DaptoFunlandGuy

I didnt include the green screen or the old time photos, because these are less what I would term an "upcharge attraction" and more what I would term a "shop". Old time photos, temporary tattoos, and so on is not so much an upcharge as an option. its not an experience that you take with you - its something tangible (at least somewhat in the case of the tattoos) that you take with you like you buy from a store. Yes ok - Dreamworld has them, and doesnt charge for them.... fine. but there are plenty of dodgems out there doing the circuit for at least $6 a hit. And if you're going to be that specific, I certainly can't think of any full priced theme parks where you pay for dodgems either, but that would be an argument for any upcharges - i can't think of another full priced theme park where you have to pay for flowrider... or rock climbing.... being specific doesn't give you an argument. Its an additional attraction which without upcharge would not be available to the public. if the public wants to drive dodgems, they will pay for them. If they don't want to pay for them - then they don't have to. I know I would much prefer dodgems to be self supporting by way of its own revenue than for movie world to up the ticket price to accomodate the extra expense. I won't be riding them, so i'm glad my ticket prices don't pay for them either. I am however glad that after two significantly pricey purchases, they're not just sitting back, letting the theming around the park go to crap, replacing old or tired theming with bare corrugated steel, and making the public wait 3 years before something significant, brand new, unique to the country and ridiculously themed is installed in the park.... now i've seen that somewhere recently.... where was it? Point is MW is continuing to expand their offering, to include all demographics, and not just thrill seekers or kiddies (cough - dreamworld - cough). The fact that they have spent in the tens of millions over the last 24 months, and yet continue to renovate, improve, add, expand and overall update the park constantly means there is always something new to see, and therefore keep bringing back their core local market, instead of relying on one big ride every 2 or 3 years to bring in the interstate and international tourism market for one day, once.

Firstly, people WILL fork out for bumper cars. Take a look at any travelling show. I just went to the Penrith Show on the weekend, and while they had a few of the same kiddy rides, all of the more extreme rides were one offs. Dodgems? TWO. Price? $6.00 a hit... and they were raking the money in. They aren't worth it? I think movie world would say different. Consider dodgems at the easter show or ekka, where a family might spend over $100 on entry, more on parking, more on showbags, more on food than what you would at MW, and then pay for the privilege of EVERY ride they go on. And how many dodgems are there at those kinds of shows? at LEAST two, generally more. Point is it doesnt matter how expensive the up charge, there are people out there who will pay it. There isn't one free-controlled attraction currently at movie world... meaning nothing where you are in control. Everything there is controlled by someone else. This puts YOU in control, and thats the difference. I guarantee you, people will pay for it no matter how much they already paid to get in. On that point, if few people will pay for it, this means shorter queues. I recall the dodgems at Wonderland, and they almost always had a queue, even on weekdays. Yes the capacity is poor compared to a coaster or the like, but it will relieve congestion by providing something else for people to do. I didn't see too many people complain about the upcharge on flowrider. Nobody complained too loudly about the climbing wall outside the claw. Point is dreamworld has been upcharging for lots of things for ages... to be honest i'm surprised they don't charge for the imax theatre. MW on the other hand don't have a lot of upcharge attractions, and thats why its such an outrage to everyone that they would. Recap: Dreamworld upcharges - Flowrider, Helicopter, Tiger Walks \ encounters, koala photos. Sea World upcharges - dolphin swims\trainer for a day, seals, sharks, helicopter, jet skis. Wet N Wild upcharges - inner tubes (anyone consider they might make the halfpipe an upcharge?) Movie world upcharges - none

no rim shots, no angle shots, no leaning over the counter. no over-arm throws (wouldn't work anyway - just result in the ball shooting back at you REALLY fast - ouch) 1 ball at a time, use only your own bucket, don't aim for anyone elses (two balls at once - usually at least one would stay in). In the end, the only reason it was REALLY hard was down to the operator on how far they let you go before they called it a rim shot \ angle shot. Later on down, the rims were painted so there was a definitive edge between the two, and the operators didn't have to just guess. Nobody ever said that these games were meant to be easy. Its like a lottery - small price paid for a chance to win something very big. The easier games to win, or the ones based on pure chance did offer small plastic crap for those that didn't win the big ones, but in the end its still there to make money, so it has to be a little hard.

well the link to Intencity arcades is undisputed, however i'm surprised if they were going to make the link that obvious that they wouldn't use the logo already created. The original intencity - at Parramatta Westfield would certainly have been something i'd love to see in Movie World - with all the Virtual Reality style interactives, but standard console games - time crisis or daytona and so on.... yuk... I have said however that it would be a great filler, and it will be. Buy anyway... we'll have to see what they do with it.

Bushell Ball, as it was called, did have the superballs, and the tennis ball behind it, but it was done because the old cane baskets had an indented bottom, and the new buckets did not. This still did not mean it was impossible. It needed a high arc on the ball so that it would first hit the wall of the bucket, rather than the bottom. I was actually one of the cast who installed these buckets. Originally, they were installed without the balls behind them, and it was almost impossible NOT to get the ball in. It had to be made harder or it just wasn't profitable. I could stand on the verandah of the blacksmith, and still get the ball in. We spoke to the carnies at the easter show, and they suggested we use small and big superballs. The big superball made it virtually impossible to get it in, and so the swap to the tennis ball. Some of the games were luck, some skill, and some a combination of both, but they were all possible, and none of them "rigged" so to speak.

I suppose the fact is that parks do need to raise money wherever they can. How many people here would be happy, if movie world removed all of the arcades and vending machines, reduced their food and beverage prices in line with a local shopping centre food court, priced their souvenirs similar to the same type of item in Kmart, and elaborately themed every single ride, attraction, stall and shop? Ok good - announcing a ticket price rise effective immediately.... adults only $354 and kids $297 for a one day pass - or buy a 3 park super pass for only $898 and save! There is a time and a place for it. Personally I think the parks are losing a lot in the way of quality and theming that they used to have. The dream for Dreamworld and Wonderland was not originally as a money maker - but more as a good family park to cater to an expanding population in the area. I got a rude shock a couple years back when I saw dreamworld with midway style games plonked around the place, this was about the time the claw opened, but, walking through wonderland it was as natural as it could be. Wonderland themed their skill games reasonably, at least until the last few years. Wonderland was as true to its theme as it could be until the closure of HannaBarbera Land. (not counting the theme music that is). Movie world have done a lot to keep the original theme going, while installing new attractions and shows etc. But Richard is correct in regards to the cable and the screen. Parks are starting to lose the magic they once had. I understand the need to make a dollar, but they're letting things slip - this is happening everywhere too. Walt Disney used to insist that the souvenirs available in the park not be available anywhere else, and that nothing available anywhere else would be sold as a souvenir inside the park. Even Disney has abandoned the magic - somewhat at least. Disneyland now sells the same souvenirs and apparel in every shop, in every land in the park... Not much we can do about this problem, unless we all run for positions on the boards of every major theme park in the world... and even then you have shareholders to contend with most of the time too. If Movie world is installing an arcade - then fine - they need to make some money, and it doesnt cost much to run - so be it. I would have preferred them to do something in the skill game genre - before I was a park photographer, I was a games attendant at wonderland. I know some of them were hard, but they were not rigged or impossible, and I guarantee that one attendant with a good mind and a good voice, a microphone and some good prizes would make triple that of any stupid arcade. In the games dept, they'd have competitions on who could get the biggest take, and the lowest cost of sales (prize giveaways), and this cast would really make a go of it. I don't know if anyone remembers Snowy River Outfitters - otherwise known as Gold Rush Cup - the horse race and the water guns just before snowy? In peak season, gold rush cup was the last to open, and the first to close - because it needed quite a number of people before it could begin, but the one thing it did offer was a guaranteed winner - and ANY prize was up for grabs, not just the crappy little stuff... because you could trade your prizes up - small, medium, large, extra large. Now, sure, the extra large prizes were generally in the $15-$45 range, but for a single player, they could have it in $12 if they won each game. By the time this had happened, with a minimum 5 players to start, and $3 per player, thats $60 in the park's pocket minimum. One race every 4-5 minutes from 11am-5pm, and thats quite a nice profit. You've paid your staff and cost of sales in just over an hour, the other 6 hours is profit! Ok - now the arcade games sell themselves. Kids will mindlessly pump $2 or $4 for a go on Daytona, which they could arguably play in timezone or something for the same or less, but there is nothing that makes people want to part with their money faster than if they see others doing something deceptively easy, and think they can do it too. Another game at Wonderland was a simple one - Royal Courts and Sports - otherwise known as coin toss. Right outside Bounty's revenge it was the last game people saw on their way out of the park. On a busy day, that one game alone could make an easy $2000 in the last THIRTY MINUTES, and this is all mostly with 20cent pieces, and dollar coins. Most of you will have seen this one - a simple, glass, circular tabletop, about two metres away from you, and you have to get a 20 cent piece to land on it. For most people, it sounds easy, and tied on with the price of only 20 cents per play, you'd have the 20 metres worth of bench around the game packed with people trying to win. Odds on winning were near impossible, unless you got lucky, and managed to catch the split second where your coin hits someone else's and drops dead. I remember being on that one school holidays, a microphone, a water bottle, and a crap load of 20 cent pieces, and we pulled in over $10,000 that day. We went through so many 20 cent pieces, security had to rob the cash boxes 4 times before the park closed. Food and Beverage, and the shops all had to trade in their 20 cent pieces for 10s so we could have enough for everyone who wanted to play. Security would normally carry the bag off stage - that day the flintstone car had to come out because the bag was too heavy. $10,000... in 20 cent pieces. Thats 50,000 coins (if you don't count the dollar coins also used). Show me any arcade that can do that much in a day.... (ramble over)

well obviously this too depends on how many posts your preferences say to show on a single page. I generally have it set to about 50, which means for me there are ten pages of this thread, but if you view it in shorter spaces, the page numbering would be higher.

It has actually.... http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/release.php?prid=59 but thanks for checking that on the tenth page of the discussion that it hadn't been posted already.

well heck.... why don't we just replace the tower... and the car? I hear you can get the car, tower, boosters, and track in some sort of package deal thing...? might be cheaper than replacing the boosters and track... they'd even be able to fit the new parts without closing the old ride either.... they could put all the parts together before they close! *note the sarcasm - obviously this isn't cost effective enough and im sure dreamworld will run it till it croaks.

doesn't seem likely. that construction looks a little like a grandstand, although i doubt it could be made from wood, more likely they'd do concrete, so my next guess is thats a front building facade for something else... A store or shop? a small indoor attraction? an entry to something more substantial over in the matrix area? who knows... Good that they're upgrading Looney Tunes, Dreamworld really is trumping them with kiddie entertainment at the moment with Wiggles and Nick Central, so it was well overdue. I can't wait to find out what they're doing over in Wild West - another big attraction out that way sounds good...

Yes of course, let's all wait until dreamworld dishes up their attempts at theming before we criticise.... THEN we can criticise. Having just returned from Dreamworld last week, and having seen the Claw for the first time up close since I rode on it opening weekend - its great to see the level of upkeep dreamworld have given to their previous rides when they decide to build a new one...

I don't believe this is the case. The game does start with peeps in the park, but nowhere near 600, and all of them are on the guest counter.

I have had a park running on RCT3 for about 4 days now. its 16th July Year 95. I've left it so long the park is minus $35,000 cash, so i closed the park to let all the guests leave. When they all left, there were 16 guests stuck in the park because they were lost, but the guests in park counter read -665 Whats the go with that?

I never, not once said that I was to WITHDRAW information. I am saying however that any park worth its salt will not unnecessarily alarm guests with information that is not necessary for them to know. What is the big lie? I did not lie in my post. I was referring to what YOU were saying. YOU said in your first post - and I quote: Your argument there appears to be that you should be allowed to tell guests exactly what is going on. My argument stipulated that the park should not be telling guests EXACTLY what the cause is because it unnecessarily alarms guests for no reason. And the only people who can state EXACTLY what is wrong with the ride in question would be the maintenance personnel who are trained in the mechanics of the ride. it was YOU I was referring to as making "educated guesses" and what I did say was a "slightly educated guess" because as the person operating the ride you would know the results of the failure - namely - brakes failing, but you would not know the cause - whereas the maintenance personnel would. If it is not dreamworld's policy to use phrases such as "mechanical difficulties" or "technical problems", then I am very much surprised that the park does not have a worse reputation than it does. I know that dreamworld does share with guests the cause of trouble with things such as when ToT shuts down after rain - namely they need to dry the LIM\LSM units. This is not a failure of the ride but a consequence of incliment weather. In this case dreamworld is doing the right thing, the ride isn't broken down, and they are keeping guests informed of the progress of the problem. But in the case of a failure of the ride, causing guests unnecessary alarm whilst they are trying to enjoy a pleasant day at an amusement park ruins this. As I said before, discussions on these forums can allow that sort of discussion, we're all educated, we know what the procedures are and can understand minor failure on rides - it comes with the territory. But to say to an average guest something which causes them concern or alarm is just not on. This sort of thing is even present in Roller Coaster Tycoon. If the park is closed, and you crash a coaster, guests will ride it when the park is reopened, but if the coaster crashes when the park is open, guests comment "im not riding "xxxxx", it's not safe. Your little spiel up there about guest safety being paramount contradicts your argument. You say that the safety is the most important, and yet you argue that telling the guest exactly what is wrong somehow makes them feel safer? This is crap. Generic terms and placatory phrases are the best things for guests who wouldn't know the difference between a chain dog and an LSM. Go ahead - baffle them with technical sounding terms. Make your opinion heard - look important, see where you end up. If I were at dreamworld, and an operator were to inform me of the failure of a ride component as being the cause of the trouble, I would take that person's name, and immediately lodge a complaint with guest relations before requesting a full refund. Having said that, I will be visiting Dreamworld in the next few weeks, with two members of my family who are infrequent riders, not enthusiasts by any means, and quite easily spooked into avoiding that which is unsafe, which therefore will ruin my day making me a single rider all day, so you better pray your attraction doesn't fail, because if you tell me the exact nature of the fault, and not just technical difficulties or some other generic term to reassure me as a guest and a patron that Dreamworld is a safe and responsible place, and that they're fixing it to make sure it doesnt fail, rather than fixing it because it failed, rest assured you will be fired before I leave the parking lot - just see if I don't.

Rideop - I too was an employee of a theme park, most of you know which, and what I did there. I did not op rides (well officially anyway, but there was the odd occasion when..... nevermind) however a lot of my friends were ride ops, and I have to take issue with a couple of things you've said there. First of all - get sacked, see if I care - you know what you should and shouldn't do and leave it at that, HOWEVER: 1) yes, you are only a ride operator, and theres some things that ride ops shouldn't know, or, should know but shouldn't say. 2) a good park management SHOULD inform their staff of the goings on in the park, but not always, and not everything 3) you make a good point there about press releases. Usually when a park is ready for information to go public, they issue a press release. If the release details information about the ride, but you know a little more about it - by all means share it - but if the issue in the release is not yet released, you should not be sharing it. Not only can you lose your job but you can also be prosecuted for breach of disclosure - which is bad. 4) as far as what you tell the public - for example where you talk about something being wrong with GD - this is the issue. You aren't maintenance personnel, so you cannot make more than a slightly educated guess about the ride's problem. How many people will have confidence in the ride, and their own safety, if you tell them its not open today because the brakes failed? this is not something that should be shared with the general public... because next time, they won't want to ride in case the brakes fail while they're on it. It undermines the public confidence. You know, and I know, and the other members know, that if something like that happens, there are always failsafes in place, typically, the worst that could happen is maybe a little whiplash if you hit the other train in front... but the public doesnt know this. All they know about brakes is what's on their car, and they know if those brakes fail, they're gunna crash. Its the same with airliners. You aren't delayed because the engine had a fire, you are delayed because of technical difficulties. If dreamworld want the issue of a ride's malfunction made public, they would display that at the front gates. DEAR DREAMWORLD GUESTS: UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO CATASTROPHIC BRAKE FAILURE ON TOWER OF TERROR, IT WILL NOT BE OPERATING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. BUT REST ASSURED ALL OF OUR OTHER RIDES ARE UP TO SCRATCH, SO PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO RIDE THOSE ONES. Would you pay $$$? to enter a park with a sign like that out the front? I don't think so. Which is why dreamworld just say "closed for maintenance" or refurbishment, or whatever.

Well.... if they make it out of wood, I certainly hope they plane it. I too have seen the double layout plans, theres no secret about it, all I was saying is the last time I spoke with Jamberoo it wasn't set in concrete. And the watermark on that particular image was because at the time I released it, I wasn't prepared to distribute the image freely. It gives you the ability to see whats on it without me risking unauthorised distribution.

The last discussions I had with Jamberoo Management, which was a fair while ago, the Mammoth was only pencilled. Essentially the idea is to release the original mammoth, and depending on IF it is too popular for its capacity, and IF they get approval, and IF they have the money, and IF it works, a second mammoth will be built, on the opposite side - hence the original mammoth never crosses the centre line of the raft conveyor. Its on the cards, but from what I have it is not set to go ahead as yet. Remember that these slides are all designed to conform to the land around it - so no ugly supports, they're all kept relatively close to the ground. I am unaware as yet if they have decided to go ahead with the second mammoth or not, but its a possibility. This won't affect any of the other constructions, it would seem that they are already approved and the only alteration being the second mammoth does not affect any of the other construction

and as usual, i always get the tv alert just after the program has ended. I need a 9+2 for IQ

Am I correct in saying that the old seal show - quest for the golden seal - was choreographed and written by Michael Croaker - all those years ago before he went to wonderland? I must say I'm happy to see that go, and even more excited to see what new blood can do for the exhibit\show. I never liked Quest myself, found it all a bit too corny, and geared well towards the "asian tourist" kind of market. I do remember the old show before that - can't remember what it was called but I think it was something like friends of the sea. A clean white set, instead of the mottled fake stone, I think that was back in about 1994 that i last remember. I look forward to the new show and hope that it is moreso set around the animals like the show in '94, than loosely gelled around a pathetic storyline in a weak attempt at a stage play.

I was thinking the same thing myself. They'd make more than that from ONE airing of the KFC twister ad.

Doesn't go fast enough.... now let me see if i've got this right... 1) they make it faster. 2) small children don't want to go on it 3) families have less and less that their small children can enjoy during a day at movie world 4) families don't come to movie world - they go to dreamworld instead 5) movie world loses quite a lot of their revenue - yes, asian tourists make a high percentage - but its the families with kids that buy food, drink, merchandise, photos..... not to mention that the families would be more likely to visit more than one park - and those who leave to go to Dreamworld wouldn't be coming back for wet n wild now would they? 6) movie world closes down, and Sea World and Wet N Wild - without movie world to support them financially go broke as well. AOS closes, Dreamworld has no competition. Now - do you really think we should turn a good family ride into a thrill ride?

Sunrise this morning spoke to Dreamworld regarding this - one point to note is that GD uses a winch drum system, whereas the models in the US use a counter weighted system, so two different elevation systems. I agree with Rich that they could have taken it down during the quiet period for a couple of days to appease the media, but one thing about that is that then it appears to the public that it "may" not be safe....?

Well, Jamberoo is no LPS, it certainly isn't DW, and definitely isn't WVTP. I have interviewed Dax Eddy in the past, as well as spent a full day shooting the park. The story and subsequent photography sold, and then was promptly squashed by the purchaser for reasons unbeknownst to me. I have copies of the 10 year plan, with full details on placement, layout and schematics.

Hate to say that I don't really have the interests or the time to maintain a site, not to mention that blogspot is definitely a site that takes a lot of time to maintain. But if you are referring to the blog of AAL, rather than blogspot itself... then no. First off it would be quite egotistical for me to start plugging myself on it... but besides the fact, whomever owns the site does quite a good job on their own... but on that note, its quite funny that they don't need their own site to poke fun at morons - when they poke fun at themselves...

.....and the truth shall set you free....