joz

I don't know, when ToT I heard many people say it was boring. "It just goes up and then back again. Wow!". Can't say I agree with them since I like ToT (and seem to like it more and more everytime I ride it), but there you go. Same thing here, they're trying to make the ride sound like the most extreme ride ever, which is kinda hard to do when you've got 3 other rides in the park which quite easily are more thrilling then it. I do think though that unlike the other 3 this one will have universal appeal, and probably strikes the balance between high excitement and low intensity better then most of the rides in the park. I'm really looking forward to the experience, and the nifty view the ride should bring. Just the phrasing in the release is a bit ambitious, almost like there willing the ride to be more thrilling. This isn't a DW specific bash, a quick search through the Press Release Database reveals this golden nugget from one of SW's press releases (See, how unbiased am I?)reveals this take on a Zamperla convoy ride which is on Cartoon Beach in the form of Woody's Beach trucks ):

Thing its not even remotly thrilling even by Dreamworld's standards (apparently). Its going to take more then a Gyro Swing to out thrill GD. Still, I dare say once people get through the doors they'll forget all about the marketing hype, go on the ride, find it pleasent and get there thrills elsewhere and head back for another ride every so often.

Just back to the topic of press release writing style: Wow, thats one of the craziest press releases of all time. I was on the edge of my seat just reading that whirlwind of marketing jargin. I thought there'd never be anything to match the line "Self indulgent bliss" from the Whirlpool release. It kinda make you wonder if there is a competition between the parks to see who can write the most laughable release. Still, I must commend DW for something: One of my pet peeves is gone, DW is no longer calling Cyclone a 'gravity' roller coaster. Well done. I can't wait till I can ride the Claw, or to use just one of DW's own narratives, "the most menacing of its kind ever built".

I dunno what DW (or Ride Trade, probably their stats) is smoking stating a capacity of 850pph. That's 26 rides an hour or a cycle time of just over 2mins. Good luck guys. Must admit though the closer it gets the more I'm looking forward to it. Maybe not the answer to all the comments we've been making, but certainty better then allot of the suggestions out there.

Yeah, well in any case at least we know for certain that its not the giant one we're getting Oh well, bring it on, I'm always a fan of new rides, even if it is from Intamin.

Kenny Sutcliff, bloody male model from Mudgee, ol' sexy eyes lol. Nice photo Richard. Just one thought though: Does it look that big in real life?

I quite liked that nice long post. It seems to pretty much repeat what we've been saying for ages now. Nice to see DW upping the staff level at busy times, (as we'd more or less expect) but its what happens next that'll interest me. Really, from what I can see as an outsider, your suggestions seem pretty much spot on. Though I must admit I've never had a problem with Wipeout's queue, since it rarely extends outside the queue house, and is normally only one or two cycle wait. I've yet to really see ToT since the queue has been redesigned, though I suspect you’re right in your judgement here. Really, two of the more obvious problems in terms of capacity are GD and Cyclone. There's a couple of your suggestions that we've suggested many times before, and if they were implemented, would make me a much more happy camper. GD should run both sides all the time, and Cyclone should always be staffed with 2 people. They don't look designed to run any other way. Cyclone could probably also benefit (even if only slightly) by having the final brake run re-programmed to speed up parking the train. Like I say, your observations have pretty much confirmed what we've been saying about poor performance, and this is in the holidays when the rides performance is at its best. At least YOU get it though. Maybe you should apply for a more senior position?

Wow, quite a nice collection you've got there. Have a look kiddies, there's some really quite interesting stuff in there, not limited to this golden nugget from an old Wonderland release: "After the events of S11 and Ansett Collapse, Wonderland Sydney recorded the most successful October school holiday period in 5 years with 20% higher than 2000 figures."

Tell me about it, our last genuine new coaster was Scooby Doo, and how long ago was that? You could always cheer yourself up and look on the bright side like Movieworld's Website which still lists Scooby Doo as 'New!'.

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.