Sea World
29th December 2009
It's always fun to visit theme parks with those who know them well, as in so doing you can be sure not to miss anything important. My guides for today were two local enthusiasts from Parkz, who had even managed to arrange me free park admission.
Jet Rescue (#1479) is currently the newest coaster in Australia, having opened to the public just over a year ago. The ride is far more thrilling and intense than a casual glance might suggest, thanks to two separate launch sections which keep the speed up over what is a particularly twisted course. The frequency and speed of the various direction changes more than make up for the relatively small height differential.

Next to it is a brand new attraction for this year, or at least that's what marketing would like you to believe. Sea Viper (#1480) may have been at the park for twenty-seven years, but this year it has been augmented with the addition of new trains from KumbaK. Though they are supposed to be more open than the originals they are nevertheless afflicted with an uncomfortable restraint design which greatly limits rerideability. Having said that, the brand new attraction does at least take people out of the queue for the infinitely better Jet Rescue!
From there we went to the truly mysterious Bermuda Triangle dark ride, which didn't do much for me. Apparently the ride used to feature some impressive fire effects that ceased to operate a few years ago, and without them the experience can best be described as dull. There was at least some humour however; a whole section of the ride was illuminated by work lights which someone had forgotten to turn off. I was equally non-plussed by the utterly average Viking's Revenge flume.
Though my primary interest in any park is the thrill rides it would be utter heresy to visit a Sea World park without at least one animal show. The one selected today was Imagine, an interactive Dolphin display that was particularly eye-catching. It was a treat to enjoy something like this without having it laced with irrelevant military chest beating, not mentioning any similar parks...