The Sea Viper was a

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

at Sea World on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

History

On 17 September 1982, Sea World opened the Corkscrew roller coaster. The ride was the first to feature three inversions in Australia and the second roller coaster for the theme park (the Thrillseeker opened within the prior year). The Corkscrew was attributed to a 20% increase in attendance in the year after opening. In 2005, Sea World approached

Kumbak Kumbak is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturing company. In addition to manufacturing its own rides, the company primarily specialises in changing existing rides and attractions, originally made by other manufacturers. History ''Kumbak'' (origina ...

to develop a new train for the then Corkscrew roller coaster. Throughout 2009, the Corkscrew roller coaster was repainted from white to orange. In the middle of 2009, a sign appeared outside the attraction stating that Sea Viper, a "new ride experience", would be opening by summer. In November 2009, the Corkscrew roller coaster closed to allow the original

Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (194 ...

train to be replaced with a new low-profile train manufactured by

KumbaK Kumbak is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturing company. In addition to manufacturing its own rides, the company primarily specialises in changing existing rides and attractions, originally made by other manufacturers. History ''Kumbak'' (origina ...

. Sea Viper was closed in early 2014 for maintenance, however, it was announced on 17 July 2014 that its closure would be permanent.

Ride

The ride began with the train being sent down a small hill followed by a 180° turn to the right under the queue. A

chain lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...

then took riders up to a height of before going down another small hill followed by a larger 180° turn. The track then drops to near ground level and enters a

vertical loop The generic roller coaster vertical loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, riders are completely inverted. History The vertical ...

. The ride then continued to run parallel to the station and up a hill before descending down a curved drop and into the double corkscrews. The second corkscrew passes directly under the

Sea World Monorail System The Sea World Monorail System was a monorail circuit around the Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It was Australia's only remaining monorail system, after the closure of the Sydney Monorail and the other system at ...

before curving up and back over it. The train's speed was reduced in a

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...

before arriving back in the station.

Gallery

File:Corkscrew at Sea World.jpg, An overview of the Sea Viper's layout. This picture was taken when the ride was the Corkscrew. File:Sea Viper - Sea World.jpg, The Sea Viper's train entering into the first of two corkscrews. File:Sea World - Corkscrew - in corkscrew.jpg, The original Corkscew train in the first corkscrew. File:Sea Viper train at IAAPA 2009.jpg, A closeup of Sea Viper's train when it was on display at the

IAAPA The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) represents over 6,000 amusement-industry members in more than 100 countries worldwide and operates several global attractions-industry trade shows. Its annual IAAPA Expo in ...

trade show in 2009

References

External links

Official webpage
* {{Sea World Roller coasters in Australia Roller coasters operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks 1982 establishments in Australia