Village Roadshow Theme Parks COO Bikash Randhawa announces the retirement of Sea World’s monorail after 38 years

After years sitting dormant, this holiday favourite has officially been retired – and was the last one in Australia.

A vintage Gold Coast attraction has officially been retired, crushing visitors’ hopes it would eventually be reopened.

On Thursday, Village Roadshow Theme Parks COO Bikash Randhawa announced that, after 38 years of operation, they were calling time on Sea World’s famous monorail.

“The monorail opened at Sea World in 1986 to become Australia’s first monorail system and upon its closing the last,” he said.

The monorail has sat dormant since 2019 when it temporarily closed to make way for the construction of the $50m New Atlantis attraction.

“Our team had planned to return the attraction back to operations, however, due to deteriorating infrastructure and the inability to source appropriate components, the monorail carriages have reached the end of their life,” Mr Randhawa said.

“We tried very hard to keep the attraction going.”

Village Roadshow Theme Parks COO Bikash Randhawa announces the retirement of Sea World’s monorail after 38 years.

Mr Randhawa said he and the Sea World crew had “fond memories of all the families who have enjoyed the monorail over the years”.

He said demolition would start along SeaWorld Drive at the end of the year.

“We are constantly providing new attractions and offerings to provide our guests with the best experiences including the recent opening of the New Atlantis precinct, featuring three world-class rides,” he said.

A Sea World monorail driver of eight years, Dale Beer said he was proud to be a part of history.

“Operating the monorail was awesome. Seeing all the smiles from everyone’s faces,” he said.

“Happy to have those memories but I welcome the future potential (at the park).”

Sea World visitors flooded social media to share their “devastation” over the news.

“That’s such a shame. This is a childhood memory,” Chantelle Spruce said.

Another visitor said it was the “end of an era”.

Village Roadshow Theme Parks COO Bikash Randhawa announces the retirement of Sea World’s monorail after 38 years.

Follow @CrysalFoxJour1

Originally published as Village Roadshow Theme Parks COO Bikash Randhawa announces the retirement of Sea World’s monorail after 38 years