About 15 years ago, I drove up to Charlotte from Greenville, SC (where I was attending Furman) and met my mom, sister and then boyfriend/now husband at Carowinds. I don’t remember much about the trip other than we had an absolute blast. We rode a ton of rides and even though it was hot, we had a great time.
Fast forward to today where I’m planning our first Carowinds trip with the whole family. It’ll be a bit different as having two kids (ages 4 and 6) makes for a slightly altered experience. We’ve been talking about going for awhile (it is even on our summer bucket list), and after being selected as one of Carowinds inaugural Caro-Bloggers the decision easy.
A few things we plan to do:
1) Ride Thunder Road. This signature coaster has been in operation for 39 years and is “retiring” on July 26. I want to make sure I get a chance to say I road it.
2) Spend an afternoon at Boomerang Bay. It’s going to be hot. We know it. We’ve prepped the kids. So what better way to spend a hot day than floating down Crocodile Run (their lazy river) and playing in Jackaroo Landing, a three-story water jungle gym complete with kid-controlled water sprayers, water wheels and a huge 1,000-gallon drenching bucket that dumps water every few minutes.
3) Hang out at Planet Snoopy. This is the kid area at Carowinds and has lots of rides for kids 36-54 inches. (There are also rides that little ones can ride with an adult.) There’s a carousel and a ride similar to the swings. There’s also the Woodstock Express roller coaster (kids must be 40 inches) that I know my son is stoked to go on.
4) Eat! Clearly all that walking is going to work up an appetite. Carowinds has you covered with Auntie Anne’s pretzels, Dippin’ Dots, Chick Fil-A, Rita’s Italian Custard and lots of other yummy things.
What’s the cost? A single day ticket is $59.99 at the front gate but you save $10 if you buy online. (Kids and Seniors save an additional $8!) They also have a great special this year – a 2 Day ticket for the price of 1. So you can hit up Boomerang Bay one day and the park the next…just like we plan to do.
We are really looking forward to our family adventure this weekend. I can’t wait to share with you all the fun we had!
Have questions about Carowinds? Let me know and I’ll do my best to get answers for you.
I am an official Caro-Blogger and have been provided season passes in exchange for sharing my experiences, events and promotions. All opinions are my own.
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