General Carowinds discussion
By mmn1swdrew
#87553
Hi all! I'm checking out the Carowinds website to plan for my family's first trip. My son is disabled, and we have used programs similar to the Boarding Pass before at Disney World. It works great for him, there's just one problem: I have two sets of twins (ages 5 and 8 ), and the Boarding Pass website says that only 3 companions can go. That presents a problem when I'm there without my wife, as I can't split up our party. If I bring the kids' birth certificates to show that everyone is really in my family and I'm not trying to just get 'other' people on the program, will they make an exception to the 3 rider limit? Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks so much!
By RollerBee
#87555
My personal experience with the Disability Pass(this was two visits in 2014) varied from one ride to another, some ride ops were extremely helpful while others were not. Guest Services in my experience was extremely strict on their rules, and full of questions. I was in a electric wheelchair with a cast on my ankle that went up to my knee(broken foot in two places). Normally rides with less than 30 minute line just let you on then, rides with more than 30 minutes line give you a specific time to ride.
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By The New Santa
#87580
At least you're planning on bringing the birth certificates. If I had 5 kids and the wife didn't want to come along and help, I can't imagine showing up without a few death certificates waiting for me to pick up at the local mortuary...
By padthai
#87594
I've had much experience with Cedar Fair the the varying disability programs. I will say, they tend to be rather strict on the 3 companion limit, but I would certainly talk to guest services ahead of time, and preferably to a manager.

Inside the park, we've had various levels of knowledge on the program, from understanding it fully, to, literally, the operators having never seen the paper before. We've also run into more than a few instances of the operator not having a pen to give us a time.
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By arby
#87596
Since I have a disabled son, I am also familiar with most park's disability programs. Carowinds has always been strict on the 4 guests max since Cedar Fair took over. In most cases they give us a ride time unless there is nearly no line.

A lot of parks have gotten stricter on disability boarding passes in the past decade. I assume it's from people abusing the system and often we end up waiting longer than if we could have gone through the regular line. (like our last time at Wild Eagle - I could have went through the regular line and ridden the ride 4 times compared to the time they made us wait for a single ride). We don't complain, though. We're just happy most parks are accommodating for our son in a wheelchair.