Sea World Monorail removed from website and park map

[Spotty]

6 hours ago, rappa said:

100% a new gondola system with a mid-station at the castle and then continuing to the resort!

They need something connecting the resort, and badly. I'd still love to see a Ferris Wheel come back, maybe not as big as the Melbourne wheel. The Sea World Eye model was a perfect fit for the park IMO. It was a classy looking wheel, only thing I'd change is make the loading platform look more permanent than it was originally.

[REGIE]

Such a shame to see Australia’s last monorail go.  It’s not like I didn’t expect it to be gone but it does suck.

[rac2703]

Found this photos of the Sea World monorail on an “abandoned” Facebook page. Not my images. 

[Whombex]

Not you rac, but ahem:

Rack off, AndrewH!

[jhunt2]

I really don't understand why they wouldn't bring it back. It links the resort and the rest of the park nicely, it's a good ride to get a scenic view of the park. They could maybe add another station around New Atlantis and that would bring the whole thing together as a brilliant transport ride. It's sad to see it in this state but the fact that it's still there gives me hope that they've got plans.

[Spotty]

39 minutes ago, jhunt2 said:

I really don't understand why they wouldn't bring it back. It links the resort and the rest of the park nicely, it's a good ride to get a scenic view of the park. They could maybe add another station around New Atlantis and that would bring the whole thing together as a brilliant transport ride. It's sad to see it in this state but the fact that it's still there gives me hope that they've got plans.

Because the cost to maintain it in its current state is too expensive and was too expensive as parts were very hard to get. Then covid happened and they were spending truckloads on Atlantis, and the delays cost even more money. Combine that with the fact that most manufacturers have a multi-year wait for new rides... yeah that's why they aren't bringing it back. Even if they were to, they would likely be waiting a few years at least before they can even start building a replacement so no point removing it until that time comes sadly.

I remain hopeful that in the future they add something to replace it, but I don't think we will for a few years yet. At least not until after WOO and Scooby have been finished at Movie World.

[jhunt2]

12 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Because the cost to maintain it in its current state is too expensive and was too expensive as parts were very hard to get. Then covid happened and they were spending truckloads on Atlantis, and the delays cost even more money. Combine that with the fact that most manufacturers have a multi-year wait for new rides... yeah that's why they aren't bringing it back. Even if they were to, they would likely be waiting a few years at least before they can even start building a replacement so no point removing it until that time comes sadly.

I remain hopeful that in the future they add something to replace it, but I don't think we will for a few years yet. At least not until after WOO and Scooby have been finished at Movie World.

Valid point when it comes to why it isn't in operation now, but I said I don't understand why they wouldn't bring it back, not why they haven't. I completely understand the reasons behind the current closure.

Whether bringing it back entails a complete replacement, or new trains on the same track, or a different form of transport ride, or just a minor renovation, I can't see any reason that demolishing a full circuit of monorail track would be more financially viable in the medium-term than spending a bit of money on getting it operating again. It's obviously not a drawcard attraction in itself, but it does make the entire resort function much more effectively.

[Spotty]

2 minutes ago, jhunt2 said:

Valid point when it comes to why it isn't in operation now, but I said I don't understand why they wouldn't bring it back, not why they haven't. I completely understand the reasons behind the current closure.

Whether bringing it back entails a complete replacement, or new trains on the same track, or a different form of transport ride, or just a minor renovation, I can't see any reason that demolishing a full circuit of monorail track would be more financially viable in the medium-term than spending a bit of money on getting it operating again. It's obviously not a drawcard attraction in itself, but it does make the entire resort function much more effectively.

But no one has actually confirmed that it's NOT coming back. Not officially anyway so it still could be for all we know. 

[jhunt2]

Just now, Spotty said:

But no one has actually confirmed that it's NOT coming back. Not officially anyway so it still could be for all we know. 

I didn't say anyone had. I said I can't see any reason why it wouldn't.

I'm really not appreciating your choice to be argumentative with the point that you think I'm making instead of discussing my contributions on how they could add a new station or how it's sad to see it in its current state.

Anyway, something that interests me about these photos is that there's still a bottle of sunscreen left there by the drivers, as well as what appears to be paperwork. The control panel is locked down but things seem to have been left with the expectation of operating again in the not-too-distant future. Which kinda makes me sad actually, they parked the monorail, expecting it to be down for just a little while during Atlantis construction, probably not knowing it would be years before anyone got back in that drivers' seat

Edited February 2 by jhunt2

[Spotty]

1 hour ago, jhunt2 said:

I didn't say anyone had. I said I can't see any reason why it wouldn't.

I'm really not appreciating your choice to be argumentative with the point that you think I'm making instead of discussing my contributions on how they could add a new station or how it's sad to see it in its current state.

Anyway, something that interests me about these photos is that there's still a bottle of sunscreen left there by the drivers, as well as what appears to be paperwork. The control panel is locked down but things seem to have been left with the expectation of operating again in the not-too-distant future. Which kinda makes me sad actually, they parked the monorail, expecting it to be down for just a little while during Atlantis construction, probably not knowing it would be years before anyone got back in that drivers' seat

I'm not trying to argue with you, and I'm sorry if that's how it came across. I've just seen so many people posting like it's gospel that it's not coming back when there has actually been no confirmation of that. I really would hope that if they did replace it and it followed a similar layout that a station would be added near the Atlantis area. It would be downright insane if they didn't, but the question is where would it go. I think adding another ride or 2 to that location (and to the flume site) would be great as all the rides could be in a central area with a monorail station at either side of it. 

I will admit that most of the modern monorail manufacturers rolling stock looks ugly as all hell, especially the modern Intamin ones. There is just something about the Von Roll units that looked timeless and actually still quite sleek even by todays standards.

[Tricoart]

17 minutes ago, Spotty said:

I really would hope that if they did replace it and it followed a similar layout that a station would be added near the Atlantis area. It would be downright insane if they didn't, but the question is where would it go.

The only real place an Atlantis station could go is adjacent to that concrete slab they poured recently, but that’s apparently just going to be for a BoH warehouse (though I choose to not believe that til it’s built, ‘cause that’s a colossal waste of space if so, especially for a landlocked park). 

In general, though, the consensus with the monorail seems not to be that it’s never coming back, nor that it’s very likely to, moreso just that nobody knows (including the park themselves) what to do with it. But, the longer they let it rust, and the more BoH stuff they put underneath it (aforementioned slab near Levi), the less likely it seems that there’ll be a replacement. 

Edited February 2 by Tricoart

[jhunt2]

10 minutes ago, Tricoart said:

But, the longer they let it rust, and the more BoH stuff they put underneath it (aforementioned slab near Levi), the less likely it seems that there’ll be a replacement. 

See, here's my worry. With such an extensive layout literally circumnavigating the entire park, it's not a cheap demolition operation to get rid of the monorail. It'd be a technically complex process involving working around ride maintenance schedules and slowly tearing it apart section by section. To employ workers to do that, SW are going to have to invest quite a sum.

Which means they won't do it until they're 1) in a financially secure enough position to invest that money, and 2) absolutely  certain that it's the right decision, and that money wouldn't be better invested in renovating or replacing it. That means, in my mind, it's safe as long as the benefit of reopening it outweighs that rather tedious process of removing it.

But what worries me is the third option, which Aussie parks are incredibly prone to: investing in neither, leaving it there and not talking about it. And that's what I think is looking most likely unfortunately. I hope it reopens, the benefit to the park is tremendous, but if it doesn't, I worry it's just going to sit around being an eyesore for years to come.

[webslave]

23 hours ago, Spotty said:

But no one has actually confirmed that it's NOT coming back. Not officially anyway so it still could be for all we know. 

I have it in writing from the park that it's not.  So there's that I guess.

22 hours ago, jhunt2 said:

With such an extensive layout literally circumnavigating the entire park, it's not a cheap demolition operation to get rid of the monorail. It'd be a technically complex process involving working around ride maintenance schedules and slowly tearing it apart section by section. To employ workers to do that, SW are going to have to invest quite a sum.

You'd be surprised.  Here's that technically complex process happening at Darling Harbour on a public thoroughfare in 2013 at midnight.

[Spotty]

1 hour ago, webslave said:

I have it in writing from the park that it's not.  So there's that I guess.

You'd be surprised.  Here's that technically complex process happening at Darling Harbour on a public thoroughfare in 2013 at midnight.

Where abouts in writing do you have this? Just curious. If it’s a Facebook message the team that monitor that don’t know what is going on half the time and have been known to say stuff that is incorrect.

[Tricoart]

1 hour ago, webslave said:

I have it in writing from the park that it's not.

That’s a weird thing to put on a dippin’ dots receipt

[jhunt2]

5 hours ago, webslave said:

You'd be surprised.  Here's that technically complex process happening at Darling Harbour on a public thoroughfare in 2013 at midnight.

I couldn't see the images for some reason, but I think conflating Sea World's ability to demolish an entire monorail system with the NSW Government's is inherently flawed to begin with. And last I checked, the Sydney monorail still isn't completely removed 11 years later, so my point stands. Removing the whole thing is a stage-by-stage process, and the two outcomes I see happening are either it sits there being an eyesore, or SW finds enough funding to justify renovating it. I'm hoping for the latter.

[webslave]

11 hours ago, Spotty said:

Where abouts in writing do you have this? Just curious. If it’s a Facebook message the team that monitor that don’t know what is going on half the time and have been known to say stuff that is incorrect.

Via email in a ticket response.

[Baconjack]

This is not hard to believe but you’d figure village could have made an attempt to buy parts from the nsw government. From my recollection they allowed the demolition company to sell the monorail cars as is 

[Tricoart]

6 hours ago, webslave said:

Via email in a ticket response.

That doesn’t say it’s not coming back, only that the trains reached their end of life, and they’re uncertain about what to do with it. That much has been known pretty much since it closed, or at least definitely since they scrapped all but one train & left it to rust. Have I been misinterpreting, or when people say ‘coming back’, do they mean ‘refurbished w/ new trains’?

Edited February 4 by Tricoart

[Spotty]

6 hours ago, Baconjack said:

This is not hard to believe but you’d figure village could have made an attempt to buy parts from the nsw government. From my recollection they allowed the demolition company to sell the monorail cars as is 

The monorail system that Sydney used was different to the one that Sea World used. Even though they were built by the same company, Sea World's were Mk2 and Sydney's were Mk3 models so potentially the parts were not compatible. I couldn't say for sure, but at the same time when Sydney's monorail was demolished the Sea World one was running fine and they couldn't predict what parts they may have needed in the future. 

However Von Roll's monorail division was actually sold off to Adtranz / Bombardier who were apparently still making parts to keep these rides in service. So I'm not actually sure I buy the "lack of parts" story that Village are sprouting... Dreamworld were able to source parts for WipeOut long after Vekoma stopped supporting the ride and making the parts, so it's able to be done but it has come down to the fact they don't want to more than likely.

[New display name]

Remove the train and install pedal cars on the track.😀