Carowinds is the Carolinas’ biggest theme park and one of the best coaster parks in America: 14 roller coasters, 60-plus rides, the 27-acre Carolina Harbor water park, and Fury 325, the giga coaster that has won Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Award for best steel coaster 10 years running.
This guide covers everything you need to plan a 2026 visit — Carowinds hours and the seasonal calendar, every coaster ranked, the best family and kids rides, height requirements, tickets and parking, the best time to go, SCarowinds and WinterFest, and tips for getting there. Every coaster Carowinds has ever run, including the ones that are gone, is on our Carowinds roller coaster history timeline, from the 1973 Carolina Goldrusher to today.
Quick Answer
Carowinds is generally open Friday–Sunday in spring and fall, daily through the summer stretch from late May into mid-August, and on select dates for SCarowinds (September–October) and WinterFest (late November–early January). Opening is typically mid-morning (around 10 or 11 a.m.) and closing time varies from early evening in the off-peak season up to 9–11 p.m. during peak summer weeks and special events, so always confirm the exact hours for your visit date on the official Carowinds calendar before you go.
Carowinds is a Six Flags park at 14523 Carowinds Blvd. in Charlotte, North Carolina, with its southern half in Fort Mill, South Carolina (I-77, Exit 90). Single-day tickets are cheaper bought online in advance than at the gate, and parking is a separate fee. The must-rides are Fury 325, Thunder Striker, Copperhead Strike and Afterburn; families should head to Camp Snoopy, where most rides take kids from 36 inches.
Carowinds Hours: How the 2026 Season Calendar Works
Carowinds doesn’t run on one fixed schedule all year — it operates on a seasonal calendar that changes month to month, so the single most useful habit is to check the day’s specific hours before you leave home. The overall pattern, though, is consistent from year to year: in spring (mid-March through late May) and fall (September through early November, including SCarowinds), the park is typically open Friday through Sunday, with a handful of extra weekday dates around spring break, Labor Day and late-October Thursdays for SCarowinds.
Once schools let out for summer, usually the week after Memorial Day, Carowinds shifts to daily operation and stays open every day into mid-August, with closing times pushed later into the evening on weekends and around holidays like July 4th. As Carolina schools head back into session in mid-to-late August, the park trims back to shorter weekday hours and then returns to a weekends-only schedule by the final week of the month. Carolina Harbor, the water park, runs on its own shorter window roughly from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and is closed the rest of the year.
From late November through January 3, Carowinds opens on select dates and evenings for WinterFest, its holiday lights, market and ice-skating event, generally with shorter hours than the regular season. After WinterFest wraps, the park closes completely until it reopens in mid-March. Because exact opening and closing times shift by date — and can change for weather or capacity — always pull up that day’s hours on the official Carowinds calendar and hours page or the Six Flags app before you drive out. Gold, Prestige and Pre-K season passholders also get early entry, arriving about 30 minutes before the public opening time to ride select attractions before the crowds.
Carowinds at a Glance
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina / Fort Mill, South Carolina. Opened: March 31, 1973. Size: 407 acres, including the 27-acre Carolina Harbor water park. Owner: Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (since the July 2024 Cedar Fair–Six Flags merger). Roller coasters: 14 operating. Signature ride: Fury 325 — 325 ft tall, 95 mph. Height range: 36 in (Camp Snoopy) to 54 in (the biggest coasters).
2026 season: opens mid-March; SCarowinds runs weekends (plus select Thursdays) from early September through early November; WinterFest runs select dates from late November through January 3. Confirm exact 2026 dates on the official site, since they’re finalized closer to each season.
Carowinds Roller Coasters: All 14, Ranked
Carowinds’ 14 roller coasters span five decades, from the 1973 Carolina Goldrusher to the 2025 family launch coaster Snoopy’s Racing Railway. From most to least intense, with minimum heights from the park’s posted requirements (companion heights in parentheses): Fury 325 (B&M giga coaster, 2015, 54 in); Thunder Striker, formerly Intimidator (B&M hypercoaster, 2010, 54 in); Copperhead Strike (Mack double-launch, 2019, 52 in); Afterburn (B&M inverted, 1999, 54 in); Vortex (B&M stand-up, 1992, 54 in); Carolina Cyclone (Arrow looping coaster, 1980, 48 in); The Flying Cobras (Vekoma Boomerang, 2009, 48 in); Hurler (wooden out-and-back, 1994, 48 in); Ricochet (Mack wild mouse, 2002, 54 in / 44 in companion); Carolina Goldrusher (Arrow mine train, 1973, 48 in); Woodstock Express (wooden family coaster, 1975, 46 in / 40 in companion); Snoopy’s Racing Railway (family launch coaster, 2025, 48 in / 36 in companion); Kiddy Hawk (Vekoma suspended family coaster, 2003, 44 in); Wilderness Run (kiddie coaster, 36 in). For the drop-by-drop breakdown, see our scariest rides at Carowinds ranking.
Fury 325 is the reason coaster fans fly to Charlotte. The Bolliger & Mabillard giga coaster climbs 325 feet, drops 320 feet at 81 degrees and hits 95 mph over 6,602 feet of track, including a turnaround that swings out over the park’s front gate. It opened in 2015 and is still the park’s headline act. Ride it first thing after opening or in the last hour before close, when the line is shortest.
Thunder Striker, Copperhead Strike and the Rest of the Lineup
Thunder Striker opened in 2010 as Intimidator, named for NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt, and took its new name for the 2024 season when the license ended. It’s a 232-foot B&M hypercoaster with a 211-foot drop and an 80 mph top speed, built for long stretches of airtime rather than inversions. Copperhead Strike is Carowinds’ best-themed coaster: a Mack Rides double-launch coaster that opened in 2019 in its own seven-acre themed area, Blue Ridge Junction, with two launches, five inversions and a 50 mph top speed.
Afterburn (opened in 1999 as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster) is a B&M inverted coaster with six inversions and a 62 mph top speed; riders’ legs dangle free through every one. Vortex is a 1992 B&M stand-up with a vertical loop and a corkscrew, one of the last stand-ups still running in North America. Carolina Cyclone, a 1980 Arrow looper, was the first roller coaster in the world with four inversions.
The Flying Cobras is a Vekoma Boomerang that runs its loop and cobra roll forward and then backward. Ricochet is a Mack wild mouse with hairpin turns that feel sharper than its size suggests. Hurler is a 1994 wooden coaster known more for its bumps than its drops, and Carolina Goldrusher, the park’s original 1973 mine train, is the easiest step up from the family coasters. Nighthawk, the Vekoma flying coaster that arrived in 2004, ran its final season in 2024; the park announced its closure on December 18, 2024. Our Nighthawk guide has photos from that last fall.
Family and Kids Rides at Carowinds
Camp Snoopy, the PEANUTS-themed kids’ area, is where most families base a visit: a cluster of rides sized for younger children, most with a 36-inch minimum, plus gentler coasters like Woodstock Express, Snoopy’s Racing Railway and Kiddy Hawk that bridge the gap to the park’s bigger rides once kids clear 44–48 inches. If your child hasn’t hit the 54-inch mark yet, plan your day around Camp Snoopy and the family coasters rather than the giga and hyper coasters up front.
Carowinds Tickets and Parking
Carowinds sells single-day tickets, multi-visit passes and season passes, and — as with most Six Flags parks — buying online in advance is reliably cheaper than paying at the gate, sometimes by half or more. Season passes typically pay for themselves in two to three visits and add perks like free parking and early entry on eligible tiers. Parking is a separate fee from admission, charged per vehicle, with a lower-cost preferred or close-in option at some price points.
Because ticket pricing, season pass tiers and parking rates change during the year and between seasons, don’t rely on a number printed elsewhere: check current prices directly on the official Carowinds site, which also lists any active promotions or bundle deals.
Best Time to Visit Carowinds
Weekday visits during the daily-operation summer stretch, or any weekday during spring and fall when the park is open, tend to have the shortest lines since school-age crowds are lighter. Arriving at opening (or using early entry if you’re a passholder) lets you ride Fury 325, Thunder Striker and Copperhead Strike before the midday rush. Weekends and the final two hours before close are consistently the busiest and the quietest points of the day, respectively.
SCarowinds and WinterFest
SCarowinds transforms the park with haunted mazes, scare zones and a spookier nighttime vibe on select weekends (plus some Thursdays) from early September through the first weekend of November. WinterFest follows in late November, turning the midway into a holiday market with light displays, ice skating and seasonal food, running on select dates through January 3 before the park closes for the winter. Both events run on their own shortened hours, separate from the regular-season calendar, so check the official hours page for the specific dates you’re planning around.
Getting There and Tips
Carowinds’ 407-acre property straddles the North Carolina–South Carolina state line just south of Charlotte off I-77 Exit 90, so you can literally ride across a state border. It’s an easy drive from both Charlotte and Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and the park has its own exit directly off the interstate, so there’s no long access road to fight through on a busy day.
Photos
Roller Coasters at Carowinds
Every Carowinds coaster ThrillZing has covered — stats, ride experience and history for each:
- Afterburn
- Carolina Cyclone
- Carolina Goldrusher
- Copperhead Strike
- Fury 325
- Hurler
- Intimidator
- Kiddy Hawk
- Nighthawk
- Ricochet
- Snoopy’s Racing Railway
- The Flying Cobras
- Vortex
Carowinds Photos: SCarowinds and Oktoberfest, October 2024
These are original ThrillZing photos from Carowinds taken on October 12 and 13, 2024, shot on an iPhone and published as taken. They show the park dressed for SCarowinds and Oktoberfest: the giant jack-o’-lantern on the entrance sign, a canopy walkway hung for the haunt, the Oktoberfest band and the Carowinds sign by the lake. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Plan Your Carowinds Visit
- Carowinds height requirements for every ride
- Scariest rides at Carowinds, ranked
- Carowinds roller coaster history
- SCarowinds 2026 at Carowinds
- WinterFest 2026 at Carowinds
Carowinds hours and visit planning FAQs
What time does Carowinds open and close?
Opening is typically mid-morning, around 10 or 11 a.m., but closing time swings widely by season — often as early as 6–7 p.m. on off-peak weekends and as late as 9–11 p.m. during peak summer weeks and special events. Hours change by date, so always check the official Carowinds calendar for the day you’re visiting.
Is Carowinds open every day?
No. Carowinds runs Friday–Sunday (plus a few extra weekday dates) in spring and fall, then switches to daily operation for a stretch from late May into mid-August. It scales back to weekends again by late August and operates on select dates for SCarowinds and WinterFest.
Does Carowinds have early entry?
Yes. Gold, Prestige and Pre-K season passholders can enter about 30 minutes before the public opening time and ride select attractions before general admission gets in.
What are Carowinds hours during WinterFest?
WinterFest operates on select dates and evenings from late November through January 3, typically with shorter hours than the regular season, focused on the evening light displays and market.
Where is Carowinds located?
Carowinds is at 14523 Carowinds Blvd., straddling the North Carolina–South Carolina line just south of Charlotte, right off I-77 at Exit 90.
What is the tallest, fastest coaster at Carowinds?
Fury 325, a Bolliger & Mabillard giga coaster that opened in 2015, tops out at 325 feet with a top speed of 95 mph and is the park’s signature ride.
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