joz

Humble got out of the ride trade, they now just do their own thing and don't really announce how good they are. Thankfully Zamperla took on all the humble designs.

A few points appear to present themselves here: 1. Nick stuff: Not only will it not appeal universally, it'll also date quite fiercely. The beauty of a Nick licence is that there are the whole library of characters to draw from, and as soon as one dies off there's a new one to take its place. MW can get away with it, because the Looney Tunes are 'classic' Limiting yourself to a single character for a major attraction may not be the best idea. 2. You say the Tower of Terror themeing should have a story of a disaster you have to escape in the pod? Well that WAS the story before the themeing fell apart. For the record it was kinda cool to be ushered through the darkened hallway and go up the elevators, but as far as story goes it wasn't really that well excecuted. 3. Bermuda Triangle is mentioned as having some of the best themeing on the coast (and I'd probably have to agree there), but Bermuda Triangle isn't a film tie-in, its just a theme which fits into the overall theme of the park. 4. Dreamworld have a few themes they could pick from, but the most obvious is a mine theme. Given Eureka seems dead and buried a mine themed coaster or water ride would fit the "Adventure ride" bill nicely. 5. Not really related, but I guess an expansion of what AlexB was saying about general upkeep and themeing standards: Why are the Skylink supports still there? Are they themeing now or something?

Ping Ping was one of the original bears who was on load from Bejing Zoo, where he lives today. Kanook sadly died of Kidney failure a few years back.

DW used to open till 6.30, but changed a few years back to the 5.30 we know today. SW, MW and WnW are all open late, in fact its my favorite day of the year to go to the parks since there's a bit of time for night rides.

Are you kidding me? An evacuation would be so much quicker then closing time. At closing time people casually make their way to the exit, with no pressure beyond a friendly "its closing time" reminder, rides run till the queues are empty and shops continue to serve everyone. You can be assured in an evacuation its all hands on deck, everything closes within a couple of mins of each other, and the place would clear out MUCH quicker. I can also assure you there is not going to be any Mass panic during a park evacuation. The only way your going to end up with panic is if the staff panic, and DW staff are not going to panic or even show signs of panic.

... You guys are on crack. Seriously. If the park turns out even half as good as the concept art, then it'll be an amazing park. I'm sitting here looking at a good collection of flats, a well themed river ride, plus a few coasters. Add to that the promised 4D theatre, Safari ride, plus the stuff we can't see and the existing animals already at the Zoo and that's one kick bottom park. If the place goes ahead the way its depicted in the concept art (probably a big if that one. See Richard's post) then I really can see it being my favorite Aussie park by a country mile. I loved Animal Kingdom and Busch, and this doesn't appear to far off the mark of either of the two. If nothing else, it certainly looks like a more full day out then Animal Kingdom would have been when it opened.

"Ladies and Gentleman, it is necessary for us to stop the ride. An attendant will be on hand shortly to assist you exiting your boats. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your co-operation" I must be bored...

^ I'd be guessing the Auckland Aquarium. There's been dredging going on for a few weeks now, and the entrance is allegedly going on the southern side of the bridge, there should also be some digging going on under Corkscrew too.

Given the last two posts I'd say DW is still "hit or miss" when it comes to food. My most recent visit I bought a large chicken meal from what used to be Rivertown fast food (don't know what it is now) and without going into specifics, it was pretty crap, but my last visit to Billabong Cafe, again not going into specifics, was great. ...Having said that, I love bland food, afterall I'm part English

^ Or if you don't win you could just pay the $6350(!) retail price. At todays price, thats 50 two year passes, or 100 years of DW and WWW, and who knows, in 100 years DW might have a good coaster.

^ They may have now, but it'll only take a year or two for people to come on the boards who have no idea about the show. Same thing (surprisingly) happened with thunderbolt. I seem to recall there being a few posts from Richard and the like explaining the existence of that ride only a couple years after it was taken down.

Nothing currently at SW will be any sort of problem. Never seen or heard of anyone being refused on Cork due to size. If your going with your kids one or two of the kids rides might be out of the question, but thats about it.

MDMC did much better then I thought it would. Kudos DW!

...and a wonderful job you did covering said park too Gazza. This is now quite possibly the only theme park site to have a gallery of that park. Now go back to the US and take some photos of their next park would you?

I suspect one issue there is we may end up with allot of duplicate entries, as I doubt most people would really search through the database as well when they can just add it again.

What an informative answer there... Normally the parks are a ghost town on the days that indy is on, with the only people being mums with kids with dad at the Indy. I say get stuck in, and if your going to the Coast for the parks, stay north of Surfers as getting around is hell during Indy.

^ As said by others, its not the water coaster, the coaster announced at the Xmas ball was totally different. Rappa, I think everyone just assumed that me saying the manufacturer was well represented was a clue for Vekoma. Oops for them I guess.

^ Some of these posts are really making me wonder too.

I know what it is!!!! But I cant say!!!! Don't know what it is!!!! But its going to be good!!!! Its confidential!!!! I'm not paying out Original!!!!

^ No, the maker of SW's next ride is pretty well represented in Oz.

Pretty sure the 120 is still the record.

So long as you wear them, I'm pretty sure they're fine. I know that at least used to be the story for Sunnies.

*Kanook* was the girl. She was buried, but you don't need to know where.

I really don't see this "Rip-off theme park food" thing every one's on about. I mean I pay $11 for a large burger meal at a theme park and its filling, and 9 times out of 10 good quality. With the exception of Macca's, everywhere else seems to get that much out of me when I go in for a meal, so to me theme parks are pretty much on par with what everywhere else charges. $3.95 for a 600ml coke at a servo? Its $3.50 at the theme parks, and unlike the servo, they DO have a captive audience. And yeah, $3.50 is kind of expensive for a 600ml, but theme parks really aren't the absolute pinnacle of bad value that everyone makes them out to be. We all know the Cinema are the masters of the insane mark-up.

Eh, its 25+ years old. Sometimes the oldies need the most love of all