Parkz News Sea World's Sea Viper closes after 32 years

[Parkz News]

Sea World's Sea Viper closes after 32 years

The oldest roller coaster on the Gold Coast has today had its closure officially announced after an ongoing period of maintenance and inactivity. Opening in 1982 as Corkscrew, the coaster was one of a small handful of similar rides remaining in operation from steel roller coaster pioneer Arrow Dynamics.

Click here to continue reading

[Santa07]

NO...!

I guess we all saw it coming though...

[Brad2912]

Wow, sad day for the Gold Coast & Australian theme park scene.

A classic iconic ride, that gave excitement to many for over 3 decades.

The announcement not a shock, but like many I had hoped there was a way of saving her, but economically it obviously wasn't possible. Kudos to SW for doing their utmost in the last few years to extend its life as long as possible!

Will be interesting if now that a decision has been made if it remains in place or is dismantled and scrapped.

[bladex]

please build another coaster in it's place

[Gary86]

Will be interesting if now that a decision has been made if it remains in place or is dismantled and scrapped.

Since it's Sea World not Dreamworld it will probably be scrapped very soon not sit and rot in the park.

Edited July 17, 2014 by Gary86

[westical]

A shame but I guess the writing was on the wall. I seem to be jinxed, like Bermuda I only managed one or two rides on this.

Edited July 17, 2014 by westical

[mba2012]

This is very sad news. Hopefully they'll be able to replace it with something just as good and iconic.

[Brad2912]

Since it's Sea World not Dreamworld it will probably be scrapped very soon not sit and rot in the park.

Bermuda was sitting there for a number of years.

They also have fences in the middle of walkways.

I wouldn't exactly put SW above the possibility of it sitting there for a quite a while.

[Zanstabar]

Sad to see it go. I wonder what will become of the ride, as well as it's location.

Also, can someone teach me how to Photoshop?

[BigKev]

Bit like a sporting great retiring, sad but also exciting to see what comes next.

[Reanimated35]

AND YOU ALL SAID I WAS CRAZY!!!

Good on them for trying the fix it up. My guess is though we've all taken our last rides on Sea Viper/Corkscrew

[rappa]

Yes this is a shame, it was my first inverted coaster (I remember standing on my dad's feet to fudge the height) but she had a good run in adverse conditions.

Pretty much been a given that this announcement was coming for some time, but it's sometimes the case those that are aware of such things just can't say so until it's released.

[downunder196]

They could fit a decent sized coaster on that land and the reclaimed area which was meant for Wild. Wishful thinking but still.

[Reanimated35]

dj, are you able to say when the decision was made or is that too much?

Just curious as to how long they sat on that before announcing it.

[Jakev8]

My first ever roller coaster ride

Was on sea viper when I was like 10 very sad day indeed, lots and lots of memories.

RIP sea viper :'(:'(

[joz]

It was very heavily rumored back when the ride closed earlier in the year. A sad day, but I think we all saw it coming. Personally, I'm looking forward to the future; with Wild looking less and less likely to be built at Sea World, I think the demise of Corkscrew and recently reclaimed land does present the park very rare opportunity to do something truly amazing. Corkscrew was an iconic ride, not just for Sea World, but for the entire Gold Coast, it stands to reason that it's replacement should be something equally iconic. Not a spinning coaster, not a Eurofighter, but maybe a MACK launch coaster, something from B&M or a good quality Intamin looper. Unusually for SW, there's a huge amount of land available, almost all of it can be imagined from scratch, so lets see them do something amazing and iconic.

[downunder196]

Intamin Mega-Lite would be nice.

[Jobe]

Yep it's a shame to be sure. The question has to be asked though-is the act of closing Sea Viper linked to the cancellation/deferment of Wild? I think that they might be- please be aware this is purely my own speculation and not based and any solid fact. I am sure that with the forced retirement of Sea Viper, and given that real estate in Sea World is of utmost premium, this forced Seaworld to reevaluate their plans for the land encompassing this area. As I said purely wild speculation on my part.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It was very heavily rumored back when the ride closed earlier in the year. A sad day, but I think we all saw it coming. Personally, I'm looking forward to the future; with Wild looking less and less likely to be built at Sea World, I think the demise of Corkscrew and recently reclaimed land does present the park very rare opportunity to do something truly amazing. Corkscrew was an iconic ride, not just for Sea World, but for the entire Gold Coast, it stands to reason that it's replacement should be something equally iconic. Not a spinning coaster, not a Eurofighter, but maybe a MACK launch coaster, something from B&M or a good quality Intamin looper. Unusually for SW, there's a huge amount of land available, almost all of it can be imagined from scratch, so lets see them do something amazing and iconic.

Absolutely Joz - precisely what they need to look at. Hopefully the cupboard isn't too bare after recent investments here and elsewhere.

Viper Corkscrew was my wife's first coaster, and my second steel coaster. It holds a special place for us, and will be missed.

This was our wedding in 2013.

As a side note - Cyclone is ripe for a new (slightly used) train... and I think on Cyclone you'd be able to remove the heavy-duty shoulder guards as well because you won't be going as close as you did on the monorail...

[Brad2912]

Could be on to something there...

[Zanstabar]

What could possibly go in Sea Viper's place? Would a Mega-Lite fit? How about a Dive Machine? Boomerang anyone ?

[rappa]

I think the huge parcel of land is very helpful given SW has the height limits.

Maybe this could be the place to put that Firechaser Express clone I've said the coast needs??

You can all start coming up with theming now

Either that or build a kick ass rapids ride!

[JacobSibbald]

I'm surprised at how upset I am! Definitely excited for the future though. Bittersweet.

[Reanimated35]

I hope they do replace it with some sort of kick-ass iconic ride rather than their plans for wild.

Now I'm only basing this one the FoF survey a while back so some of you will know what I'm talking about, I just hope they do what was mentioned in that survey rather than trying to fit it into the space where Corkscrew and its surrounds are.

As for memories, it was my sister who convinced me to go on Corkscrew and it was the first inverting coaster I'd ever been on. If I hadn't gone on it that day (she'd convinced me to go on Superman earlier that day too) I would love theme parks and rides as much as I do now.

Edited July 17, 2014 by reanimated35

[alex_1]

Sad to hear, for sure.

But it did take up a decent plot of land that could be more effectively utilized by a more modern coaster, so I'm cautiously excited to see what the future has in store.