liz.wis

I think MW is the pick of the parks for thrill rides, with Green Lantern, Superman Escape, Arkam, etc I'm assuming Storm will be opened at SW by then too.,

That was a great SW video. I went in the mid-80s, but don't remember the boat ride? (Not the pirate ship, that was awesome), it's at 42 seconds in the video. I remember the castle and ball pits too. And also Grundy's.

Do they ever run more than 1 train?

We'd only be doing it for the year, if not 6 months then getting the others again in addition.

Parent with young kids right here, Sea World is definitely the favourite, although we do go less frequently being further away. We're more likely to go there if we're staying down the coast for a few days. I probably like Movie World the best, as would my husband. We've had the VIP passes for a number of years, and going to try out Dreamworld for a change, as the older child (turning 5), is getting a bit over the kids rides at MW, having been going on them since she was a toddler (with the exception of Road Runner Coaster, that's still a favourite).

Keeping in mind I've only been to DW a couple of times ever, but the last time I went on Thunder River Rapids it was in the vicinity of 25 years ago. It was closed for maintenance on subsequent visits, so I'm pleased it still exists.

Thanks - problem is not specifically with darkness, just audio in darkness (i.e. the shouting voice just before the drop on WWF), I'm guessing Log Ride / Rapids wouldn't have that?

I haven't been to Dreamworld for about 10 years, we've had MW/SW/WW VIP Passes for about 3 years, but were thinking of having a change for 12 months. It's at the point the 4 year old is saying "Do we have to go to MW again?" Do you think there'd be enough there to entertain a 4 year old? (She's beyond Wiggles, and bang on 110cm). Has happily gone on Road Runner coaster since she was 3, but doesn't like dark rides (freaked out at the internal part of Wild West Falls, and refused to go on Scooby or Justice League.)

My daughter will be 5 at the end of the year, and is tall for her age hit 110cm recently, so that's a huge difference to 130.

Mini Children's Car Ride?

To be fair, the weather has been ridiculously crappy the last month or so, so that'd probably slow down proceedings. I don't think any of the above mentioned are really draw cards for anyone these days.

I vaguely remember the Maverick stage show, but I have no idea when they got rid of it. The fairly well themed (minus arcade stuff) Western area is just ridiculously underused.

Well I have a 4 year old that will be happy with the news.

We would buy lunch maybe half of our visits, and get popcorn/frozen coke refills nearly every visit. We do bring in snacks for the kids, and typically water as well. We've obviously had lunchboxes with us, and no one has ever said anything. I kind of figured they're lenient with people with small kids.

- Looney Tunes River Ride - Batman Adventure The Ride #1 - Bermuda (when everything was working as it should) While they were relatively crap, I think both Grundy's in Surfers Paradise, and Tops in the Myer Centre (particularly the latter) are kind of missed. I'm not really their target audience anymore, but I would have taken my kids there.

That wouldn't have been pleasant in the heat today.

The only thing I remember about my first trip to Sea World was that ball pit. I'm glad someone else remembers it, most people don't! (or maybe I'm a bit old). I'd possibly have a photo of it, if I went digging. Back to the original topic, I thought the new start to the flume ride looked kind of a temporary fix to get the ride up and running again. A coat of paint and some theming and it'll be fine. I was at SW a couple of days ago, and it was of one the biggest line-ups I've seen for the ride for ages.

I agree to some extent as well - I do miss the experiences you can immerse yourself in, particularly like Looney Tunes and Bermuda. I still think the parks (excluding Dreamworld, who I can't comment on as I haven't been there for 10 years), are giving the public what they want in terms of thrills - I'm pretty happy with what Movieworld in particular has to offer in that department - love Green Latern, SE, Scooby, Arkham, etc. The crowds don't bother me - I'm liking MW in particularly now that it's busier - a couple of years ago, it didn't have the atmosphere it does now. I think one area the "magic" is missing may be partly from annual passes - in my entire childhood I went to each of the theme parks only once or twice. It was a huge deal at the time, and talked about for months. I have children myself now, and my 4 year old says "can we go to MW today", just as if she'd say "can we go to the playground" or similar. Going to the theme parks now is something we do every month or so, so not quite as special as it was for me.

I was thinking about this ride again, and I really think my biggest issue is you don't get any feedback when you make a hit, I'd rather feel the gun jolt/vibrate than just nothing. I know your score goes up, but if you're gawking at that, you're not really paying attention to everything else going on.

I sent my husband on it this week, I went on it about a month ago. He's probably more of the 'target' audience than me, being more into comics and super heroes (though not specifically Justice League). He thought I was being a bit harsh when I told him to be prepared to be underwhelmed. He didn't particularly enjoy it either, was frustrated with the lack of sensitivity with the shooting. His comment was that he imagined the execs at MW who forked out the many million for it must be seriously disappointed.

I remember Sea World before the volcanoes, and when they were first operating. At that point, with the flames and smoke, they were a huge feature of the park, but as they've been standing the last few years, have lost some of their 'iconic' status. I'm somewhat sad to see them go, but I can totally understand why. I'm not a good photographer, nor do I have a good camera, but here's the view from the Skyway on Wednesday.

I went to MW on Monday and the sign above was up, but not the Joker. I went on the ride for the first time - definitely an improvement on Lethal Weapon, but I'd place it low down on the list of rides I'd want to go on again soon - I preferred the experience of Superman, Green Lantern, and Scooby.

I should already know this, but is entry to White Christmas standard with VIP passes? This is the first year we might be able to make it.

I got to go on this ride for the first time on the weekend. I actually asked the staff member on the gate of Green Lantern if it was operating, as I didn't really see anyone going in there behind Batwing. I kind of assumed it was closed. It's really disappointing that such a new, expensive ride seems to have no hype about it. When I did go in, there was only a couple of groups of people in front of me. (This was at about 3pm). I barely go to see the spiel from the animatronic out the front. On this note, I would have preferred to see a more recognisable character (though I'm not hugely familiar with the DC-verse to begin). I think there seriously needs to be some better signage directing people to the ride. There's something wrong when years after opening Superman Escape regularly has a line lasting a couple of hours, and this attraction has only been opened a month and is a walk-on. (I understand ride capacity and all, but I mean it more in the way it attracts attention). No one on the ride seemed to be particularly enthused. It wasn't my kind of experience, I found it a little boring, particularly the choice of enemy. Otherwise, the theming was quite good, I thought the length of the ride was decent too, I was expecting it to be shorter. The laser guns seemed to be working most of the time. The visuals were okay, I'm not a fan of 3D at the best of times, but it was reasonably done. It's a decent family ride - it's probably a little loud for my 4 year old, who I didn't take on with me, but in another 6 months or so I think she'd be fine with it. She's okay with 'thrills' (loves the rocket coaster, and the drop of Wild West, but is terrified of the voice over before the drop). I actually preferred Batman Adventure, though to be fair, that had a fair bit of nostalgia value. I went along to its opening, I probably would have been about 10 or 11, and found it really exciting. I liked the whole build up when someone was there pulling a book of the shelf in the library to open into the bat cave, and I thought in its early days the simulator was more exciting than just travelling around in a car. For or what it's worth, I thought the Gremlins had a little more fun to it as well. Overall, I think it's a good addition, as I like the idea of family rides, I think if there was just more of a 'vibe' to it, the overall experience would be improved.

I have the stunt driver drink/popcorn refill cups from a year or two ago that I still use at MW, and I'm positive the price has dropped - last time we were there it was $3 each for a popcorn and frozen coke, and I'm sure I was paying more than that last year. My only slight gripe would be the kids meals are way better value than the adult ones - same size burger, chips plus a small drink, but they cost less. I'd like to see them add a drink to the adults meals at the least.