How Long Do Certain Rides Have Left?

[gavinfulikes]

How long do you think the rides below have left? I know that some rides may still live another decade, I just want to see what other people think.
 

Sidewinder (25yrs old)

The Giant Drop (21yrs old)

Vintage Cars (38yrs old)

The Claw (15yrs old)

Escape From Madagascar (17yrs old)

Arkham Asylum (24yrs old)

Road Runner Coaster (19yrs old)

Superman Escape (14yrs old)

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Gazza

[Jdude95]

At least 3

[joz]

Arkham has around negative 5 months left

[themagician]

Sidewinder (25yrs old) - Refurbishment happening again, so should be fine

The Giant Drop (21yrs old) - the Magnets last 1000 years, so should be fine for at least another 1979 year’s

Vintage Cars (38yrs old) - Pretty simple mechanics so should be no problem

The Claw (15yrs old) - Has no signs of going anywhere 

 Escape From Madagascar (17yrs old) - Still running fine

Arkham Asylum (24yrs old) - Nope, it’s a gonna

Road Runner Coaster (19yrs old) - Still running fine

Superman Escape (14yrs old) - Still running fine

 

One of them is definitely going, but otherwise Sidewinder is the only one I can see going in the near future 

[ejpdtd]

 

 

 

 

On 15/04/2020 at 6:40 AM, themagician said:

 

The Giant Drop (21yrs old) - the Magnets last 1000 years, so should be fine for at least another 1979 year’s

 

I can't wait to ride the Giant drop in the year 4000

[Baconjack]

Before I get started, Wipeout and TOT closed because of these three reasons.

a) both ride types are no longer supported by their manufacturers, making parts extremely hard to come by and manufacturer support limited.

b) These two rides had very complex ride systems involving a lot of different parts and in the case of Wipeout, have been historically very unreliable ride types (most vekoma top spins shut in the early 2000's)

c) Dreamworld running both rides into the ground over the course of many years worsened their overall condition, increasing the need for new parts, parts which their manufacturers are no longer producing or are extremely expensive.

These are things I like to keep in mind when applying to these aging attractions.

AA hasn't operated at all this year and has had its maintenance reopening date removed before Covid-19 was a thing. If that's not telling that this thing isnt reopening, I don't know what is.

Giant Drop, Claw and Superman are all Intamin products which have a notorious reputation for not aging well. For MW, the hydraulic coaster is out of production (and an unreliable ride type in general) and it is only a matter of time until Intamin stops making parts for the hydraulic coaster, and therefore it is only a matter of time until MW throw in the towel and rip the thing down. When this will be is unclear, but I'm estimating about 12-13 years at most. The ride may be very popular and maintained well by MW, but no ride is too popular to kill as we saw with TOT and soon to be AA.

The Gyro Swing and Giant Drop, comparably, should theoretically be easier to maintain, but let's not also forget that the lack of care DW have given their Intamin rides, especially in the post-Macquarie period, have very likely limited their lifespans in some way. I'll give 10 years for Claw and 5 years for GD before either ride shuts or is in requirement of a serious refurbishment.

Sidewinder shouldn't have any problems as its simplistic engineering and design allows the ride to be low maintenance and minimal downtime. Track problems shouldn't be an issue at this point in time as the ride's low forces aren't going to be putting much stress on the track, compared to something like Vortex for example (although it did go almost 20 years with the same coat of paint that wasn't designed to last that long). It should last as long as DW want it to, as parts are either so simple they can be reproduced by a local welder, or supplied by S&S for the more complex parts. As I mentioned before, though, Dreamworld didn't give this ride a lot of care for a number of years, which means its lifespan is definitely limited so I say its gone in the next 10 years.

Road Runner and the Vintage Cars are similar to Sidewinder, its mechanics are very simple as far as rides go so it won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Only thing that kills this ride is any structural issues with the track or supports.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Baconjack

[gavinfulikes]

In addition to this post, how long do people think these rides have left?
 

Wild West Falls Adventure (21yrs old)

Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster (17yrs old)

Puss in Boots Sword Swing (37yrs old)

Shrek's Ogre-Go-Round (36yrs old)

Batwing Spaceshot (13yrs old)

Some older kids rides in both MW and DW 

And how long will Dreamworld keep the kids maze and Kickback Cove 😕
 

 

[Flynn_Smith]

8 hours ago, gavinfulikes said:

In addition to this post, how long do people think these rides have left?
 

Wild West Falls Adventure (21yrs old)

Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster (17yrs old)

Puss in Boots Sword Swing (37yrs old)

Shrek's Ogre-Go-Round (36yrs old)

Batwing Spaceshot (13yrs old)

Some older kids rides in both MW and DW 

And how long will Dreamworld keep the kids maze and Kickback Cove 😕
 

 

I believe I heard somewhere that the Kids Maze was being scrapped in the expansion of ABC World? Not sure about that though. Kickback Cove won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

And wow, I never knew Sword swing and the Ogre-go-round were so old! They have been kept in great condition.

I'd say the spooky coaster has a lot of life left in it still, however I'm not sure the same could be said about Wild West Falls (at least in its current state).

Batwing will be around for a while aswell.

[themagician]

Ogre-go-round and sword swing have had some extensive down time in recent years 

[T-bone]

Sword Swing may even have a history prior to Dreamworld as well, so 38 years old may not be exactly correct. 
 

That said, those rides are simple to maintain, it’s not like the swings are currently being supported by their manufacturer.

Talking about swings, why can’t our Gold Coast parks have a wave swinger? Screw Sea Worlds vortex, they should have put in a wave swinger instead. 

[Spotty]

On 17/04/2020 at 1:52 PM, Baconjack said:

Before I get started, Wipeout and TOT closed because of these three reasons.

a) both ride types are no longer supported by their manufacturers, making parts extremely hard to come by and manufacturer support limited.

b) These two rides had very complex ride systems involving a lot of different parts and in the case of Wipeout, have been historically very unreliable ride types (most vekoma top spins shut in the early 2000's)

c) Dreamworld running both rides into the ground over the course of many years worsened their overall condition, increasing the need for new parts, parts which their manufacturers are no longer producing or are extremely expensive.

These are things I like to keep in mind when applying to these aging attractions.

AA hasn't operated at all this year and has had its maintenance reopening date removed before Covid-19 was a thing. If that's not telling that this thing isnt reopening, I don't know what is.

Giant Drop, Claw and Superman are all Intamin products which have a notorious reputation for not aging well. For MW, the hydraulic coaster is out of production (and an unreliable ride type in general) and it is only a matter of time until Intamin stops making parts for the hydraulic coaster, and therefore it is only a matter of time until MW throw in the towel and rip the thing down. When this will be is unclear, but I'm estimating about 12-13 years at most. The ride may be very popular and maintained well by MW, but no ride is too popular to kill as we saw with TOT and soon to be AA.

The Gyro Swing and Giant Drop, comparably, should theoretically be easier to maintain, but let's not also forget that the lack of care DW have given their Intamin rides, especially in the post-Macquarie period, have very likely limited their lifespans in some way. I'll give 10 years for Claw and 5 years for GD before either ride shuts or is in requirement of a serious refurbishment.

Sidewinder shouldn't have any problems as its simplistic engineering and design allows the ride to be low maintenance and minimal downtime. Track problems shouldn't be an issue at this point in time as the ride's low forces aren't going to be putting much stress on the track, compared to something like Vortex for example (although it did go almost 20 years with the same coat of paint that wasn't designed to last that long). It should last as long as DW want it to, as parts are either so simple they can be reproduced by a local welder, or supplied by S&S for the more complex parts. As I mentioned before, though, Dreamworld didn't give this ride a lot of care for a number of years, which means its lifespan is definitely limited so I say its gone in the next 10 years.

Road Runner and the Vintage Cars are similar to Sidewinder, its mechanics are very simple as far as rides go so it won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Only thing that kills this ride is any structural issues with the track or supports.

Funny you should say that about Superman, from having operating it and many of the MW rides it honestly is one of the more reliable rides in the park. It wasn't very common to have ride shutdowns, Scooby and Green Lantern I would say are the 2 least reliable rides in the park (well they were when I worked there)

I can't speak too much for Arkham, but when it was Lethal it was a very reliable ride and was very rare to ever see that ride go down. I really hope that whatever is wrong with Arkham is able to be fixed and it has another few years (5) until they can work on what's going to replace it.

I'd say the Giant Drop maybe has another few years at the most in it's current incarnation as it's had it's fair share of downtime over the last few years. I would say an upgrade would be more likely though. The Claw would probably have another 10 years in it's lifetime before it would need to look at being replaced. 

Hot Wheels Sidewinder (or whatever it's going to be called) honestly will likely have a fair amount of time left in it. It's a fairly simple ride as far as mechanics go, and it's not insanely forceful so it wouldn't have too much stress put on it. And for many of it's early years it didn't really operate. I'd say it's got another 10 or so years left in it, and honestly I think it might even outlast the MotoCoaster and not for reliability but because it's a better ride IMO. I even think it MAY outlast BuzzSaw as that thing is a problem child from what I hear.

So for Dreamworld, I think the next major rides to go will be:

Giant Drop (3-5 years - For a new ride experience)

Motocoaster (5-10  years)

BuzzSaw (5-10 years)

Hot Wheels Sidewinder (10 years or so)

 

Movie World:

Arkham Asylum (2-3 years at most, unless they fix all the issues)

Scooby Doo (5-10 Years)

Superman (10 years - Maybe longer)

These are just my predictions, but could be wrong. But I don't think the Sidewinder will be the next Dreamworld ride to go personally, especially if it's getting an overhaul and the way it weaves in with WhiteWater World.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 19/04/2020 at 2:54 AM, Spotty said:

Scooby Doo (5-10 Years)

 

On 19/04/2020 at 2:54 AM, Spotty said:

Scooby and Green Lantern I would say are the 2 least reliable rides in the park (well they were when I worked there)

I'm not so sure about Scooby. The custom Wilde Maus coasters made by Mack were all (3) built between 99 and 02, with scooby being the last. All 3 are still operating, and the other two are outdoor attractions.

The broader 31 Wilde Maus variety - the oldest operating models are the original 1996 installs, most if not all are outdoor models.

Scoob has had a great life - always kept indoors, world class maintenance precinct, and it's just had a retheme (which they appear to have upgraded even more recently since reopening), as well as a full repaint of the facade.

At this stage, although Scoob is one of the older operating models, its also the better weathered of the group. Based on the current operating status of the others (although, admittedly, the other two custom models are in Europa and Disney), i'd be inclined to say Scoob has some time left - until we see some outdoor models starting to fall, I think Scoob is doing ok.

[Baconjack]

On 19/04/2020 at 2:54 AM, Spotty said:

Funny you should say that about Superman, from having operating it and many of the MW rides it honestly is one of the more reliable rides in the park. It wasn't very common to have ride shutdowns, Scooby and Green Lantern I would say are the 2 least reliable rides in the park (well they were when I worked there)

I completely agree that Superman is a reliable ride and Village are doing a good job keeping it up.

But in general the accelerator (and its launch technology) isn't a reliable ride from what I've read on installations overseas. I hear that Knotts Berry Farm's installation is a maintenance nightmare that's constantly down. Similarly, Top Thrill Dragster also has significant downtime from what I've read, and Kingda Ka has had its fair share of issues when in operation. That's where I draw such a conclusion.

Either way, in spite of its reliability, Intamin have discontinued building hydraulic launch coasters in favour of the more reliable LSM models and I believe that it is only a matter of time before other models of its type are closed and parts are discontinued entirely.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Baconjack

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

What sort of maintenance issues?

All i've ever heard is issues with cable maintenance (and snapping) due to perceived lack of clarity in the manufacturer's maintenance manual (Xcelerator has had multiple cable snaps, and i think TTD and\or K-K had one or two)... but i'm keen to hear more about the maintenance nightmare, especially when by all accounts our Superman is such a reliable attraction.

[New display name]

[Spotty]

16 hours ago, AlexB said:

What sort of maintenance issues?

All i've ever heard is issues with cable maintenance (and snapping) due to perceived lack of clarity in the manufacturer's maintenance manual (Xcelerator has had multiple cable snaps, and i think TTD and\or K-K had one or two)... but i'm keen to hear more about the maintenance nightmare, especially when by all accounts our Superman is such a reliable attraction.

Funny thing is, I don't actually think Superman has ever had a cable snap. Back to Scooby though, i've never seen a ride fault so many times (often over the tiniest little things) in a day compared to any other ride when I worked there. It was very hit and miss, and was often a running joke that if Scooby didn't fault at least once a day, it was a good day. However 9 out of 10 times the fault could often be reset or fixed without having to do a full shutdown or evacuation. 

There was always certain block zones that liked to detect "ghost cars" more than others... but I know shortly after I left there apparently they did some pretty extensive work on the control systems so it's probably a bit more reliable now than it used to be. I still believe it was having a mid-life crisis

As far as rides go that NEED to leave, those bloody Speedy Gonzales taxi's! I got so many bruises from that and Taz Cars! In fact... just get rid of the whole kids area basically apart from Road Runner, Pounce and Bounce, Carousel and Driving School and start again would be great  I'm sure many ride operators will be thankful.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

6 hours ago, Spotty said:

just get rid of the whole kids area basically apart from Road Runner, Pounce and Bounce, Carousel and Driving School and start again would be great  I'm sure many ride operators will be thankful.

So, the whole area, except those four rides, leaving.... three rides to remove? Tweety, Sam and Speedy?

Ok, i'll give you speedy. 100%. its a bastard, and JDS is a much better attraction for the junior drivers.

Sam Train is one of the last well themed original attractions in the park. The 'toon style' set is so nostalgic, and the Zamperla train still shits all over the dreamworld tractor. It's a great ride for kids (although the carriages are just a bit tight for adults!) and I don't see any issue with it staying around.

Tweety cages on the other hand - i'm a bit mixed. The cage is horrendous for an adult to ride (which they used to do, but don't any more). Without an adult to ride with, this cuts the youngest end of the demographic out unless they have an older (but still young) sibling to go with. Its a 'high' ride for small kids, and losing it would be a shame, especially when the replacement would likely be an off the shelf product with a colour scheme loosely related to whatever character they decided to theme to. (i'm looking at you, Patrick's Jellyfish Frenzy).

But the Marvin Rocket set remains - (I don't know why they haven't done anything with that), as well as the taz car "parents room" space. The parents room space is well appointed (we've used it), but was such a waste of space to convert a kids attraction footprint into.

So if they can work around Sam Train, and build just-as-good an area for the parent's room space elsewhere (i'm sure the warehouse could afford to lose a 3x6m space where the old LTRR queue line was), then let's remove Taz, Marvin, Tweety and Speedy, and let's do something fresh and new with that space...