Leaderboard

No of course not, it's 100% confirmed

That poor kid just didn't see it coming.

This was a quick show outside Conjoining Conjuring 2

... with special guest appearance by @JaggedJanine ???

If you haven't seen it, or you wanted to see it again, here's the whole Fright Nights finale.

Nearmaps have just updated their maps, with the latest images from 6th October. I'll add a few things I've noticed from around the parks, any requests let me know. A lot of resurfacing work has been going on at Seaworld, the floor of Ray Reef is new, they trimmed back the large tree, also notice the flume pool is now painted blue. Here is the vacant land left from the Sea Viper Wet n Wild Jnr. New shade structures at the wave pool, also new updated colours at wet n wild enterance. The newly updated Ocean Parade at Dreamworld, with the Tailspin and refreshed Wipeout. The Triple Vortex

Why? They are different types of rock.

I found this POV of the refurbished Wild West Falls. I love the train.

Given there was a lot of complaining about this last week, I wanted to say a huge thank you to the lighting guys. The event is no longer drowned in purple and it makes it so much better for getting photos. This weekend was a massive improvement on last week. Nope, did the Terror Tour last week and doing it again next week.

Last night was much better than the First Weekend. The Conjuring 2 made the massive leap to being my favourite maze of the event. All the right changes were made to make it an absolute standout. Queues weren't bad for a sold-out night either. I think anyone who's been in one of the mazes with me can attest to how scared I get. I don't go to Fright Nights to showcase my bravado, I go because I want to have the ever-living shit scared out of me. It honestly disappoints me when I see people being dickheads all because they need to show how tough they think they are.

When nightclubs just aren't enough thrill....

True

More photos - If nothing has happened, why post more? It's like tuning into a TV drama 'series' only to find it's an old episode put on repeat. More information - We have to rely on VRTP for that and currently, it is a waiting period of just over a month before any kind of new information. Keeping the discussion going? - Simply speculate about what you think is going to happen. Just don't post or ask for updates that consist of information we already know or photos of things that haven't changed. Like I said before, it is probable that until early March next year at the latest, we will only see footings being placed - not track parts, not theming, not landscaping - just footings. Apart from trying to guess where the track is going to go, footings placement is boring. When track installation begins (like I said, probably March at the latest), daily photos will be a guarantee as that happens pretty quickly - it will be over before you know it as it is the most exciting time of the construction period (apart from any announcements). Footings placement, however, photos are only needed occasionally when heaps of new footings are placed over a period of time. We don't need a photo dedicated to every single new footing - they nearly all look the same. You all should consider yourselves extremely lucky how frequent the updates are on Parkz now. Back in 2005, when SE was being constructed, we had to wait months before another SE construction update and like they should, they only occurred when things changed. Just take a look at the dates of SE's construction photos in SE's photo gallery and you'll see how long we had to wait back then as forum photo updates weren't common at all back then. That's why I posted my guess construction timetable for you all - so you will know approximately when something significant will happen. I think everyone here would agree that this talk of more updates/photos is getting extremely tiring & we still got just over 14 months maximum to go of construction. If there is some simple advice for you, it is be patient - photos will be posted when something new happens - and if you want to 'keep the discussion going', then speculate - just don't ask for new photos/information constantly (after a 2 week+ gap may be fine) or post news/photos that reveal nothing new.

Just letting everyone know that the large funnel on The Perfect Storm has been confirmed by the park as being definitely enclosed. They have described it as a "work in progress" and its scheduled to be completed after the school holidays. Final theming of effects are still in the process of determination with all internal and external theming plus the capping of the Tornado slated to be finished prior to the Christmas holidays. I am guessing that the inclement weather over the off season put their timeline out more than we expected. However, this is good news that the final Tornado will be enclosed- it certainly makes much more sense to provide a different ride experience to that of the nearby Funnel Web. The lack of a viewing platform for The Perfect Storm pretty much confirms their intentions regarding this anyway.

Yeah agree Magician. Horses & Sheep play a fairly integral part in the overall theme of any 'Outback Spectacular' show, which is heavily targeted go the overseas tourist market who just lap up Aussie/Farm animal in action.

Seems like the right place to put this, spent part of today at Wet'n'Wild Sydney and enjoyed it as per usual. Pros - the Tap'n'Play system is quite easy to use and looks to cater for groups. Didn't use it as most slides were walk on - if you are a fan of the food at Dirty Harry's at Movie World then you will like they have basically copied the menu and serve it at the surf club. Staff were even sampling food to attract customers - Dinosaurs aren't as bad as made out to be and they have a show numerous times through the day - 2/3 of the lazy river is open (the other 1/3 doesn't seem worth worrying about missing) Cons - new myband is smallish and had mine fall off once during my visit (towel may have assisted that) - Sydney weather is still being average. Not sure if it is due to the food trucks but noticed there didn't seem to be anyone monitoring payment of parking so it could possibly be free at the moment. I will say the park isn't perfect and no park is but can see they are making an effort to try and fix things. Getting what's essentially basic level "Ride Express" at Dreamworld for free is a good move and will make busy days a bit more tolerable. Same goes for the higher quality food options.

Haven't we had enough already?

Nearmap has been across most of the gold coast in the past 2 weeks... here's a few updates: Aqua Racer at Wet N Wild.... GONE! ToT car, and the Cyclone sign - still residing in the DW Boneyard: Paradise Country - new accommodation options are fitting in well: Filming in the studios continues for Thor: Sea World's roof: Tiger Island: And White Water World's latest update - changing the shade sails over the kiddie slides to something that blocks a bit more sun: A very blurry shot of the Sea World train's new resting spot in WWF:

Here are a few pictures I took during the presentation today:

Usually you like to give your marketing people a heads up on things so they can start formulating a marketing strategy. You don't do that overnight. I'll weigh into the debate with my 80 cents. There has been a lot of discussion here about MW vs. DW. TBH - I don't think that is a fair comparison. It has been mentioned that DW offers families more - by having animals, and kids areas and such, and this has been pointed out where MW is lacking - but I don't think many of you realise the model VRTP have going. You cannot compare DW to MW. What you need to do is compare pass to pass. The VIP \ VRTP Membership vs. the World Pass. Both passes get you into all of the relevant company theme park property both offer a waterpark gate both offer high thrills both cater to families both offer various children's branded entertainment and themed areas both have animal experiences Once you broaden the comparison, those few areas where DW is regarded as 'better' suddenly lose a little shine. #MyOpinion

I don't see why people are trying to make other people change their opinion on which park is better. It's an opinion, everyone is entitled to their own, doesn't make it right or wrong.

Haha sorry about that. The main part for you to read is the dot points at the top (the rest is for certain forum members) - I was just giving my reasons as to why I think DW might not be focusing on building high thrill rollercoasters for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Giant Drop was still a world record breaking ride only until 2012. It is still only 11 metres off the world record so I would still consider it a very modern theme park ride internationally. DW did revitalise Tower Of Terror in 2010 so you can go backwards - maybe Tower Of Terror II will be deemed old in 2023? Personally, I don't think Giant Drop & Tower Of Terror II are overshadowed by MW's rides. Also, like I said, I think MW's new rollercoaster is less to do with general industry competition but more for the Gold Coast to meet worldwide theme park standards by the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mick Doohan's Motocoaster (opened 2007) would be a 'family version' of Superman Escape (opened 2005) - MW definitely overshadowed in that regard but remember DW is targeted to families which Motocoaster is designed for. Buzzsaw (opened 2011) can be considered similar to Green Lantern (opened 2011) due to their steepness and long periods in inversions so I don't think MW overshadowed in this case - they are probably of equal standing despite their obvious differences in design and operation. And remember, DW's major plans haven't been revealed yet for 2017/2018 (though a rollercoaster is now looking unlikely). We'll have to wait & see what DW has in store for us. Also, here are some things to consider about the past 12 years: DW has built 5 high thrill rides while MW has built 3. That's about 1 every 2.4 years (DW) and 1 every 4 years (MW). DW has not gone longer than 4 years (2007 to 2011) without opening a new high thrill ride while MW has not gone longer than 5 years (2006-2011 & 2011 to the present). While DW builds high thrill rides frequently, they are targeted to families while MW's are very infrequent in construction but are designed for the biggest of thrillseekers. This gives the illusion that DW is falling behind MW in the thrill level stakes despite the fact that in the end they are both doing good business practice - catering for their target markets. This might be coincidental but since 2011 when Gold Coast won the Games hosting rights, DW has opened 2 new high thrill rides while MW has opened none. This might be due to strategy for the Games - MW focusing on the 2017 rollercoaster while DW focusing on building multiple flat thrill rides. In the end, we'll have to wait & see. Note: I defined 'high thrill ride' above as for DW, their 'Big 9 Thrill Rides' and for MW, just Superman Escape, Batwing Spaceshot & Green Lantern. Remember, when they opened, they were world record breaking rides. Any ride that breaks a world record would require significant financial investment. Hypercoasters are defined by it's drop height - in this case, between 61 & 91 metres. MW's highest rollercoaster drop is Superman Escape's at 40 metres so it is 21 metres off being classified a 'hypercoaster'. If you compare Superman Escape's footprint with the size of the construction site for MW's new rollercoaster, it is possible to fit a hypercoaster in there - at least the drop is minimum 61 metres high.

Given the Games are clearly the reason for the sudden large investments in the theme parks, here's my thoughts: Firstly, remember that the Gold Coast is well known for it's theme parks - they are a icon. Secondly, therefore, internationally the parks will get a lot of media coverage so the 1st thing all parks are going to do is refurbish - they want to look good for international media and visitors during the Games. As we can see, all the parks are doing this as we speak. International visitors & media users, when they think of theme parks, expect hypercoasters, gigacoasters, stratacoasters etc, which none of these theme parks currently have. The closest in standard is Superman Escape, which doesn't qualify as a hypercoaster at a minimum, but is renowned as one of the best rollercoasters worldwide due to it's theming, flow and smoothness. Australian theme parks constantly tell us they can't build bigger rollercoasters due to it's costs and the size of the surrounding populations but if a reputation is at stake worldwide that the Gold Coast is Australia's 'theme park hub' then 1 hypercoaster at a minimum needs to be built. MW & DW were the 2 likeliest parks to have this built. I do recall someone saying that MW & DW have shared their plans in regards to pre-Games investments so given the enormous cost of a hypercoaster, I'll guess that they agreed that MW would build it (maybe they can handle the financial risks better?). Dreamworld may have taken a different strategy. The Games won't see an increase in international tourism until the Games themselves and after a short interval, again after the Games - though some people argue these post-Games tourism boosts never eventuate. In my opinion, they do occur but not on the scale people imagine it to be. So the biggest new investments don't need to be opened until Boxing Day 2017 at the earliest - as we know, MW's new rollercoaster is rumoured to be opening then. The biggest investments I'd expect will open in 2018, 2019 and late 2017 with major refurbishments occurring up to mid/late 2017. Remember, in my initial post I said it gave me reason there will be a new DW rollercoaster no earlier than April 2018 - they said "at this stage" after all so they may have plans (which theme park wouldn't?) but for it to open after the Games in 2019/late-2018 or even later (but no later than 2022 like I said in my previous post). The theme parks would obviously focus on improving all their theming as well as more focusing on their main themes (Australiana, water thrills, movies & the sea). Given that an increase in international visitation is highly expected to be a result of the Games, DW may focus on delivering more Australian experiences (e.g. Brock's Garage, Corroboree etc.) rather than thrills which MW can do as they are more flexible in this regard due to the movie theme they have (they are not limited to Australian movies). DW does have international things in their park (e.g. Tiger Island, Dreamworks Experience, Hotwheels Sidewinder etc.) but most of their park is still themed to Australia & international visitors to the Gold Coast would expect Australian experiences at DW rather than just general thrills that they know they can experience back home anyway. And when I mean 'experiences', I also mean Australian theming in rides. So in short, due to the Games & as a result of their respective themes, I'm expecting DW to more focus on the theming rather than thrill level of new rides while MW will focus on both thrill level & theming. Both parks will also ensure they cater for all audiences. Lastly, all of this requires significant investment so they would need to save financial resources to do it. A lack of new developments anytime post-2011 (when Gold Coast won the Games hosting rights) should have been expected so massive developments can occur to open around April 2018. If they did have plans, I'm sure they would have been tight-lipped and/or cryptic instead of just giving a direct answer implying no. Regarding the latter sentence, if you constantly e-mail them or they figure out you are a theme park enthusiast, they will not answer queries about future investments as openly as they would with a non-theme park enthusiast as they know that with a theme park enthusiast, the information will very likely end up being posted on places like Parkz. That's why I don't ask on social media, I wait until a non-theme park enthusiast does - a more open response is likely to be delivered then. I have noticed that, where possible, the social media teams of the Gold Coast theme parks give acknowledgement if management has not told them something or they can't confirm something. @Ryande16, in my opinion, a person's opinion of a theme park should best be determined by the parks' use of theming. An amusement park should best be determined on how well it amuses you. For example, look at Superman Escape - in an amusement park, it would just be a rollercoaster - leave the station, turns some corners, pause, launch, up hills, down drops, hit the brakes, arrive at station & laugh at your ride-on photo - but in a theme park, it is an experience - waiting for a subway train where a earthquake occurs with the only way out being the subway itself and just before the subway caves in, Superman saves the day. Superman Escape without any theming would do it's job at an amusement park - you get G-forces, acceleration, speed, heights etc. - but not at a theme park, the ride would be really generic. Add all the theming that you get with Superman Escape & you can see the difference it makes so it is credited as one of the world's best theme park rollercoasters - that is definitely doing it's job at a theme park. Really, the least thrilling rides can be made into a thrill by converting it into an themed experience. My favourite ride was Bermuda Triangle - not because of the ride design/type but because of the theming. When I think about Bermuda, for most of the ride, it is just people sitting in a boat - that's what you expect at an amusement park - but in Bermuda, they added roof cave-ins, dramatic music, lasers, fire/water/special effects, cinematic experiences, roaming characters etc. - it is an experience. That's what makes a great theme park ride. The ultimate example is the walk-through: At an amusement park, walking down a path could be just that but add a theme to that walking path and you got a whole new and different experience. By the way, the best way to rank theme parks is a highly argued matter on Parkz so don't worry about it much (some people may disagree with my opinion too). Your opinion might be great for amusement parks but theme parks are a whole different ball park. In the end, it is your opinion.

MW is ahead in some categories, but DW is still way ahead in others. Take a deeper look at what amazing things they've done recently. Don't judge the parks just because MW has more coasters, there are a lot more things to a theme park then just coasters.

Sis latest near map image from August 21

There last updates for the GC were back in May, and Perth's last update was in June. But here is what you asked for: MW: DW: AW:

hey rac could you get one of the little rippers. interested in seeing how much it's faded and if they have removed the algie and slime from the top of the bowl. thanks. i really think there should be something under storm coaster. like maybe a small flat or more shipping containers or a couple more boats or just a pool of water to fill the space.

Just because AHS isn't utilised in other Universal properties doesn't mean they don't have global exclusivity. I'm not familiar with AHS's syndication but i wouldn't be surprised if it is not overly popular in those countries.

So.....Mack crates showed up earlier, now this. Storm clone confirmed?

I dont know the exact figures but i would guess MW and DW have similar attendance rates. But based on the quality of rides MW beats DW hands down in my opinion. After the ned of next year i would presume MWs top 6 would be 1 ) new coaster ( possibly hyper) 2) superman 3) arkman asylum 4) green lantren 5) Scooby-Doo 6) either batwing or wild west falls Vs DWs 1) Tower of terror 2) cyclone/ hot wheels 3) giant drop 4) buzz saw 5) mick doohan motercoaster 6) the claw

Sorry to upset you so much my bad

Ok cool ?

Come on any recent photos

Joke?

Hahaha Why is everyone hating on @Smeg. We all know deep down that we want the latest pics and info regarding the coaster, and the person that trys to keep the thread and discussion going gets abused. I dont get it lol

Must be the wrong time of the month around here