Sea Viper - New Ride

[bren]

Hi Everyone, Have been up at the Gold Coast for the last week for a work conference. I took some time out to go to Sea World as it has been a few years and i wanted to see what has changed. Anyway, i noticed a billboard at the entrance to the Corkscrew which mentions a new ride called "Sea Viper" It also says the ride will be coming in summer 2009. I have scoured the forum here but find no mention of this. Does anyone know what this is? Will it replace the pirate ship (which was closed)? Cheers Bren

[Gold Coaster]

Retheming of the Corkscrew.

Edited July 19, 2009 by Gold Coaster

[DonjaiInLA]

Most likely, but it seems a little strange none the less, especially seeing the pirate ship is going/gone. None the less it isn't a new coaster.

[Mousenator]

I doubt there's any way they could retheme a 27 year old ride and claim it as a new one, my bet would be that its a flat ride replacement for the pirate ship.

Edited July 20, 2009 by Mousenator

[joz]

^ Good luck with that bet.

[BNErider]

I just hope they do a decent job of it. I really hate how Jet Rescue is themed and how BT has ended up. I hope all three rides receive a big theming makeover, however, I don't think they would do anything to Jet Rescue at this early stage.

[cerberus584]

I doubt there's any way they could retheme a 27 year old ride and claim it as a new one, my bet would be that its a flat ride replacement for the pirate ship.

But you would think it'd be the 27 year old ride that would be next in line for a re-theming. One way they could do it would be to paint it bright orange for instance Also if it were a replacement for the pirate ship, wouldn't the sign be at the pirate ship, instead of at the entrance to corkscrew?

^ Good luck with that bet.

[rappa]

I do believe a new train is on it's way for Corkscrew, no idea what sort of train it could be but surely it wouldn't just be an identical replacement or what would be the point. You can bet it's being made by Vekoma, what with it being Arrow track and all.

[New display name]

Trying to work out how the Corkscrew is going to become a SEA VIPER. Did a bit of research and I found out a Sea Viper is either new air defence missile or a fish. I just can’t work out how the orange track works with either or is there something else a Sea Viper is?

[cerberus584]

that fish is tremendously ugly... the words 'sea viper' make me think of a giant sea snake. There might not be such a thing but it's a ride and i think a bit of artistic licence is warranted.

[New display name]

There is such a thing; the fish and that missile pictured are Sea Vipers.

[cerberus584]

I meant that it sounded like a giant sea snake, and that there might not be such a thing as a giant sea snake called a sea viper...

[jjuttp]

hey you found a picture of me on the internet, but i didnt think that there was one though. Oh, so thats where that mugshot went to i thought that i deleted it. but you have to admit that i do look good as a rocket though.

[joz]

Personally, I think if you have to give the ride a new train then sure, the ride is still a motivator after 27 years, and I think you could spend quite a lot of money on that ride and it'd still be worth it. Having said that, I think they're kidding themselves if they think a bit of paint and a name change is going to result in any sort of attendance boost. Honestly, I think 'Corkscrew' as is, after 27 has more drawing power then the exact same ride called 'Sea Viper'. Corkscrew is what people think of when they think of rides at Sea World, and they're better off trading with that familiarity then trying to re-brand it. My understanding of a Sea Viper visually, is its a vile combination between a snake and an Angler fish, and are about a foot long. They have huge fangs that don't fit inside their heads, and like the Angler Fish, use a light to attract pray. They are thought to use those fangs to impale their pray by swimming at them at high speeds. OK then, I'll admit it when you think about what they do, Sea Viper is a pretty cool name for a ride, but it'd be a good name for a new ride, not as a new name for an old ride like Corkscrew which doesn't need it.

[Richard]

Yeah this seems to be up there on the list of questionable (read: stupid) moves WVTP have made in the past 6-12 months. I suppose you can take solace in the fact that these changes are largely just stupid and not willfully damaging like much of what Dreamworld's done over the past five years or so.

[rappa]

What's hilarious is just look at what Disneyland was doing 5-10 years ago and it exactly what our parks are doing now. Disney realised all the mistakes and bad decisions they made and how it affected the parks and attendance. It took them a few years, a lot of money and effort and some great new management to fix all that. And now the parks look great and attendance is crazy. How can you look at all that and think it will turn out any different for us!

Edited July 26, 2009 by djrappa

[paauly101]

Well I guess theres something the colour of "Sea Viper" has in comon with that fish. Theyre both incredibly ugly.

[Richard]

How can you look at all that and think it will turn out any different for us!

Obviously Fisher knows something none of us and no one at Disney knew... My perspective of the situation is that Corkscrew's train was in need of replacement. Hardly a shock given that the coaster is pushing 30. Obviously dropping some serious cash to keep a 30 year old ride going (I'm guessing we're looking at something around a million for a new train, if not more). is pretty hard to justify, so some bright spark came up with the idea of reinventing it as a 'new' attraction. How hard they push it when it comes to advertising etc. will be interesting in coming months. To be fair though, despite the idiodicy of this, I think you can safely say that it's better than simply removing the ride and replacing it with some inferior Intamin contraption... given our parks affinity for unreliable gimicks in recent years.

[MickeyD]

If the new train offers the same fundamental experience as now then I can't see how it can be promoted as a new ride but if there was some new feature that improved the experience - ie swivelling cars or riding backwards then that could be pretty cool

[Gazza]

What about the SF approach? Mist, flamethrowers, music, and a tunnel made of fluro lights in the shape of a superman shield?

[MickeyD]

Or inclose a tunnel all around the track and call it "Sea Mountain" lol

[rappa]

Despite my negative comments above I really can't fault what they're doing. Apart from the colour of the ride, which IMO is just totally wrong for Seaworld there isn't much to complain about. NAME - Yes it's a stupid name, but how many rides out there have names that don't make sense. Sea Viper sounds cool, and you don't really think average Jo is going to get out his iPhone and google what exactly a Sea Viper is before riding do you? As for Corkscrew, well that's about as sad as you get with creative naming. TRAIN - Well we can't say ANYTHING bad about replacing the train, its great the park is keeping the ride running and improving it. I would hate to see the ride shuttered. NEW RIDE - Well I guess like Richard says, we can only wait and see, if they simply give it a new sign and new branding on the map then fine. But I doubt they will say "all new attraction" in any marketing. You can't really advertise "all new train" either because again, average Jo won't know what the hell theyre talking about. I think to say, ride the new Sea Viper ride is a pretty fair compromise. What I do hope we see is some re-theme of the station, would be very half baked just to change the track colour and train and leave the stock standard station house as is.

[mattcrombie]

I heard the new train is like the superman escape train... Any details on it?

[rappa]

I've heard it's coming from Kumbak

[S.W24]

Some updated information As for the company in which the new train is coming from WVTP won't says at this stage as final plans and changes are still in discussion and there is still a lot of stuff in the air. As for the trains them selves they will be a great change for the ride and will offer a much better experience than ever before. Lets just say this won't be a train were you just sit on your bum like it is now from what iv been told. Finally there is going to be a far few changes to the attraction, during its transition there will be a lot to talk about for sure, very excited.