aaronm

I suspect this probably isn't something the park is doing deliberately, rather a bug in their POS software that is rounding EFTPOS transactions like cash. Assuming the ACCC bothered to investigate, they'd probably just issue a warning and tell the park to fix it.

A Lost Gravity clone would be a great addition, was very impressed when I rode it earlier this year. Good fit for the park too, not crazy expensive and doesn't look too "extreme" to the GP. In terms of family appeal, a Mack spinner along the lines of Sierra Sidewinder might be a better option for them though. It's a shame the rapids are going away because they're one of the few rides that family groups can enjoy together, not many coasters or flats that are like that.

The way the media report this kind of thing seems to demonstrate they care more about being first than getting the facts straight. In any case, always awful to hear of accidents at theme parks. Thoughts are with Dreamworld staff, and the families of the victims.

Based on this IGN competition, the ride will open on either October 1 or 2: http://www.au.ign-hub.com/movie-world-competition/

Agree that $5 is probably the maximum, though "good value" is probably closer to $3. I'm not surprised that it's an upcharge, as otherwise it would be a capacity nightmare. On Alpenexpressen they had six rows dedicated to VR, with the rest of the coaster remaining open to regular guests. I'm guessing Movie World will do something similar.

So of the VR coasters I've tried, Bobbejaanland handed you the headsets once you were seated in the car, and Europa just gave them to you near the front of the queue. I preferred the Europa approach as it allowed me to adjust the headset while I was waiting for the ride, and didn't impact their dispatch times. It really should take 20 seconds or less to adjust a couple of velcro straps and make the thing fit your head. Though given some park guests' inability to even get themselves into a seat and do up the seatbelt properly, this could be a challenge too far for some.

I've tried three VR coaster options this year - Mount Mara at Bobbejaanland, and Pegasus and Alpenexpress at Europa Park. Mount Mara was just kind of OK, though that ride is all indoors and dark anyway so it's an improvement on the normal ride experience somewhat. The two at Europa were both excellent, and used the technology well. The VR on Alpenexpress even included a realistic-feeling inversion, not bad for a powered coaster! All three used the Samsung Gear headset, and all of them had a stutter at points where the device was having trouble keep up with the speed of the ride. So that makes me wonder how effective the current VR tech is going to be on a much faster ride like AA. I'll try it at least once, in any case. Hopefully the park figure out a way to do this without making dispatch times (even) worse. edit - do we know if MW are planning to charge for this? The ones at Europa were a nominal fee (2 euro), presumably due to the limited capacity.

Of the dozen or so SLCs I've tried, Arkham is the only one that's had much in the way of theming or onboard audio. It also has the most comfortable ride (by a really, really long shot). It's still an SLC and has all the flaws associated with being that, for sure. But I don't understand why it's such a fanciful proposal to suggest it's the best one. Because Jaguar might have better restraints?

So after Superman, would have to be Jet Rescue or Green Lantern for me. Jet Rescue is just a great family ride, reminds me a scaled-down Maverick. It feels fast and forceful without being too extreme for kids to ride, which is perfect for a park like Sea World. Also wins some points for being relatively unique, there's nothing really similar out there - Juvelen might be close but it's a much less intense ride. On paper Green Lantern shouldn't work - too slow, too short, too gentle. But when you actually ride it, from the dive-coaster-like first drop to the slow inversions, there are some great "woooaaahh" moments throughout, especially on the outside seats. And it's even better when you luck out and get a car with working audio. I like that there's plenty of love for Arkham here. It might be a lowly SLC, but it's probably the best one there is. It's certainly much better themed than any of the others that I've been on, has a bonus helix, and is also far less likely to give you a concussion. I'm pretty sure it's the only SLC I've bothered to ride more than once!

$300 seems a little pricey to me, but the overall experience looks good. I did a similar thing at Busch Gardens Williamsburg a couple of years ago, cost about US$70 I think (meals weren't included, but we did walk to the top of Griffon). I feel like once you've seen the inside of one maintenance bay, they're all pretty much the same. Still I'll be interested to hear how it goes from those who've booked, should be fun!

Of course. I was more questioning whether the park would pass on a Blue Fire clone, on the basis that punters might see it as too similar to Superman.

Doubt it fits the definition of "world's best" but after riding Lost Gravity a couple of weeks ago, would love to see something like that make its way to Movie World. Just a fun, messed up coaster that keeps surprising you even after a dozen rides. If the Mack rumour is true something like Helix or Blue Fire would be an excellent addition, though who knows if they want (gasp) two launched coasters...

^The Europa Park VR is the one I'm most keen to try, as the ride video was developed by their in-house media team (Mack Media). I suspect that like a lot of attractions, the quality of the VR experience is going to vary widely between parks.

Giant Drop could use a refurb though, that station and queue has all the charm of a bus shelter. Swapping out the seats for those used on Lex Luthor would definitely improve the ride experience as well.

Assume they have updated the site, it was definitely there yesterday afternoon. Ride will probably reopen, no doubt to further media attention every time a car stops on the brake run.

AA is almost certainly the best themed SLC on the planet, which makes me optimistic for whatever Movie World might do with the Doomsday flat ride.

I thought it felt like an event venue which also happens to be a museum. Nothing wrong with that, but I doubt they'll get many repeat visitors.

Sounds like there is a flat ride of some description going outside Scooby's exit. Probably a Disk'O, not enough of those in QLD yet.

I just had a look at the water park page on the website - http://seaworld.com.au/animals-rides-and-shows/rides/sea-world-resort-water-park.aspx and noticed this: Not sure if this has been discussed before, but it's certainly a decent sized plot of land to build something new. The top end of the park could use something beyond the dolphin show to lure guests as well.

It's pretty intense. The top hat is like having a sack of cement dropped on your nuts. Airtime!

If the ride has multiple trains in use I imagine it would save some time. Otherwise it slows the process down due to the extra added step to advance the train in between unload and load (e.g. Superman with single train operations, Motocoaster, Jet Rescue). I do find the Australian parks' aversion to allowing guests to group themselves a little strange. It seems to create work for groupers rather than improve operations, especially on rides like ToT2, and HWSW where a staff member has to escort riders to the loading area.

Fuji-Q is well worth a return visit to ride the coasters. Eejanaika and Takabisha in particular are both excellent. That park has some of the worst operations I've encountered outside of Six Flags America, but it does have some great rides. Was Space Fantasy open when you visited Universal? That ride is completely bonkers and was the highlight of my visit. Definitely one of those "only in Japan" rides but enjoyable nonetheless. As for Harry Potter, the land is beautifully themed but I was underwhelmed by the ride itself - the transitions between the physical sets and the screens aren't as seamless as similar rides like Transformers and Spiderman. I'm not a big fan of the way it tries to retell the first four films in three minutes either, just ends up a bit muddy. The Gringotts ride in Orlando works better as it only tries to tell a "slice" of the bigger story. For me, Indiana Jones is still the gold standard in dark rides, both the Anaheim and Tokyo versions are brilliant. Definitely visit Disneysea on your next trip, it's probably the most immersive theme park in the world.

^The Aussie parks do seem to love hiding the loading area. Superman, Buzzsaw, HWSW spring to mind. ToT is even behind two sets of doors! Even on Disney rides where you don't see the loading area such as Soarin' and Star Tours, the videos prior to boarding do a great job of demonstrating the procedure (even if it is just a seatbelt).

I agree it would be a shame to see the showstage go, but that would open up quite a bit of space to be used on that side of the park. There's enough room for a decent expansion area in between Arkham and WWF, both of which are kind of "dead ends" at the moment.

Yes I'm aware of that, the ride would need to be on some kind of raised platform I imagine, to allow the water to flow underneath.