downunder

^Thanks, it would be cool having something like Lightning Run zipping through the bush. Outlaw Run was $10 million USD, so it's in the upper end, but it's also one of the best coasters on earth IMO.

Ha, I was in Coffs last week, and I go there at least once every year, but I never go to the Big Banana - though I am too busy playing sport. Will be back for more sport in 6 weeks, but probably no Big Banana. Could be a cool little place if they build it up.

I'd settle for a decent coaster at Dreamworld, with the amount of money they've spent on coasters recently I think they could have done a lot better for the $$$ they spent. In non-enthusiasts eyes, they probably see Tower of Terror as the centrepiece, even if it is mediocre in the greater scheme of things -coaster wise. I think an Outlaw Run style RMC coaster or perhaps Kentucky's Kingdom's cheaper version of a mega-lite might be realistic.

Lol, I've been on a few wacky worms in Italy, fortunately coasters like iSpeed and Katun and the general wackiness of Italian parks made it worthwhile - I mean mixing an ancient Egyptian theme with the Terminator, that's wack.

The media will look for ways to beat this up - Riders Barely Escape Movie World Murder Machine. I'm just glad everyone got out alright, and I guess the facts will come out in an investigation.

Noxegon, I never cease to be amazed by your adventures to get credits. Glad you had a great time downunder. I went to Luna Park Melbourne in January and I didn't think it was especially bad, just extremely light on for anything to do. I had a look at my coaster counter list and I've been to 130 parks that have coasters, but I can't say I've been to Conneaut Lake level park yet, just some parks that were rather short on attractions. Castle Park in Orange County struck me as being rather ordinary because 2 of the 3 coasters weren't running. Hades at Mt Olympus gave me a mugging of the kind I've never experienced on a coaster before, though the park had some fun stuff.

I can barely remember it, but I did like it. My most clear recollection is thoe really sharp hairpin bends and bracing mysel for them. I really hope they do something with that area with a similar theme, that would be cool.

I thought it was an interesting ride. I remember riding it muliple times in the afternoon, when boredom started to reach desperation levels at Dreamworld - it kept me a little interested (back in the day I had a holiday package so I had to wait until the bus picked me up). I'd really like to see a new ride in that style being added.

I've done the starline tours thing, it works. SFMM will be open daily when you go, though the Starline tours might not operate on weekdays due to low demand outside of summer. Knott's is not far from Disney and worth a visit if you haven't been before, it will be open weekdays too, crowds should be non-existent. Universal Studios is worth a visit also.

^^Beat you to it with Efteling LOL. Yes, they are getting a dive coaster. It's such a a landscaped park, so much vegetation, you can get lost in a place like that - in a good way.

Wow, what a trip, I've been to all those parks except the Kiwi and SF ones. Glad you discovered some of the hidden gems, Vortex at CW was absolutely insane at night when we did an ERT session on it - the cars were swinging madly from side to side after we hit the brake run. I agree with you on Blue Streak, it's a good one, I ride it multiple times when I visit. No surprise to see the Voyage is painful as usual, it was brutal when I rode it in 2007. Magnum used to have much better airtime, but since they changed the brakes at the turnaround, much less so - in the early to mid noughties it was an airtime monster and 1.3 was truly the ejector eat. Wasn't fussed on Gatekeeper, but I love Maverick - or Mavershark, as the ride ops dubbed it during our ERT during Discovery Channel shark week. I haven't been to DCA since 2001, even though I'm in the area every year, rather sleep in after Knott's Scary Farm - shame on me.

^Only a couple, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers, I'm usually distracted by other things when I'm in London so it's difficult to visit any parks. I'd love to go to Blackpool, but I just haven't had time.

^Agreed, the coasters are terrible, but the SCAD tower, absolutely terrifying. RCDB still has the hansa hyper for 2015, but it wouldn't surprise if it was delays. I was practically drooling over the survey markings last year, looks like a good one.

^And I totally agree. Bandit was horrible, you'll be lucky if you're not finding parts of your spine in the toilet bowl when you take a dump after riding that. I just went on Coaster Counter to check out if there's any parks I've been to that I forgot that are worth mentioning (wow, I've been to 130 parks that have coasters). A few other notables: Efteling - quite a pretty park with OK coasters. Hansa Park - quite a good park, also getting a monster Gerstlauer hyper this year. Farup Sommarland - very nice park, some good coasters, and free shootin range where you shoot air rifles. Tivoli Frihden - average park, but it has a SCAD tower, which is absolutely terrifying. Legoland Billund - very good Lego Park and Polar X-plorer is a very surprising coaster. Fun haunted house too. Phntasialand - can't remember if this was mentioned, amazing theming.

^^I was referring to the MoviePark in Italy, but I've also been to the Movei Park in Germany. I would say the German one is better, but I wouldn't go out of my for either, Van Helsing at MoviePark Germany was well done.

^Movie Park is just ok, no coasters of any significance, just some really bizarre and quirky attractions. Plus they have a water park that looks like it has some fairly lethal slides.

^Yeah, the guys who own Gronalund also own Kolmarden. I congratulated Mattias the owner personally when I was at Gronlaund (they were lovely to us) on purchasing the best coaster in the world, really loves the amusement park business. ^^LOL, I'll copy and paste that to my mates in England who were planning on going - they were thinking of hring a car.

^I went to Bob Bon Land in June last year, just ok for coasters, but big marks for quirkiness. Only a half day park at best when there's no crowds. Went there 5 years previous, and some parts of th park had been removed since then. I was on at our so I didn't have to worry about how to get there, but it really seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Kolmarden in Sweden wouldn't rate a mention normally, but now they are getting an insane RMC it becomes something worth visiting, it looks like driving is the only option to get there.

^Good point, I totally forgot about that. I think single rider had a better merge point than fast track, although you had to wait or a seat to come up. If I recall correctly, fast track went in the exit early before the there was a staff member at the fast track entrance and the exit was where the single rider entry was. Other cool European parks not quite in the must visit category that I've been to: Mirabilandia, Italy - cool park and iSpeed and Katun are world class. Gardaland, Italy - nothing special coaster-wise, but very cheesy like an Egyptian themed shooter with terminators, beautiful landscaping. Heide Park, Germany - nice park, pretty good coasters. Walibi Holland: Goliath is an intamin masterpiece. Tusenfryd: some cool coasters, though avoid on weekends. Bakken: oldest park in the world I believe, small wit some ok coasters and quirkiness.

Gronalund and Liseberg are excellent, and the best part is they are right in the middle of the city so they are easily accessible. The area around Gronalund is also spectacular with the harbour and cool museums. Alton Towers is good, I used a fast pass for Air, Oblivion and Nemesis - and gotthere early and did all the one and done stuff before thelines built up. Sonic's Spinball is also cool, went here before the Smiler so I can't cmment on that. Thorpe is a solid park with some fairly good coasters - easily to get to in London. Parc Asterix is an OK park, but the lines get horrible quick, I'm talking 3 hours in high temps for Goudurix, which has been frequently voted the worst coaster on earth. Maybe going during the week in shoulder season would be better. Denmark's parks are nice and quirky with some great rides, some of them like Tivoli are in the centre of town ad others are quite out of the way.

Luna Park Melbourne is okay, never been there before. It's fairly easy to get to from the city on the tram. Light on for rides- Scenic Railway, kiddie coaster, Ghost Train, dodgems, and about 6-8 flats. The area is worth visiting overall. I recommend getting there early, the lines can build up quite quickly for the scenic railway and Ghost train as they are both very low capacity. Also the line for tickets was out of the park by the time I left. Though it seemed to be a large group of Africans having some sort of a day there. The all day wrist band is $48.95 which isn't worth it, I'd look for discounts and night deals on the web. The Scenic Ralway is ok, a bit bouncy and jolty on the drops, the brakeman almost stopped the train before it hit the drops. It's a unique ride and worth doing. I'm 6'2" with long legs and I didn't have a problem with comfort or fitting in, I rode the front row and the second row on my two rides - so I don't know if other cars have problems. The Ghost train is fun, but nothing special. The rest of the rides are fairly standard flats: pirate ship, spinny rides. Metropolis has closed, unfortunately I passed on the opportunity to ride that a couple of years ago just before it closed. The place is so small, I'm amazed they fit another full sized woodie in the place.

Thanks for the report, I went to Luna Park Sydney twice last year, though to entertain visiting fiends. They could sure use a few more permanent attractions. I have to admit I think it's awesome they preserved Coney Island, it's a hame a few cool things aren't working. Love the slides. Hair Raiser has got a kick to it. And I thought Luna Park Sydney was small until I went to Luna Park Melbourne on the weekend.

Nice work, they could put the ride in a sound proof dome and th Nimby's would still complain. Ah I remember the glory days of Luna Park when I was a little one, burned down when I was there for my birthday. It was like a mini Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

I was sceptical about wood over steel until I actually rode some of the really good wood coasters. A crazy airtime RMC at Dreamworld would be nice, and probably realistic budget wise - something like Outlaw Run.

Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park, got stuck at the top of the lift hill. Ride op came up and I have no idea what they were saying in German. Eventually they got the train over and we were stuck in the brake run because they couldldn't get the catch car back down to take the other train over. Got evac'd by ladder at the brake run.