| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
The Storm Coaster is an attraction at Sea World on the Gold Coast, Australia. The ride combines the flume and splashdown elements of a log flume, with the chain lift hill and drops of a steel roller coaster.
The ride has been well received, with praise for it being both fun and thrilling.
Design[]
|
Elements |
Storm Coaster is themed to the effects of a Category 5 Tropical Cyclone at a coastal shipping port. The 470-metre-long (1,540 ft) ride stands 28 metres (92 ft) tall and features a top speed of 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph). The ride features six Coast Guard-themed vehicles that each seat eight riders in four rows of two. Riders are restrained through the use of both lap bars and seat belts. The ride is reported to have cost $20 million, making it the single biggest investment on an Australian theme park attraction.
Experience[]
The Storm Coaster is themed around the effects of a Category 5 Tropical Cyclone at a coastal shipping port. The storyline states a storm has already passed over the port leaving a path of destruction, with boats, cars, shipping containers and other debris strewn throughout. However, the port is in the eye of the storm and everyone must evacuate via Coast Guard rescue boats.
Riders enter the queue area by passing through a shipping container with a rusty Storm Coaster sign on it. A short outdoor path leads riders towards a stack of containers. Riders enter the containers through a series of black rubber flaps, before emerging into a warehouse. Once at the station riders board one of the Coast Guard boats.
After departing the station, the boats travel through a short flume section before emerging from the building and ascending a 28 metres (92 ft) chain lift hill. Once at the top of the hill, the track dips and turns 180 degrees to the right, entering a mid-course brake run. A sweeping 180 degree downward turn to the right is followed by an upward turn into another brake run. The ride then drops below ground, passing under the queue path before emerging over an air-time hill, where riders experience a feeling of weightlessness. This hill drops into the hull of an upturned boat and is followed by the ride's splashdown. On the boat's return path to the station it passes a variety of lighting, fire, and water effects. Riders exiting the ride pass alongside the ride's finale, with the chance to get soaked by other boats in the splashdown area.