Noxegon

Good grief... how old is that?

The Conneaut Lake Park Toboggan was totalled a few years ago when the car roof wasn't closed properly and it came open inside the lift tower. If you look at any recent pictures of it you can see that there is a car wedged half way up. I can't say I'm saddened by that. Toboggans hurt.

You know, it's interesting that you would say that. Conneaut is in appalling condition, but I rather liked it for what it was.

Melbourne day has been posted: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2015/0215.htm

I was discussing this with Megan yesterday evening. We think that Dreamworld really lacks a signature coaster – especially when compared to Warner Bros just up the road. The park looks great in so many ways, but it struck us that it could be brought to a whole new level with Australia's first B&M... or perhaps a Mega Lite...

I thought I'd posted this already. Trip report: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2015/0213.htm

It's always tough to compare two parks in completely different places, but what I'd say is this. I had a great time when I went to Adventure World in 2008. I found the staff friendly and the atmosphere pleasant. I particularly liked the wide open grass space in the middle of the park. However, with the exception of the castle there really wasn't all that much by way of theming; the rides were pretty much straight out of manufacturers catalogues. Fast forward to 2015, and most of the park is fully themed while the same friendly atmosphere has been preserved. As a semi-regular patron/victim of large corporate parks around the world I can't begin to say what a difference the staff make. It's unlikely that I'll be back in Perth in the foreseeable future, given how remote it is from anywhere else I'm likely to be heading, but you never know; there's a classic Schwarzkopf Silverarrow that only operates a few days a year at a fair in Johannesburg (http://www.randshow.co.za), and there is a direct flight from there to Perth...

I wonder if a first rider competition would include flights from the other side of the world... not likely, but if it did I'd definitely be up for it. I love Adventure World.

Indeed. It strikes me that for maximum reality any simulated tyre changing should be done during a torrential downpour.

Thanks for the feedback AlexB. Merimbula posted: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2015/0214.htm

It does kind of depend on where I'm going. If there's an active community of local enthusiasts then I will try to use it, because I find that local knowledge can really help out with trips, both in cost saving and also in ideas – to use a very real example, people from this community suggested we should go to the Ginger Factory as a plan B after we were rained off Aussie World, which is not something I'd have found on my own. Day three of my trip has just been posted: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2015/0213.htm Thanks again

Hi Mark, Good to hear about the Sky Ride. It'd be a shame to have too many people reach retirement age while on board :-) As for the pricing, if you're in line with the high street then I guess that's fair enough. I've got to admit that Australia in general was a lot more expensive than I remembered, Perth especially so. Have a good weekend.

Er yes, sorry – there's one at Melbourne and one at Rainbow's End.

The Black Widow is the only ride of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere? Luna Park Sydney has one, as does Rainbow's End...

I am not sorry to have seen Uluru in person, but I honestly felt the reality didn't come close to the promise - even if you ignore the general level of price gouging. As always my opinions are my own

I wrote up my Adventure World trip report on my flight home. Here it is: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/2015/0209.htm

Just a brief and public note of thanks to everyone who helped make our trip to Australia and New Zealand special. I'd like to particularly highlight Joz and Gazza for going way above and beyond the call of duty. The trip was fairly successful even if we did miss out on five coasters due to maintenance – both Wild Mice, Jet Rescue, Buzzsaw, and Road Runner. I'll post back here with a link to our trip reports/photos when they've been published.

Greetings from somewhere over the Indian Ocean Megan and I did these last week. I don't think they actually get that fast – they're more about length than overall speed – but they're great fun. Trip report will follow in due course, but I certainly recommend them. It's also worth calling out that the harness/restraint design makes the ride feel a lot faster than it actually is.

To be fair, you do hear about them if you read the right sites -- http://www.avherald.com/

I think it'll depend in part upon how you carry your weight. I'm ~80kg but have long legs and I find that I barely fit in the Scenic Railway.

I'm going to bump an old topic with a question that I'm researching for my own trip report. Did on-board audio ever happen on this ride? Also, is there a second train or just the one? Incidentally, this is the first SLC I've ridden in my life time that I've wanted to ride a second time. That's never happened before, and I have ridden the majority of them: http://www.bannister.org/coasters/parks/sp_slcs.htm

Water wasn't working today. On Scooby the lasers were on but there was no fog and the swinging blades were not working.

Spent today at Warner Bros. Though small, I was reminded of just how much I like the theming and the standard of rides. The new trains on Arkham look bizarre but work much better than the originals, and Green Lantern is great. However, in terms of operational efficiency it was bordering on the embarrassing. Superman's one train was typically parked for about fifteen seconds in the loading station _before_ the operator filled up the loading gates. Green Lantern was similar; two trains parked and emptied before the gates were filled, then everyone was being given a spiel about seat belt first before lap bar. Arkham was being operated with two people, one in the control booth and the other checking all the restraints on her own – and there were repeated announcements about how all pockets must be empty ("even if they are velcro, button, zip - they must be empty"). I'd have gotten (at least) twice as many rides in if they were being run properly...

I decided to ask directly, and was told that they're expecting the ride back on the 20th, but that the downtime was unexpected and that date is an estimate. I'll be driving past the park on the morning of the 19th anyway, so if it's open I'll drop in – if not, then I guess that'll be one more credit for my next visit whenever that happens to be

Here's a question for readers; does closed until the 19th mean that it will reopen on the 19th – or is the reopening the 20th? Guess when I'm flying on from the Gold Coast... sigh.