Lake Erie give you two completely different rides.

[gad198]

Crowds on Sundays at Carowinds early and late in the season are usually quite lovely no matter the weather. The only day that you'd be wise to avoid early in the year there is the Saturday before Easter, but outside of that the crowds likely won't be that bad even if it's really nice outside (which it has been for our last few visits). It seems as though Carowinds crowds don't really start picking up until the waterpark opens. Sundays are also nice in that people won't start arriving in larger numbers until around 12:30, so if you're there at opening you should have smaller queues for a few hours.

I'm sure that Carowinds is hoping to open up WindSeeker along with the rest of the park, but as kingsrattler replied I'd look at it as a bonus ride if it is indeed open at that time.

Just a few other quick thoughts...

* there's a really good snack stand in Planet Snoopy called the Snack Bar. The chicken tenders they offer at that stand are among the best amusement park food I've had. I'd highly recommend a stop there

* make sure if you want to ride Nighthawk that you do that right at opening. I can't stress this enough. Even on very slow days there Nighthawk will have a 30+ minute wait, so get this out of the way first (by way of example, we went on an extremely slow October Sunday this past year and as long as you didn't want the first two or last two rows on Intimidator then you could walk right on. Nighthawk was still sporting a 45 minute wait)

* Afterburn won't get a line until close to noon. If you're essentially on a mission to ride everything there then you may want to wait to ride that until you get on some other low capacity attractions first (Boo Blasters, the Flying Eagles, etc.)

[ohiocolts]

Thanks, and I remember my last trip to Carowinds, nighthawk was like an hour and everything else was less than 10 minutes.

[kingsrattler]

The two days I went Nighthawk was closed

[pkiboy]

I highly recommend going to Nighthawk first for one your going to wait longer because it does not have a dual load station like Firehawk!! Timmy never has a line its always a walk on when i go to Carowinds for food go to Carolina Corn Dogs its the only Cedar Fair park that sells Footlong corn dogs on a stick and OMG they are out of this world!! right across from Ricochet and next to Carolina Cyclone!!

if you feel like leaving the park for food there are some very good nearby restaurants hop on 77 north get on the bypass 485 east go about 5 miles get off the 3rd exit its called the carolina place mall Sticky Fingers Best BBQ in the entire world you get 12 different choices of BBQ sauce makes Famous Daves look Tasteless!! or if you want really good pizza turn right out of Carowinds head towards Thunderroads Turnaround great photo ops BTW, keep going down about 8 miles till the road ends forgot the shopping malls name but there are a ton of good food choices there is a pizza place next to the Starbucks its good pizza

have fun Make sure you get your hand stamp. Carowinds will not let you back in if you dont get your hand stamp even if you are a season pass holder just ask Terp on that one!! wish i had a few nickels for the GM of the park but noooo only had Pennies at the time

[ohiocolts]

Thanks, and footlong corn dogs sound great! So, Intiminator is like Diamondback, with great capacity? And afterburn has good capacity too? And if we do leave for lunch or something I WILL get a hand stamp, because you have to at KI to.

[ohiocolts]

Does anybody know If season pass holders get in early like at KI? If so do you know what rides?

[kblanken]

Does anybody know If season pass holders get in early like at KI? If so do you know what rides?

http://www.carowinds.com/public/admission/passes/pass_benefits.cfm

This also makes it look like they don't expect WindSeeker open until May 28.

First in Line Access

• Enter the Victory Lane midway 15 minutes early to be the first in line for Intimidator, Nighthawk or the NEW WindSeeker (valid May 28 - August 12, 2012)
  

Early Entry to the 20-acre Boomerang Bay™ waterpark

• Enter Boomerang Bay waterpark at 10:30am to select your favorite location for the day (May 28 - August 12, 2012). PLEASE NOTE: Waterpark attractions and other stands open at 11:00am.
  

[pkiboy]

Thanks, and footlong corn dogs sound great! So, Intiminator is like Diamondback, with great capacity? And afterburn has good capacity too? And if we do leave for lunch or something I WILL get a hand stamp, because you have to at KI to.

The only thing thats the same is the seating. Timmy and DB are 2 different Hypers and Timmy is a Front seat coaster vs DB is a backseat!! but like you said if you are going early in the season expect no lines at all!! Have fun!!

[Rustbucket]

The only thing thats the same is the seating. Timmy and DB are 2 different Hypers and Timmy is a Front seat coaster vs DB is a backseat!! but like you said if you are going early in the season expect no lines at all!! Have fun!!

Well, I do not quite agree with seating but you are right. DB and Timmy 232 are quite different. DB is more like Behemoth. Timmy 232 is more like Nitro. I love the right side of Timmy 232.

If you are going on opening Sunday, do not expect a big crowd. Two years ago (the opening weekend for Timmy), I rode Timmy 25 times in 2 hours. Last year, I rode Timmy 16 times and Afterburn 10 times in 3 hours. You get the idea.

Like everyone said, Nighthawk is a long wait. Most of the time, they only run one train. The season pass holders get into the roped area about 15 minutes early but no early ride. If you have a platinum pass, make sure to get to season pass parking.

[ohiocolts]

Thanks, and after reading everything can I assume the only ride on April 1st with a more than 15 minute wait should be nighthawk? I wonder if the ride ops will do any jokes on that day like "Enjoy your ride on the only coaster in the world where you go through 10,000 feet of fire and into the pacific ocean, Hurler!" or "Have fun on the smallest coaster in the world, the 1 inch 0.02 M.P.H. Intiminidator!"

[ohiocolts]

Leaving to Charlotte today, and it's looking like WindSeeker should be open! And, a strange thing, at KI, I ride WindSeeker on the 2nd day of operation. (3rd ride, 2nd day) Its looking like I'll get to ride WindSeeker on its 2nd day of operation at Carowinds to! So yeah, I'm excited!