Theme parks to hit new heights after riding pandemic roller coaster

New tourism investment is literally shooting up on the Gold Coast of Australia, with the apex of a new roller coaster at Sea World now punctuating the famous skyline and work commencing on Dreamworld’s biggest and most expensive rollercoaster ever.

The peak of Sea World’s new $20 million Leviathan roller coaster has risen as a pandemic-era thrill for Queensland, emerging from what looks like a giant pile of pick-up-sticks at the theme park’s Main Beach site on the Gold Coast.

Leviathan will be the first new wooden roller coaster built in Australia for almost 40 years and will be the first wooden roller coaster in the world with backward-facing seats.

The 32m-high Leviathan is the centrepiece of Sea World’s New Atlantis precinct, which will also feature the Trident that will lift and spin riders 52m in the air.

Village Roadshow Theme Parks CEO Clark Kirby said the $50 million precinct would be completed in time for the 2021 Australian winter school holidays.

He said the works would be a game changer for the industry and help lure visitors back to the Gold Coast’s famous amusement parks following the massive impact of the coronavirus and lockdowns on Gold Coast tourism.