iwerks

Just wondering what you're basing all your predictions on, that's all. There are quite a few choices of drop towers that are similar size and capacity to Inferno. I don't see them downgrading it just to make you happy.

Just a quick report from the inaugural AWNights. Got there about 5.30pm and was at the head of the queue for entry (they were still chasing day patrons out - apparently it had been quite busy). They opened the gates at 5.50 or so for a rope drop of sorts at 6pm. Yarlotte and her minders even showed up. Headed over to the lockers and then the pool, which had lots of flamingo inflatables on it. Went on the mat slides next and had four runs with no one but me on them. Went over to the racing slides, before deciding to dry off. Got on the chairlift, which was operating, and captured some nice shots as the sun went down. After wandering around the park, I decided to take an early dinner on the upper deck of the Kahuna Cafe. I was tucking into a patented Mark Shaw Chicken Caesar Salad, when the lights on Kahuna Falls went out. Kids kept going on it and they eventually fixed it an hour or so later. At first I thought they had hit the lights on purpose in order to emphasise the DJ, who was playing nearby, but then I saw a guy with a torch. Put my camera away after that and then went on the Grand Prix and Abyss with next to no wait. Abyss was awesome, as I was expecting it to be completely dark when we got out - it wasn't. It was like entering an elaborate show building (kinda like the old ET ride), with the forest on the left and the moon overhead. Once we were over the lift hill, it was a little more intense than normal. Abyss' tracks have this bluish/purple lighting, so you could only see a few meters ahead at a time. Did one last lap around the park. It was 9 o'clock. Checked my photos and the Kahuna Falls lights came back on. Overall, the night kinda reminded me of extra magic hours at a Disney park, where you can ride your favourite rides at night with little wait. The DJ was very chilled and didn't really gather a crowd. It was a very mellow, family friendly crowd, with couples picnicking on the lawns. Got in for free since I'm a Platinum member, so not bad value for me. The weather was so much better than Fright Nights and there were tonnes of people in the pool all night long. Looking forward to next week's event.

Reading the ad also reminded me about Michael Edgley and how it was called Edgley's Adventure World. Edgley also developed the now defunct Perth Entertainment Centre. We also had Alan Bond, who besides winning the America's Cup, which helped reinvigorate Fremantle, he also developed Atlantis, our former local marine park. Back in those days, Two Rocks, really was in the middle on nowhere. This got me to thinking about our current crop of theme park instigators. We definitely need people who are lightning rods of fun around Australia. People who can help promote our leisure sector services. In Perth, it's great that the Woodcock's were able to get seed funding for a water park at The Maze (although we're still waiting to see the final version of this come to fruition). Then there are people like David Bakas trying to create some heat for Sydney's Wonderland 2.0. It's kinda frustrating when you look around Australia and look at the lack of development of our fun park sector, although regional Victoria seems to be an exception to the rule, and how places like Adelaide and Hobart don't seem to have much at all. Why can't everyone have the right to catch a coaster after work, like some of us can with Abyss in Perth and you guys on the GC? In Perth, we also had Eric Person, who helped develop the InspireWA theme park concept that was initially working along with companies like Sally Corp. He's now co-operating with Jimmy Choo and helping to promote Australian fashion. And then we have Mark Shaw and his recent work with Gumbaya World. Mark was fantastic with his promotion of Adventure World during his time at the helm and I hear that he's got some great things coming up. We need people like this. Goodluck to them all.

But not as pipe dream as your comments. Isn't Hair Raiser half the capacity?

Some of the above photos were from the Boans staff visit before the park opened. Found this newspaper ad that someone shared on Facebook a year or two ago. Can we have those opening hours, please?

Yup - it was entry by token before that. They also had the shooting gallery too.

Why do I keep reading trolls as a verb?

Wow - you guys are about as informative as the AW website. It would be useful to learn something more about the Nights before going, but it's always nice to get a pleasant surprise. I wonder if they'll get as many performers in with Fringeworld taking place across other parts of Perth. It would be cool if they did Dive-in movies or at least recreate the outdoor cinema they had for Fright Nights. The bar is always a great place to escape the crowds - it's good that it's back. I wonder what extra lighting or effects they'll have for the rides? We'll soon find out.

And then we could debate whether it's a water park or a fully fledged 'theme' park. Yeah, it's like they've got no clue. Maybe they should have built the park they were supposed to build in the first place? They really need to listen to their customer base about service and, of course, build something new every couple of years to get people coming back.

Loved Turbo Mountain. I think Abyss is more of an extreme coaster. Ride in the back seat and you will be fine.

Agreed - good call @elemist. Abyss is still a great coaster - like Ben said it's more of a sports coaster. It's not AA or HWSW rough; it's just not as re-rideable as Turbo Mountain was. Reason why I was talking about the music was that it sounds like Harry Potter type music when you enter the park - like a proper theme park. The team members work together as a cohesive whole, not like carnies at a sideshow alley.

Tim, Abyss is not rough compared to AA and HWSW. I prefer to sit in the back row of Abyss and get a great ride every time.

But by inviting people who have never been there to judge it is pretty bizarre. How can you judge the quality of the different themed music zones from a satellite? How can you judge the dedication to service from the team members from a photo? How can you judge the quality of food if you've never eaten there? I think what surprises a lot of people is that AW got it's act together several years ago and people are only now starting to figure that out.

I love the way people condescend to Mark when they probably haven't even been there. You can't compare AW to a side show. There's just so much more that AW brings that can't be seen on random photos or a satellite view. It's a fantastic set up that almost defies being categorised. When you look at what the park started with, it had no real off the shelf amusement park rides at all. And, as I've told people before, you can quite happily spend the day riding rides there and not go anywhere near the water. If you want to call it a theme park - call it one.

Had a great day with @Tim Dasco and @ABYSS, today. AW was fairly busy. Abyss and Goliath had waits of between 5 and 20 minutes. Inferno was down again. The waterslides had healthy waits, with Kraken having a 50 minute queue. There were lots of families with big tents and eskies.

February 24 and March 3.

Or Hong Kong.

Here's a photo of the show building from TDL's toontown.

Thanks for that @RossL. Yeah, there were also construction cranes near the front of DisneySea.

Wow - just spent the last forty-eight hours at Tokyo's Disney parks. They were pretty busy, but got a lot done anyway. Certainly took the chance to see things I missed last time. I can also recommend staying at an Air BnB in close proximity to the parks. So much easier to take a 5 minute bus or train ride there than a busy journey across town. One thing that caught me by surprise at TDL is that Star Tours has been updated to include The Last Jedi. And can anyone confirm what's being constructed between Toontown and Tomorrowland?

I think Adventure World has bigger ones than that. On the other hand, Kalamunda Water Park's lockers were only $1 each.

Some water parks have smaller lockers for a lesser price. I think SW should get more of its transportation rides back, whether it's a miniature train, gondola, autopia or boat ride.

Perth had Omni and, for a short time, IMAX. The Omni theatre is digital now and nothing like the brightness of the original films. I heard the films were so expensive that they were bought and resold by the cinemas themselves. The Omni cinema at Singapore's Science Centre is 4K and is a lot brighter than Perth's Omni, which is now run by Scitech. However, Scitech does have a great planetarium program.

Yeah, I got an invite a couple of weeks ago, but I was already going down south. Great to see the Japanese drummers Taiko On were there. I think I referenced them earlier on in the thread - it's definitely their style of drumming. In the meantime, I managed to visit Eagles Heritage Raptor Centre, Amazin Margaret River, Xscape at the Cape and Bunbury Wildlife Park.

Gone, baby, gone.