Spotty

I was allowed on Pandamonium, Tailspin, Claw and Motocoaster with blindfolds. Wasn't allowed on Hot Wheels, Giant Drop or Buzzsaw... so don't see how you had any issues?

And staff DO have evacuation drills on at least a weekly basis. When I worked at VRL each ride was on a rotation for an evacuation drill once the park closed (say for example... Scooby was on Mondays and Wednesdays, west was on Tuesdays, Superman on Fridays etc). It is one thing I will more than happily speak volumes of and commend VRL when I worked there, and that was the training. Just to be signed off on scooby I had 2x morning sessions of 3 hours just doing evacuation drills, as well as a whole day (8am - 6pm) of training with another cast member before being signed off to operate the ride as well as regular refresher days. IMO this licensing stuff is complete BS and isn't needed, constant training and monitoring however is and from my personal experience isn't an issue in the slightest at least with VRL. I can't comment on Ardent's training as I have not worked for them, but I'm fairly sure it would be pretty darn similar. Also, the main people behind the control panels are actually supervisors and as Greg Yong stated in a video that all of the supervisors have been in the business for at least 12-24 months. They are all trained as cast members on each attraction they are signed off on first, before being allowed behind the main controls so they know all the in's and outs. I can sort of see why a license could be beneficial for them... but honestly, with the right training (which they receive) it's still IMO redundant. Just another way for the govt. to make even more money.

I thought it was "chain links, fog machines and strobes - the experience" this year. Oh wait, that was 2006 at Dreamworld

Looking forward to trying out the beast when I go to the EKKA this year. And of course Skywalker. Might have to pop in and say hi

I think I did like 100+ rides on Superman: Escape on opening weekend. Back when they had 4 loaders, 2 unloaders, 2x entry hosts and a sorter... Most of the opening crew staff knew me by name... ah how it was to be 15

AusFun is TPA shows. Same unit as well, several years ago there was a trucking accident involving the Crazy Coaster. As far as i'm aware a few parts needed to be replaced but not 100% certain. After this the whole unit was repainted, but we only have the one unit in Australia

I will admit, I was very glad to see the operations side of things running very smoothly. Arkham had 2 loaders and a dedicated VR staff member. Superman was running 2 trains (which normally from after xmas holidays until Fright Nights it used to be 1 train operation only), Green lantern running with 2 loaders, sorter and an entry host. Same with Scooby as well. Staff were on the ball and despite a few technical difficulties (Scooby and Superman both went down on the Saturday) they were all doing a great job. Was happy that the rides were kept open till 6pm as well which made for some great night riding on Superman with no wait for the front row. Overall I thought the parade was alright, it was good to see so many roving characters around as well and for a first attempt it was good but if it becomes a yearly thing I would hope that the standard would improve over time. But for a first run, credit where credit is due

Would keep going i'm fairly sure. Lately i've been having the audio working approx 3/4 of the time on GL. Still wish they would get the audio going on Hot Wheels again though.

With Bermuda if i'm not mistaken during the construction of Jet Rescue they damaged the gas pipe that powered the fire effects. Considering i'd say they likely knew that Bermuda was going to be replaced soon (even a few years is "soon" in theme parks where they likely have plans years in advance) and the sheer cost of replacing it for a relatively short period of time didn't seem worthwhile to them. I guess it sort of makes sense given how much money Sea Viper / Corkscrew was costing to maintain in it's later years and they likely decided to keep that attraction running at whatever cost for as long as possible and sadly Bermuda suffered. Does anyone know if El Loco at Adventuredome has the audio working consistently as it would be a very similar system to what GL uses. Just wondering if it's isolated to just the lantern or possibly a crappy design by S+S

So... how long until the Richlands one closes next? As that centre is quite run down as well.

Wonder if this is one of the events that "Platinum Membership" holders get for free as with it you got 4x free night events per year. Might have to pop on down and speak to them as I haven't used any of mine lol

Yeah... no. Maintenance and possibly a computer upgrade similar to what SFMM did with Superman at the absolute most. There would be no point upgrading the LSM's / Track at all.. it wouldn't be a financially wise decision in the slightest.

Had audio today on Green Lantern, car number 3. First time in ages though that it was actually fully in sync (music stopping as you hit the brake run) and wasn't distorted / cutting out... From speaking to a few people I know, they are hoping to get it back up and running on all cars reliably after maintenance. I really hope so as I do feel it adds to the experience of the ride.

Not sure how Batwing could have been an operator messing with it... because the whole launch system is automatic from when the two operators hit the dispatch button. I know it can be ran manually by tech services to do each part of the launch sequence individually (rise, weigh, launch) but not under general operation. Also the audio can't be delayed from when it launches on purpose so would have been a glitch* *However operating Batwing and having that control would be damn entertaining... false countdowns are always good for scaring the living daylights out of people

I have done a bit of digging and I can confirm that there was indeed a Paratrooper ride that was at the park for opening. The unit in question is owned by Trindall's amusements (Brisbane based) and travels around SEQ. A close friend of mine was talking to him about it a few days ago and he informed me that it was there. Direct from the owner of the ride too. Surprised me as well, but there you have it.

I have not personally had experience operating Arkham Asylum myself, but from what I understand the only mechanical difference to the ride when it was refurbed was removing the initial brake run and replacing it with the magnetic brakes as currently seen. So I can neither confirm nor deny if this has been removed, but as it currently stands the ride is fully automatic from dispatch to unloading. As far as crossing the platform whilst the floor is dropped, if you did that you may as well be walking out the door instead of crossing the platform. As DjRappa has stated with Scooby Doo if an operator needs to cross the track if they are on the load platform they can hit a button which turns on a little green light above the main control panel. When this is illuminated no further cars will dispatch until it's manually turned off on the MOCC. A light also turns on under the track to make sure the staff member doesn't fall flat on their face.

Sadly the green room is not operational on weekends. I was there yesterday.

Wipeout has also had it's maintenance pushed back to the 24th of April now. Was originally meant to open tomorrow. Green Room is also not operating on weekends but opening on weekdays now.

Also found out that you can get the 1 day entry ticket for half price... and then upgrade to a season pass (till December) for an extra $4... Got my friend a season pass for $45. Was very surprised that they actually told me and encouraged me to do it. Very good deal!

I still find it funny looking at nearly every photo / video clip of the Gen 1 Enterprise as it seemed to be missing 2 cars. Wonder why this was the case lol.

I honestly call BS on that, I very much doubt they actually would have a law for that. Especially considering from a statistic standpoint the launch on Superman is much more powerful as far as G-Force on the body goes. I'd say you'll find, the faster the launch the more power it uses and considering how power hungry it is already... well yeah.

I personally didn't mind the speed that the newer unit ran, it was honestly nice and relaxing in the breeze. In saying that I have not ridden the original one and the only other Enterprise I have ridden was the one at Luna Park Melbourne (and the UFO at LPS)

The sensors monitor the positioning of the Escape Pod constantly and all it takes is a slight variable in the speed of the car etc for the ride to freak out and shut down. I know when it was the original tower it used to play up and was frequently doing this but as far as I am aware when it was upgraded to ToT 2 it had a major overhaul and it's no where near as common these days. To this day though, I don't know why they don't run it full speed unlike it's twin at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I've heard rumours of it being because Dreamworld didn't want to upgrade the system to enable it to launch at full speed more reliably (take that with a grain of salt). Because basically the faster it goes, the more room for error and hence making it unreliable. As far as the centre rail goes though, that's the first I have heard of it being used as part of the tracking system. I'm not saying it's not true, but i've just never heard of that myself. If anyone can confirm or deny that would be great.

Nice to see the old Power Surge signs on it

They had two enterprises, one was replaced in the early 90's I think as it was a maintenance nightmare. If you look at early TVC's for Dreamworld you can see the older model in the videos that is very different to the Meshio version that was with the park in the 90's - 00's