In April 2004, construction began on what was rumoured to be a
Teen Market Thrill Ride to open later in the year. To aid in the construction, the northern end of
Ocean Parade was closed off to the public forcing guests to detour through
Nickelodeon Central to get to the other rides that area, including the
Cyclone and the
Wipeout. A few days before The Claw was officially announced on 22 July 2004, construction of the ride went vertical. The announcement detailed that the ride was going to be an Intamin Gyro Swing, a duplicate of
Maelstrom at
Drayton Manor in the United Kingdom. On 18 September 2004, the ride officially opened to the public
Queensland Tourism Minister,
Margaret Keech, officially opened the ride. In late 2008, Dreamworld introduced
Q4U, a virtual queuing system. For an additional cost, riders can pre-book a spot on the ride without having to join the queue. A special Q4U entry gate was constructed to allow guests with a device to easily enter the ride.
Closure and replacement In September 2024, it was announced the ride will shut permanently in January 2025, and be replaced by a larger version of the ride named “King Claw” which began construction in February 2025, with testing underway by September 2025, before the ride officially opened to the public on 12 December 2025. ==Marketing==