Sky Voyager is a flying theatre

simulator ride Simulator rides are a type of amusement park or fairground ride, where the audience is shown a movie while their seats move to correspond to the action on screen. There are many types but they fall into the heading of entertainment unlike the ...

located at Dreamworld in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Southern Hemisphere's first and only flying theatre

that opened in August 2019. It replaced the

Dreamworld Cinema The Dreamworld Cinema is a movie theatre located inside the Dreamworld amusement park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. History IMAX Theatre The ''IMAX Theatre'' was a movie theatre which opened with Dreamworld on 15 December 1981 ...

s. Sky Voyager is one of Dreamworld's eight family rides and is sponsored by ExperienceOz. The ride can carry up to 60 riders and a ride cycle typically lasts for nearly 6 minutes, depending on the film played. The ride is themed to

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

with the ride's exterior themed to an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

and queue themed to an

airport terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer t ...

History

In late 2017, Dreamworld was planning to open a

that showcases various Australian locations to replace the

s. This came after a plan that included giving the

Rocky Hollow Log Ride The Rocky Hollow Log Ride was a log flume which took groups of 4 riders on a gentle four and a half-minute cruise through channels, in and out of buildings, before ascending the lift hill. The ride concluded with a drop causing all riders to bec ...

and WipeOut a revamp and also the possible reopening of the

Eureka Mountain Mine Ride Eureka Mountain Mine Ride was a Wild Mouse steel roller coaster located at Dreamworld in Gold Coast, Australia. After closing for maintenance in 2006, the ride remained inactive for 11 years. Following a third party assessment in December 201 ...

. Dreamworld announced on 27 December, that they would be opening a i-Ride that showcases various locations in Australia. The ride is similar to

Soarin' ''Soarin, also known as ''Soarin' Around the World'', ''Soaring Over the Horizon'' and ''Soaring: Fantastic Flight'', is a flight motion simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure, Epcot, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea. ...

Disney California Adventure Park Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

. Dreamworld also announced that the attraction will be built by Brogent Technologies. In early 2018, the Dreamworld Cinemas was permanently closed. In March 2018, parts for the new i-Ride started to arrive at the Dreamworld carpark near

BuzzSaw A circular saw is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. ''Cir ...

. During construction, the

Gold Rush Country The Gold Rush Country (a.k.a. Town of Gold Rush or simply Gold Rush) is a themed land at the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. History The Gold Rush Country opened on 11 December 1986. The area featured the Eure ...

was blocked of by fencing for storage of parts for the new attraction and the ongoing demolition of the Gold Rush Country. In late 2018, Dreamworld announced that the i-Ride will be called “Sky Voyager”. They also announced that the attraction will open in the summer holidays. Sky Voyager's opening was delayed and never opened in the summer holidays. In August 2019, Sky Voyager opened to the public after a nine-month delay. The opening also came with the announcement of a 50 million dollars investment which included a new Mack coaster and a waterslide complex. On 9 September 2020, Dreamworld announced that there will be a new experience available for a limited time featuring landmarks from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The new experience will be only available for a limited time from 10 am to 3:30 pm every day. The original Australian experience will continue to run after these hours.

Characteristics

Sky Voyager is one of Dreamworld's eight family attractions alongside the

Dreamworld Express The Dreamworld Express is a narrow gauge railway located at the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland in Australia. History The Dreamworld Express opened with Dreamworld on 15 December 1981, as the ''Cannonball Express''. At t ...

, Kenny's Forest Flyer, a currently under-refurbishment kite flyer attraction, Belinda's Treehouse, Shockwave, Deep Sea Dodgems and

Vintage Car Adventure Vintage Cars Adventure (a.k.a. Model T Lane, Model T Vintage Cars or simply Vintage Cars) is a Antique car, vintage car Amusement ride, ride at the Dreamworld (Australia), Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The ride ...

. The ride consists of two floors with three gondolas each. Each gondola can carry up to 10 riders, making the ride capable of carrying up to 60 riders at once. Riders are restrained with a

seatbelt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt red ...

. Throughout the ride, the gondola moves in several of unique ways throughout the ride. Mist and different scents are also used to convey the feeling of flight. A cycle on Sky Voyager typically lasts for nearly 6 minutes.

Ride experience

Entrance & boarding

Guests are to enter an outdoor queue (when busy) with picture of Australian landscapes and a safety notice. Guests will later walk into a room with an airport split-flap board with quizzes about Australia. Guests are then taken into another queue with two giant screens, several of suitcases and paper planes on the roof. Afterwards, guests are to walk into either a room upstairs or a room on the same floor. Guests are to stand on a number on it. A safety briefing is played and the guests are to enter the theatre where the rides are. When all sixty guests are seated properly, the fence in front goes down and the vehicles move forward and the ride begins.

Ride

After the fence goes down and the vehicles move forwards, the ride film starts to play. The vehicles starts to move around in a unique way for each scene of the film. Wind is blown onto the rider throughout the ride along with water being sprayed when the riders are near scenes that involve water. Riders are also able to smell scented smells through the ride. Various different onboard audios are played through the ride. Once the ride is finished, the vehicles return to their parked position and the fence in front comes back up.

Exit

After the ride finishes, riders are to exit to their left and into a room displaying all of the locations from Experience Australia that was featured on the ride and advertisements from ExperienceOz.

Ride films

Experience Australia

Experience Australia is the original ride film that is played by Sky Voyager. Experience Australia was first released in August 2019 to the public when the ride opened. The experience takes guests on a flying experience over Australia. The film concludes with fireworks at the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

along with the Sky Voyager logo. The main onboard audio played is Where We Are by Mark Petrie. From 16 September 2020 to 17 January 2021, Experience Australia's operation time was be reduced due to the introduction of the limited time, Experience USA. Experience Australia operation schedule was from 3:30 pm to 5 pm.

Experience USA

Experience USA was the second ride film that has been released and was available for a limited time only. The experience opened to the public on 16 September 2020 from 10 am to 3:30 pm every day. On 17 January 2021, the film was played for the final time before completely switching back to the original Experience Australia film.

References

External links

Official webpage
{{Dreamworld Dreamworld (Australia)