Leaderboard

I almost spat out my drink. Yes, and Superman is just a launch, over a hill, around a corner, over another hill, around another corner, over another hill, around another corner and into the brake run. Hills and turns are what roller coasters do. Trust me, hypers and their 'numerous hills' are absolutely incredible and you seriously can't knock it until you ride one. Not every new ride has to be innovative or different, especially when you have such a tried and true formula in the hypercoaster. I can't believe we're even having this debate on a forum about theme parks, this is some GP level shit.

Thanks for the well researched reply @Jamberoo Fan. I should have known whatever I wrote would be scientifically analysed for accuracy and a field study completed as to why I'm wrong.. i provided you an opinion, in the moment. That's the way I post here, in the moment. I don't have enough time in my life to research statistics on the Disney Shop (nor do I think that's relevant). Does that mean I am sometimes wrong, hell yes and I'll own it when I am. You have stats for everything, and apparently 80% of stats are made up, so I guess at least you're right 20% of the time...

Should it be up to the parks to educate the public? Yes it should - it is their product being 'tarnished' and they are the ones that stand to lose big if this misinformation campaign continues. Here's a few things they should consider: Have a protocol set in stone that is enacted every. single. time. a ride goes into fault \ e-stop. Operator to spiel using microphone or other method to all guests a short explanation - if it's guest safety related - ie: standing up on the ride \ holding loose object like a phone - then say so "guys we've had to stop the ride because someone is <reason>. We'll have you back underway shortly. If it's ride system related, then as someone said above "guys, the computer system isn't happy with something, we're going to bring you back down and quickly reset the ride - it won't be long". (The thing about Disney is the automated spiel usually isn't specific - eg: Haunted Mansion "Playful spooks have interrupted our tour. Please remain seated in your doom buggy. We will proceed in just a moment. We have been unavoidably detained by pranky spirits. kindly remain seated in your doom buggy please, we will continue our tour momentarily" Which works fine when the operator isn't sure what the cause of the stoppage is (or in the case of haunted mansion - when they're loading a mobility assisted guest) Continuing with the stoppage protocol, if the ride operator isn't able to resolve the issue within a minute (i've seen them restart Tail-Spin 4-5 times without calling for maintenance) then that's really all thats needed - but if you're going to call for assistance - maintenance, security, management etc - then there should be a 'kit' containing vouchers for freebies - a bottle of water, a snack, a meal, a free return pass - put them all in the kit and let the supervising manager on duty decide what is necessary. In that kit it would be helpful for them to have umbrellas to shade stuck riders from sun or rain (where possible). First Aid \ Park Nurse should also be despatched to provide reassurance to anyone feeling ill effects afterwards. Operator should continue to spiel at each step advising what is happening: "guys we can't get the ride restarted so we've called for a technician to come and reset the ride - won't be long" - and this should be done every couple of minutes - for a person stuck up high on a ride, a minute can seem like an hour - however the announcement shouldn't be scripted - it should always provide new information - nothing is more infuriating than someone telling you 'won't be long' repeatedly for 20 minutes. Supervising manager, or whomever is the 'senior' person on the ground when guests are released should meet the guests - in a group near the exit, or individually if it takes a few minutes to release each row, and explain in simple terms what happened, what went wrong, why they were never in any danger etc. They should offer an apology, offer the services of the nurse if anyone isn't feeling well, offer some sort of freebie, even if it is just water. Finally, they should provide them with a card that gives them feedback options - phone, email etc. This shouldn't be the generic info line - it should be exclusive to people who have been in this situation, and it should be responded to religiously and without delay. The card should have a 'reference number' or similar written on it, that corresponds with an 'event book' used to record these events. A staff member during the incident should be recording the event with as much detail as possible - ie: '10:47 - ride stoppage on Giant Drop - requested maintenance, security and manager.... 10:55 - all staff on scene. 10:56 - operator spieled to riders about delay 10:57 - maintenance restarted ride 10:59 - all guests evacuated safely. Having someone note each and every detail as it happens helps ensure that details aren't missed, and also helps to refute the claims of riders on facebook who come on and say 'we were up there for an hour and they told us nothing!' "safety videos" as mentioned above are another great idea. Not sure where you'd play them - but perhaps sharing them on social media would help combat the misinformation. you could do general videos for most flats and specific ones for more complex attractions. there are plenty of folk out there today capable of putting together a quick 30-120 second video covering the basics - "green lantern has XX sensors throughout the ride, each pair provides the same information to the computer. if one provides different information to the other then XXXX happens" "xx ride has a failsafe 'deadman' switch that requires the operator to hold it down to operate" "if the air pressure to operate the brakes is lost, all the brakes will close" "your harness \ restraint is secured by XX. it also has YY and ZZ to ensure it cannot be opened whilst the ride is in motion" I have worked for an organisation that in the past had a policy of not responding to baseless media articles. It frustrated us as staff that they wouldn't refute claims made by the media. After a change in management, they changed their policy and now actively refute false claims in the media - it has done alot for staff morale, and has also improved customer perceptions of what we do. Media outlets are required to contact the subject of their article to advise of the claims made and offer them an opportunity to provide a response - if the park responds, the media must provide that response - that's why you see so many articles saying 'media outlet has contacted XX for comment, and at time of publishing, no response was received' - but they should stick to issuing statements to the media for all but the most serious of events, and not put their staff \ spokesperson in front of camera for random questioning. This was a good read: http://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/why-rides-stop-at-walt-disney-world/ ...and while this isn't directly related, it's on a similar-enough tangent that i came across whilst googling so i decided to share it too: http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201008/2049/

They made such a big deal, yet very obviously cut it short... Looks like they went in hoping for excuses for breakdowns, and got hit with facts on routine stops instead so cut it short...

I don't get this... why isn't it on the main website? For example, if the current WNW website is so old it can't accommodate modern UI/UX standards or your marketing strategy and thus you can't advertise your new product the way you want to, surely that's an indicator you should get someone to make a new website instead of segregating your targeted demo by introducing new FB/web pages?

Best chance of rollback is for a very light train (or empty) to be launched before you and you be in a very heavy train. Especially on a cold day or the start of the day. The launch system measures each trains speed and adjusts the launch power through the day based on the historical data, so if you have a train that is suddenly very heavy with cold bearings and wheels then it might not make it. Much less likely on superman as the top hat isn't very high.

Woah no at this!!! any chemical that is atomized and breathed in by people should never be knocked up on ones own. Extensive testing and chemical controls go into something that may seem a trivial as smoke fluid.

Stage 2 Progress:

Did anybody else have to re-read this, scratch their head, get up and grab a beer and re-read it again? I gave you a positive rep @pushbutton for making me decide I needed another beer.

How many keyboards do you go through each week typing these long ass posts you make on here? Since I'm a reasonably nice guy, I'll try to save you some cash. I did also try to find a place that would offer a massage for your fingers since I'm sure they need a break, but Googling "finger massage Sydney*" just yields a bunch of massages with happy endings, but maybe that's what you need too. To be perfectly honest, I can't remember the last time I actually read any of your posts. They're just too long. (That's what she said) I thought @AlexB was bad, but far out dude, just ease up. *Assumption made that you're in/near Sydney.

I very nearly ended my reply with #stickthatonthefridge but thought it may have been a step too far haha

This has got to be the first post where i stopped reading and tuned out in YEARS. Dude - time for some TL:DRs... and thats coming from ME I'll add that to the fridge.

There is now a seperate website for the Buggys http://wetnwildbuggy.com.au/

We are already within a litigious society. Suing WnW because she valleyed on Aqualoop, and panicked and hurt her arm carrying on like a twatwaffle because she was concerned someone would come down on top of her, despite signage making it clear it wouldn't happen? Suing Movie World for falling off a garden bed? People will sue for anything these days. It doesn't mean they'll win, but its all over bad publicity. The steps I suggested would be scaleable - if you are calling for maintenance \ security \ management - then clearly it's reached a stage where a more formal procedure is needed. Documenting the steps taken is critical evidence for anything that might happen later. A little compensation, even when most people wouldn't think it was necessary goes a long way - Disney frequently does this even when you'd think it completely unnecessary. Nothing says it has to have cash value - what about a front of the line pass? A bottle of water is hardly going to break the bank, but it shows the park CARES. All you need to do is look at the detail of a lot of these 'facebook complaints' to see the biggest complaint is that nobody talks to them. I would suggest that in some cases, the staff were there, and willing to answer questions if they were asked, but most guests would grab their shit and go because they don't want to waste any more of their day. BUT - if a staff member is handing out 'something free' - people might stick around long enough to hear a quick message from park management about how\why\etc, get their bottle of water or voucher or whatever, and leave feeling that they were never in danger (content of most facebook posts), the staff cared, they were provided with compensation, and given an avenue to come back to the park if something else went wrong. If someone was e-stopped on a ride that caused them to stop violently, and they got off 'feeling a bit sore' but checked out ok with the nurse and continued on their day, but waking up the next morning they had chronic neck pain, went and saw a doctor and found out something serious had happened involving some sort of major medical issue - would you want that person to reach out via public facebook? would you like them to ring the 'infoline' number that seems to go unanswered (according to many facebook posts that say they called, left a message and got no reply), or would you like them to contact you via a dedicated process, holding a card that contains an 'incident number' so you know exactly what day, time, staff members involved, and log sheet of events? It comes down to the CARE principle - Cover Ass, Retain Employment. Ok sure - it might be considered overkill - but if the last 4 months have taught us anything - its that the parks need to have a far more detailed, structured, step-by-step guide on "how to deal with ride stoppage" that is scaled based on the event, or the impact of that event (impact being - 5 minutes stuck on Justice League is very different to 5 minutes stuck on Giant Drop) Precisely.

What does that mean - it sometimes doesn't make it over the top hat and rolls back down?

Could there perhaps be a calling for a Star Tour-esque 'attraction' that does a bit of a high-level 'behind the scenes' on a few scary looking rides to pump up how great the maintenance staff are, how second-to-none their tools and procedures are, and the obsessive level of care they take? Could soak up a little bit of crowd capacity, promote transparency to guests, and actively counter some of the exploitative press. Another way of looking at it I suppose is that you've got people captive in queue lines with little to do - could that be a time where you could be pushing facts/figures/behind the scenes content at them via videos? It wouldn't be a huge break in theme given we frequently push safety videos to people standing in line - I'm sure there's a way that it could be done tastefully. Another way to go (although I'm not sold on it) would be if you had a resource internally (paging @Slick) that could whip you up something short and sharp that covers what topical ride stoppage there was today (eg; Giant Drop) and why it was not moments from disaster with the intent that it be shared via social. If there's one thing people love almost as much buying in to bullshit media hype it would have to be smugly debunking bullshit media hype - and what you ideally want is for the videos to appeal to people enough that when they see someone carrying on about it they will drop it in the comments as a "no ass-hat - everything is fine".

We rode SDSC yesterday and whilst I enjoyed being able to see it in it's exposed state I did feel for the tourists in front of us that missed out on the classic SDSC experience. Disco room was actually quite good. Lots of smoke and the laser really lit it up. I did notice the lighting in the queue seemed dimmer than normal.

I would love to see the parks start combatting back against the media. Just a few behinds the scenes videos would be a great start. They could do some interviews with the ride engineers doing their morning walk throughs, explain what they're looking for and that they do this every day etc etc. Could do one of a test evac procedure on a ride showing how its done and why it's being done. Maybe another explaining some of the many safety systems on the rides. I would suggest something like a today tonight special interview and behind the scenes video, but i wouldn't trust them to not turn it into a "special report on the dangerous irresponsible theme parks"

Thanks for the info Jobe Will have to stop in for a look on the way down to Sydney in March. Coffs IMO has so much potential as a halfway stop for nsw/qld interstate travellers, it just needs some more attractions and gear to see the big banana getting in on the action, they certainly have the land to make themselves a great destination. interesting about the Tesla charging station! I actually haven't seen one in operation in Australia. I called up and enquired when I heard they were now available here but quickly moved on when I realised i'd need a second job to pay it off...

Disney are easily the best at this IMO because it's such a polished routine. Almost immediately a spiel will occur to let you know all is good and to remain seated. Straight after work lights will come on. And quickly after this attendants will come to tend to you, either by sending you on your way (say space mountain) or taking you out of the attraction. I also thing what helps a lot that's it's the regular CMs doing all this. Makes it feel a lot more 'normal' than mechanics showing up. The other thing they do is extensive PA announcements throughout the attraction describing everything that is happening step by step, so everyone is aware what is happening and not sitting 'stuck in fear'. I mean is anyone surprised though? Disney are the best at everything they do.

Opinions can be wrong. Even if you're a dark family ride fan you should appreciate that this promises to be amazing, the same way that coaster fans would still be excited if there was an amazing dark ride going in. Honestly I'm shocked that people aren't a little bit more 'OMFG a hyper!!!' Even shit hypers are amazing, I've been on a Morgan hyper, and it'd easy be the second best coaster in the country behind Superman. Mack are building this one, and Mack are doing amazing things right now. I know I've been negative lately but if you're not excited for this ride then get a new hobby!

I wouldn't call it a disappointment. Having taken a ride on it today i had a couple of observations to make - but first in regards to the above video - i'm not against them using UV lighting and UV active paint to accent certain parts of the ghost train (or even the disco room I guess) - Disney use a lot of UV effects in their rides and I think it does well. Sure, the 'original' in the movie doesn't use that, and the ride was themed to be representative of the ride in the movie. I think the movie is still relevant, albeit getting on in years, and i'd love to see a 'similar' experience return, but with 'added' effects utilising UV. Now onto today's experience: Scooby was the first coaster I got my wife to go on (I lied - it worked), and it has always been one of our favourites. Today, scooby was rough. as. guts. jolting, bumping, hitting every brake hard. I'll attribute some of that to having 4 grown adults in the car, and I think 3 teenage girls in the one in front. Nice queue - only JUST spilling into the big 'cinema' room - however the modifications to the queue rails to accommodate fast track are terrible. I'd rather they loaded fast track through the exit (which probably isn't possible with the harness controls i suppose) but the split line up that narrow hallway has resulted in them defeating the purpose of the design of that room - the queue rails were designed down the centre of the hallway to keep bored fingers from damaging the walls. I don't know how long it's been with fast track like this (it doesn't matter really) but it has resulted in waiting guests queueing against the wall - and thats when boredom sets in and assholes take to scratching their names, drawings, rude words and anything else they can think of into the paint of the walls - completely ruining the look. The 'columns' too have suffered, as repeated leaning, bumps, rubbing as you walk past has taken all the paint off the front side of the columns and exposing bare fibreglass (or whatever). I sincerely hope when they take this ride down to reinstall the ride theming that they give some attention to the queue, and try something that is a bit more vandal proof. Ride experience was ok. I was quite happy to see the exposed sections of the ride - it was interesting to see the actual layout spread out in front of you. Shame they hid the exit section. I liked the sneak peak into the disco room as you approached the lift instead of the mirror. I understand why they needed to pull the themeing out, and I understand why the opened it as it is during peak - but since they were just coming out of Fright Nights at the time, i'm wondering whether they could have repurposed some halloween props - spider webs, skeletons, whatever - and just had a few things to look at that they could shine a light on. Sure it was a little extra effort, but 'a little extra effort' is their reputation - and it's sad to see them not live up to it. Its been a while since I rode, so i'm not sure how long that particular laser has been there (it changes so often! jk) but i like it - i'd only have liked it to be brighter, faster moving, and covering more area (or maybe just have 2?). Fantastic amount of smoke coverage in the room made for some excellent beams throughout which really helped - But I still would like to see those fast moving, bright green beams we had striking the mirror panels originally. All up, i'm not upset with it's current state, I know it's only temporary, and I relished the opportunity to see it 'differently'. I look forward to seeing them bring it back all refreshed, and hopefully with a little extra somethin' too.

Given this ride we can assume is going to be the most ball tearing thrilling ride the country has ever seen I feel like any concerns over 'not being innovative' will go out the window once we ride

You saw what happened when DW tried to do something new and innovative with MDMC...

Great queues for the LEGO Store opening! I did not expect queues of that length & duration especially after the events of last October. Just a thought - if these queue lengths or level of popularity continue more regularly than anticipated prior to 10am, does anyone think DW has considered the possibility of guests 'entering' DW via the LEGO Store instead of the main entrance from now on due to the 9am opening & how to deal with that? As it's likely that DW would have expected guests to treat the LEGO Store as an 'exit' from DW. In other words, instead of guests entering DW at 10am & leaving at 5pm by spending an hour at the LEGO Store, guests instead would be visiting the LEGO Store for an hour at 9am & visiting DW from 10am to 5pm before immediately the property after 5pm. What do other forum members think - would you go to the LEGO Store at 9-10am or 5-6pm? Also, does anyone know yet how they prevent people entering DW without a ticket? With crowds like that, it would be interesting how they managed access to DW via the LEGO Store.

So you pretty much proved my point, which you obviously missed....