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Dreamworld Australia | Steel Taipan | Modified Blue Fire Clone | 2021

Gold Coast’s Dreamworld to launch its $32m Steel Taipan coaster on for 40th birthday on December 15

DREAMWORLD is set to usher in the summer of the snake after announcing the launch date of its $32m Steel Taipan roller coaster, just in time for Christmas.

From December 15, riders will be able to experience all 1.2km of the 105km/h, triple-launch coaster with its multiple inversions and spinning gondola.

The launch date coincides with the theme park’s 40th birthday, which will be celebrated with a range of additional entertainment, giveaways and fun for team members and guests.

“We couldn’t think of a better gift for our 40th birthday than the opening of the biggest new attraction in Dreamworld’s history, offering a new, world-class thrill experience during the school holidays, and just in time for the border reopening,” Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong said.

“Steel Taipan is a truly fantastic addition to our attraction offering, featuring the Southern Hemisphere’s first triple launch system and the world’s first spinning rear seats.

“You’ve got to feel it to believe it, so we encourage our locals to visit from the 15th to see what all the hype is about.”

The Steel Taipan project, the biggest single investment in Dreamworld’s history, has created more than 200 jobs, with about 98 per cent of contractor packages awarded to southeast Queensland companies.

Mr Yong said the Steel Taipan was likely the largest private sector tourism attraction investment since the pandemic began, and hoped aviation, accommodation, and other tourism businesses would benefit from the visitors drawn to it.

Shareholders in Dreamworld parent company Ardent Leisure will be hoping the roller coaster boosts sales of the park’s annual passes which range from $99-$119.
Opening date at long last, December 15!
 
This soft opened for passholders.
I daresay many on here have ridden Blue Fire, so you'll probably know what to expect. Here's my play by play:

-Queue and Theming.
It's not really themed per se, just typical modern Australian architecture, with hints to the taipan, from the obvious skeleton themed queue, to patterns of scales.
The station is well setup, with a very generous sorting area, with dots on the ground for three groups of riders to be batched. The station gates know which train is in the station and won't open row 10 if the spinning equipped train is parked.

-Launch. Ok a non event, just gradual acceleration, aside from the 2nd (backwards) . on The backwards launch you spend a lot of time coasting along the launch track and then suddenly get caught by the LSMs, which saves it a bit.

In the back seats the first roll back feels kind of weird because you feel the train just celebrating before you even properly on to the curve.

-Reverse spike. Really good! A worthwhile addition, because it curves up quite tightly (enough to move your harness down a little bit) and then the Gs are sustained a bit due to the curve, before tapering off into floater. Again good postives on the way down.

-Main layout.
I've always thought the first horseshoe is a bit slow. A quick moment of darkness as he goes through the tunnel. The loop is strong and maintains the Gs right through the top.
The turnaround to the MCBR has a bit of kick. If you sit in the back there is ejector coming off the MCBR.
the corkscrews are better than I remember on bluefire, they actually feel like zero g rolls, with a good float and twist at the top.
First corkscrew has a rock arch that is right to the limits of the clearance envelope, so there is a definite woosh as you go through.
Good pop of ejector on the hill through the loop.
But of course it's the final roll which is the highlight, attempting to dunk you out of the train at the midpoint.
Overall I think it's one of the best "standardx layouts out there.

Tailspin.
OK this is wild and probably a one and done for many people, since it would probably make you feel unwell if you marathoned. Try to get an unbalanced ride.
it can spin moderately but it's not as fast as some of the family spinning coasters I've been on. Highlights included going up the spike facing forwards towards the sky.
Going around the loop sideways, so you would see the horizon rotate in front of you.
On the final roll the car managed to do a full spin, so it was like being an astronaut tumbling in space.
It is worth the $25 upcharge at least once.
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I think that queue 'inside' the spine is pretty cool - simple, clean and effective.

Your thoughts on the launch are, unfortunately, as I expected. It would have been good to see a slightly larger modification to the layout (perhaps a pre-launch section?) which would have shortened up the launch track and therefore made the launch a bit more punchy. Maybe (hopefully) Mack will revisit this idea in the future.

Great to hear you liked the spinning car too - did it seem relatively popular?

Also have to just say again - boy I love the colour scheme.
 
Great to hear you liked the spinning car too - did it seem relatively popular?
I don't know if it really has to be popular. With only two seats on only one of two trains it'd have to be really unpopular to not even use up this abysmal capacity.
 
I don't know if it really has to be popular. With only two seats on only one of two trains it'd have to be really unpopular to not even use up this abysmal capacity.
Maybe my question was too... brief. I was actually asking more from a "does this sort of thing seem popular with the GP?" perspective. I often wonder what non-enthusiasts think of the more extreme variations of rides. For example, I'd be really interested to know if the average rider thinks Ride To Happiness is the best thing ever, or if they maybe consider it too intense. Same with the S&S 4D coasters.

Two seats per two trains is a good way to make it look more popular, as it'll always have a line, I suppose. :D
 
25 Australian Dollars is £13.50. Still a lot though, I can't see Brits paying more than £7 for this.
 
Yeah it seemed like there were 3 or 4 trains wait for the Tailwhip seats. Whether it remains popular is another matter, but they can always drop the price as demand wanes.
I like it because it creates an incentive to maximise throughput, since each additional train is worth $50.
 
Yeah it seemed like there were 3 or 4 trains wait for the Tailwhip seats. Whether it remains popular is another matter, but they can always drop the price as demand wanes.
I like it because it creates an incentive to maximise throughput, since each additional train is worth $50.
Yeah but the staff surely won' be getting the extra money (thus removing any incentive to dispatch super fast ;)
 
Yeah it seemed like there were 3 or 4 trains wait for the Tailwhip seats. Whether it remains popular is another matter, but they can always drop the price as demand wanes.

It will be interesting to see how the wait for Tailspin compares to the normal queue too.

If to say it had 3 or 4 trains' wait and the normal queue had, say, 15-20 trains' wait, then you can argue that the uncharge is also reducing your waiting time too. That plus a more exclusive/intense experience makes the price a bit more appealing too.
 
It will be interesting to see how the wait for Tailspin compares to the normal queue too.

If to say it had 3 or 4 trains' wait and the normal queue had, say, 15-20 trains' wait, then you can argue that the uncharge is also reducing your waiting time too. That plus a more exclusive/intense experience makes the price a bit more appealing too.
This is why I expect it to be on the higher end. They’re not going to want the queue to be longer than the standard queue if they’re upcharging… Are they?
 
i mean, this park isn't going to be around in 5-10 years by the general vibe around here, so who really cares at this point haha

the only thing anyone I know can say about dreamworld is that there was some deadly accident there in recent memory...
 
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