Sea World Maintenance 2023

[themagician]

The maintenance listing for the first half of 2023 has been posted on the parks website 

[themagician]

10 hours ago, REGIE said:

Exactly. The Gold Coast has an operating merry go round again. But since I commented that I think SW one opened again

Really? It’s still listed on the parks maintenance page and last time I was there the ride was completely dismantled 

[Rivals]

The second half of the years maintenance schedule has been uploaded. It looks like Vortex is having a much bigger maintenance period this year, hopefully it’s to fix all the issues it has been having. Also, Leviathans short maintenance period from the 6-18th of March has been removed and the ride has no stated planned maintenance for this year.

[TBoy]

I have noticed that Leviathan is doing a different maintenance period compared to most rides. Instead of it being 1 long period for 2 months, there will be 4 maintenance periods for 2 weeks, the first being in mid-March, second in mid-June, third in early-September and the last in late-November.

[REGIE]

That’s not possible in some cases but overall I feel like I would rather that staggered system for the big attractions. Like I wish that’s what DCR had right now. Waiting till June to ride again is pretty annoying.

Edited May 11, 2023 by REGIE

[Stevie]

1 hour ago, TBoy said:

I have noticed that Leviathan is doing a different maintenance period compared to most rides. Instead of it being 1 long period for 2 months, there will be 4 maintenance periods for 2 weeks, the first being in mid-March, second in mid-June, third in early-September and the last in late-November.

It's also possible that shorter intervals between major checks is attributed to the nature of wooden coasters

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I've not heard of any other woodie that requires this maintenance schedule, though that doesn't mean its wrong. I'd be keen to hear more about why this is necessary.

[rappa]

But how many wooden coasters do we know that are located with ‘Ocean’ on two sides and in a sub tropical Australian climate?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

You forgot 'most iconic' and 'world first backwards seat on a forward facing train on a wooden rollercoaster in a sub tropical australian climate with "ocean" on two sides'. 

There are several woodies built beside or even over the ocean. I didn't say the maintenance schedule was wrong, just that I hadn't heard of any others needing it. 

2 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I'd be keen to hear more about why this is necessary.

 

[Dean Barnett]

Yeah it's bizarre.  Everyone I can think of at least operates for the entire summer season.

[rappa]

But as I said… how many of these ‘several others’ or ‘everyone you can think of’ are located with ‘Ocean’ on two sides and in a sub tropical Australian climate?

The answer is none, so not sure why it makes any sense to compare what is happening here with any other coaster. Its not like the park would WANT to have it’s drawcard attraction closed any more than is needed. 

[Dean Barnett]

 

1 hour ago, rappa said:

The answer is none,

Boardwalk bullet is a good one to look at 

Kemah weather 

Gold Coast Weather

 

Kemah actually has both a higher temperature and humidity differential and more humidity overall 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Because you're being deliberately obtuse. 

There is nothing particularly exclusive about the climate on the gold coast. Wooden coasters are built in tropical climates, they're built in winter climates, they're built by the seaside and in the mountains. 

How many are in a subtropical australian climate with the ocean on both sides? One. Because you've put it in a box to try and make some kind of point, that it doesn't need to be in for the sake of this discussion. 

i'm keen to hear more about why this is necessary.

If you're trying to imply that you have some sort of insider knowledge on why the maintenance cycle is the way that it is, we're just going to have to chalk it up to an incredible case of inconvenience and you're going to have to deal with all these folks who don't know what they're talking about speculating on a discussion forum. 

 

The reality is that climate factors should be considered by the designers and manufacturers and shouldn't place any more burden on the maintenance schedule than necessary. This is clearly necessary, which is why i've said (this will be the fourth time now) - i'm keen to hear more about why this is necessary.

 

And just in case anyone thinks i'm having a go, i'll remind you where I said:

4 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I've not heard of any other woodie that requires this maintenance schedule, though that doesn't mean its wrong.

So for anyone who 'is' allowed to talk about rollercoaster maintenance periods, and 'does' know of any other coasters out there with unusual maintenance periods - feel free to share - because that was what I was asking for.

7 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

 

Boardwalk bullet is a good one to look at 

Kemah weather 

Gold Coast Weather

 

Kemah actually has both a higher temperature and humidity differential and more humidity overall 

I can't believe i'm saying this, but thanks Dean for your comparison.

Clearly though, this comparison rollercoaster gets less rain so your comparison is completely void as only rollercoasters built at in the state of Queensland between two oceans can be compared! /s

[New display name]

I never knew timber rusted.   Things you learn on Parkz.

[biasesumo]

Isn’t every roller coaster built with ocean on at least two sides? I don’t remember Pangaea having a theme park but, then again, I wasn’t around in the Paleozoic era.

[Gazza]

3 hours ago, rappa said:

But as I said… how many of these ‘several others’ or ‘everyone you can think of’ are located with ‘Ocean’ on two sides and in a sub tropical Australian climate?

The answer is none, so not sure why it makes any sense to compare what is happening here with any other coaster. Its not like the park would WANT to have it’s drawcard attraction closed any more than is needed. 

There's also the GCI on the island in Southern Vietnam, but that too only opened in 2022.

https://rcdb.com/19740.htm#p=130440

We are in uncharted territory here folks.

[rappa]

I don't know any more than any other Joe Shmo on what maintenance the coaster needs and why. But I'm smart enough to work out that not one single other ride exists that fits all the categories of this thing once you consider what it is, what it's made of, the location and the fact it sits in a different regulatory framework than anything else out there comparable.

So yeah I put it in a box of 1, because it is in a box of 1. 

I'm also smart enough to know it's not good business to keep your star player sitting on the bench, so if the ride has a certain amount of maintenance, it must need it. I fail to see why a comment like "I'm keen to know why", basically implying someone isn't prepared to accept that it's ok until they have been given what they feel is satisfactory information, is warranted.
For me if the park says "This is how much maintenance it needs", which it has by scheduling it, then that's all the information I need. As someone who is no expect in the maintaining of a high speed wooden rollercoaster in Australia in 2023 who am I to question it?

As for rusting... well wood doesn't rust, but it sure does bend, warp and rot, and there is also a hell of a lot of metal holding that whole thing together.

[Dean Barnett]

I feel like if they knew it needed this much maintenance they should have just got a RMC instead  

[Rivals]

13 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

I feel like if they knew it needed this much maintenance they should have just got a RMC instead  

Leviathan is a much better fit for the park then an RMC would be. The maintenance needed for the ride is worth it considering the ride experience and how well it works for the park, they could look at RMC in the future but not now.

RMC also aren’t the most strong and reliable manufacture yet, i can’t see a park here wanting to take a risk with a new established manufacture. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Rivals

[REGIE]

I know the older RMC’s have had a few problems but was arieforce one’s opening few weeks pretty smooth? I didn’t follow it to much but it seemed to me like it went pretty smoothly. but again I am not entirely sure.  I do feel like in general the newer ground ups have been pretty successful in that they have been decently reliable.  I believe Zadra is pretty reliable.  
 

our parks do tend to play it safe when it comes to manufactures but I think as RMC keeps going and getting more reliable it wouldn’t completely surprise me if one of our parks opted for a RMC in the further future.  Wouldn’t surprise me if say DreamWorld got an IBox coaster, that they would take the full steal coaster option like Arie force instead of taking the higher maintenance Hybrid option.

[biasesumo]

8 minutes ago, REGIE said:

they would take the full steal coaster option like Arie force instead of taking the higher maintenance Hybrid option.

Arieforce was the product of theft?

[Rivals]

19 minutes ago, REGIE said:

I know the older RMC’s have had a few problems but was arieforce one’s opening few weeks pretty smooth? I didn’t follow it to much but it seemed to me like it went pretty smoothly. but again I am not entirely sure.  I do feel like in general the newer ground ups have been pretty successful in that they have been decently reliable.  I believe Zadra is pretty reliable.  
 

our parks do tend to play it safe when it comes to manufactures but I think as RMC keeps going and getting more reliable it wouldn’t completely surprise me if one of our parks opted for a RMC in the further future.  Wouldn’t surprise me if say DreamWorld got an IBox coaster, that they would take the full steal coaster option like Arie force instead of taking the higher maintenance Hybrid option.

Arieforce was having some issues and was down a couple days from what i’ve heard, Iron Gwazi has been having a couple issues and been down a bit, Lightning Rod is still having issues even after replacing the wood with I-box track.

[Noll_57]

2 hours ago, REGIE said:

our parks do tend to play it safe when it comes to manufactures but I think as RMC keeps going and getting more reliable it wouldn’t completely surprise me if one of our parks opted for a RMC in the further future. 

Wasn’t Movie World originally looking at getting an RMC Raptor to replace Arkham? If VRTP are already considering them, I’d say it’s fairly likely they’ll eventually invest in an RMC at some point in the future. Not sure if any other Aussie park operator would though (at least at the moment). 

[REGIE]

5 hours ago, Rivals said:

Arieforce was having some issues and was down a couple days from what i’ve heard, Iron Gwazi has been having a couple issues and been down a bit, Lightning Rod is still having issues even after replacing the wood with I-box track.

Uh ok that’s a shame.  
 

 Lightning rod is a different story altogether.  That thing is something else sheesh. Probably the most beloved failure of the last 10 years.  A shame really, as it sounds like an amazing ride.  I don’t understand why exactly it’s so unreliable. Manufactures have been dealing with track stress for years! And LSM’s are pretty good these days.   I guess it comes down to having 3rd party’s build the launch and RMC being real new at the time .  I could easily be completely off but that’s all I can think of.

[Gazza]

I think what they should have done was make the launch track a steel on steel structure.

Timber always settles and that is enough to disturb the alignment of the LSMs.