joz

Get something while your up there Sydrider, the Album's waiting for ya Richard (and everyone else)- don't go just yet. I've got trips to all 3 WVTPs planned for as soon as I get back, and it'd be great to see some of you.

While on Tower of Terror, how about doing something about those ugly white buildings underneath the track? You could make them look like little cottages or something, but the ride looks awful over the top of Model T Lane. I think that Thunderbolt site doesn't need any work to be done straight away. Even though its the most likley place where capital expenditure will go, I still don't think its vital, since Cyclone has already been built to keep the parks thrill level up. How about upgrading Gum Tree Gully? Put an indoor ride where the Outback Celebratio/Country Jamboree used to be, (I'm thinking Vekoma crazy house, since I think Dreamworld would really benefit from more family rides). From memory, that area is pretty big, so you could probably aceive this without having to re-route the train or any of the paths, so thats a plus. That area of the park is one of the nicest in the park, and is a great place to have lunch. So I'm not proposing a change of the appearence, more of a fresh breath of life into a neglected corner of the park which has been on a bit of a downhil spiral since they stopped doing the show on the paddlewheeler.

Problem for me with Space Probe, is that the themeing never went beyond the queue line. If the ride itselfy was themed then I'd agree, but with Space Probe, once you get into the station, the theming ends. I also personally prefer the views Giant Drop offers rather then the count down on Space Probe, but thats just my opinion. Agree/Disagree?

I like the idea of doing up the water park. The slides they've got there are great, but I think a good expansion (with increased capaticy) would do the park quite a bit of good. For me, you could expand that water park really well by going over the train track. You could even put a water park station in there and link the area up with Rocky Hollow. If not, I'd like to see the park do something with the Entrance Plaza. Even though I loved walking in through their as a kid, I'd love to see the park give it a face lift. You know, take out all the '80's stuff and put something modern in.

Yeah, but I want to go home at 9. :x

Alton Towers - Day 2 Well, Idid the stupid thing, I went back to Alton Towers on Tuesday, knowing full well that Nemesis wasn't to be open until Wedensday. I was still hoping for the ride to be brought out of its re-hab early. Even on the monorail to the entrance, I was teased with the sight of an empty train going around the circut. However, with the clouds overhead, and a very light attendance, I wasn't particually hopefull. All hope was lost when a sign outside the park listed the ride as being closed for the day. Oh well I sighed, as I payed my £15 to enter the park. I was with another relative this time, this one was 63, and I thought he'd like the scenery (he'd already confirmed that he wouldn't be going on AIR or Oblivion). I figured we'd be spending most of the day checking out the parks smaller attractions (something which I had neglected to do a week earlier. We started the day with a ride on the parks chairlift. Not a bad ride it is, but its hard to trust cars which are designed to dis-engage with the cable when you are being suspended 200feet above the valley floor. With this thought in mind, we got off at the ride's first stop, Forbbidan Valley. On the distance, we could see AIR, and as we walked towards it, Ripsaw started a sequence on our left. We watched it for a couple of mins as the 3 or 4 riders were soaked through to the bone, on a day when the tempreture wouldn't get above 10 degrees. Something about watching it sparked a change in Alans opinion of the place. He stood there, with a huge smile on his face, and his promise of not going on any Roller Coasters went out the window, as we continued to walk towards AIR. Oh what a feeling to have a zero train wait for a B&M flyer. We walked through the queue to find the train waiting for us. Alan straped himself in, and over the speakers, came the voice, which sounded like it had been extracted from Loard of the Rings: "Prepare for AIR". I couldn't beleive what I was doing. I just made a 63 year old -soon to be grandfather- go on AIR, first thing in the morning. The whole way through the ride I was scared out of my mind for him, reading about the poor lady who had a heart attack on Hulk at IOA hadn't helped my feelings of impending doom either. We swooped through powerful turns, through tunnels, and high over the surrounding paths. At the end of the ride I asked for his reaction......... "Lets go again!" Bugger me, I think I've uncovered a coaster enthiuest. We went on AIR twice more, but then it started getting busy (by busy, I mean in excess of 3 min wait times). So we had some caffeine, as both of us had been up since 7, and were drinking the night before until 12.30. It was at this point that my day made an unexpected turn for the better. "Will the following people, please report to Nemesis:..." The announcement said a few names, and was followed by a recorded message. "Nemesis is expereancing a temporary delay, and at the moment, we are unable to advise on when it shal re-open. Thank you for your paitence". After a few mins, we'd walked to the entrance of the ride, to find the queue rails open, and allowing people in. I couldn't beleive my luck. The ride had opened a day early. Without consulting Alan, we'd walked into the queue area. The quality of the theming unbeliveable. The coaster, as everyone said, was tightly woven into the landscape, and the queue as wound tightly into the coaster. About halfway through the queue, the first train of the day took off from the station. We watched it hurtle at break neck speeds through a couple of corkscrews, and in and over the most beautiful vertical loops in existance, and then it was our turn. I had very high expectations from this ride. I was originally dissapointed when I found out the ride would be closed, but as soon as opened, the expectations were still sky high for this ride. It was this ride that I had looked forward to most. For years before hand I'd been longing to go on this coaster. The second B&M invert, and so I'm told, debatably the best, and non-debatably, the most intense. As if to add to the gloomy atmosphere, a light drizzle had engulfed the whole ride area just as we entered the station to board. Once on board, I had barley enough time to sit down before an attendant had come past and fastened the seatbelts. Mere seconds later, the floor lowered, and we were off. What can I say about this ride that hasn't been said before? "One word: WOW!!" has already been said in just about every trip report on the planet, and "NEMESIS ROCX!!1!" had also been taken. I'll just tell you that Nemesis, is exactly as your expectations would have you beleive, fast, intense and fun. You've read your Roller Coaster Tycoon manual, and John Wardley has spoiled the last corkscrew for you, but that doesn't take away from the experience. All the standards you expected from the ride are met, and in most cases exceeded. An instant 10 out of 10 ride. What did the 63 year old Alan have to say after going on a ride which is famous for being one of the most intense inverts ever built? "Bloody hell, where do we go to go on again?" To top off the fact the ride had opened at all, we were in re-ride heaven. Not once did I have to queue for the ride, and with its (very efficient) 2 train operation, quite often an empty train was cycled to allow the second train to enter the station. Next we headed off to X-sector, via that dodgey chairlift, and UG land. Home to Alton Towers Vekoma corkscrew. Now I know exactly what your thinking, after going on Nemesis, corkscrew a 23 year old vekoma sit down looper, may seem like a bit of an anti-climax. But alton towers has done something quite remarkable: what was once the signiture thrill attraction for England, is now aimed at kids. Want to know something, at Alton Towers, it is a kids ride. Its as if in 20 years from now, Dreamworld put the entrance of Tower of Terror back in Nick Central and painted it bright colours to appeal to childern. Corkscrew at Alton Towers has that sort of feel to it. So, after waiting one train, we boarded. I've come to a very, very important conclusion after riding corkscrew at Alton Towers: Most coaster enthusists are cry babies. True, the ride isn't as smooth as AIR or Nemesis (or indeed, even its Australian namesake), but that doesn't mean the ride was unformortably rough. Maybe riding Thunderbolt has made me judge such things diferently, but I didn't get any headbanging, and even got a tiny bit of air-time on the first bunny hill. Now, on the flip side, the ride is very slow (even by Australian standards) and after the two inversions, doesn't offer much more then a tour of the supports underneath the lift hil. Its not that bad, but I'm glad I didn't have to wait more then 2 mins for it. 5/10. UG land surprised me this day. I didn't find any rides of interest to me, but I was still kind of impressed with how it was done up. It had a very 'Flinstones theme park' feel to it, which was probably what they were going for. I didn't even notice that last week, as all I could think was "40 min queue for Corkscrew? Buggerd if I'm going on that!" Well, thats all the time we have for today. Join us next week to discover the rest of the park!

Here's what I don't get: You have to pay more to spend less time in the park. You get there before 5, and stay till 9 (min 4 hours) and pay nothing. Get there at 6, and spend 3 hours in the park, and its $16.50. Anyone else think thats a bit odd?

I haven't seen one of these shows for a long time. Is the future of thrill rides still simulators?

Wet 'n' Wild used to go one step further with their late night trading: They used to sell a day pass, and a day night pass. Day/Night passes allowed people to stay in the park after 5pm. The simple day pass, only allowed people to stay in the park until 5pm. They enforced the rule by making people who had a day pass, surrender it upon entry, and pick it up while leaving. If they left the park after 5, they were asked to pay the after 5 entry fee.

Zamperla Powered coasters have never been so fun. I always thought that one on Tops was great, even after I went on it. Maybe it was the 6 storey drop over each side that made that ride. Does anyone know if any of the old Tops rides survivied?

Welcome to Total Thrills Syd Rider! I agree on that first point, and thats one thing I will give Thunderbolt, it was good eye candy, really made an impact while driving past the park. I tend to agree about it not being as rough in the past. I guess it just didn't age that well (or, more correctly, wasn't maintained very well :shock: ) How long are you staying on the Gold Coast for? I don't get back from holiday until the 26th of October (and even then I don't start working straight away). Must admit, this whole holiday thing is so difficult, sleeping in every morning, drinking everynight, going to great parks, (which I think is now 2 in total after 5 weels :? ).

On the way over, I went to DL & DCA in Cali. I'm still trying to get ride a ride on Nemesis. My plan is to go back Wedensday, the day the ride re-opens, but I might be going Tuesday instead. Either way I'm looking forward too it, it takes more then one closed ride to diminish the park

On Friday, I had the great fortune to visit Alton Towers, without doubt one of the best theme parks in the United Kingdom. The landscaping was out of this world. In a word it was beautiful. It was so nice, that I dare say that Alton Towers would be popular if you took out all the rides and attractions. Sadly, on the day of my visit, Nemesis was closed, but I still regard Alton Towers as of one of the best operated, beautiful, cleanest, most professional parks I've visited. As well as that is also has the best rides that I've been on (and less then a month ago I was at Disneyland). The whole park has a great atmosphere. Food prices were cheap, as Alton Towers has taken the unusual method of allowing the big fast food chains (KFC, McDonald's Pizza Hut) to set up within park, and since there is competition within the park, prices are no more expensive then you'll find elsewhere. I started the day (at about 12.30 thanks to the traffic) in X-sector, home to Oblivion, the world's first 89'5* drop Roller Coaster. Being the biggest attraction in this area of the park, it was the obvious first stop off: Well, if you've seen photos of Oblivion's drop, you've pretty much seen the entire ride. It really is; lift hill, turnaround, drop, turnaround, and brakes. The whole time I was in queue I must have watched the cars go down that drop 20 odd times. Even so, when your up the top, looking straight down, its is a huge rush. No matter how many times you watch it, the first time on it will give you a huge buzz. Many people say that the ride isn't long enough; I side with the people who say that that’s the whole point of the ride. That one drop makes this ride what it is, and if you were to add more track to the ride, you'd get a similar effect that you used to get on Thunderbolt; after the two loops it was all over. Yes, Oblivion is a short ride, but I don't think I could improve it. 9/10 Black Hole was X-sectors next challenge, and it also provided the longest queue of the day: 40 mins in total. After waiting in line that long, I've come to a very important conclusion: Dark queues where the crowd bunches up together provide a great way to meet people. What of the ride itself? Well, since like indoor rides, I thought it was good. Although it was very short, which does put me off. I'll probably go on it again someday, but I'm not ganna queue up 40 mins for the privilege. 6/10 Next we went right across the park, first to UG Land, where we found Vekoma's Corkscrew. Sadly, the line for this looked to be around the 30/40-min mark, and I was worried about missing the bigger rides. Instead of Corkscrew, we took the Chairlift to Forbidden Valley. The Skyway was a good in itself, even though it does need a bit of a facelift. The view from the ride is the best I've seen from one of these sorts of rides, and the fact it was walk on, makes it a winner too me. Obviously though, no one cares about that, so I'll move on to AIR, Alton Towers third B&M creation: The whole area is very open; the trains fly right over the paths, through tunnels, and back over another path. The whole queue offered great views of the ride in motion, and the queue flew past. I decided to wait for a front row seat, which took an extra 20 mins, however, it wasn't that bad, the reaction of every train load of people when the cars lifted into the prone position was quite a experience. Finally, we reached the front of the queue, and boarded our front row seats on AIR's sleek looking trains. Whatever people have told you about this ride being uncomfortable, forget it, the ride is comfortable even when in the prone position. Also despite what people tell you, you can put your arms out in front of you, and you can look up at the track in front of you. Also, despite what people tell you, the ride is pure fun! Every swooping turn generates fun forces, without being so powerful all you can do is brace yourself for each turn. I'll give it 9.5/10. I'd give it a 10, but I never give out tens After AIR, I unwound on the relative calm of Ripsaw, HUSS Topspin. The sequence of this ride is tame, and nothing compared to Wipeout. However, the water features are insane, unpredictable, and most importantly, fun. I must say, its an unusual sensation to be suspended upside, 40 feet in the air, inches above the tops of a water fountain, being lowed slowly into it. Great fun, although I think they could've done a better program 7/10 Next was Duel: the Haunted House strikes back. It was ok, would've been terrible without the guns to shoot stuff with. Probably better for little kids then my age group. 6/10 Runaway Mine Train provided a walk on ride, which was another ok ride. Probably its best feature was the fact it was walk on 6/10 The rapids ride was next. Well, I say rapids ride, it was more of a raft ride. It has barely one rapid on it. The person I visited the park with made a bet that the person who got the least wet had to buy a round of drinks that night. Neither of us got wet. Not one drop. Even the water cannons (not timed, but rather turned on for 10 secs, and off for 20) failed to place any water in the boat. 3/10 After a couple of Re-rides on Oblivion, we found ourselves in X-sector, where I got a ride on Submission - Hang in there. Not a bad ride, definitely better then the standard inverter you get in fair grounds, and being Alton Towers it was themed very well. 8/10 Overall, I'd say I'd recommend Alton Towers to a friend. Even if you don't like Roller Coasters, you'll love the scenery, and the 17th century castle and gardens in the middle of the park. If you like Roller Coasters and thrill rides, you'll also like this park. If your like me, and enjoy good scenery, and thrill rides you'll love this park. I'm so taken with the place, I'm going back to Alton to enjoy the atmosphere (and hopefully go on Nemesis )

Just a point, what I quoted was the profit for the 'Seaworld Property Trust', which was half owner in Seaworld Nara and lessor of MW and WNW

So we're allowed international coasters now are we? Probably the best I found internationally has been Cali' Screamin'. I think I'm a big fan of launchs, and it has nice little pockets of airtime and is a pretty long ride. The only thing I don't like is how it gets dragged up one of the hills mid way through the ride, really destroys the 'flow' for me.

That figure seems very low indeed. The year SW added Polar Bear Shores, the profit was $16million for that park alone, so $11million for all 3 parks is a bit odd. I guess the main thing is the capital expenditure that has gone on in that time. Last year you had Scooby Doo ($13mil), The new Batman Ride, Harry Potter, Splash Zone and Superstars Live in Concert new at Movieworld. Plus Whirlpool, and all the costs with fixing it up. Then the next year (was only a few months lather, but I believe it falls into the next financial year) there was buying of Paradise Country, and Shark Bay which is $12million worth of swimming pool right there and Seaworld's new helicopter fleet. Coupled with the SARS, War on Iraq and circumstances like that effecting attendance, and I guess its fair enough that the parks aren't making that much money. I'm guessing that the results you've seen have the capital expenditure already taken out. I somehow don't believe that the average profit per person entering the park is $3.66 before capital expenditure.

I dare say the night time attraction is the Outback Adventure that was meant to open for this year. The story goes that it was delayed by a year as the SARS virus and War on Iraq made it seem like a bad time to build a new attraction. Its not for Movieworld as such, its a night time dinner and show sort of thing, mainly targeting Asian tourists. Next door to the new show is where Paradise Country is supposed to be relocated to. It does now mean that you will be able to have a full holiday on the Gold Coast supplied fully by WVTPs (Stay at SWNara, 3 park super pass, dinner and show at the Outback Adventure, and enjoy the bar facilities of the hotel).

Why thank you very much! For the sake of those people reading this when the news flash changes: News Flash: Wonderland opens the 'new' beach with the same slides it closed with. Like I say though, don't be surprised when instead of a family trip to Wonderland every 3/4 years, people start going to all the Gold Coast parks instead every 3/4 years. Wonderland seems to be in danger of loosing its local market, which is realyy, quite an acheivement.

Just on skiing, you'll probably be happy to note Richard that I still haven't gone skiing yet, nor have I been to Alton. Looks like it could be nearly a week or two away now

Thats ok, Spongebob is afterall, the greatest cartoon ever. I just wih Dreamworld would've done a proper water fountain rather then just recycling the old jumping fountains from Kennyland. I think you could be right on the low budget attraction Richo. I'll be sure to check everything out (Whirlpool, Planet SOS, Matrix) of course, but you can't help but get the impression that this has been on the drawing board for along time, so I'm really looking forward to see what they can come up with. Still, with Matrix just opened, its probably not the best time to open a Movie themed walk-through (nor is it the best time to put a 3D IMAX movie on, which they probably would've already done if they could find a way to clean the glasses). So long as its not too close to whats already been opened, then it should be all good for the park. If it is the same as what Warner Village are offering, then I doubt it'll have the same impact.

I think a new attraction would do the park a world of good. I often speak to guests at SW who are from Sydney about Wonderland, and most people say they haven't been there for 3/4 years, and most other people say that "The parks crap since they got rid of Hana-Barbara Land". You get the feeling the park is reaching the end of what can be acheived by not adding anything, and I really think that a attendance decline is nigh unless some serious capital goes into the park soon.

Well, in reality, working at any of the Warner Village Parks is pretty similar. From what I can gather though, Paradise Country and WNW are the most popular to work at, followed closley by SW and MW. You are correct in saying MW does have the best amenities. Thing is though, its placed too far away for the staff to enjoy it, so most go to the smaller, less popular one. Do not despair though, the park is looking into upgrading the smaller one, since thats where most of the staff go. Within the Warner parks, I think it comes down to personal preferecne. Some staff love WnW, some prefer MW, and some wouldn't work anywhere but SW. Really, the difference between the parks isn't much, which I think is what they are going for. After all, when I get back from holiday, I could be working out at MW or WnW (not likley, but it wouldn't surprise me )

Pretty poor offering really. Every other park is opening a new attraction (Matrix Exhibat, Whirlpool, and Planet SOS), where as the best Dreamworld can do is Big Brother appearences (good reason to stay clear of the park), more character appearances, and the Sunset Sufari (which appears to be little more then a rip-off of Seaworld's early morning animal tour). Still, knowing DW, it'll probably work well for them

I think the only reason I didn't say Corkscrew Richo is that everyone already thinks I'm too biased

Its hard to go past Scooby Doo. Great themeing, good music, a lazer show and fun ride rolled into one? Instant winner for me.