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Agree. I believe DCR had a little help with it's enthusiast bias with some minor adjustments to increase that all-too-delicious airtime... however there's the big 'general public' drawcard that Taipan has over Rivals - and that is INVERSIONS. Taipan racks up FOUR inversions according to it's stats. Track length is similar with rivals only another 200m longer - but due to the swing launch and transfer track motions, it will feel (and probably be) a longer ride time experience. The speed difference is negligible - about 10km/h which is nothing unless you're behind someone doing 105 on the pac MWY in the fast lane (and then it feels really sloooow). The height here is a big standout (clearly not a hypercoaster) but considering Superman continues to hold it's own in a park side-by-side with Rivals, I don't think a 40m launched coaster is that much worse off compared to Rivals. We can only judge on the stats as the ride experience cannot be compared yet so anyone calling Taipan for being a failure at this point has problems with prematurity. As for cost - it depends on what else was included in the construction cost quoted. It could be increased costs due to COVID delays. It could factor in costs associated with rerouting the train, removing the TOT track, the demolition costs and\or earthworks associated with TRRR, BB Studios, Train Shed, or any other peripheral works that are easier to write off under a bigger project cost centre. Until you know you're comparing apples with apples, construction costs are to be heavily salted. Curiosity got the better of me so I measured it. Just the FLAT section of the initial launch measures in at 96m not including either inclined end. Given the triple launch and swing, that 96m is tripled (plus the spike and first hill sections) so you're easily on-par with Rivals for track length TRAVELLED.

Gee I can't wait to ride the 100kph launched, 4 inversions family coaster! /s It's hard to say this ride isn't for Thrill Seekers with the stats it has. In Europa Park Blue Fire has the second highest height limit of their twelve coasters. If "Air-time" is the only metric that apparently matters, I guess Batwing is one of the best flat rides out there!

I've never understood this idea where people call coasters with inversions a "Family Thrill Ride" Family thrill means Jet Rescue or Scooby or Storm. Something a bit more spicy than a regular family coaster like Roadrunner or Madagascar. The height limits, speed, g forces on this makes Steel Taipan a thrill ride.

"Hello? The New Atlantis, open for business! Who are you to resist it, huh?"

https://fb.watch/7VaWd1faVe/ Drone footage of the full cycle in action. Nice to see the layout of the exit and how it links in to the rest of the ride.

Coaster had its first full run late this afternoon. Photo is a screenshot from a video a lady shared with me this afternoon

It’s a great ride, why release a POV that makes the coaster look worse than Rivals? I’d be down there tomorrow to film a POV if they wanted the help. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Also for what its worth, I don't care it only has a couple of airtime points, because right now, Australia needed a decent multi looper, and I can get airtime on Superman and DCR. Just waiting for that barrel roll at the end 👁👄👁

Big news!!! LPS can reopen in October for fully vaccinated people with a capacity of 5,000 people. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-09/nsw-freedoms-for-fully-vaccinated-explained/100446378

Woooooowwwwww. that’s a garbage POV. Can they just DM @Slick?

Someone left Hypersmooth or something on in the GoPro and it was not a fan of some of those transitions...

At this point, I prefer Rivals shakey pov

Why is it so hard for us to get a decent POV in Australia 😰

All but confirmed now that there's no path from ST to GD. Very unlikely a path would go through here, as it'd be built by now, and people coming from GD would be arriving at the exit pathing for ST. Additionally, the landscaping along the bank on the eastern side of the area, near the old train tracks, isn't showing signs of a new bridge being built to link up with spaghetti junction. The 2nd option was linking the 2 red arrows, a gap in the landscaping can be seen at the right arrow. The only gap (left circle) isn't as high as the one as you enter the ride (right circle). The option of a path running along the wall behind SV is unlikely, as it's back-of-house. Plus: The fence looks like it might be up and blocking this off anyway. So, unless Blue Lagoon's area is part of an expansion, it's likely that ST will be a spur in DW's pathing. Which doesn't bother me that much.

@JobeThe kids didn't put the frog away after playing with it and I ran over Jeremiah(frog) with my car. It saddens me so much; I never want to talk about it again.

It's a world class rated staple coaster. Something DW needed 20-30 years ago.

I'm sure that some random with a gopro mounted onto a chest rig would create a better POV than what you see here

@New display name hopefully this works FullSizeRender.mov

I don't know if this will work for everyone but it's onride footage. https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/northern/dreamworlds-steel-taipan-rollercoaster-taken-for-first-test-run/news-story/d7330138bfdecd440002769f3e2684fb?amp&__twitter_impression=true

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CTmJdY-HTTR/?utm_medium=copy_link Nice footage from the park.

Just drove past and all the coaster track and station lights were on. Looked pretty good

All we need now is a good ghost train.🤭👍

Rockhampton Zoo says hi.

Does anyone know why steel taipan cost more than dc rivals to build? It hardly looks comparable. ST as is blue fire are more a family thrill ride but if dreamworld are trying to attract people to the park I would have thought they would go with something a bit more unique and exciting. I'm sure it will be fun but it simply won't have the air time that enthusiasts will be expecting on a coaster of this nature. Perhaps we will see something else in the next 5 yrs to fill that gap for the thrill seekers now that buzzsaw and TT2 are both out of action because even with ST dreamworld really lacks something that throws a punch. This was what attracted me to dreamworld in the past and ST on its own doesn't really cut it. I suppose dreamworld needed to try and attract a wider audience so ST is a good solution but for me personally I'm not really interested in going until they get something else.

A quick note, if you want updates just go on JAP's instagram. Every Friday they post construction updates.

Went fine thanks!

After all the hype, and buildup, and delays, that was the biggest disappointment. #brightsunfilms

So, how'd that pull through test go then.

I know man, just friendly razzing. or a footing?

Gazza is spot on. The newer lap bar Eurofighters are fine; the older ones with overhead restraints vary from "not great" to "horrid". Separately, you do NOT want a clone of Sandy's Blasting Bronco. It's boring. What you do want is a clone of GaleForce at Playland's Castaway Cove. That ride is phenomenal.

The burrow and new exhibit space opened today. Photos courtesy of VRTP C&E

No, it says 'best'. I haven't been on most of these, so if I were to pick only from what i've been on (and could therefore consider making my favourite) i'd only be tossing up between Tornado at WnW and Green Room at WWW. Out of the two, Tornado would win just as its more visually exciting to look at, although Green Room would earn bonus points for not needing to carry the raft. The green room theme was clever, but it didn't execute well, and it's like they purchased the default scheme of 'go away green' because it was cheaper. If I were to pick based on what I know (the tornado experience is much the same everywhere, so its what you've done to 'plus' it that counts) then neither of the GC options comes close. Perfect storm for me takes it - a long layout prior to the funnel, they plussed it by adding mini tornados along the route as well as the enclosure of the funnel and added AV effects, and given Kraken was the 'longest' at the time of opening at 270m, this 280m model breaks that as well. Contrast to Storm's next door neighbour - Funnel Web, despite the awesome spider sculpture - for me is ruined by the long uninspired length. It's like they needed both slides to start at the same point for convenience, so they just 'autocompleted' the layout between the start and the splashdown. The layout (and from POVs) doesn't appear to be very inspiring or thrilling, and since the funnel is the payoff with nothing else in between, i'd rather they just got on with it - Tornado and Green Room both beat Funnel Web, purely because they get on with the job, and they don't feel like i'm living in 'Pleasantville Monochrome'. I didn't set out to knife Kraken in this, but as I wrote Funnel Web above, I realised that much the same factors and issues applied to Kraken in the same way, so they can share the spot - i'll put Kraken a step above purely for the colours used.

Perfect storm, Not the standard cookie-cutter layout and includes visual/audio inside the main funnel. The fact this main funnel is enclosed also is a great addition as I feel you get “lost” within the moment. My honourable mentions are Funnel Web at Jamberoo, T5 at RWS and The Green Room at WWW.

I mean - i'm the first one to pour shit on Adventure World because I love fishing and it always gets a bite... ...but did you leave out Kraken? And does themeing come into it or are we just purely talking about layout and ride experience?

The Orphan Rocker was the brain child of Phil Hammon and then in the early to mid 2000's the flame was picked up by his daughter, Anthea Hammon. At the time she was coaster obsessed and was actively working towards getting the Rocker open. However, the hurdles were numerous and due to a shift on her and Scenic World's priorities, the Rocker was never completed. They put considerable investment into first building the Scenic Cablecar, which journeyed to the bottom of the Jamieson Valley below, installing brand new "Red Devil" Trains on the Scenic Railway and installing and updating the Scenic Skyway, firstly by having it stop at a station on the other side, allowing you to make the picturesque walk back around to Scenic World and then finally by installing a larger , bigger capacity car that also had frosted glass technology, allowing the riders to view the valley floor below. They were also instrumental in building the walkway on the Valley floor , which gives riders of either the Scenic Cablecar or the Railway something to do- and it is a highlight and a must do. Parkz did an excellent article on Scenicworld and the Orphan Rocker about 8 years ago when several track pieces of the Rocker were removed. https://www.parkz.com.au/article/2017/07/12/522-Orphan_Rocker_roller_coaster_crumbles_at_Katoombas_Scenic_World.html Its such a shame that it did not open- it would have been a unique and awesome ride experience just for the location alone. Enthusiasts from all over the world would have travelled just to have a ride on this thing- it would have been even more infamous than it is now if it had actually opened! I think it is highly unlikely that Scenic World will ever build a proper coaster on the site- their priorities have shifted to more attractions that involve the mountain setting more than thrills. Also, residential opposition would be extremely strong and is also one of the Orphan Rocker's final nails in its coffin, with issues surrounding noise from the ride being cited as quite strong in the community and out of place for the site. At the very most, I could see them installing an Alpine coaster that could certainly be eco friendly, make excellent use of the terrain and would be a thrilling and appropriate installation at the site. However, I do not think that the Hammons would look into this type of attraction anymore. Something like this would be excellent however and is in a similar mountain setting in Switzerland.