Something In The Woods: Carowinds Begins Teasing For 2027

There’s something in the woods. At least according to Carowinds, who began teasing for a 2027 attraction announcement on Monday.

Across the park’s social media channels, the following message was delivered.

“Did ya here? Somethin’ is out there…” #WhatsInTheWoods #Carowinds2027 is the copy, accompanied by a black and white image of the corner of a shipping crate.

#WhatsInTheWoods? More like, “What’s in that crate?” But also, what exactly is in the woods? Are we heading down the lines of a Mystic Timbers-esque “Whats in the Shed” teaser campaign?

Let’s dig in. 

Here’s What We Know So Far

In November 2024, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation made an announcement that more than $1 Billion would be invested in the company over “the next two years” – 2025 & 2026. As part of that announcement, there were several capital improvements announced for 2026 that came to fruition – Tormenta: Rampaging Run became the “record-breaking dive coaster” at Six Flags Over Texas, and Speedway Stunt Coaster opening Six Flags Mexico gave the park its promised “family boomerang coaster.”

While some of the planned announcements took place as scheduled – others had their timelines shifted. Track has recently started to appear at Six Flags Magic Mountain for their “first of its kind” roller coaster, while details are still sparse on Six Flags Great Adventure’s “record breaking” launch coaster. Also included in that list, at the top as a matter of fact – alphabetically by park – was a new addition for Carowinds – noting that the park would introduce a record breaking water ride in 2026. (If we’re playing the semantics game, “introduce” was probably a synonym for open, but with this tease – assuming that this is what the tease is referencing – is very much being “introduced” in 2026.)

Record-breaking water ride could, in theory, mean many things. However, it’s another 2024 communication that might shed a little light as to what Carowinds might be able to expect from this new “record breaking” attraction.

A Record Breaking Water Ride

In April 2024, the park, along with several others in the chain, sent out a guest survey, looking for feedback on potential new attractions. While you might think these surveys are mostly “lip service” surveys, they do actually produce results – a 2020 Carowinds Survey gave us introduction to “The Aviation Village,” which later became Aeronautica Landing when it opened in 2023. In the 2024 survey, Carowinds proposed one of four rides – a Family Thrill Launch Coaster, A Giga Dive Coaster, a Water Coaster, and a Super Flume. The inclusion of two water rides was significant, as Carowinds had not had a true water ride on the dry side of the park since 2018 until the addition of Charlie Brown’s River Raft Blast during the 2025 season.

If you’re keeping score at home, two of those attractions – the Giga Dive and Family Thrill Launch, do not involve water, while the other two – a Water Coaster and Super Flume do involve water. Carowinds has promised a water ride. Here are the two descriptions from the survey for these two attractions:

Water Coaster

Prepare for an innovative roller coaster and water ride combination! Step aboard an 8-person racing boat and stay dry for the first part of the experience, speeding along a steel track through an exhilarating coaster experience of sharp banks, twists and turns high above the ground. As the ride reaches its climax, brace yourself for the ultimate thrill: a massive hill that sends your boat plummeting down into a splash pool below. The sudden plunge creates a towering wave that drenches all those on board, providing a refreshing and an unforgettable experience for thrill-seekers and water lovers of all ages.

Super Flume

Climb aboard the world’s most thrilling water ride – the super flume! This aquatic mountain promises a first of its kind flume experience from start to finish!

Expect all the thrills of a traditional log flume, winding through water troughs, mini hills, curves and splashes a contemporary 8-person boat. Then, ascend the first of two daunting aquatic mountains. As you reach the top, a rotating turntable will turn boats 180 degrees before plummeting down a double drop first hill and initial splashdown. A quick recovery is in order, as a reverse backwards drop follows. Looming ahead, lies the second and final mountainous ascent. As you reach the apex, experience the world’s tallest plunge, a near 90-degree mega drop, sending brave riders into a massive splash pool for a soak-tacular finish!

If we’re looking for a “record breaking” element for a water ride, the “World’s Tallest Plunge” certainly lends credibility to the “Super Flume” more so than the Water Coaster for the sake of this exercise – though the water coaster could have record-breaking elements that weren’t mentioned in the copy. Let’s connect a few dots, and say, IF this tease is referring to the previously announced “record breaking water attraction,” that we’re likely dealing with a Super Flume rather than a water coaster.

Researching a Super Flume leads us to the website of water slide purveyors White Water West. Based on their description and the description in the survey, it feels like the details are a match and White Water West would be the manufacturer if this attraction were to come to Carowinds.

The Location

But where in the park would this new attraction potentially be located?

Visitors to Carowinds during the 2025 season were likely to see two potential locations for a new attraction, both somewhat near the park’s main entrance. First, a significant amount of land clearing took place in the area that formerly housed Rip Roarin’ Rapids, Carowinds’ Intamin Rapids ride that operated at the park from 1982-2018. Yes, during it’s day, the attraction was a fairly wooded area. (#whatsinthewoods)  Sitting on approximately four acres of land (according to a rough google maps drawing) tucked between the Paladium Ampitheater and Fury 325, this attraction space has been largely vacant since 2018, with the exception of a lone SCarowinds maze in 2021 that utilized the Rapids’ former queue. The land clearing, plus the moving of Carowinds’ Scrambler to its new location in Thrill Zone to free up some more space in the immediate area, makes this a prime candidate for expansion. Plus, given the area’s attraction history, I imagine there are water lines in that area that could service a water attraction if need be.

Another interesting possibility for a new attraction is the land where Nighthawk formerly stood. The Vekoma flying coaster was removed prior to the 2025 season. While there has not been significant site work that has taken place in this area (at least as of the end of Winterfest 2025 – we’re not in the park to know what’s been done since), it’s also a sizable piece of property inside Carowinds (approximately three acres – again, another crudely measured google maps drawing) where a new ride could reside. And while we’re at it and throwing blind speculation anywhere- there’s a third area at Carowinds that could be used as an “expansion plot” of sorts – and that’s the former Dinosaurs Alive trek, located between Afterburn and Camp Snoopy. That’s another ~3.5-4 acres that’s been seldomly used since the Dinosaurs went extinct (from Carowinds) in 2019.

Looking at the footprint of a White Water West Super Flume located in Vietnam, it takes up a very triangularly shaped 1.5-2 acres, meaning that any of these locations could in theory be where the woods – and what’s inside them – could be located.

So, connecting the dots, we’re speculating that Carowinds is beginning to tease a record breaking water ride. We’re betting that this record breaking water ride is a super flume from White Water West. If we had to pick a location, the amount of land clearing points to the former Rip Roarin’ Rapids land as to the location. We’ll have to see what the teases lead us toward as we lead up to the announcement.

Or we could be entirely wrong and all of the facebook commenters who are saying “RMC Hurler” for the eighth consecutive year are probably right. Tough to tell for sure.

Carowinds opens for the 2026 Season on March 15. For more information, visit the Carowinds website, and to be the first to see their attraction teases, make sure you’re following the park on social media: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram