Hello everyone. I have not posted to these forums before. I'm from Indiana, and this summer my brother and I want to tackle King's Dominion and Carowinds in one trip. I am not certain of when your busiest days are, compared to my home parks. We are thinking that we want to do King's Dominion on either a Monday or Tuesday and then Carowinds the next day, so Tuesday or Wednesday, respectively. As close as it is to 4th of July, we were hoping to go either the 29th or 30th of June or the 6th or 7th of July to King's Dominion. Does anyone here know from experience or have any insight as to which of those days might be slowest? Thanks in advance
Summer Trip
- Thread starter Hoosier95
- Start date
The whole week of the 4th of July can be hectic, so I would advise you to avoid the 6th or the 7th if you can. The end of June should distance you from the 4th of July crowds a bit more, so that's what I'd recommend.
A general rule of thumb states that the closer to the middle of the week (Wednesday) you can get, the lighter the crowds. However, given the proximity of the 4th of July, it's probably best to distance your visit from the holiday as much as possible. While it probably won't make a huge difference whether you choose Monday or Tuesday, if I had to pick one, I'd go with Monday the 29th at KD, Tuesday the 30th at Carowinds. But that's just me personally.
Hopefully this helps. If you need any other advice about the parks, just say the word!
A general rule of thumb states that the closer to the middle of the week (Wednesday) you can get, the lighter the crowds. However, given the proximity of the 4th of July, it's probably best to distance your visit from the holiday as much as possible. While it probably won't make a huge difference whether you choose Monday or Tuesday, if I had to pick one, I'd go with Monday the 29th at KD, Tuesday the 30th at Carowinds. But that's just me personally.
Hopefully this helps. If you need any other advice about the parks, just say the word!
Hoosier95 said:
Well, since you are going on a weekday, I can't see big crowds as would be on a weekend. Especially, the 4th of July weekend. Joe has some good points with the days you are looking at.
Unless you are used to marathon driving and have the energy to tackle a whole day at a theme park afterwards, you might want to put a day between the 2 park visits for traveling. Keep in mind that you are talking about a 5-6 hour drive between Kings Dominion and Carowinds.
It's not like you are trying to do KD and Busch Gardens Williamsburg back to back in 2 days. Those two parks are just 1.5 hours apart.
I would suggest getting a room in Ashland, VA (next exit, about 6-7 miles south of the Doswell/Kings Dominion exit on I-95). Plenty of reasonably priced motel rooms and plenty of places to eat. You could get a room across from Kings Dominion; but, those places are right next to a main railroad line. Expect, 2-3 trains during the night.
That way you could get a good night's sleep, grab a bite to eat, and hit the road to Carowinds by 8-9 am. You would get to the southern Charlotte metro area by early-mid afternoon. Maybe, you could get a twilight/evening ticket and a full day ticket combo to Carowinds. Might have to check around or contact the park to see if they offer a combo like that.
Course, if you are the "hard-core" enthusiast type and only want to hit the coasters. I guess you could do most of the coasters you want to ride at KD in 4-5 hours and then hit the road to Carowinds. You would get to that park probably between 7-9 pm (depending on how long you are at KD).
Thank you guys so much! We are both the enthusiast type whose main goal is to just hit the coasters. I think our plan is to stay at KD until somewhere around 7pm and drive a little over halfway to Carowinds, and get up early and be there in time for opening. We both have platinum passes, so we may try to be there early enough for morning ERT if they have it there. Thank you guys so much, I didn't expect so much great information. Then again, I didn't browse through the forums too much before I posted. Thanks again.
Both parks have ERT for half an hour before official opening. I would recommend getting there at least 45 minutes before official rope drop.
If you can afford them, I would highly recommend FastLane for Caro. We just got back from there and the lines for several of the coasters were really bad, possibly because Fury is drawing in such huge crowds. Fury itself, of course, had multi-hour long waits. People started lining up at the beginning of ERT, knowing that the ride wouldn't open for at least 2.5-3 hours. It was insane. It may get better over the next few months, but I would expect the days around 4th of July to be really crowded, too.
On another note, if you have additional questions about visiting KD, please do not hesitate to ask. We love helping out!
If you can afford them, I would highly recommend FastLane for Caro. We just got back from there and the lines for several of the coasters were really bad, possibly because Fury is drawing in such huge crowds. Fury itself, of course, had multi-hour long waits. People started lining up at the beginning of ERT, knowing that the ride wouldn't open for at least 2.5-3 hours. It was insane. It may get better over the next few months, but I would expect the days around 4th of July to be really crowded, too.
On another note, if you have additional questions about visiting KD, please do not hesitate to ask. We love helping out!
Hoosier95 said:
If that is the case, then you could drive to the Raleigh-Durham, NC metro area in about 3 to 3.5 hours. Stop overnight there and drive the rest of the way to Carowinds (my guess is another 2-2.5 hours). I guess it is better to take I-95 south from Kings Dominion for another 40 miles and pick up I-85 which will take you to Raleigh-Durham. I am not sure if continuing south on I-95 is better. By the time you are even (east-west wise) to the Charlotte metro area on I-95, you would have to travel another 70-80 miles west to get to Carowinds. The I-85 northern terminus starts just south of Petersburg, VA (40 miles south of KD) and heads in a southwest direction. I would Google Map it or use a GPS unit for the shortest way there.
Some folks on here could give you travel advice/suggestions, if needed, since a few have already been to Carowinds for the Fury 325 opening.
We took I85, but we also had a wedding in Raleigh on Saturday, so we were staying in a hotel halfway between Raleigh and Charlotte. The drive from our hotel to KD took about 3.5 hours; it was longer from Caro to KD, however.
85 is a much easier drive than 95, regardless.
85 is a much easier drive than 95, regardless.
Yeah, I do Williamsburg to Charlotte trips several times a year, and 95 takes you ridiculously out of the way almost immediately. 85 is usually pretty well maintained too, stick to it as much as possible. (And if you want to experience a little taste of South Carolina while at Carowinds, check the gas stations for Blenheim's ginger ale. So good! I try to get everyone addicted lol.)
Bojangles is another great fast food option; I personally adore their dirty rice. And of course the Carolinas are known for their bbq, as well.
