joz

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Quite an interesting couple of articles, on many fronts and confrims what many of us have been saying about the theme park industry being overall, quite strong. Also interesting to read about Jamberoo and Magic Mountain - a great example of the difference between capital and no capital expenditure.

Now that has got to be the craziest peice of news I've seen for ages. Be interesting to see who bought the Europe parks.

How true Richard. I payed $8.50 for a "chicken and mushroom" "pie" (note the double " marks, as both aspects are somewhat questionable) which is smaller then the ones sold at the Coast parks, and a 390ml coke. This is nothing compared to our good pall DJ, who paid $5(?) for a milkshake. That milkshake was the sort of size that makes a small Macdonald's drink feel really good about itself, and best I could see didn't have much in the way of flavour in it. So true about Scenic Railway too. When we were on, I believe the guys sitting behind us were teachers talking to one of the operators about bringing school kids to Scenic World. He muttered something along the lines of "Might be an idea to seat them towards the back". Definitely the most scary ride you'll ever go on once (I'm sure its looses its affect quickly) because of its lack of restraints and the thrilling end of the ride which would probably have been about 50m above ground. I'd recommend the place, but stop off at Hungry Jack's on the way up if your thinking you might be hungry.

I reckon Wonderland will do well if they employ more staff. Don't forget that there's allot of students looking for work over the holiday periods. We get them up in the Gold Coast parks; people who only want to work for a week or three then get back to study. 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, OUT YA GET!

Can I just say I feel so much better to know that no one knew who anyone else was. I felt slack for not knowing who anyone was for a while there.

Well I had a blue shirt and jeans on and like everyone else was soaking wet...

Gold Coast news (channel 9) had some footage, (mostly file footage of the ride taken when Cyclone was under construction). There was a bit where peices of the ride more or less crumbled as it was torn apart. I don't think it'd ever make it to market that way.

I reckon they look pretty good overall. Despite what people are saying on other sites, I don't think they look anything like sim coaster. Sure its a bit cartoon-ie, but not to the point where it takes away from the game. Although I hope the peeps get new hair styles in the first expansion pack.

It is, just read what it says at the top of the page though... Midnight? Sounds cool, though will it still be open??

Just a guess: But I'm just guessing here

Not to confuse things, but there was a small article in the Gold Coast Bulletin about the Thunderbolt's de-construction today. "Equipment at the defunct Australia's Wonderland theme park in Sydney would not be used at Dreamworld". Hope not, because the rest of the article hints quite nicely at what the future holds: "Plans for the ride's 4ha site are being compiled. Mr Braxton-Smith said any replacement ride would cater for the ultimate thrill seeker." "The Thunderbolt covers 10 acres so you could probably fit 3 to five rides on that amount of space... this is valuable land." "This part of the park is about high adrenalin, and we want to continue with that feel." In unrelated stuff, its expected to take 6 weeks to dismantle, and the 'metal' will be recycled in Brisbane.

Of course not, I have many Homosexual friends, but as some on here will know, I despise busy nights, and waiting at the bar. So Panthers it is?

Dan's right, check out this link: http://photos.ruthellison.com/p367045.html

Is the key in the ignition?

Penrith Panthers is looking better by the minute. Afterall, as we all know, there's no homosexuality in football

Sadly, I'll have to agree with Nightshifter. Even though its a boomerang, its Australia's only boomerang, and most of the population isn't aware that there's 40 or 50 of them out in the world. Heck people still to this day tell me that there's "A roller coaster in Sydney that goes forwards AND backwards!". Doesn't mean I want Demon at Dreamworld, but most of the population would like it. Demon at Aussie World? Now there's a good idea.

I'd tend to agree with Jaggie on this. The only thing that doesn't add up is why the park spent so much money on refurbishment last year. Maybe they were going to try and sell to a different theme park operator? Even so, its selling is just short sightedness. Wonderland was not in a bad location. It was within an hour or two of 3 million people. Gold Coast parks get day visitors from as far as 5 hours drive away. Wonderland had the potential to attract many more visitors then what it did, and for better return then what selling the land did. Seaworld alone made $16 million profit in 2001 (including the $6million for Polar Bear Shores). In 5 years the park will make $80 million profit, even allowing $30 million for capital expenditure. To me that sounds better then the $52 million one off which Sunway got for Wonderland. Like I say, Short sightedness,

Sunway would've been better off by clearing the park and selling it as individual lots. Still, Sunway were never any good at running a theme park, so why would they know anything about real estate?

Hmmm, not working till Sunday... You still ganna be around then?

Nicely done Flea, where would we be without ya? On a seperate note, how about going out for a drink on Sunday night everyone?

Talk to Richard about that one. All I know is its in Rooty Hill, which it must be said is the coolest suburb name ever (with the notable exception of Whatanobby).

I'm up for a drink... Just find me the cheap places Is there anywhere good to drink in Rooty Hill?

On the jobs thing, its worth noting that the new industrial park is offering 3000 jobs (plus offering many indirect) while Wonderland employeed 800. To be fair though, if SW was too close and I lost my job I don't know if I'd want a factory job, but its food for thought anyway.

Exactly, everyone knows you achieve more by hacking the corporate website. Seriously, comparing Sunway to a group of terrorists is pretty inappropriate. I also tend not to hold Steve accountable for all this. I think in the interviews he does well in blaming everything except the Sunway philosophy of not allowing the park the capital to add new attractions while mentioning everything else under the sun (except the weather strangely enough).