[XoCIEoX]

I haven't been to Carowinds since last August. With having 3 kids, and a husband that works nights, constantly, it is quite difficult to make the time. Around 11pm last night, I texted my hubby at work and suggested we take the hour trip to visit the park. I was lucky enough to get tickets for $30.75 each, using a coupon code that I bought on eBay for $1. (We have never done season passes, due to not knowing when and if we will get to go)

We arrived around 11am....later than what we wanted, but my hubby was tired from working all night before. First off, I was disgusted at the $12 parking. I guess they have to make thy extra money somewhere! I was very surprised to see so few cars in the lot on a Friday. Things were looking up! There were no lines at all at the gate, so we got to walk right in, after my bag had been searched. ( I beeped because of suntan lotion.....but you would have thought it was a bomb)

We had left our 19 month old with her grandparents, but we had our 2 sons, ages 6 and 8. We had them measured and banded, and they were able to ride anything for 48 inches.

First off it was Gr8 Sk8.... And it took forever for the ride to start because we had to wait for more riders. ( Not bad, since we got to walk right on, but it was 92 degrees today) Of course the kids loved that ride....as did I, because I remember it as the Gauntlet when it was first put in.

The rest of the day was a blur. The boys had so much fun on so many rides. They even conquered Carolina Cyclone for their first time.

So as not to bore anyone, I will list the ride, and tell my thoughts......

Hurler- My all-time favorite....it was a walk on all day, and we even got to ride multiple times without having to get back in line. I can honestly say that it was a MUCH smoother ride than what I remember in the past...although after 10 times or so, one can only leave with a headache.

Thunder Road- Wow...I remember it to be a much smoother ride, however we were pretty banged up after riding it a few times. It was also a walk-on, and we rode multiple times without getting out of line.

Carolina Cyclone- The boy's first "loopy" coaster....yes, that was their name for it. My 6 year old was a bit scared at first, but after I pointed out the Stan Mikata's guy resting off to the side, they had to ride it over and over. It was also a walk-on with multiple rides.

Boo Blaster's- Went here just to get some ac, but we were pleasantly surprised that most everything inside was working. There were also many changes since our last visit, and we had a blast.

White Water Falls- My hubby and I didn't want to get soaked, so the boys rode alone, over and over. My biggest complaint was that the water had a horrible smell, and my kids stunk most of the day.

Action Theatre- Ok.....is anyone else tired of Spongebob yet????

Rip Roarin Rapids- My hubby and I still wanted to be dry, so we rode, only because last year we rode multiple times, and never got a drop of water on us. Boy, were we wrong! Nice surprise of the water cannon!

We had such a great time, and the boys weren't ready to leave. The staff was very friendly, however one guy did say something a bit out of line to me as I left RRR.....Something along the lines of, " Mom, you sure do look great when you are wet." I didn't get mad at all, because I'm a crazy person...but hopefully he doesn't say anything like that to the wrong person! We were so pleased with our trip, that we left with Gold Season passes, and plan on returning next week with all 3 kids for a day of fun!

[arby]

It's great to see you had such a good time. The more parks we travel to, the more we appreciate Carowinds and the quality of the rides.

[Picklesthedrummer]

The more parks we travel to, the more we appreciate Carowinds and the quality of the rides.

I am yet to go to Six Flags Over Georgia, but my friend sent me a text today that goes along with the quality of Carowinds. "Yeah don't ever come to Six Flags Over Georgia. You'd probably walk out." I just haven't had the urge to drive twice the distance to place that from word of mouth appears to be a downgrade from Carowinds. I do want to ride Goliath however to see how it shapes up to Intimidator.

[RollerBee]

SFOG is awesome, Superman is better than Nighthawk by leaps and bounds. Batman is superior to Afterburn as is Georgia Scorcher to Vortex. Intimidator and Goliath are about the same. The wood coasters arent as good as our three but the park is clean and shady, the mine train is two steps above Goldrusher.

[Picklesthedrummer]

] Batman is superior to Afterburn

Lol what?? I have been on the Batman clone at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and they do not even touch Afterburn. Afterburn is one of the best B&M inverts. There are other reasons I don't care for Six Flags parks, because some parks actually have some great coasters. I just don't like how Six Flags parks are run, trying to squeeze every last dime out of you. Also seems like their coasters have more downtime compared to similar rides at other parks outside of Six Flags (Cedar Fair).

[will1313]

] Batman is superior to Afterburn

Lol what?? I have been on the Batman clone at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and they do not even touch Afterburn. Afterburn is one of the best B&M inverts. There are other reasons I don't care for Six Flags parks, because some parks actually have some great coasters. I just don't like how Six Flags parks are run, trying to squeeze every last dime out of you. Also seems like their coasters have more downtime compared to similar rides at other parks outside of Six Flags (Cedar Fair).

Everything you said was about right besides the batman part

[arby]

I am a bit older but relatively new to the enthusiast community. Since becoming more involved in the community I have heard lots of comments like that about Six Flags and it kind of kept us from going to their parks until now. This year we went to Great Adventures and Over Georgia and found their parks very comparable to the Cedar Fair parks. My family actually found Great Adventures to be right on par with Cedar Point overall.

I still haven't figured out any instance of Six Flags trying to squeeze the last dime out of me as compared to Cedar Fair. I loved some of the sponsorships at Six Flags. I have a Discover card and was able to beat the lines getting through the front entrance by flashing my Discover card. Six Flags merchandise was also noticeably lower priced than any of the Cedar Fair parks we have been to. On top of that, I didn't have to go to guest services to prepay for bucks or anything. I flashed my Six Flags season pass and instantly got a discount on merchandise. To make the deal sweeter, I paid with my Discover card and got another 5% off the purchase.

Additionally, both parks had family meal deals that enabled us to eat cheaper there than any other 'chain' park that we've been to. For $40, we could get a family meal deal with enough fries, chicken tenders, and drinks for the four of us whereas I can't feed my family at Carowinds for $40. On top of that by once again using my Discover card I got another 5% off the food purchase and they had a season pass coupon that we used for $5 off that meal. It ended up costing me around $34 to feed all four of us after taxes.

As with any park, I see things that could be improved. Overall, though, our experience with Six Flags parks has been enjoyable and right on par with our enjoyable experiences with Cedar Fair parks. Due to their better pricing tier, we tend to spend more money at SF parks than CF parks.

SFOG has a good selection of rides and it is a good park.

[will1313]

I enjoy SFOG also, they have a couple unique rides there and is very comparable to carowinds, I like both parks but Carowinds is just a closer drive

[Picklesthedrummer]

I still haven't figured out any instance of Six Flags trying to squeeze the last dime out of me as compared to Cedar Fair.

SFOG has a good selection of rides and it is a good park.

When I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain, so many rides required to have your excess belongings stored away in a locker. Now sometimes Cedar Fair does do this, however I have only seen it when there is a load and an unloading station, which of course means when you get off, your bag wouldnt be where you placed it. However none of the rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain did have a loading and unloading station, all just one station. They still required you put your bag into a locker that was about $2 and you could only keep it in the locker for about 2 hours. So of course you had to use this about 10 times through out the day. I am also pretty sure that during their haunts, the mazes are an extra charge.

[XoCIEoX]

We were considering making the 4 hour drive to SFOG....but after hearing all of the opinions, I'm not so sure it would be worth it for us. Perhaps we should just stick to Carowinds this year, and wait until our boys get a little taller for SFOG...

They currently are both in the 48 inch ride height...but my oldest is 1 inch away from being able to get on Windseeker...Boy, was he bummed!! I don't want to get all the way to SFOG and have more disappointment...

[Jarsh]

I don't get the hate that people have for SFOG. If you've never been and are basing your opinion on what others thing of it, then maybe you should visit and form your own opinion. It's one of the best corporate parks in the country and it isn't run like your typical Six Flags! They have a very nice collection of rides (Mindbender and Goliath are amazing), very nice shaded areas (Carousel Hill, Monster Mansion area) and some areas with great attention to detail (Lickskillet, Gotham City). On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best), I'd give SFOG about an 8 while Carowinds gets a 7 and Dollywood a 9.

Now, maybe I'm just use to attending ACE events where I don't have to deal with the GP or the normal park rules (stuff in lockers, parking prices, etc.), but they are all very close to being on the same level. There are things about each park that make it better in my opinion and I think SFOG and Dollywood have more of these things than Carowinds does, hence my higher ranking.

Yes, there are things about SFOG that are bad (rude employees, bad acting GP, etc) but every park has these and saying that you won't attend SFOG because they have rude employees or line jumpers is as dumb as saying you would rather buy an iPhone over a Windows phone just because Microsoft has greedy people running the company.

I am also pretty sure that during their haunts, the mazes are an extra charge.

While Six Flags parks may charge extra for their mazes, it evens out in the end seeing as how Carowinds charges people to attend their SCarowinds event while Fright Fest is included with your Six Flags admission.

[Jarsh]

Please delete.

[Picklesthedrummer]

it isn't run like your typical Six Flags!

You have my attention. I have been trying to go, and hopefully will this month so I can form my own opinion of it. So far the only Six Flags park I have been to that I have loved was Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and that was because it wasn't ran like a typical Six Flags park either. Hopefully the same will be said for SFOG.

[Jarsh]

it isn't run like your typical Six Flags!

You have my attention. I have been trying to go, and hopefully will this month so I can form my own opinion of it. So far the only Six Flags park I have been to that I have loved was Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and that was because it wasn't ran like a typical Six Flags park either. Hopefully the same will be said for SFOG.

SFOG is like SFFT except with a better selection of coasters and more shade. Though they don't have that quarry wall for a coaster to dive off of, lol.

[arby]

I've never gone to any park (except for an ACE or other non public event) with anything that I can't carry in my cargo pockets or securely attached to myself so I haven't noticed the locker issue. My P&S camera case has an attached loop (non velcro) so it won't come off my belt. Of the 35 parks I have been to, only one has made me take off the camera case, and that was Holiday World and they provide free lockers.

I pretty much agree with Jarsh on his ratings of the 3 regional parks around here. We're still happy to have such a good park like Carowinds so close by as our home park (30 minutes away from me). Give SFOG a shot, I don't think you'll be disappointed.