This morning Destination Gold Coast announced a wild new ride; a rollercoaster that takes patrons on twenty metre deep dive through the Pacific Ocean, all while strapped to their seats.
“Hold your breath as the Gold Coast welcomes the world’s first underwater rollercoaster,” the post begins.
It continues, “Not for the faint-hearted or the ocean-fearers, this new fully immersive experience stands a total of 40m tall, and roughly 20m above the ocean surface at full tide. Riders will be taken on a 1km amphibious journey through the big blue, exposed to all of nature’s elements including local marine life, coral vistas and the salty breeze and water.
“This multi-million dollar investment will see the Gold Coast elevate from Australia’s favourite playground to the World’s favourite playground.”
While some social media users took the post seriously, tagging friends and vowing to book a seat on their next holiday, all signs point to the post being an early April Fools’ joke.
Firstly, if a person goes into the ocean at a rapid pace to a depth of 20m, there’s an extremely high chance that their ears would explode from the pressure and cause long term damage.
Secondly, the image doesn’t have enclosed seats in the picture, so the riders are likely to take in a huge amount of water in their lungs, which is obviously extremely dangerous.
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And, lastly, saltwater is extremely detrimental to roller coasters and can cause damage to the ride’s motors very quickly.
All contradicting evidence aside, Destination Gold Coast practically spelt out the prank by commenting on the photo, “Construction expects to be completed by April 1st, 2023” AKA April Fools’ day next year.
While the post certainly caused confusion among some social media users, some clued on commenters recognised the early April Fools’ joke.
“I feel as though someone forgot today is March 31st…,” posted one user, a comment that has already received 176 likes.
Another added, “Destination Gold Coast a day early I’m guessing. From the comments there’s going to be some seriously disappointed tourists in 2023 who are now planning their holidays around this oops”.
For more on this topic, follow the Travel Observer.
