Richard

In response to your topic title: They came from the non-stop Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience and general Warner Bros. Movie World TV ads that they're playing on 7, 9 and 10. 5600 sounds absolutely crazy, as you said. Movie World seems to have some invisible limit, the park copes fine, though once this limit is reached, the park just immediately seems to clog up everywhere (and especially don't be seen anywhere near Police Academy Stunt Show at the conclusion of any of the shows). On a similar note, I'd expect Dreamworld to be experiencing the same attendance spikes with the introduction of Nick Central. There's not a channel on Foxtel that isn't playing the ad with the kid in the orange shirt. This is going to put holiday crowds to a whole new level.

I thought it was an interesting fact, seeing as we've talked about American parks. Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, just down the road from Cedar Point, has 10 coasters, of them they have 1 B&M (Floorless), 1 Intamin (Impulse), 1 CCI, 1 Vekoma Flyer -- all these rides are ones with a theoretical capacity of greater than 1000pph. The interesting part, is this park barely breaks 1 million guests per year, and most Australian parks beat it out for attendance. I understand that this park is seasonal, and ours are year-round, but they have a summer holiday there that is about double the length of ours, which is when attendance is most.

Joz, I'm sure will be in later to give you the rundown on the park attendance figures, which he knows much better than I do, but an average summer day at a Gold Coast park is over 10,000. 23,000 is the Australian record, set by Wonderland in the early 90's. A floorless coaster, with a mid-course block brake capable of running three trains with minimal fuss, could do probably 1500pph. B&M seems to be largely building two train rides, with no mid-course. This makes the ride more flowing, and the new Superman at Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid has shown that they don't necessarily have to be small ones. A two train like this, which is what I'm expecting most of the future Floorless coasters to be like, would realistically have a capacity of maybe 1200-1400pph. Scooby-Doo at Movie World consisently has 45min+ queues, and it is running steadily at 1000pph. I've found most Australian parks are overwhelmed with crowds, and almost any high capacity coaster would still have hefty queues at the peak of the season. And also, let's not forget the tendancy for parks here to use one-train operation wherever possible. It is fair to say that B&M are unknow by Australia, but in all honesty, most people agree that with computer technology, the differences in manufacturers' end products is getting less and less. Vekoma and Arrow have both proven that they can match B&M with smoothness, and Intamin always have.

Let's just hope that they keep the rights to this one a bit longer than they did with Wild Wild West - that licensing lasted only four years. Rumour number one. I don't like the sound of a new stunt show. I'm terribly sorry, but Warner-Village have proven over the past few years, in particular most recently at Warner Bros. Movie World, that their internal staff aren't the most capable people when it comes to developing shows. Sea World's Ski Challenge isn't the greatest ski show to hit Sea World, the Bat Spectacle needs a bit of work. The Star Parade seems to be okay, certainly relative to some of the other stuff going on at the parks. When the Police Academy show was first produced, the park didn't have the internal staff to develop such a show, so they went to industry professionals. Vic Wilson coordinated the Police Academy Stunt Show (contrary to what Movie World says, there is no record of him having any involvement with the production of Scooby Doo). I'm afraid that Movie World won't take the same approach again. Internal staff would coreograph the show, with the safety and effects done by other companies. What we'll be left with is a dry, mimed show with a pathetic beat sound track, similar to what Action Man is at Wonderland Sydney. They work for the younger audiences, but don't have the 'zest' that a real show like the Police Academy Stunt Show had. John Menzies won't settle for a plain B&M coaster. He'll want something that brings the film to life. This means a bloated effects budget, directly hampering the amount that can be spent on the core ride. Sure, a ride like Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster may leave damn fine first impressions, but there comes a point, after a few rides, where it gets to be somewhat hollow. For Movie World to get anything of the magnitude we're thinking here, we'll be looking at a ride that is $16m + theming/enhancements. A $20m+ investment like this would be the largest capital expenditure put toward a single attraction in the history of Australian theme parks. Don't get me wrong, I've already got the colour scheme and the orientation of the lift hill all worked out in my head. Just that such an investment would be a huge one.

You'll have to have your photos online somewhere (ie you'll have to have uploaded them to some webspace somewhere) in order to link them into your post. I want to get a system to upload pictures into these forums, to make things much much easier. (But I'm me, so don't hold your breath ) With regards to your comment that a staff member said that they may use the Little Wonders Land space for buildings. This sounds about right. Wonderland Sydney had plans for the 'Wonderland Business Park', which is expected to be built within the next few years. It is to provide businesses or people seeking facilities for conferences, or perhaps conventions, with a unique place to do this. When I first heard about this, I figured it may go at the Hanna-Barbera Land end of the park (before Little Wonders Land, and before it closed). I find it great to hear that Wonderland was packed with people (though not for you, as you said - and I know exactly what you mean with that). Wonderland Sydney have been working tirelessly for the past year or so rethinking everything they do, to bring back the faith of Sydneyers which was lost in the 90's.

As luck would have it, today's visit resulted in no photos -- the camera decided that the batteries were dead when I got there, and I didn't really feel like paying $10 for four new AA batteries. I'll describe it as best I can for you then... The old Avalanche mountain has been painted in a lovely bright shade of purple. The front side of Tower of Terror's building is now Aqua, where I believe they will paint a mural. Most of the rides are in place, with finishing touches being put everywhere. The CatDog food place has been finished on the outside and looks just as it does on the map I posted earlier. Bumper Bowl has reopened for some reason, I'm guessing they'll close it to retheme it. It is fantastic seeing everything coming together so quickly. They were working today, Sunday, so they must be in some hurry to get everything together before they open. Sorry for no pictures - hopefully next time. 8)

Unfortunate news regarding Whirlpool: Due to reasons unknown, Whirlpool has been postponed until '2003'. However, the 'Whirlpool Springs' hot tubs will be opening December 26 to provide therapeutic relaxation for guests, complete with masseurs to really get you in the spirit (guessing 'pay-per-ride', so to speak). It is supposed to be like natural thermal springs; I've been in my fair share (nothing like a night spent at Moree on the way home from the NSW ski fields) of thermal springs, and personally, chlorinated water will never come close to the real thing (hot enough to make your head spin, all sorts of minerals, and the scent of sulphur). Interesting... to say the least. I'm guessing (and hoping) that they'll have the heating turned off for the summer months. Pity they've had to put off the Whirlpool, guessing technical problems are behind it. Straight out, that's what you get when you try and put together an attraction in such a short amount of time (I first knew about it early November, construction, I'm lead to believe only recently began). PS: Sorry I couldn't use words like 'invigorating' or 'self-indulgent bliss' in the description but I'd rather say something original.

That is very good news. I'll be sure to contact the park soon to see what is going to become of that. Marvel is one of the big players in the whole character industry, they'll want something more than a few costumed guys wandering around the park - with a bit of luck, some nice big rides that are worthy of the Marvel Comics name.

The $7m figure was indeed correct, hope they don't go over budget like they did with Cyclone (by $500,000 - a lot when the whole project was only meant to cost $5m). Haven't been there in a number of weeks, but I'm guessing we're getting very close to completion. I'll try really hard to squeeze a visit in this week.

Site progress has been a bit slow recently, but I'm slowly compiling all the pictures and stuff. The galleries are totally done, but the hard part is the reviews and guides etc - it is much more slow going than the galleries. Sea World, Movie World and Dreamworld galleries are completed, a total of over 100 images I believe. All the Dreamworld stuff, reviews and guides etc is nearly complete, and because of Dreamworld's magnitude, it is the naturally the (Queensland) park with with the most information. Over the summer, I'll be spending plenty of time on the North Coast (sun and surf), and there will for sure be a few afternoons spend down at Aussie World, so those of you that haven't been there can see this great family park. While I slated an October opening earlier, I'll push that to a definite December opening - feel free to whack (pronounced h-wack) me over the head with some sort of sports related item should it not be up in time. Got a nice hotel booked in Melbourne, and I'll be flying down there for the Australian Open in late January (more correctly, Luna Park, with some tennis spectating thrown in on the side). I'm hoping for nice weather and a more importantly, decent photos. 'Til Next Time!

Actually, in retrospect, I'd say that my initial estimate of $15m was way off. Even if Reptar were half of that, then I doubt the rest would cost more than a few million all up. All the rides are old ones bar Reptar, and the three other attractions can't cost too much - a playground, a fountain and a small stage set into the ground. I'll probably go with that $7m figure, between $7m and $10m at the end of it all.

There's a large cleared area out the front of the Studios - from the top of Lethal Weapon's lift, it is behind the Sound Stage that looks to be for Peter Pan judging by the outdoor set they've built. I'm guessing it is where this Outback Adventure will go, it seems they've got surveying pegs and that sort of stuff there now. No idea where the animal exibit will go. I would hope they make it part of Movie World.

I haven't found out the figure that Dreamworld is spending in total on Nick Central. My guess, would be somewhere around $15m. Reptar would have probably cost around half of that. The seperation of Nick Central and Ocean Parade will consist of the small hill that always acted as a way of seperating Village Oval/Kennyland from Ocean Parade, that is covered in some nice vegetation. There's also the waterfall at the plaza end of here. It'll be much more open than most of Dreamworlds existing land - parks here don't seem to have the open areas that American parks do, the only one that comes close is Wonderland Sydney, which is becauseof its planned design and American feel. This'll be a big step forward for Dreamworld in particular, and should be good for thinning out crowds. Don't think there'll be an update this week, but I'll be out there plenty before it opens.

With Reptar's trackwork finished, they've been concentrating on other areas of the site. Electrical work has been done on Reptar - the lift motors are all plugged up now. They've finished the concreting for the Slime Bowl, and put a steel roof on it. Thornberry's playground is also up now.

The Gold Coast four (Movie World, Dreamworld, Wet'n'Wild, Sea World) are getting a combined total of over 4 million people per year. That certainly isn't a figure to be laughed at, especially in a country that has about 15 times less people than America. An idea just popped into my head. Stage one, a restaurant which is the initial link between the two parks - it isn't much, but what comes next is an interesting concept. Stage two consists of a hotel. Guests staying at this hotel will get unlimited access to the two parks during their stay, linked by some form of transportation (thinking a nice triple station chairlift, built by the swiss company Doppelmayr). One stop at Movie World, another at Wet'n'Wild, and a middle one at this hotel. Stage three, as the parks expand, behind the studios to meet up near this hotel, the combining of the two parks to create one park that blows all other Australian parks out of the water. I'd look at that as rather long-term, probably 10-15 years. Then again, this is all hypothetical.

This is the 2004 financial year - not calendar year they're speaking of. Nick Central is the 2003 addition, just as Cyclone was 2002.

The adjoining studios are used for various Hollywood and local productions. Most recently was Scooby Doo, also Ghost Ship was done there in recent months. In the past, I believe the new Inspector Gadget (the 2003 French Stewart video-release one, not the original Matthew Broderick one) There have also been plenty of shows done there. The swamp out the front of the park near Batman was actually originally used for some TV show in the early 90's. Brad Pitt's new film was set to be filmed there, but aparently after Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddy Prinze got back from Scooby Doo's shooting, they said that Sydney was much better, so Brad Pitt refused to do it at the Gold Coast. Production was moved to Fox Studios in Sydney, but location scenes will be done up here. The new Live-Action Peter Pan is currently being filmed up here too. You can see the elaborate set that they've built from Lethal Weapon's lift.

Sounds like a good day for you there. I was there Sunday too, just cruising around, not doing much. Crowds were a bit too heavy for my liking, so the only rides I did was Thunderbolt (which is a great ride 'if you know how to ride') and Giant Drop West - first time on that side in many months.

I did an RCT (AA or LL, can't remember when exactly I did it with respect to the release timeline) version of Dreamworld long ago. With RCT2, I've notived many aspects that would make it much more do-able. I'm going to start on something like that within the next few weeks if I'm really bored (and finish this damn Gravity Gardens scenario). Cyclone is somewhat easy to remplicate, I'm a bit disapointed though that the banked fan-turns aren't available with the Corkscrew style coaster, which makes the first two turns much easier to make. Thunderbolt is just plain hard to replicate in the game - and I've tried several times. Eureka Mountain will prove a lot easier to do now that there are load/unload stations (though Dreamworld almost never uses their proper unload station outside of the summer holidays). Movie World will come next - rides like Wild West Falls (formerly Wild Wild West) will be most fun to try and get working right. The SLC that comes with the game is almost perfect for Movie World. Just add a helix at the very end, and I'd put banking at the top of the camel-back to make it reflect the real thing. Scooby-Doo would seem easy enough. If we get enough people talking about RCT and whatnot, maybe I'll create a Game forum for this sort of stuff.

No train on the track yet (another single-train coaster for Dreamworld, but this one shouldn't be too bad with queues). There were two shipping crates just to the right of the coaster, I guessed that they possibly contain the train.

Well, Rugrats is complete as of today, 10/11 - I'm guessing this was actually finished off early last week. Work has started to move forward on the rest of the site. Slime Bowl (show), is to be situated right next to Reptar, on the North end of the park, it is set into the ground with several steps for seating. Thornberries (play area) will be right behind the remote-control boats. Dream Copters, Sea Planes, Swinger Zinger and Nick-o-Round will be arranged in the centre of the area. SpongeBob (water play area) will be in the area where the skull or Tower of Terror once stood, and Spooty-Spin is the old Avalanche (a somewhat strange theme for a ride inside a mountain), Bumper Beach is obviously Bumper Bowl, which is now closed for refitting and whatnot. For a better picture, take a look at the map of the area, presumably that one that'll eventually be put on their park maps. As you can see, they will have the Reptar sculpture, overlooking the entrance. Finished Reptar:

Missed the 9:00 train, so I'll catch the 9:30 one. Theming should be at the same level as other Nick Centrals - Nickelodeon aren't letting their name be put on any old scrapheap. Don't know about the giant Reptar 'sculpture' - the American ones (well, only one operating) are themed to a drive-in theatre, however, you should expect ours to be more 'Australian' in theme.

Ahh! The truth has been exposed! Okay, I admit, I'm a kiddies ride junkie, I ride 'em with family, friends, solo, you name it, I've done it on a kddies ride in some form.

"Wonderland is expanding for the future" For those that followed Cedar Point's construction, my understanding is that this is the slogan, or something of this nature, that they used to describe their ride that is rumoured to top 400ft (121m), and speeds over 120mph (192km/hr). I'm certainly on your wavelength on this one - just home WLS are too.

A new article regarding Nick Central has just surfaced. It includes an official photo of the ride's contruction (over a week out-of-date), from an angle inaccesible by guests, within the construction site. http://www.thrillnetwork.com/index.php?pag...article&sid=788