Levithian

I was just rummaged around trying to find some old photos of visits, and the building that houses the coaster section of scooby doo had always been there. It just looked more like one of the studios buildings. To visualise, take the existing building, follow the roof line as it rises to a peak in the middle, then falls away towards the show stage end. It was the same back in 1998 when I found a few photo from a visit. It looks like they simply cut through the sides for exits, then added on box sections in the roof for the high rise parts. The building itself doesnt appear to have changed, always ended a bit behind the front of the show stage.

the photos of the crashed cars is actually taken from the part looking away from the roller door area. That is the show stage you can see in the background before the sides were closed in. All those trees you can see in the photo behind the container would have been roughly where the rear of the western town was. I think if you walked there now, to your left there is one of those staff/crew doors which is where you used to come out from gremlins, straight ahead is another door that allowed you to travel along the back of the western town set. I think it even had a few trees there until recently?. Might have even been some of the ones seen in the photo. The brick wall is between scooby and the western set, i think you are right, there is a services building for power or something behind the wall. I could imagine it was erected to cordon off whatever is in that corner now. From memory, there is virtually nothing left of the theatres now. If you look at the current photo of scooby, i think the hall way you walked ou into from each theatre was about where the smaller door is between the gift shop and the roller door. It used to be raised in the middle and ran off in each direction. You exited the show which was just a kind of documentary with classic wb films, filed out doors either side of the screen when the gremlins took over and ended up in that hallway. That would put the actual theatre rooms where the inside of the castle is used for the entry queue. In the middle of the hallway was a big opening that lead on to the load dock to head out through the vaults. That was the reasoning for all the different themes, you were supposed to be actually heading through the film vaults. I remember there was basically no waiting once you reached the load dock, you were sorted into lines for each row of seating and pretty much jumped in cars and made you way through different scenes. As for beetlejuice, I remember the carousel looking beetlejuice, the one with the little things hanging from each corner on his hat. Cant remember where he was though, but I do remember he appeared more than a few times. There were all kinds of scenes in the vaults with the gremlins wreaking havoc. At the end, he appeared again thanking everyone for riding. He was suspended above the entry door to the unload dock. He was electrocuted as you passed under, could hear him sizzle.

The cars used to be around the corner, you used to exit out the side of the building around to the right of that roller door. The building goes back into a courtyard which is where the exit was. Then you used to walk to the right, then left and past the police car which I think had smashed into the commandants golf cart? (Or was that from the stunt show?) I'm pretty sure I remember gizmo was in the back seat looking out from the police car through the window. As you walked past an out into the western area just next to the roller door. As for what will happen, I'm still sticking with my original feeling. Show stage to stay, won't be part of new ride, but may get a makeover. Flat ride in the area, no coaster.

You could see where the town set used to exist in the show stage when you went into the wolf creek maze. Where the blue ute was parked, that used to be lined with a building facade that followed the line of seating. If you moved the curtain a little, the steel (like stunt show) seating was still on the banked concrete. The maze wound it's way around what used to be the main thoroughfare into the arena, the stage itself, and some of what would have been behind the set area. They used the old show exit/entry doors as entry/exit for the maze. When you walked in, if you turned to the right it used to be the performers entry/exit where horses and the coach could come through from the backstage area. I have no worries that the show stage will be pulled down. From standing at the Wild West viewing area, all the air con (considerable amount) still appears to be on the roof. Things like that would have been removed before any deconstruction. If that starts being hoisted out, then I'll start getting worried. Didn't someone post a photo in the last couple of weeks showing an aircon ute parked on the back road to the show stage?

Anyone got time this arvo to head down for photos? Apparently the whole facade in front of the show stage is gone now and they have started cleaning out the site a bit. Sounds like only Boot Hill and the rotunda thing to go.

I thought everyone, including our planning expert, was sure this was going to be the location of the roller coaster last month?

100% true, but even at 50% efficiency, that 400 people is a marked improvement on just about anything in the park. heres a couple of links. Space attack, Intamin twin hammer @ berjaya park in Kuala Lumpur. Same park, Spinning Orbit, Intamin Spinning star. Can see what I mean about placement of the spinning star. Could be utilised really well if positioned properly. It's basically just a glorified viewing platform. Though, when I was looking for rides that might fit the space a few weeks ago, I think I remember reading that it could be built to over 100m tall!

I have no idea what the hell is going on with fonts and stuff. I'm typing on a phone, can't see how to change what seems to be set as default? Not per ride, per hour. Both are up around the 800 per hour mark. As others have said, not exactly thrilling, but it can process people pretty quickly.

hmm. High capacity ride that isn't a coaster. Looks like show stage is to stay. Where have I heard a suggestion like that before? I doubt they will go s&s again, already have a few, plus green lantern issues, plus lack of flats that aren't batwing, so I don't see them putting in a swing. Mack only do coasters and dark rides. vekoma really only have more coasters to offer, so I reckon that rules them out. leaves the only two reasonable options; Zamperla and Intamin. Zamperla have a crap load of family orientated rides, but a lot of them have terrible capacity and look like some pretty crazy foot prints. I could see something suspended like a windshear or a swing like a discovery, but it would just look like taking ideas straight from dreamworld. You've got disc-o's and a spin but it's a bit like the touring carnival. A themed sky chaser would be pretty cool, everyone loves spreading out and feeling like they are flying. Plus they have a double armed looping swing. Tall enough, people seem to really love them, especially with them being able to operate in alternate directions. Intamin have a crap load of towers, but I don't think they'll go there again because of batwing. No matter the difference, people will think it's the same kind of ride which loses some of the wow factor. A gyro is too much like dreamworld again, but they have a couple of other interesting options. A spinning star looks like kind of fun and the ride capacity is huge. It drops, but it also rotates on each arm which can run them in all different directions. Seeing a massively tall one of these climb and drop while spinning would be sweet. I'll ride it. They also have another looping type of swing a bit different from zamperla called the twin hammer. It's not exactly a new idea on design, but they do have suspended gondolas which is pretty neat. Having the platform drop away once you are strapped in so your legs are dangling. That's a bit of a twist on what is an old type of ride. Not sure about space utilisation. I like the look of the Intamin offerings better than the zamperla ones, looks a bit more visually striking. It's difficult to split the two I reckon are good choices, but I think I'd really love to see a really tall spinning star though. Would have been awesome to have it positioned around superman and arkham so it rotates out over the coasters. Would have also given a pretty good 360 view of the park, but, alas, feels like an opportunity missed, so I'll probably go with the big, noisy looping swing.

Because it's only my idea and nobody has really given any merit lately to there being different developments, so I'll keep it to myself for a bit and see what's happening. It's interesting to note that opinions have changed considerably since news of attractions was posted. Much more discussion previously about what could be utilised that wasn't a coaster, but now everyone seems to be coaster mad. if that isn't interesting for you, the development applications and their wording in particular might be. 17/11/15 - Rollercoaster 30/11/15 - New attraction and lakeside precinct, stage 1 early works. 30/11/15 - stage 1 early works, ent precinct. 03/12/15 - Hotel, stage 1 early works. 13/1/16 - demolition works new attraction To me, it sounds like maybe we have a lot in planning that some people have kind of lumped in together. Coaster is submitted as a seperate application to the new attraction? Lakeside precinct and entertainment precinct look like they could be separate entities? Different parts of the park? hotel is also listed by itself. This could mean we actually have a few different zones in planning, but there also could be 2 rides being developed. 1 just listed as an attraction, one as a coaster. Because they are private listings we aren't going to see what was submitted, so it's all just speculation. But it is interesting none the less if you take it to mean the same way I do. I keep going back to what sort of ride could be erected quickly and cheaply (in comparison) in such a compact space with the demotion works already taking place? Sounds like a flat ride is a good idea at this point in time. If we start seeing central foundations being poured, ill know my idea for the area is pretty on the money.

I've got a pretty good idea what flat ride is relatively new and to date, I don't think has ever been a permanent install in a park in the world. It would tick the marketing boxes of being a world first, world best, etc, and probably fit the budget guessing at the cost. Ill keep it to myself for awhile and see what happens with the site though unless someone wants to do a little digging to see what might fit the bill. Still not feeling the coaster idea at this point in time. Really think it's something planned for the near future, not necessarily going in this part of the park or at this point in time.

Is it track and supports though? Or something else like cars or gondolas?

If this is for a massive, worlds best roller coaster that is going to blow everyone's minds, where is the hype? Given the area is already being cleared, where are the deliveries arriving? It won't take long to level the area once they get machines in, where are the piles waiting to be driven to get the project started. It just seems delayed for such a big development, surely someone would have stumbled upon equipment being delivered already? There's only, what? Three points of site access to the park? The staff gate, the back gate behind the sheds and the one through studios? Could the one down green lantern even take trucks anymore to make it a 4th? Where are they going to place it all if it's being built in one of the areas they use for storage. When we saw the planning applications come out, they were doing a LOT of drilling in the very northern end of the car park, more closer to green lantern and a whole bunch more in the grass car park overflow area. This sounds a lot more like a large scale development being planned. Possibly the hotel, but it's also kind of weird being so north in the car park and across the road. we are just assuming this world best attraction to be a huge roller coaster and that it's going to be built now given this is the first area to show signs of development. You guys are putting two and two together and speculating amazing things which are a bit like day dreaming. Considerable earth works would be required and changes to the terrain would occur if the show stage is to be removed and land is made available next to Wild West. Where is the application for this? We've seen nothing of the sort and they are already tearing into the area. At best there is an application for demolition of existing structures, no operational works though. The dollar has been pretty average for some time now. If you were to put a conservative 20% on the cost because of the currency conversion, some of the proposals being thrown about would see budgets easily in excess of 30 million for one attraction. That would have to be a record wouldn't it? Especially considering the earth and drainage works that would end up being performed. i think that's a little unrealistic given the scope for development vrtp obviously has for the next 3-5 years. If it was their only planned development and they wanted to make a statement, it wouldn't be that outrageous, but it's not. It's a lot of cash to draw upon, looking back over previous end of year reports I'm not even sure they would have the available funds to pull off the kind of developments people are suddenly thinking. Think I remember seeing figures of around 200 million made available? Kind of limited as far as exclusion zones around the western area as people still need access to games and wild west. I just can't see track and fences greeting and shuffling them to a narrow corridor down past west burgers to get to west. The area proposed above also seems to house what looks like a plant building on top of the hill behind Scooby Doo. Given close proximity to the biggest power guzzlers in the park, and all the sheds at the back, It could be a substation. It's on the high ground of the park too actually, so it could be water and/or fire services now I think about it. It's also a big space used as a dumping ground for anything that can't be made to fit around the park. Call it a graveyard? Lol. i know we have seen applications mentioning a roller coaster. I'm just not so sure we are going to see it in this part of the park. I'm also not so sure it'll be the worlds best attraction talked about, well, not in the scale some people might be thinking. I'd say wait a bit and see what actually occurs in the area first, it doesn't look like the show stage is going anywhere yet. we would know a lot more about where funds have been funnelled when the next end of year report is due. too long? I'll shorten it. Not sure about budgets being thrown around. Kind of strange not to see deliveries arriving by now for such a massive development. wheres the application to support the earth works needed if this is the coaster? Not sure about position. think it's not for the coaster, maybe something more suited to only the area excluded now. Everything is still speculation until end of year report lets some information slip or we see some real developments occur (which ever comes first). At the moment we've just got a few daisies being disturbed and some people are already losing their minds at the possibilities of what could happen. ill wait a bit until I join the coaster bandwagon.

I think it has ended up in the kids village of all places.

i reckon none of it is going and you guys are getting way ahead of yourselves thinking of removing the stage or gutting it to be part of a new ride. It just looks like the fencing is back to the western facade of the show stage and towards the toilet block. Looks like the prayer room building, Boot Hill, the rotunda thing and the strongman hammer game thing are all going. Western games to stay, facade along Scooby to stay, and of course the toilet block to stay. Leaves the space in between which is fairly long, but kind of narrow. im still placing my bets on the show stage to get a bit of a make over, and a flat ride of maybe 800-1000 capacity to fill the void of the buildings being removed.

If its not raining, ill attempt to get a close up to confirm the presence of the rings tomorrow.

The photos look like they havent moved anything though, only pulled down the face of the wall and put in new stud work. You can partially see it in the photos, but I don't know if anyone has noticed lately, the courtyard is looking really dirty and pretty run down. The brick work is stained and the awnings over the bar and the dining room look especially bad. Most of the palm fronds had rotted away and left a whole bunch of this nasty looking black stuff (maybe mold?) behind. After spending money on the kitchens and dining room, probably due for renovations to bring the exterior up to standard. If it was actually cleaned up and utilised, its a good place to escape people and have a break at lunch as not a lot of people seem to know the courtyard is there. It might look like it, but I don't think there is any space in the area behind stars. The few small buildings along the park wall look like the type you house plant equipment in (concrete blocks, open ventilation, etc). If that is the case, it's a MAJOR pain in the arse to move and is usually a last case resort because wherever you move the building to requires new runs for services. You cant just switch it off, so you need to put other equipment in place to temporary service whatever its connected to, but it also means ripping up paved surfaces for new cable runs and pipes. Assuming you can even move them, because some things like substations have exclusion zones where things can't be built in/around them.

It hasn't, its just been moved closer to the menu board/ordering area.

The building behind it is roxy theatre isn't it? looks like one wall came down, new wall went up. I'm thinking maybe wood rot or white ants.

all chips, thick or thin, should be hot, crispy and lightly salted. It makes them perfect to mopping up burger juice. If they are soggy..... well.... what's the point? might as well be eating mash.

One of, if not the best, burger places on the gold coast is across from harbour town. https://www.zomato.com/gold-coast-qld/burger-bro-biggera-waters No pretentious bullshit, just really tasty, juicy burgers without fat and oil smearing your hands and mouth. If you can find a better burger under $14 that comes with a serve of proper chips, id invest in the store.

The problem with JDS is really one of capacity, it's not able to absorb large amounts of people. The whole licence process went a long way to make the process feel shorter as it was inclusive with the ride and was useful to keep kids entertained while waiting, but now it's gone. In place is just the usual, queue lines that extend outside without drawing people in to the experience. If it's busy you can see 1hr wait times here too. For everything else, it's pretty much designed for parents to take virtually unrestricted (by fencing, walls, etc) photos of their kids having fun driving a car in a pretty cool setting. The set looks pretty, the cars are neat and the majority of kids enjoy themselves. If you look at the cost of implementing a ride like that, vs a complete overhaul/upgrade of the existing ride, even with all the theme/set work which was probably done in house, I wouldn't be surprised if it cost significantly less than keeping LTRR open. Not just in implementation, but in maintenance over the years too. The other half of the building is used for storage, so I reckon it was a win/win situation all round as far as management were concerned and it got the axe. It sucks, but it feels like we are in a phase were the experience about visiting a theme park has been overlooked with more of a focus on profit over recent years.

Are we still working off the assumption there is only going to be a coaster, or have we seen enough information now to believe there is going to be another ride? If so, can we entertain the theory that something like the western games area is more suited to a flat ride and the coaster might go elsewhere? In which case, show stage might not need to be demolished, only the other buildings? Im not sure they could handle demolition of something as large as the show stage and still kept the area open for guests. All the heavy machinery required would have to go somewhere and I'm pretty sure Scooby has emergency exits between the buildings in the western area and the ride. Guess they could take it out the back, but it's all getting pretty close to Wild West isn't it? A couple of small buildings, Boot Hill and that rotunda thing are pretty easy to clear out when compared to the show stage. Besides, it's built into a hill which might influence development opportunities.

I can't remember how far down it went at the first aid end of the grandstand. The other end still has the entrance near the daily planet, which was the same with police academy wasn't it? I'm pretty sure I remember that court yard thing inside where they have drink carts and stuff as you come into the show.