Pandamonium (ride)

Pandamonium is an amusement ride in the DreamWorks Experience 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. As with the rest of the "Land of Awesomeness" area, the ride is themed to the Kung-Fu Panda films.

Pandamonium
Dreamworld
AreaDreamWorks Experience – Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness
StatusOperating
Soft opening date21 December 2012 (2012-12-21)
Opening date26 December 2012 (2012-12-26)
ReplacedAvalanche
General statistics
ManufacturerZamperla
ModelAir Race 6.4
ThemeKung Fu Panda
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)
Q4U available

History

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]

Characteristics

Pandamonium is one of Dreamworld's "Big 9 Thrill Rides" alongside BuzzSaw, The Claw, Cyclone, The Giant Drop, Mick Doohan's Motocoaster, Tower of Terror II and Wipeout.[12] Dreamworld offers their virtual queuing system, Q4U, for some of the most popular rides in the park, including Pandamonium.

Designed by Italian firm Zamperla, Pandamonium is a themed version of their Air Race 6.4 model.[13][14] 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.[15]

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

Pandamonium offers two ride experiences with different intensity factors.[14][16] 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][17][18]

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References
  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 9 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 2013 – January 2013.
  8. 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. "Big 8 Thrill Rides". Dreamworld. 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  13. "Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness". Park World Magazine. Datateam Business Media Limited. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  14. "Air Race 6.4". Zamperla. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  15. "Pandamonium (Dreamworld)". Parkz. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  16. Smith, Carol (3 April 2013). "Queensland: Family thrills on Gold Coast". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  17. "Pandamonium". Dreamworld. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  18. "Discover Dreamworld Happiness This Summer" (Press release). Dreamworld. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
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