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Serpent Slayer

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Serpent Slayer
Serpent Slayer (pictured as Pandamonium) running its hard style cycle.
Dreamworld
AreaOcean Parade
StatusOperating
Soft opening date21 December 2012 (2012-12-21)
Opening date26 December 2012 (2012-12-26)
ReplacedAvalanche
Ride statistics
ManufacturerZamperla
ModelAir Race 6.4
Height12 m (39 ft)
Drop8 m (26 ft)
Speed8.5 rpm
G-force3.8
Capacity480 riders per hour
Vehicle typePulled rickshaw
Vehicles6
Riders per vehicle4
Rows2
Riders per row2
Duration2:30
Height restriction120 cm (3 ft 11 in)
Ride Express available

Serpent Slayer is an amusement ride in the Ocean Parade area of Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia. The Zamperla Air Race 6.4 ride is featured as one of Dreamworld's Big 9 Thrill Rides. The ride was previously known as Pandamonium, as part of the "Land of Awesomeness" area within the DreamWorks Experience precinct, and was themed to the Kung-Fu Panda films.

History

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In mid-2011, the outgoing CEO of Dreamworld, Noel Dempsey,[1] leaked Dreamworld's plans to team up with DreamWorks Animation on his LinkedIn profile page.[2] On 10 November 2011, Dreamworld officially announced a three-stage plan to incorporate DreamWorks Animation films and characters into its theme park. The first phase was the DreamWorks Holiday Shrektacular Show which ran throughout the summer peak period, with the second being the retheming of Dreamworld's kids area into a 8,400-square-metre (90,000 sq ft) DreamWorks Experience precinct which opened in March 2012. The final phase announced was the development of an eating and meet-and-greet area called Kung Fu garden.[3][4] Throughout 2012, the Kung Fu garden concept evolved into the Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness.

The construction of Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness began in July 2012 with the closure and demolition of Avalanche. On 3 September 2012, the Bumper Beach was closed to aid in construction.[5] The park previously announced that additional rides and attractions would be added to the area in December 2012.[6] The headline attraction would be Pandamonium which would be the park's 8th thrill ride. Other attractions included Skadoosh and Kung Fu Academy.[7] Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness, along with Pandamonium, soft opened on 21 December 2012[8] with an official opening held on 26 December 2012.[9]

Ardent Leisure, the owners of Dreamworld, added Pandamonium in an attempt to expand the park's ride inventory.[10] Five months after the ride opened Ardent Leisure reported that Pandamonium, coupled with the rest of the DreamWorks Experience precinct and the return of Big Brother Australia, gave the park a "strong foundation for building future market share".[11]

In November 2022, Dreamworld announced that Pandamonium would be rethemed as part of an expansion of the Ocean Parade precinct after the closure of the DreamWorks Experience precinct.[12] The ride reopened in April 2023 as the Serpent Slayer.[13]

Characteristics

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Serpent Slayer is one of Dreamworld's seven thrill rides alongside The Claw, The Gold Coaster, The Giant Drop, Mick Doohan's Motocoaster, Steel Taipan and Tail Spin.[14] Dreamworld offers their virtual queuing system, Ride Express, for some of the most popular rides in the park, including Pandamonium.

Designed by Italian firm Zamperla, Serpent Slayer is a themed version of their Air Race 6.4 model.[15][16] It consists of six vehicles themed as pulled rickshaws.[8] Each vehicle holds four riders in two rows of two. Riders are secured by over-the-shoulder restraints.[17]

Ride experience

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Pandamonium is similar to Air Race at Lagoon Amusement Park (pictured)

Serpent Slayer offers two ride experiences with different intensity factors.[16][18] The first cycle type is a thrill ride experience. The ride begins with the vehicles slowly rotating around a centre column in a similar style to an aerial carousel. Each vehicle begins to swing from side to side. Momentum builds and the vehicles eventually swing upside down at a height of 8 metres (26 ft). This results in riders experiencing up to 3.8 times the force of gravity. The alternative experience is designed for kids and sees the ride vehicles swing from side to side whilst rotating around the central column. Both cycles last for 2 minutes and 30 seconds each.[8][19][20]

References

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  1. ^ Ardern, Lucy (7 July 2011). "Dreamworld CEO calls it quits". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  2. ^ Wilson, Richard (7 July 2011). "Buzzsaw ride, Dreamworks coming to Dreamworld as CEO departs". Parkz. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  3. ^ Meers, Daniel (11 November 2011). "$10m deal brings Shrek to Dreamworld". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  4. ^ Scott, Tessa (10 November 2011), DreamWorks at Dreamworld, Nine Gold Coast News
  5. ^ "Ride & Attraction Maintenance". Dreamworld. 2012. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  6. ^ "Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness". Dreamworld. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Kung Fu Panda kicks off Christmas at Dreamworld". Park World Magazine: 20. December 2012 – January 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Westthorp, Tanya (7 December 2012). "New thrill ride to open at Dreamworld". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  9. ^ Wilson, Richard (21 December 2012). "Dreamworld December 2012". The Parkz Update. Parkz. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  10. ^ Ardent Leisure (21 February 2013). "2013 Half Year Results" (PDF). Australian Securities Exchange. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  11. ^ Shaw, Greg (2 May 2013). "Ardent Leisure Group Third Quarter Trading Update" (PDF). Australian Securities Exchange. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  12. ^ Mitchell, Bea (25 November 2022). "Australia's Dreamworld theme park to open new land and coaster". blooloop. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Serpent Slayer". Dreamworld. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Big 8 Thrill Rides". Dreamworld. 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  15. ^ "Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness". Park World Magazine. Datateam Business Media Limited. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  16. ^ a b "Air Race 6.4". Zamperla. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  17. ^ "Pandamonium (Dreamworld)". Parkz.
  18. ^ Smith, Carol (3 April 2013). "Queensland: Family thrills on Gold Coast". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  19. ^ "Pandamonium". Dreamworld. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  20. ^ "Discover Dreamworld Happiness This Summer" (Press release). Dreamworld. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
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