franky

Gatekeeper has three trains, worst case they could have had one down for rebuild, stripped the 2nd and still had the 3rd to bring the ride back up. CP is seasonal too though, so most maintenance would happen in the off season right? Maybe they had ample staff available on hand just to strip it/rebuild it. MW is already under the pump with rides down, so their maintenance is probably already stretched thin. All just theories of course I'm guessing that a pull through attempt was the faster of the two ways to get the ride operating again, once a crane or two became available.

What's to say the other train isn't already stripped to pieces for a rebuild? If that's happening in the maintenance bay at the moment it would make it impossible to reassemble the valleyed train in there. Fastest/easiest way to get it running again if this is/was the case would be to attempt the pull through

Well people were already speculating as to whether it was getting demolished or not. Just in the last month or two there were comments along the line of (and I paraphrase) "Launch cables are being removed, TTD demolition confirmed!" before CP even made their announcement We still don't know just how changed the new ride is going to be

Interesting. I think our collective points need to be how the block zones are configured. Full thottle has a bunch of trims on the final hill leading into a tire drive section (https://youtu.be/XnFS_-nmI4Y?t=56) then there's about 5 tires to move the train back to the station, realistically these would be capable of stopping a roll back when combined with the LSM stopping force I would imagine. I think you could be onto something though, it would be roughly the same length between station and launch on TTD, so it might end up being tire drive and LSM only as the roll back prevention... time will ultimately tell!

Now you've had me questioning my entire being! Older rides such as Cheeta Hunt have brake fins (https://twitter.com/bioreconstruct/status/1031294166205169664, even the newer ones (eg Velocicoaster) have them (eg https://youtu.be/hoh3kR-5BsA?t=808). Had to search for some photos/video. It doesn't look like there are as many as is on a hydraulic launch, so I guess that the LSM's do indeed provide some breaking force, even in the event of a power outage. They do look like completely different fins to me (VC ones look brass/copper) when comparing to my memory of Supermans' fins for example.

They're going to need brake fins on the launch regardless of what technology they choose. Risk of roll back = brake fins needed. I'm going to go ahead and guess that removing the existing fins is just part of the deconstruction process - they can be re purposed/sold to other parks (like SFGA/KBF etc) to recoup costs. New track pieces would be needed to accommodate for the LSM's and brake fins occupying the same space in the launch track section. Just on those two points, what would GP care about more though? That is a less powerful launch when it's only open 40% of the time, or that it's a crap shoot as to whether the ride is open when they visit. Sure, if they've ridden before they'll notice the difference, but the ride being open more and less of a maintenance headache will surely win out over a more forceful launch.

Feels like they're really trying to push for a school holidays opening. I live in Newcastle and they're running tv ads for the parks and advertising Leviathan (Opening Soon) Now obviously opening soon means no guarantees, but it feels optimistic!

Is the roughness a result of the launch or just the ride/track itself though? Has the tech changed between Red Force and their newer launches such as Velocicoaster/Pantheon, perhaps there's improvements that have been made in speed/forces etc.

My money is on them converting it to a LIM/LSM launch. Curious to know however: Will they need to reduce the height of the ride? Will it still be a shuttle launch (Like Rock'n'Roller Coaster at DLHS)? Surely they'd also need new (lighter) trains Bummed I didn't get there to experience it before hand, apparently although shorter it was still the better ride when compared to Kingda Ka due to lap bars and not OTSR's

Don't want it spontaneously completing the course when they're not expecting it

Having recently been to Florida and did the parks around that area (inc BGT), I rate Rivals lower than Velocicoaster but higher than Iron Gwazi. A lot of the yanks are staying that VC/IG are/is the best coaster at the moment. Rivals/Taipan has better restraints than Velocicoaster, but only slightly; Velocicoaster doesn't have the seatbelts, but the seats and trains are a little more narrow/cramped than the Mack trains. I feel like a lot of the ride experience for me was lost on Gwazi due to the restraints (belt under a T-bar which I got stapled under). DCR/ST/VC you're only restrained at your waist, so when you're going through -ve G's your upper body and legs etc are floating, whereas on Gwazi your lower body is kinda just stuck in the same place. I'm hoping to convince the wife to go to Cedar Point so that I can try out SteVe, but if the restraints are like IG then I'm not all that hopeful.

I agree, but only to a point. Scheduled maintenance, yes. Unscheduled maintenance, well that's where I'm torn. I read a comment on one of the MW FB posts from a person that just travelled from Sydney the day before Rival's went down. I can't help but feel sorry for them in this instance. To say 'oh well just go back when it's fixed' doesn't really work when you're not a local. I'm not an engineer, but our rides do appear to go down for unscheduled maintenance a lot, is there more that needs to be done during the scheduled maintenance period to reduce unexpected downtime?

Interesting! Maybe I'll get over there one day and ride them, and make up for me chickening out as a kid!

I'm guessing so that it makes more sense for them to have had to call in Fire and Rescue.

I'm not a financial guy by any stretch, but that report reads like everything it going to be sunshine and rainbows for Ardent, yet despite ticket sales and attendance being up, they're still running at a loss. It's less of a loss than last FY, but its still in the red. Can anyone explain? I also noted the following on pg 28: So does this mean they'll have projects planned to announce for this, and the next two FY's?

Something I've just discovered too, is the $79 is only for the 1st and 7th of October, prices increase as the month progresses: 01/07 October: $79 08/14 October: $89 15/21/22/28/29 October: $99 Fast Track for Mazes and Rides is $149, plus entry.

For someone that's never been, are all rides generally open, or only a select few?

We last visited in the Easter break and even then it depended on the OP in the booth as to whether you got a countdown or just yeeted when it was ready. The only place I remember there being a rattle on ST was after the MCBR, more noticible in the back but nothing to complain about - the restraints on ST/DCR makes it a non issue for me (unlike Superman Escape where your ears cop a beating). Just curious, how many trains were running? The first couple of days of our visit, ST was a station wait all day for the most part. At the end of the 2nd day however there were issues with the spinning seats and the train got parked in maintenance, it didn't return on the 3rd day and the wait times were quite a bit longer. Still better than DCR with single train ops however, but that's also due the ride time / popularity.

I'm not a horticulturalist, and those trees look fairly heavily pruned, but pruning has to happen if they want it to maintain its shape and not get too large and have to be removed. Spring is only a few weeks away, they'll spring back, but it might take a couple of years to get back to where they were, and then they'll probably be pruned again. The Scooby trees look like they've been pruned in such a way so as to encourage them to grow away from the building. The only reasons I can think for this is either fire protection (fire break incase tree goes up in flames) or that they're going to put an actual shade structure over the queue and don't want the tree branches to grow over/into it.

Yeah, there's no way this is seeing a life other than scrap metal. They're not unbolting anything, it's all being blow torched, and other parts bent out of shape. Photo credit Credit Theme Park Social Network on FB:

I saw some photos on the Movieworld Fan Club FB page with some of the track removed. TBH I was waiting for someone to post them here/upload their own. Credit Warner Bros. Movie World Fan Club on FB. The cuts don't look too rough - not in the same way they were when Sea Viper was removed, so perhaps there's some truth to the rumour that the ride is moving? Edit: Actually in that photo with Superman in the foreground, I figured if they were moving the ride they would have unbolted that join instead of cutting it... so perhaps this really is the end.

Rivals was $20 last holidays, Tailwhip was $25. Prices will stay / go up so long as people keep paying. The line was practically empty for back seat during our Easter visit.

Honest question, is the op not allowed to leave their place in the station while the ride is in motion? My view would be after the ride dispatches they could go organise the next batch of riders, but it seemed like they waited for the train to park back in loading before they went to organise the next group.

If they were Intamin's published riders per hour, then based on what I've seen from the Problematic Roller Coaster series, they're not right in any park.

I'm with you, but I'd imagine the lettering would only be tack welded on, so nothing an angle grinder wouldn't fix. All a matter of time and effort though.