Levithian

Big assumption being made that it has anything at all to do with the train though, nobody knows what the problem is. Maybe you aren't old enough to remember the original restraints?. Id take the kumbak ones over the original vekoma ones every day of the week. The legs really aren't that bad, its not like getting off with smashed up ears and headaches of the old restraints, plus they give you much more freedom when riding. I don't think a raptor would have the capacity village would be looking for even if the price was ok. Single rows, even with 3 trains. If the ride capacity per hour was something like 500-600 guests, village would at least halve, maybe even 1/3rd of that with their slow loads. So I can't see them putting in another coaster that would be lucky to achieve 200 people an hour. They would just look at it like its a waste of money. I doubt it, not until they have news on their future plans and/or it's replacement to share. They don't seem to like delivering bad news without something positive to go with it.

Dictated by politics, but all parties refuse to open the borders fully and instead state they will follow health advice which says to keep things closed? Where is the great change going to come from? A 40,000 people grand final didnt go ahead. It was a 25k one. The capacity has been part of the increase in restrictions, we've gone to stage 4 since october which now allows sporting venues to 75% capacity. Previous to stage 4 it was 50%. Then previous to that 25%. It's slowly been inching its way along since june. You know? following that whole road map the government put out about covid restrictions. Months ago..... This government cops it from both sides from people, if they deviate from the plan they will be crucified. If they follow the plan, they are destroying the economy and ruining peoples lives. You know what the majority of people seem to be saying? Great. You guys are sticking to your plan and not bowing to interstate politics, not matter how hard the other states (and even the prime minister) scream and shout. All this grandstanding has gotten both nsw and certainly victoria in trouble and the majority of queenslanders seem to be saying what we do with our own state is our business.

Says the man fronting the company that said previously the government money provided to them should see them operating through the next 12 months. Why not just come out and say we are in the business of making money and the government is fucking with our recovery plans instead of trying for the sympathy vote? The state took a poll and the majority of people are happy to keep the infected zones under quarantine vs risk it spreading here. Crying foul at the goverment who just offered you millions of taxpayers money doesnt generate you support and good will, it just makes your company look bad.

Everything you guys are talking about with the light rail has been proposed. They intend to branch it off and run inland from a number of locations, its not just going to follow the gold coast highway down south. Look up Gold Coast City Transport Strategy 2031.

It's going to sit and rot for a few more years before its removed.

There is a major flaw in your analysis. 2 groups of passengers vary in weight a LOT. 2 rafts carry differing levels of water onto conveyor, which varies the weight a LOT. How do you calculate the minimum force? raft fully loaded to the maximum carrying capacity, then filled with water? You are assuming that the amount of torque generated to pull a fully weighed down raft out of the water and up a hill would not be enough to lift a raft from a horizontal position on the run out. Remember, the lifted raft was pushed off the conveyor, bumping into a stranded, empty raft on the steel rails of the runout, using the empty raft as a make shift ramp, pushing the loaded raft up to the point it could be caught in the gap at the end of the runout and pulled down into it by the conveyor. It used the other raft for leverage to help invert it and from reports it happened very quickly. Without being too gruesome, an average height adult often sits with head above the seat backs of the raft. The report makes it pretty clear what happened to people stuck in their seats and those ejected from the raft into the water. You are also assuming that these motors don't already have current limiting.

Alternatively...... 😂

Should just fill in the lake and get it over with already. They keep eating into it, getting smaller and smaller. The stunt show is just a shell of it's former self, will anyone really miss it? Think of all that space for new rides!

You only have to look back over the breech notices handed to village roadshow across all their parks since the government stepped up their game to see who had their house in pretty good order prior to the dreamworld accident. In one way, its kind of good it happened because it didn't just create a lot of change for theme parks, but those same standards are supposed to carry over to all amusement devices. So that means we all should be a lot safer going to regional shows, etc and using the rides. One downside is that it might force a few operators out of business, or force them to sell/scrap some rides though. One thing im not sure of though, if the accident hadn't of happened, would village have opened the purses to allow such a big spend for DC rivals? They wanted a big statement to turn crowds back to them and it was the result. We probably would have been due a new ride, but it might have just ended up a replacement for arkham asylum, so the budget might have been substantially less. Could literally be the catalyst for australia getting a hypercoaster, and now a pretty sweet launch coaster too.

Everything about how they ran and maintained their attractions was a disaster waiting to happen. Highly likely they would have seriously injured or killed other people. Potentially on the same ride.

How the hell was this at the top of the forum listing? Only just noticed the post dates now. Something been deleted before my reply? I didn't go looking for threads to mine.

No you cant. Height restrictions are becoming a problem now too. They need to update the average person, the size used is just not an accurate representation of today. It probably needs to be shifted another 2-3 inches and 10-15kg heavier to something like 180cm and 80-85kg. That way ride designs will survive the next couple of generations. When teenagers are 6ft+ tall and 90kg without an ounce of fat, you know the population has gotten larger through the last couple of generations. My 13 year old is 175cm and 78kg already for example. Hasnt really had a growth spurt, so if he does he will probably be in the 190's. Right on the limit of heaps of rides and difficult fits in rides like scooby doo.

I used to like the return visit scheme dreamworld did when I was a teenager. You paid full price for the ticket entry, and on exit you could buy a return ticket for $5 or $10 (think it was both of these prices at one stage). Really felt like offsetting the cost of a single day purchase because yearly passes were so expensive. So we came back for a second visit and spent more money in the park for a second days fun. I just can't remember how long you had to use them? I keep thinking 3 months, but I don't think that's memory talking, just guessing. Remember visiting wet n wild when even younger and they used to do a similar scheme too.

But it won't lock (and dispatch) if the restraint doesn't reach minimum close. The belt is a secondary restraint requested by village and the ride is designed to run without them.

The walls were there from the maze werent they?

The standard we come to expect from disney, due to the quality of the theming and immersion, I honestly don't think that sort of investment can ever make sense in Australia given the population/return on investment. I guess it comes down to if disney is prepared to lower their standards and make some sacrifices. You're talking maybe 10th the budgets they would normally spend. I don't ever see this happening, and I just don't see a billion dollar startup investment ever being considered good business while the visitor numbers have a long way to go to even approach 10 million combined. I think the biggest factor would be just how much the overseas market contributes to yearly totals at our parks. Population is not going to suddenly expand ten fold overnight in Australia to drive up the numbers, and if the overseas market is only contributing, say 20% of the visits to our parks, especially if the majority of those visitors are coming from Asia, how do you double or triple tourist visitations? Especially if you have other disney offerings in more centralised/connected locations. Australia is a MASSIVE investment for tourists, both in cost and time to even make it to our shores. It's considered an expensive country to visit and lots of people aren't prepared to spend 20+hrs to travel to a country on the edge of the pacific ocean when they have similar offerings closer to home. Those that really want to visit Australia for our unique experiences rarely make it a routine visit, returning each year, which is not what companies want to hear. I second what was said above, it would be nice if our local sector would consider more investment into their own product. There's a lot of focus on the rides and everything else has slipped. The service, the look/feel, the entertainment. A lot of us have greatest memories of the shows, the in park entertainment and just what it felt and looked like to visit our parks when younger. The rides are still there, but we've lost a lot of the supporting cast and nothing seems to change while the accountants are running the show. There's honestly just not as much excitement around visiting our parks as there used to be. I don't know if its just attitudes or standards that have changed, or if the bureaucrat's have stripped us of all that made us "australian", but things certainly feel a lot less "perky" than they used to be.

Must need more time....

Health and safety means lots of things just cant happen anymore. Its also jacked up the price of alternatives, as a lot of things were probably done that way because this was all they had to spend, so you had to make it work by producing it all yourself. Just about everything these days seems to be about minimising risk, so i imagine that kills invention/adaptability. Nobody wants to be responsible for a product, they want to be able to point to a supplier or manufacturer in the event something goes wrong. That and the people signing the cheques seem to be even further out of touch with reality. We frequently quote for the spec given on the job, then get knocked down on price 3 or 4 times before its approved by the owners. Each time something is being sacrificed. Its usually material quality and finishing that suffers first. Seems the majority of people only care about something passing a casual glance test, not caring about longevity. Its like things are being built to the day, nobody cares after its built and what itll be like in 5 years time even when you warn them about it being a false economy. We've pulled out of a few tenders recently because the budget has been slashed so many times the quality of the work cant be delivered. The amount of return work is too risky to make the job worth while. Youll be back on site trying to keep the client happy even though you warned them about cutting costs. I can imagine something similar happens in theme parks. Only difference is it probably doesnt get done/approved at all. Why do a good job once when you can cheap out and spend 4 times the amount repairing and patching it up before cutting your losses and being forced to do it properly (or not at all) in the end.

Jump ahead to 26:30. Whole thing is worth a watch though for some old park footage.

I didnt say bring them back as in 1995. Besides, much the same could be said for most of the rides mentioned, time isnt kind to a lot of old animatronics and effects. But youre also selling them short by saying they are the same as you get at timezone though. They arent even in the same ball park, the batman ones were fully fledged hydraulic motion bases used in flight simulators. Learning to fly planes, space shuttles, etc. They were barely being utilised in the ride. Theres footage of them from underneath and in use in the promotional film on the parks from the early 2000's.

Spend money on decent video/animation and leave the projectors. They arent the issue. Miss the batman ride. Even just the library was cool. Those simulators were great. Wonder where they ended up after they were removed.

It would be checked daily? Youd already know it was due for a replacement leading up to the shutdown is my point. Suggesting something came up during the shutdown and needed replacing like you said.

Didnt the ride close before covid? If they are waiting for chain id say they found something that wasnt planned for, given it was 6 months ago. If you had annual manintenance planned for a chain replacement, youd think they would have it before you went down for maintenance. Not be ordering/waiting for it now.

And if nobody is prepared to put their name to your in house built ride... what happens? Thats what im getting at. Its a big responsibility, unless you mean completely gut the ride and rebuild everything with newly supplied components? At a guess, that also means insurance companies not willing to give you coverage given what happened at dreamworld too. Just a guess but it goes into the too hard/costly/impossible basket and the ride gets removed.

That's not how it works though. Who do you buy all the replacement components from? Forget about the boats, what about the control system and the conveyors? You don't get them from local suppliers, you go back to whoever built the ride and they take all the responsibility for supplying you with the correct goods. They guarantee the parts are fit for service, park has no responsibility if they fit things in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines and something happens. It's a lot of responsibility, and I reckon its a big reason why these type of rides are being phased out.