Richard

The buyout is well underway, with the announcement today that funding is completed. Press Release: http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/release.php?prid=51

As Gazza said. No need for a new topic on this, especially one with nothing new to add. Direct the discussion to that earlier thread.

I wouldn't say confirmed, becase it wouldn't be the first time a ride's name has changed at Movie World between construction and opening. "Scooby-Doo Spooky Castle" comes to mind. Though I would be confident that it'll be Batwing, whether they keep the Space Shot would be the only question. The park doesn't really build rides any faster than any other park out there. You mightn't have heard of Superman Escape until September, but work was underway many months before then. It's really just been a case of Movie World wanting to build two thrill rides in two years. To be very general about it, you're looking at around 3-5 months construction for most coasters, when you factor in all the groundwork etc. that has to go in before vertical construction can begin. A thrill ride like a Space Shot could be up and running within a few months of work first beginning. Of course, planning is done many months in advance of construction beginning.

Here's an article that provides a few more details. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...5005961,00.html The Australia Zoo website and Crocodile Hunter websites have been taken down. It's a very tragic and shocking story. My thoughts are certainly with his family.

It certainly is going to be a pretty amazing ride to watch just in terms of the way it'll operate. 1,400 people per hour will be a train departing every 80 seconds or so. A few things come to mind. I think restraint checking should be a quicker process than a conventional two or four across train, because they'll be able to do it in a more fluid process, whereas on smaller rows it's broken up by the few steps between each row. This is also aided by the fact that it's a floorless coaster, so the spacing between each row is wider and has no obstables, because it is built into the station. A separate unload station is inevitable, which will certainly take a lot of stress off the system. Busch Gardens use a similar loose items policy to WBMW in that you're typically checked before entering the queue, so items storage shouldn't be an issue. As far as park chains go, Busch are fairly clued in when it comes to efficient operation. We all know that the estimated loading times are based on optimal circumstances (to put it nicely), but I don't think Busch will have too much trouble with running pretty close to 1,400 pph.

The Halfpipe attraction isn't coming to Sea World this year. Articles have, however, mentioned a new attraction to Sea World this year. Not a lot more can be said at this stage, other than think outside the square, so to speak.

The Gold Coast's major water problems were a few years ago and somewhat alleviated by a one-way pipeline from Brisbane's supply to the Gold Coast's. Up here is where we need the water now. We get the rain, but just not enough in the catchment areas - the past week of nonstop rain in Brisbane only gave our main dam an extra four days of drinking water.

Article: Wet'n'Wild Water World: historical feats Saturday 2 September 2006 - Wet'n'Wild Water World Wet'n'Wild has established itself as Australia's premier water park for over 20 years. With Dreamworld's own water park set to open before 2006 is out, Roller-Coaster.com.au takes you on a walk through Wet'n'Wild's history, with a look at some of the park's many record breaking achievements. Read On... I had the chance to talk to the son of the former owner of Wet'n'Wild some time ago, and with Whitewater World opening soon, I thought now was the perfect time to take a look at some of this park's great achievements. I'm hoping in the future to be able to accompany this wealth of information with some historical photos of the park's genesis, because it's very interesting history.

You're right - my comments were more from a fundamental business perspective. Not so much based on Shaw's comments but rather I was toying with the ideas you mentioned in your last paragraph - a company who has just spent $56 million and is facing underwhelming returns is far more likely to invest further than one which is happy with the results. This leads back to my first point earlier about the Whitewater World we currently see is really about gaining penetration in a new market and seeing how consumers respond to a second water park. I don't think it was ever about creating a brand new water park that is meant to capture a significant portion of Wet'n'Wild's market. I for one would be very interested to know what their attendance and market share goals are in the immediate future, because I don't think they'd be anywhere near Wet'n'Wild's. Plus, with increased competition in the water park market, there needs to always be something up Whitewater World's sleeve, and this wouldn't be easily possible if we saw the park be everything it possibly could be from day one.

I think you've pretty well hit the nail on the head with most of those areas in terms of out-of-current-boundary expansions. Coupled with existing ride/attraction replacements, of which we'll see a few more of in the next few years, I think what we're looking at is more or less the park's future.

The planning for the water park would have likely involved opening up only a portion of the land which had been earmarked for development of the second gate water park. I'd estimate that the park is as we see it, at best, a half to two-thirds of its maximum size. Consider it testing the waters, so to speak. Future expansions will be made based on how the public responds to the attractions on offer and the way in which it is presented. We will inevitably see changes made in the next few years based on how the market responds to its offerings in relation to Wet'n'Wild. I'd take a different approach to new attractions. I believe if anything were to put pressure on Macquarie Leisure to outlay more capital expenditure it would be lacklustre attendance rather than an enthusiastic fan base. If the market continues to favour Wet'n'Wild after Whitewater World opens, then that is a signal to Macquarie Leisure that they need to up the ante. This said, what we see at the moment is a relatively low capacity water park. If attendance is overwhelming, as I believe it will be, there will be a need to expand simply to increase the park's capacity and as such increase its scope for profitability. Of course this is from a hypothetical business perspective, I'm by no means suggesting people don't visit the park.

Sitting through a stranger's holiday snapshots, with a soundtrack provided by Pete Murray... Umm... what is the definition of hell?

I'm not sure if the trains are visible to riders, someone who visits more frequently would have to answer that one. I only know it's there because I've seen the ride's blueprints. One thing is for sure, and that is Movie World is going to have to get creative with ride placement, as they're doing with Batwing.

The thing that concerns me the most is Vekoma's tendancy towards off-the-shelf models. It would be good for a change to see Dreamworld go creative with the ride itself, instead of always trying to "Dreamworldise" homogenous attractions. This is certainly an area where Movie World has nearly always managed to impress with originality.

I can't think of any large enough areas next to Superman's launch. Parallel to the launch track at the far end of the building is the transfer track. Between it and the launch track is the turn between the two camel backs. If we ignore maintenance areas that exist for Superman (eg relocated them somewhere else within the building somehow), there might be a 10x15m area free between the turn and the trasfer track. Unless you're thinking of somewhere else? I think this is where Paint comes in handy.

My understanding of the delays for this ride is that they're from S&S and relate to the fabrication of the ride. I can't see any reason that theming would be at all a factor at this relatively early stage of construction, or that it could cause any significant delays if properly planned.

He may well be there, but remember that Sunrise airs from 6am til 9am, i.e. before the park opens for the day.

Who'da thought Killing Heidi still existed? Interesting to see this happening. I'd be interested to know whether it's something that was planned by Movie World directly or not, because it's about time they went after the Screamworld market. A bit more effort has been put into selecting artists than Dreamworld tend to do (Joel Turner anyone?), not to say that who they have chosen are anything to get even remotely excited about. At least it should go well for them, with the backing of Coca Cola. Let's hope that we see them going down this path more in the future and expanding it, because WBMW is really a park which is well suited to having all major rides operating at night.

This is probably one of the worst things we've seen happen to Luna Park in recent years. It's one more piece of the park's history down the drain thanks to management who really don't care. To put it into perspective, Luna Park Melbourne spent $2.2 million on restoration of their Carousel a number of years ago. This ride would without a doubt be worth no less than what the owner wants for it.

Article: Macquarie Leisure bowls into US market Monday 28 August 2006 - Dreamworld The owners of Dreamworld have today announced a AUD$56 million agreement to purchase a Texas-based family entertainment centre business. Read On...

Opening day is opening day, meaning the first day of regular operation. The lines won't be any bigger than any other holiday period.

This story comes from our friends at ozcoaster.net - credit goes to them for the scoop. Dreamworld's already looking to the future for their next major thrill ride, and the name Vekoma has been thrown around, with the park already reportedly signing a contract with the Dutch company. Remember that between ozcoaster.net and Roller-Coaster.com.au, a major story hasn't gone by in recent years where we haven't broken the news to the world. Our readers are always rewarded with the latest factual news. Back to the important matters. It looks like we've got the who now, what about the all-important what and where? Our Profile for the coaster Vekoma's Website

Welcome along Nathan. You should take a read of the Community Guidelines when you can if you haven't already, because they give you an idea of how things operate around here. You'll need to provide at least some basic information if you want some help from our members. Images of the rides or links to information about them - at the moment no one can know what you're talking about.

Yeah you're right, I missed the one at the entrance. I'd say that three is an adequate number of changerooms for such a small park. At no point around the park are you more than about 100m from the nearest toilets, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem for guests. I definitely agree that the lack of a Lazy River may be detrimental to the park. Here they could have designed the entire park around one which circumnavigated the park. They're such an invaluable atrraction to have in terms of their ability to take a huge number of people away from the other rides. I'm not so much a fan of the way Wet'n'Wild

Adventure World is privately owned but was managed by Omni Leisure, which originally operated Dreamworld and Macquarie Leisure's marinas and was 40% owned by Macquarie Leisure Trust. In 2003 Macquarie Leisure Trust bought out the remaining 60% from its shareholders in exchange for units in Macquarie Leisure Trust and formed their own internal management company called Macquarie Leisure Operations. I believe they are still managing the park - I've heard nothing to the contrary. As for "money greedy", they're a publicly listed trust who have a legal and moral duty to their unitholders to maximise profits. They're a savvy company who have the industry pretty well figured out - they know all too well that new attractions mean new attendance. A $56 million water park and at least $6 million every year in capital expenditure is hardly what I'd call greedy.