DaptoFunlandGuy

Say it with me everyone...

The only thing GD needs is what they do every night - winch the catch car to the top of the tower so the rope doesn't bash around in the wind. The two attractions are very different structures.

Remember that the initial closure was done very suddenly, which points to an unplanned event necessitating closure. So they wouldn't have commenced work immediately. Chances are the majority of the time it's been closed has been awaiting new 'things' from various suppliers \ manufacturer. The update videos they have posted have shown a lot of stuff is getting changed, and they're no doubt very close to being ready to reopen, but again - much of the time it's been out has likely been a waiting game.

Like he said, they're wrong. We've seen the carpark entirely inundated, not just little patches of the creek. And this event is likely to be worse than that. Yes, Trident has tie down points surrounding it and is intended to stabilise the tower in strong winds.

Kudos sir - the atmosphere is so much nicer than Hot Tomato's top 40. Would love if you could share the full playlist as not everything comes up in Shazam.

Yeah I don't think there's any wisdom in anything (show, theme park, or any other event) going ahead in the face of a cyclone that has inched closer to the gold coast by the hour (this morning's track map has it somewhere over southern brisbane \ logan, whereas yesterday it was northern end of Bribie Island). Just because village made the decision earlier, doesn't make dreamworld late. they both made it in advance of the system's approach, and did it at a time where the data made sense. My organisation advised yesterday afternoon that all our offices in SEQ would close today. I've seen some private schools and bus companies also close today - however public schools remain open. I've seen a lot of people crying foul over schools staying open but there's many critical workers out there preparing for this event that wouldn't be able to go to work if their kids weren't at school. Today's forecast has wind and rain, but nothing is forecast outside 'usual' summer storm parameters, so schools being open today makes sense - however i've no doubt in my mind they'll be closed tomorrow. A lot of other things will probably announce closures today, and the disaster press conference today is probably going to have a lot more information now that the system tracking is close enough to reasonably predict landfall location. Wherever you are - stay safe. Your family comes first. possessions can be replaced, but you can't. Don't enter floodwater - even if your 4x4 is modded to the max. Take the time today to secure anything outside that could potentially fly away (and remember that the winds are a lot stronger so heavier objects can fly too), stay inside, away from windows, and don't go outside when the wind stops - you may just be inside the eye. Wait until you've confirmed with official sources that it has passed. Don't run generators in enclosed spaces. boil tap water before drinking until declared safe by water authorities. Turn on location services on your phone, and tag your location on social media posts. If you need help with flooding or storm damage, call the SES on 132 500. If anyone's life is in danger, call 000.

Considering village's staunch opposition to closure in the face of a pandemic, I will give credit where it's due and applaud them for being so proactive in making the call ahead of time to close the parks. I've no doubt Dreamworld will do similarly - it is the smart thing to do. There is a lot of complacency out there - a bunch of folk thinking "oh it won't get this far south" or "it won't come this far in land" and these are the people who grew up in SEQ and have never seen a cyclone this far south. ...and on the flip side the amount of people flipping out and buying up all the "milk sandwich" supplies is ridiculous. Be prepared, not panicked.

Best thing that they could get would be management by Miral group.

The thing is the town isn't what it once was. I doubt the council will spend up - its a sleepy little seaside town - rampant with petty crime and vandalism. We have family in the Coffs region so will always be stopping, but the bypass will still save us time going through the main strip at 60. The banana feasibly could be a stop, but rather than go through town, we'd take the exit at korora and double back if we wanted to do that. A park more akin to Aussie World would be worth the stop for more folks though I reckon.

probably why they're recruiting someone.

I'm a fan of the wiegand toboggan (though the coffs toboggan is very much the poor cousin to the likes of Jamberoo or Corin Forest, for example) and i'm looking forward to an opportunity to try out the Alpine coaster, so will most likely make a stop there once it's open. The facilities and attractions at Banana are great for families. We always stop in to the candy kitchen for a supply of fruit rock, and between the ice rink, mini golf, reptile park, toboggan, waterpark and a couple other attractions we haven't gotten to try yet - there's plenty of things to do on a stopover day if you're making coffs the halfway mark to sydney. But definitely they've been targeting the families with young kids with their current offerings. I do think they need to lift their game with what they offer to make them worth the detour as the coffs harbour bypass is coming (you can see it on Google now) and you can only rely on family 80's nostalgia to bring people by for so long before they stop coming.

^There it is.

Don't look now - but Dreamworld just did.

All positive things. I can't wait for someone to come in and pour shit on all the results because they close a waterpark in winter.

It's almost a guarantee that they will ignore them, but LPS is required to maintain the aesthetics associated with the heritage park - it's why Hair Raiser had to go with white lighting instead of the kebab shop. As long as any new attraction can be fitted into the 'heritage style' the neighbours can GF themselves. Unfortunately the public sentiment in the area would never permit it. the residents resent the amount of land LPS already has and would do anything to shut the park down (they already tried many times). You can bet that the sale of public land to a private corp that already has this much local opposition wouldn't be easy. Personally though i'd love to see them build something like California Screamin \ Incredicoaster. A beautiful steel launched coaster with the wooden coaster aesthetic. I know it wouldn't be financially the best option, but i'd happily see them take out the big top for that.

Yeah almost certainly BOH facilities. I want to be confident that they're going to fix the sightlines, but BGH has erased any confidence I had on this one. Please prove me wrong!

I saw them on day one and assumed that the clearance to the track overhead is too close and there is a risk someone could climb the supports to enter the ride envelope so they need a spotter (which is allowed under the regulations). I would suggest that they've ordered something else to prevent an envelope breach but it takes time to fabricate and install so like most other things with JR - we will continue to see new additions for a while yet...

I'm quite surprised with the price hikes that anyone retained these pass-types!

I did a quick google (I haven't been either) and it's clear the layout crosses over itself several times, and there isn't sufficient room between them to ensure clearances. no - you can't split the envelope.

I think we're all just that cynical about village's motives now that we think it's all intentional and deliberate. 100% each track can operate independently of the other and train rebuilds should be done one at a time so that they can keep the other one operating. There are some occasions where both would need to be closed where work is needed on shared systems or envelope access, but general routine maintenance shouldn't need to offline both at the same time, and i'm confident that they won't do that "just because".

Can't really say if it means anything towards locals beyond our own experience - we didn't renew and don't currently hold village passes, but as far as non locals are concerned its a much better deal. I daresay sales of non-local annual passes probably dried up at their price point and it's possible they realised trying to milk the infrequent visitor by charging so much more to someone who is going to use it far less wasn't really a smart idea. I know a bunch of people that time their GC holidays so that they can visit twice, 11 months and so many days apart, and get two holidays worth of use of the passes, which makes it far more affordable. A lot of those folk have been preferencing Dreamworld far more often lately. From a pass overhaul perspective i'd like to see two things: Offer a 13 month pass. For many people the parks are a once or twice a year thing, and offering this lets people mentally assign the cost across two trips instead of one, making it appear far more affordable Offer discounts. The park up the road offers a minimal discount on what is reasonably priced food and merch and you feel a little better about it seeing the sub-total drop just that little bit. I'm sure Village's prices could afford to offer passholders a little off. Heck - they could jack the prices up for everyone by 5% and offer passholders discounts back down to current pricing and it would still give the mental feeling like you're getting more value out of your pass. I don't believe Village should drop their prices across the board (though the non locals adjustment was probably the right one). The cut-price race to the bottom of the previous decade didn't help our parks much at all and i'm all for them improving the bottom line, but doing so while taking a steaming turd all over the guest experience is what is keeping us away. We'll happily pay the premium price they're asking for a premium product when they're actually delivering one. And it hurts me to say this - i've always favoured village over dreamworld until the past couple of years post-pandemic, and I know a bunch of people who work or have worked for Village and they're a passionate group of people that are devoted to what they do. There's just too much shitfuckery that has happened and is continuing to happen right now to turn the tide.

Yeah they're careful cuts. Some rides are literally welded together onsite - I know the Vekoma Boomerang was. Judging by the photos and Narra's spot of the existing weld line, it does seem like they've done it carefully. Looking at the gondola support arms TPG has highlighted - they too look like they've been shorted at a pre-existing join line. Whether they were welded or whether they were bolted together though it's hard to tell, but definitely looks like it's able to be shortened intentionally.

Are you sure it's 8? Bermuda and Pirates OTC are both about 4 to a row. An 8 seater boat feels massive... Finding imagery of LTRR to confirm is a bit difficult (i'm sure its out there but it wasn't easy on a quick google). ETA: turns out I was right - it's "4 to a row or your boat won't go" 6:35 in this clip. Looks like your trauma is slowly fading @Cactus_Matt