Jobe

Do we have a time line for it’s opening yet?

Yeah visited their in January and getting the raft to the top is a decent effort. The lines for the Tornado were not long for that very reason-it is physically quite taxing to get these to the top, especially if you only have 3 people or maybe one or two passengers are younger kids. Missed opportunity for mine. However it is a nice park and great to see that they are still adding quality attractions. This will do very well and will round out the attraction line up nicely.

I recently contacted Jamberoo and asked if the Alpine Coaster wasin the scope of their future plans. I received an e-mail back from Matt George, the General Manager for Jamberoo. He wrote There you go. Disappointing news really, as I feel that this would have been an excellent attraction for the park to add- giving them some further scope beyond their wet ride offerings. Hopefully this idea will be revisited at some point in the future. Mind you, I think an Alpine Coaster installation would be an excellent choice for Scenic World to replace the rusting remains of Orphan Rocker.........

Haha 😂 yeah and after potentially spending hundreds of dollars at the Ekka overall, the prospect of a cheap $2 cheese toastier would be more than tempting for most people!!

Really? If Dreamworld were to build one of these, we would all be appropriately impressed. It’s not DC Rivals but it looks like a damn fine coaster that would go a long way to restoring Dreamworld’s reputation as a thrill destination. I for one , would certainly welcome it and I suspect I wouldn’t be alone in that feeling.

Here is a link to an article on the SMH website that shows rare photos of Sydney's former amusement parks such as Wonderland , Manly Fun Pier, White City, Mt Druitt Waterworks and many more. If your like me and love the history of Australian theme parks then this is a blast. The link doesnt appear to be behind a paywall and the article will not copy with all the photos. Enjoy. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydneys-forgotten-theme-parks-20190713-h1g6y1.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1bZMqiBgLgYborCoBHRvIEZTGBVv-oXM03INXq44KqrIZZLKrb40HaIrg#Echobox=1562994604 Also, if any of you haven't seen this book or don't have a copy, then check out the Australian Coaster Club Facebook page where you can get copies of The Story of Australian Roller Coasters available for $20 plus P & H ( Thats a bargain!!) I can attest to this being a great read and it has very accurate info and some very rare photos indeed!! It is very thorough in its examination of the story of Roller Coasters in Australia. It is perhaps the only book I know of that focuses solely on Australian coasters and its history and is a must have for any enthusiast! Australian Coaster Club January 14 · Have some copies of our book, The Story of Australian Roller Coasters available. The Story of Australian Roller Coasters looks at the history of Roller Coasters in Australia, New Zealand and around the world. Including many from the 19th Century. Includes many great photos. Anyone who would like copy ($20.00plus P&H) message us and only happy to sell you a copy. Australian Coaster Club Travel Company

40 years ago the tragic Luna Park Ghost Train fire still has a haunting effect on the victims families that were involved. The exact cause of the fire is still not known. NSW Ghost Train tragedy: Luna Park fire remains a mystery David Meddows, The Daily Telegraph July 11, 2019 2:02pm It is the unsolved mystery that has haunted Sydney for 40 years — seven lives wiped out in minutes on what should have been a night full of fun. A father and his two sons, together with four school mates, perished after a fire broke out inside the popular Ghost Train ride at Sydney’s Luna Park on the night of June 9, 1979. Terrified riders ran from the attraction as the blaze ripped through it just before 11pm. Survivors recalled being confronted by walls of fire as the carriages made their way out of the tunnels. An aerial view of the damage following the Ghost Train fire. Picture: Bromley. The first fire fighters who arrived at the scene struggled to access water, eventually having to pump it directly from Sydney Harbour. When the inferno was eventually extinguished, rescuers made a devastating discovery. Huddled together in one section of the tunnel was John Godson with his sons Damien and Craig. Three elderly people die in catamaran tragedy In another, four friends from Waverley College — Jonathan Billings, Richard Charles Carroll, Michael David Johnson and Seamus Rahilly — were also found dead. A fifth friend who was in the carriage behind the boys survived. Watching on as firefighters battled the blaze was Jenny Godson who was met with the horrific scene after leaving her husband and sons to go and buy an ice cream. MORE LUNA PARK FIRE STORIES: ‘Bizarre’ craving for ice-cream saved the life of a mother who lost entire family Mystery of the satanic figure snapped with Luna Park fire victim hours before death On holiday from the country NSW town of Warren, the family was nearing the end of their night and had four more tickets left to use. The two youngsters picked the Ghost Train, which had been a favourite at the park for four decades. But just as the family was about to head to the ride, Mrs Godson developed an urge for a sweet treat and decided to let the others go ahead. “I was just standing at the door of Coney Island and all of a sudden I got this thought that I wanted an ice cream — it was just the most bizarre thing,” she told The Daily Telegraph in 2015. Damien and Craig Godson were killed as they huddled with their dad in one of the ride’s tunnels. “I asked the boys if they wanted an ice cream and they said no so off they went with their father and that was that — I didn’t meet them there, they were gone.” Instead what she was confronted with was a giant pile of smouldering wood, and the unimaginable realisation she had lost her entire family. “I wanted to stay there and I remember someone standing beside me and until a few years ago I didn’t realise who that was but it ended up being Jason (Holmon), the fifth boy who was with the other boys (who died),” she said. In the days after the tragedy tales of survival began to emerge. Frank Juhassi, who was on the Ghost Train with his wife, spoke with a Daily Telegraph reporter about his lucky escape from the doomed ride. “The car nosed through the doors and we could see four metre flames all around us,” he said. “We were seconds away from death.” Jenny and John Godson. Investigators initially believed an electrical fault was responsible for starting the fire, but several inquiries failed to back that up and over the years there were persistent rumours that it was deliberately lit. In 2007 the niece of one of Sydney’s most notorious crime figures, nightclub owner and developer Abe Saffron, told a Sydney newspaper that her uncle was the one responsible for starting the fire. Saffron had reportedly been interested in buying the park and was a suspect in at least seven other fires about the same time. Mrs Godson, who now goes by the name Poidevin, thought this was a strong theory, but conceded she wasn’t sure anymore what had happened. She said she had been contacted by a Queensland man in the years before talking to The Daily Telegraph in 2015 who also had a theory of what happened that night. “He’s rung me over the years a couple of times and he’s suffered quite a lot of stress over it but he believes there was someone letting off fire crackers,” she said. “But I truly don’t know. I don’t know what to believe anymore.” How The Daily Telegraph covered the fire. Picture: News Corp Archives A coronial inquiry held into the seven Luna Park deaths failed to determine a cause for the fire but did come down hard on the amusement park’s management for not having an appropriate fire suppression plan in place. A decade later a second investigation was opened but no new evidence was brought forward and still no cause was determined. That investigation did criticise both the police investigation following the fire and the coronial inquiry. Mrs Godson, who gave birth to a daughter several years after the tragedy, took several years to process her grief, moving from her central west home and rebuilding her life. She has since become a firm believer in fate. “I just feel it was all meant to be,” she said in 2015. “For me to walk out of Coney Island and want an ice cream — I hardly ever ate ice cream — but I had this strange desire to have it and when I looked back on that it was totally bizarre.”

Brilliant work @Jamberoo Fan. Great find!! I have been campaigning for one of these rides to come to an Australian park for years and I think its the perfect fit for Jamberoo and some of the other smaller parks like Fun Fields or even Adventure Park in Perth.. This is an Australian first and I think it will be very well received by the general public. I haven't yet had the chance to ride one of these as of yet- has anyone on the boards done so? How do they compare to the existing, more common types of toboggans? Fingers crossed that this proposal gets across the line!

These plans are fantastic!! They highlight a huge commitment on the park to delivering excellent themed attractions for what is essentially a regional water park. More power to them! Couple this with the proposed Alpine Toboggan ride ( a ride which I have campaigned for Jamberoo attaining for a number of years now) and Jamberoo is set to take a huge leap in attractions and offerings. My initial thoughts; The concept art is absolutely stunning. This has to be a contender for the best themed water slide attraction in Australia. Its great to see that the Park still has as part of its future plans a large action river, a water coaster and other slides as has been previously released in plan form I must admit that I find the selection of ride and timing a little odd, however. My opinion is that it would have been more effective ride lineup to forge ahead with their previous plans first. Jamberoo has been accused in the past of doubling up on attractions and essentially the same experience (see Funnel Web and Perfect Storm) and installing an Octo racer slide alongside the existing Surf hill will probably do nothing to dispel these perceptions. As as been stated, obviously there must be plans afoot for the future of Surf Hill. It must also be said that racer slides are great crowd soaker attractions , and having both for the small to medium term wont hurt in terms of throughput. I would like to see the proposed Alpine Toboggan built first as I think this attraction would be a great precursor to the new slide area. Australia has needed one of these Alpine toboggans for quite a while and this will be a unique and first attraction for the Australian public. Hopefully this comes to fruition. Whilst it is definitely a shame to see these 2 slides disappear, they were certainly "getting on in years" and very ripe for redevelopment. This is a great replacement for them, and hopefully down the track, Surf Hill can be replaced with an updated similar body slide attraction in its memory. Looking at the plans, the Rock precinct seems to be untouched and still remains. I certainly hope this is retained as this is a fairly unique attraction for a water park and it is still massively popular with park patrons. Hopefully it will be around for a few more years . In the wake of the WNW Sydney rebrand and rename to Raging Waters and its announcement of its new water slide Whirlwind, this is the perfect response by Jamberoo. Isnt it funny how investment and competition is a direct driver of more investment? This is great for NSW, as we can definitely support these 2 parks easily. The attention to detail on this looks really on point and if it comes to fruition as planned, must be the benchmark for Australian water parks. WNW Gold Coast, Funfields, Adventure Park and Raging Waters please take note! We visit Jamberoo every year in February with about 8-10 families. This will be a welcome expansion and my kids are already excited at the prospect of it. Bring it on!!

Sorry mate. I should have copied the whole article. I forgot about the paywall.

The saga of Old Sydney Town has taken a left turn.......dont think too many people saw this coming!!! What this means for the new owners and the plans they outlayed 8 weeks ago is anyones guess. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/old-sydney-town-heritage-listed-by-national-trust/news-story/38d0c673b52d05de32456144b215b941?utm_medium=Facebook&utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF&utm_source=DailyTelegraph&fbclid=IwAR12AN3AD-LWRYRgAtJqz3pYT9mpJbOVVdliRQ4-No5Lw27ATRhtFa2UIfs

Here is an short interview with Jim Seay, the president of Premier rides, for anyone that is interested to have a quick read. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/06/travel/roller-coasters-premier-rides.html

Just to add a little further to the discussion, Aussie World still are not releasing the opening date for the SX360. The impending arrival of the new spinning Wild Mouse coaster is at hand but this will not open until next year- when next year is open to conjecture. Are they anticipating delays before this is even built perhaps?

That is very funny for soooo many reasons. It also appears that this post has been removed from the page as well. Interesting!! Thanks for posting!!

Even a slow news day garners comments.... 😊

Now THAT is scary!!!!! And very true.........

Mmmmm....saucy!!!!!!!!

Well at least we now know why they removed 2 of the Aqualoop slides on the left hand side of that tower. Makes perfect sense. Good option. Will try and visit in Summer to check it out!!

I think that this is a positive step in the right direction. As AlexB has pointed out, this lets Parques Reunidos clear the slate on the previous era of Wet and Wild Sydney and start anew. They can now forge their own identity and their own path with the park. It is interesting , though, to note that Parques Reunidos is still up for sale. What effect this will have on the property at Sydney or their other international parks is up in the air. However, its also positive to see that they are announcing a new slide for the upcoming season, which is something that the park has needed for a couple of years now. Time will tell what their strategy is in bring people back to the park, but lets hope that they resolve the issues that Village experienced with their operations. Maybe a little overly pessimistic mate? I would like to see how the park performs under the new owners before predicting the end of the world, although I get how you could think that this could happen.

Not a bad idea. I think I am over these puns anyway.... I am feeling very insulated to their effects........ Carry on!!!

Whoa 😮!! This is story certainly has legs!! It really needs a new arc.......😊

On a more serious note, if Dreamworld were to look to purchase one of these, it wouldnt be the worst decision in the world. https://www.zamperla.com/products/thunderbolt/ They look visually appealing and by all accounts, the Thunderbolt at Luna Park New York is popular and has garnered positive reviews.

Watt happened here was terrible!!!! It looks like everyone had to go ohm........ I really hoped they were juiced before they left... I guess this post will spark a few replies......... 😁

Yeah its definitely strange. It could just be a coincidence that both rides have been stalled from opening when both are practically ready to launch but I think they may be somehow linked. It will be interesting indeed MickeyD to see how SeaWorld's new rides progress. The timelines for the new rides do not leave a lot of room for delay of any sort so it will be one to watch very closely. I guess its going to be a bit of a race to see which attraction opens first- SX360 or Sky Voyager? My bet is on the former.......

Whilst nothing to do with Sky Voyager, this is a loosely related question. Given that Dreamworld are having issues getting the certification rights to opening Sky Voyager and the new tighter safety laws in the wake of the TRR tragedy, I wonder if this issue is also affecting the opening of Aussie World's new 360 degree swinging pendulum ride, the SX360? This was supposed to open before Easter but the website still advertises it as coming soon. There have been social media reports of some people having got to ride it in some sort of soft opening , but since then, the park and news of the ride has gone very quiet. Has anyone else heard anything to the contrary or have updated news?