Hot Wheels Sidewinder Refurbishment

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

While I unfortunately have no pictures today 

I was at WWW this morning and noticed they were working on the queue area of the ride, the trains are also back in the station which they were under wraps 

Hopefully not too far off now till we can all ride an Arrow coaster again

[red dragin]

3 hours ago, Jay Jay The Jet Plane said:

Hopefully not too far off now till we can all ride an Arrow coaster again

I'll make a booking with my physio and chiro for the day after opening in preparation! 

[Smol bean]

So you’re willing to pay 1000$ dollars over a arrow coaster well they are back shattering so understandable 

[Flynn_Smith]

23 minutes ago, Smol bean said:

So you’re willing to pay 1000$ dollars over a arrow coaster well they are back shattering so understandable 

[T-bone]

If your back breaks or is really affected by Cyclone, then perhaps you should reconsider whether it is a good idea riding. 
 

Just saying...

[red dragin]

18 minutes ago, T-bone said:

If your back breaks or is really affected by Cyclone, then perhaps you should reconsider whether it is a good idea riding. 
 

Just saying...

There may have been some poetic licence used on my part 😁 

It was the first coaster I ever rode, so holds a special spot in my L3 vertebrae. 

[Jdude95]

Christ, that joke flew way too high overhead for many of the kids here it seems 

[T-bone]

I’m not referring to your jokes guys, more the general comments and consensus of those on here who criticise the roughness of this coaster. 

[Cactus_Matt]

I find it to be a pretty uncomfortable experience to the point I don't ride it at all when I visit Dreamworld. But then again I had the benefit of riding it when it was Big Dipper at Luna Park Sydney and it seemed like it was much smoother back then (or maybe I was just younger and it affected me less). 

[red dragin]

9 hours ago, Jdude95 said:

Christ, that joke flew way too high overhead for many of the kids here it seems 

I personally thought the 'special spot in my L3 (ie a healed fracture from riding it)' was a better joke, to be honest.

Edited October 9, 2020 by red dragin

[Jobe]

2 hours ago, Cactus_Matt said:

I find it to be a pretty uncomfortable experience to the point I don't ride it at all when I visit Dreamworld. But then again I had the benefit of riding it when it was Big Dipper at Luna Park Sydney and it seemed like it was much smoother back then (or maybe I was just younger and it affected me less). 

Look I have a LOT of love and affection for this ride. I agree 100% here- at Luna Park as Big Dipper it certainly seemed to ride far smoother than what it currently has degenerated to. The whole experience at LPS was far superior than at Dreamworld IMHO. The operations of the ride seemed to always be so much faster at LPS and the lines , whilst quite long, always seemed to move consistently. Maybe this is because of a far better queue experience than the godawful current roundhouse experience provides. I rode it at Dreamworld just after it was installed and it rode ok. 

The last time I rode it was in January of this year , with my kids first ever ride on it. It was also my first experience with the new (ish) replacement trains. My thoughts were at the time that the over the shoulder vest harness was definitely superior to the old Arrow OTSH but the train itself didnt really add anything extra in advantage over the Arrow units. Was it rough? Yes it certainly was. Did it dull my enjoyment of the ride? In reality no it didnt. My wife and daughter commented quite clearly on how rough the ride was ( my wife having ridden the coaster with me in all its incarnations certainly was quite vocal on the subject ) and I do remember thinking that it certainly was rougher than any time I could previously remember.

However, the ride remains for me, a coaster that offers good thrills, is quite a substantial coaster in the scheme of Australian coasters and at the moment, it really is an important ride for Dreamworld to retain. Since the advent of Whitewater World, it has integrated into the landscape far better with the slide tower and swooping low over the park, providing excellent kinetic energy from the park and the highway as you pass.

Visually it still looks quite impressive , especially passing from the highway and the new paintjob looks like it has brought it up a treat!

If Dreamworld fixes the useless and redundant queue area in its current form and replace it with something more simplistic then I feel that this would improve the overall experience of the ride immensely. 

 

 

 

[themagician]

All references for Sidewinder (except for a couple images and the track shown on the map) have been removed from the parks website 

I would assume they’ve done this so they can update day the ride information, etc in preparation for an announcement of its new name, etc 

[Brad2912]

Quite a large number of patches require painting still. As these are small random areas I imagine these may be areas requiring track inspection. There was a guy on a cherry picker today inspecting areas and measuring them. 
 

Not sure why but website is not allowing photos  to be uploaded...

[Rexillium]

3 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Quite a large number of patches require painting still. As these are small random areas I imagine these may be areas requiring track inspection. There was a guy on a cherry picker today inspecting areas and measuring them. 

If they just repainted it only to have it not viable as a ride due to metal fatigue that would be horrible. Also be horrible in the sense of too many rides have disappeared on the coast as is, missing ToT and AA already! I wonder why the inspection because I imagine they would of done an inspection prior to painting to make sure the ride is still viable before investing anything more into it.

[Brad2912]

[rappa]

Bit of DejaVu there of how 'Sea Viper' looked just before it was given the can.

 

[Jdude95]

That's a sad thought

[Park Addict 93]

Sign is up, could see “The Gold Coaster” clearly from Tailspin.

Enjoy this blurry blocked photo

 

 

[Rachelkinks]

Why on earth is it called the Gold Coaster when it isn't yellow? Could've renamed it somthing to do with ocean parade?

Edited October 11, 2020 by Rachelkinks

[Rabbit2014]

12 minutes ago, Rachelkinks said:

Why on earth is it called the Gold Coaster when it isn't yellow? Could've renamed it somthing to do with ocean parade?

Well this is the fourth name for this coaster (Big Dipper, cyclone, hot wheels), and the track i guess is meant to represent waves. Just waiting to see the train and how they theme that

[Baconjack]

17 minutes ago, Rachelkinks said:

Why on earth is it called the Gold Coaster when it isn't yellow? Could've renamed it somthing to do with ocean parade?

Blue track & white supports = surf

So, a coaster themed to the beach? That's my guess at least. 

Quote

If there is no recommendation by the manufacturer or competent person, the major inspection is required every 10 years.

A ‘major inspection’ is defined to mean:

•A thorough examination of all critical components of the device including, if necessary, stripping down the device and removing paint, grease and corrosion; and

•A check of the effective and safe operation of the device.

Also this might explain the earlier posts on the paint being stripped back to check the metal. If there is metal fatigue in a track section it can be replaced in a like for like track replacement, a few parks such as Blackpool Pleasure Beach do this with their steel coasters. 

Edited October 11, 2020 by Baconjack

[rappa]

Yeah they get a pass on the name from me. It’s ‘fine’ and the colours look good. 
 

Just make the station nicely presented and absent if any half assed awful theming and it will be a solid attraction in the lineup. 

[Spotty]

43 minutes ago, rappa said:

Yeah they get a pass on the name from me. It’s ‘fine’ and the colours look good. 
 

Just make the station nicely presented and absent if any half assed awful theming and it will be a solid attraction in the lineup. 

Is it bad I can see them re-using some of the surfboard theming from the Wipeout if they still have them? Maybe have them on the roof of the station or something. I don't hate the name either, it's not my first choice but it's not bad. Heres hoping its presented well.

 

[Brad2912]

The giant chair that used to be in the chill out zone (or whatever it’s called) is now in the middle of the queue house where the turbines used to be. 

[Coasterlife]

3 hours ago, Park Addict 93 said:

Sign is up, could see “The Gold Coaster” clearly from Tailspin.

Enjoy this blurry blocked photo

 

 

I see some sort of palm beach vibe from the new theme