Sea World maintenance

[pushbutton]

According to the "Attractions Maintenance" page on Sea Worlds website, Dockside Tavern reopens in early October.

 

Can anyone confirm if it is in fact now open?

 

Also, there is nothing on that page about the chairlifts being out of action, but I was there a couple of weeks ago and they were all detached from the cable and on the ground outside the resort. Anyone know if they are operating again?

[lifeofsamage]

Hopefully going over tomorrow so ill let you know

[Theme Park Girl]

The chairlift has been like that for months. I'm starting to question whether they are ever intending to reopen it or just going to scrap it ??

[themagician]

I really hope that they don't close the chairlift forever and will do all they can to keep it at the park.

[MacPark]

They went operation yesterday

[Brad2912]

The dockside tavern was no open and still under construction on Friday when I visited 

[themagician]

I'm at the park now and the Dockside Tavern is now open, but the skylink isn't 

[Brad2912]

What, if any, differences are there inside?

[themagician]

I didn't get a chance to go inside. The outside is looking a lot better now though.

[pushbutton]

I'm very worried now.

The chairlifts are not included in the list on rides on Sea Worlds website!

Sea World has now posted photos of the interior of Dockside Tavern on their FB page.

I kind of liked how it was before to be honest. Had a fair bit of history and the feel of an old English pub.

Now it's lost that charm. However it did need a refresh I suppose, and I think it has more seating now which is good, including a much bigger balcony with better protection from the birds!

[themagician]

It's not looking good for the chairlifts. When I was there yesterday there was no sign of the gondolas. I do hope they replace them and reopen it.

[rappa]

It's certainly very modern, which seems to be the look they're taking with most all new/refurb construction these days. 

Just don't know if it suits the name Tavern though is all. 

[MaxxTheMonster]

The gondolas were at the back of the park resting on pallets, visible from the Resort monorail station a couple of weeks ago.

[MacPark]

My bet is they wont be back.

[pushbutton]

Please make sure you are sitting down.  I have some very bad news. 

I'm afraid Sea World has confirmed that my beloved chairlifts have ridden their last ride and will sadly not be reopening.

I don't know if I'll get over this, but at least I still have the monorail. Better make the most of that. Seems you never can tell when things will suddenly disappear.  

I'm just very glad I've had the opportunity to go on the chairlifts over the last 9 months I've been living here, and during my numerous Gold Coast holidays before that. 

R.I.P.  †

HI-DE-HI ! 

[Zanstabar]

To be fair, their time has arrived. It's not like they've had smooth sailing over the past few years. Every time I've gone to Sea World, there has always seemed to be some sort of issue with the skyway. Now I just wonder what well will see happen to the remains.

[westical]

That'll help the adult ride count. 

[pushbutton]

I have to say that from my perspective, Sea World is nowhere near as good as it was just a few years ago.

The Bermuda Triangle, the Sea Viper, and now the Chairlifts have all gone. The Dolphin show isn't as good as it was (in my opinion), and the jet stunt show or whatever it is isn't a patch on the old pirate show with the big ship (pun intended).

I have no objection to change. Some change is obviously good. From a little kids perspective, Nickelodeon Land is much better than the previous kids area, with better rides.

Again though, for me, it's lost a heck of a lot. That's despite the Creatures of the Deep, which I do like. It just doesn't come close to making up for the above losses.

[joz]

An attraction with no height requirement that was popular with guests of all ages?  It makes good sense to me why current management wouldn't see fit to keep it going.

 

What a joke.  Even if it cost more than a million to keep it going it'd be worth it.  Luckily though they'll be able to blame some biased peice of shit propaganda movie for their declines rather than their own piss poor management.  

 

Death by a thousand cuts.  That's what Sea World died from.

[Theme Park Girl]

Tbh I'm not really surprised. The skyway was old and run down, and they no doubt see the Monorail as a better investment to transport guests up and down the park. It doesn't get affected by rain or wind the way the skyway did, and assumably requires less staff to operate (one driving, as opposed to needing two ie. one at each end of the station) outside of peak periods. 

Same as Dreamworld, who obviously thought the train would be a good enough substitute for theirs.

I don't know how similar systems are going overseas, but they seem to be becoming a thing of the past here with preferences going to more modern technology.

[MacPark]

Sad day but I think we all knew it was coming. I dont think seaworld is worse than it was a few years ago. I think the park is looking good and has some good attractions it is just short a couple of things at the moment. The back area near where corckscrew/sv is really needs something and the creatures of the deep needs to be replaced with something a bit more substantial. Also they need to get rid of the old train station. Its just looks stupid. Its  a bit like all our parks, just a few attractions short of being killer.

Edited October 30, 2015 by MacPark

[iwerks]

Yeah, that sucks.  Always enjoyed going on the Skyway.  I think we all knew it had a pretty low hourly capacity and we didn't mind the wait.  I'll miss that view of the park.

If they have this attitude of the Skyway, how do we know they won't close the monorail?  I think they have to invest in some more transportation options.

[pushbutton]

Tbh I'm not really surprised. The skyway was old and run down, and they no doubt see the Monorail as a better investment to transport guests up and down the park. It doesn't get affected by rain or wind the way the skyway did, and assumably requires less staff to operate (one driving, as opposed to needing two ie. one at each end of the station) outside of peak periods. 

Same as Dreamworld, who obviously thought the train would be a good enough substitute for theirs.

I don't know how similar systems are going overseas, but they seem to be becoming a thing of the past here with preferences going to more modern technology.

I agree. The thing is that they had BOTH chairlifts AND monorails. It wasn't a choice of one or the other. 

There was also a train not so long ago. Now just the monorail, so a very definite downgrade.

Alton Towers is one example I know of where they invested in modern chairlifts (far more substantial than Sea Worlds) relatively recently. They also have an incredible monorail system with numerous trains in use.

I can't help but wonder if maybe the Green Lantern incident has triggered a safety review of other rides. I can imagine someone thought "how many bolts would need to fail to cause a catastrophic failure on this ride?"

Probably a valid point, and one that has occurred to me, even as I've been on the ride. However did they also consider how long it's been operating without incident.

Who's to say. I'm only speculating.

One final point I'll make though is that I wouldn't mind in the slightest about the chairlifts closing, if they were replacing them with new ones with modern safety measures (such as enclosed windows for a start)! Sadly Sea World says there are no such plans.

Maybe I should start a petition?

Edited October 31, 2015 by pushbutton

[pushbutton]

There also used to be 3 monorails a few years ago. Now there's just two and they no longer have a recording playing inside to entertain and inform guests while they ride.

[lolman123]

RIP SeaWorld chairlifts.

Sad to see these go as they gave great views of the park. I personally liked going over the dolphin ponds.

Will this make pathways more congested around the nick store, sweet treats shop and down onto the bridge?