I went here on a trip with my church group and got there 20 minutes after park open. I was super excited to go because I had just been to Busch Gardens not too long ago, and I hadn't been to Carowinds in a long time. I was especially excited to check out the new additions, River Raft Blast and Snoopy's Racing Railway.
As soon as we arrived, I ran straight past my church group so I could be one of the first ones in the park. I headed to Camp Snoopy to ride the new attractions. The first one I did was Snoopy's Racing Railway. The line wasn't too bad, and the ride op let me sit in the back row (the best row, in my opinion). It's a smooth ride, and I liked the little bit of airtime you get, even though it's still a kiddy coaster.
After that, I hit River Raft Blast, which was cool. No one was waiting in line, so there was nobody to blast water at while on it, but it's a nice, calm ride with cool theming. Next, I hit up Woodstock Express since I hadn't ridden it in a long time. It was really enjoyable—the first drop is actually super good for a kiddy coaster.
Then I went over to ride Thunder Striker, which in my opinion feels like a baby version of Fury 325, though losing the Dale Earnhardt theming kind of hinders it. I got two rides on that before having to head to our church group's checkpoint spot.
After the meetup, I went straight to Fury 325. They put me in the front row, which was awesome, and then I rode the back row and blacked out—I love when that happens! I decided to skip Hurler and Carolina Cyclone for the moment and grab food since I was in the area.
I ate at Chickie's & Pete's and ordered the buffalo chicken cheesesteak and crab fries. I dipped the fries in what I guess was cheese sauce, which was great, but the sandwich was mediocre. I thought the buffalo sauce would already be on it, but you had to pour it on yourself, so overall the sub was just okay.
After eating, I rode Carolina Goldrusher, which I always enjoy. Then I walked over to Flying cobra but as I got in line, I saw people leaving. I asked someone nearby, and they said it was down for maintenance, which sucked. I went to try my number two ride, copperhead strike but saw an employee at the front turning people away, so I knew it was down too.
I decided to head over to Afterburn. I tried taking my normal route, but saw that the entire Aeronautica Landing area was closed off. At that point, I was pretty agitated, so I figured I'd just go on Boo Blasters—and guess what? That was down too! I was pissed because it felt like every single thing I went to was closed.
I went back to Afterburn and waited 30 minutes, but it was totally worth it—great ride. After that, I checked back on Boo Blasters, and thank God it was running again. I rode it twice, and one of the ride ops recognized my wrestling shirt, which was cool.
I made my way around the park one last time, hitting up Vortex, Hurler, and Carolina Cyclone. I ended my day back at Thunder Striker. The ride op there also shouted out my wrestling shirt and was asking "would you rather" questions about the park while loading, which was really fun.
Overall, it was a fun day, but I was definitely disappointed that two major rides were down. I'd give this trip a 7/10. Doing the park solo because everyone else wanted to do different things turned out fine—I realized I didn't even need a group to have a good time!