joz

Welcome to Australia, of course it'll be an E-Ticket attraction, wether its worthy of the tag or not. It'll be good anyway, they still advertise Big 5 around the Gold Coast even with Thunderbolt no longer at the park, so at least that'll be current. Whats the story with Reptar Slick?

An outdoor looper isn't going to work. The coaster itself isn't the whole problem, its the screams. Good on Luna Park for being successful, god knows Sydney needs something. There's seriously a lack of things for people to do in the city if your not into shopping, so more power to them. Tell you what though, its ganna be really interesting to see how they go at Xmas

More info here It mentions the budget being $300 - $600 million. Now that sounds like the sort of budget that would let you build quite a nice park. Much more useful than the $80 - $160million that was mentioned in the previous article. Also judging by the quote, it sounds very much like a new version of Seaworld: "We're looking for something that's very conducive to Singaporean life, possibly in the marine area with rides. It's got to be very much a family park," said John Menzies, chief executive of Warner Village Theme Parks.

Well, at least your version doesn't cost a billion $

Maybe they're buying Demon lol

lol, costing $1million, what do you reckon? Seriously, Dracula's isn't that big a place, don't get ahead of yourselves. I heard the ghost train was kinda crap, but yeah, it'll be very interesting what they come up with to say the least. I've not yet been to Dracula's, but it has been on my to do list for quite some time, maybe when they've got the new indoor-intamin-hydrolic/LIM launch coaster with inversions :eek:

This place sounds so delightfully bad that I gotta check it out!

The structure looks pretty much done, but it seems so far to be missing the cars (there not on site).

Don't know, there hasn't been an in park update since the stop work from either the union or management.

Is this the one you were talking about a while ago at SW?

Two different ride types, Motivator and Satisfier. Motivators are the sort of rides that make you want to visit a park (ToT, GD, Wipeout) and Satisfiers (Skylink, Model T Lane, Vortex, Dodgems and pretty much almost all the old stuff at parks). Its fair to say Wonderland didn't add a single attraction that would motivate one to visit the park. They did add one satisfier which was only open for the shortest time.

Yes and no. Xcel is was down and had its restraints changed as ordered by the state of Cali. S:TE was closed, but will not be able to reopen until it can satisfy the state that: The current restraint is adequate or the restraints are changed.

...we haven't had penalty rates for years.

Just on that, if your ever at SW and hear 'code White 3' then get out fast cause it means Polar Bear loose in park.

If there are legitimate reasons for not turning the fountains on (and I was talking about the ones down the wave, the other ones don't bother me too much) then fair enough. I think TOT in the rain is a bit of a non issue, wasn't designed too, and no modification is going to make it happen. I disagree on one point though, that is staffing level. Your right that more then 2 on Wipeout is too many in the off season, but what's wrong with 2 on Cyclone even in the off season? One can be getting the people while the other watches the ride (I'm guessing that someone watching the ride is required). It'd save so much time with loading and unloading. I stand by getting a second train for Cyclone. Not only does it give the ride the (IMO) extra capacity it so badly needs, it would also mean that you could avoid down time by swapping trains when one developed a problem, and give the park more time then just the annual maintenance to check the trains out. Now I think about it, I'm as good as certain someone said the ride was designed for two trains but Luna Park didn't need the extra capacity (and hence there are no transfer tracks) though the option for a second train still exists. Most definitely agreed on your 4th point though. Cutting those elevators cuts the number of ops needed, power usage and maintenance cost. As well as that it makes it much quicker to get on the ride on a quiet day. I also can't see the point in going all out in themeing a ride like ToT. I mean, you can theme the queue as much as you like, but when you go on the ride, the theme goes out the window and your just on a ride, so what's the point? Some ride are best just themed for the benefit of those watching (Giant Drop for example). The themeing on Wild West and Scooby Doo works well because the whole ride is themed, not just the queue house. The themeing on Lethal Weapon is less effective, because as soon as your on the ride you forget all about the theme, story and just concentrate on how cool the roller coaster is.

Last time we negotiated the rise came into effect immediately when staff voted yes to the offer, so it is an immediate thing. However, since the chances of everyone voting yes on this new agreement is slim at best, its a fair way off. Also, as far as I'm aware, back pay is something that must be provided, back dated to when the new agreement was meant to go through. This new agreement is for 2 years, as of the expiry date of the old agreement. You mention an extra $19, what the unions are asking for is an extra 4% or $25, which ever the greater. The notion of penalty rates on weekends was one of the requests that was rejected right at the beginning.

From what I understand, Cyclone was designed to run two trains. Would I be correct in assuming that the flat section of track before the turnaround would be the spot for the extra block brake required?

Flying half way round the world ain't cheap dude.

Well, its $5 to go to the top of one of the brick structures, and if you've spent $2000 to fly in, plus accomodation, food and all else, $170 isn't that much.

Into the holidays now, so its probably a stupid question but was the East side of GD operating? Also the rapid rafts are probably getting fixed up while the demand for the rapids ride isn't high so they have all the rafts available for summer.

I won't say much since this a pretty sensitive issue (as you can imagine). Basically, managements first pay offer came months after the deal was meant to go through, and was quite a bit below what we asking. The union, took this as opportunity to recruit staff, organise stop work meetings and so forth. The thing that strikes me as odd is they haven't gone back to another meeting to negotiate for a greater increase (which is what the union is meant to do), or even put this offer to a staff vote (where we all could have voted no). What's more is they're claiming everything from bad conditions to low wages being dangerous, ultimately putting us off side with local media outlets. Now, the conditions aren't the best, but there by no means bad, and I'm buggered to know how low pay can be dangerous. Management has pointed to an improvement in conditions recently (which I have noticed and are to be applauded). The problem is that staff incentive programs like what is soon to be launched at MW and different staff events and training programs all make it nice to be at work, but don't put food on the table, and people are struggling to make ends meet. That is the message the unions were making before getting sidetracked in lots of different areas. The bad conditions that staff talk about are basically issues with rosters and supervisors, which is pretty much standard at any workplace. I support the unions trying to up the pressure so we at least get 4% (rather then the 6% we asked for or the 3% they offered), but I question their plan of attack. Still, the fact the staff stopped work does show that some are desperate, and I congratulate them for sticking to their guns. The pressure maybe starting to show as well. In the week leading up the industrial action, the offer has gone up to 4% for the staff earning the least, and 3% for those on the most, and different amounts for those in between. That's basically what's going on, I won't go into anymore detail then that, I think that's really all most people really need to know on the matter, except to say that the parks operated as normal, and disruption to the guests was fairly minimal.

First step is getting the most out of the attractions, getting rid of riverwalk train station and themeing that level crossing. Putting a new (3D?) film in the Imax theater, and flog it off the same way MW & SW flog off their 3D movies. Turning Wipeout's water features back on, adding gysers or water falls to thunder river that sort of thing. Also, I'd buy a second train for Cyclone, have the station redesigned so its more open and easier to see what's going on, bring the front of the queue closer to the station, and reinforce the theme of GD as being an Oil Rig. I'd steer clear of announcements of impending doom as it would just come over as being corny, no matter how well done it was. Tower of Terror, I dunno, just put the thing in a tube and theme the outside? Sounds more like fixing the area up rather then degrading the feel of the park. Also, I believe Gazzas making the comment that if you put the launch track in a tunnel you could run it in the rain, since the LIMS would be under cover. Still, this would also leave the problem of emerging from the tunnel at 160 odd km/h going straight into the rain. Still, make it look like an old-time building on the outside and you've got a winner by me. I don't really see the need to move/get rid of model T lane, personally would love to see it stay where it is. Though it is a big site, so one day down the track when DW is stuck with a space problem let it go then. Until there's there's heaps of land to play with. In the mean time, go with your idea of a natural disaster themed area on the thunderbolt site. Link it up to Nick Central near the entrance to Tiger Island and you could go some distance towards relieving the potential bottleneck near Stingray. With the water park, I reckon rebuild it on the other side of the train tracks, and run a path to Rocky Hollow so its not stuck out on its own like it currently (and it'd also provide a walkway to the water park while you demolish the old blue lagoon). That'd leave space for another themed land or big show stadium. That'd leave the Amphitheatre free for more big brothers (For the record, I hate Big Brother, but its undeniably a huge draw for the park). Opening the park late in the summer (or even blatantly stealing the Saturday Session) is a bit of a gimme really. Plus you could have fireworks which seem to really pack 'em in. Thats where I'd start anyway. We'll get into the on-site hotels and such next time

Put the thing in a tube and theme the outside? Sounds more like fixing the area up rather then degrading the feel of the park. Also, I believe Gazzas making the comment that if you put the launch track in a tunnel you could run it in the rain, since the LIMS would be under cover. Still, this would also leave the problem of emerging from the tunnel at 160 odd km/h going staight into the rain. Still, make it look like an old-time building and you've got a winner by me. I don't really see the need to move model T lane, personally would love to see it stay where it is. Though it is a big site, so one day down the track when DW is stuck with a space problem let it go then. In the mean time, go with your idea of a natural disaster themed area. Link it up to Nick Central near the entrance to Tiger Island and you could go some distance towards releaving the potential bottleneck near Stingray. With the water park, I reckon re-build it on the other side of the train tracks, and run a path to Rocky Hollow so its not stuck out on its own like it currently (and it'd also provide a walkway to the water park while you demolish the old blue lagoon. Then you've got space for another themed land.

We used to have a double beef and bacon burger. I used to have it on the days when I'd come into work hungover. Used to perk me right up.

Goboi: Not that I doubt you - quite the opposite - do you have a link or any idea where this report was?