joz

Ok, I've got 5 lines, here goes: Gold Coast had a sprinkling of half day attractions. Many of which died off. Keith Williams and John Menzies teamed up and turned one of the half day attractions into Seaworld which was the first of the modern day parks on the Coast. This spear-headed the Gold Coast's growth as a tourism market, hence the involvement of Dreamworld. John Menzies helped create MW, and also WnW into what it is today.

You know, I drive past that place everyday, and figured they just gave up on it. Nice to know there's something going on there still.

Settle down boys and girls for a history lesson Lets go back to a sea side town called Elston. Built on sand dunes in the middle of nowhere. With little more then a hotel, a pub, and sandy road, it was a minor blip on the map between Sydney and Brisbane. It was always somewhere for a weekend away, but was struggling. In desperation, the local council looked upon reinventing the town, and renamed it Surfers Paradise (after the hotel which by a huge coincidence, was called the Surfers Paradise). The name change, and the advent of surf life savers - which made bathing safer - injected a new energy, and the area became a popular tourist destination. With the influx of visitors, many half day attractions had opened by 1958. These include the Jack Even's Porpose Pool, Marine Land (On the current day site of Marina Mirage on Seaworld drive), Magic Mountain, Pleasure Island and the speedway. However, easily the most influential half day attractions was Keith William's Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens. The show proved hugely popular, and by 1970 had really out grown its site (and was also staged on a public river which made the logistics of the show somewhat difficult). At the same time approx 60 acres of crown land was made available. Keith Williams was the only person who showed any interest in the site, and teamed with John Menzies, created Ski Land in 1971. At the same time Keith founded the Gold Coast Tourism Bureau, which he headed for 3 years which was instrumental in promoting the Gold Coast as a tourism destination. Keith added marine animals to Ski Land, and renamed it Seaworld (Interestingly the name was 'borrowed' from the US Seaworld before the copyright laws kicked in). Within a few years he had bought Jack Even's Porpose Pool and Marine Land and moved the animal stock to Seaworld. He turned Marine Land into a bird sanctuary and then sold the land a few years later. Around the time all this was happening, Peter Longhurst (the lawn mower man) was compelled to build his own park. After finding no suitable land in Sydney looked elsewhere to build his park. The success of Magic Mountain and Seaworld on the Gold Coast inspired him to build Dreamworld (Which at the time was a mixture between the Aussie bush and Disneyland). Then 2 very important things happened. Firstly Seaworld was placed on the Australian stock exchange. This injected $20million of capital into the park, and gave birth to the Seaworld property trust. Around the same time, Cade's County Water Park (Now Wet 'n' Wild) opened. Seeing the potential of a water park on the Gold Coast, SWPT took over Cade's County and renamed it Wet 'n' Wild. In 1989, SWPT began steps to open its third park, which would be like nothing seen on the Gold Coast before. By this time the Gold Coast already had 2 well established theme parks, and Movieworld, squeezed its way into the market. Hence why we have the parks we do. It all boils down to 2 men, Keith Williams and John Menzies who opened Seaworld, which was the first of the parks, and really paved the way for bigger attractions in the years to come. Keith Williams was also instrumental in promoting the Gold Coast as a destination, hence we have a theme park industry.

You are trying to be annoying aren't you?

Yeah, but can I just say I know many people at WVTPs who also think they're funny, however, only I have a guest comment that proves that I am On topic: What's wrong with protection from the elements for the operators? Why is giving people decent working conditions such a taboo? I just don't get why people are saying that there's no issue there. Protection from the elements (heat especially) is a very important consideration for the good of everyone, not just for the operators. I mean, if an operator pass' out at a crucial moment in a rides cycle then the results could be catastrophic. Heat also takes allot of energy out of you, and could make an op tired and make it hard to do his/her job. Its Luna Park's responsibility that the operators are looked after, and are able to do their jobs properly. Its also in the parks best interests. After all, it doesn't take long for public liability insurance companies to spot a reason to increase fees.

For the sake of bringing up an old topic, voting for the new agreement has started and we should know the results early next week. (And for the record another update came out not long after the above post.) Watch out for either some closure on the topic or round 2

My understanding is its the same model, and there are a few of these towers out there. Curiously every tower seems to have a different slide from the middle level (from the one's I've seen at least). Apart from that, I must admit I know sadly little about the towers (Who made them, how much they cost, how many there are left and the different styles are a couple of obvious blanks) so anyone with the time on there hands can feel free to enlighten me.

The track is filled with sand, and is quiet. The drop does face towards the village, so screams are probably the biggest concern here, though I'm not willing to take a stand on vibrations, since I'm no structural engineer and know nothing about subsoil. I would suggest though that a scream guard would go a long way to satisfying the concerns of the locals. Still, judging by the latest these people have set standard and will get some back. All I can say is all of a sudden Alton's local population doesn't seem so bad after all.

Nemesis's helix is intense, but quick. It barley lasts for a couple of seconds, and is made too feel intense because of how close it comes to the pathway near the ride.

Not too many, but I'll try and remember more when I can. "They take the Polar Bears for walks around the park in the afternoon", "Watch the pirate ship, it goes upside down. Watching? Its about too... Oh, must have already done it", "Yeah, the monorail goes right down to Broadbeach". One of my favourites (and this has happened a few times, but always makes me laugh); recently a bloke came back to the counter of burger bar with a souvenir cup and was trying to get his deposit back on it. I think he wanted us too give him $2 for returning the cup and got quite stroppy when we didn't.

Always open except for annual maintenance, kinda rough but mostly not too bad.

Why go back on topic? Aren't there more hairs we can split?

Thats one only DW managers can answer.

Stairs? Noticed them, used them slick. Still, I don't like being the first person to use them if you know what I mean. I'm far too well behaved Calm down Goboi, we all know that parents will try to sneak their kids on rides. Parents do have blinkers on when they go to theme parks. Try and tell them they can't take a stroller into a show because its a real hazard in an emergency. Anyone who works in a theme park knows it. To be fair though, I reckon its more ignorance than anything else. I mean, when you go to a theme park you don't think of why these restrictions exists (parent parking prevents parents with strollers from having to walk to far), but more ways around them (I find the best way to park in parents with strollers parking in the supermarket is too go shopping with my mum and have a stroller in the back seat. Also ignoring the sign works). With regard to safety, 9/10 parents understand when you explain to them what the restraints are designed for, and how they are unsafe. Its just the 1 that makes life difficult and inspires one too steal parking spots.

There's a couple of problems with the current set up of Cyclone's queue. For one its a 5 min walk after the ride to get back to the park, and the area is hardly scenic. The other far more serious problem is that the end of the queue is a long way from the station. This means that the operator must hike down to the queue, count the guests through, and them follow them to the station and let them in. Another problem this creates is the last 4 or so seats aren't together, there normally singles. So if the operator calls 24 people through, then the last group will on occasions not ride unless they can ride together adding more drama to the process. It normally adds about 5 mins on top of the cycle times.

I direct your attention to The monorail society (yes there is such a thing) and read the stuff about light rail. I'm no monorail nut like the guy is, but its hard to argue with what he says.

Top marks for keeping on topic there. Personally, I'm liking the idea more and more the more I read about it. The switches still mystify me, but if they can do what they say they can do, then I'm all for it.

The final word

Here's a story that should be of interest: Railpage.com Thoughts anyone?

Ouch, and on that point, welcome to the boards!

Its on the right of the screen on the home page. Next to the Big Brother stuff. Agreed with Richard on his opinion too. Shows you can talk a ride up without going crazy with jargon (They only called it the ultimate thrill ride once, and we'll let them have that one ). Also good too see construction shots on the website. Well done DW!

Because its cheaper and no one can tell? Just a guess...

Both designs are pretty good. Though I think we all pay a tribute to our old pal chippy and may we never have to hear from anyone like him again!

Wow, serious chill pill dude. No one here has complained about the ride, so get that out of your head. People have said that others may mistake the ride for the portable ride. So what? This doesn't mean its a bad name per se, just that people may mistake it for a different ride. If this is the medium, what's the smallest version (not an argument, more an honest question)? I also don't get the whole "You are all spoilt and don't think about anything." The point Richard has made, is the ride isn't as thrilling as the park is making out. Since when does that mean the ride isn't fun or appealing? Answer me that. Myself, Goboi and Richard (and others but I can't be bothered looking to see who) have stressed that this will be a solid addition to the park, and will be beneficial. Overall, it will be a great positive for the park. Why aren't you reading this? Why are you so persistent that we're saying its not good? Richard made the valid point that the ride is fun, re-rideable and a generally pleasant experience, but not particularly thrilling. This is consistent with what has been said about Drayton Manor's version, so this is fact, not just us whining. We then pointed out how this is at odds with what the park said (which describes the ride as the most thrilling ride ever), then you accuse us of saying the rides not good. Where'd that come from? Seriously guys, take a chill pill. I can't talk for everyone else, but I'm looking forward to this ride. Accept it.

The Australian originals are Bermuda Triangle (SW), Batman Simulator, Looney Tunes Adventure, Gremlins are the Police Academy show. Road Runner and most of Looney Tunes Village was in Germany first, before being duplicated out here (though Germany's version of Road Runner does appear too cool to behold ). Indeed, for a while there the Australian and German parks were very closely linked, with many Aussie staff working in Germany on Movieworld over there before Six Flags came along and added more thrill rides to the park. I'm with Richard on how it shows the potential of our Movieworld. Some of those rides (Blazing saddles, Riddlers) look great, and would add a new dimension to the park. One of these days I'll get out to Germany to check the park out, in the meantime, thanks for the photos stefanf!