Adam C

The missus has launched the idea of returning to our honeymoon hotel in Cancun either next year or in 2017. I liked the idea but added that our 3 teenagers would struggle with effectively a beach holiday on the other side of the world. So I ran the idea of a 2 centre holiday taking in Cancun with either LA or Orlando which she thought was reasonable. Now we've been to Orlando in 2014 but not to LA which leans towards California but I'm lead to beleive the theme parks are quite far apart. Also, Orlando has the new Sea World coaster in 2016 and the new Universal Water park in 2017. Also, we didn't do either Unversal parks last time. Any thoughts?

Went to Bali 2 weeks ago and flew back one day before the volcano erupted. I had a first visit to Waterbom park which was reasonably quiet. Most of the slides would fit nicely into AW especially the bowl slide and Boomerang. However, one thing that was doing a roaring trade was the poolside bar which got me thinking that maybe AW could do with a proper bar with a tropical theme, Cuban music, cocktails, etc. The site of the old castle might be a good spot , especially if the lake is to developed in the future.

Re the hot hill, I'm aware the AW service vehicles use the hill so it's going to have to be roadworthy. How about a 40cm strip on the right side made from something like a rubber running track material. Maybe in cream or sky blue. The golf buggies could use the bigger left side and us barefooted could use the pedestrian bit.

I've always liked the idea of an 'Australian' theme park. Firstly, I'm unsure about location. GC, Sydney or Melbourne. Also, should the park be a hybrid water park and close during winter? The cost of land might be an issue. Anyway, as for different lands, initial thoughts might be:- Beach/Boat harbour - old fashioned fun fair, jaws ride. Great Barrier reef - Manta Ray Coaster, aquarium submarine, reef snorkelling outback - mine themed attractions, pub with Aussie music, horse and cart. Federation Square - 1890s architecture, history of Australia, similar to liberty square in WDW. Australia City - Futuristic attractions and innovations. In addition, I always liked the idea of a smaller Australian Mount Rushmore. The 4 heads could be an interesting debate. Off my head, I'd pick Thorpedo, Dame Edna, Ned Kelly and Kylie. Mainly as their well known over the world. Anyway, when someone comes up with a couple of billion dollars, we can chat some more.

The Kraken opened at 11am. I made an educated guess to join the queue around 10:35. By 10:40 the line was going down the hill so I was really lucky. I think we were about the 10th raft of the day. No chance of a 2nd go though; until my next visit.

I wouldn't say 1200 but maybe 800. Not all of the rafts had the full 4 riders. Some were 2s & 3s. The queueing pens were full and the back end was coming down the hill to the freefall area. I think the reasons I mentioned earlier contributed to a bumper crowd for the day but I reckon tomorrow onwards will be better. I won't bore everyone with the dozen or so photos I took but this gives you an idea of the queueing area. AW might consider it a success.

I couldn't see if the previous raft had cleared. The ride time of around 60 seconds suggests it didn't. We were dispatched as soon as we were in place. One thing I would raise is that pairs were allowed to ride on their own. I'd insist on a minimum of 3 riders to take the edge off the queue. That said, I'm sure the queue will ease off as the season goes on.

Just rode the Kraken this morning. Its definitely thrilling. Needless to say its the most popular ride in the park. I can only suggest season pass holders arrive at 9:45am and head straight for the hill. The afternoon queue was 2 hours but it was opening day and the last Friday of school holidays. Abyss was only 10 mins.

I might be reading into this too deeply, but I'm not sure if 6 themed lands could be in the pipeline. Specifically, Pirates, Serpents, Tropical, Castle, Scary & Aussie Animals. Time will tell. Also, if you ever use the Abyss toilets, the screams of the riders in the dark section carry massively into the dunny. Quite a bizarre experience.

Had my opening bat at AW today. I can only reiterate what other contributors have said re it looking better. My kids insisted we were first in, last out so the full 7 hours were put in. Even though it was 30c with a warm breeze. Here are a handful of some photos.

Hi Mark, any news on an opening date yet?

The weather forecast for opening day and school holidays is looking good. Dry, mostly sunny and in the high 20s. http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/australia/perth

just one thing about Halloween weekend. Avoid it like the plague. Halloween is a big thing for the Americans and the MK could well be at capacity. A Monday of Tuesday should be OK but you might want to see how late each park stays open for.

Out of curiosity, what park/parks did you squeeze in?

I like lots of coasters but very slightly my favourite is Space Mountain 2 in Disneyland Paris. But I must give a mention to Megaphobia in Oakwood, Wales. When built, it was the biggest wooden coaster in the world and was just awesome at night.

Whoops indeed.

the update seemed a bit more relevant to this topic. No. Annoyance intended.

Update from Mark @ AW.All, By way of an update, the theming is now starting its install on Mi2. we still have a fair bit of painting to do and fingers crossed the weather is kind to us. Its even more impressive than I first thought. Bumper boats is also starting to take shape and will be a significantly improved experience this year. 6 new cabana's are in, 3 around the main lagoon pool and 3 adjacent to the lower pool of Dragons Kingdom (Dragons Falls) for the very young families. Much work has been going on with the food range which of course I have found time to taste test. (ITS A TOUGH JOB BUT SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO IT!) There are some great improvements coming along there. We have added a Tiki themed arch sign for the Tiki bar and in the off periods are going to be releasing dates for groups to hire this area out as a super cabana! just finalising operational details then hopefully it will be available for people to start booking out. New small theming details have been added to Dragons Kingdom and its really starting to look lovely. New surfacing is being laid on the Alpine Mountain ascent and connecting roads to castle, Black widow and Abyss, all of which were in poor condition. Alpine Mountain has a new name........ as do all of the slides. The name and theming reveal for Mi2 will feature on Today Tonight around the 14th. New website is coming along but probably wont be ready for season open, more like mid October. Upgrades to the e-commerce platform behind the website have been done and are now live. This has resulted in the halving of time it takes to process a season pass and with an expected 30,000 + passes being sold this year that's a big win (among others) We just had our best ever turn out for our team auditions resulting in a brilliant 1 in 8 of those who turned up being offered a position, resulting in a very high calibre of super friendly, smart and motivated people to complement our excellent returning team members from last season. There is a ton of more little things going on around the place and the energy and pace is frenetic just now. We are all very excited though about the coming season and really looking forward to opening the gates up one more time. Regards Mark 2 people like this Like this Quote

Is it me or is this slide completely in the dark? I'm not sure if the light green sections of the tunnel are translucent or otherwise. Any thoughts?

In the long term, I've always thought that AW could do with an indoor attraction to address rainy days or Perth's extreme heat. Something on the lines of Disney's Spaceranger Spin or a smaller/simpler version of Space Mountain. Rollercoasters are always exciting when you can't see where you're going.

That could be a nice video to put on the new AW website when its launched. They could add a POV video of the ride at the end.

I actually disagree with the Facebook comments re walking up the hill. From the Super 6 entrance to the top isn't a huge distance. Most seniors are unlikely to ride the Monster and anyone under 1.2m can't ride anyway. That leaves the inbetweeners to walk off their donuts. And we don't even have to carry the giant tube. Maybe a cold drinks kiosk next to the freefall might refresh people while they wait in line.

I think most of us guessed that the Platinum pass would have more generous discounts for Cabanas, Food, Merch, etc. And the fastpass on a busy day is tempting. But I do wonder if the $100 premium is worth it. In my case it's $500 (wife & 3 teens). I had wondered if the platinum might offer extended ride time before opening or after closing. Perhaps for the 6 weekends over the summer holidays. In any case, we've got 36 hours to make our minds up.

Does that mean regular season pass holders will have to wait until 10am before they can enter the park? Or is the 9:45am entry applicable to all members?