Spotty

Nice to see them actually getting a booth instead of an umbrella... Many days of soaked shoes to be had at the Carousel haha. And yes, where the control panel used to be was a pain for visibility. A mirror could only do so much.

I have also heard on the grapevine from a few reliable sources that the Monorail has had it's last run. Also, it's not uncommon for people to be multi trained in the parks. So just because this person currently states they work in GS, doesn't mean they don't work in attractions as well. I was personally hired originally in Food and Beverage at Movie World and was then transferred to operations but still did casual shifts in F+B when needed as well as being trained in Guest Services. It's actually very common at Village for it, and I was also trained in outlets at Wet n Wild and Sea World too.

I still get PTSD from Speedy's Taxis... nearly 10 years later haha. As far as the Zamperla catalogue of kids rides goes (Sam Train, Tweety, Taz Cars and Marvin) They opened in 1997 when the name was changed from Looney Tunes Land to Looney Tunes Village. The Carousel and Pounce and Bounce were added in 2007 when it was changed to Kids WB. Tweety had it's name changed from "Sylvester and Tweety Carousel" to "Sylvester and Tweety Cages" in 2009. This was done to ease confusion between this and the Carousel ride. The name on the control panel for Tweety reflects this.

While it's not the original green color which I think was the best color scheme, I am honestly really digging this new color choice. I am really glad that the current management are going back to basics a bit with the color schemes. It looks so much classier and less tacky than the in your face bright colors. I'd love to see the rest of the main street buildings get a similar treatment in the near future. It's really good to see the park spending the money on little things like this that make a big difference in the overall experience.

How about 2032 in time for the Olympics?

Scooby at a minimum requires the following staff: 1x Entry Host 1x Load 1x Unload 1x High Zone 1x Lift 1x Supervisor 1 or 2 to cover breaks. West used to require 5 staff before they got rid of the lift attendant at the top of lift 1. Not sure about now 1x Supervisor 1x Load 1x Unload 1x Lift attendant at turntable 1 (recently removed) There was never an attendant for both lifts during the time that I worked there, but I know before the refurb they had an attendant at the bottom of lift 2 (not sure how long that was a thing for). There was only ever a "monitor" for when a guest with a disability was on the ride. That way in the event of a ride evac that staff member could attend to that boat straight away to not delay an evac (same as Scooby). Also Scooby traditionally was one of the last rides a staff member would learn, due to the complex nature of the ride evacuations. Operations wise though it was honestly one of the easier rides. So I can see how staffing issues could very quickly cause issues if not everyone is trained on it. It was fairly common place for a roster to be 4 days scooby, and 1 day on another ride just to shake things up.

This... I got some serious Moulin Rouge vibes of that show. While I don't think the current one is perfect (it is a bit depressing if you ask me) it's technologically much better than all the others. If they can get the story that little bit better but keep the upgrades we could be onto a big winner with the next show.

I have recently had the fried chicken and chips, comparable to the new fried chicken that Red Rooster offers. You get 2x big bits of chicken and chips + sauce. Honestly, good on the parks for finally selling some halfway decent food.

A lot of the work could be done off site, and could be as simple as basically uploading a new video / sequence to the control system. I'm not sure how SV works exactly, but a company with as many rides built as Brogent would probably want to make it somewhat easy to do. I don't think it was down for very long at all when it was converted to Sky Voyager USA.

Thats what happens when you take most of the good high up operations supervisors from Village and put them at Dreamworld. Glad that the park has a competent team running the operations department finally. And it's really starting to show with their operations and staff morale as well.

At least if I ever work there again I don't have to worry about a huntsman falling on my head and accidentally bashing the e-stop when trying to get the spider off my head haha

Hmmm... I wonder why

Finally got to ride Steel Taipan today, walk on all day with 1 train operations (spinner). The ride really packs a punch, although I did notice a jolt when going into the backwards spike over the swtich track. I didn't try the spinning seat, but I rode in row 1, 8 and 3. Personally I found the back of the train to be more intense than the front and it's my prefered seat. I can't decide if I prefer DC Rivals or Steel Taipan more, as they are both very different in what they offer. I think I would -just- give the edge to Taipan due to the variety of elements the ride offers. I will admit, getting airtime in an inversion was certainly a strange feeling though. That barrel roll at the end is certainly a holy crap moment when your legs are slammed into the harness with quite a bit of force. It's truly a ride that Dreamworld needed, and I can't wait to ride again.

#Triggered I still have PTSD from the abuse from my days of being a Superman entry host (Not really PTSD... but some of the crap you copped... honestly, one of the easiest and hardest roles in the park for a ride operator was that. It's probably a lot better now the lockers are free though...)

I also put down the 15th Looking forward to riding, sadly I'll be at work that day

One of my sources (who has always been very reliable for the last 15 years) has confirmed to me that the Ride will be going to Gumbaya world, and will be undergoing an extensive refurb before a xmas 2022 debut. An official announcement will likely be made soon by the park though.

I'm going with the 15th as well, to tie in with the 40th Birthday

I have heard from a few sources that have stated that the ride was actually built by Meshio (same as the Thunderbolt) but this is not 100% confirmed

Least it's not Comic Sans or Papyrus

Because our parks have learnt to not buy rides that are mechanical nightmares. The capacity was garbage too, and the ride experience was incredibly uncomfortable. I'm glad that it's going TBH

Reminds me of the one that used to sit in the Superman top hat. Every time the brake fins lowered on the launch it would fly away... and once the train finished the ride it would fly back. Was there for at least 2 years... used to be entertaining when working batwing to watch it (Something had to entertain you... Batwing was honestly one of the most boring rides to operate. I actually preferred to work the kids area as it was variety!)

I wonder if Steel Taipan is going to have the awesome control panel chair like Blue Fire and Helix or not? I want one!

You were saying Scooby got a new control system, I have on very high regard that Scooby didn't get a new ride control system. It did receive an upgrade to the show control though. I am aware that West got a new control system in 2017 and is rumoured to be getting new boats as well. I never said that Road Runner didn't get a new system either. As far as I am aware the brakes on Road Runner have been replaced with magnetic brakes (not confirmed) which would have required an update to the control system. In regards to the 10 year overhaul, I've had a look into it on QLD Worksafe it doesn't require an upgrade of the control system. " Under AS 3533.3-2003 – Amusement rides and devices Part 3: In-service inspection, a major inspection includes attention to the following: structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and operational anomalies non-destructive testing (NDT) to an appropriate standard controls and emergency stops braking systems manufacturer’s safety upgrades and advice adequacy of safety instructions and manuals the viability of upgrading to the requirements of the latest standard [AS 3533.3-2003 Clause 11.5]. And Under AS 3533.3-2003, a major inspection involves: the disassembly of critical components of the amusement device and removal of paint, grease and corrosion to allow a complete and thorough inspection detailed visual inspection and tolerance checking of all wear components thickness testing as required to check for wear and corrosion non-destructive testing of all critical areas for signs of cracking or spalling due to fatigue or excessive stress a review of power, control, electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, as applicable to the device [AS 3533.3-2003 Clause 11.5]. So unless there was a major fault with the control system or critical issues there was / is no need to replace the entire system after the 10 year mark as implied.

Scooby didn't get a whole new control system added to the ride, it was a cosmetic overhaul and some theming changes to ensure that it met the new fire standards. Road runner got new trains because the ride was 20 years old, and a common complaint was that adults didn't feel that their children were secure due to the 1 lap bar. Hence the seatbelts were added as a temp measure until the new trains were ordered. At this point in time, they decided they may as well update the entire ride. I know many rides that have fallen victim to this new 10 year thing that has been implemented across the industry and it has NOT required a re-build of the entire control system, if you are able to show where it states that I am happy to be proven wrong. As far as cost cutting goes, I'm talking about recently by deciding not to do the work on Arkham. The parks have lost a lot of money due to COVID. They were looking at keeping Arkham going, but with the uncertainty still with the pandemic they have decided not to spend the extra money which is a fair decision given the rides age. It's not the choice I would have personally made, but it's the choice they have made to save money which is a given with the economic climate right now. As far as damage goes, towards the end of it's run there were certain areas that were being looked at more than others for stress in the track. I'm not at liberty to go into extensive details into the maintenance side of things, but those Kumbak trains did more damage than they did good. Several other parks have actually removed their Kumbak trains for similar reasons (Efteling did the same with Python, and replaced it with the much better Vekoma trains seen on Gold Coaster). Those cars ripped the crap out of the track on the Corkscrew at Sea World too.

As someone who worked on the ride fairly often, I can tell you that the new seats were actually heavier than the original LW rolling stock. The ratcheting system of the old harnesses is actually very lightweight compared to a hydraulic system that the new harnesses used. The 10 year requirement also does not apply to the control system as it was fully working and didn't need work. The ride has been closed due to cost cutting mostly, it does need some quite heavy work (as most rides approaching 25-30 years do) especially as it's very forceful compared to say the Gold Coaster who's track would be in much better condition given it hasn't operated as much as Arkham and isn't as forceful. Basically the government requires a full strip down of all moving parts on the ride, and high stress parts of the track (The entrance to the Sidewinder in particular) would possibly need replacing after 25 years. Movie World have decided that it's not worth doing, which is a shame because the SLC has a damn great layout, and with the work done to it and better rolling stock the ride still could easily have another 10+ years in it. Although in the last 2 years of operation it was certainly running very infrequently, I don't think for what they spent on the overhaul they got the best value for their money at all.