Dreamworld has on Monday installed the final piece of the $32m Steel Taipan rollercoaster
The final piece to Dreamworld’s $32m Steel Taipan rollercoaster is in place and closer to opening. FULL DETAILS >>
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THE final piece to Dreamworld’s $32m Steel Taipan rollercoaster is in place and closer to opening.
The tail spike was installed on Monday by Robina-based company Condev Constructions.
“This is definitely the most unique topping out of a project we have ever had,” Condev Constructions’ Steve Marais said.
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“It has taken a huge effort from all involved to get us to this magnificent milestone.
“We look forward to working closely with MACK Rides and Dreamworld towards completion of this exciting new attraction.”
Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong said the theme park anticipated the Steel Taipan would open late 2021, once electrical works, load station building, landscaping, and commissioning had been completed.
He said the Dreamworld team would work closely with staff and industry experts from German manufacturer MACK Rides throughout the commissioning process for the attraction.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be one step closer to delivering a world-class rollercoaster experience for our guests,” Mr Yong said.
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“With southern hemisphere and world firsts, we truly believe we’ll be opening the best rollercoaster in Australia.”
The Steel Taipan project has created more than 200 jobs and about 98 per cent of contractor packages were awarded to South East Queensland companies.
Theme park demolishing decades old ‘family favourite’ ride
May 21, 2021
ONE of the Gold Coast’s oldest theme park rides is being demolished as Dreamworld focuses on the future.
The Rocky Hollow Log Ride at Dreamworld is being taken away with workers and machines already removing parts of the attraction.
The cafe and photo booth have been demolished.
A Dreamworld spokesperson said the works would be completed by June.
“We’re excited to be improving this area of the park in anticipation of the opening of our $32 million rollercoaster.”
The Steel Taipan is expected to open late this year.
The ride was shut in February last year as a part of Dreamworld’s plan to refurbish the park, according to the spokesperson.
The ride was one of Dreamworlds major attractions in its early years, opening on 15 December 1981.
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He was 19 at the time and also suffered pneumonia after he fell into the water and carriages continued to roll over him.
COAST CEO: 'YOU DON'T HAVE ANY ROOM TO GET THEM WRONG'
April 27, 2021
EVEN as its $32 million Steel Taipan roller coaster emerges from the ground, Dreamworld is cashed up and eyeing off its next big-ticket attraction.
Parent company Ardent Leisure this week revealed a changing of the guard in its theme parks division, with CEO John Osborne stepping aside to spend more time with his family in Sydney.
His replacement, Gold Coaster and former chief operating officer Greg Yong, has flagged a promising post-COVID future for Dreamworld, with thrilling new attractions a centrepiece.
“There’s absolutely pent-up demand, there’s absolutely a tourism boom coming and we’ve got to make sure there are good things to do at Dreamworld to keep people coming,” he said.
“When you’re spending millions and millions on new attractions, you don’t have any room to get them wrong.
“It’s really important these new attractions are things that people really want to do.”
In its trading update, Ardent said it had $18.8m in cash available to its Australian businesses, and had only drawn $5.3m of a $63.7m loan facility.
Mr Yong was guarded on how much of the sizeable kitty was slated for new attractions and on the specifics of what they could be.
“We can’t just look at something we see at a theme park overseas and say `that looks cool, let’s do it’ – we are a lot more strategic.
“We are out there now looking at what we’re going to do because of the lead time it takes to get a new attraction.
“It isn’t a matter of jumping online and clicking add-to-cart. If we want to get something online for say 2023, we need to start now.”
Ardent’s share price this week reached its highest point since the start of the pandemic, despite the company revealing COVID was likely to continue to erode its revenue for the rest of the year.
Revenue from Dreamworld and WhiteWater World was down by $23 million in the six months to December due to border restrictions and a shut down that continued until September 16.
Ardent finished the week’s trading at $1.035, an increase of 8.9 per cent in the past month.
Shareholders are banking on a Christmas bonus in the form of the scheduled launch of the Steel Taipan, which Mr Yong said was still on track.
“When you look at building a roller coaster, a lot of the work is under the ground and we’re out of the ground now and it’s progressing really well.
“We expect that it will be built in time for that – and then of course we’ve got the regulatory process to go through.”
Dreamworld will be hoping that process will not replicate its experience with the Sky Voyager, which sat idle for nine months post-completion as it traversed state government approvals.
“We learned a lot through that Sky Voyager process and we’ve made sure that learning has been part of our planning for this one,” Mr Yong said.
“We’re feeling pretty good about having the right team of people, internal and external, to get it done.”
Mr Yong said results from Ardent’s Main Event business in the United States showed a post-lockdown appetite for entertainment he expected would be replicated here.
He said the reformation of the national cabinet to tackle the pandemic was a positive step forward.
“We’re really positive, COVID won’t go on forever and when things get better in Australia people will come out, they will want to travel.
“We want to position Dreamworld so that when they come to the Gold Coast they look at Dreamworld and say ‘we’ve got to go there’.”
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