downunder

@STRAWS the drop on Giant Drop feels a lot faster than either of the 2 big boys. To me, Giant Drop is a world class ride. Love it.

The thing is that Giant Drop is a far better ride experience than Zumanjo or Lex Luthor in my opinion anyway. I got three sensational front row rides on Kingda Ka (and 41 on El Toro lol) last time I visited - two of those rides courtesy of the exit passes we got for a lift hill breakdown on El Toro (hitting that anti-rollback was spine snapping, I thought the lift hill cable broke).

Looking good, just renewed my season pass, hopefully the mouse will be up and running soon.

@franky it wouldn't surprise me if they look at chopping down Superman at SFMM too, can't be easy to maintain that. And then Giant Drop goes to #1, it's much better drop tower in any case imo. I was at Knott's in Sept and I had to laugh about Xcelerator. Even though I'm at Knott's every year (except '20 & '21), riding it I realised it was my first time since 2016 because it's been down so much. Thank you for the correction, I got seriously dyslexic on that lol. I guess we'll have to wait and see. My partner wants to go back to NYC, I'll tell her 2026 would be a good year to go lol (she hates coasters).

The 2026 line was intriguing : record breaking multi launch coaster. It would not surprise me if they used the existing structure. It would surprise me if they went after records Falcon's Flight will soon hold - but it would be awesome if they did. They might just stick to North American records. There's been reports of S & S scoping out the site, but we'll see. I'd love to see a balls to the wall compressed air launch, but they're about as reliable as Axl Rose off his meds.

Luna Park Sydney's Wild Mouse appears to be fully re-assembled now and looks good. In other news, Halloscream sucked less this year (was absolutely abysmal last year and great in 2022).

Top Thrill Motocoaster 2 : Intamin's Revenge - with a top hat soaring over the Giant Drop, even Mick Doohan wouldn't be brave enough. In all seriousness, this is a big surprise. The words seem carefully chosen "new ride" - that will fuel intense speculation until IAAPA. I wonder if they're getting a new Intamin prototype disasterpiece. It might even be something really good.

Sure enough the top story on news.com.au is : "Horror as people trapped on rollercoaster" Leviathan roller coaster, SeaWorld Gold Coast: People become stuck on trapped ride | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site It just makes you laugh every time, I swear they have a list of words of which at least one should be used in every headline: horror, bombshell....

Luna Park Sydney has done similar, Halloscream was a strong event, and was absolutely great in 2022. They spent a fortune on the Shit Circus, I mean Dream Circus; and the 2023 was completely gutted, like pathetic, at the same prices. And it looks like more of the same this year. I echo the sentiment, if you're unhappy vote with your feet.

They are taking the piss. I won't bother unless it becomes a get together with mates from interstate, and I fly up every year normally. I'm just a consumer making a decision based on the value proposition presented.

Lol I'll be up there then. Seriously considering going to the Ekka, never been.

If you ride X2 at Magic Mountain, try and do the inside seat, the outside seat was quite unpleasant (not that it would stop me riding). That was a while ago, but local friends say it's still rough. Post Christmas was super busy when I visited at that time. I agree, Flash Pass is very wise. Concur with previous post, Knotts is my happy place. It will be equally smashed after Christmas.

^No, track pieces are in a workshop being restored.

I went opening day and wound up speaking to the Intamin engineer (he was doing video interviews with first day riders was what started things). Getting the side wheels right was an issue - as in too loose and you get that side-to-side shuffle that has been present since the ride opened (it was a lot worse while they were testing and adjusting); or too tight and there's too much friction. Don't shoot the messenger that's what I was told, and if you've ridden the coaster you'd understand. On a side note on LP, they are busy reconditioning the wild mouse track and it's looking shiny and new.

Lol will Disney buy it? ....just kidding. It will be interesting to see if they get any bites from amusement park operators like maybe a Merlin or a Parques Reunidos.

Big change coming for Luna Park after hitting the market (realcommercial.com.au) Who's buying? It will continue to operate as an amusement park, and a good chunk of the structures are heritage listed.

Tommy will need more than a few duffel bags of unmarked, non-sequential bills to impress the Mou$e.

Frankston sounds like a place Mickey would get mugged and robbed lol. Disney in Australia seems to be becoming a trope of slow news days. Perhaps Universal doing one of their smaller park installations is more realistic. Just a hypothetical, is there enough vacant space at Docklands to accommodate a full-scale Disney park? Just speaking for myself from a tourist perspective, I already love that the major sporting venues are in the CBD and so easy to get to. Let alone a large-scale park.

Slow news day - trot out some speculative nonsense about Disney coming to Australia lol. Maybe we'll start seeing this at Australian parks:

Lol they can't blame Intamin this time. Shame, it looks like a great ride experience (albeit without the amazing first launch of the original). Hope they can get a viable, permanent fix to the problem.

Yeah Piss Weak World from an old comedy show is looking a winner at the moment. I'm an informed consumer, so I just don't go, with the exception of Fright Nights, it's been years. I feel for consumers who aren't as informed.

Don't forget it will be the world's most iconic water ride.

Disney Adventurous Adventures. Interesting how it lacks a possessive on the Disney part, i.e. not Disney's. Maybe the Mou$e is unhappy at their lack of profits, start beating up their execs like Mickey beat up the Jonas brothers in South Park. (disclaimer: I am taking the piss).

Lol a park in WA should be suing. Lame park name makes Universal's Epic Universe sound inspired.

I agree, there's tons of cool animal exhibits, and I personally think Shark Bay is world class with some great experiences attached to it to boot. I've done the tropical reef snorkel and the cage dive (back when Elle the Bull Shark was still around) and love that attraction. My partner has dived all over the world and seen tons of sea creatures in the wild and she was impressed (wasn't expecting to).