DaptoFunlandGuy

I can't be stuffed trying to find the relevant quotes - but with regards to the single rider queue - i'm pretty sure I predicted that when we first found out they were putting one in. I don't think it was the right choice - parent swap on the other hand sounds like it's perfectly suited.

^^but making it mandatory for older attractions to be retrofitted with some sort of system would result in those attractions demise.

^ Yeah - the animal adventures thing I get because after the 'adventure' is over, they can't very well escort everyone from the park if they don't have a pass... whereas this ultimate ticket gives you access to fright night... so you're going to be sticking around, riding rides etc anyway.

The human side was (and is) intended to be the more sedate ride, intended for the lower thrillseeker who isn't game to ride Cylon. That was always the intention - to offer two different experiences to cater to a wider demographic. It was further shat on by their desire to make them dueling, resulting in many boring transitional elements on Human just so that there are some 'near misses' between the two trains. They sacrificed the quality of Human in order to achieve the necessary dueling effect, and to allow Cylon to be the thrilling ride that it is. Fact is - in my experience at both Singapore and Hong Kong - the majority of the asian market are more interested in photos with characters, and shows, and less interested in the big thrills. American operators knew this when they built HKDL and USS and so they pandered to the local market (HKDL nearly failed because they didn't offer the thrills the tourists were expecting) - it was however great fun to ride and re-ride revenge of the mummy in a park that should have had 2+ hour wait times across the board. I think Cylon would have been similar, had it been open.

^I'm not sure I understand what you're saying... In most cases, construction and operation of the rides is done by core personnel who live, work and own the ride (it's normally in the family). Sure they might hire on extra casual staff to help them out with big shows - but the roles they perform are usually non-critical, or completed under supervision. I don't think it's fair to relegate all the workers into a 'short-term, low-paid, poorly-trained' category. The issue with making sensors mandatory, is that they are an incredibly costly addition that isn't necessary if staff do their jobs correctly. Further - for testing purposes, you'd need to be able to override the system and turn those sensors off - and further if you have a malfunctioning restraint or sensor, you'd need to be able to isolate that sensor, or alternatively operate it without them - effectively defeating the purpose of having them in the first place (and chances are if it were painful to operate - most would disable the system anyway). What you're left with is a ride with a very expensive white elephant fitted to it, and a ride price even higher than the current ludicrous asking price in order to finance the additional equipment > nobody rides it > the owners go broke > no more rides for anyone. This isn't restricted to travelling carnival rides - many of our park attractions started life with certain safeguards in place - multiple buttons in various locations requiring operators to press simultaneously in order to start the ride - except the parks like to save money - and so they disable or otherwise override these multiple failsafes in favour of single person operation. (This DOES NOT mean the ride is any less safe!) Lastly - whilst a terrible accident, all official accounts have confirmed that: The deceased met the height requirement specified by the manufacturer of the ride The restraint system was still in place, and locked. So, in summary - none of the points you've made would have made any difference to the incident. You start by saying we shouldn't make too many judgments until the investigation is complete, and then proceed to bash what you perceive as incompetent operators, and then suggest that the current safety systems built in to rides aren't sufficient. Neither of which made any difference in this incident. Stop being so ridiculous.

Triple Vortex.... ? Triple Vortex Tripe? Triple Vortex Triple? Triple Vortex Tortex?

For $150 - My expectation would be that it would include admission.

Scroll to the top of the page - i'm pretty sure it's the sculpture posted earlier.

I'm pretty sure we've discussed previously why they can't just 'repaint' the slides. it's not paint. The colour is moulded into the slide piece. What they need to do is either pick colours that won't look as atrocious when faded, or go with something that offers better UV protection.

^...and as I said - they can just call for singles from the queue like they do with Batwing, Superman, etc. I envisage the Single Rider queue taking longer than the main line after about a month.

Does anyone else take issue with the single rider queue? I know they've started bringing that in where they can, and i'm a big fan of single rider queues for re-rides of attractions with a 2 hour wait... but since all the ride-pods are single seat - how likely are they going to need single riders that they can't just call forward out of the queue (like superman or batwing)

^it was kind of a no-brainer, after the obvious popularity of the Sydney installation...

Looks good, and most slides look like mum dad will be able to accompany them as well... just like MWJDS. I know its not what most of this community wanted, but the younger audience has been seriously neglected for a long time at WnW and MW... this serves to even things up a bit.

^do you have a source for saying it will be simplistic, or just your views based on a single visit?? They usually try not to obscure the scooby queue, especially coming into School Holidays this week until it is absolutely necessary. It's typically the last maze constructed as it is the only one within the park's 'daily use' space. As for the lighting - I'm sure whatever lighting is present is perfectly appropriate to the theme. Just because theres a truss there, doesn't mean every inch of it needs lights. I'll wait and see how it turns out, rather that judging it by it's progress. You seem to be forgetting that there is still two weeks until the event, which covers the holidays, and the parks can do amazing things overnight when there is nobody in them. Scooby's queue room has been divided many times for mazes, and the set up is well established. I would suggest they could pull the maze in there together with 2-3 days of solid work, so at present, the current state of the room isn't really indicative of a finished product. My estimate is they'll wait out the tides of school holidays and then throw everything at it a few days before they commence previews and the like.

Disney (and many other parks in the US) are quite efficient and effective with their bag searches. SFMM take you through metal detectors. While there hasn't been a 'terrorism' issue at these parks, there has been violence - and it would be quite easy for someone to get in with a few knives and hold an entire group hostage in a pre-show room or the like. Parks have to develop and adapt their own policy for their particular circumstances. SFMM uses metal detectors, Disney only bag searches? It's not just that Disney is in a "better area" than SFMM... it's also got a number of different birdlife to rely on which are very effective. Those saying it can't happen at a theme park - take a read of Tom Clancy's "Rainbow Six" to see just how easily it could be achieved.

Thats a nicely done little ad. Good to see them making an effort on bringing this event into the big leagues.

You're pretty confident they're going to open another ride next year then?

They'd better put some wire on top of those fence panels, or someone might try to jump over it and hurt themselves...

Thanks for the update Flea. I don't think many of us were expecting 'instant' work to begin on the site for anything else, but i'm glad they've tidied it up. If it's going to sit there a while, it'd be nice if the park would spent a bit on it - some turf, tables and chairs or picnic type umbrellas or the like - take some of the pressure off the main "eating area" for seating, especially for families that brought their own lunch. Hell - even if they put up a volleyball net, or a "water wars" slingshot attraction (upcharge$!)... just something to fill the void so it doesn't look like so much vacant space... until they're ready to build again. Of course it depends on the timeline - but if it's there for 12 months, they should improvise in the meantime.

The speed of construction has nothing to do with it. These guys set these things up over and over again. They know exactly what goes where, and in what order. The ride is BUILT to be put up and down in a short period of time. From memory - Taipan takes several days to be put together, but many of the smaller trailer mounted rides can be done in a day. Travelling versions are made to go together with pins and bolts held together with splitpins and lock pins. Most park rides are bolted together. That doesn't make them LESS safe. These guys eyeball every structural weakness week in, week out. I guarantee the parks don't get that up close and personal with the rides on such a regular basis. The article states that the girl's harness was still in a locked position, and whilst I don't want to encourage any speculation - the likelihood is she was too small for the harness (this isn't necessarily a 'height' thing - young girls can be tall enough to ride, but still skinny and flexible enough that certain ride motions can lead to them coming out of the harness)... as stated above, most likely a freak accident and nothing more.

I recall many years ago a fire started on the bush beast fan curve - they were replacing a section of track timber, and so had placed a plywood board between the rails to prevent them from falling through the middle - the ply was touching the metal rail and the heat of the day caused the ply to catch fire, which in turn started to burn the structure. It IS made of wood... and these things do happen.

I remember a time when the parks were on a 'several year' cycle. Everyone complained that they weren't doing anything new. We're just not suited to the 'blockbuster' that the American parks can achieve.

That isn't what you said and you know it.

The bottom of the lift hill wasn't touched - what are you talking about?

Also possible is that the park will modify the ride when major attractions are altered or added. Let's face it - they have movie studios, and access to special effects artists with experience in scale models, replicas etc. It wouldn't be hard to give the film school students a project of producing a scale replica of a new attraction. Scooby's current facade is quite large, but nothing says the addition of another attraction couldn't see the scooby facade shrink to make room for it... I'm with you on that flea, but black applied with a roller (to what was already black) as opposed to a detailed, realistic skyline inside a multi-million dollar casino shopping district would be much cheaper, and quicker, and require less maintenance. Perhaps when the budget permits, they might make some minor changes to lighting and whatnot that might make it a bit nicer, less sterile and 'warehousey'.