Leviathan is the first wooden roller coaster built in Australia in 35 years. Coney Island’s 92-year-old Cyclone operates to this day with the same fundamental technology and design. Source: Timberbiz
This same century old technology will be utilised on Leviathan and that’s not a bad thing. Of course, for all the fundamental simplicity of the wooden roller coaster’s construction, the past 25 years or so have seen a massive surge in both the popularity and quality of wooden roller coasters.
Advanced computer technology means that they can be designed with precision and push just as many boundaries as steel coasters. The construction too has become a precise science, far removed from the trial and error of bygone years where track would be chopped and changed year after year to fix problem spots.
Modern wooden coaster trains feature light trains and articulated wheel assemblies that handle the track better, lessen damage and keep the rides smoother for longer. Safer and more comfortable restraints ensure a better ride experience.
And of course, Leviathan will feature modern control and safety systems that will make it every bit as safe as its steel counterparts.
To many a wooden roller coaster conjures images of a dilapidated amusement park from a Scooby-Doo cartoon. So why would any theme park install a relic like this? It was always a question of when – not if – Australia would ever build a modern wooden roller coaster. Everywhere there’s theme parks in the world, there’s modern and highly successful wooden coasters.
The price tag is favourable: a seriously high impact attraction can be built with a fraction of the budget of an equivalent steel coaster. Sea World have opted for a natural wood look. While suiting the ancient, mythic times of its theme it also conveniently helps reduce upkeep costs. In the long run wood will fare much better than steel against the salty, sea breeze and most importantly Sea World won’t need to repaint the ride to keep it looking fresh.
The ride experience is seriously unique; wooden roller coasters have personality. Wood is organic: it never stops changing and responds to the conditions. A ride in the morning feels vastly different from one in the late afternoon, after hundreds of cycles throughout the day warm up the track and trains. A ride one year will feel different the next.
Village Roadshow partnered with Canadian roller coaster construction company Martin & Vleminckx that specialise in the construction of traditional wooden coasters featuring a wood structure and laminated wood track.
The ride’s 909 metre length is wrapped into a remarkably small footprint. Wooden roller coasters of this nature are appropriately called twisters. Designed to emphasise speed and g-forces these rides are also known for their close calls with the support structure.
The ride is almost completed yet dormant, Sea World recently answered questions about the Leviathan wooden roller coaster when they confirmed they had pushed its opening back until Easter 2022.
The ride’s delays have meant that the pace of work on the site has also slowed, which includes final structural work on the roller coaster, commissioning and testing as well as the construction of theming, landscaping and infrastructure.
