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^^ lizt - They were still going to use snow for the event during the day is what it said. GoGoBoy - I'm going to go with my gut here and say its not so much the new American management (but it might be, or at least maybe their idea?) but more so people in entertainment and people like John Menzies, who does all the new attractions for the park (which gives me hope for what will replace BT) because I mean all we have seen from the management is cost cutting exercises with rides and shops being shut, BT, Corkscrew receiving that dreadful makeover, Ski show gone, LW shop closed, shops opening later, Shrek gone and awful food at ridiculous prices!! But people like John Menzies have done rides like Castaway Bay, the Penguins, AquaLoop, new Jet Ski show and have no doubt had a hand in this, and entertainment have put this WC event together to make it what it is, plus the DC event and Halloween and I'm guessing the new Jet Ski show!! I get the feeling management make the decision and people like this have to either fix it, do the best with it or organise it and put it into place. The people that have a real heart and enjoyment where they work.

Thats a shame about SDSC because I went the very next day and had one of the best rides in a long time, it seems to be very hit and miss! Couldn't comment on the food I find it VERY overpriced and crap quality for what you get and that was the last several times I ate their, I got so sick of 18 bucks for food I threw away now for the past 6 months I've been going to Mcdonalds paying half of what I pay at MW and would their quality was A LOT BETTER than what MW was feeding me!!! I forgot to mention that store that was being re-done next to the dancing heads is a frozen coke stall, which from the looks (even though it still has fences around it) the top part seemed to fit with the rest of the park! DJRappa its good to see the red train back though... it was gone for what 18months? I would also agree with you it was a mic problem if it wasn't for the fact that while I was standing in the line when one of the ops announced all clear to the head op they also asked for the music to be turned back on which after the train leaving the station it was... and wasn't like you could hear the radio off in the distance of the mic its sounded like the mic was right in front of the radio!!

I've found Christmas Eve to be pretty dead.

^ I always thought boxing day and New Years Day were their busiest... there you go learn something new!!! And I always thought weekends would be busier!

Well these chairs were definitely the red ones (they had the little red handle bars on the seat, where last time I rode they were blue) But as I said the other train was maintenance and had no seats attached? Maybe it just depends who's operating the ride?

I think it was operators discovered they could turn the radio on over the speakers instead of the rides soundtrack, cause on my first go leaving the station the rides soundtrack was on and coming back Sea Fm was on than later in the day we had to what on ride cycle and the soundtrack was on but when the operator got on the microphone she went "Load dock all clear, turn the music back on" which than the head operator dispatched the ride and on came Sea Fm the third time it was just left on when I got on and left!!!

Well instead of bumping a new thread or a starting one I'll just right in here about my trip to MW today. Today we got there about 10.30 and left at 4, we were planning on going to White Christmas again but we were so wet and had done everything we just found it to be unpleasant so we thought it would be better to just go home and warm up! So some new things happening on LW... FINALLY the red train has returned from its mysteriously long departure, which there goes my hope of new trains, (btw the ride is in no way smoother and in fact felt rougher and is just me or do the red trains restraints seem smaller, because I swear there as much room between my head and restraint as there is on the blue train, if that makes sense) the blue train was sitting in maintenance however had been taken apart and seats for the ride were no where to be seen obviously just getting a thorough check, but its good to see that hopefully by boxing day the ride will be back to FULL capacity, in terms of trains not waiting at holding breaks which today as guests were exiting the rides gates would open to let people on instead of waiting everybody leaves them open them... I'm hoping this wasn't just done because it was raining and not many people were in the line, also the ride station now plays the Sea Fm radio station instead of hearing police chatter over the speakers. The smoke was finally working on Scooby Doo today which made the ride go from the good standard its been at lately to making the ride amazing due to being able to see ALL the laser and having that haze in the room. Other than that all the rides were going pretty good especially for a wet day and everything was working properly, the park seemed to have full capacity staff on, expecting to be busy for holiday periods without the rain. We managed Batwing 3 times, SE 8 because it opened in the morning in the rain and literally there was no line it was walk on, it later closed and then re-opened again to large crowds and shut again in the afternoon (if anyone was at the GC today they would know it rained ALL day, so yes SE was running in the rain even when it was fairly heavy which surprised me!) LW 3 times, Scooby twice (larger line for being indoors) WWF once, River Ride once, Batman Adventure once. So overall a very good day to do so much was stoked at SE especially since we did 6 times in a row in the morning, kicking myself we didn't do it more. The Roxy Theatre was ridiculous with lines for the film all the way back to screen in mainstreet even at 4pm! Also went to the Ben & Jerrys and found possibly the best flavour which was Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter! When I was leaving I noticed Police EVERYWHERE and temporary fencing all around the park which was something the park didn't have when I did the event last Friday, so glad I did it earlier its just a mess at the moment! That was about all to mention, I'm really tired so at the moment that's all I can think of. Cheers.

Plus VRTP have more at them which new... SW Castaway Bay and Penguins and new Jet Ski show, WnW Aqua Loop, Zipline, flowrider, sky coaster and Dive'n'Movies back against the Wedegie and MW has White Christmas and Journey to the Center of the Earth, while DW has TOTII and 10 new shows.... for me I saw more value with VRTP because they had 3 parks and many new additions to try when I bought mine over the competition.

Im surprised with Merlin just buying the Sea World brand in America they don't want ours, heck the way VRTP are running it Merlin could do a better job, a mind getting Manta ... and don't they own part of the Universal Resort in Orlando which would mean they own that Wet'n'Wild and they would have experience with Movie related parks! And Joz, VRTP are back looking at buildings parks again in Asia???

"The reason for this is that I assume Warner Bros have the rights to the brand, and it seems a HUGE waste not to utilise it." - ihatemisssly I think that's a great idea, I've always wanted to see a Harry Potter show in there with the whole area around being HP themed to something like Diagon Alley and having Hogwarts Express and a ride themed to the Womping Willow - As well as a kids rides. However unfortunately the author of the books J.K Rowling has the rights to the franchise and lets Warner Bros. make the movies. You use to have a HP themed attraction here but its now for so many years now I can't remember and rumour is its because J.K Rowling made it go or to keep was way out of MW budget (hence way huge parks like Universal now have the HP themed area, I would hate to see what they have to pay in rights) So unless the rights are now cheaper or its within MW budget I don't think we'll see it return, however they still have the HP store in mainstreet, so who knows? I love the idea though and isn't that what this comp is about being able to dream!!!

Joz we were standing not far away from you! Can I say what an amazing night... I went with family which meant I had 2 10yr old cousins with me and it really was amazing a lot better sitting in a crowded park waiting for carols or driving around streets at night looking for home it up, it was the best Christmas event our family had ever done and it wasn't me saying that it was the rest of the family! We got their just before 6 and got inside just before the rope drop, when they did do the rope drop they turned on all the snow machines and wow, it was slow moving getting into mainstreet and when we did the snow was really going and was filling mainstreet and really did look beautiful it was one of those moments when you had to be there, with everyone taking photos. We stayed in mainstreet for most of the night and got a good viewing spot for ALL of the shows, we decided shows first, rides later. I also had my cousins go ice skating for $5 for 15mins and they loved it. Looney Tunes on Ice was also a great show especially for the young ones (tip: the show is suppose to be secret, its not in the program but starts at 7.30) The parade was fantastic and IMO was a good as the DC comic's one and the floats looked spectacular and Santa to be the last thing to come down the street and it gave the park to turn the snow machines on fall ball again! The park was packed but yet didn't seen to busy, it seemed as if there were a LOT of little kids with their families and so after the parade most of them seemed to go home after being tired, with so many little kids I guess lines for rides like SE would be short? After the parade we did the River Ride which can I say the crew running that were amazing! I know kids were still on a high after the parade but they really got everyone into it, and they were pumping people through, the minute the first room was cleared they begun putting people into again! When we came out we did Scooby which we were only in line for 15mins for, the park really seemed to have cleared out by this stage and the big rides had already closed for the night (no smoke on Scooby again) Finally we did Polar Express which was another great addition for the Christmas nights and I really enjoyed and again they were pumping people through on this... a show every 20mins! Overall we loved the night and are thinking of going back the lights in mainstreet looked amazing and the snow at the beginning was amazing... there will be a lot of impressed people at the moment with what the park pulled off especially for their first time, you can hear it in people on Joz's video when the lights get turned on and it was the same reaction at the beginning of the night with the snow! I hope they bring it back next year.

Was there as well today, looks like the zip line is going up, just a structure near the wavepool entrance, The fly coaster looks like it still has a few supports to go and they appear to be out the back near the staff car park, but I can't wait for it to go because it is something I really want to try and should be a good view for the people sitting around the wavepool. Also Sunrise had all their equipment behind the Aqualoop getting ready to do the show live from their tomorrow for the pool party! Did the Aqualoop last week as well and really was an amazing ride, I did come off the ride with a huge scratch, I didn't feel it though until someone pointed it out, felt smooth and it ain't stopping me from riding it again!!

Same here, when the roof first went in I hated it... I mean sure it ain't the prettiest thing but when you see the events they can now pull off under it, it is certainly a HUGE asset to the park!

That event looks amazing, couple of questions... Where is the best place to see both shows? This looks like a really cool event, I hope it comes back next year and comes back bigger and better! These events are great for the parks, they get more profit for opening at night plus great word of mouth advertising for putting on amazing events, I imagine kids will love this! Did they use snow machines or anything?? Also just from the pictures that Ben & Jerrys really seems to fit in with the Main Street, VRTP have really turned a corner again in offering some really polished and themed events and attractions, I just hope next time on SDSC the smoke is going last 3 times I've been to the park its been nothing. But anyway I'm looking forward going there next Friday, hoping its not too busy!

Neither had Bermuda, until they went all cheapo on it, its like they actually wanted it to fall apart, use it as an excuse and say "Oh look, we can't fix it anymore, we'll put a new one in" I mean up the road if they did same things to Looney Tunes as they did with BT we would all be saying that it was so bad that it needs to go.... but they maintained that one and not BT so all I can think is that it was an excuse and a poor one at that!

Maybe I missed something by skimming over it... but are all the rides going to be operating during these nights? I hope this event goes really well for them, unfortunately due to lack of planning I missed the Fright Night but I've promised myself not to miss this event. But anyway I hope its successful and they bring this event back next year and can grow on it even further from here, it sounds like a good start! Other parks in US like Busch Gardens Europe have just started doing events like this in the last couple of years, so here's hoping its successful and it continues to grow like Fright Night, at least I can be hopeful it will!!

^ But didn't MW announce their White Christmas event at the beginning of the year, a long time before DW announced their Winter Wonderland?

Maybe I only skimmed over it, but I swear when I looked at their maintenance page before I went to the park last week their was re-open date for the ride of about 2 weeks, because after that 2 weeks or so another ride after it was going down, not until further notice, because I went on it Sunday, day before it closed and the week before and there were parts where animatronics were not working? (rock fall) Maybe its going down to replace these before opening to Summer crowds?? I really hope it doesn't disappear for 20th anniversary both times I went it had a huge line and both days park was relatively quite (SE had 1 train taken off) its icon and should definitely remain to celebrate their birthday! Bugs to Movieworld is like Mickey to Disneyland! Also it appeared Roadrunner was getting a paint job? Either that or just a high pressure clean. While on the subject of paint, anyone else think SE needs a paint job, its clearly looking faded to the point it looks bad!!

Wow yea I haven't that thing use water since it came out of its first rehab after about a year it was opened, it had a paint job and they weren't turned back on.... and actually the next year it didn't need a paint as bad, so I'm guessing the chlorine in the water caused it to need more maintenance than what the park actually wanted.

I know its off topic from Fright Nights but while we mention Scooby I went the next day after Fright Nights (Sunday) and it the ride was probably the best its ever been in terms of everything working... apart from one small fact unlike the Fright Night there was no smoke whatsoever and I went on at least 4 times and the final drop once it appeared like it was trying as hard as it could to pump out smoke with no real result, it was a shame because I don't know if it was just me but there appeared to be more lasers in there. Oh well just got to be lucky I guess, however it was constantly broken down, wasn't up when the park opened and went down nearly every time I was in line, they weren't long just about 5mins the ride would stop and once they couldn't get a harness down and then they would just keep sending them round, then it wold stop, operators would be on the phone and then a maintenance guy would go into the ride, come out, then they'd keep sending them around and off it would go again. Also in the main room doors to the exits would keep being opened by staff. This whole breaking down often and no smoke in the main room was the same thing that happened last Monday... once again seems to just be luck of the draw because from the sound of things it looked great on Saturday night.

If its Optus... THANK GOD, Coomera across the road gets horrible Optus coverage (it never has 3G and low reception) Go out to Coomera Waters and you can't pick up Optus AT ALL!!

Okay so I didn't feel like making a new topic for this.... but MW had their DC parade, now they've got the Halloween nights and soon the White Christmas? (was that what it was called?) Anyway so they seem to be getting more into doing things after the park normal operating hours.... which is great for everyone, finally extending operating hours. Anyway I just saw what Disney have done at their DCA park and I know we don't have the Disney Budget but I think something like this would be great for the summer period keep the rides going and light the park up! Anyway here's the link to it: http://www.westcoaster.net/updates.php?upd...1210&page=1

The Saw maze and Nightmare on Elm Street wouldn't happen to be the same as the Saw and Nightmare maze at Universal Studios Horror Nights?? Anyway Universal have both their mazes at their Hollywood park: http://www.westcoaster.net/updates.php?updateCD=listing Horror Nights Part 2 is all the photo's from both mazes, if it is, they look pretty impressive!!

Did anyone see the TOT 2 on Weekend Sunrise this morning?? Does anyone have a link to it??

Sadly I think it is time for 3rd generation of this ride, I have to agree, as much as it pains me to say, I don't think its due for on and could run for years, but the way SW are leaving it, then it is time for a replacement and maybe thats why SW don't care about it at the moment their in planning for a replacement? I mean other rides that were falling down like SDSC were fixed, but not this one and WVTP usually don't let rides get this bad. But what really gets me, is this is classic ride to the park, its an icon, those 2 volcanos are iconic to the park, just like the Dolphins and like the Ski Show use to, which is now gone, but thats another thread. I remember when I was younger driving along Southport and seeing SW across the Broadwater and what stood out was the white roller coaster and 2 volcanos especially with the fire coming out, You use to see the fire from anywhere in the park and you knew it was BT and it just gave the park that sense of pride and a that little special feeling at the end of day, the one Walt Disney strived for his parks. Now we have seen the job they've done with this new area, its great and show they still have a heart in making the area fit and that the theme does matter, so how about next time instead they put some money away and re-establish an old favourite, bring it back to VRTP standards like Castaway Bay and the bar rides like BT set, fix the boats sound, bring back the uniforms and pre-show and try to hide to big new air-con unit, fire and all other elements on the ride! Its the small things which are adding up to a BIG difference!! People use to be in awe and go "wow how did they do that?" when the UFO would disappear, now the response is "Did it break" these little things just affect the flow of the ride. All of us are complaining, anyone who is riding it gets off and complains its not what they remember... are SW management deaf, blind, stupid or all three? Get the ride back to standards for a smaller amount than what it will cost to re-fit the ride with a new theme which seems to be what they're doing, becuase they don't seem interested in anyone's complaints.