Santa Monica Pier’s Sea Dragon ride retires after nearly 27 years

For almost 27 years, the inexperienced Sea Dragon journey swung backwards and forwards on the Santa Monica Pier, however on Thursday, the 6,000-pound two-headed metallic beast took its final journey 250 toes over the Pacific Ocean.The famed Sea Dragon ship at Pacific Park was retired Thursday as a helicopter lifted it off the pier. Bystanders captured footage and video because the dragon flew previous Santa Monica. “The unique Sea Dragon has supplied tens of millions of Pacific Park visitors with enjoyable recollections with household and mates over the past 26 years,” Nathan Smithson, director of promoting and enterprise growth at Pacific Park, stated in a press release.The traditional journey, which opened on Might 26, 1996, was changed with a brand new, $1.5-million Sea Dragon that makes “riders really feel as if they’re using the dragon out over the open ocean,” the amusement park stated.The journey was put in in the identical house as the unique Sea Dragon and has new options similar to shaking seats and a misting system to “replicate the stormy seas,” Pacific Park introduced in a press release. “The passion that visitors have for the unique Sea Dragon and its excessive recognition prompted us to introduce the all-new Sea Dragon and reimagine the journey expertise whereas offering the identical traditional swing journey that visitors know and love so properly,” Smithson stated.The unique 26-foot-long bright-green dragon carried greater than 12 million visitors because it was put in in 1996, based on Pacific Park. For 10 days, the dragon was displayed simply outdoors the amusement park for visitors to take footage and share recollections on-line.However the giant dragon isn’t headed to the scrap yard. The dragon was lifted by a civilian Blackhawk helicopter and brought to the Port of Hueneme, the place will probably be shipped to St. Louis. The dragon will stay out the remainder of its days at Metropolis Museum in downtown St. Louis, the place it’s anticipated to be positioned atop of the museum’s roof, subsequent to the Large Eli Ferris Wheel.