Thunderbolt has been sold!

[thunder001]

It is only a rumor at this stage, but we will have to take a wait and see attutude with this one.

[Slick]

you're right thunder001 (wayne i think!), but still, it would be funny and good to see wonderland possibly give the ThunderBolt a new leash on life e.g. better theming

[Andy_q69]

But even if it is coming to Wonderland, where will it be? What will it be called? But what thunder said, we will have to wait and see if it is true! :?

[Shaun]

I bet you they call it 'THE HULK' and paint it up green and for the logo the will have the 2 hulk hands crashing through the 2 loops Now that would be a laugh! Shaun

[GoGoBoy]

Shaun, I agree with your above post. I can definitely imagine it re-themed as The Hulk. I think it would be crazy for Wonderland to buy the Bolt for obvious reasons. DW is surely getting rid of it because of all the complaints. I certainly hope a representative from Wonderland had a ride on the coaster in its recent state before making any decision. My question is what would Wonderland have to do to turn it into a relatively enjoyable ride? What is it specifically about the Bolt that makes it so painful? Would it be a matter of designing a whole new train? Or would it be possible to just change the wheels on the train to make it smoother? Also, is there anything that would need to be done to the track? Being a tall person I can remember having my legs squashed each time we'd hit a corner. It was horrible.

[Richard]

I'm sure I've given my highly professional and non-wrong opinion on how to fix Thunderbolt before. Seriously though, there's really not much that needs to be done to make it a really fun, and essentially smooth ride. Each step gets progressively more complex, so the easy fixes are the earlier ones. 1. Replace the restraints with something a little less encompassing. Sure, lapbars would be great, and make the ride essentially non-rough, and is all that's even required (in reality, Thunderbolt's the sort of ride where no restraint of any kind is at all is needed to keep you in your seat), but even a more open, softer horsecollar would make it more enjoyable. 2. Retrofit the entire trains - suspension under seats to absorb some of the bumps in the track, and get softer seats and side padding to make the jolts at least cushy ones. A softer wheel compound that absorbs some of the bumps in the track would be good, but I feel that the shoddy track would really wear through anything of decent quality. 3. Replace the trains. There's no shock absorbers or suspension underneath - I don't know what was suggested back when they bought a new train in the mid-90's, but there's nothing underneath but a few wheels. Get decent rolling stock that can handle even basic turns. 4. Rebuild the first drop and the turn out of the loops. They've got bad banking and even worse transitions. They're really the worst parts of the ride, and are essentially the parts that are mostly responsible for Thunderbolt's roughness stigma. Design better banking, and more gentle transitions in and out. You may wish to also rebuild some of the other curves and transitions into the banking throughout the ride, though many of the remaining ones are relatively fine as is (the two flat turns aren't bad at all, but the curving drops tend to be). 5. Finally, and this is really the fun one. Take out a 6-inch section of each rail where they were welded together 20 years ago. It was a cheap welding job 20-odd years ago, and you can physically see, and feel the joints (the straight section of track that passes through the loop was the best place to feel this) - they're essentially depressions every few metres in the track, and feel a bit like driving over a bridge's metal strips, only much bumpier. Replace all these joints with a more seamless join and you won't feel a thing. And for cosmetic reasons, we'll take down the entire catwalk, so now the ride's much more quiet. The loops are really among the smoothest parts of the ride, but the high g-forces can be uncomfortable. Change the height of the transition into the loops (much like Zonga at SFMW), and probably won't come off the ride with a headache. Doing all these things, you'll find yourself with a ride you never knew you could have. Also, I heard another rumour about Thunderbolt. Aparently Dreamworld's splitting it into two rides, so it'll become two smaller coasters - Thunder and Bolt.

[Andy_q69]

Think you've got your numbers a lil' mixed up Richard! I think that is a great explanation of how to make it more enjoyable!

[Richard]

Yeah, I just consulted an old maths text book, and I think my counting procedure is now correct.

[Slick]

Man that catwalk is starting to peeve me, not the fact that it will bother me anymore... Mind you, that's what happens when a japanese thrill ride company brings a ride to suite Japan's environment into Australia's totally different climate, sorroundings and environment. Could this explain the extra touches with themeing? (note: ThunderBolt has no themeing!)

[zztopless]

Richard, that Rumor is only plausable for 7 inversion arrows

[DJKostya]

The way wonderlands going with its repainting of Transylvania we could see the thunderbolt painted fluro pink behind the old action man arena. Maybe I should now change my signature but we'll have to wait and see. This is what was posted on the dreamworld website: After 20 years of service and 9 million passengers the Thunderbolt is now closed to make way for new attractions! Details will be released over the coming year. So it's definately going.

[Auscoaster]

So what will replace Thunderbolt? Some people are suggesting that a B&M coaster be put in it's place. The cost would probably be too high?

[DisneyDoll]

There will sure be a lot of space where the Thunderbolt sat once they remove it. Conceivably, they would have enough room to put in a whole new " land" providing that there is no large coaster. I'm not saying that this would be a great thing to do as I love coasters but, it's a possibillity. Or perhaps they'll build a few mega flat rides & put in shops as well, I guess only time will tell.

[Richard]

There's such a small difference in price between different types of coasters. Of course you'll pay a little less for say an Intamin coaster over a B&M, but that's not what a park looks at really. If Dreamworld adds a coaster, they'll look at the types of coasters they can add within their budget - not the manufacturers. The removal of Thunderbolt potentially frees up a lot more land than just the ride's footprint. Depending on how much Dreamworld wants to maximise the plot's potential, they could really fit in several large rides. Most parks well and truly know that coasters are the real ticket sellers. Flat rides do their part, but they certainly aren't as universally liked as coasters, and their novelty really does wear off for most. Now, I really could see a B&M floorless headed Dreamworld's way, keep it towards the back of Thunderbolt's area, and use land out to the East, up behind Tiger Island, and you'll still have 80% of the land to use for crowd management and other rides or attractions. Next Christmas is starting to look very promising.

[Shaun]

A coaster there might scare the tigers though , but serious, they couldn't build to close to the tigers, but I sapose If the Thunderbolt didn't anoy them well then they will have no problem with a B&M Shaun

[Richard]

Well, animals adapt to their environment - and Thunderbolt was well and truly heard from over at Tiger Island. Then there's the various noise reduction techniques that manufacturers use these days that can make a coaster virtually unnoticeable. Plus, behind Tiger Island isn't exactly a small area. Actually, unless they hook this imaginary coaster way up behind Tiger Island, it won't be close to it at all.

[joz]

I doubt it'd be a problem, the tigers these days are trained to not be distracted by the noise of the park. This is why its possible to take the tigers for walks around the park during hours. How the tigers react to noise is something Dreamworld is rather thoughtful of. Imagine if when taking the tigers through the park, one became distracted or stressed by the noise of Tower of Terror? Not only could it run away, it could also attack, and, more realistically, become distressed. For this reason, the tigers are desensitised from the noise as much as possible, so therefor, I dare say that the tigers would be ok with a coaster nearby. As its been said, Thunderbolt was pretty well heard at Tiger Island anyway, plus the sound of Wipeout & Cyclone, so I wouldn't worry about the effect of a new coaster on the tigers. I'd be more worried about the effect of a new coaster on the parks neighbours....

[nezzur]

The Thundarbolt is not being sold to Wonderland. It has not been sold yet. Dreamworld has it ready for shipping WHEN somebody does buy it. It is currently listed for sale on usedrides.com Once on the site, go to 'search ads' and then 'for sale'. About half way down the first page there is a small add for a double looping meisho coaster. It is a 1982 park model. It is Thunderbolt.

[Richard]

Thanks for that link. I had looked on UsedRides.com a while back, but I guess I wasn't as successful as yourself in finding it. The strange thing is, they've hired a Dutch agent to sell the ride. That seems pretty odd to me, unless they've contacted Vekoma (who are Mesho's European partner) to help with the potential sale. You've just got to hpe that the poor park who eventually does buy it knows what they're getting themselves into.

[thunder001]

Just thinking about what would go there, I can see a clone of a V2 with the angle spike going over the square near the entry to the Gravitron. This would leave a lot of area to put in a couple of Gaint Huss Flat Rides and one or two shops also. Just a thought.

[screammachine]

Thunder I could see that being a really good proposal to replace Thunderbolt. If a ride similar to V2 would be placed there not taking up to much space, leaving some space for flat rides aswell as some shops in there somewhere. Or as in Wonderlands unfortunate case, Dreamworld would be game enough to put in a nice Show Arena there for all of us to enjoy to extreme excitement . OH JOY!!!

[joz]

Huss Land of the Giants would be nice, but I personally would really love to see Dreamworld take on the dark ride genre. I don't know if Dreamworld is still copying Disneyland, but if it is, it'd be great to see the park plant a ride underground and building something useful right over the top of it.

[Richard]

The Impulse route would be interesting, but that's the sort of ride you slot in anywhere it fits - I don't think making it the highlight attraction of a brand new area/land would be the best application of an Impulse, unless, as thunder suggested, it's stuck over way to the side somewhere. As for the 45º style of SFMW's - I've not ridden it, maybe someone who has could correct me (i.e. rabid), but from what I see, it doesn't look nearly as exciting as the standard version (aside from the novelty of perhaps slowing/stopping upside down), plus it takes up more space (but then that's covered by building it over Vortex). As an avid non-fan of flat rides in general (they have their moments, but so do coasters, 10 times over), I'd actually say that a collection of Huss Giants, such as the Land of Giants would be a pretty fun concept, and it'd be perhaps the easiest way to build some high capacity rides to really give the park the overall capacity it needs most of the year. The only thing is, these rides, from what I know, are seriously expensive - you're looking at a small coaster for each individual ride. They'd be relatively easily marketed in the park, particularly sticking a few "Southern Hemisphere's largest..." on a few ads. However, give me an Intamin hypercoaster or B&M floorless any day over a flat ride please.

[Ian]

V2 is great the great thing about it is every row has a different experience because of the twist in the spike I liked the 3rd row as you are suspened upside down but the back row is great for the 90deg back spike But if Dreamworld was to get a impulse there front spike would be like the other usa impulses as v2 was modifed due to height restrictions in the air. But if I was to put a SFMW coaster into Dreamworld it would be Medusa as B&M floorless full circuit coasters are great.

[Andy_q69]

V2 is great the great thing about it is every row has a different experience because of the twist in the spike I liked the 3rd row as you are suspened upside down but the back row is great for the 90deg back spike But if Dreamworld was to get a impulse there front spike would be like the other usa impulses as v2 was modifed due to height restrictions in the air. But if I was to put a SFMW coaster into Dreamworld it would be Medusa as B&M floorless full circuit coasters are great.

I totally agree with you. I would like to see one of those in our Australian collection of roller coasters.