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

[rappa]

Can't use lake for ride water as it's salt water connected to the ocean.

[bladex]

not use the actual lake than just dam part of it and use that as the lagoon. that lake is more than big enough. and if that means cancelling the Sb show than that's a good thing

[lolman123]

Sea viper was an iconic ride and stood for many years. I would love for sea viper to be removed and the land be used for a new exciting ride. RIP sea viper.

[Reanimated35]

Unfortunately nearmap doesn't have very good "fine tuning" for zooming, I was already stitching one together haha, here it is.

sworld.png

Here are the individual shots (zoomed closer).

seaviper.png

wild1.png

wild2.png

Thank you very much

I bet you that Sea World won't do anything with the Sea Viper until 4 years time! They did it with Bermuda and Looney Tunes! I'm starting to start lose patience with some of this parks.. Oh by the way I think "Sea World would have a slow but painful death" They won't last for another ten more years

Cue the shitstorm at 5pm - 8pm when people log in after a hard day's work and have to put up with seeing your post.

I'm almost disapointed now that I had a really good day at work and I'm not angry enough to bother with this idiot :'(

I'll have a play around with it a bit later, but if anyone else wants to have a go, here's the stiched photo. (Thanks again to rac2703 for the images)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/c0ox9lt530p9jc2/park.jpg

Edited July 18, 2014 by reanimated35

[iwerks]

The Corkscrew was a great ride. It featured in all of those ads in the 90s, along with Bermuda Triangle, that really sold Australia on going to the Gold Coast. I think bringing in the Storm coaster just before time ran out for The Sea Viper was a very clever move.

I still think they should have another river ride, like at Singapore's River Safari, so you can see all the animals at Wild (if and when it happens), and up-charge more for close encounters with the animals.

With regards to coasters, I thought there was a weight/height limit on them at the Spit because the foundations weren't strong enough.

[themagician]

I don't think a river ride where you go past animals enclosures is a good idea. Rider may not always see the animals. There enclosures won't be overly big because there won't be enough room for a river ride and animals. The reclaimed land may be long, but it isn't overly wide for a river rapid ride to go in one direction and turn go back again. I think river rapids would be good. I think the wild idea is good as well. But together I don't think it is. Just my opinion.

[stellaclose]

Good news for Sea World - there's a cheap B&M that's for sale that would be perfect for the space. It's hardly been used, in excellent condition, has on-board audio and would be the biggest looping coaster in Australia. And it's painted white :-)

http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1793

[Flea]

^ I wonder how much that's going for? Would look absolutely stunning next to the water.

Thanks for providing the images guys.

[joz]

Hey rac2703, reckon you could include the scale on those images?

[rac2703]

Here is a shot that I took with the approximate area of the Sea Viper and reclaimed land (calculated by near map). I'm heading out for the day but will be happy to post more pics later on tonight.

Here is another shot with a few approximate lengths (by nearmap) added in.

Edited July 18, 2014 by rac2703

[_koppen]

How about an Intamin 8-inversion coaster? (there's a new version, but they have only built 10-inversion models so far, the 8-inversion is the same only with a 540 degree helix instead of the last two rolls. This takes away from the repetivness of the rolls and also takes away 30 meters from the footprint). The new version in China got a pretty rave review from an experienced rider and also featuring just lap bars.

http://rcdb.com/11055.htm

Just an example of what could be done, here's a quick overview I made:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=640999&sid=584a2468d37e906f9d4b0b763f797799

[Jobe]

Good news for Sea World - there's a cheap B&M that's for sale that would be perfect for the space. It's hardly been used, in excellent condition, has on-board audio and would be the biggest looping coaster in Australia. And it's painted white :-)

http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1793

Funny I was thinking the exact same thing. The former Led Zeppelin B & M would be great addition to Sea World and it would certainly fit in the footprint vacated by Sea Viper. However this idea does present some problems. Village Roadshow traditionally do not invest in 2nd hand rides-if I am not mistaken this would be a first? Also Led Zeppelin might not fit into the target demographic that SeaWorld is trying to reach-it certainly cannot be classed as a family attraction.

I think that this decision to finally remove Sea Viper has not been a snap decision or one taken lightly by management. Sea World must be applauded for maintaining Sea Viper for the 32 years it was in existence. However its its final years it was plagued by long periods of maintenance,so in the end, this decision really does not come as a great surprise. The decision to remove the iconic ride could also be tied to Wild's deferment/cancellation as Sea World reevaluate the use of its first large available parcel of land at its disposal since Jet Ski was installed.

I personally would like to see several new attractions be introduced into this area-with a new family coaster being the anchor. Echo the calls for a Firestarter type family coaster with 2 or more other rides to be integrated into the area.

I certainly think that Seaworld already has definite plans for the area involved-the decision to remove is clearly calculated , however it may take some time for these plans to come to fruition. Whatever they decide upon, it is certainly exciting times for fans of Seaworld and hopefully we will see another world class attraction rise from Cork Screw's shadow.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

While it's true slab construction needs land to settle, in reality, they could put coaster piers in right now (hell - they could put them into the water without all the land reclaimation) so they don't need to wait for land settlement in order to put a footer in.

I'd love to see them bring in that B&M but I don't think thats quite what Sea World needs, nor do they seem to like second hand rides as pointed out already.

I think Firechaser is probably a winner here - making the most use out of the available space, and expanding a whole new world within the park with other attractions underneath surrounding. Sea World has a very unique opportunity to do something REALLY special here.

I wonder whether VRTP will sell any of the old ViperCorkscrew parts like DW did with Thunderbolt.

[Richard]

Jet Rescue was built on reclaimed land too. Given that the latest round of land reclamation was done with a late-2014 opening of Wild in mind, I'd say there's not much they can't do with that land right now.

[rappa]

I've checked and Firechaser easily fits into that land footprint.

[Zanstabar]

I would love to see a perfect hybrid of something such as Th13teen and Verbolten with Firechaser. Something that's family friendly, while still having a fair amount of thrills. But in saying that, Firechaser alone would be amazing.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Zanstabar

[bladex]

Good news for Sea World - there's a cheap B&M that's for sale that would be perfect for the space. It's hardly been used, in excellent condition, has on-board audio and would be the biggest looping coaster in Australia. And it's painted white :-)

http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1793

cmon sw buy it NOA!

[JeffreyMoore]

what they should have done was closed and removed the sea viper and built the storm coaster in its place and then replaced bt with a new dark ride

Edited July 19, 2014 by JeffreyMoore

[downunder196]

They didn't plan on closing Sea Viper when they built Storm...

[JeffreyMoore]

maybe so but a little forward thinking or better planning would have shown that the sea vipers future was limited

the park needs a new family friendly dark ride more then another coaster

Edited July 19, 2014 by JeffreyMoore

[Jobe]

Ah no. Do not agree. A thrilling family coaster would be ideal for Sea Worlds target demographic.

[JeffreyMoore]

and yet some of us here are talking about wonting coasters that will not be family friendly ?

the park has 2 coasters and the gold coast has more coasters then we need time to think about other ride types that are more family friendly

[rappa]

They won't build a dark ride now.

1) storm was the replacement dark ride like it or not.

2) a show building would look horrible built in that space.

[JeffreyMoore]

I just hope that there are other options in the 7 there looking at that are not a coaster

[bladex]

nonsense can never have too many coasters. and about the coasters only 2 of them are really good and are both at mw

Edited July 19, 2014 by bladex