Defunct Roller Coaster on New Zealand's South Island

[Jobe]

This has been posted on the Facebook site , Lost Amusement Parks of Australia.

Its not often you hear of a defunct coaster in Australia and New Zealand that you have never heard of but this is what this group is all about!

Please see the below post regarding the Cloud 9/Runaway Mine Roller coaster on New Zealand's South Island. Thanks to 𝔻𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕊𝕋𝔼𝔼𝕃 ℝ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕠𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕤 and member Davd Mahan for this post.

Cloud 9/Runaway Minecoaster at QEII Fun Park in Christchurch, New Zealand.

After the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand concluded, the park that was built to accommodate them was left relatively empty, so throughout the 70s and 80s, many amusement facilities were built,

The area would eventually be given the name "QEII Fun Park" (QEII is short for Queen Elizabeth II, whom the area was named after), and it was quite popular,

the Cloud 9 roller coaster was a looping shuttle coaster where you would be lifted up a spike backward and then dropped down into the loop, and then roll backward and go through the loop again.

It opened around September of 1985, making it the first roller coaster to go upside down in the country, beating out Corkscrew at Auckland's Rainbow's End by one year,

The coaster was reportedly built and operated by the Paterson Brothers, Gavin, Neville & Lyndsay, who run a tire shop in Christchurch.

Many locals stated the ride was very loud and shaky, and many did not believe the ride was safe.

Residents in houses near the park called it an eyesore and were annoyed by the sounds of the ride running, and after much (apparent) discussion, the coaster's owners agreed to remove the loop, probably around 1988-1989, this also required part of the ride to be moved.

With the loop being removed, the ride's main draw was lost, and ridership went down sharply, furthermore, the noise issues were not fixed, and the ride was still as noisy as ever.

Due to these factors, the ride was scrapped near the end of 1989, this was the only permanent roller coaster operating on New Zealand's South Island, so after its closure, it was left without any coasters, and it remains that way to this day.

The QEII Fun Park remained open until the early 2000s and the neighboring water park stayed open until 2012 when it was destroyed by an earthquake.

(photo credit to Dick Smit, Kim Bartlett, Jo Zervos, Susanna Preston, the Christchurch Star, and Christchurch City Libraries)

Has any members of the group actually ridden this? Who has even heard of it? 

 

Very interesting and apparently made in house!! Has anyone ever heard of this? Or even have the credit?

Just thought that this was interesting and historic enough to share. I certainly have never heard of it!

Edited October 27, 2023 by Jobe

[aaronm]

Very interesting. No doubt worth a few ‘rare’ points on coaster-count.

[REGIE]

Ha how cool! I love hearing about coasters around here that I haven’t heard about!  But usually they are just some dragon train.  This is sick!!! A looping coaster I haven’t heard of in the southern hemisphere is wild.