Spotty

I can tell you right now 10 years ago a 2 hour line for Superman Escape during peak time was pretty much un-heard of. Unless the ride was running 1 train for whatever reason. When I was working there the line would maybe max out at 75 mins with a full queue building. However staffing was much better back then (2 loaders, 1 unloader, entry host and a sorter). It also helped having decent supervisors and staff to work with that actually encouraged and rewarded staff to increase efficiency (gift vouchers for the crew that could get the most numbers through a ride in a day, as well as other challenges). Oh how the times seem to have changed. I still remember I think the record that we got on Superman when I was working was on a fright nights with 2 trains was 32 dispatches in a hour and each train was fully loaded which is 640 a hour. You'd probably be lucky to get 20 - 25 dispatches a hour with 2 trains these days now. The rides are more than capable of the capacity, it's just the staff / management don't seem to have any sense of urgency. Ride reliability would play a -small- party in dispatch times but not much. I'm not even going think about the numbers that Wild West Falls could pump through with a good crew before the ride was butchered. (approx 800 a hour with 13 boats and a sorter). Scooby was similar too. I really hope that management wake up and realise how bad things are getting and do something about it sooner than later.

Some of the fairground models are alright (like the Zamperla one that is often seen at the major shows). The biggest issue was they went with SBF Visa... not exactly the best manufacturer around.

Given this was from 2019... fairly sure a lot of this stuff was actually cancelled.

That's really strange that there was no entry host at the entrance. They are meant to have one at all times unless they were behind the bench where the CCTV monitor was. Very odd.

Entry host didn't do their job then lol. Only thing that's meant to go through the unload station is mobility aids etc. Anything too big to sit in the car shouldn't be let past the entry host at all.

It didn't really reach the full 160kph much after the mid 2000's. It certainly was not going the full height for pretty much its whole life as Tower of Terror 2. It only ever really made it the full way up the tower if the car was only half filled, but even then it was very uncommon.

Damn it haha. Guess my time as a ride op made me too powerful lol

I have been a ride operator for both the major Gold Coast chains, as well as spent several years travelling at shows and carnivals as a ride operator. I can say right now it has its good and it's bad (just like any job). You can't really build a career out of being a ride operator, but you certainly can build a career in the theme park industry with it as a starting point. Several people I know personally have moved up quite high in the theme park and leisure industry, and some of them are even on these forums but I won't name them. I made some great friends, had some of the best experiences and the worst experiences of my life in the job. I'll mostly speak on my experiences at the theme parks moreso than the travelling side of things as they are both very similar but also very different at the same time. If you are wanting a fun job, and money isn't really an issue then I'd say apply for it. The pay isn't very good, but it's great for people who study and it can be very hard to get full time hours to pay the bills. When I was there I was on a PT30 contract (30 hours a fortnight minimum) and hours varied greatly. During peak times you would get 5 days a week, but in the off peak it could drop down to 2 - 3 days a week. Don't expect to be operating one of the major rides to start with as they are normally for the more experienced staff to learn. For example when I worked for Movie World back in the early 2000's they actually had an order for the rides you were trained in as an example. 1. Kids Zone, Batman Ride, Tunes Ride 2. Wild West Falls, Arkham Asylum, or Justice League 3. Batwing 4. Superman or Green Lantern 5. Scooby Doo I left before Doomsday etc opened, so I'm not sure where they would sit on the training or if it's even done like this anymore. Scooby was always left to the more senior staff, purely because evacuations are so tedious so they wanted more experienced staff. Once you learnt Scooby you actually got a $1 a hour pay rise as a "competency" bonus. However a general ride operator at Village parks won't actually be behind the main control panel (except for Scooby, as the loader is actually in charge of dispatching) you will just be loading, unloading etc. If you are good at your job, and management like you (Honestly, it was very much like High School when I was there. If one person didn't like you... good luck) you might get offered a relief supervisor position which are the people behind the main control panels who actually run the rides. Some of the management however in my time there were some of the most amazing, and passionate people and I'm glad that they have been recognised and built careers out of the place, and then there are some others that well karma got to them in the end! I'd say honestly, give it a go. It can be pretty easy for the most part, until it's not. And when it's not it can really test your patience and temper, you will see all kinds of stupid things that you never thought you would see. And some of the things that happened, I just shake my head and laugh about. Sadly some things I obviously can't talk about, but it's great to create memories and I say go for it!

Truer words have not been spoken... I'm half expecting Village to start marketing fire sensing eyes, that make the cars reverse back as one of the new experiences for "Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster Next Generation 2.0 - The worlds first wild mouse themed to a cartoon dog as part of the world class Spooky Island Precinct!" Coming soon to Village Roadshow Movie World. BRB applying for a marketing job with VRTP

Fairly sure it was extended to fit the ride in, but not certain. I wouldn't be surprised if after Rivertown is completed that Sky Voyager maybe gets a retheme. Honestly, once Rivertown opens the park as a whole would be pretty well rounded overall and I can't think of too much more they could really do (except for a decent water ride and maybe a dark ride depending on how Jungle Rush ends up). As a whole I really think Dreamworld is making the right moves, obviously there is still work to be done but overall the park is showing much more promise than it has in many years (and honestly since before the rapid's incident) and some clear direction as to where they want the park to go.

Sadly this is most likely the reason, remember the person that tried to sue Movie World for falling off a flower bed (despite signs saying do not climb in flower bed...) Yes, I think it could have been done a little bit nicer sure. But overall the whole area looks very clean, and I actually really like the way the 2 buildings either side of the globe seem to frame it. I really think this will change the whole front entry to the park once it's fully operational. All I can wish for is Sky Voyager's facade to be changed to match the rest of the area.

This will be after Christmas, so White Christmas will be early December, and Hooray for Hollywood will run from the 27th of December to the 21st of January.

"I wanna ride Flight of the Hippogriff" "We have Flight of the Hippogriff at home" The hippogriff we have at home...

Looking at the video you posted, I think it would be a bit too similar in sensation to The Wasp. Looks to have very similar movements. A Zamperla Endeavour IMO would probably be a better fit for the park. I wouldn't mind the Nebulaz coming to the park either.

I guess it depends if they decide to go the two cycle mode like Dreamworld did or not. I’m not saying it’s a bad choice by any means, it just wouldn’t have been my first choice for a ride at the park. It is good to see the park expanding though. Hopefully in the future we may see a thrill coaster on a similar scale to what Luna Park did with Big Dipper just to really make it stand out, especially with the olympics coming up in 9 years it’s the perfect time to expand and I think the park knows it.

Honestly, most of those rides I would now hope Aussie World doesn’t get. We already have several star flyers around, and with Ballroom Blitz I feel as though it’s not really needed. I also feel as though an Air Race isn’t the best idea with Serpent Slayer as well. The Aerobat doesn’t seem like a bad fit for the park however, the classic Enterprise rides are one of my faves so would be interesting to see how this compares. Although I think I’d rather a Zamperla Endeavour over this just for consistency in the ride cycle. A decent drop tower wouldn’t be bad either, but wouldn’t be my priority though. Will be curious to see what it ends up being

Aussie World have just posted this on their Facebook page. New attraction coming soon?

See, it would depend how it was done really. If it was just little highlights I think it would make it pop a lot more. Just as long as it wasn't over the top.

Sadly it will mostly just be for the night markets, unless the LED's they use are bright enough to be clearly seen during the day. I'm still reserving judgement until it's operational, it wouldn't have been my first choice still but it's by no means bad at all.

If they are by different builders probably not. Apparently the Aussie World one was different to the LPS one and the other travelling one that ended up in Indonesia. The Downunderland one was a steel one built by Alan Herschell. No idea where it was before Downunderland in the late 90's or where it ended up after. There was also the Chipmunk which was a Miler Wild Mouse that travelled before ending up in the USA as Tree Top Racers. If we had more info someone may be able to help.

Big Red Boat wasn't part of wiggles world until 2012 just as a FYI so in 2006 they would have actually had 23 rides

It's looking good, but I can't help but feel it's a bit too much white. Something like a cream colour or a pale yellow or something just to break it up a bit I think would look mint. I honestly loved the look of Dragons Flight at Wonderland or even the yellow used on Ballroom Blitz at Aussie World. Overall though, I'm loving the aesthetic but kinda wish the view wasn't so obstructed from the entrance. But I'll wait till it's finished to see how it ends up.

Doubtful, but which Wild Mouse are you talking about as there's been a few? The Luna Park one, the Aussie World one, the old one from Downunderland?

Oh, I'm sure they have the potential to be decent machines... just like the Break Dance ride that Luna Park Sydney had. But they just seem to run them on potato cycles at most theme parks (not just in Australia). It's almost like the theme parks are scared to run the rides at the potential that they can which is a real shame.

General rule of thumb (from when I worked there) is if a ride goes down during the day they will have 2 operators out the front and will rotate them every 30 mins or so to give them a break from the angry GP. If they know the ride will not reopen for the day, depending how busy it is they will offer staff to go home early. If it was off peak and adding extra staff to a ride wouldn't make a difference really. During peak times they would send you to another ride your trained on to help. Example if Scooby wasn't rostered a 2nd loader and you were at superman but trained on Scooby you could be sent there to help. But if it looked like Superman was going to re-open they'd send you back to get the ride ready. General rule was, if the ride crapped out big time after around 3:30 - 4pm they often would send all crew bar 1 or 2 home as they would know depending on the fault if it can be fixed. Also that's total crap about them closing the queue to get staff home, absolute BS. I get doing it for fright nights due to restrictions but holy crap. I remember the days of doing batwing in peak season. Queue closing at 5:00, and not leaving till 6:45 that night (despite my roster saying 5:15 finish). Annoying as all hell, but that's part of the job. But once again, funny that Dreamworld is seeming to be doing things so well lately. Guess that's what happens when pretty much all of the management in the attractions team and other teams are ex VRTP management. Well, they took the good ones at least and have very fond memories working with some of them too. Also, you had to work on a ride at least once every 3 months. If you didn't you needed to be retrained or do a refresher. You would normally be rostered the same ride for the whole day but each ride would have several positions. A typical roster could be for example with Superman: 9:45am start > Load 1 > 11:15 lunch > 12:00 Unload > 2:15 break > Entry till close. WBK you'd rotate through the kids rides + dodgems back in the day