Sea World launches Vortex thrill ride as first part of The New Atlantis

The New Atlantis is finally becoming a reality at Sea World with the opening of Vortex, a Top Spin from renowned German manufacturer Huss.

Click here to continue reading

Interesting that the GP seem to be allowed to take recording equipment on the ride...

10 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Interesting that the GP seem to be allowed to take recording equipment on the ride...

Depends how much gaff you have

I really think the fencing let’s it down (as said in the article). It’s such a shame they couldn’t integrate the curvature of the walls in a way that meant fencing wasn’t required. Obviously some form of fence along the front is needed, but the integration of the exit is also a let down. Seems strange to have the exit point right next to the start of the queue, that could become a real bottle neck 

Finally got to go on vortex today, was little or no wait. It is a shame it’s such a short cycle being used at the moment but hopefully they do use different during the year.

 

Edited January 2, 20215 yr by Rabbit2014

Went on it yesterday. Wasn't bad but seemed a bit tame compared to what it feels like it could be.

On 28/01/2021 at 7:22 PM, pin142 said:

Went on it yesterday. Wasn't bad but seemed a bit tame compared to what it feels like it could be.

Went on it last night and can't agree with this more.

 

People seemed scared of it, there was 0 queue the whole night and hearing people be concerned of how scary it is, but walking off it, people were talking about how it "wasn't bad at all". Also it was just way too short. It needs at least 2 more spins, including 1 high speed spin and maybe 1 more flip, hopefully the opposite direction.

It was a very busy day at SW and for the first time ever, I saw the Vortex operating with full cycles consistently. At one point, the wait time was 2 cycles. Amazing. Watching the ride cycle from near by was entertaining with the riders screaming and cheering. But unfortunately the cycle they are operating is still too short, harsh and does a trick and stops again to prepare for the next trick. 

Weekends have been really busy the last couple of weeks at all the parks I've noticed. Think some of that pent up demand might finally be coming out

On 20/3/2022 at 7:48 PM, themagician said:

Watching the ride cycle from near by was entertaining with the riders screaming and cheering. But unfortunately the cycle they are operating is still too short, harsh and does a trick and stops again to prepare for the next trick. 

I enjoyed the ride experience but I agree that the cycle isn't very good. It's very intense being flung and spun, but it's not particularly fun if that makes sense? 

Random tangent but something that blew my mind is that Vortex doesn't have any guest staging with numbers to stand on that allocates you to a numbered seat and instead the operators need a headset to communicate how many guests they need and where people need to go. It seemed wildly inefficient and increases staff overhead by a lot. Is this standard for this ride model? 

I mean there's just not that many people going on Vortex that it's a thing. Even during peak peak season, maybe 100 people are wanting to ride in an hour. You literally only need to run a cycle every 20mins to keep up with demand. With those sort of numbers, the whole 'stand on this number, remember the number, find the number' is just unnecessary bullshit.

Agree.  In 2042 when Leviathan opens and drawing more people into the area, numbers might be required. 

54 minutes ago, joz said:

I mean there's just not that many people going on Vortex that it's a thing. Even during peak peak season, maybe 100 people are wanting to ride in an hour. You literally only need to run a cycle every 20mins to keep up with demand. With those sort of numbers, the whole 'stand on this number, remember the number, find the number' is just unnecessary bullshit.

It's not like they had a more efficient system that was taken out due to a lack of popularity so did they construct this ride with an inefficient setup knowing that it'd be unpopular? That seems like a huge waste of money and land for a park that notoriously needs more attractions.

I'm just kind of baffled. Shouldn't you design the ride for the optimal throughput and then tone it back if it's unpopular? That you've got the option to accomodate for a higher capacity even if it is rare. Otherwise if the park suddenly becomes a smash hit and is drawing tons of people thanks to New Atlantis, you've essentially got a lemon that can only do 798 guests on a regular operational day that is the first attraction you see on a major thoroughfare towards your premier coaster.

I just can't imagine a scenario where from the top down everybody working on the attraction would agree that 114 riders per hour is a reasonable investment. 

I don't know what sort of operational capacity Vortex runs at, but I'd say even without a staging area it's high 200s which in a park like SW for that type of ride you'd think would be plenty.

According to the manufacturers website, the theoretical hourly capacity for vortex is 1200 riders 

You need to convert that to Australian currency.

1200 × a whole lot of crap = 127.

38 riders per cycle.

10 min cycles = 228 per hr

5 min cycles = 456 per hr

I cant think of any situation where you would hit 1000 unless it was at a German fair where they were running some short 1 min cycle and ultra efficient staff.

 

 

Well according to the website it takes 40 riders. Which means 1200/40 is 30 cycles. Which means there is a cycle every 2 minutes. Which would be a max 1 minute cycle and then 1 minute to unload and reload. Which seems impossible. 

Capacity stats have pretty much always been fiction. The only way you're hitting that number is by ignoring loading and unloading and just sending it again as soon as the ride finishes 

Dunno why they say 40, its clearly 19 a side to make 38:

3 hours ago, themagician said:

Well according to the website it takes 40 riders. 

Which website?

Changing gears for a minute - a family member (who is also an engineer) remarked to me about the 'wipeout' at Sea World the other day (eye roll). They pointed out that Vortex should be doing the cycles it used to do at Dreamworld (another eye roll) - but - and here's the question for the big ride design nuts...

Why does one of the arms have a hinge, if both arms are always operated parallel?

(*Note - the lower section of the right side is hinged onto the central pivot point, the left side is a 'single' piece.)

A few theories were floated including:

• The arm can hinge outwards to permit the removal of the gondola
• Thermal expansion of the gondola is accommodated by the hinge
• The design is a remnant from a travelling model design.

 

I'm not advocating or arguing for any specific point here, but for those who are heavily into ride design and engineering I hoped someone could shed some light on the technical reasoning as (and I quote the engineer) - you don't install a joint where you don't need one because it increases cost, complexity and load.

So - engineering gurus - have at it.

7 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

 

• The arm can hinge outwards to permit the removal of the gondola
• Thermal expansion of the gondola is accommodated by the hinge
• The design is a remnant from a travelling model design.

Going by how the Rampage is designed yes it does similar moves to wipeout with the arms rotating independently but it has 1 hinged arm. They use the hinge to make it easier to remove the Gondola for maintenance which I would say could be the same for vortex. 

 

@DaptoFunlandGuy Having a pivot joint would take some of the load off of the running gear as the ride flexes during ride cycles but I don't know if that is why the arm is hinged.

3 hours ago, Luke said:

Which website?

The manufacturers website