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Spotty

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Everything posted by Spotty

  1. The original Claw always parked in the same spot as well, visible with a little black line that almost looked like plumbing tape on the motor and the gondola to align it.
  2. Reminds me of the good old village days in the early 2010's. The amount of times that I saw, or personally had Greg and his team (Michelle, who was a park supervisor at the time) jump in to help when needed. One particularly fond memory I have is a crazy xmas period when on Wild West Falls, the ride normally didn't have a sorter and I actually suggested it as an improvement during peak to make sure boats were always full. For anyone who was a loader on West, during the peak period it was often one of the hardest positions in the park. So, the day after I suggested this they actually came down themselves and were sorting groups for me for a few hours while running the numbers to see if it worked. Every single boat was having full rows, and it made a huge difference (I'm talking about an extra 80 - 100 people every 30 minutes). They also did the same with Batwing, as normally the second operator has to group riders after each cycle which adds about a minute per dispatch. They even took ideas on board (single rider line at Batwing...) that was suggested by myself and many other staff. These people really care about the place, and trying to make things better for the staff and guests. They still have work to do on the actual park, but the place is in the best hands it's been in for a very long time. I have many fond memories of all of those managers (Greg, Michelle, Deb, Chantel and a few others) and they really made Movie World what it was back in the day and now Dreamworld. Can't wait to give King Claw (and Jungle Rush) a ride when I next get up there in April.
  3. I think it still has space and is appropriate for Dreamworld for the next 5-10 years at the most. I think they would expand WhiteWater world once more on the Thunderbolt land first, and then when it comes time for another expansion to WhiteWater World that's when it will be replaced. For the most part, it works as a coaster and would be a good stepping stone coaster between something like Jungle Rush and Steel Taipan. My ideal timeline would be: 1-3 years: WhiteWater World Expansion on Thunderbolt / Trolls area 3-5 years: New major thrill coaster - Rocky Hollow space 5 - 7 years: Water Ride / Family Dark Ride - Rivertown stage 2 where Motocoaster is? 7 - 10 years: Replacement for Hot Wheels Sidewinder / new expansion for WhiteWater World It's a fairly simple ride as far as mechanics go, and I actually suspect we might see Motocoaster go before this. So until they actually have a plan for the space, I'd like to see them keep it.
  4. It looks really good, can't wait to go back up there in April and try. Hopefully it's more comfortable, as the old Intamin OTSR's didn't like my broad shoulders... the harness would stop before even touching my stomach but didn't have any issues with the Doomsday harnesses. Curious as to who did the music though, sounds very "IMAscore" to me. I've said it once, and I'll say it again it's great to see just what good management can do to the place with these additions. I think with two more majors ride to Dreamworld's line up (Water ride or Dark Ride and another Thrill coaster) and the park would be pretty much perfect as far as the lineup goes. I really do hope though that they do focus on sprucing up WhiteWater World next though as it really needs some love. I'm sure it will get done, but hopefully in the next off season or the one after. I'm sure something will be done well before the Olympics but hopefully much sooner.
  5. I still have the trauma from the goo... it's everywhere haha
  6. The first thing I was told during my High Zone training "Do NOT touch the handrails" and holy crap they were not wrong. Your hands would look blacker than a chimney sweep within moments. I'd even tell guests during evacuations to avoid holding them and let me guide you haha. It was even worse when the lights came on. Don't even get me started about the smells haha, and as for the purple goo... I blame the concoction of the blue and red frozen cokes and fairy floss for that one lol. As far as the smell goes... it wasn't just guests who might have vomited in that area haha. I know a few staff who were a bit hung over after a xmas party... or other staff party who didn't handle the heat too well haha. So many good memories of that warehouse, and some not so good lol.
  7. As an ex loader... I've seen people trying to cram all sorts of things into those cars and it's caused delays including the "must send" light going off. I'm all for loose item boxes if it's done properly. One way I could maybe see it working is before going up that little ramp to the load station they might have an area to store loose items in the main room. If they re-route the exit path it could end up going into the second half of the main room maybe. We still have no idea on the final layout of the main queue building and it could easily have been implemented. Only time will tell, but I'm curious about it.
  8. Yep, when it was 2 trains with the old ones the supervisor had to stay behind the panel while the train was on the lift (to stop it if needed) but the second the train left the lift, they would leave the panel to allow people to get behind the gates while the operator would check the single lap bar harness. It worked very well TBH. To run it really efficiently with 2 trains now you'd basically need 2 loaders and the supervisor but that won't ever happen.
  9. They would be pretty much the same, except maybe some under the hood things for the LSM launch instead of the chain lift. Maybe a few *minor* tweaks as there's a few years between them but nothing major at all.
  10. 100% it would have caused some changes, however to what extent I wouldn't be sure. I'd say right after the incident things would have been very strict for a while before loosening off a little bit. However I feel that the parks are still being a bit over the top, how much of that comes down to corporate (and staff just not caring) or procedures enforced by over-cautious insurance is hard to say. I'd say it's a combination of both, but also possibly due to workplace culture. When you have management that actually cares it shows, because staff want to actually be there if they are being treated well and respected. Something that the Dreamworld management seem to be very good at (And having worked at MW during the time that they were running things, they actually really do care about their staff)
  11. The supervisor didn't leave when I was there, they stayed behind the panel. I was the second loader on the exit side, this was back in the days of the single lap bar. Many good memories, back in the early 2010's when IMO operations and the overall park was probably at it's peak.
  12. Given back in the day when roadrunner had the original trains, myself and one of the supervisors actually managed to beat the capacity that the ride was stated in the manual (700 a hour with 2 trains) I very much doubt it. I was pretty much running down the platform to check those lap bars and doing our best to make sure that by the time the train was coming into the brakes we would be dispatching the next train. Was certainly a work out back in the day lol. It was even funnier when the ride then faulted because we were dispatching too fast and the computer crapped out lol.
  13. Question though, is it a HUSS model again or is it by a different manufacturer this time?
  14. And having ridden the Moser variants, they were a hot mess compared to the Vekoma variants. They were rough, and the stop / start of the cycles just ruined any suspense. I personally find the HUSS top spin's similar in that regard, they do a few flips and then they just stop for a bit before starting again. At least Wipeout kept doing things throughout the ride to keep the flow going.
  15. Maybe some radioactive shrimp from Walmart?
  16. From what I have heard it's because the KMG rides do not have a seatbelt / secondary locking mechanism. Which the ride actually does as each of the 2 hydraulic systems for the harnesses are 100% independent of each other. SA is the only state where this rule applies. It's a real shame as SA misses out on some great rides that are 100% safe.
  17. I very much doubt that Movie World would work with S+S again given all the issues they have had with Green Lantern over the years, and some of the issues originally with Batwing. I really hope they can keep Superman running in its current state, but I give it 5 years or so until they really should start looking at a replacement. As much as I'd like to see a LSM conversion when this time comes, I kind of think after 25 years something new would also (hopefully) be as good or iconic as Superman. That ride IMO really put Movie World on the map.
  18. I can neither confirm nor deny this
  19. The lighting looks great on the ride, I just really hope they have plans to do something with the backsplash in the near future as I feel it really takes from the appearance. But I'm just so glad to see it back up and running!
  20. There was a path back of house, and a door with a lock. Once inside the mountain there was a small fire corridor that took you into the booth.
  21. There was always a window, and you couldn't see into the booth from the ride when it was in normal operation unless you really looked for them. I got a written warning for that incident though from an ex park manager who was always very grumpy. Some people may know exactly who I'm talking about, shares a name with an ex wiggle lol. The other operators thought it was hilarious, and the riders did too.
  22. Now this is a total load of crap... absolute garbage procedure if you ask me lol. But I guess a station stop isn't as common as it used to be with the moving platform. I can tell you that from opening until I left the company in 2013 at least that an evacuation was never required from a ride stop as a general rule of thumb. However if you were to do an evac it would normally be a ride drain. Fire is a different story, we don't have time for that we just gotta get people off haha. I still have trauma from sitting in the lift room, involving a rather large huntsman... and me running out of there and accidentally elbowing the e-stop in the process! Good times
  23. From when I worked on Wild West Falls in the early 2010's, 99% of downtime was due to guest behaviour (i.e standing up on the turntable, or filming) when a ride stop would be initiated. Then when it came to restarting, the ride would chuck a tantrum and instead require a full evacuation. However like every ride, it occasionally had its issues but overall it was very reliable when it was in its original state. The new boats, station etc have pretty much destroyed the ride for reliability and capacity as well and honestly I kind of wish they would have just put it out of its misery. However we know that any replacement we would have got would not be up to the standards that the ride originally had anyway. In regards to the post about the pumps being shut off to do an evacuation, that was always the procedure. A ride stop normally could be reset and was used to stop the ride for a mechanical issue. Anything involving a risk of drowning (or water related) would be an emergency stop which automatically shuts off all the pumps. An evacuation was not required for a ride stop as the ride can be restarted (normally). But if the E-stop was pushed, the pumps would drain and it would instantly become a full ride evacuation.
  24. Good to know they are still doing that, just wasn't sure

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