Best family theme park in the south!
We took the whole family to Carowinds for Labor Day weekend and will be reliving the fun memories for years to come. I grew up in SC and went to Carowinds a lot as a kid, and now living in Orlando it's hard to beat the Disney parks, but revisiting this childhood dream brought it all back.
We bought two-day passes at the gate (it's only an extra $5 to go a second day) for a big group of 3 adults, 2 teens and 3 little kids. Our strategy was to do all the rides on Day 1, and spend Day 2 in the water park. Carowinds has so many rides, everybody in the family got to do what they wanted. The little kid rides (aka "Snoopy land" to us) was amazing and had some of my favorite rides, including the spinning pirate ships & the gliders that you pilot on your own.
The only downside to Carowinds is that the food is expensive inside the park and they have almost no vegetarian options, but no worries - there's a Bojangles just outside of the park. We saw a bunch of families tailgating in the parking lot so we took a break on Day 2 to grab a couple buckets of chicken & side dishes, and had a fun little picnic in the shade in the parking lot. I also recommend the McDonalds outside of the park for a quick cheap meal or ice cream.
My best advice for kids: MEASURE THEIR HEIGHT ahead of time because the ride operators are very strict about 42 inches vs. 44 inches, etc. and we saw a bunch of little kids cry that they couldn't ride the Rip Roarin' Rapids at the last minute. Also recommend getting the refillable cups - it's a good value if you're there for two days, and they will refill with ice water for free.
Hope your family has as much fun at Carowinds as we did!