Richard

The supports you see will be fixed to the footers at the square (orange) end. The ride's motors etc. will be found directly on top of the rounded end. Essentially, what you see is what you get - they won't be bolted together or anything. Remember Dreamworld are surprising us with an exciting world's biggest and best - the largest 16m tall Gyro Swing at Dreamworld in the world.

Thredbo's isn't all that bad. I quite liked it, and the fact that it's included in the cost of lift tickets means that it's a good thing to do walking by on your way back to the village at the end of the day. With the brake signs on them, one simple way to get around that is to ignore them. They're only recommendations, and so long as you keep the required distance behind the one in front and slow quick enough in the final straight you'll be fine. There's not a toboggan out there that isn't perfectly safe if you don't brake at all, provided you're familiar with the dynamics of the ride and know how to bank properly in the turns etc. I found the staff at Thredbo to be quite agressivetoo. Not to the extent of Corin, but I found it to be a bit much given what you pay. Then again, I'd probably say the same to a certain extent about the lifties at Thredbo too. Merimbula's is my personal favourite, because it picks up some tremendous speed in the last few turns, and is quite a challenge if going brakeless.

Please take a read of the Community Guidelines. Take particular note of those regarding spelling and chat shorthand.

Please keep Dreamworld discussions to the appropriate forum. Let's try and stay on track here.

Corin Forest is a tiny recreation park about an hour or so out of Canberra. I had a good half-day in Canberra and I haven't been to Corin Forest since 1993, so it made sense to me. We arrived Saturday (July 10) at about 10am. It was about 5ºC, so t-shirt weather for sure. The park really is something different to look at. When we arrived there was extensive fog around, and as a result of the bushfires, all the trees were charcoal black, so you can imagine how eerie it looked. If you're having trouble picturing it, check out the gallery. Because of this fog, and extensive rainfall, they couldn't get the toboggan trough dry, so we sat around for about two hours in their tacky cafe area. A nice open wood fire in the middle of the room was nice. We eventually got on the toboggan. It sported a brand new arsenal of toboggans, as only two old ones remained after the bushfires. This toboggan, like most around Australia (Jamberoo the only exception that comes immediately to mind), uses a four-wheel setup, which has its pros and cons. For one thing, wheels instead of sliders means it's much harder to bank properly around the corners - sliders simply coast up in the corners to the appropriate height whereas you must really lean into the turns or you'll take a stack. Speaking of stacks, it was on my first ride, where I leaned into a turn a bit too soon and I was going too fast, so my toboggan promptly tipped me and I was sliding down the trough on my shoulder. Because the joints are welded rather than bolted, it was nice and smooth, but remember the temperature I mentioned earlier, and we're talking nice stainless steel. Rather than do as they suggest and take my toboggan out of the trough and wait a bit, I just hopped straight back on and continued on my way, taking no overly special precautions so as to not let this happen again. Though it's one of the longest in Australia, I probably wouldn't rate it as one of the better ones. My favourite remains undeniably as Merimbula's Magic Mountain's, followed by Jamberoo's longer one. Onto my opinions on the park... As I've said, it's a small place. The owner's always around, and let's just say he runs a tight ship, including many practices I hardly agree with. The park carries no public liability insurance, which I'd have thought wasn't even allowed, and better yet proudly boasts this fact throughout on signage. Then there is this attitude throughout the park of "I own the place you're insignificant, so pay your money and get lost!" The disclaimer on Bobsled's information sign says "If you do not agree with these terms, you are not welcome here." or words to that effect. The normal wording would be "use of these facilities is subject to these terms..." but I guess not at Corin Forest. The owner keeps a megaphone inside, jumping at the chance to yell at kids that like the looks of the small pockets of snow the place has. He then told those of us around him that his sister wants to come and work at the park, but wants a Nazi soldiers helmet, a watchtower and twin 50 cal. machineguns and to "fire first, then ask questions". I know a joke when I hear it, but it goes to show his attitude. There's no way you can go anywhere as a tourism operator without a basic level of customer service. Believe it or not, telling customers such things, however jokingly, isn't what I'd see as appropriate. It really is stunningly close to how they do operate the place anyway - assuming the paying guess has done wrong and letting loose. They have a policy on their Toboggan, as most do, where you must come into the station area at walking pace. I'm not sure of their definition of walking pace, but the operator on the ride proceeded to yell at me because I seemingly wasn't going walking pace. My comment was something to the effect of "any slower and it'd be the walking pace of someone with no legs". I was told that if I did it again I wouldn't be allowed to ride again. Apart from the fact that I didn't do anything wrong, and was leaving after that ride anyway, it seems they're not looking for repeat riders (and at $6.60 per single ride, it's hardly cheap). The huge delays in the morning, and then the rude or just inappropriate nature of their operations really did leave a sour taste in my mouth. I remember my first visit, where the owner (same as the swastika-bearing guy with the megaphone mentioned earlier) made us, as a family, stand and read the info sign before being allowed to ride. I was glad to see this demeaning practice still in place. I'll get around to Luna Park etc. eventually. It seems I'll do it in reverse order.

Tango Train spins - a bit similar to rides like Matterhorn etc. that you've seen at travelling shows. I've updated the gallery, seen here. Just picture that thing spinning, and that's Tango Train. Flying Saucer is best described as an Enterprise style of ride (as seen at Dreamworld, Luna Park in Melbourne). Instead of rocking cars that face riders in the direction of the spin, it has fixed rows facing the centre of the ride. It speeds up, riders are stuck to the wall and all the while it tilts up to near-vertical.

I'd rather not have these forums turn into a pre-/post-/pubescent relationship advice service. And let's just reiterate what Daniel said, and take a read of the Community Guidelines.

First off, I find it quite ironic that after being offended by my seemingly wild and unjust claim that there are realistic improvements to be made throughout Dreamworld, you proceed to give several ways to improve each ride. I'm sure you would have no troubles doing the same with the ticket booths, turnstiles, food outlets etc. either. Let's look at the figures you've given. Let's compare them to official capacities. Giant Drop: Official - 75-100 dph (600-800 pph) Yours - 35 dph (280 pph) Tower of Terror: Official - 35 (525 pph) Yours - 30 (450 pph) Wipeout: Official - 12.5 (500 pph) Yours - 9.5 (380 pph) Cyclone: Official - 17 (400 pph) Yours - 14.5 (350 pph) Take this for face value if you will. It's worthwhile that with few exceptions, all Warner Village rides operate consistently (year-round) at, and even above, manufacturers/official capacities. It's also interesting to note that ride staff seems to have increased two and even three-fold in most cases. I haven't been to Dreamworld in a month or two, but if in this time things have changed this much, I'd be glad and willing to write an update to my first article, because either you were selective in the dispatches you have chosen, or things are improving at Dreamworld. Now, onto your six further points. 1. Point out any unsubstantiated claims or comments I've made thus far. I'm interested. 2. Industrial dispute etc. is totally irrelevant to this discussion. Similarly, I never once suggested that WVTP were perfect. They have their problems, but in this particular area of discussion, they undeniably top Dreamworld. 3. Consistent 15 minute dispatches is hardly something I've made up. It is infrequent, but it's far from a once-off thing in my experience. Ten minutes or so would be be around the average for me on all my visits this year - all off-peak, midweek visits, but frequently, particularly in the past, this figure of fifteen minutes or so creeps back. 4. Banks are heavily downsizing their branch staff in favour of the online options. Surely with a business degree down pat you'd know and understand that. Unfortunately, when people fork over $58, they're not expecting a copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon. 6. Proportional comparisons of Australian to US parks are fair and reasonable. So what if Australia is significantly smaller than USA (and I think your mathematics needs a little work, because last I checked, there aren't three billion people in America)? If Disneyland has an annual attendance of X and a total capacity (per hour, day, year,or whatever) Y, then Dreamworld with annual attendance of X/k should have a corresponding total capacity of Y/k in the most appropriate situation. You're seemingly business savvy, so explain to me why this wouldn't make sense.

Psychoanalytic theory tells us nothing is unintentional. I'm not a psychiatrist though.

Most of the non-disclosure policies park staff have, and the tight-lipped nature that management will have until official releases are made are due to ASX guidelines. In short, by listing in the Austrlalian Stock Exchange, as Dreamworld, Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild are through their respective parent companies, they must abide by the ASX Market Rules. Leaking of information prior to official announcements is generally seen as detrimental to the company's share prices, and can obviously affect competitors actions. A company cannot willingly or knowingly take any actions that cause a negative effect on share prices. This would be a case if park employees (be they ride attendants, or even management) were to prematurely release information prior to an official announcement date. There has to be a balance between a suitable length of time for adequate marketing of new attractions, and leaving it close enough to opening date to have no adverse effects on the share price. And regarding this alleged new ride for Movie World, don't worry - I'm sure if all goes well it'll be soaring before you know it.

I think from our point of view, dispatch times and hourly capacity are far more useful than daily guests. Naturally, total daily guests on a given ride would be how a park would view it for the purposes they are trying to achieve, but it's not all that relevant to this discussion. It's only a multiplication/division of 7 anyway, so no big dramas there. I've decided to split this capacity debate into the relevant thread. Go to the "If you ran DW..." thread to post your opinions on that topic.

There are some new Luna Park galleries up, showcasing most of the major attractions of the park. A full list of these galleries can be seen here: http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/gallery.php?pid=7

You're kidding yourself if you think there's not a problem, or that it's a problem that can't be easily fixed. How narrow-minded do you need to be to actually put up arguments to defend Dreamworld? It goes to show the culture they must be promoting at Dreamworld if your attitude is to vehemently defend the place rather than opening your eyes. I appreciate passion for your employer etc., but that doesn't mean to turn a blind eye to a noted problem. Tell me why Sea World and Movie World down the road, two otherwise more or less identical parks, have pretty well got it right? With few or no exceptions their rides run far more efficiently, AND I hate to break it to you, but their staff are also on the whole friendlier. You're not paying to have a good time when you go to the bank. It is bad when that does happen, but the thing is it's not the norm. On the other hand you can go to Dreamworld almost any day of the year and you get the same thing almost regardless. In case you're unsure, 15 minute dispatches on Cyclone aren't cool. Hate to break it to you, but capacity is probably one of the most important aspects to theme park operation. Why are you suggesting that it must come at the cost of something? Disney parks are undeniably the best capacity parks in the world, meanwhile their staff are known as some of the friendliest out there, and you'll be hard pressed to find a better experience than that of a Disney park. Closer to home we have the Warner Village parks, where these exact same things apply.

Impulses are LIM and yes, the directional changes are done by switching the polarity. PLC is programmable logic control. Simply put, it's a computer system. I'd say the system Cyclone currently has is not designed to be able to handle two trains, even though the layout is designed to do so. As for what I'd do if I ran Dreamworld... Firstly, get something done about capacity/efficiency problems. You couldn't say what needs to be done without knowing what's going on in the first place. There's not a single area or department of Dreamworld that couldn't benefit from huge improvements in this area, and it would be very simple to solve. Next I'd move about bringing back show content into the park. There are two venues (Gum Tree Gully and the Captain Sturt show area) that are currently not being used. With that will also come an upgrade to the Imax facilities, and better films, more frequent film changes and include it more into the marketing. Street entertainment could be greatly improved. I don't think the occasional Goldie/Wizzy/Kenny cuts it right now. Next step would be to fix up the many attractions that have fallen into states of disrepair. Tower of Terror, Giant Drop and even Cyclone are just apalling in parts, and they're the newest thrill rides. Older rides could also benefit from similar things, but most rides outside of these three I see as pretty decent. Next up for me would be a remodelling of the entrance and Main Street. This would be a huge project, but I'd get rid of the Disney ripoff out of personal preference (and the fact that at the end of the day, it's ugly), and replace it with something new. Make Main Street more of a boulevarde. Replace the bitumen with a tiled pathing and some nice thick green trees, grass and garden beds. We've got a wide open area with a black ground - not too inviting on warmer days. Dreamworld seems to be heading more or less down the right track with thrill rides, so I don't see any reason to suggest what crazy coasters I'd build.

I've been to New Zealand, but not to Rainbow's End. Maybe next time I'm down in that neck of the woods (at this stage it's a choice between Tasmania or New Zealand for a few weeks in November), but it's certainly not the sort of place I would go out of the way to visit, because there's nothing there that stands out as terribly unique or inspiring.

I dropped in at Scenic World last Saturday for a few hours while in Sydney. Their new entrance and office has been completed and is now open. It is a vast improvement on the old one and is very classy. Through this they seem to have changed the name of Sceniscender to Flyway, though they are yet to change anything outside of the new entrance and ticket desk. You can see where the ridiculous prices for rides and food etc. have gone in the place. They're yet to do too much with the new Skyway. Work is going on constantly, but nothing too remarkable to see yet. From all accounts it will be an outstanding ride, and though similar to the original, it'll be thrilling for far different reasons. Orphan Rocker as you'd guess remains relatively quiet. The catch car was located on the lift about halfway up, which suggests that it has been in motion recently. News Article Photo Gallery (more coming!)

I just checked my atlas. Turns out Sydney isn't outside of Australia.

LIM isn't a general term for LSM. Hulk doesn't use LIMs, nor does Tower of Terror. LIM is similar, but very different from LSM in how it works. LIMs use induction of a non-magnetic alloy into a magnetic field that creates a forward velocity perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field. LSMs use the synchronisation of magnetic polarity with a magnetic alloy attached to the car that more or less attracts and repels in relation to the position of the car. LSM is more efficient, but requires very very precise timing, whereas LIM doesn't. Cyclone was designed to be able to run two trains. The flat section of track spoken of is where the block brakes would be added. This section of track is there exclusively for this reason, and is fitted with the mounts for the brakes. They would still need to add a transfer track section, and there would be many PLC changes made.

The only changes I think you could reaslistically see SFMM do to S:TE is probably permanently block off its entrance. I don't think they have any intentions of spending money to upgrade it to comply with whatever California's DOSH (Division of Occupational Safety and Health) want. It didn't operate before DOSH shut it down, so why would they now decide to fix it and get it running again.

The slashes are a very cheap and easy way to get around a problem that occurs with the Javascript image popups. I will fix it eventually. If you want un-slashed captions, go to the full size images, not just the mouseover ones. I see no real reason to be serious with the captions. That's Roller-Coaster.com.au's job. Total Thrills lets my sardonic sarcastic and just plain stupid sides through.

Dominator is the most nauseating, painful and plain boring experience I've ever had the displeasure of wasting my time on. I say this with absolutely no hint of exaggeration that this ride goes about ten times longer than it needs to. I'll get a trip report up from Luna Park when I get some free time. In short the park is a mixture of good and bad, the bads do sour the goods, but I will say it is better than Melbourne's.

On the same note as the original post, driving past Wonderland last Saturday (July 3) Demon was completing several cycles. Could be prospective buyers, could be a programme they have in place to preserve the rides by cycling every few days or something or Wonderland is secretly still operating, just no one here has bothered to drive up the entrance.

I say work at fixing what you've already got before going on to start fresh elsewhere. Our parks aren't bad, but I think there are many ways all our parks could be vastly improved to get attendance and overall profits up. Secondly, Australia is perhaps one of the smallest theme park industries in the world. Asia is the largest. At the end of the day I've got nothing against what they do here - they run a pretty clean ship, but do they really think they have the expertise to operate in a very large and competitive market. I'm leaning towards the "no" on that one. Interestingly they said they'll be doing the design. Sea World is OK, Wet'n'Wild isn't bad, but being fair, mostly done by the previous owners - what has been added I would say isn't exactly great for crowd management. Then we get to Movie World which is nothing other than terrible. I'd like to see what they come up with for a forth time. My guess is they'll go for something that actually gets guests physically stuck in the park, RCT style. Finally, Village Roadshow can invest "up to" $40 million, which is "either" 25 or 50% of the total cost of the park. On the cheap would be exaggerating. There's a huge Disney park opening in Honk Kong in a few years time, Tokyo's parks are currently constructing some absolutely huge rides and Village is going to build something that sounds sound like about half what our parks are, at the best. A huge number of our guests are on tour from over there. There would also be inevitable reductions in international attendance. Good work with the one cent. If they go ahead with it, that'll be the only positive number they'll see for a while.

Article: Kanook put to rest. This truly is a sad day, but thankfully Kanook will no longer suffer. It was definitely the most appropriate thing to do, and I commend Sea World for both the actions they took, and making it more or less a public matter, because people do care. Every day thousands of people are touched by these amazing creatures - the looks on people's faces as they watch the bears playing in their enclosure just shows how satisfying this attraction is, and how interested and attached people have become.

Interesting stuff. That article confirmed everything we all knew. September opening, Intamin and that it's cheap. Looks like there might be some decent stuff happening over the next few weeks, so it figures that I won't be around to marvel at Dreamworld's latest erection-in-progress as the interesting stuff starts to happen. All I want to say is let's hope that they're pulling a Knott's Berry Farm on us and this is just a filler attraction that will open with little fanfare (they're keeping awfully quiet about it all, whatever they plan on doing), just to keep things rolling until next year or the year after at the latest. This ride will be great fun, you can be sure of that, but it's nothing that anyone should get all worked up about.