The Carowinds theme park itself was originally envisioned as a component of a large resort-type area that would have included hotels, a shopping center, a golf course, and a pro football stadium. However, as was true for many other theme parks across the country, attendance at Carowinds was severely diminished by the 1973 oil crisis, and the plans for the resort that would have surrounded the park were abandoned. Hall and the other stockholders of the Carowinds Corporation continued to operate the theme park through 1974, though sagging attendance and mounting debt forced the company to sell out to Taft Broadcasting in early 1975.

The park was purchased by Paramount Communications in 1993 and joined the Paramount Parks family, after ownership bounced from Taft Broadcast Company to Family Leisure Centers (a joint between Taft and Top Value Enterprises), to Kings Entertainment Company, which was the last owner prior to the acquisition by Paramount. The park was renamed Paramount's Carowinds in 1993. Viacom then purchased Paramount in 1994.

The name "Carowinds" was derived from the park's original theme. Since the park was built around the history and culture of the Carolinas, the name is a portmanteau of "Carolina" and "winds", representing the winds that have blown across the two states. As the park changed ownership over the years, most of the Carolina themes and cultural attractions were dropped in favor of more generic television and movie themes.

Carowinds opens in late March each year and closes in early November, after the park's Halloween event, "Scarowinds". In 2005, a portion of the park reopened during December for the Winterfest Christmas festival. However, the park did not repeat the event in 2006, citing poor attendance. A similar decision was made regarding Kings Island's Winterfest.

In 2000, the park introduced SCarowinds, which was created by Lyndsay Brown, an annual Halloween attraction. SCarowinds is presented on select nights in September and October when the facility is transformed into a haunted theme park. The experience includes numerous haunted attractions and incorporates most of the existing park rides into a nightmarish experience.

On January 27, 2006, the website of the Dayton Daily News reported that CBS Corporation (which split from Viacom at the end of 2005) would be selling Paramount's Carowinds and other parks in its Paramount Parks division.

On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company acquired Paramount Parks, including Carowinds.

Although Cedar Fair continued to use the Paramount's Carowinds name through the remainder of the 2006 season, it began to phase out the Paramount name in press releases, the park website, and in the park. In January 2007, a brand new logo, featuring the Cedar Fair icon, but lacking the "Paramount" name, was revealed on the park website. The new logo featured the trademark Cedar Fair flags, flying on the letter "I" on the Carowinds name. The other four Paramount-branded parks that Cedar Fair acquired all received similar changes. As of February 2007, the "Paramount" name has been dropped from all of the parks. Though it is the smallest of Paramount's former parks, Carowinds is still a popular destination for tourists as one of two major amusement parks in the Carolinas (Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe in Greensboro, NC is the other major park.)

Charlie Brown Wind Up

Flying Ace Balloon Race