MickeyD

Yeah like a new coaster to replace old unusable piles of orange steel

MW could do worse spending 10k - heck, landscaping and redressing it would probably cost em more! Truth is, I reckon sw could use it too

Evening peeps Look I hate to be a bubble burster but please don't go getting your hopes up on this news.. For one, they have said 'attraction'.. They haven't used words like 'ride,thrill,adventure, blockbuster, experience etc.. Attraction casts a pretty wide net but I think the clue here is this very choice of words If a another new ride of any kind was also being planned for MW, don't you think they would have atleast told us that much? Afterall, they are promoting the kiddie cars as a new ride. I'd be more expecting a minor new addition such as a new western stunt street show or new looney tunes stage show. Perhaps even a new roxy 4d adventure or rebooted day parade? Attractions.. Using the Chinatown space as an entry /exit /queue to a new spin and spew flat in the old Lw/now asylum space is obvious and I reckon that will happen next year - once the current arkum exit gets reconfigured to leed back out by superman, thus providing an existing store space to promote the new spinner in an appropriately themed environment unique to it's own.. They've gotta save their pennies up first and if it's not in current capex (I highly doubt it!) then will have to wait till midway nxt year before such a blue sky plan gets approved - or something else takes priority? Question is What theme?

I'm gunna bet dollars for donuts Giant Drop is the other TLC Ride they've been talking about. It's even been talked about on here quite a for months now on what they might have planned and I'm thinking those of you who have speculated are on the money. Im sure it won't be long now but I guess we'll just have to wait and see if a certain Falcon's Fury has gotten enough attention to rattle an Eagle's nest high atop our very own Tower of Terror?

My online staple (and in no particular order) -miceage/micechat -screamscape.com -parkz.com.au Between these 3, I get all the info I need

I wonder if they have just bought a second hand Power Surge straight off the midway circuit?

^ I reckon a collection of multi coloured horse statues dressed in hoopskirts would be better than this, but what would people like me know? So if this is such a moral issue amongst our tiny Theme Park fan community, how do we suppose the general public will respond/react to this internal catastrophe? My guess is they most likely won't even notice them -specifically because they won't care. So why go to the trouble of building a new attraction that's unattractive? Bottom line, I guess that's the question many of us are begging for explanation? Is this just a stubborn idea cooked up by a creatively challenged member of senior management? I reckon there could be a wiff of truth in this. It is obviously a cheap filler kiddie ride that's being added to appeal specifically to it's target audience and by doing so, empathising with the paying public by connecting with Mum and Dad's wallets and show that they really do care about providing a variety of (relative to demographic in this case) quality entertainment for all creatures great and small. OR This is a cheap and nasty alternative to building a quality immersive family blockbuster experience, which and also relative to target demographic would possibly cost 10 times the price.. but would it offer 10 times the return? Shortly after the 2012/13 fin year the today practically faceless group of high-ups, pencil pushers and bean counters gathered for the annual budget or 'event of the year for very few.. A time to pitch department Christmas wishlists, to review the data, success, failures and observe the all mighty....profit margin -ABSOLUTE VAST MAJORITY of which gets sucked up into the mouths of the shareholders, coffers and not forgetting the potentially hefty Management bonuses - rewarded for successfully hitting targets plus a carrot of even higher bonuses offered for greater cost saving measures. Result: Frontline staff hours continue to decline with now the vast majority on casual or at best PPT provisions, Employee of the month gala awards nights and similar Park cast community events have been scrapped, strict computerised Cast member adherence systems have been fully rolled out across the Stage while more and more new Contract opportunities are outsourced beyond the front gate. Oh and please dont you feel left out on all this Mista Customer - Management just know that you absolutely will not notice all rides open late, being tested from 10 AM -possibly too with insufficient units (trains, staff, sessions, boats etc) no longer made available for predictably busy days. Surely they are doing guests a favour by pushing more out of oversized ride queues and into a nice, cool shop for some retail therapy on a hot summers day? That is of course assuming the said shop is open? Quite possibly not! OK so I've gone off on a tangent.again.. sorry about that. Maybe this needs its own thread? QUESTION How do you run a Theme Park without staff? ANSWER YOU CANT QUESTION How do you bring out the worst in your ThemePark staff? ANSWER You treat them like shit QUESTION How do you successfully shut a ThemePark down? ANSWER Treat your Customer like shit I hope you have made it this far guys coz here comes a cruncher that might make some people's hair stand on end.. for this reason whilst hearing it come straight from the horse's mouth - I'll add a little disclaimer by starting with: MANY YEARS BACK IN ONE SUCH ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING, IT WAS ALLEDGEDLY SAID BY THE TOP DOG "PAY EM PEANUTS, TREAT EM LIKE SHIT AND THAT'S HOW YOU'LL GET THE BEST OUT OF THEM" Wow.. But its not all doom and gloom.. Management systems in successful businesses around the world are dumping such dark age models in favour of one that is focused on putting the people in the business First, the customer next, profit thirdly and using strong values focusing on leadership, career progression, egalitarianism and a noble selling purpose Apple can take honors for bringing this concept first to the world stage, since then Google, more locally Telstra kicked things off, more recently optus added more fun and flair and later this year Flight Centre Travel Group is going to take it to the next level -rolling out a drastically new interactive design and revolution to the retail travel experience. Such enormously successful businesses acknowledge that if they keep doing things the same way, they won't survive in a super paced future where the customer is Paramount To the Runner's of our Park's, pull your head out of the sand and go and visit your Park's. Talk to your people and with your customers. Get to know them. Ask questions. Get their input and listen to what they are asking for. Read books and learn from success of others.. That's a good place to start and considering I don't even work there, reckon I could run the place a down sight better PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES IF THIS HAS OFFENDED ANYONE OUT THAT IS CURRENTLY INVOLVED WITH THE SHOW. YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR LOVE OF PARKS, I BELIEVE YOUR PARK OWES YOU A BRIGHTNESS OF FUTURE FOR YOUR DEDICATION AND COMMITMENTS

^ best idea yet.

^ sadly there are a few stages to 3d glass washing (stack/sonic wash/rinse/hot wash/dry) really not a fun job and maybe the best way to staff the mini cars is not to - instead let the parents take care of things and watch the chaos unfold

Yes well wouldn't that be a good start? - speaking for Spotty, myself and anybody else out there who have suffered a shift on taz cars or god forbid, dreaded Roadrunner (as was in my day).. "just push down on the button on the floor" the CM would direct with hand to the clueless infant who would then reach their own hands down to the peddle, whilst proudly smiling up at their waving camera crazed parents, possibly of whom by now are standing inside the garden precinct of the ride. Hooray!! The child has FINALLY worked out how to activate the peddle, unfortunately still very much distracted by Dad waving madly in front, the kid continues to ram the curbside again. And again. And again. And again. With that, the CM suffers a minor stroke, seemingly without anyone else noticing..or caring to notice, perhaps more accurately Meanwhile, the 4 or so other working (at varying speeds depending on battery life at the time) have no doubt banked up behind you or if you're REALLY UNLUCKY, you now have yourself up to half a dozen clueless infant/parent combinations - guaranteed to send even the most patient of MW ride op's scurrying for the next available counseling session. So from an Ops perspective, the new triple treat of shit shifts would have to be: 9 - 945 turnstiles 10 - 1230 "Speedy's gone shitbangbonkas cars" 1 - 230 "Tazzie takes you around the twisted ankle nightmare dodge ball dodgems" 245 - 5 "have I now just lost my shit completely Driving me Mad school" 5-530 washed down with 30 minutes of washing/stacking/drying 3d glasses 6-7 arrive home, slash wrists - highlight of the day Oh and one other thing, if we are going to resort to discussing mindless topics such as this - the most pathetically executed ride since DW did the Australian wildlife cruise, can we at least make it interesting? Funny? Sarcastic? Speculation on whether miniature versions of Green Lantern etc will be featured in the ride, or future rides added please ppl.. stop!! It's all just a bit shit, really

I believe you're correct again, WhipeoutDreamWorldFan - showing my age again here, I recall the excitement surrounding the construction of the ride when I was about 17 at the time, it had been too many years since DW had added anything major. I visited on the ride's opening day, media were everywhere as were some then, now perhaps forgotten aussie tv personalities of the era. "Like windsurfing inside a washing machine" - the phrase was coined by one who sat on the edge of the gondola, directly in the firing line of one of the water jets. As the gondola swung forward, the jet would reach up and absolutely blast the shit out of one rider in particular. As the carriage flipped it would flick and spray all over, soaking it over again and again. It was a fun and impressive sight that was very much controlled by the ride's operator. It was also pretty daft for DW to think the ride could be run in such a way long term without falling to pieces. I have no doubt this gimmick will return but next time more of a tease, largely missing riders as they ebb up and down out of harms way of a good drenching.

Agreed. Makes recent decisions back home pail in comparison

But if the Preshow area was the issue wouldn't it have been easier to just change that part?

My thoughts exactly. The way I see the next few years given this: - JL and Storm accounted for recent major Capital investment across the Parks - 2014 required some minor Cap investment to be cross-promoted (expect JL & Storm to be heavily promoted also as 'new' experiences as well as to promote 'fun for families') - 2015 MW overhauls the kids area with 3 new kiddie rides and both Speedy and Tazzie cars are history - 2015 SW opens a major new thrill replacing Seaviper and once proposed 'wild' location, most likely a major coaster - 2016 will see MWs next major attraction - built in the western area. - Northeastern side of the Tune shed remain used by Maintenance, parade floats etc - 2017/18 major new family thrill ride replacement to roadrunner coaster and former remaining Tune ride space I accept the decision made for a small kids ride however like pretty much everyone out there, the choice of real estate seems odd for the basis of investment in the short term, perhaps. Perhaps NOT however if you consider it being part of a master plan looking over the next few years. But I just CANNOT understand the purpose or Theme of this new ride? I can only assume the same people responsible for this are same creative geniuses that have also been responsible for so much of everything it surrounds? Can somebody explain to me how recreating a version of the existing (and perfectly functional) version of the Park's Main Street as a completely dysfunctional version is in anyway intelligent? Sure THESE are small kids we are talking about here but seriously? ??? COME ON MOVIE WORLD THIS IS HARDLY THE BEST YOU CAN DO, in fact this is imho THE WORSED DECISION YOU HAVE MADE YET AND BY A LANDSLIDE. Hardly creative and frankly a complete waste of money. Experts my arse, sorry if I'm being harsh but only because I know this business and it's talented people are capable of doing so much better

^ me too! I'm beginning to imagine this as the 1st step in a major makeover of the area. Could we oneday see the Roadrunner roller coaster on the chopping block and something much bigger/more ambitious taking it's place, together with the far space of the old LTRR building ? Hmmm..

I wonder how much of the building space is being used for the new ride? Such a valuable piece of real estate afterall

I believe a Power Surge is coming to DW. Never ridden one myself - I was particularly hungover at the Ekka when I saw it and decided not to ride in case it killed me. Its certainly an impressive sight to watch and would add to the skyline for that area of the Park. If it's half as fun to ride, count me in

Yup, so you're saying not worth the investment? It can't be all about coasters and thrill rided surely?

I would love to see something like this in either MW/DW in the western/mining themed areas. I reckon around 10-15 mil could build a really good immersive haunted style dark ride that could be rich in theme and ideal for a broad demographic. Without offering physical thrills, such an attraction could terrify it's audience by using a suite of sound, lighting and visual gags to really involve and 'isolate' riders. Naturally, MW would do it better but DW COULD do it better and possibly NEED it more..But would they? Yeah, not any time soon whilst a bank owns it. Such a ride would be a perfect complement to the Gold Rush Country area perhaps the Riverboat island?

All good^ I am still of the belief that the lift drive (neumatic) was powered by a build of pressure in the reservoir, or something like that. I was explained the process in some detail, like I said many years ago by one of the ride's designers who was very proud of the unique design and it's somewhat self-perpetuating operation. As Supervisor of this ride for a few years you could say I had a strong knowledge of it's workings and show elements to keep it looking and running as well as possible. It was particularly difficult to spot show lighting or speakers faulty as there was just so many of them and many in very hard to reach places. How do u fix something if you don't even know it's there? For the ride to continue, it would have taken a massive rebuild and the lift area replaced entirely with a safer and more reliable standard chain pull assent. Far too expensive a solution for little or no return on investment perhaps? I believe that there may have been some consideration surrounding the ride's revitalisation but for sure, millions would have had to be wagered on it. No way would a Lift in the same incarnation pass modern safety protocols - not without restraints that could not be built without new boats, and the list goes on.. Yeah I get why it had to go, at least the way it was anyway. It would be a shame though if something equally as ambitious not be considered as a worthy replacement

The lift pressure was assisted by the filling of water in the reservoir and it's downward plunging flushed water into the tank each time. Yes the ride had main pumps and bilge pumps throughout but whilst in show mode, this process saved a lot of energy. I'm not an engineer so explained that in lamens I guess - also in a way that it was explained to me by one of the ppl involved in it's original design .. Saying that the lift area had nothing to do with the ride's ultimate closure also has no substance unless you're willing to back it Anyway

GoGoGoBoy, you know I am with you 100% on the LTRR and that the atmosphere and surprises that this attraction featured were an integral part of the overnight success of WBMW. This ride, ABOVE ALL rides in Australia at the time promised a piece of Disney Magic for Australian Theme Parks. For those not aware the "Looney Tunes Studio - Journey into Fantasy" (originally named) was the Sentimental Favourite attraction of the original WBMW project, headed by creative Theme Park legend CV Wood, back in 1989. As wonderfully ambitious as this ride was for it's time, sadly it was plagued with the reality of the financial backing that it was built on. Despite such financial pressure, this is one ride that didn't really suffer too much from the "show" side of things and featured most of the magic as intended. SW's creative that built "Lassiter's Lost Mine" lent alot of their knowledge and expertise this ride. At a time when saving money for Warner Bros. was Paramount;), our Aussie Theme Park pioneers from SW came up with numerous cost effective solutions for the MW project. The finale for LTRR was a big such one. They came up with an ingenious approach that would save a fortune on operating costs, creating a totally unique pumping system that was driven by the ride's unique boat lift system. The lift was designed to work basically like a gigantic Toilet. When a boat would arrive into the area, enough pressure would have accumulated in the reservoir beneath the down shoot to power the lift upward. Once dispatched as the lift would lower,compressed water would be flushed into the reservoir, assisting current for the ride. It was an ingenious idea that due to it being a water ride had to be rebuilt a few times during the rides lifetime. It was also potentially the most dangerous feature of any Aussie Park for it's guests. When unsuspecting rider's reached the 'dead end' part and were foolish enough to try and step out of the boat thinking the ride was over. A big ugly log was eventually placed on the platform. Pretty much from opening day, a Lift Attendant sat behind a wall holding a button with a Supervisor overseeing the ride from a control room, located behind the 'Customer Relations' door, by the load dock. Ultimately, one could not predict the actions of individuals and despite millions of riders doing as they were told (remain seated) as welk as many attempts to make the area 'safe', it would just be a matter of time that someone would do something foolish and possibly killed. It would be my bet this is the number one reason the ride was eventually closed

Arent they just? But lol really, even Disney disapoints it's fans nowadays huh;)

Im probably a bit late to add my 10 cents here but better late than never hey? In case you don't agree with AlexB and others, I suggest you start focusing on something else to get your hopes up on kiddies - there aint no fire comin to this here Storm. Aint nobody got time for that! - well at least I gravely doubt VTP do so best you all get over it hehe My rationale requires a quick history lesson peeps (spoilers): ● prior to opening PASS was to have a huge (80-100ft high) city skyline back drop -dramatic aesthetically but also highly functional sound barrier. Never happened ● LTRR was destined for a thrilling finale promising to take riders up to unimaginable heights before plunging into a thrilling splash down. Result, well NOT quite. Shame about the booster motors (like coasters have) these bad boys barely lasted a few months but added a much needed push and thrill to the finale. I would be very surprised if anyone here ever knew about these existing ● Roxy Theatre was meant to be sloped and with automatically operating doors (didn't even get them from bat ride/MM hand be downs. Never will either ● Batride was planned for an interactive passenger sequence and an 'airport style' boarding gate as well as the anility to alternate cycles. Somewhat costly and ineffective - especially when a very big part of the rides system was produced by Sony - cutting edge technology featuring LP sized disc players and 2 x $40k+ prototype image and sound filtering amplifiers. - custom made units that saved the road outside from being moved a metre toward the lagoon, for a larger building to accommodate motion bases that would have to be about a metre longer, otherwise with screens just too close to their audience to be clear! Smart and saved a fortune to be sure! ● WWF was originally planned for a dazzling suite of special effects, animatronics, thrilling scenes such as explosions waterfalls blocking every path, an actual train derailing as you narrowly pass under, cheeky critters at every turn and a really dramatic mine exploding finale! There was a time I had the original 'blue sky' plans, shame the mountain facade and landscaping blew the budget coz another 5 mil would have gone a looooong way, but was it necessary? ● scooby was meant to feature a haunted castle in the laser area - all fully enclosed walls around the track but still no floor so you couldn't see around corners! Shame the dark ride part didn't at least get a roof or at the very least, maintenance/operations leaving maintenence lights on during show mode grrr Point is EVERY SINGLE MAJOR NEW ATTRACTION IS ALWAYS PLANNED TO BE BIGGER AND MORE SPECTACULAR. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Sadly the reality of 'budget' kicks in and we wind up getting what they actually paid for. I must say this was a grave reality which over the years, the few of us that truly cared and worked so close to the magic came to accept after a while. Never changed, sadly never will. We aint Disneyland and never will be. No matter how hard they try. I think as enthusiasts it's best to just appreciate the 'opening day' versions as the best version that you're ever likely gunna get.. any improvement further on should be celebrated as an absolute bonus, albeit doubtful Nonetheless peeps I do fear that the big 'WoW' moments in our new rides are sadly in the history books. I guess they have found out that the general public just don't care enough about that kind of shit, so perhaps it's the 1st thing to go

WOW That's a bit of a panty stainer!! Sadly I think it would be a tad ambitious to think we would get a coaster that long - certainly not with lapbars only surely.. Looks great though - right to then end, just keeps thumping.. Umm are those a couple of LIM power ups along the track?