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| - Carowinds straddles the border of North and South Carolina and is an all-day drive from the DC area, but it was well worth the trip.
I visited the park on the 4th of July weekend and despite the fact that there were lots of people there, it didn't feel like the park was overly crowded. Most of the rides only took about 15-20 minutes to board, with the exception of Nighthawk.
There are plenty of coasters to ride, but there's also a number of more sedate rides and kiddie rides as well to balance it out for those who are not into flying all over the place. I didn't try the on-site water park this time around but that is on my list for next time.
This is another park that has cubbies to store your stuff when you go on the ride, and they didn't object to me carrying a Camelbak into the park, so I was able to just drink my water all day. If you want to eat at the park, you have a variety of choices, including a few chain restaurants such as Chik-Fil-A and Panda Express, along with the usual pizza and burger joints. There is also an all-you-can-eat lunch with a different menu each day of the week for about $15 a person. However, if you want to save some cash, pack a lunch in the cooler and step out to your car to eat.
The one issue I do have with Carowinds is that there is only one real road to leave the park. All traffic from all parking lots merge onto a two-lane road, so it can become a major headache when trying to leave towards the end of the day when everyone else is trying to leave. I stayed at the park to watch their 4th of July fireworks and it took about 90 minutes before I could even leave the parking lot, and that was only after they opened up the employee access road to let people leave. I hope this can be fixed in the future.
The roller coasters worth riding are Afterburn (a personal favorite), Carolina Cyclone, Thunder Road, and Nighthawk (if you're willing to wait). Carolina Goldrusher is good for those who are not into high thrill coasters. Vortex is also fun, but guys be warned, it is a stand-up coaster and the bottom part of the restraint is not so fun on the groin. The Rugrats Runaway Reptar, Fairly Odd Coaster, and Ricochet are more for the kids. If you're going to do Carolina Cobra, do it when the park opens because by design, there is only one car, so it will take longer than most other coasters that have 2-3 cars.
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