Motocoaster is the launched motorbike coaster at Dreamworld in Australia. This was Intamin’s
first straddle coaster and it has gone on to be one of their more popular models.
But did they get it right on the first try? In short, no. Let me explain why in this review.
Vekoma introduced the first motorbike coaster in 2004 with Booster Bike at Toverland.
This was an exciting new genre where you’d get to experience the leaned over
riding position of a motorcycle crossed with the thrills of a roller coaster.
Seeing the potential of this model, other manufacturers looked into providing their own
experiences with similar seating- an experience that has now been referred to as the straddle
coaster. Intamin unveiled their first straddle coaster in 2007 with Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster
at Dreamworld. This ride was named after the famous Australian motorcycle road race champion.
Post-pandemic, the tie-in was dropped and the name was shortened to just Motocoaster.
This ride is located towards the back half of the park’s ride area. This site used to be home to the
park’s Vintage Cars, but they were relocated to the animal area to accommodate this attraction.
While Motocoaster’s main layout is to the left of the train station,
the entrance is located off to the right behind it. I’m not the biggest fan of this ride’s looks.
I do love the multi-colored trains. Those look fantastic. But the main course looks pretty blah.
The yellow track and black supports look fine, but the whole area looks like a construction site.
You had some temporary fencing around it and minimally landscaped dirt. Maybe they were
going for the dirt bike aesthetic, but it’s not too appealing to the eyes in my opinion.
Heading here first is a wise decision,
assuming you arrive at opening. This is what we did, so we were able to avoid a wait.
But this ride has a lot of queue space and a line that moves at a snail’s pace.
This coaster only had one train on the course, which seems to be a common occurrence at
Dreamworld. And each train seats just 16 riders. Add in slow dispatches due
to the awkward restraints, and it’s no surprise why this queue moves at a glacial rate.
One key note if you purchase the ride express skip-the-line pass
is that Motocoaster is currently not included on it. I found that a bit strange considering it’s
one of the park’s bigger rides and a picture of it is used when you buy it, but it is what it is.
You have 8 rows, each seating 2 riders. The first 6 rows feature 2 motorcycles side-by-side.
The back two rows have a motorcycle on the left and a sidecar on the right. These rows are similar
to what you see on Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Islands of Adventure.
While this decision was made for thematic reasons on Hagrid’s,
it was done for accessibility purposes here.
The sidecar can accommodate guests as short as 43 inches or 110 centimeters.
You must be 53 inches or 135 centimeters tall to ride in the motorbike seats.
When you reach the station, there are three separate queue lines. One for the sidecar, one
for the standard rows, and one for a single rider line. However, the latter was blocked off during
my visit. Guests are admitted into the station and seating is on a first-come basis. If the row
you want is already taken, the attendants may let you wait an extra cycle if you ask nicely.
Before getting to your gate, make sure to store all your belongings in this rotating bin.
This includes bags, anything in your pockets, and even glasses with a strap.
This system works well. The ride has a separate load and unload platform. You put items here
before you go to your seat, then they are spun over to the exit platform when you depart.
As for which seat you’ll want, the front is marginally better for the unobstructed view
and slightly smoother ride. But the big thing is that I would just advise avoiding the sidecar if
you’re tall enough to ride on a motorbike. Go for the more unique riding position.
Now let’s talk about one of this ride’s biggest cons, the restraints. Getting on the motorbikes is
a process. You first straddle the bike. Then you need to wedge your feet into these small cutouts
on each side. Then you need to pull the front of the bike towards you, so it’s over your thighs.
Then there’s this back restraint that swivels sideways and is pushed firmly against your back.
I know some find this a bit uncomfortable, but it didn’t cause an issue for me. All these
steps are why dispatches aren’t the quickest. The final position reminds me of a Zamperla
motorbike coaster, just with less legroom and the extra step of pulling the bike towards you.
I can see why Intamin went away from this on their newer straddle coasters. On those rides,
you’re in a seated position and secured with a more traditional lap bar.
You then lean forwards, being supported by handle bars, to get the motorbike experience.
This is far more comfortable, freeing, and efficient.
Once secured, you have a countdown and launch right out of the station.
You’re propelled forwards by a series of tires. While the launch mechanism appears
to be similar to the other Intamin straddle coasters, there are two big changes here.
First, Motocoaster’s tires are controlled by a hydraulic system. Second, it doesn’t have the
same kick as the other Intamin tire launches, which is surprising since the latter ones don’t
have hydraulics. If you’ve experienced the second launch on Luna Park’s Big Dipper or any of the
launches on Juvelen at Djurs Sommerland, you know these launches try to peel your body backwards.
You don’t get that on Motocoaster. It has ok power at best, as you accelerate to 45 mph or 72 kph.
This leads into a low and wide turn. It’s the most forceful part of the ride by far,
providing decent Gs. Unfortunately, that is the only force you’ll get on this ride.
While the coaster never goes higher than 23 feet or 7 meters, it just doesn’t have a strong
sense of speed. You have a figure 8 layout and all the elements are really drawn out.
Compare that to Intamin’s newer straddle coasters that have more compact elements.
These enhance the speed while also dishing out some lats or Gs.
After the first low turn, you have another big turn. Then you have this speed hill.
It may give a smidge of weightlessness in back, but nothing anywhere else.
You then have two more laps in the figure 8 pattern. The turns are a
bit tighter since they’re on the inside of the turns you already experienced, but the
loss of speed by this point renders that moot. You then have a slow, drawn out s-hill taking you
past the station and towards the brakes. You then meekly hop upwards and slow to a crawl.
You then return to the unload platform, ending the 1985 foot or 605 meter long experience.
As you may have surmised, this ride’s pacing is pretty weak. Most of the ride feels like filler,
which is not good when you have such a short track length to begin with.
As for smoothness, the front row was fine but I did notice a bit of a jitter further back in
the train. So if you find the restraints uncomfortable, this can lead to problems.
I think it’s one of the main reasons this coaster was towards the bottom of the last
few Mitch Hawker coaster polls conducted. So what would I rate Motocoaster? I would
give this ride a 3 out of 10. This is my least favorite motorbike coaster.
While the unique seating position is fun, this layout squanders the opportunity.
The course is a repetitive series of dull turns. Then the launch doesn’t have the same oomph as
the other motorbike coasters out there- whether they be from Intamin or another manufacturer.
Ultimately, this ride comes off as a flawed family coaster. It’s a very mild
layout suitable for kids, but only 2 of the 16 seats can actually accommodate younger riders.
So those are my thoughts on Dreamworld’s Motocoaster. What are your thoughts on this
coaster? Do you agree it’s an underwhelming motorbike coaster or are you more forgiving
of the experience than me. Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!