iwerks

The TPR Thread picked up on the indecision of AW with regards to the Castle's replacement. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=65854&sid=14fa33fe2c91565886cdbc81b96e2bb5&start=130 I'm voting with Ozziboy. Perhaps Adventure World could replace the castle with a larger one of these:

The early days of the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure at USS. Saturated.

Okay, this just got strange. Undies Vending Machine! Did they just take theming too far? http://www.campaignbrief.com/2014/02/sheds-undies-vending-machine-g.html 'Campaign briefs' more like it.

Well, it's not going to be built in Perth. The Inspire WA Project has been very quiet since April last year and the Barnett Government seems to be watching its pennies. My other preferences would be Sydney or the Gold Coast. My only problem with this proposal: if it's so educational why are there so many grammatical errors?

Some loser has apparently posted a link on Facebook to an 'accident' on the Abyss, showing a picture of a photo-shopped royalty-free picture involving a coaster that looks nothing like the Abyss. What schmucks!

Besides having a Triple J Hottest 100 Party tomorrow, it looks like Adventure World has got their Abyss ride photography up and going. Judging by the pictures on their Facebook Page it appears to be during the drop in the dark ride section. https://www.facebook.com/AdventureWorldOfficialPage

The Adventure World Facebook page has provided a link to the UK's Daily Mail's coverage of Alicia Key's visit to Adventure World in December. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2518761/Alicia-Keys-gets-legs-Down-Under-steps-tiny-denim-shorts-fun-day-adorable-son.html The 'OurWorlds' website has also written about Abyss and commented on the fact that Dreamworld should have built this ride. They also mentioned the lack of themeing in Abyss' stairwell/queue area and that Adventure World intends to improve this at a later date. It's also the second article that I've read where they've hinted that the rebuilt castle will be the focus of their next attraction. http://ourworlds.com.au/perths-coaster-abyss-filled-adventure-worlds-12m-scream-machine/ Some friends have told me that wait times are blowing out a little. To get into Adventure World by the main gate it can take up to half an hour around opening time and that the wait for Abyss can be as long as 90 minutes. Just read this article which states that the castle may not be rebuilt, just the land redeveloped. It says that the park has yet to decide what will take its place. Considering that the castle is a part of its logo that's a very interesting move. http://www.theage.com.au/wa-news/adventure-worlds-castle-may-not-be-rebuilt-20140114-30t2f.html

Some coverage of the opening of Hair Raiser. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/up-up-and-hooray-luna-park-launches-first-new-ride-in-ten-years-and-it-soars-a-hairraising-50m-into-the-sky/story-e6frg6n6-1226802356421

Little puff piece on Outback Splash from the 'WA Today' website. http://www.watoday.com.au/entertainment/about-town/perths-new-waterpark-makes-an-outback-splash-20140108-30h8b.html Also saw a couple of other water parks on the way back from Margaret River today. They were Escape at the Cape Fun Park: http://www.xscapeatthecape.com.au/ and King Carnival Rides in Mandurah. http://www.kingcarnival.com/index.html King Carnival has been advertising quite a bit on Perth television. They are located on an estuary and have some kind of water commando course, mini golf and a collection of flat rides, such as a Super Skate, Ferris Wheel and a Flying Flume Ride that looks pretty deadly (check out the video below). http://www.kingcarnival.com/Carnival_Attractions.html

Yeah, it's not the Gold Coast. It would be doing a lot more than 140 people per hour. The ride was down before Christmas for a few days according to some irate soccer mums on their Facebook Page. The park is now on its longer summer opening hours. You would hope that they would hit their 500 000 target by May and invest in another ride for next year. It's hard to tell what they will do with the castle. Even the shell of the building has been cracked open with the intensity of the heat from the fire.

This article posted on December 24 made quite a few of the media outlets. They reckon that 60 000 riders have been on Abyss in a little under two months. The park certainly has been busy. There must have been quite a few thousand waiting in line for the opening the other day. I also went to Perth Zoo in the past week, which opens an hour earlier. There were about fifty people waiting. http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/adventure-world-labels-abyss-a-success/story-e6frfku9-1226789449374

Spent a very busy day at Adventure World. Place was packed. There was a fifteen minute queue to get into the park via the car park entrance (which is the one for pre-paid tickets, group bookings and season passes). There was about a half hour wait for Abyss in the first hour the park was open. This expanded out to about an hour later on. They had it running all day, unlike last Sunday when they seemed to be having a problem with the tower motor. They didn't have the smoke effects running either. Lots of people were picking up fast passes and one shot passes, which can be bought from the 'Below Zero' store next to the Abyss, guest services and the really, really small gift shop. Some of the other rides and water slides had really long lines too. Other than that, everyone seemed to be having a good time.

The opening was covered on Saturday's Channel 9 News as well as 'The Western Australian'. http://www.9perth.com.au/?page_id=18#prettyPhoto

Congratulations to The Maze for opening Outback Splash today. Unfortunately, it's not half as hot as it was last week. It's a pretty small complex at the moment, but they have some grand plans. http://themaze.com.au/visitor-information/maze-tv/

AW's Fright Nights video has been posted. That guy at 13 seconds in was awesome. The Grim Reaper was operating Freefall when I rode it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OhkQQayNo0&feature=youtu.be

In the aftermath of Fright Nights at Adventure World and the debut of Abyss there have been a couple of industry-type articles published. In one they mentioned that AW was expecting double digit attendance growth. In the other they said that sales to Fright Nights had increased by 200%. Not bad. http://www.parkworld-online.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/2593/Adventure_World_Abyss_.html http://www.campaignbrief.com/wa/2013/11/shedcsc-and-digital-partners-r.html

Yeah 'targeted comedy ads' for extra irony.

Am I the only one getting these ads on this thread?

I rode Lethal Weapon pretty early on and it was a lot smoother then. I suppose Abyss has the advantage that it's a custom design and isn't like any coaster in Australia. It's also eerily quiet and smooth. Hats off to Adventure World(or Gazza) for picking Gerstlauer to design a decent ride. And for those who want to know - the USB is 7.6 GB.

Yeah, that's the ride I would say Abyss is on par with. I still can't believe it's at Adventure World. That park certainly has grown up in the last couple of years. Who would have predicted they would get a Eurofighter? Gazza perhaps? Is that right? http://www.parkz.com.au/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t1238.html

Was back in the park this morning. Rode Abyss twice in the first hour. The first wait was 15 mins, the second 30. The ride ops are still doing a great job. There was a lot more smoke in the station as well. Apparently the ride will not be operating tomorrow due to scheduled maintenance. Some merchandise is already available from the main shop. Shirts are $20 as are USBs. Caps and keyrings/bottle openers are $8.50. They also had beach towels. There was also another full page advert in Thursday's 'Western Australian'.

The castle still looks pretty fried. They've roped off part of the lagoon. I'm guessing no one's going on the paddle boats for a while.

A little off topic - but just to prove a point.. Hilarious video featuring the lost park of 'Atlantis'. Awesome choice of music.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecr6Xq8yTME

Found one of those great Facebook pages with photos from the early days of Adventure World (before the park began?). https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.505068999564159.1073741848.483374281733631&type=3 In case you didn't know: Adventure World was built in an old quarry. It's about 13 ha in size - Perth had about five of these small sized parks at the time. The castle roof wasn't originally purple. There was a miniature train going around the paddle boat lake. You would get on the paddle boats from the island in the middle - you can still see what's left of the dock when you're on the boats today. They used to have a tram that would take you around the park. The first station was underneath the entrance plaza. There are some great pictures of the luge that used to go down the hill - there was an electric 'steeplehorse' type vehicle on a rail to take you back up. There was an 'e-ticket' entry system where each ride had a different price (coloured token). The pool originally had a beach. The lake also used to look a lot healthier. Times have changed.

Due to open in December.. looks like some progress has been made. They'll be starting seasonal pricing then too. http://themaze.com.au/attractions1/outback-splash/ There was a local Nine News story as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdASUeVnw5E&feature=c4-overview&list=UU_a-tB5cm3Z7WrRSNtYB6jA