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Don’t worry, this is just one of many cycles built into the Wipeout. When it had it’s last refurb back in 2014, I was there during the first initial testing phase. This is the first and exact same cycle they tested on for days to wear the motors in and to manually test the arms and docking the gondola. Once they are satisfied with the motors capabilities and the way the gondola stops etc they will begin to change the cycle to more intense ones, I believe there are 5-7 cycles built into the ride. If you notice in this video, when it stops ready to do the double backflip, the left arm did not position itself correctly and was too high, therefore the double backflip didnt happen and the gearboxes didnt like it and failed to complete the double backflip with some groaning noises. Then at the very end the left arm did not stop where it was suppose too and went too far out and had to be manually positioned to the home position. With a new ride operating system, motors, gearboxes and many other parts it will take time for the system and parts to wear themselves in again and lots of testing. Keep an eye on the ride, cycles will change to more intense ones when they feel it is ready to handle the pressure, same as last time Feel free to speak to one of the engineers or mechanics floating around, they are always happy to discuss and tell you what’s going on.

Managed to get footage of the ride testing Does appear that the ride has new ride cycle in place (must say though, pretty disappointed in seeing that the ride doesn’t go upside down that much, hell looking at the footage again, I don’t even think it goes upside down) Apologies for them pesky fingers getting in the way!

Quick updates for now Just missed Wipeout doing a test run, seems to be running with no problems which is great to see Kevil is open till 21st and it’s hours are 10:30-5pm Checking on RHLR and PSFW now Main Route to Giant Drop/Corrobee/RHLR appears to be down but you can still access it? There we go pathway blocked down the stairs next to RHLR Work appears to be carried out on the flume channel near the lift hill on RHLR (didn’t get any good pics of this happening) PSFW

Cheers @Adventures With JWorld - you da real MVP. I'm going to be blindly optimistic and hope it's not a real cycle they're going to have when it's open to guests, because if so, the lack of iconic Wipeout moments (the opposite twisting arms into an inversion & and the locked inversion into a free-spin) and just in general not going upside down at all will disappoint guests as much as Scooby's lack of theming does. This is an iconic super-flip model, not doing inversions just plain defeats the purpose of having it round (for those unaware of its history, I highly recommend this Park Vault article for more information.) If this is the best it can do with its retrofit, it should've been bulldozed.

Is it anything to do with the Australian construction/safety standards?

Here's a query in regards to all the "DANGER CONSTRUCTION SITE" signs - I might be wrong but when it comes to say Disney building things in their theme parks, there isn't these signs littered on the fences. What's the difference here?

GD has had that 4 day maintenance period there was months now, even before the issues with the west side

Cinema is closed down once again today to plan for the attraction

It had been a very long time since I had visited Aussie World (20+ years!) so I decided to check out their Ride the Night event last night. In the way of rides, I knew it couldn’t compete with anything on the GC, but there were a couple of good attractions on offer. Gates opened at 5:45pm and I took that opportunity to walk around the park until the rides started at 6pm. I was surprised at how colourful the park was. Yes I’d seen their advertising and web-site but the park looked - and felt - really fresh and vibrant. It also still had some of that ‘carnival/funfair’ feel as there was different music playing at every turn - though the fact there was a local radio station set up there for the night might also have something to do with it. From 6pm I took on the Redback, Bug Run (counts as a coaster right?), Mayhem Maze, Space Shaker, The Wasp, Voyage Simulator, Mozzie Musta and Professor Bogglesworth’s Illusionarium. Dark Rebel and Ballroom Blitz were closed and they had to close The Plunge as it stopped while going up the lift hill and they had to evacuate the riders off of it. The Ferris Wheel ended up closing early too because of the storm. The staff all came across friendly and laid-back - although the ride operators seemed very young. There was some live entertainment during the night - a dj, dancing, fire twirling, plus fireworks at 9pm. There were a couple of staff members roving the park offering glow-in-the-dark body paint as well as one covered in glow-in-the-dark wrist bands that he gave out to guests during the night. Highlights of the night for me were the Illusionarium as well as the Mayhem Maze. The only way I can describe the Illusionarium is a maze of optical illusions and it was really good and a decent length. The Mayhem Maze was also surprisingly good in that the actors gave good frights!! If it was longer, it could give anything at MW’s Fright Nights a run for its money (IMO). Overall, what the park delivered on the night (and for a mere $25.50) it smashed my expectations. Not a park I could spend a lot of time in but perhaps that will change with what Aussie World has in plan for its future.

Mini Trip Report & Update A belated trip report and photo update from my trip to Aussie World on 31st December. First of all, I expected the place to be busy, but was pleasantly surprised to see the carpark half empty considering it was a long weekend. Obviously, the park was expecting more of a crowd too, as every ride advertised to be open was, with it’s own ride op (most rides run fine here with one) and, as a result, all (except The Plunge, which was about a 5 minute wait) were pretty much a walk-on. On entry to the park, about 11:30, we were promptly and friendly helped to process our passes which we’d received as a gift from my Sister. She’d found an online deal giving a family of 4 unlimited entry to the park until the 31st of March for $145 (through RACQ, I believe). The registration process was quick and they let us head straight into the park and suggested we come back in a couple of hours to collect our pass. My eldest son was a huge fan of the Imaginarium on our last visit, so we headed there first. There was a short wait, due to its low capacity, but most of the rooms and effects were working well (a couple minor things like a monitor not working in the ‘elevator’ detracted a bit) and some of the rooms are pretty impressive. RIP Wildmouse Before I get to the new additions to the park I will cover the most noticeable omission from the park, the much loved wooden wild mouse that was the park’s major drawcard until recently. As has been posted already, the Wildmouse site is now a very flat and desolate looking patch of dirt. The only thing more devastating to a coaster enthusiast than seeing the site bare, is looking directly behind it to discover the whole coaster unceremoniously dumped in a heap. A little solace can be taken from the fact that the coaster lives on as theming next to the new Mayhem Maze (more on that shortly)... and as a poke-stop (it’s sad that I even checked, I know). Bombora This latest addition is a mini drop tower. Think the Sylvester & Tweety one at MW with the addition of it spinning around a pole (& allowing parents to ride) and you’ve got the general idea. Despite being my eldest’s favourite at MW he didn’t want to ride it (although he was a bit timid and stand-offish the whole visit), but it looked only a little more thrilling than that kiddies offering. Having said that, it looks to me like a great ride to go on with younger kids (the accompanied height being 100cm). A 'giant' surfboard completes the surf theme... Beaut Little Toot Toots On my last visit to the park I couldn’t help but notice the ride with perhaps the worst capacity I’ve ever seen at a park. The Tin Lid Trolleys were only ever meant to be a ride for toddlers, but it consisted of two tiny mine carts which each seated one child, and both ran on their own track, meaning a 2 kids per cycle capacity. Aussie World have clearly recognised that their growing popularity no longer allows for rides with such low through-put and have added the ‘Beaut Little Toot Toots’. While still being suitable for the smallest of guests, this new train ride allows parents to ride with their kids, which depending on your tolerance to incredibly loud farm animal noises, may be a positive or a negative. Mayhem Maze I wasn’t sure what to expect from this brand new attraction (had only opened on the 28th December as a permanent part of the park’s attraction roster). I was glad that a local park had decided to add a full-time walk-through scare attraction, but was a little anxious as to what they would’ve managed to pull of for a park of this sizes budget. Now, I must say straight up, I haven’t been through a lot of horror / fright nights style mazes, other than Fright Nights about 5 years ago (give or take) and USH House of Horrors in 2008, but I am not the most easily firghtened, or impressed park-goer, but here goes. The building is themed to a 50’s era, abandoned, fairground-style attraction with ‘funland’ a-blazoned across the front and an overall (not so) fun house look and feel. The backstory is displayed on a couple of signs on approach to the steps, as well as a number of signs warning that the attraction isn’t suitable for younger children. There was also a large sign detailing how the attraction included live actors who would tailor the experience to suit the audience, and therefore give ‘smaller frights’ where appropriate. Despite this assurance and my 8 year old considering going through (I’m bloody glad he didn’t), I decided to go through myself first. I walked, alone, up the stairs and along a thin boardwalk, the sort I have traversed many a time to enter a fun factory or similar type of attraction. When I reached the door there was nobody there, I tried to open it, but nobody came out to meet me. I stood there awkwardly alone for a little while before a group came up the queue behind me. Good, at least I’ll have company, I thought. The newcomers to the line asked me, had I tried the door? Is there anyone in there? Shortly afterwards, an attractive attendant in a 50s inspired costume peered through the door and asked how many in my party. Just me, I replied, at which she took me through into the lobby, where she briefed me on the usual walk-through rules: Don’t touch or try to fight the actors (I didn’t realise I looked like a fighter) and I’ll be fine; Follow the white lines painted on the floor and I’ll find my way out; Don’t burst out of the Emergency Exit (advice not heeded by the group behind me); and if you become too overwhelmed or disorientated, raise your hand and someone will assist you (the same goes for the illusionarium, and they will also stop most of the rides if you raise your hand, a feature that is appreciated when trying to warm kids up to larger thrills). So, the very first thing I have to make mention of is just how dark it is in there. Coming in from a particularly hot and glarey day, I found it extremely hard to see where I was going, and felt lost and disorientated on a number of occasions. I won’t talk about the specifics of the maze to avoid spoilers for those who get to visit, but I will say the main scare actor is an evil clown, and he is menacing and gruesome. Slowly making my way through the maze there were plenty of occasions where a strobe or flash would reveal that the clown was right up in my face, or right over my shoulder. Several other times he worked as a diversion, leering on one side, while another scare actor, one of his victims, would burst out behind you, or even under your feet, screaming for you to run away. Overall, the set design seemed pretty high quality, with each scene revealing just how depraved this sicko clown actually is. The maze was typically quite tight and continuously wound back against itself, providing plenty of scare opportunities for the scare actors. I found it a bit difficult to determine how many were actually in there (I’m guessing 2 plus the beehived greeter, but it felt like more) and to their credit, they got a fair few jumps out of me during the experience. I think it is a really well put together, little scare attraction, and I hope it gets the patronage, and love, it deserves. It was certainly quiet on the day I went, being at the northern-most extremity of the park, behind the Ballroom Blitz, and given the park still attracts mostly families with kids under 12 or so. Once the additional flat thrill ride replaces the Octopus (and the crazy mouse replaces our beloved wild mouse) this year, there should be enough to keep teens amused as well. I can honestly say Mayhem Maze should have them shrieking! Overall The rest of the park is looking good, the mini golf seems to have been done up and is attractively landscaped. The staff were mostly all fairly friendly (except for that damn clown!) and the park was clean and tidy. The shed area is also looking good and is being utilised a lot more for concerts and functions, but during the day serves as a nice cool place to escape the heat and have a cold beer. The back of The Pub was looking shabby, but given it is only a few weeks away from it’s major refurbishment and expansion that is understandable. Work will commence after their Australia Day festivities if you want one last look at the iconic red Ettamogah Pub. I’m looking forward to seeing the park’s growth over the next couple of years and really think it will be a great option for families with kids of any age by this time next year.

Is it just me or does the wipeout actually look better without the waves and name on top of the gondola? I think it looks much more modern.