[ffejie]

Hi everyone!! starting this upcoming Saturday my family will be visiting the park for the first time. We will be staying at the campground until the following Friday. We sadly lost our home park back in 2007 which was Geauga Lake and we live up by Cleveland and have platinum passes. We decided to visit an old friend that came to your park a couple years ago.

Ok enough of that stuff. I would like to ask all of the carowinds fanatics how to get the best of the park and the surrounding area. How would we "attack" the park to ride the most rides with the least wait times? What is the best places to eat in the park and around the park? What is the "have to" do thing in the area.

If anyone is ever up here and wants the scoop on cedar point of what is left of geauga lake, I would be glad to help. Thanks in advance everyone!!!

[Picklesthedrummer]

Carowinds is not a busy park during the weekdays so that would be the best day to go. Everything is a walk on (except Nighthawk so do that at park opening). I would bring food and leave it in a cooler. Then when it is lunch time, leave the park and eat in the picnic areas. If you have to eat, just eat at the chain restaurants like Chickfila. Sadly our park food is pretty bad which is why I never eat it. Have a great time in the park!

[PhantomCat]

You won't be allowed to bring your food and drinks into the park, and I agree, plan on packing up your big meal and eat it outside the park - after you get your hands stamped for re-entry. The prices are really expensive. I've played a few theme park games in my day and believe me, the games are based on facts - While parks want everyone to have safe fun, the main goal is to empty every guests' wallet before they leave.

But by all means, it's hot out there, take extra money for liquids, and snacks like soft serve ice cream, Icees, and other treats. I tried to tackle a funnel cake on my own with all the toppings and ice cream - I was unsuccessful. I plan to eat at Juke Box next time I go. It's in the style of a 60s burger joint and includes milk shakes. Don't forget to do a little shopping for keep sakes to document your visit.

Make sure you get a park map but if it's your first time, all will be new to you. Just make sure you leave no ground unexplored and you'll see everything. Carowinds is build in a huge circle, but includes a few branch offs holding more adventures to add to your day. If you happen upon a day with not many long lines, you and your family could ride a lot and cover the entire park in five hours. Have fun out there. The our park is forever changing.

[coasterholic14]

Wow, this sucks, I just spent about 30 min typing up a whole list of tips, tricks, and hints for you, only to have the page crap-out/time-out/give me an error on the next page and lose it all. So let me try and do a small summary here, maybe I can add in more detail later when I have time again.

Park is VERY hot (not a lot of shade, tons of asphalt)...get free cups of ice water from food stands.

Must hit rides, Intimidator, Afterburn, Woodstock's Gliders (my 3 favorite rides).

Park could be getting more crowded, best plan of attack is to hit Intimidator, then run back towards Woodstock's Gliders, Afterburn, and Thunder Road, then head along the back of the park working your way towards Hurler before circling back around to the front. Hit Nighthawk if you want around 3-4 pm, 45 min line is usually down to about 15 min...it's bumpy and rough, but good for a coaster credit lol

Lunch you have 3 options: 1) bring food in a cooler and picnic at your car, under a tree, etc. 2) walk/drive to the Wendy's on the entry-way, 3) If you have to eat at the park, eat at Wings (decent food, air-conditioned), Country Kitchen (something a bit different, but also more pricey, air-conditioned), or Jukebox Diner (never been myself, but heard good things about it) or eat at a "brand-name" location you know you'll like (i.e. Chik-fil-a, Panda Express).

Water park...very basic, rather dull, can be crowded, good for an afternoon cool-down though. Wave pool in the back has bigger waves to jump (every 10 min or so?). Bring sandals if it's really hot and sunny, I got a blister on each foot one day walking/running around because the ground was so hot (it literally burned my feet that way), and there's NO shade in the waterpark, and few sparse spots of water to cool your feet down. Also, crowds/kids can be unruly as their parents let them run free while they soak up the sun...not fighting or violent, just rude, inconsiderate, only think of themselves and it's like you're not even there most of the time. No modern slides at all there, but some decent tubes, enough to kill a couple hours depending on lines.

Park is not too big, so if a ride you want to hit has lines, you can always try again later, as you can walk from one end of the park to the other in about 10-15 min easily.

Ride Tips:
Thunder Road: Ride a middle bench/row for a smoother ride (I go first car, second row)
Intimidator: Front and back are best if you can pick your seat (sometimes they assign them)
Peanuts Pirates: In Planet Snoopy, fun little ride to hit and usually a walk-on
Woodstock's Gliders: Most fun ride in the park behind Afterburn and Intimidator...a hidden gem of a ride you have to experience fully to understand.

If I think of more, I'll edit/update it later when I have more time.

[CoasterKat]

Best places to eat: I would try Wings over near boomerang bay
Chick fil A over in the front of the park, near nighthawk.
Funnel cakes over in the snoopy area
Dip-n-Dots most def, you can get this all over the park
My best advice: Pack a cooler. The food is WAY expensive!

Best way to get the most ride time:
-Start with Nighthawk when the park FIRST OPENS(not yelling), if you don't then you will either have to wait in a 1 hour line or not ride at all.
-Move onto the intimidator next, go in the single riders line though, and it may look closed with a trash can in front of it but it's not.We thought it was at first and had to wait in an hour line for the first time.
-Then go to snoopy area, If your interested in these rides, because these fill up fast.
-Then by this time move onto boomerang bay, it's probably REALLY (not yelling) Hot. You can chillax at the pool for a while and by 3, go back to riding rides.
-Then would be the perfect time to go to the carolina board walk rides. These rides get Pretty busy and if the water park is open, they shouldn't be all to bad.
-Then slowly make your way to the hurler, after the hurler go to screamweaver and just ride hop up from there. Finally you will land back at the front of the park and it should be around 5 or 6. DO NOT (not yelling) I repeat, do not ride any water rides that arent in boomerang bay at this time. They may look tempting but are filled to the brim with people waiting in line. Boomerang bay will be closing near this time (if not already closed) and people will be trying to ride these rides to stay cool.
- Now would be a great time to go back around to thunder road, bumper cars, and afterburn. Save Action theater for last because it's air conditioned and is a perfect way to relax for about 10 minutes and cool off.
- Finally, go back around to your favorite rides one more time before the park closes. After you have, try to go ride the sky tower, you can cool down once again and get a view of the whole park. The best time to ride this is at night.

I hope this gave you a great game plan and that you have a fun time!

[RiDeWaRrIoR]

^^^ sounds like a solid itenerary to me if you want to get the most out of the park! The waterpark opens @ 11 so if you want a good chair under an umbrella, the sooner you get in the better. The kiddie pool area always seems to have some umbrella seats though so thats usually where we put our stuff, even without kids. If you eat in the park, yea I would agree wings is great. Thats where I usually go. We usually leave and come back since we have a pass but if you eat in the park, thats a good place. Once the waterpark opens its not as crowded at all through the rest of the park. Usually people who come at around 10 are leaving around 3-4. If you stay until close, you will really enjoy afterburn, thunder road, and intimidator in the dark. The snoopy starlight is a neat experience to walkthrough as well.

[ffejie]

Thank you so much everyone!! I will plan the days according to what you all know!! If anyone happens to be out there next week and see a couple people/ family walikng around with geauga lake of north ohio classic parks shirts. stop us and say hi!! and if your in the campground, stop by for a cold one!! Thanks agan everyone it is very much appreciated


Jeff

[PhantomCat]

You're welcome, Jeff!
Have a great time at the park!

[RollerCoasterMommy07]

About the liquids when my friend and I went to the park on the 1st we froze 4 water bottles over night and wrapped them in towels and put them in our back packs for the day. Nobody at security said anything but I don't think they saw them either. They were great refreshment on such a hot day and we didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for drinks nor did we have to leave the park. Just a suggestion.

[Jay]

Any place that has drinks should give away free cups of ice water, if you ask of course.

[PhantomCat]

The park knows about the hot weather and they do give out free water. I've even seen free ice waters. Believe me, the fewer people falling out means less calls to pick them up and take them to first aid - which means more people having fun in the park and spending money. However, if your waters were discovered in your backpacks, security would not have allowed you to bring them in. You knew it was water, but they don't know what you were bring in.

I have seen many sorry security checks in my day at many places. Many security officers are lazy and act as if they want to do as less as possible. Hand held scanners are supposed to be used to scan the entire body for weapons. Instead, the lazy officers scan down to the waist, half check bags, and send people on their way.

A few years back I was detained in an airport because their scanner picked up some type of chemical from my carry-on. They were kind but I was drilled with questions as to where I was going, what type of work did I do, and so forth. My bag was opened and searched but nothing was found. I had to show my ID again and was told to sign a statement that attested to the fact I had been pulled aside and my name and address were recorded on the sheet, as well as my seat location on the plane. I had no idea what triggered this alarm, then later it all came back to me. My carry-on was new and had reeked with that department store smell. I had doused it in Frebreze to kill that smell. That is what the airport scanners has picked up on. It was pretty embarrassing for me, but pretty freakin' awesome for airport security!

[ffejie]

Well we just got back from the park for the week.First, I would like to thank everyone here on the board for their help and advise. It paid off. We cam in Saturday and they had a concert going on and the park was very busy, crowded and just plain cramped but I wanted to see the starlight experiance since that was the only night the park was open till 10. Very different feel than the cedar point one and I thought it was very well done!!

We did not go back to the park until Monday. Lines were very short and We went on everything we wanted to at least 2 times. Intimidator is a very good ride from the rear seats!! Your park really has the same feel of my park Geauga Lake in its hayday. Very nice and relaxed filled with nice people, It is a very very nice park and I am glad we went down there for the week.

I do have one question. What did the fountain over by the mine ride do to be in Jail? It made me laugh every time we went by. it is just water coming out of the cement behind bars.

Thanks again to everyone and if there is anything I can ever help with , let me know.


Jeff

[PhantomCat]

Glad we could help.
There was no absolute promise that the weekday you chose to visit wasn't going to be just as crowded, but it's fantastic to see it wasn't. I'm glad you all had a great time. That's what it's all about.

I love the name you're using on this forum.

[RollerBee]

This seems like an acceptable topic to ask. Have much have food prices went up? Per person, how can expect to pay for a meal. Wings used to have the best selection of food but that was in 2006. Next week will be my first visit in five seasons, so I have to try the food.

[chknwing]

food really hasnt changed in 5 years. I still prefer Chilli cheese fries.