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His point still stands though. Compare the reactions for KC to SDSC and it's exactly as Michelangelo described. But it would also be true for Rivertown vs. WoZ, Jane's vs. Star Cafe, Dreamworld Flyer vs. Flash. There's a clear pattern that has emerged for both Village and Dreamworld over the last few years. One is consistently getting 'meh' and the other is consistently getting 'wow'. Comparisons between the parks are going to be made and are valid. People will choose where to spend their time and their money. Given that SDSC closed early and they had to wait for Mack, that should have given them more time to plan the guest experience, source props/lights at the best prices and spread their cost out across multiple financial years to ensure that the ride wasn't just restored to the original standard, but exceeded people's rose-tinted, nostalgic expectations in a way that genuinely surprised and delighted them. While the upgrades might have been technically difficult to achieve, the general public will never see them and don't care. The complaints people are making (here and on Socials) aren't dumping on MW for the sake of it. It's because they have seen the quality of what MW can be and they have a deep desire to see it restored to it's former magic and glory. They want MW to succeed and they want to have a great experience at the park. DW is working toward that goal and successfully executing it because the management cares as much as the people on this forum do.

Because they didn't just replace brake sections. People don't realise but scooby doo was originally designed to be able to be transported. Many parts of the high zone exist on turrets, not fixed to multiple columns like you would expect of an in built track. It's very fluid and moves a staggering amount, as attested to by anyone who has ever worked the high zone with the lights on (especially with the ride in operation!), There are witness marks in many places showing how far it actually moves if you only know where to look. It's like a living, breathing thing every time a car comes through. And thats before you get started on the lift system, not just the cab and track itself, but the winch control and braking systems utilised by it. The braking system is so much a part of the run environment, each one represents a block after all, that simply removing them requires a complete change to the ride control systems as there is a lot going on within each brake zone. Speed monitoring, brake over/under runs, distance monitoring, plus obviously the block system and safety brakes. The ride is so sensitive to car timing not only through the brake block, but between blocks too that changes in speed monitoring registering in milliseconds can send the ride into safety faults. Think of how different friction brakes perform vs mag brakes, think of the hours upon days, upon weeks of testing you'd have to perform to just account for how the brakes will perform once installed, not to mention when jammed inside a hot tin shed. It was always due for a ride control system upgrade as part of the safety case put forward after the dreamworld accident. It was one of those rides that was identified as falling within the new 10 year MAJOR inspection and safety upgrades were put forward as part of the upgrade. You saw the first round of similar upgrades at road runner with new trains, new brakes, new ride control, basically, all that was left was the track. How long was the shutdown for it? and thats a system with only 2 trains and 3 block zones! It was a similar story at wild west falls and I don't think people understand just how much of an investment this was by village. Not just in immense cost, but the man hours that went into even getting to the point of rolling out the upgrades, the testing, the changes made, modifications. It's probably easier to roll out a new ride than it is to try and integrate more functionality and different control systems into an existing PLC based ride control system. It essentially meant the death of arkham asylum, it nearly took down road runner too. It shows you how determined village were to see the ride reopened and not replaced. So, not only were sections of a very unique track design replaced, new cars designed taking them away from the manual, ratchet operation of the restraints, new frictionless brakes installed, along with complete upgrades of the ride control system to actually have all this function, including actually pushing all these upgrades through to the qld government for certification, you go and throw unscheduled downtime into the mix and a ride manufacturer that wasn't expecting to have to develop new sections of track until a later planned shutdown; what do you get? Chaos. You get chaos. You can be disappointed at the results, but I don't think its fair to downplay the amount of work that went into just keeping this ride open for future generations. I can guarantee you there were discussions surrounding its closure, it could have been a vastly different outcome. People talking about possibility of injuries riding in the darkness, this was a very real thing when they opened after gutting the ride. Greater levels of darkness experienced then, but it really makes a difference when your body can't brace for intended changes of direction. Certainly saw a rise in complaints for not only things like neck and back pain, but just overall perception of how rough the ride experience was too.

What I took away from my experience. MW have this ability to make things worse than what it was before while trying to make it better. It's pure witchcraft.

I don’t mind some extra body slides because from memory the River Rapids and Super Ripper always seemed to generate long lines due to a combination of broad appeal and single rider dispatches, so if the demand is there it’s warranted. (Plus I guess we lost 4 body slides with Aqualoop, and they have been substituted with something that is more comfortable for the average visitor) That all said, I hope the next thing the park gets is a 4-6 person slide with special elements.

So the axes turn on and off? I thought that it might be less stress on the machinery to just keep them running since they have a bit of momentum of their own.

I think that’s a bit of a harsh comparison. Dreamworld have presented their new flat ride is the best possible way. It looks great. But it’s also a flat ride, outside with some static props. Scooby is a fully immersive dark ride that has had done to it exactly what everyone here asked for, returned to its original state and it looks great. I also expect a member of Jo public to wonder what takes 3 years. But if you’re calling yourself a theme park enthusiast it’s bit sad if you don’t understand how long it takes to completely gut and replace the entire mechanical and control system of a coaster as complex block wise as Scooby. We are all also well aware that it shut early for various reasons and a good portion of that time was spent waiting for the Mack order. Like props to Dreamworld but they build a flat ride. And still took a year.