Spotty

The new Vekoma trains were available from at least 2008 onwards (Possibly earlier) The Great Nor' Easter at Moreys Piers got them installed that year. So before the Sea Viper trains were even installed onto the Corkscrew, however the plans may have already been in the works. @DaptoFunlandGuy As far as I am aware the new Vekoma trains are a whole new unit, designed to be much lighter. https://www.thecoasterkings.com/the-secret-of-freedom-seats/ Has a bit more of an in depth read on the seats. One of the plusses with these new seats is they don't require the floor to be raised / lowered which will slightly increase dispatch time too. I also am fairly sure they worked with the old control system (which works more than fine, and didn't need upgrading but it was when the magnetic brakes and the very sensitive individual harness control came into play) Village did look into them, but for whatever silly reason they went with Kumbak...

Arkham / LW was basically ruined the moment that Kumbak came in and did the overhaul on the ride. I would have thought they would have learnt with Sea Viper's horrible transformation and the amount of issues they had with the ride. Basically, Kumbak came in and patched over the original control system that Vekoma installed with the ride. This enabled individual seat unlocking instead of the whole train at once. This alone caused so many issues in the first 6 months or so of operation where it wouldn't be uncommon to see half the train out of action due to faults in the computer system. After a year or so, the faults became less common but it was still no where near as reliable as it should have been. Village should have gone with Vekoma for the upgrade from the start, but fairly sure they got a deal with Kumbak after the Sea Viper disaster. The trains were heavier with all the new running gear, and also caused extra wear and tear on the ride. Also being the 4th SLC to open to the public, it was not built as well as some of the newer ones. I would love to see the ride reopen with Vekoma trains, as honestly it was one of my favourite rides in the park not just to operate but to ride.

I hope we don't get another launched coaster for a while... and I think it would be kind of silly. The next coaster that Dreamworld needs in the next few years is something unique to Australia. As expensive as it is, something like a flying coaster or a 4D (FreeSpin or Axis) would really stand out. Best bang for your buck would be a FreeSpin by far, anything like a Skyrocket I think would be too similar to Buzzsaw.

16 weeks is a very long time for testing... maybe because it's a prototype. Normally most new rides only take 4-5 weeks of constant testing. If I'm not mistaken DC Rivals started testing late July, early August and opened mid September? I'd say if they are ahead of schedule, and providing COVID doesn't cause any issues we would be aiming for a late November, early December soft opening with maybe an official opening for Boxing Day.

Unless your pass comes with a fright nights entry (some of the early memberships do) you will have to buy the terror tour ticket and the fright nights ticket separately.

I think another week at least, just to really make sure we are ontop of things. At least all the cases in the last 2 days have been linked and in quarantine. As much as I'd love restrictions to ease off a bit, I'd rather another week now than end up with a potential situation like Sydney.

As an ex ride operator for VRTP I very much doubt that the operations team (front line) would know what rides are coming to the park more than a year before they are built. For example, Green Lantern opened December 2011, staff were not told what ride was coming until about 5 months before it opened. Lethal's retheme to Arkham, staff were not told about it until AFTER lethal had closed and the work was already beginning. Justice League opened September 2012, operations staff were not told what the ride was until around June 2012 what it was, and that was after construction had commenced and opening crew's for the ride were chosen. Sorry, but based on my knowledge of how the park does things (and many people on these forums can vouch for me) I very much doubt what your friend is telling you is accurate.

Just look at Twist Coaster Robin... that one had a very bad time!

So no more tooth chipper?

If you speak to the entry host at the attractions they are normally happy to take you through the exit to test the seat before queuing up to make sure that you fit. Alternatively if you speak to Guest Services they will be able to assist you fairly easily

Seems that Roadrunner is getting new trains...would explain the extra downtime. Taken from Vekoma’s Facebook page.

Probably some manufacturer from the Czech Republic most likely... pity it's not a Funtime one, but keen to see the travelling one when it arrives

Let's just say there was a reason it was nicknamed the "Green Lemon" by the opening crew of the ride... for the first several months of operation it spent more time closed than open. When it first opened they even tried (unsuccessfully) to run 6 cars on the track at any given time. Let's just say this caused lots of stacking due to loading procedures and the ride being way too short to need more than 4 cars on the track. This would often cause the ride to have a heart attack and shut down (much like Scooby does if it backs up too much) After about 6 months of them tweaking things they got the ride running reasonably well for a few years until it decided to yeet a wheel, closing it for a while. Once that was fixed from what I hear the ride ran pretty reliable until this year when it needed a part to be replaced. Which after nearly 10 years of operation is to be expected, it was just closed for much longer due to delays in shipment and manufacturing overseas. Having the ride not running for nearly 12 months it's likely to have teething issues for a few weeks. Although, I wouldn't personally say S+S (well their coasters, Batwing is pretty dang reliable) are the most reliable rides as far as far as most manufacturers go. I lost count of how many times in the first few months of it running, I heard the breakdown spiel played.

Honestly right now, I'd just be glad we even got anything with COVID happening. They probably didn't have much time to really plan a whole new event and are using things from previous events. And of course they would be running on a smaller budget... having several months of no income would certainly not be helping the income. Given the current state of things, I'm glad they decided to keep the park open longer and at least offer something different than what their everyday offerings are and that it was a bit better than what I am hearing Dreamworld up the road offered.

Is it bad that I kinda hope they make even more of a mess of it... Just to see if it's actually possible!

Funny thing is, Arkham was always one of the more popular rides in the park which is why they gave it a new lease on life when the refresh was done from Lethal to Arkham. It was tossed around at that point in time of actually decommissioning the coaster at that stage. They knew that upgrading the control system and the braking system to magnetic brakes would only give the ride another 10 or so years so. I think they were expecting it to last a few more years than it did, but we saw what Kumbak trains did to Sea Viper... so this was to be expected TBH. Even though they used the same Vekoma chassis, I have a sneaking feeling the new hangers etc were actually heavier causing excess wear and tear, which is exactly what happened with Sea Viper. Only difference is that Sea Viper was much older, and in a much harsher environment to Arkham. Honestly, I'm really going to miss it as it was one of my fave rides in the park and IMO the most intense coaster we had in Australia. Was also a great ride to work on back in the Lethal days, sadly I didn't get to work on it once it was retimed to Arkham.

I'm 6ft 1 and my shoulders say a big fat NOPE to Escape from Madagascar, same for the Giant Drop and The Claw... I can't do the seatbelt up due to my shoulders, the harness doesn't even end up touching my stomach! The old seatbelts they had a few years ago (Before the rapids incident) would do up just fine but now... not happening. Would love to see the Giant Drop get a refit down the track with the new gondola's and seats like Doomsday as the seatbelts on them are plenty long enough. The Claw would be a nice refit as well, but I don't ever see that one happening.

As an ex operator on Scooby I beg to differ, we always told larger guests and taller guests to sit in the back row as it actually does have more leg room than the front as your legs can slide under the seat in front of you. AFAIK they have actually lowered the tolerance on Scooby in the last few years as I know some people who are exactly the same size / build who could easily ride back around 2014 and now they suddenly can't ride at all. I also have a sneaking suspicion Rivals has also had their tolerances tweaked a little bit as well but not sure.

I mean... they could have used the Skyway cable like they used at Wonderland too

Just to clarify a bit further on this, the side panel where the hinge is actually can slide right off to allow a wider opening for a guest to slide in and out of the seat. Very handy.

That would explain it in Road Runner's case. They always try to have the blue train (the one with the disability door) cycling wherever possible and the red train as the second train. Honestly, I don't know why they didn't get the second train the same with the access for events like this happening.

Being an ex theme park ride operator for Village, I can confirm the training that we received is second to none when it comes to handling these situations. A good amount of training for each ride is actually spent going through the various disabilities and rider requirements to ensure things are done safely. This is on-top of regular training and refresher courses that they have provided. Please never be afraid or embarrassed to speak to Guest Services when arriving to discuss your needs and work out a game plan for how to enjoy your day the most. If your a regular as well they will often have your information on file so that when visiting you can just quickly pop in and grab a wristband that advises the ride operators what rides are suitable or not for your individual needs. The supervisors will do all the work so that the ride operators just have to have a quick look at the wristband to confirm things and just run through a few specific questions related to the individual ride instead of asking the many questions GS will ask. They are actually not meant to allow admission onto a ride without the wristband from Guest Services giving the all clear. And yes we are given the heads up most of the time so that we can make sure your day is as seamless as possible.

Superman with 1 train operations is lucky to dispatch 6 times every 30 mins, so fully loaded that's 240 a hour... totally within Village's capacity! If you have operators really on the ball and guests that actually listen you can maybe do 7 every half hour (very hard with 1 train and the crazy procedures village have)

Having operated a similar ride before (A Kamikaze) Looking at the video the E-Stop was hit within 1 swing and the ride immediately started to slow down so in this case the operator has done the right thing. From a full swing height an e-stop would take approx 3 swings to slow down to an almost stop in the home position. The brakes would be applied much harder during an e-stop than a simple ride stop or cycle abort. Also I heard someone allegedly saying they heard a ride operator state that they couldn't stop the ride as it was on a timer. Total BS as the ride is ran manually. I am curious to see what happened whether it was a mechanical failure, rider error or what has caused it. Here's hoping everyone involved ends up okay though.

They also brought POS trains that destroyed the track... Yes it required a bit more maintenance due to the sea air and the age of the ride, but I think if they hadn't replaced the trains with the Kumbak ones it would have lasted a while longer. I know the Python at Efteling got the same Kumbak trains in 2005 and then in 2011 were replaced with the Venom trains again like we currently see on Sidewinder. Interestingly most of the track was replaced and rebuilt by a different builder in 2018 as well. Wonder how much damage the Kumbak trains caused lol