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Wait... People still take the ramp up and down? ?

Geez, the site is looking very green atm following all the recent rain lol. More work going on with the fencing today, other than that there is not a huge amount of activity happening. Appears to me that they are awaiting the next stage of development (or maybe an official announcement first?) ? Hard to believe that this ride is only 7 months away from opening to the public! Super keen to see what happens next ???

I'm really happy it looks like we're getting a giant lift hill. There's nothing like the suspense a good lift hill delivers. I'm no fan of most launches; they make me feel like I'm having a brain aneurysm. We already have a decent launch coaster in Oz, and at the same park no less (and then there's also Motocoaster ? and Jet Rescue), but what we definitely don't have is a massive lift hill. It's time.

Wow! i just found the finished coaster, was hiding behind the tree line..... in Russia...

No pools.

You gotta admit though, pools of water are good at stopping stuff.

I know there has been debate/speculation about whether this coaster will be launched, or start with classic lift hill. From what we have seen so far, it looks as if the ride will start with a steep incline (which hints towards a lift hill). But what if it was a mix, like the Hulk coaster as IOA = an inclined lift hill, ending with a launch and into an inversion at the top (instead of a tire launch, it would use Mack's LSM launch technology). Having a hypercoaster start off with a bang like that, would make for a very unique ride experience, and an element that would suit the Flash theme (if it is to be themed to DC's Flash superhero). Imagine the station and queue being themed to Barry Allen's forensic lab. You then leave the station, head up the lift hill where it is enclosed in some sort of tunnel, with pipes and tanks full of toxic chemicals. Lightning strike effects go off, damaging the pipes and tanks, spilling toxic gasses over the train. You suddenly receive the Flash's superspeed powers, and launch up and out of the tunnel, entering an inversion and the rest of the coaster follows. Not sure why the tunnel is filled with toxic chemicals, or why you are going up the tunnel in the first place......story is a bit wishy washy at this stage; but hopefully you get my drift. You are experiencing the events that turned Barry into the Flash.

Theme park enthusiasts in a nutshell: "MAINSTREAM MEDIA DON'T GET THE FACTS RIGHT! WE WISH SOMEONE WOULD SET THEM STRAIGHT FOR ONCE!" (Richard writes a great article that's intended for most folks to read and understand without getting bogged down in a level of over-bearing technicality) "IT DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE INTRICACIES OF EVERY SINGLE RIDE IN AUSTRALIA, BURN PARKZ!" Probably one of the most useful and insightful reads in terms of the theme park industry at large to happen in a very long time. We need more of this. I'm sure if you support Parkz and Richard's writing and, you know, offer positive and supportive feedback instead of tearing down one of the few institutions trying to actually support enthusiasts, maybe @Richard would be inclined to do a series of articles that give enthusiasts something a little more detailed just for them.

Clearly a slow news day...

Ahh they were the days. See, i'm shits-cared of heights, but i'm not scared of going on rides like Giant Drop for the simple fact that the processes and redundancies in place that makes a ride like that possible in a world of litigation and insurance policies basically dictates the crazy safety measures that keep folks like you or I safe.

That was up while the ride was undergoing maintenance. My guess, and it's just that, is that logically you'd put something like that in if you were doing work up in the top levels and were worried about any components coming loose and dropping.

^The guy from Mack said publicly it was a custom version of the Flash model coaster, and example of which is at Lewa Adventure in China. So it's almost certain there's no launch. Having a coaster with a lift hill being themed to The Flash (as opposed to just being called Flash, like the one in China) would be ironic. I think it should be themed after cricketing great David Boon, Boonie's Barf Coaster, will have an interactive element, where you consume as many beers as possible before the ride. The most beers consumed and doesn't throw up during the ride wins.

Well because you should feel safe going to a park and assuming that anything that happens is perfectly normal. We've been doing it for decades, what I more puzzling is why in the last couple years it's all "omg the sky is falling" when your carriage stops. Hell I remember we just used to laugh when you stopped, you knew it wasn't the regular operation of the ride and it was just funny that it happened.

I saw your first reply. ......bitch. The two 'hero' mazes from last year will be this years smaller mazes. That means FDTD & Conjuring 2 will be back this year.

Wow. Thanks. I didnt know that...

I thought it was if they floated like a duck?

A really impressive and we'll thought read. I am sure it will get a lot of shares! Shame such an articulate article has to come from a fan site supporting the Parks, rather than the Parks themselves.. then again this way it comes across as an independent and unbiased view. Seriously though hats Off Team Parkz and to all you involved with this ?

@AlexB, @reanimated35, @mission -- this article went through about 4-5 rewrites between October last year and being published today. The decision was made to omit overly specific detail and tech talk in the interests of making this article easily digestible. A whole lot of material that covers block brakes, sensors, and incidents like Smiler, Green Lantern and others was left out and will possibly form the backbone of a handful pieces to address specifics. For this piece, we're just highlighting the fact that stoppages are safe and normal. We put the stats on injuries and accidents right up front in the article. Accidents happen and at no point was that glossed over. Beyond that we delve into stoppages because that's what the media is focusing on here. None of the last month or so of incidents show anything other than systems working as intended. Arkham Asylum's extended downtime probably indicates a component failure but the ride stopped on a safe section of the course and riders were escorted off. Was that worthy of days of coverage? The elephant in the room is of course Thunder River Rapids. There's no point in discussing that until further information comes to light. The distinguishing fact remains: unlike every other major ride operating on the Gold Coast, it was developed in-house, which hasn't been the modus operandi of either operator for several decades.

They made such a big deal TO GET YOU TO WATCH IT. It's like facebook - He found her in bed with another woman. You won't BELIEVE what happened next! <click here to read more> The promos ran with '.... on 9 news at 6 (yet it aired at 6:53 - once most of the news had run - so now you've seen their news instead of the competitor, seen their commercial breaks and paid advertising instead of their competitor, and you've seen a small piece correcting the damage done by them and other media outlets in the preceding 8 weeks. It ran exactly as I thought it would. I would suggest they came at the invitation of the park to correct some factual inaccuracies, i'd say they were obligated to run the story given the misinformation run previously. The fact that Greg's 'final word' appears to be cut off doesn't matter because the public don't trust Greg - the public trust the reporter. They sent a big gun - he's one of the anchors - not just the 'gold coast correspondent' - the people that watch 9 news trust him, so he did most of the talking - telling people about the hundred sensors on green lantern, and the hours of safety checks, and the ride system that stops safely. The fact that they spoke to the GM only serves to give credibility to what the reporter is saying - not the other way around. I agree, but definitely good to see the devil start singing a different song. I wonder now whether we'll see the vultures other outlets like Ch7 and Gold Coast Bully and Courier Fail start to change tack.

No, its shakier

much as I hate to say it - i think @Jamberoo Fan is on the money on this one - repaired so that they can reopen the pathways to guests. they'll probably need to use every path they can whilst demolition work occurs.

I dunno, I'll read it again later but it seems a little one sided, much like the media's one side reporting. To be a bit more balanced I think it should touch on that accidents do occur, even with safety protocols in place . For example, such as two trains colliding such as Alton Towers (Smiler) but the article explains why this can't happen, even though it has. Suggesting stoppages aren't terrifying for some is a generalisation. Maybe for riders that have a fairly intimate knowledge of rides and how they work would be ok with it but the general public (who are the majority of riders) are a different story. As much as I know these rides are pretty safe, being stuck at the top of the Giant Drop would be scary for most riders (how long are we stuck up here? How do we get off? Will the brakes still work? Do they know what's wrong with the ride?) to suggest it's not isn't fair. And I don't think computers make decisions, they work on instructions. Unless the rides use some fancy new Skynet. I'm sure I'll torn to pieces for making these comments!

THIS IS NOT AT DREAMWORLD!!! Download the latest version of google earth or simply ride on the Giant Drop. There is know were in the park that LOOKs like this. Not even carpark B located behind big brother as it is fully gravel not pavement.