Boogie Board Racers is apparently closed for the 2025 season because there's an ongoing lawsuit.
Carowinds Boogie Board Racers Lawsuit
- Thread starter CarolinaCoasters
- Start date
Probably the part where riders re-enter a tunneled section;
Believe it or not but this is actually a relatively new feature on matt slides, ten years ago the prevalent design was always a tunneled helix/DNA twist and then splashdown. It'd been done plenty before in other parts of the world but it was Hersheypark's in 2017 that really kicked off this new design trend of more creative layouts here in North America.
Previous to this most of the handfull of matt racers with re-entry points into the tunnels had uphill sections; the one at Cartoon Network (now Sony) waterpark in Thailand had to mandate helmets because the occasional rider would smash their heads on the ascent. While the one at Carowinds was a relatively new design quirk for WhiteWater West a few years ago, it's much safer and isn't following some big hill or drop. If the person hit their head on that they must have been trying to sit up, which is both discouraged and not easy to do on matt racers.
My guess is that the attraction will reopen in 2026 with either very strict ride restrictions (max height, rider position, etc.) and extra signage displaying rider positions, or Carowinds will take the safer, more expensive route and fully enclose the attraction to prevent further incidents. Maybe, instead of the outside section, they will go for a clear enclosure—such as what’s seen on many Oasis-class ships by Royal Caribbean, with slides manufactured by WhiteWater West.
Attachments
No update on the lawsuit, but I will say I saw the slide testing yesterday with lifeguards and the water running. I think they may have let guests on it but I’m not sure. Confident it will reopen this summer.
That's what makes sense to me. To just redesign the 2nd tunnel entrances with maybe 6-8 inches more clearance at the top. I would think they would look more oval or egg shaped.
I was there a couple weeks ago and it was very much open and alive with a nice long line to boot.