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

[Flea]

Is there a recent nearmap image that shows the reclaimed land? Perhaps someone can liquid paper the Sea Viper area so we can visualise the entire available land?

Oh and Corkscrew died to me when it was painted orange and they decided to buy horrible Kumbak trains.

[downunder196]

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...

Yeah but you come close to the railing as you pass under the Little Rippers.

[zacsta_1997]

I never got to ride sea viper . Last time I went to Sea World I was very young. It was back when it was called the Corkscrew and was coloured red and white. I remember going on the Bermuda Triangle though. Damn I wish I was old enough/ tall enough to ride it back then.

May Sea Viper rest in peace !

Edited July 17, 2014 by zacsta_1997

[bladex]

you didn't really miss much

[rac2703]

Is there a recent nearmap image that shows the reclaimed land?

Here you go.

[Reanimated35]

Thank you. To be a real pain in the ass, any chance of a close up (in two separate images at the same zoom level) of these two places so I can stitch it together and play around with it please?

Completely understand if you can't do it, there's just no harm in asking

Edited July 17, 2014 by reanimated35

[rac2703]

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

Here are the individual shots (zoomed closer).

Edited July 17, 2014 by rac2703

[AllegroCrab]

Sad to see it go, my first inverting coaster, but there is the potential for something incredible to take its place.

Look at all that space, surely we could see what we've been wanting for years. Perhaps something feasible like a Mega-Lite, perhaps something more adventurous ie. B&M Suspended, maybe something ridiculous like a B&M Dive Machine. A year ago I would have been beaming at the announcement of a Eurofighter, but now I come to think of it, that would be a missed opportunity in this situation, especially if they wanted to build a coaster.

Something big could happen here.

Judging by Google Maps, it looks like one of those batman clones would fit. Custom built, they would definitely be able to fit a decent length ride, something we seem to lack.

[mattcrombie]

Remember I said this months ago.

Only took Seaworld to post it on their website for y'all to believe me.

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

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

[MickeyD]

Very excited to see what big and exciting things are to come to sw in it's place

I never liked the kumback trains. So uncomfortable and unnecessarily restrictive for a ride that barely even needed restraints (a simple lap restraint would have been ample) anyway, rip corkscrew (always to me) after literally hundreds of rides over the years I look forward to an exciting future for sw more than I do mourn the loss of a hasbin ride. No offence but let's move on

[MickeyD]

^ interesting point of view however please tell us how/why you came to such a dire fait for Sw? Personally I can't see anything but the opposite? Remember SW is hardly some stand alone park that isn't part of a major multinational corporation and market leaders for Australian Theme Parks??

Best you back your pov up with facts dude otherwise prepare to cop a roasting

Edited July 17, 2014 by MickeyD

[rappa]

^^ I actually say piss off and find something else to do with your time rather than visit this site.

We have no desire for members on here that wish ANY parks to "Die a Horrible Death".

What a friken stupid thing to say.

[AllegroCrab]

One of the most established, if not the most established park in the country will die a horrible death for what reason?

You are going to get shit from a lot of people, including me, for saying that. 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.

Looney Tunes is gone and it is in the process of being replaced, and Bermuda has already been replaced. If I'm not mistaken, it hasn't been 4 years, so I can't see any reason why you would believe that Sea Viper is going to be left rusting next to the ocean. Also, Sea World have reclaimed a lot of land right next to the ride, and leaving Sea Viper there would be an extreme hindrance to their intended expansion, whatever it might be.

Instead of writing bullshit like that, why don't you get excited about what is going to take its place and improve the park even further.

Edited July 18, 2014 by AllegroCrab

[BigKev]

It's actually a pretty rare opportunity for a park to have a large area of marquee space that can be completely used for a ride rather than trying to make the best use of the space there is available.

Pretty exciting really.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the disappearance of Wild for the time being?

A sandbar sitting untouched is a lot better look than a decommissioned roller coaster.

[bladex]

they got plenty of space to build a huge coaster there way better, faster, higher, and bigger than storm. cmon sw do it...do it NOA. we need another decent coaster the only really fast one is arkham (superman is only really fast at takeoff)

Edited July 18, 2014 by bladex

[MaxxTheMonster]

I agree that I wont miss Sea Viper, and Corkscrew died the day it went orange... As far as replacement... They had 2 coasters and 2 water rides, then 3 coasters 1 water ride... I think they would be smarter to put in a non coaster ride rather than 75% of their rides (for adults) being coasters to appeal to a wider market than sealife rollercoaster enthusiasts...

[rappa]

Hmm arguable that there is only 1 water ride. Storm is a water ride in the fact that you get wet which is kind of what I base it on.

Given the fact that 2 rides get you wet, do punters want a third ride that gets you wet or not?

I'm all for non coaster rides, but if we go with a water ride then what? They already have a Mack water coaster so that's out, they have a flume so that's out.

So do we look at a rapids?

I feel a family coaster may be the better choice as I'm not certain that a rapids can be built (where does the storage lagoon go?).

A ride with a low height requirement is key.

I'm going to stick with a Firechaser type ride or a good spinning coaster... But not a stock carnival model.

[Richard]

I count three water rides -- Battle Boats, Vikings Revenge and Storm. The only difference between Storm and say Vikings Revenge or Bermuda Triangle is that Storm has boats that can navigate turns; it's as much a water ride as any other. Between these three they're catering to everyone from kids through to thrill-seekers better than any other Australian park.

That said I think a modern rapids ride would be great -- it fits the family vibe of Sea World and its a ride style that has evolved well beyond what the nearly 30 year old Thunder River Rapids at Dreamworld offers. Australians do have an odd phobia of getting wet on a ride unless it's 30 degrees, so my only fear is that it'd be toned down from the drenchings you see on these rides in the northern hemisphere.

I think they would be smarter to put in a non coaster ride rather than 75% of their rides (for adults) being coasters to appeal to a wider market than sealife rollercoaster enthusiasts...

The reason parks around the world continue to build roller coasters is that they have consistent mass-market appeal. I'd definitely be seeing this as a great opportunity for a substantial roller coaster. Sea World doesn't need flat rides, shouldn't build dark rides (i.e sheds) and have no pressing need for more water rides. A roller coaster making creative use of the available land and height restrictions and catered to the family audience would be great. I'm with djrappa's suggestion for a Firechaser type ride.

[Brad2912]

Unless it was a brilliantly done rapids, theming wise and with good thrills, indoor/outdoor elements, then the only option is a Australian-first iconic coaster

[themagician]

^If they did a rapids ride like the Jurassic Park ride I think it would be a great addition to the park. I still believe that there is a chance for the WILD attraction to happen. I would like to see a new coaster to use the land of Sea Viper and the old Pirate Ship land. This could allow for a decent coaster. But if they wanted to build a coaster that was unique, then they would use the reclaimed land. It would be good if they built a kids coaster to fit on the left side of the stream and a thrill ride on the right. We can't forget there is also the small area of land used for Dinosaur Island (I don't know what they could use this section for but I'm sure there is something)

[rappa]

I don't really feel they should get a Thrill Ride.

A nice balance of thrill/family is perfect for Sea World's audience and Jet Rescue is really pushing the boundaries of that.

Id be happy to see something that doesn't invert and caters nicely to everyone from 6 years old to 56 years old.

The only thing I will say is the park just got a Mack ride, and Scooby is an extremely reliable Mack ride. Mack could definitely build a Firechaser type ride, and people have spoken about a Mack Spinner for Movie World. Buying 3 rides from Mack in a fairly small amount of time would likely put the company in a good bargaining position.

Edited July 18, 2014 by djrappa

[Brad2912]

If we got something of FireChaser's quality i don't think anyone would complain of a lack of inversions.

[bladex]

I feel a family coaster may be the better choice as I'm not certain that a rapids can be built (where does the storage lagoon go?).

they could put it into the lake/jetski pond just dig a dam and put it there maybe even have it go into the lake and recirculate? so what if it takes space away from the sponge bob show WFC

Edited July 18, 2014 by bladex

[DWP]

Sad to see any ride go and was lucky enough to have scraped in as my first ever ride of it was in September last year so sadly I seem to have missed it's better days as the Corkscrew.

Excited about what might replace it but with the recent outlay on Storm I'd guess it could be a few years before anything takes it's place.

And while it would be great if they could use both the old Sea Viper area and the reclaimed land area for 1 big ride, in my mind there seems to be a few roadblocks to overcome as I'd guess they'd need the reclaimed land to be settled and strong enough to handle the likely weight that would be placed on it and while I have no idea how long a process that takes, it still is a roadblock. And also because the monorail track runs between the 2 areas there would likely be heavy disruption on that attraction if a ride was going in both areas as the monorail seems to be quite popular especially with the overseas tourists.

But ultimately who knows but now the fun part of anticipating a new ride begins!