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Couple of quick updates- today marks 15 years that Luna Park Sydney reopened in 2004 after having Big Dipper removed and a very doubtful future. 15 years is a great achievement and has gone very quickly. Now we are in 2019 and we have seen the start of a ride reinvestment program that should see the park grow and update to be bigger and better than ever! With the success of Volare, we are all excited to see what the next 5 years brings for LPS. Its great to see a historical amusement park like LPS not only survive but now begin to thrive! From all of us here at Parkz, we all share in the celebration of this achievement and hope for continued success for the park! The next update is a little older in scope but it has not been mentioned before on the boards. Belated congratulations to LPS for winning an award at the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia for Best New Initiative Large Scale Venue. This award celebrates the hard work and excellence that LPS brings to their functions and venues and it remains a highly sought after venue location. It also highlights the importance that the Big Top, Crystal Palace and Lavender Green outdoor event space is to the overall continuing successful operations at Luna Park Sydney. Its this successful reinvention to a historical amusement park and mixed multi purpose function/venue centre that has been integral to LPS firstly weathering the storm of resident and noise disputes and now thriving over the last 15 years!! Great job!

I'm genuinely surprised by the success of Consentino - that's not a critique on either him or Dreamworld either, rather, I simply wasn't aware of how far reaching his fame is (chalk it up to not watching much free to air telly). I've been and checked it out and it was chockers - it's good to see.

Easily the most gentlemanly posts i've seen on here for a while. Good on you, mate. 🍺 After reading Richard's article, i'm cautiously optimistic. There's some huge hurdles Ardent needs to jump if they plan on holding onto Dreamworld for a while yet, but the cash injection rolling off the back of an uptick in crowds thanks to Consentino is definitely a good start.

Yeah you are, it was a fantastic ride. Yes it wasn’t doing as well in its final years, but when it was running at full capacity and it did all its tricks and flips... amazing. I unfortunately didn’t first ride it until around 2014, soon after it’s major refurbishment but I would’ve loved to have ridden it in its early years. Such a shame to see it ago, but in reality it would’ve cost millions more to rebuild it from scratch it get it properly running at normal again

I hope you don't mind me throwing a non-Disney/Universal curve ball, but for young kids I can recommend going to Seoul, South Korea. This is a good (cheaper) trip suggestion for everyone that isn't AlexB as well. First, the country: It's much cheaper than Japan, Singapore, or HK. Seoul is very English Friendly (subways and buses all have English announcements) Korean Air have direct flights from Brisbane, Asiana have direct flights from Sydney. Cathay have really cheap flights if you don't mind stopping in HK for a few hours. There are 3 theme parks in Seoul. Lotte World - http://adventure.lotteworld.com/eng/main/index.do The world's largest indoor amusement park. Dozens of rides, (mostly moderate thrills), but there is a lot for small kids as well as adults, and some good family attractions They do 2 Parades each day (lunch time and evening). The evening parade is pretty incredible (Disney-level good). It is literally in the middle of Seoul (Jamsil) and attached to Lotte World Mall, so there is plenty of cheap food and accommodation nearby. Discounts for Foreigners (a bit of research to find the right deal and you can get in for as cheap as $15-20) Has an Ice skating rink in the middle of it (with free skate hire for foreigners). Everland - http://www.everland.com/mobile/english/ Samsung's Theme park. About 1-2 hours just outside of Seoul Is a resort, so you can stay on-premises if you want or stay closer to Seoul and get the bus. Has a water park called Caribbean Bay Is also a zoo with safari-style attractions The park is massive with great theming and really good attractions (including T-Express an Intamin Woody) Very family friendly Beautiful scenery in the Spring/Autumn if you can go then. Tax Free shopping for tourists Seoul Land - http://eng.seoulland.co.kr/eng/index.asp A much older park (built for the Seoul Olympics) Very family friendly (really cheap food, great rides for kids and families) Only a short 15-20 min train ride from Central Seoul In the middle of Seoul Grand Park (which itself is really nice) Really cheap entry - and some websites give discounts if you enter after 12. Not as English friendly as the other two parks (really made for locals), but still easy enough to navigate. To be honest, you could take the kids to Korea when they are any age and you'd still be able to get a lot of value out of it. You could also do all three of these parks in Seoul and still have a cheaper trip than going to Japan. It's not Disney or Universal, but it's a great holiday option that a lot of people don't think about.

Okay, noted. I got caught up in the emotion of this thread and I apologise if I've come across as rash and rude. @Richard I highly respect the work you do for the Australian theme park community and I'm disappointed in myself for letting emotions get the better of me instead of furthering the discussion that you've striven to create. I was frustrated at the stance many people take towards Dreamworld. It's entirely justified and fair that people have this stance because they genuinely haven't shown any interest in improving their property outside empty promises. However, I have a personal attachment towards that park and you could say it makes me bias. It's not my responsibility to help people think of Dreamworld in a different light and I'll leave that to their PR team. Even though this community can sometimes seem like the front lines of a war zone, I know that there are genuine individuals willing to further add to the discussion and excel the conversation. If there are any stances or points that you don't agree with that I haven't provided a sufficient response to just let me know and I'll clear it up. I realise that this thread will probably show me in a certain light. I won't take back what I've said, but I will learn from it.

*slobbers and snarls savagely*

Even if LPS could find space and soundproof screams of riders on a large-scale rollercoaster, the residents will think of something else to complain about, like them losing part of their precious view of the bridge and opera house.

Yeah easily, if not more. But if there is a plan for one , then at least there is some consideration by Ardent to still be in the game with Dreamworld for the mid term at least. If this occurs, then its a massive injection for the future of the park. However, for that to occur , they need to start planning that NOW . Lets hope that the scale of vision that we all hope can fix Dreamworld's woes can also be realised by Dreamworld's current management. As Slick says, cautiously optimistic, but there are a number of hoops to jump and walls to climb before we can breathe a bit easier for the future of the park.

Yeah Slick I agree 100% here. The cash injection ( fingers crossed it actually occurs) is the first sign that Dreamworld actually are starting to develop some sort of plan to restore the park somewhat to its former glory. With the eventual opening of Sky Voyager , which should garner some more positive press for the park and renewed interest from the public, the park looks like it may be edging closer to turning a corner. However , that corner is QUITE large. Lets see how things develop, see what occurs, how the money is spent and what actually is purchased in the form of new rides ( and the obverse of that of course, seeing what effect that other rides removal will have- RE Wipeout). As has been stated before, Dreamworld need to hit hard now with a bang and that bang should be in the form of a new large coaster.

Must say I've got to agree. Also I've seen similar responses online about the Thunder Lake show but that I've not looked at a whole lot. Good on DW for a win with Consentino. Hopefully they can build on this small win.

It was mentioned earlier, but California Screamin (or sadly, Incredi-coaster) does a great job with their scream shields. I'd like to do a see larger roller coaster put into Luna Park to help put it on the map.

You're basically saying "Wouldn't it be great to see LPS close for another 10 years due to noise complains from nearby residents?". That's already happened, it didn't end well. LPS better not try that again.

Yes. Sigh... look @Jobe already gave his two cents on this matter months ago and I agree with him wholeheartedly. Everything new has teething troubles every now and then, and the SBF Tango Train was operating perfectly fine for a good two years before it went down for maintenance. For all we know it could be coming good again very soon.

The only way Luna park Sydney has any chance of ever getting another roller coaster would be to put it over and water and away from the apartments but that never going to happen