Jamberoo Fan

So just Dodgem Cars are the only permanent ride still operating? I could see the Waterslide on satellite images but given the growth of grass around it, I thought it was no longer in operation? I always wanted to go on the Titanic: The Experience! I was disappointed when I found out it closed down (several years after it actually closed as I confused Fox Studios Backlot with the actual Fox Studios as well as the Entertainment Quarter for a long time). I was really curious how the sinking was recreated as a ride (assuming it was from the point of view from a person trapped on the Titanic & not someone on a lifeboat). I was researching Fox Studios Backlot the other week and it seems they did try to point out that it wasn't a theme park. I found this article from the Newcastle Herald which was published a few days prior to Fox Studios Backlot's opening. It mentions:

I see what you are saying but even though Arkham Asylum features more Batman villains other than the Joker, the Joker is pretty central to the ride's theming/narrative - his writing is all over the walls for starters. Compared to Justice League, not one member of the Justice League stands out in the ride's theming/narrative - they all receive equal treatment - which is the difference to Arkham Asylum. I thought that scenario is different as they were 2 different types of rides (one of which was kind of already operating for 15 years) & especially because Christopher Nolan's criticially-acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy had only just begun 2 years prior to Batwing Spaceshot's opening. Well we'll find out

Sorry, like @Santa07 said, I meant both track parts & support poles. Also, a Joker rollercoaster can be ruled out because it already exists (Arkham Asylum).

I read something about that @Wil_i_am_not but wasn't sure how old/accurate that statement was so I took a guess & assumed that happened prior to its 'permanent closure'. Anyway, that sounds like a travelling carnival if the portable rides aren't stored on location year-round. The permanent rides are all SBNO though? Nice video @iwerks! I never knew videos existed of the Fox Studios Backlot.

Found another abandoned amusement park in Sydney - O'Neill's Adventureland. You can see a satellite image of its location here. Finding this made me realise how many SBNO theme/amusement parks there were in Sydney in 2004/2005 - Sega World, Magic Kingdom, O'Neill's Adventureland, Wonderland...(any more?)... Given Luna Park's revolving door history, is Sydney just not meant to be for theme/amusement parks? I mean I hope Wet 'n' Wild has a great future in Sydney but from what I hear, people are heading back to Jamberoo Action Park & given Western Sydney is Wet 'n' Wild's main target market, surely that isn't a good sign after nearly 3 years of operations? At least Luna Park is currently having it's least disruptive period of operations since 1979. Only 32 more years and they'll break the record of 44 years without closing (1935-1979)! Bit off topic I know...

It's been over a year since it opened (late July 2015 to be exact) but here it is: The Illawarra has got a 2nd amusement park - 'Granties Maze'. It does sound like a standalone tourist attraction (being a traditional hedge maze) but there are many more attractions (thus, qualifying it as an 'amusement park'). If anyone is wondering where 'Granties Maze' is, click here. The hedge maze looks really good & definitely worthy of a visit but the rest of the attractions aren't as much to get excited over. The layout/design of the site (apart from the maze area) needs improvement as well as general marketing of the place (I think they barely do any marketing for it - at least the publicity they got for their opening reached well around the Illawarra region) but to be fair, 'Granties Maze' can have the potential & if you read the history of why the place took over 30 years to open, they've done pretty well to weather all those problems to finally get it opened - the dedication has to be admired. It's taken roughly the same time as the Orphan Rocker to open but at least, this one has opened! Here is the 15th of July 2015 Kiama Independent newspaper article about it's (at the time) upcoming opening with photographs from Georgia Matts:

Actually, that was what I meant! The exception being track colours though. I do think the media are at least intelligent enough to link the colours of tracks for a new MW rollercoaster to a particular movie without needing to go to sites like Parkz.

I noticed the two 5's prior to posting but completely forgot to change one to a '6' as it should be. Most of Dreamworld is still themed to Australia when you think about it. It's just those few things that broke with tradition that made be wonder why? (Apart from the obvious commercial reasons) ...particularly when they take up a large part of the park like Dreamworks Experience. SkyPoint is a very different situation as it is located nearly 20 kilometres away from Dreamworld. That's clearly a good enough distance for tourists to recognise them as separate entities.

I don't think Mack Rides will say the slightest unless it is in conjunction with MW. Announcing it around the time of the IAAPA Attractions Expo would be a good for Mack Rides if it ends being a rollercoaster that is a global leader in it's field as then, with the global publicity, Mack Rides could gain the benefits of the Expo's visitation, which would be from all over the world. The IAAPA Attractions Expo also fits with the current time period for a potential announcement on the new rollercoaster. I predicted in my guess timetable that the track parts will arrive in early December so I do think there will be some sort of teaser at a minimum in mid-November like we are all expecting anyway. If they waited until after White Christmas, we might have found the track parts laying around in the car park and from the design & colour of the track parts, we're highly likely to have figured out the theme & rollercoaster features/type before MW even announced it. Given the hype built around this rollercoaster, I feel MW would definitely prefer announcing it themselves rather than letting the media find out through websites like Parkz this time more than any other previous time. Since Parkz began, nearly all new rollercoasters have been figured out from the arrival of track parts prior to any official announcement. Apart from the Mack Rides crates & the roller coaster DA, MW has kept details of this rollercoaster incredibly well secret and I'm sure they would have realised by now that track parts is an easy way for theme park enthusiasts (and to an extent, the media) to decipher the theme & rollercoaster features/type. A mid-November announcement would be before the track parts arrive ensuring that MW controls and makes the most of the publicity this new rollercoaster will generate.

Someone did ask Whitewater World a very similar question on Facebook yesterday. Their question just wasn't specific to the front gate. The response they got was: This sounds conflicting given Whitewater World-only tickets are no longer sold online?

Just noticed that Whitewater World changed their logo on social media last week by removing the original 'coat of arms' logo featuring the purple/green checkboard escutcheon which had 2 surfboards forming a cross on it as well as 2 dogs on either side of it licking it. It was meant as an allusion to the Australian coat of arms. They also added the spiky blue sphere in the background as well as changing the words from 'By Dreamworld' to 'Only At Dreamworld' (maybe indicating possible future incorporation of the park as officially part of Dreamworld?): Given the timing of the change (particularly since the logo has barely changed since the park's opening), could it be related to what @www worker 2.0 talked about last month?: Logo changes would definitely require consultation between upper management & the marketing team after all. Marketing teams don't just change logos without the approval of higher management.

@Tim Dasco, to add to @themagician's map, read this post I made back when Stage 1 opened.

From Jamberoo's 'Retail Shopping' webpage:

Ok - just checking as a previous photo update showed the new steel around the top edges (similar in your 2nd photo). The only thing new in your photos I saw was the new top edge steel in the north-western corner (1st photo) & the scaffolding (both photos).

More steel has been installed - no question about it - but you weren't mistaking most of 'the steel' for the scaffolding? As there is a lot of scaffolding around the building's exterior now.

Yep. Because a 'Pure VR' rollercoaster is a unique type of rollercoaster in itself, I would've added it to Question 1 but because it is built in conjunction with Mack Rides' existing range of rollercoaster products, it made that question too complex. So I made it as a separate question. Had a 'Pure VR' rollercoaster not been in development, I would've left it as a 'VR or not' question (but I think I would've put a better question in that question's place if that happened).

@pin142, there may be some surprising options in the poll to you but I added them to be unbiased. I also would've liked to have added more questions (like about height, inversions, hills etc.) but due to the limit of 3 questions & 20 options per question, I decided to be more general - simply, rollercoaster type (including VR option) & theme. The answers to these poll questions might seem obvious to some but we still have no official confirmation on any of the answers to these questions. It also livens up the 2017 MW rollercoaster discussion which was starting to drag out given it's just footings being placed for possibly another 1.5 months & no official teasers or announcements being made about it for possibly another a month at a maximum (assuming there are no more delays). If by mid-November MW teases enough to allow us to figure out the theme & the rollercoaster type extremely easily without giving away more details (such as the rollercoaster elements), maybe a more interesting poll can be done in the future before the track/theming is installed. Otherwise, speculation won't last much longer so we might as well enjoy it while it lasts. Not often a rollercoaster this big gets built in Australia. Just thought of a solution - I'll vote 'None' for you. I was planning to vote for 'Pure' anyway (even if I didn't end up agreeing with that opinion) given I've brought up the pure VR rollercoaster possibility so many times (and once, to intense discussion). That should balance that question's results back in order.

@themagician, your vote has returned as 'The Flash'! Hope that doesn't affect your vote, @djrappa?

I can only do 3 questions maximum & I decided not to do a 'height' question as I thought it would be part of a 'rollercoaster feature' question (which can have endless options) so I just stuck to Mack Rides' product listing. I accidentally published the topic before I was done & rushed in fixing everything before members started voting. 'The Flash' and a few other franchises were supposed to be in there but I can't add them back in (even when I had the editing option). Must have accidentally deleted/replaced them in the rush. I don't remember replacing 'The Flash' though? I would never intentionally replaced 'The Flash' option anyway.

So it is now less than a month until the 1st details of the MW's new rollercoaster are expected to be released so here is a poll for everyone to guess what they think it will be. Some notes: Question 1's options (except 'Unknown World-1st Rollercoaster Product') are derived from Mack Rides' catalogue/website so look there if you want further information. Question 2 is not an opinion question about whether the rollercoaster should have VR. It is a question on whether it could. Question 3's options are derived from upcoming franchise movies from Warner Brothers (present to July 2018). Due to the limit of 20 options, I've excluded original stand-alone films and any films post-July 2018. 4 pre-July 2018 franchise films, 'Chicken Soup For The Soul', 'Live By Night', 'Ready Player One' & 'Tomb Raider' were excluded from the poll mainly due to issues with the poll. The meanings of each Question 2 option: None - No VR ever. Immediate Add-On - Rollercoaster not built for VR but has it available as an optional extra experience from opening day. Future Add-On - Rollercoaster not built for VR but one day in the future will have VR added as an optional extra experience. Pure - Rollercoaster built for VR. If you are not sure what some of the franchises are of, here are links to their respective Wikipedia articles (these articles are of the franchise - not the movie): Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them Lego King Kong King Arthur Going In Style Annabelle Wonder Woman CHiPs It Blade Runner Justice League Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror The Flash Aquaman I added 'Other' options as MW's rollercoasters feature media that was released from up to 3 years before the rollercoaster's opening. MW's rollercoasters also relate to media that was released up to 2.5 years after the rollercoaster opened. Also, I made the poll so everyone can see who voted for what option. @djrappa, since you know a lot about the new rollercoaster, you better avoid voting (unless you're happy to reveal everything ).

I know Mack Rides wouldn't start a rumour. That's like B&M teasing the whole Parkz forum that one of their rollercoasters is heading to Australia sometime. For we all we know, maybe @Ryande16 contacted Mack Rides & got official information but they're thinking it's a 'rumour'. Still, I would find it highly surprising if Mack Rides actually gave away official information that is yet to be formally announced by MW.

To be fair, nearly half of those negative reputation points came from their comments about this 'rumour'. Maybe if @Ryande16 would just be more clearer on whether this is a rumour (something they heard) or just speculation (their own guess), it would lessen the negative reputation points for starters. And if it is a rumour, clarify their source (such as a friend, park employee, construction worker, document etc.). Also, not saying unnecessary comments (which if said, make your claims look less authentic) like... ...would lessen more negative reputation points too.

Haha I used to but not much anymore. Seriously, though - DW does list Showbag Alley as 'closed for renovations', which indicates it will re-open as part of the renovated Market Place. I feel a bit of a pain for asking this again but did your 'secret agent' also confirm those 2 latter rooms (not what is in them but just the fact there are 2 rooms there)?

1 is definitely Kodak Express. 1 might be a Lego Store store room like you suggested The last one is anyone's guess. Did your 'secret agent' also confirm those 2 latter rooms? If those 2 latter rooms are not existent, I can imagine a first aid room located within Market Place next to it's original entrance, next to my guess location of the renovated Showbag Alley (behind the ATM next to Kodak Express outside Market Place). My guess for Showbag Alley is very long in size after all.

I'll repeat this - In case anyone is thinking it, I'm not saying or endorsing this rollercoaster should have VR. After all, I have never experienced it myself so I have no place to judge it (though I've seen videos that demonstrate the efficiency problem). I didn't expect such intense discussion when I brought the VR possibility up again. Since we were discussing immersive theming in regards to this new rollercoaster, I was just pointing out how VR could make the rollercoaster's theming 'immersive' particularly since I still haven't found out anything to rule out a 'pure VR' rollercoaster. It was just speculation - nothing more. If a different manufacturer was confirmed or the rollercoaster was opening prior to the end of 2016, I would have ruled it out straight away. Regarding, efficiency - yes, it is a very likely problem but remember: AA is already using VR - MW might be able to find solutions to efficiency problems based on AA's VR operations prior to the new rollercoaster's opening date (which is probably over a year away too). The quote says 'there's a lot more engineering involved' - whilst this probably refers to the track layout, it might also refer to ensuring smooth VR operations at the station. So far, all rollercoasters were designed without VR in mind. When a 'pure VR' rollercoaster is being built (which we know 2 are already in production), they are clearly keeping VR in mind so efficiency problems would be the major problem to solve (otherwise Mack Rides would be selling an unsellable product with such low efficiency - they would be better just sticking with selling VR add-ons for existing rollercoasters while parks just focus on purchasing traditional rollercoasters from them (and purchasing a VR add-on from them for that purchased rollercoaster far in the future). So far, VR is optional in all rollercoasters too so chances are the same would apply to the new rollercoaster if MW does end up getting a 'pure VR' rollercoaster so don't worry (yet) about the possibility of 'compulsory VR'. Depends on how many rides are in the park. Using rollercoasters as an example - If a park had 2 rollercoasters, then yes, no more. If a park has 19 rollercoasters, then a bit of variety in VR options won't hurt (assuming efficiency is meeting expectations). I was reading about (add-on) VR rollercoasters yesterday - apparently, they can design the software to really distort your experience so drops feel bigger than they really are, make corners sharper than they really are etc. I'm trying to think what benefits this has to a 'pure VR' rollercoaster (particularly of hypercoaster scale)? Like I said earlier, some visitors might prefer being in a VR world of a different franchise. I was thinking this would be a good solution to the efficiency problem. It only depends on demand at the time when the new rollercoaster opens - would people prefer the VR option (needing both stations), either (only 1 VR station) or just traditional (no VR stations)? As if 2 VR stations can't solve the problem when the new rollercoaster opens, efficiency problems with it would spread quickly through word of mouth/social media. I'm sure it would work once demand settles down to a more reasonable level. Totally agree with this but essentially in the end, a massive rollercoaster will still be there to attract crowds & if the VR trend disappears, then they could just sell the VR components or move them to a different ride/park. Efficiency problems just have to be solved.