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Whilst both are needed and important additions, especially ST, they need A LOT more over the next 5-10 years before I’d be calling a bright future being ahead. IMO, ST buys them 18-24 months before another big ticket item needs to open (not just begin construction) with the period prior to that focused on smaller projects/offerings like the redevelopment of ABC, new slide tower for WWW. if they wait another 3-4 years before doing something big momentum will be entirely lost again.

Yeah I have it on good authority that the original plans for the 3rd Big Dipper at Luna Park was going to be a custom designed Gerstlauer Eurofighter. It would have utilised the Tumblebug slab and also ventured out behind Coney and then back again. It would have been , through necessity, a unique layout. There is a POV and animation video of this ride in existence which I have yet to view. The Intamin Hot Racer was selected late in the planning and I guess the reasons for its selection would definitely include noise suppression versus the Eurofighter,which having a chain lift , would be fairly loud. I am sure that a custom Eurofighter at Luna Park would have been a great ride experience but I am pretty chuffed that the park opted for the worlds first and very unique single rail launched coaster. Many of the rides that eventually made selection have also slightly changed , both in name and theming. The original planning for the rides definitely had greater theming aspects tied in with the 9 new rides and dare I say, in my opinion, superior names. The theming involved , whilst not overly extensive, is definitely a step up from what we are actually getting and hearkens back to the 95 incarnation and the use of bridges. I am thinking that money and expense is what has curtailed these elements back from initial planning and we must not forget that LPS has put in a significant $30 million investment for the 9 rides it is adding. What is being added is appropriate for a boardwalk style amusement park but of course, the theming and added bridges to each ride are certainly sorely missed.

Maybe to tie in with WinterFest next year.

They know who to call.

What if they just did a launch focusing on ST, but also paint it as "The New DW" and re advertise SV, Maybe fully 6 and maybe some sort of other new animal...All stuff that a lot of visitors haven't seen or even be aware of (Particularly SV IMO)

Cheers man for the kind words! I'd definitely to come in as an enthusiast aka OurWorlds aka an industry commentator.

@Slick your AA video is a perfect example of this. It was such a rough coaster and you managed to capture one of the smoothies POVs I’ve seen And I know you did quite a few at DW too, so I’d like to think they’ve have you back to capture one for ST. Unfortunately based off your posts the other day, that doesn’t seem likely

The Orphan Rocker was the brain child of Phil Hammon and then in the early to mid 2000's the flame was picked up by his daughter, Anthea Hammon. At the time she was coaster obsessed and was actively working towards getting the Rocker open. However, the hurdles were numerous and due to a shift on her and Scenic World's priorities, the Rocker was never completed. They put considerable investment into first building the Scenic Cablecar, which journeyed to the bottom of the Jamieson Valley below, installing brand new "Red Devil" Trains on the Scenic Railway and installing and updating the Scenic Skyway, firstly by having it stop at a station on the other side, allowing you to make the picturesque walk back around to Scenic World and then finally by installing a larger , bigger capacity car that also had frosted glass technology, allowing the riders to view the valley floor below. They were also instrumental in building the walkway on the Valley floor , which gives riders of either the Scenic Cablecar or the Railway something to do- and it is a highlight and a must do. Parkz did an excellent article on Scenicworld and the Orphan Rocker about 8 years ago when several track pieces of the Rocker were removed. https://www.parkz.com.au/article/2017/07/12/522-Orphan_Rocker_roller_coaster_crumbles_at_Katoombas_Scenic_World.html Its such a shame that it did not open- it would have been a unique and awesome ride experience just for the location alone. Enthusiasts from all over the world would have travelled just to have a ride on this thing- it would have been even more infamous than it is now if it had actually opened! I think it is highly unlikely that Scenic World will ever build a proper coaster on the site- their priorities have shifted to more attractions that involve the mountain setting more than thrills. Also, residential opposition would be extremely strong and is also one of the Orphan Rocker's final nails in its coffin, with issues surrounding noise from the ride being cited as quite strong in the community and out of place for the site. At the very most, I could see them installing an Alpine coaster that could certainly be eco friendly, make excellent use of the terrain and would be a thrilling and appropriate installation at the site. However, I do not think that the Hammons would look into this type of attraction anymore. Something like this would be excellent however and is in a similar mountain setting in Switzerland.

The fence at the entrance path now has some cladding on it.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that the eurofighter would have been pretty lame. I've not seen the POV or animation at all, but I could picture a layout pretty much in my head and needless to say I'm glad they didn't end up picking it in the end. There is only so much you can do with the plot of land that's been allocated for BD and the hot racer is the best choice for that by far.

It looks way too tight, the grade will also be much for severe from memory. If the diesel has had work done to its wheels then maybe it could take a tighter radius but still, man that's going to be a challenge. Even if they do turn the train around. I'm assuming these new carriages will be of aluminium/lightweight steel construction now to take as much load off the engine as possible.

Thanks for the reply Jobe, I appreciate that. Yeah I am not surprised by the original plan to include a Gerstlauer Eurofighter. But yeah I am glad they choose a single rail coaster with 2 launches it makes the new Big Dipper more special in a way or more unique. I think the single rail Big Dipper compliments the previous 2 Big Dipper's in a way as it goes upside down and then it has the rough element to it - twists, sharp turns and dips a bit like the wooden version. But it is hard to say until I get my first ride what the experience will be like or what the G-force feels like. Thanks for the theming information and the planned ride names, I had no idea it's not surprising they planned for more of it but it didn't eventuate. But in saying that you never know if down the track they add theming? Just to give it a bit of a fresh look. But yeah all the new rides makes it suit the boardwalk style really well, it has a pier feeling to it now. On a positive note the future of LPS looks bright and I think these new rides well be very popular. It's hard to predict what will eventuate its always a bit of guess, but hey looking forward to seeing the park when this lockdown comes to an end.

That's another beef I have with the western world. So concerned about freedom and privacy that mass temperature screening isn't just a 'lack of technology' issue - it's a public relations issue. At the start of covid, an organisation I am familiar with purchased contact-free thermometers to assist their wellness teams - but they came with strict instructions that they weren't allowed to be used to 'screen staff' prior to commencing work - they were only able to be used for a person who was already complaining of feeling unwell... which to me is shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.

Opening 28th feb last day of summer 😂 I’ve cancelled 4 holidays to the Gold Coast since covid started …… so this time round I’ve booked in for December and purchased everything already….. I’ll make a hole in the border divider if I have too 😂

I was thinking SW myself - since the Spit height restrictions have apparently been relaxed, it'd be a great opportunity for them. Broadwater would be either local gov or standalone firm operation. It would stand on its own and need to pull people in on its own. Its possible, but low seasons would hurt. I don't see a problem with SW offering it and to be honest, they could also operate it outside of park hours as a standalone attraction with it's own separate entrance - perhaps even a dining experience to increase profits - the GC is the perfect place for those upcharge add-on experiences. (and you can sunwheel the damn thing into your laser lake show too) Looking at the sizes (and these scales are pretty close) I don't think it would realistically fit between seal theatre and the monorail, but the former Sea Viper site would be a good fit, with the added bonus of street access for an after hours gate.

you know they're just gonna do the same thing they did with Rivals so they can shake rattle and roll...

The race to the bottom was started by Ardent but Village was just silly enough to follow them.

Troubled history you say? In saying that, I've been to Melbourne basically every year since 2014 and have never once done this. I always felt it was in a silly location and whilst you can see it from the highways, it's impossible to orient yourself as to where it is from the city so you basically forgot about it once you got into the CBD. If it was closer to the MCEC it would have done a lot better in my opinion.

Threading the gap between @DaptoFunlandGuy and @joz here - in poker terms, I don't think you want to show your hand, nor do I think you fold and show nothing. I think you just need to have a plan and continue to have a conversation about it. No "ooohhh masterplan coming soon" and no "here's Atlantis... loljks." Disney as per usual does well in leading the pack in having a plan, drip-feeding a project, letting the project open and succeed, and then moving on to the next project. In the case of Dreamworld, i'd have the next five years mapped out with five key milestone projects (coaster, ride, family, slide etc.) and literally just say "we have a ride coming every year for the next five years!" and then drip feed the milestones out. 11 months out, here's the concept art for ride #1. 8 months out, here are the facts and a first look. 6-2 months out, here's construction, get excited. 2 months out, here's the ride in action. <1 Month out, get your tickets, we're doing a launch party, woo. Then let the ride do it's thing all summer, then come February after the holidays, rinse and repeat for ride #2. Interlace with a bunch of seasonal events that you're constantly building upon year over year, and you've got yourself a money-making machine and a way out of the post-2016 hole. It's why Disney parks will do up a scaff with a fake castle print overlay when they're working on the castle. My biggest gripe with our parks, and it's a line i've beaten to death now, is that whatever succeeds something should be better, no exceptions. Our parks (all of them) fall short of that mark quite regularly. You only need to look at Village's new signs to know that we take steps backwards everyday. Disney is Disney because they're forever adding and plussing things, and, eventually, that becomes an experience that's greater than the sum of the parts. Disneyland's opening facades were fractionally better than Dreamworld's opening day facades, and over the 7 decades since, they've continually refurbished, touched up and added to them, and now they're epic. Dreamworld has constantly been a case of slowly removing, whether it's been smaller touches like colourscape, flower boxes or big touches like replacing custom-carved old doors with glass sliding doors or entire facades for Abu Dhabi Airport. Keep cutting some more, no barbershop quartet, no sound of a steam train in the distance, add a modern roof down one end, add a LEGO store in the corner with a bunch of white walls.... I feel like i've been waiting for over a decade for that to feel true with Dreamworld. Same for Sea World currently too. The removal of the chairlifts and the SBNO'ness of the Log Flume really makes it obvious.

I agree whole heatedly, and I don't think either of these things make the park feel complete. I heard something once that always stuck with me, when you talk to a guest, assume that this is the only visit they'll ever make to a theme park in their life. Today is it. That's why a park feeling 'complete' is such a fundamental idea to me. A guest should not have to take the broader context of the park into account, aside where needed like annual maintenance. Parks should feel like they were specifically built for the day. No temporary barriers, no A Frame signage, no SBNO attractions. Today is a stand alone day in a park's history to a guest and that's how it should feel. When I say 'complete', I don't mean 'finished', I mean 'whole'. When you go into the park it should feel like this is the park as it was intended.

I still feel if you got a wide range of guests to ride both of these on the exact same cycle and pick their favourite attraction of the two, the results wouldn't be close to 50/50. Just because someone doesn't scream to the rooftops about the quality of theming doesn't mean they don't at least subconciously appreciate it and leads to them having a better day/spending more money. Let's also not forget these two are in a park that sees similar attendance figures a year to Movie World, it's not just the big boys doing incredible immersive experiences like this

My opinions on this are rather complex, so I'll do my best to put it into some kind of order. For start off, for the sake of this post, I think there are 3 types of Theme Park guests. You've got people who post on here or who lurk here. The Hyper nerds. The people who are into theme parks probably a bit more than is sensible. For reference I reckon collectively we make up about 0.05% of theme park attendance on a given day, (and 0.01% of revenue). Next you've got your casual fan. This is a group that has grown massively since cheap passes and facebook has been a thing. I think they always existed, but it's exploded recently. These are the people that are engaged on facebook about new additions to the park and ticketing options. These are the people who look at the concept art. Next is everyone else, the standard guest, the people who give zero fucks about theme parks, but take their kids there because it's a fun day out. They don't read the press releases, they don't know the names of the rides that have been added since they visited, nor do they care about marketing words. What they expect, is a good fun, quality full day out with their kids. Some of them may have passes too these days, but many still don't. My hunch is that your standard guest just won't care about words like 'Immersive' or 'Precinct'. They don't compare what they're experiencing at the park to concept art. Are they having fun? Are the kids having fun? Is it a cool place to be? That's all. They may compare to other parks and go 'This is a bit shit' but mostly they take it for what it is. Related to that, if you're on here, you should be able to look at a concept art, read a press release, (and in the case of New Atlantis, look at a model) and say 'Clearly this is not a fully immersive themed land despite what marketing are saying. Also there's huge differences between the model and the concept art, probably nothing is set in stone yet'. I don't expect a casual to do this however, and I fully agree that over promising and under delivering is a real problem. Having said that though, not everything needs to be an immersive themed land. It just needs to be good. I've said it before that I honestly think the weakest parts of New Atlantis, is the 'New Atlantis' concept. 'Modern theme less Sea World done in a quality way' would have been absolutely been enough. There's a reason why when I did a video years ago about what I think SW should do with the New Atlantis land, there was no immersive themed land. It was generic with a unifying idea. I don't think that's shifting the goal posts, and I don't think saying not everything has to be an immersive themed land is why the parks are lowering the quality. Hell I don't think anyone has made a genuine attempt at an immersive themed land in years. To sum up, I think the marketing messaging is wrong, I think it uses words that don't resonate with normal people, and are incorrect to people who are casual fans. I think for a hyper fan, you should have been able to work this out and set your expectations accordingly.

The attitude of "Well you should know what they said won't be real!" is the reason our Parks get away with promising the World and then never delivering on it. To say the public don't care or think about whether an area is immersively themed is a huge assumption that I don't believe is true. When you talk to people who've been lucky enough to travel to some true immersively themed parks in the World you hear as much talk about the feel of being immersed in another place or location as you do about the rides themselves. Shifting the goal posts for the Australian parks is what has let them get away with lacklustre additions/operations and more for years.

It seems testing had progressed today with the reverse launch being testing.