DaptoFunlandGuy

the videos were actually streaming videos. they would not play unless they could contact the WLS website and download the video. they were great, but not agreat quality.

an interesting article. well written and compeltely unbiased. a good read from a good writer. well done Richard.

You're never wrong, are you Bus? Capitals are the only thing I don't use frequently on here. My punctuation has no errors. You, on the other hand, seem to have trouble comprehending the simplest of english phrases. For example - take a look at your last post - "Oh yeah make sure you replies are completely explicit otherwise I might not be able to understand what you mean. " Spot the problem... Stop being so damn pessimistic all the time. The ride is not going to reopen. This we know. We are talking theoretically about a target that should have been aimed for every day of operation. Ok, I haven't operated Space Probe. Whoopee. You have. Whoopee for you. Im going to end this thread as far as I am concerned right now, because if there's one thing i've learnt while being on these forums, is that no matter who is right and who is wrong, if Bus isn't right then no-one is.... well according to Bus anyway. Being that my proposal has never been tested, how can you say it won't work without trying it bus? No no, no need to answer, thats my point exactly. Arrogance and Ego is your problem Bus. Better step on it before it steps on you. "The Bus is now leaving for Primary School"

Do you think that there was more than one type of operator for Space Probe? No. if you read my post YET AGAIN, i say - train cast up to "operator level". my use of the term "console operator" further down was simply to clarify, and designate the "operator level" as being a level at which the operator can operate the console. not everyone has operated probe, and this was for their benefit, not purely for an ex-console operator of said attraction. Ok let me shoot some cannon balls through your '64' magical number theory. The sign out the front never had the correct information on it, for one the speed of 120 km/h was off by about 30 km/h. There was a WorkCover certificate at the ride that stated the speed at 93 km/h, last time I checked WorkCover didn't get things like the speed of machinery wrong. Ok - take your balls back bus, i wasn't quoting the SPEED of the ride, only the time taken to reach the bottom top. the speed may be wrong, yes. as i recall probe was intended to be another 1/3 of its current height higher, but due to flight plans and such it could not be built as high as intamin intended. with less of the tower to travel, it would not accelerate to the speed quoted by intamin, however this lower tower height would counteract the "time taken" to reach the bottom top. so shove those cannon balls up your zodiac. Next and your biggest hole, is when you say that it wouldn't dispatch with the OTSR up, I can tell you with absolute certainty that this is not true as I witnessed Space Probe operating with the harnesses up on several occasions. You then say it wouldn't dispatch unbalanced, another un-truth. It wouldn't dispatch with too much weight on each cabin, the maximum was 350kg although the sign out the front said 400kg. You could dispatch it with 2 big guys on one side of a cabin no problem, yes the maintenance guys didn't like that but it was still possible. ok. in this instance, i was wrong. i admit it, but bear in mind this still does not affect the timing of the ride, it actually supports it further. i made this statement to allow for loading delays, but since it can dispatch unbalanced, this further reduces my assumption of load delays. The button next to each cabin was not a dispatch button but an 'enable' button, basically if you weren't going to use a cabin you didn't enable it. ok. so it seems if someone is writing for wonderbus, they need to be COMPLETELY EXPLICIT. my statement should have read (and does, but is a little obscure) loaders jerk four OTSR's, give the cabin 1 (or 2 or 3) all clear, and the CONSOLE OPERATOR hits despatch. You are kidding yourself if you think that there were only 2 or 3 complaints in a day, working in the department you did you should know better than that. im not discussing every single complaint, what i am saying is that if the operation went as I had stated, a lot of complaints would be eliminated simply by removing the cause of these complaints. a fast and efficient load team, with fast cycles and fast moving queue lines keeps guests happy, therefore reducing complaints. what i said was OUTSIDE THE SCOPE of complaints about delays etc, there would be few. most complaints would generally be directed to a super, or guest relations, as opposed to an operator. Last but not least you 768 calculation is flawed, why did you multiply the number of passengers by the number of seconds taken? It should be number of passengers multiplied by the number of cycles per hour. ok - here we go 12 passengers every 64 seconds. 60 minutes in an hour Cycles = 56.25 per hour Total Passengers per hour = 675 it is still over the 600 you were talking about, and still quite realistic given the statements posted previously. there are two requirements for this to work: 1) guests enough to keep queue line long enough to keep a steady flow into the pre show area. 2) operators with the attitude and dedication to aim for that capacity each and every hour. my math was a little out, the idea was still sound. Do you want to continue this argument? Because I am more than happy to as I know what I am talking about on this subject. But please feel free to keep trying. yes. please continue bus. the majority of the "holes" you shot in my post were simply due to the fact that I posted in language you didnt fully comprehend. The Bus is now leaving, permanently.

No Bus... read it again. i said they should train more people up to operator level, and they should also improve the treatment and morale of the staff to encourage them to stay - as in long enough for them to become a console operator. See - you're doing what i love to do, grab numbers to prove a point. Now heres a few bullet holes in your theory of 95 seconds. As quoted on the fact sheet sign out the front of probe, time taken for the gondola to reach the top was just over 20 seconds (photo anyone?) drop time was 4 seconds again according to the sign, but im not going to be pedantic over 1 second. so so far we have 24 seconds. now the catch wagon begins descent the moment the cabin touches bottom. its automatic. and with operators at peak efficiency, they can have the previous group cleared of the launch bay, and have the next group beginning to take their seats. so ill grant your 30 second catch wagon timing, as I have no other information to go on. so thats 54. now if there is one operator per gondola, the preshow cast have already prepared guests with loose belongings and all the rest, and another operator on the console ready to despatch as soon as all 3 operators have given "all clear". now probe will not dispatch if a OTSR isnt down, and neither will it dispatch if the gondola is unbalanced. so essentially all the operators have to do is give a jerk to four OTSR's to make sure they're locked and give a "cabin 1(or 2 or 3), clear" and hit Despatch. so on the outside, ill say that from doors to despatch its 40 seconds, now take off your 30 second catch wagon timing... thats another 10 seconds. so by my calculations, thats 64 seconds from despatch to despatch. if the operator by the waterfall does their job in measuring height limits, and the preshow operators do their jobs for loose belongings and all the rest, then i foresee only 2 or 3 complaints outside of that scope for the whole day which would at most add another 60 seconds to one despatch. so you loose 3 minutes in complaints etc in the day. 64 seconds x 12 Passengers = 768 per hour cast turnaround and breaks etc would be handed over only during despatch and unload, a total of 24 seconds or so, which is plenty of time to handover one position to another op. defense rests...

look at the time of our posts paul. now think about how long it would have taken me to do that. i started typing that before you or Joz replied.

Do you think that just anyone was trained to operate the major rides? no. Most of the staff that operated Space Probe worked there for at least a year and had proven themselves as competent operators on smaller rides. It's like driving. You don't learn to drive in a B Double truck do you? No. You learn in a car and work your way up. this i know. i am aware of how the system worked, what i am saying is they should have trained more staff up to the "operator" level. perhaps improve the morale and treatment of the operations staff, so staff actually stay long enough to make it to that level What's the point of having a staff member at the entrance to the tunnel if there are 4 or more groups in the tunnels? to control the amount of people in the tunnel. ever queued up in those tunnels when they are CHOCKA BLOCK FULL on a hot day? its not pleasant. the airconditioning cannot cope with a full tunnel. in its first year or two of operation, the queue controller outside the tunnel kept guest comfort under control IN the tunnels, also doing height checks, and when you were allowed into the tunnels, you would run through them - just like they did in the first tv ad they released. it was part of the preshow theming idea. What you have said proves my point about redundant positions. You say that there is plenty to do and there is no time to talk, how long do you think it takes to write '12' and look at 4 monitors? these were examples. theres plenty of things cast can do to occupy themselves. and a little talking doesnt hurt and won't risk safety. The operator should have been watching the cameras during the cycle but remember that most people have to ability to look and talk at the same time. Now look at the time from dispatch to unload, it's more like 60 seconds than 30. Yes the pre-show person is busy all the time but what about the other 2 or 3 in the launch area? Are seriously trying to tell me that you or anyone with the ability to speak would not do so? what im trying to say is that the interaction between the cast that WOULD occur in this sort of situation would not cause a safety issue. but the importance of having this many cast on the ride is to ensure the most efficient operation, and im not talking price, im talking capacity. i know a lot of people who used to operate who used to talk in hushed and reverant tones of a magical number that probe was capable of handling per hour. the 6 cast operation was the only way to reach this magical number. now im not saying EVERY DAY requires 6 people. our initial discussion on this was in regards to OHS. having 6 competent, trained operators on probe who could rotate between all 6 positions would satisfy the ohs obligations. lesser cast could still do this, but a one or two person operation is just not right for probe... ever.

and i just realised i love making hypothetical situations on price and capacities etc. i make long long long posts rattling off figures... i need to stop that. oh well.

ok so the students pay 25% of full price. so its one full paying customer for every 4 kids. this is still better than nothing, and bear in mind that the students generally get to school roll call etc, then jump on a bus and head off to the park. easily 10am or later by the time they get there, and they're only there until around 2pm... so we're talking 4 hours. cut 20 minutes off for the periodical roll calls, organising, and of course making sure everyone is back on the bus before it actually leaves. so they pay $10 for under 4 hours of unlimited rides. add on top of that - merchandise, photos (this is in general, not just luna), food, drinks, skill games.... most school kids will have more than $10 to spend at the park just on this sort of stuff. food, drinks and merchandise are VERY profitable. 600mL bottle of coke? costs about 90 cents. charged? $3 or more... CHU-CHING french fries and a burger - AND a post-mix coke... now the post mix costs about 2 cents a cup. fries? lets say about 10 cents for a cardboard cup's worth, and a burger? well.... not much. so all in all lets say 40 cents total. sell price? well lets take my recent trip to QLD - meals on average about $7 or so. believe me the park is making its money, and its better to offer 75% off ride ticket price, which on face value is a bargain, but its better to despatch a coaster train with a full passenger load than with 4 german backpackers and an out-of-work bum. operation cost is the same, but more bums-on-seats means more money in the pocket. merchandise? ok. lets pick - a t-shirt with the latest ride printed on it with cool graphics. printing on mass production? $2, shirt? $1 - total - $3, sell price? $29.95. trust me - teenagers are the prime market for most theme parks. giving a group of 200 teenagers a 75% discount, and then milking the piggy bank for every cent they own for extras that cost barely nothing - makes the park profitable, rather than unprofitable on a slow day. the ride op complains about the discount? - bus i agree with you - they get paid no matter what, and it will bring them back with their friends and families at full price... but what that particular ride op doesnt realise - is that the park has made this decision to make money. without money, they can't operate, or pay their staff... and that ride op is out of a job because another park is closed and considered unprofitable. you tell me that ride op is right...? i dont think so.

ever hear of a "standby rate" at a hotel? bottom line is it is better charging cost price for your services than nothing. hypothetical figures here- say it costs luna park $1000 a day to run a ride. this includes electricity, maintenance, staffing etc. now lets say a typical weekday gets an average of 200 people on the ride. now i dont know how much each ride costs or anything like that, so say its $2 a ride. now thats $800. by operating this ride for the whole day, the park loses $200. so if they bring in a school group - say year 7 from a high school, and the whole year comes - at my high school it was about 150 - 200 kids. so if luna charges the high school kids at $1.50, and teachers free, its a great deal for the school, and luna, because 200 kids paying $1.50 for a ride each is $300. so by dropping 50 cents off their price, the park makes a profit of $100... once again before people start spouting off figures... i said they were HYPOTHETICAL

"takes a deep breath" ok - bus i disagree that my department was the worst when it came to attitude. it all comes down to how the cast approach their positions. regardless of the department you are in, you have to have the correct attitude. i am not talking about individual departments, i am saying cast as a whole needed a different attitude. besides if you're saying that my department had the worst attitudes, then you're saying that i know better than yourself or anyone else in other departments just how hard it was to maintain the right attitude on stage... and i could, so whats wrong with everyone else? so on the subjects you've talked about bussy... staff each ride with operators qualified to perform ANY task on that ride. as far as high-staff levels on space probe for example, i recall in its first year of operation, Space probe 7 operated with 5 or more cast. 1 - at the queue line next to the waterfall 2 and 3 - in the pre-show entry room 4 5 and 6 - despatch room, operating, checking harness loose belongings etc. now 4,5,6 communicated with 2 and 3 using an intercom system built into probe's tunnels, but generally the ops could talk to each other through the side door to the pre show room, and basically so long as they filled the preshow room as soon as it was cleared from the last group, theres no delay there. number 1 was generally in contact via a 2way radio, however common sense would dictate that as one cycle was completed, they would let another 12 (or so) people into the tunnel. they generally kept about 4 cycles in the tunnels before the preshow room anyway, so theres no delay in guests walking through the tunnels. as far as losing concentration - its all about their attitude towards their job at hand. 1 - has no one to talk to. 2 and 3 are generally always in the presence of guests, and need to be talking to the guests about preparing loose belongings, which way to proceed when the door opens, all that sort of thing... they're never really by themselves to chat idly. and as far as 4,5,6 - well... their only idle time is the time between despatch and unload. thats what... 30 seconds tops? 20 seconds up, 5 seconds wait and 3 seconds drop.... this time could be spent - a) notifying number 1 to send more people via 2-way, monitoring the surveillance cameras and the ride displays... im sure theres plenty of things that can be done - HEY what about adding another 12 to the tally of guests on the ride! rather than guess at the end of the hour, keep count! im sure you can come up with more ideas... but thats the point i wish to make....

a good point Joz. i wasn't thinking morale there for a moment but rather a quickfix to an ongoing problem. positive reinforcement is the correct option, but there are still staff there that do not respond to positive reinforcement either - again as i said - there just for the paycheck.... this is the "chaff" in the crop that would need to be culled, and it is an unfortunate but necessary part of the process. a worm in an apple barrel is only going to produce more rotten apples. You can't stick someone out of view of the guests and just expect the problem to go away because you hide it. a person with a bad attitude should never be hired to work in a theme park but if they are, and they do not rectify their attitude, they should be culled if they are having a negative affect on the rest of the cast, or the guests. as far as enthusiasm - i can't speak truthfully over 4 years like Dj did, but i can truthfully say that in the 2 (or so) years that i was at wonderland i always chose my attitude before i went "on stage". I used to keep a few funny thoughts in my head, and before i walked through the "barriers" between on stage and off stage, i would always think of one of these thoughts, and put a smile on my face. even if i was hot, cold, wet, sore, thirsty, hungry, busting to use the loo, one of these thoughts would make me crack the biggest smile and it never failed. something else that never failed was going to see Tony and Juleen while on my break. that did just the same....

Yes... yes i have. hear hear, i wholly agree. I HAVE worked at a theme park, not employed to do rides, but every part played in a theme park is equally important to keep the atmosphere around. I was in retail and games, i did vocal coaching and microphone technique for the spielers on the microphones, both in games AND attractions. i was also a photographer for the shows, and a retail attendant in some of the outlets as well. the bottom line is the majority of staff employed in theme parks are not there to enjoy themselves, they are there for a paycheck, and THAT is the problem with the theme parks in australia. the biggest problem is that they can't fire them... not because they aren't keeping up the atmosphere, but because if they were to attempt to dismiss every person who wasn't keeping up the atmosphere, they'd have a lot of staff to replace. i suppose a periodical culling, a "mystery shop" style standard that would do several visits on the park, each cast member would get points for doing the right things, and those with the lowest "performance review" score would be put on warning... next time round they're gone, and they could be hiring new staff with the right attitude before the old cast is gone. if someone came to you and said "this is the job i employed you for. you're not doing it to standard, last warning and you're gone.." you'd pick up the act. i see a lot of ride ops who dont or didn't give a damn about the atmosphere screaming thats unfair, but that IS your job! Mc Donald's employees have specific requirements, one of which is smiling. Disneyland - well.... find me an unhappy cast member there! point is that the whole idea of the theme - nothing works without the cast... the performers... the actors in the show...

whenever i type a long post in the forums, i always select all and copy the text before hitting post. if its a VERY long post, when i complete each paragraph, i copy it, before starting the next one. if something happens (like the forums used to just lose my post if i had been typing for too long), i just paste and keep going..

i dont doubt that things get more expensive... i dont believe entry prices would not increase... what i was saying was that in 85 when wages were $6, entry prices were $22. entry is now close to $50, and wages are now close to $15 i also agree to the whole adding new rides thing. in my initial post i did say 4 new rides in 4 years. i also said it was no longer a theme park. they lost it in the last 5 years or so. i agree it fell behind, hence the reason why i am talking about bringing back all the theming, costumes etc. yes dreamworld is growing, adding new rides etc, and thats mainly what wonderland did wrong, but one thing DW doesnt do is manage its capacity (ducks for cover on that comment) so Dr Teeth... i think you mis understood my post.

bus you have answered my questions with more questions. i didnt say that the ride ops had to wear elaborate costumes that posed an OHS risk. I said that they could wear something that still fitted the theme without posing a risk. im not saying dig up the dusty old remnants of costumes they had back then, i meant go back to the themed costumes. design new ones - ones that don't make the staff uncomfortable in hot weather. As far as the pay rates back then, so were the gate prices. gate prices at one point were about $22. ok so the pay rate has doubled.... so has the gate price... that cancels each other out. if everything was done the old way nothing would progress? "creating memories, 1985-2004"... thats progress... perhaps the old way was the better way? im not saying it IS the RIGHT way... im just saying that perhaps had it been done rather than do what sunway did, it WOULDNT have closed. and correct me if i am wrong, but as administrators of wonderland, Sunway's board of directors could be considered "Wonderland Management" ? couldn't it? i refer to the decisions of Sunway as being the new way. what was done by the previous owners of the park is what i consider "the old way" no, i can't supply accurate or even speculative figures on daily attendance in the periods of 1985-1990 and 2000-2004, but it doesnt take a brain surgeon to note that between 1985 and 1990, bush beast running two trains, one main operator, one brake controller at the rear of the platform, and two loadunloaders, had a queue that ran all the way back to the main "bush beast" sign. now take any average day in operation for 2000-2004, and note that one operator running one train got you on the coaster within approximately 4 cycles. look at the lengths of the queue lines that were built for bounty, wizards, dragons, taz, endeavour, and snowy. i guarantee in the period of 85-90, these queues were ALL utilised. pick your average day in 2000-2004, and you would rarely go past the first line, of what was generally 5 or 6 lines. that attendance speaks for itself. so ok you wanna do some calculations? lets say each line of a queue holds 30 people. present day prices of entry (for arguments sake say $50), times 30 people = $1500 now lets go back to attendance of 85-90 - say 5 queue lines times the same price? = $7500. now while these figures are obviously not as accurate as they should be, they give a fair idea of the difference between the "OLD" way and the "SUNWAY" way.

i beg to differ slick. toboggan style coasters are not connected to the track but are still coasters. i think if asked to define it, i would say it were a vehicle that follows a track that is not mechanically propelled for the entire journey. eg: it requires an initial application of energy, to give it enough speed or energy to make its way through the rest of the track and back to the station. i see a million corrections coming on from others who disagree, but thats how i would describe a roller coaster.

ok - so the costume thing was probably just reminiscent of my first days at the park. and yeah ok - admittedly ride ops wearing that sort of thing isnt practical.... but the general street cast - games and retail ops, cleaners etc could wear the more elaborate outfits with ops wearing something more suitable to their position, while still fitting theme. excepting the costumes, i think everything i said was quite sound. you talk of cost inefficiency. but the question i would like to raise is - when wonderland cut corners, operators and multiple exit gates etc out of their rides so they only required one or two people, what was the average attendance? now go back to 1985 - 1990, before all of the cost cutting measures were put into place... what was the average attendance then? now, take the 1985-1990 attendance, and charge it at today's ticket price. how much MORE money is the park going to make. primary reason? it was better the old way. and i can prove it. talk to anyone who isn't a DIE HARD theme park fan. someone who generally just would go once a year if that... ask them of their experiences at the park say, in the last 3 years of operation, compared to its first 3 years of operation (give or take a year or so on either side). from EVERYONE i have spoken to over the years the resounding response was always very similar to "wonderland used to be good, now its crap" or something similar. the one thing wonderland abandoned that hasn't been abandoned by sea world, movie world, and a lot of the great parks in america is its care for its guests - and this care is comprised of - happy staff, and lots of them, a true-to-life theme, that makes people believe that for 7 hours or more per day, they really are in a different world, where happiness, fun, laughter and all that joyous crap are true. yes, we live in a different world. a world of terrorism, and violence, like nothing back in the 80's when wonderland first opened... I have been VERY fortunate to have visited a number of parks in the US, and i can say, particularly, of Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, and SF Magic Mountain, that the high staffing levels, and high staff quality, as well as high quality theming really make you believe you are in another world. that you have escaped everydayland. that was one marketing campaign wonderland just didnt have the balls to back up. i dont think those ideas are a step backward. i think it is precisely these options which the management of wonderland decided not to take, that lead wonderland backward and inevitably to its close in the end. show me how I am wrong there...?

i'd close billabong grove, and sundowner theatre, and move HB LWL section here. leave zodiac where it is for the traffic exposure, purpose build a venue suitable for Tony and Juleen to continue, or perhaps just build sundowner walls and a roof to make that an indoor theatre. i'd keep Bush Beast, completely refurb it inside and out, and paint it to give it better protection from the elements as well as make it stand out more to the M4. i'd bring in over the period of 4 years two steel coasters of varying design, a flat, and a tower style ride. i'd put more into operations, to keep staffing up and queues down. id increase entertainment cast. around 2001, entertainment cast also doubled as the cast for tony and juleen. this took almost all entertainment out of the park for about 2.5 hours every day, which meant nothing of a non-mechanical nature was there really to entertain the guests unless they went into a show. the entertainment cast that weren't in millennium magic, were part of action man... i'd make snowy's station revolve again (just cause i love it that way), i'd bring back Scooby's Silly Stix, Bam-Bam's ball bash, Judy's Jetliners, and the paddleboats (i believe engineering still had some of those lying around somewhere). I'd have $5 after 5pm again and it'd be every night during spring and summer holidays, plus every weekend. in off peak times, from may to august, i'd only open on weekends and school holidays, except the wildlife park, which i'd keep open every day just for the asian tourism market. i'd bring the tooheys pirate ship back into the lake, and start the pirate show all over again. i'd bring oracle back to stage the space probe show again. i'd give demon a preshow, introduce a simulator style ride (batman style). i'd bring a flume in - not fred flintstone style... im talking bermuda style. i'd return the park to being a THEME park... no... for the last 5 years, it WASN'T a theme park. cast would wear COSTUMES, not uniforms. goldrush cast in olde style bodices, skirts, breeches and braces. they'd be in theme, ALL THE TIME. cast would be there as much to keep up the theme as they would to operate a ride or make a hotdog or take a photo. if they couldn't keep theme, they can't keep a job. more characters... all the time. photographers out in front of the gates... taking photos for those little viewfinder keyring things that you picked up at the end of the day.... every day... flags all over the place. not wonderland flags, but flags to set the theme... for those who knew "kevin" and saw his book from 1985, international village (botany bay for you wonderland virgins) had "king arthur" style flags everywhere. as far as rides, with the exception of HBLWL which i would move to billabong, all rides would be in there 1990's positions. i say 1990's positions, because some rides relocated early after opening - redback spider, tassie devil and endeavour are examples of this. i'd bring back themed music depending on the world one was in. 911's Wonderland is ok, but walking through goldrush listening to click go the shears was the ultimate. on the subject of goldrush, i'd bring back ned kelly's getaway. i'd buy the HB license again, i'd turn the outback restaurant back into captain cook's restaurant. endeavour would go back to 2 bridge operation. tassie would have two gates. snowy would have 4 ops plus guardtowers. dragons would have two gates, wizard's the same thing. and everything back to its original spec of operators. probe's preshow would be queue controlled, like it was when it opened. zodiac would operate on two queuelines. on that note, i'd put an escalator up the hill to zodiac. the entry to the wildlife park at dodgems would be open during theme park operation days. basically, with the exception of the new stuff, i would return the park to the way it was between 1985 and 1990. given a 10 year plan, i would also put in a marine park. on top of seals, sea lions, dolphins, ski shows etc, i'd be getting an orca as well. yes i know this competes with sea world, thats the point. i know the distance from the ocean complicates the issue, this would be overcome. finally, i'd run for mayor of blacktown, just so i could push through the DA to have an accomodation complex resort conference centre, with golf course etc built. essentially, with water park and accomodation, there is nothing that the big 4 on the gold coast have that wonderland doesnt and thats the biggest problem wonderland had. there were always plans to build accomodation there, but blacktown council always vetoed the plan, with rooty hill rsl and others complaining they would lose business. what they didn't understand was that it would only enhance the tourism in the area thus requiring more accomodation. but anyway... thats my dream. oh and one more - a dark ride coaster - space mountain scooby spooky coaster style. so yeah... not gunna happen, but thats what i would like to do...

on this topic Richard, as far as linking to "other sites", what sort of sites do you mean? i mean, frequently, posts list links as "sources for stories", or to back up information presented into the forums - eg - check out what i mean at rcdb.com etc. can we clarify what sort of sites are allowed and what aren't? or have an "allowed" list rather than writing to you to get permission to post a link to a news article from screamscape?

Joz - as i said - the bounty should be refit with new harnesses. Warner have a reputation for adequately staffing their rides. WL staffed bounty with one op, which is why it averaged a cycle of more than 5 minutes. With warner at the "helm", staffing could be adequate to turn the cycle around in under 5 minutes. and think of all the extra money they could make by placing nets under the ship? lol. Paul - the park i was referring to was WL. Bounty throwing a tyre mid-operation is definitely not nice to hear.

Either you queenslanders have got it good rabid, or you haven't been to the movies lately. an average Hoyts ticket down here in sydney is $14.90

this was actually in a block of sound stages. the one on the corner of the block was a concrete slab, the slab was raised above street level. at one end was a corrugated steel structure about ten metres square and probably about 15 metres high. in front of it were a few (5 x 5 square or so) square concrete footers that came up off the slab by about a metre. the rest of the slab (say 20metres by 20 metres or so) was flat. it definitely wasn't, but it LOOKED like a theatre setting - the corrugated area was a stage, the footers were the seats... thats kinda how it looked. it couldn't be, because its too small, but its profile was definitely of that look.

why not Joz? Bounty is a kick ass ride. apart from the operator's complaints about getting spat on constantly, and its wayyyyy better than that dinky little huss ship they have now... i remember being in the park one day and hearing a tyre blow out. oh boy that was loud...