Leaderboard

That's correct @diesal11 a forum should be about discussion. That’s the problem with giving somebody a neg rep. It doesn’t add anything to the conversation and nobody knows why you gave it, if you don't add a post. If you gave a neg rep them, you obviously had a thought about what was said so why not share it with us. @reanimated35 Welcome back and don't leave me alone with @AlexB again.

Or just buy an annual pass for a friend who hates rides and make them hold your shit while you go on rides... simples...

As awesome as a movable locker sounds, I really don't feel like pushing it from one ride to another....

The best way to help DW heal from this terrible situation is to support the Business in helping it get through their toughest time. Pop, by showing such little respect for the future of DW and it's People, you have indicated how much you don't care by saying you will never go back to the Park. So because you don't care about DW, perhaps don't bother talking about DW on this Forum ever again? I honestly don't think you realise the gravity of your words some time. Oh and one last thing... I personally will look forward to calling you out when the day comes that you eat your words and visit DW again.

I gotta agree with you, @YLFATEEKS. Since we are on the topic, I have recently been on the end of one or two members continually to downvote all my posts without explanation, and for what seems to be the sake of it. This has included cases where reputation feedback wasn't really necessary, or made very little sense as to why they would be doing it. In these cases I have approached the members directly in hope of identifying what the ongoing issue is, and apologise if I had upset them to the point where they felt they had to act that way. However they just chose not to respond and back out of the conversation completely, which was disappointing ? By all means, if you disagree with a post that much, then go ahead and downvote it. I don't expect everyone to like what I post, and it's going to be the same for others as well. But please, be fair and make the effort to provide an explanation every now and then. I don't see the point behind what is essentially rep trolling :/

Rides are installed if and when there's a sound business case for them. They're not counting coins each day and then finally saying "Hey, we can get a B&M now!" Logically, more locker revenue would probably lead to more lockers.

Ditto. I feel exactly the same way. Like many others here, my husband and I intend to be there on the morning it opens, and will be taking the kids along after school as well (if it's a weekday, otherwise they will be there with us) as they have been pining over the park for weeks. I don't intend to go on any rides during that visit. I just want to show the park my support, catch up with staff and animal friends that we have missed, and basically familiarise ourselves with our second home again. On a side note, and please don't judge me on this, I personally feel that I will not have closure on the incident until I am given this opportunity. It's hard to explain, but everything that has happened with the accident and the aftermath is still surreal to me right now. I think that if I am able to mentally absorb the changed surroundings inside the park (not just the entrance) it will help keep to fully process and accept what has happened, have a bit of a cry, hopefully assist with my healing process and move forward. Please tell me that makes sense! That's just how my crazy little brain works. At the moment our routine of visiting Dreamworld at least once or twice a week is broken, which isn't helping me get back to my personal 'normality', either Us theme park enthusiasts need closure as well, and it's not going to happen until this happens. So I really hope they reopen soon for that sake alone. Amen to that ❤️

Agree, I don't think anyone can point the finger at Ardent for under-delivering on expectations anytime recently

@Slick Great idea for Buzsaw's re-theme, I did a dodgy shop of it.

What if we took the lockers from sea world, and attached them to the side of the train on the new coaster?

They have someone standing there telling you as well from memory.

Definitely! I have fond memories of being on there with my parents in the 80's, seated upfront, and ducking down to hide when it came to the drop lol. I thought it was terrifying back then ?? These days I have my own kidlets to experience it the way I did. My 12 year old likes it, but unfortunately my 7 year old still hasn't been on it as he is too chicken, haha. Hopefully he will change his mind one day! @AlexB is right, the Vikings Flume is a classic. Just because it doesn't cater to one age group (or, in this case, a specific person looking for thrills) it sure as heck doesn't mean that won't appeal to others ?

For me its a bit of a deal breaker. Inside the parks I carry a total of 3 items.. My car keys, my mobile phone (for NFC-enabled purchases), and an asthma spray. The latter being something I cannot actually stash in a locker anyway. Paying $15-20 to store a total of 25sqcm of possessions is a bit rich...

I have no problem with paying for an all day locker. I would like the ability to be able to move my stuff to a different locker in another location as I progress around the park though.

^ you could also view it that due to S&S' impressive and decisive level of response with dealing with the GL incident, VTP may actually be MORE inclined to dealing with the company again? Not to mention getting a really great deal on a new purchase!

I'm quite the opposite actually, I don't want to sound disrespectful but I have missed the park a lot and would love to get back down there, although probably just to pay respect to the victims initially.

Why not link it to the NFT bracelets from the villains area? $5 per day for use of lockers at SE, GL & the new coaster (unlimited use but 2hr max per opening)

It will come out that the ride is flawed in its design and this directly contributed to the incident. There is no way was ever reopening once the cause was determined and I have no doubts that experts had it 90% figured out within hours. Retrofitting with new technology to address its design flaws is an interesting idea but when you consider the stigma the ride will carry with it forever, where's the possible return on this kind of huge investment? I'm not speculating on what specific confluence of events led to the incident, but this decision and the announcement today is not driven by respect for the victims or relenting to negative coverage in the media. It's a decision based on the business case for the ride and Dreamworld as a whole. Ardent and Dreamworld are one in the same since this incident took place. The company as a whole would be using every internal and external resource at their disposal when making these decisions; it's pretty pointless to point the finger at one level of the organisation as a scapegoat.

28.8k represent!

hell no there are enough topics as there is..

Come on, only 700meg to go!

I don't think they'll fence the whole area off at this stage. Larger areas might be closed off when the ride begins to be demolished. I think for now they will just fence off the enterance and maybe the fence that is shared for Buzz Saw. Otherwise I don't see the need to fence anything else off. The park does still need to function, and fencing off the old gold rush area doesn't seem ideal and then removes the use of BuzzSaw. We don't know, and I don't think DW know at this stage when they will demolish the ride. And I think the demolition would be the station and mechanical elements, rather than the area you walk past near GD for now until a future of the area has been decided and what they decide to replace it with.

You forgot the Dreamworld staple of hiding old rides.......

Just a subject for discussion... Thunder River Rapids has a large footprint, which is going to make it fairly difficult for the park to hide visually, especially when it is in close vicinity to other major thrill rides. I don't know if they will make the effort to do so, I guess it depends if they think that having it directly in the public's eye is going to cause more grief... the ol' "out if sight, out of mind" might very well be their preferred method of approach to try and help everyone move on from the matter. So, that said, I wonder how they will deal with Gold Rush when the park reopens, especially given River Rapids is right next to the Buzzsaw. The two literally share a fence, and a very low one at that. I've come up with two possibilities: 1) Fencing off specifically the ride entrance alone at both bridges (eureka and giant drop) and leaving the Eureka courtyard area open with a direct passage to the Buzzsaw, so that it can continue operating in the meanwhile until they decide to demolish TRR. I would assume that this may also possibly mean raising the low fencing between the Buzzsaw entrance and TRR load/exit area, so it can't be visually seen by guests. 2) Gold Rush main entrance blocked off, Giant Drop bridge fenced off, so no access to the entire precinct. This will obviously render Buzzsaw temporarily SBNO until after the removal of TRR. Obviously either method this isn't going to stop people from seeing it from the top of rides, but I guess there is no real way to prevent this. It's probably just something the park is going to have to deal with until the removal process begins. I'm also thinking in both cases, temporary fencing will go up along the openly fenced TOT/GD side of the ride, to visually hide it from the public's eye. Personally I don't think they will leave it open, but then once again, I guess it depends what approach they take as to whether they try to conceal it or not. Thoughts or further suggestions?

10 minutes? You on NBN? I'm sitting here making sacrifices to any deity I can google in the hope it downloads faster!

It's not necessarily because he said he didn't like the ride, more the way he said it, he came across to me as a thoughtless person who only cares about his own interests. If someone said "Yes, Vikings is getting old and while I understand it is a classic ride perhaps it is time for it to be moving on?" instead of "good they should get rid of this boring ride" I would be much more understanding.

they do have a sign at the front before you go in at least they did when i was last there saying NO items allowed on the ride.

Everybody deals with tragedy their own way. Im much the same, until my trip up next year i don't think i'll fully comprehend what's happened..or that the ride is even closed. Like you said it's just all so surreal right now. But it does make sense, we're all really passionate about our parks and rides, they've brought us so much happiness and joy. It's sad to see a ride we've loved so much close in a way we would have never expected.... We all need our own goodbyes.

people must be tired of VR gimmicks already

Can I play devil's advocate here and say that when you've paid bugger all to get into the park, $15-20 for an all day locker isn't really asking for much IMO. I'd like to see them add a new all day locker building along that path between JL3D and GL, then more out near DD and WWF.

Regararding Kevil. I heard that the licensing was renewed recently however they planned to just keep it as a scare attraction for Screamworld. With no current Screamworld dates for the year and Zombies will be branded as insensitive by many and the media I highly doubt we will see the attraction reopen in its current form again.

I wil be there the first day they reopening, as a very frequent visitor to the parks since the age of 12 and being friends with many staff this incident has hit me surprisingly hard. I confirmed this morning once the reopening plan is finalised it will be made public immediately.

I also agree that this was a horrific incident, and did effect me when I first heard the news, but it won't stop be from going to the parks and enjoying what they offer, that includes the rides. I understand that people react differently to these types of things and having nearly everyone that has been to the park, gone on this ride, I imagine most people think how it could've been them. But as a theme park enthusiast I will 100% support the park no matter what and as soon as it reopens I will be heading to the park, and will be sure renewing my pass next year. I understand that its people opinions, and this isn't aimed at people on here, but anyone who has ever visited the park, but to say they won't EVER visit the park again, I think is doubtful and give it a couple of years and people won't think of this as the first thing when they say 'Dreamworld'. What if they got this brand new kick ass ride that is a first for Australia, are people going to say, 'No I'm not going to try out that awesome looking ride because I don't visit DW anymore'. I think that is doubtful. It will take time, longer for some than others, but eventually people will be able to move on and enjoy what the park has to offer.

I agree with @Santa07 Whilst this a tragic accident and the victims will never be forgotten the Dreamworld family also need our support during this time and that starts with reopening and visiting the park.

Yeah just count in 30s is what I do to convert. Hypers are ~60m, Gigas ~90m and Stratas ~120m

Possibly. I'd think construction time might be a bit tight but given we have pretty much agreed on a DC theme Flash and Wonder Woman are 2 of the main characters not represented. Wonder Woman would also give focus to a strong female character. I'd like to see boxes like Arkham. You see a lot of annoyed people at Superman when they realise they have to pay for a locker.

Having an issue with one ride doesn't mean they won't buy from that manufacturer ever again. Mistakes can be learnt from, it's as if S&S have a worldwide poor reputation for near misses

One thing that Six Flags has got right in the USA, you pay for an all day locker it is able to be moved around the park so you don't have to worry about a central locker and returning there to get something, simply carry your stuff with you and put it in the nearest locker as needed. You even get a receipt of your locker number so you don't have to worry about remembering it. The NFC idea is good (and I am a fan of it at Wet'n'Wild Sydney) but I would prefer a movable locker over it. Sure Movie World isn't as sprawled out as Discovery Kingdom but it would be handy to have. Even add a bank of lockers near Wild West Falls to help make full use of the movable locker system.

do you really want to give them an excuse for slower loading/despatch...

Another alternative is to use a common wall with a carousel (MDMC anyone?).

Yeah same, I don't mind paying $2 for a locker, but used to be a better when it was $1, and would've been even greater if they were free.

Agree with you @Brad2912 but I do feel that Dreamworld need to move on quickly with plans to demolish, set up a memorial for the victims and then renew the area with a new attraction as quickly as possible. The park has to be seen to be putting this terrible tragedy behind them and they need to show to the public a renewed faith not only in the existing rides/attractions but the overall park itself. A new attraction rising out of the ashes from the old, to show to the public that Dreamworld is still a viable ongoing concern and a valuable commodity in the company's portfolio. Whilst they are there,its the perfect opportunity to just bite the bullet and remove Eureka from the landscape as well. It will never reopen again now in the wake of the TRRR accident and these 2 rides are indelibly linked. Removing both now will provide far greater scope to install 2 new attractions and renew this area of the park. Having this area significantly renewed will be the only positive to come out of this whole tragic circumstance.

Maybe. Someone suggested on here (can't remember who, please feel free to pipe up!) what I thought to be an excellent modification idea for the ride to make it significantly safer... relocating the ride exit to the other side of the bridge, so that guests disembark before the raft mounts the conveyor belt. I can't imagine too much $$ would need to go into such a change, basically they just need to build a ride stop point and enclosed jetty, followed by a flight of steps up to ground level - which I am sure already exists in some form, given that staff currently have access to the boat in the reservoir. As I said on my blog earlier, I would totally understand and accept if they did close down and remove the ride in respect to the Kate, Luke, Roozi & Cindy. I think that would be a fair and justified decision. But I can't help but think that, emotions aside, it would be a missed oopportunity to allow what has been a popular and incident free ride for the past three decades a second chance. Rides that have been given this chance in the past have gone on to become the safest and incident free rides in the world, and a perfect example to amusement worldwide as to the best way to secure and maintain an attraction to the absolute highest safety standards possible. Once again it does all come down to the cause of the accident, but if the ride itself is at no fault (ie. Operator fault, freak accident etc) then it would just be a shame to close it when essentially it wasn't to blame. That ride has brought 30 years of happiness and memories to millions of peeps. I think that alone makes it worthwhile to consider alternative options other than its iimmediate closure/removal.

The maintenance period wasn't extended for the safety audits. Someone asked MW on Facebook if the safety audits would impact on MW opening to the public and MW responded with this: Given it says VRTP, it is very likely that their response applies to SW too. I think SW's priority should be the removal/replacement of the SW Resort Water Park. Whilst, according to SW, the replacement is to be part of SW Resort, I believe the land should be returned to SW as it suits SW better geographically. This is an idea I developed with SW in mind over the past few days to go in the land linking Castaway Bay with Shark Bay. The general theme of the area is just the open ocean: Beginning at the southern end, the underwater viewing area of Shark Bay is linked to the new area via a tunnel under the road that leads to the SW Monorail maintenance area. The new entrance is via walking into (or near) the mouth of a Great White Shark. The rest of the Great White Shark's body forms part of a statue on ground level - doubling as an entry sign to Shark Bay. It could also include animatronic features in the fins/tail. The main attraction in the area is a S&S - Sansei Technologies 4D Free Spin which I've called Ocean Current. Due to SW Monorail's maintenance track/area causing this whole area (plus Castaway Bay) to be hidden/isolated, a major thrill ride in this area would encourage visitors to find the area. The track would be coloured green/blue/white & a blue sign to the ride is located out the front. Under the Monorail near the Battle Boats station, is a couple of retail outlets - one of which sells ride-on photos to Ocean Current. Next to it, is the SW Monorail maintenance area where the transfer track is connected to the main track. Opposite to the retail outlets, is a timber observation deck which provides a photo opportunity of the Broadwater. In the shallow waters nearby, a recreation of the SW logo is placed (similar to DW's globe) providing a spot to take photos that can be shared through social media. The other main attraction in the area is what I've called Shipwreck. Mostly located beneath ground level, it is a combined escape/panic room & maze. The exterior theming consists of a sinking ship with water pumps recreating the forces water has when a ship sinks. A timber walkway connecting the ship with the land acts as the entrance/exit into the attraction. Once inside the ship, you are put into the escape/panic room. Screens inside the room detail the story before the puzzle begins - you are rich people who are guests on board a ship in rough seas (link to Ocean Current). You encounter a pirate ship (link to Battle Boats) & become locked in a battle with them. Pirates manage to board the ship & the ride attendant (playing the ship's captain etc.) then hides you (because of how rich you are) by locking you in the room. After a brief battle scene, a cannon ball hits your ship and begins to sink. The game then starts where the aim is to evacuate the ship before it sinks. The screens inside the room show the water rising 'outside the windows' (to give an indication of the time you got left) as well as showing the pirates & their ship leaving due to them sinking your ship. When the water reaches the top, small hidden water fountains in the room briefly soak the participants (to recreate water breaching the room) before the ride attendant 'saves you' and leads you into the maze (If you lose the game or depending on how long it took you to finish the puzzle, water effects would operate in the maze too). If you solve the puzzle, you can open the door leading everyone into the maze. The maze essentially looks like the rest of the ship's interior & utilises the effects seen in Young Einstein Gravity Homestead to give you 'sea legs'. The maze represents you evacuating the ship and finding a way out. The end of the maze is the actual ride exit - the timber walkway connecting the ship to the land. Once out, you can then see your time & compare it to other participants. I imagined you can record your time by scanning your park ticket inside the panic/escape room before the puzzle begins as well as at the exit of the attraction. Behind Shipwreck is a plaza where people can sit & eat food from the nearby retail outlets (including the Castaway Bay shops). A stage is placed in front of Shipwreck - doubling it as a background for a show (such as one about pirates or castaways). The plaza acts a place for visitors to view the show (whilst eating too). General entertainment (such as a band or singer or even character meet & greets) can also utilise the stage during non-show times. Happy to hear anyone's opinion on my idea. Please note though that I didn't take into account any financial restraints when developing the ideas.

there's some good space where that viking ride is if they do decide to replace it they have some good space to put something really good there instead.

Six Flags St Louis was the next park on my trip. The road from Springfield to St Louis essentially runs along the old route 66 (When i checked into my hotel the night before they asked if I was a tourist doing that road) http://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/park-137-Six_Flags_St_Louis Anyway, the park is on the western outskirts of the city. First impressions is that it is a bit of a 2nd tier Six Flags park. Everyone says Six Flags America is the worst but I reckon this one is. At least SFA had better coasters, and notional efforts to maintain distinct themed areas. The whole place just felt a bit run down and weedy, and wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. That all said, there are a few worthwhile attractions at the park, which I’ll get to. I headed straight for Ninja, which has had VR added. Signage said the VR is offered from 2pm, and they had two different queues depending on if you wanted to ride with or without. No objections from me for it being offered from 2pm, the experience on offer was the alien fighter jet one I’d already done at SFMM / (and could have done at SFOG) and it meant I could get my ride in without encumbrance. It’s an arrow looper with a loop and sidewinder, and a couple of corkscrews. Felt a bit RCT with the fixed size of the elements and the first couple of loops being high in the air. Transitions were a bit too sudden for comfort. But overall, like most arrow loopers it wasn’t that bad. The most interesting moment is coming out of the sidewinder when there is a very close headchopper under the lift chain return. Nearby was Batman the ride, which was filling up fast, probably due to being one of the best ride there. No intention of buying a flashpass, so I waited 30 mins or so. It’s much the same as other installations (so quick, forceful, exciting) except more weeds growing underneath. I crossed over the park to a surprisingly short queue on Mr Freeze Reverse Blast. This ride follows that short trend we had where rides had their trains reversed, so like TOT2 you end up looking down towards the ground at the apex of the ride. Basically you launch out of a tunnel, around an inverted top hat, then an overbanked turn and up into a vertical bit of track. LIMs at the top actually grab the train as it starts to lose energy and pull it the rest of the way to the top, but then release and you go back the way you came. A good ride, I wonder why more parks haven’t expanded on this sort of shuttle, with airtime hills etc…it would be amazing. Justice League is a 4D dark ride like our justice league, but with a different storyline, and “spiderman” style vehicles that can tilt and spin. It was a really good attraction. The queue was very similar to ours, except they didn’t have that impressive hall ours does with the marble statues. There’s a few street scenes where you are shooting little lex bots and a near head on with a truck, and eventually you make it into lexcorp where the justice league is being held captive, more shooting and you are released, and from there it turns into an all out street chase with big curved screen. This bit I felt was too fast paced so it didn’t feel realistic. There was also a random black room between two scenes that didn’t make sense…Basically green lantern makes a car jump and you smash into the 2nd floor of an office building, drive through the office then land back on the street…they could have done office interior theming to bridge the gap between screens. I did a lap on the ferris wheel and the train. The train in particular didn’t show off the parks best side :/ Nearby was American Thunder, a GCI. Ran pretty well compared to most, good pacing and a decent length. Boomerang was shut, but I had already ridden it a few years ago at SFOT. River King Mine train is a typical arrow mine train with small drops and awkward transitions. Screamin Eagle is a big out and back wooden coaster. Much like the racing woodies out there, its mostly straight, so it wasn’t too bad, and had good air. The Boss was the final Woodie and coaster for me to ride. The thing is enormous, reminded me a bit of Ghostrider, so a bit rough, but a lot of fun. The first drop was a double down and I didn’t know that beforehand, so a bit of a surprise. Basically the drop dives through a structure, flattens out then goes downhill again. The last part of the ride is an out and back section through some trees along the side of the hill, with a helix for good measure. Fireball is a super loop ride. I’ve never actually been on one of these. It feels a bit cramped, but in terms of ride experience, we’ve all ridden doomsday/ranger/kamikaze right? With everything done I did another go on Mr Freeze, Justice League an American Thunder before heading to my hotel. ******************************************* In St Louis, there’s also the City Museum which is big architectural museum/art gallery/playground in an old shoe factory. The place is immense, and makes you realise how unfit you get as an adult trying to go on play equipment. The place is obviously popular with families, but they have night sessions where they are open till midnight with DJs etc, so a different crowd then. Well worth a look, but don’t wear jeans or else you get stuck on the slides. Heaps of crawl spaces, including really narrow spaces between floor slabs. Other random places are throughout too, such as caves, an aquarium, a giant hamster wheel and so on.

Thing is if a ride is well designed and maintained and age isn't really something that makes a ride more dangerous. Sure you have to replace components as they reach the end of their service life, but just because a ride is old doesn't mean it's dangerous. On the other hand, shoot the rapids at Cedar Point. Replacing an older ride with a new one is fine too. But we're still waiting for replacements for the Corkscrew, Skyway, Pirate Ship, Train and the Plunge. Closing one of the few rides left in the park would be an incredibly poor move.

two most recent major ride incidents at our parks include: Accident on TRRR - a ride over 30 years old Accident on GL - A ride less than 5 years old. Age isn't the factor here. Otherwise LPM would have to close the scenic railway.

I've got a feeling that this would have something to do with what happened at Dreamworld. Like Thunder River, the Flume at Sea World is an in-house design. The cost of insuring an in-house is probably about to go through the roof. The other thing if something were to happen, Sea World would be fully exposed. You'd hope that they do whatever they can to get the ride running again, whether that be getting outside risk assessor and engineers to sign off on the ride/design or getting on the phone to MACK about refurbishing/rebuilding the ride. It's not really something that Sea World can afford to lose in it's current depleted state.