Carowinds sits at literally the perfect halfway point between Orlando, Florida and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so it is an easy way to break up our drive up or down the East Coast.
And in the case of our 2022 vacation – it was how we split up the drive home and was our last stop.
We visited Carowinds for the first time in 2021 and that visit did not go as planned. Poor Braelynn came down with a 24-hour stomach bug (probably aggravated by the extreme heat) that kept me & the kids hanging out in our hotel room for 75% of our visit, while Derrick went to the park to create content (after all, that is what funds these trips for us!)
Needless to say: we were all crossing our fingers for a much better experience at Carowinds in 2022 – and it did not disappoint!!
We arrived late Saturday afternoon and were able to get a few rides in before our full day on Sunday. We had beautiful weather, a much better riding strategy (*OUR BEST TIP: especially if you buy the Fast Lane, rope drop the “smaller” roller coasters, like Carolina Cyclone, Goldrusher, Flying Cobras, and Ricochet – because some of those do not utilize the Fast Lane at all & those lines get LONG. Save Fury 325, Intimidator, and Copperhead for later in the day & then go to town marathoning them with your Fast Lane!), and a overall much better experience (no one got sick – YAY).
Unfortunately, our stop at Carowinds was bittersweet because it marked the end of our amazing vacation. (It was a good way to wrap things up though!)
Of course, what is a post without photos? Here are a few of the highlights of our day both from my iPhone 12 Pro and “big” camera (I have a Canon R6).
That wraps up our “Grand Florida Vacation” from this year!
I have ONE more video coming your way –
Last year, when we went to Florida for a week, I simply created one, super concentrated highlight video, but I have always felt bad because I left so much good stuff on the cutting room floor. So this year, instead of starting with the super concentrated highlight video (and hoping that I might someday get around to the individual videos of each park), I decided to work the opposite direction. I have created individual vlogs from each park that we visited and now that I’m at the end, I am going to go back & grab my absolute FAVORITE moments from each day to create that super concentrated HIGHLIGHT video. I have footage of us at our resort too that doesn’t quite fit anywhere else, so coming next week will be the best of the best of our Florida trip – with some footage you’ve already seen (if you’ve watched all of our family vlogs), and some footage you’ve never seen. Stay tuned!
Carowinds is in the carolinas
Yep! Carowinds is in both North & South Carolina – such a unique & fun placement of a park!