liz.wis

Is it a similar premise to the former batman ride? (i.e. walkthrough portion, then simulator ride?)

So, what's phase 2?

I'll have one bubble gum flavoured and one candy bar crush dippin' dots ice-cream thanks.

I tend to treat Movie World as a half day, and accordingly try and fill them up before arriving, or we pickup takeaway on the way home. We will typically buy drinks, or an ice-cream. etc. Very occasionally we might pick up an item of merch. We'd probably visit on average once a month. The kids get bored there a bit quickly, due to a limited amount of stuff for them to do. We went last weekend, arrived at opening, and had been on all the kids area rides, some twice, after about 2 hours. We can get a whole day out of Sea World, even going on no rides. Being further from home, we tend to eat a proper lunch there. More likely to buy merch there, as the sea animals have more of an appeal to my kids than the MW characters. We only visit a few times a year though.

I've had this show up in my Facebook feed a few times today - Slingshot ride at Mt Olympus, Wisconsin - rope snaps before launch. http://www.startribune.com/cable-snaps-on-sling-shot-ride-in-dells/313204281/

Have they removed the Big Red Boat and Teacup rides? I can't say I'd miss the former, but even my older kid liked seeing how fast she could spin the teacups!

I'd most like to take my kids to Disneyland, though if I were in that part of the world, I'd probably try and do as many parks in that general vicinity as possible - Universal, Six Flags MM, Knotts. Hence waiting til they're a bit older. I have been to Disneyland and Universal already, but it was 25 years ago.

It looks a similar idea to what they have at Underwater World. My kids quite enjoyed stamping off each creature they found.

Me too, I was too old for The Wiggles even when they first started.

I went on Scooby one last weekend, and once about three weeks ago, and the ride experience seemed to be quite different between both times (FWIW, I went on it fairly early in the morning last week, and end of the day the time before, with the more recent ride being better).

I've found one of the guys - I think it was either Shockwave or The Claw at Dreamworld fairly good. He put a bit more effort into pre-ride announcements - this would have been 18 months ago. One of the guys on Big Red Boat was amusing as well. Not a ride op, but I thought the current guy with the main speaking part at Sea World during the seal show (and he also did the speaking part of the dolphin show) was really good - he played up the cheesiness of it all really well, rather than cringing his way through it like whoever used to do it. Wasn't fussed on the guy playing the director at HSD at Movie World last weekend - I think he also needed to go cheesier with the bad dialogue he was given.

That's a pretty disappointing looking coaster if that's what it's going to be. My 6 year old would call it a 'baby ride', it looks more suitable for preschoolers than families.

Has anyone had any experience getting back lost property at Movie World? I went into the Scooby queue with sunglasses on my head, they told me to put them between my feet for the ride, and somewhere along the way they either slipped somewhere unreachable, or fell out of the car. On another note, apologies to anyone at Movie World today waiting in line for Scooby while they searched my car for my sunnies. I've left my details with guest services, who said they'd call, hopefully today, once the ride was checked at the end of the day. If I haven't heard, I'll try follow up tomorrow. Also, saw HSD2 for the first time today - how long have they had the air guitar/dance cam? I thought that was fantastic, probably enjoyed it more than the show itself.

FWIW, I took my girls (3.5 and 6.5) a couple of weeks ago, and we got in a full day pretty much avoiding rides (long weekend = hideous queueing). We saw all the shows, a few of the animal feedings, and they spent an age climbing in the Castaway Bay fort area. Older daughter is tall enough for Storm Coaster, but it was not running for a while. Both tall enough for Flume Ride, but with Storm down, the line too long. It's a bit of a hard age for rides - my older daughter is a bit over the MW kids area (with the exception of Road Runner coaster), marginally to short for BatWing, or anything above it so just has Scooby and Wild West Falls. I found Dreamworld the best pick for rides for that age - she could get on MDMC, most of the Dreamworks offerings, rapids, log ride, etc. She hit 120cm about a month after our annual passes expired, so that opens a few more options too.

How old/tall are your kids?

I know for a fact people buy single day passes rather than annual ones, I can't get my head around WHY, but, yes, they're out there. ETA: I'm talking about locals too, not someone visiting on holiday.

I took the kids to see it yesterday, and thought it was really well done. It was impressive enough that Miss 6 the cynic was captivated, Miss 3 was scared of the kraken, but enjoyed the rest. I think it's a much better fit than Dinosaur Island. I quite liked being able to see some of the big animatronics as soon as we walked in, the kids wanted to head straight for it. Indoor downstairs had quality theming, upstairs didn't add anything to it. I thought the animatronics themselves were fairly impressive. I agree that the supporting poles weren't great, but it did give them a bit of height, so I think it was worth it to do it that way. Hugely impressed with use of misting around the creatures, was great to see SW go to the extra effort. The paths, gardens, walk around the lighthouse area seemed to be finished nicely. Obviously looking over at the gravel from the whales wasn't ideas, but not something they could really do anything about. Anyone know what happened to the pirate ship they used to have in the water around that area? It was the first time I'd noticed its absence.

IMO it's classed as a 'thrill' ride just so DW can add one more number to their 'Big 9 Thrill Rides' title.

I thought it was quite good when it first opened at DW. I went on it for the first time again last year, and it was definitely rough. No, not as bad as the last year of Thunderbolt, but noticeably different to how it was.

I doubt anyone would have picked the motor coaster over referring the mine ride. ETA: and I don't hate the motor coaster, as it's a slightly more exciting option for kids getting past the Wiggles level, but not yet up to TOT level.

Wow, to have that impact, and then be stuck rocking back and forward, that would be a nightmare.

I think it looks good, it definitely looks relevant for SW. I plan on visiting in a couple of weeks.

Thanks Gazza, I didn't think I was imagining it.

I'm sure it was the scores on the ride photo screen at the end, the numbers were in tiny print. TBH I didn't look at it properly, as we'd talked the scores, but I was sure they were in the pic. Could be wrong, maybe it was the photo number? I'll double check next visit.

A mini review on MW, having not been there for around 2 years. I visited on Sunday afternoon for about 4.5 hours, with husband, and daughters aged 6 and 3. First up was Batwing, but it was a no-go, as Miss 6 was wearing flats and came in at 122cm. Will try again next month wearing sneakers. Instead we all went to Justice League. Miss 3 is a Batman fanatic, so it was her favourite part of the day. It was pretty new on our last visit, and I admit I think I judged it a little harshly at the time. This time the lasers buzzed when you made a hit (not sure if this was new, or I just had a faulty one last time?) which made it a bit more engaging. I also liked the screen at the end which has the pics of your car, and everyone's score (again, not there last time). I definitely enjoyed it as a family experience, the last time I went on it by myself, as the kids weren't old enough for it. Next we saw the Rio feature. My oldest daughter is slightly obsessed with this franchise, it was the theme of her last birthday party. I thought she'd be stoked with it, but all I got was 'meh, same footage as the movie'. The non-existant preshow (I'm not going to count the power-point presentation) was a let down, I thought the room might at least have a Carnivale theme or something. I don't know if it was the best movie choice for this kind of experience, there was lots of wind blowing on the neck, and some minor seat motion, but I don't think it added much. We spent most of the time in the kids area. Both children were tall enough for the Rocket coaster, so Miss 3 got her first coaster experience, which is always exciting. Neither were interested in the Speedy Taxi's or Train Ride (the term 'baby rides' was thrown around). Sylvester Bounce was popular with both kids, though the line was longer than usual, so they only had one ride. It was our first look at the Driving School. I did my best to try not to judge it on the classic that was Looney Tunes ride. I thought the driving area was themed to a passable level. I agree with people that had commented on the roof - I think it would have looked better with a painted blue sky with clouds rather than the solid black. The cars were easy to operate, Miss 6 was capable of driving herself, I passengered with Miss 3, who could do the foot acceleration and only needed minor help steering. The adult seat at the back fit me fine, but I'm a fairly small build. The kids thought it was fairly fun, but didn't rave. My biggest gripe with the ride was the waiting area. That shoebox with the pool fencing was a special kind of hell on earth. If there are fences like that, little kids will climb them, and shake them, and bang on them continuously for forty minutes. Very badly designed. Note: not my kids doing the banging and climbing. Finished of the day with my husband taking Miss 3 to see the super hero parade (she liked it), and I took Miss 6 on Scooby for the first time. It's probably been at least 10 years since I went on that ride, so I can't really remember what had changed. The theming in the waiting area still looks good, I didn't mind the video of the interviews with the cast, though the volume was too low to take much from it. I didn't forewarn my daughter about the backwards drop part, as the element of surprise with that was always my favourite bit, but the dad in front of us warned his son too loudly, so not as effective as I'd hoped. Still a really great ride experience, the end part of the ride with the few lasers could do with a bit of love, as I remember that being more visual, but still overall a well themed fun attraction. Miss 3 is still sore about not being tall enough for it, but give her 12 months and I think she'll get there. (Both girls are big Scooby fans, and watch the cartoons weekly, so I believe the theme is still relevant/popular). Lots of discussion going on about number of kids/family attractions, and from that perspective, it was a solid half-a-day park for us - the last 12 months we've been going to Dreamworld, and have been able to get a longer day out of it. I don't think there was as many repeat attractions at MW - at every visit to DW there were a number of rides the kids wanted to do multiple times (particularly older daughter), where as they were happy to do the MW ones just once.