Jobe

Continuing with my Trip reports from Melbourne/Victoria here is our day at Adventure Park Geelong. The day we visited was quite a mild day with a top temp of around 26 degrees but there was a decent wind which made it seem cooler. Adventure Park is a bit of a trek to get to from Melbourne- from our apartment in St Kilda it was a 1 hour 16 minute journey. Easy to get to by car but much more difficult if you have to rely on public transport. The tickets are based on height not age so my family attracted the top price with the total tickets coming to $178. Ouch. Interestingly, the carpark is all grassed area with easy to navigate designated areas to park quite visible. We bought our tickets and headed in. What struck us was the amount of covered areas for your bags etc- there were literally dozens of tables and chairs under large marquees where you could base yourself. There was also a huge building that had at least 40 tables and chairs in a large open area which was adjacent to toilets/ change rooms and also lockers and the main food outlet area. After settling on a space, we then booked a locker for our valuables. This cost $12 for all day but the system was quite practical. Where you paid, it assigned you a locker ( with handy card payment option) and then it asked how many wrist bands you required. We decided on 2 and then all you did was place the wrist band on your arm, select your locker and then the wrist band is assigned to that particular locker. No worry about remembering pin numbers or locker numbers. Very easy. Forgive me if other forum members are familiar with this type of system, but I had never seen it before. Extremely user friendly. The first thing that strikes you about the park is the Ferris Wheel which dominates the skyline near the front. We rode this straight away as there was little to no queue ( and remained so throughout the day). It provided great views of the entire park and the surrounding area. As you can see the main slide area is bounded by the lazy river which circumnavigates the entire area and passes underneath the racer slides. We decided to do all the dry rides first up so the next stop was the Wave Swinger. This was a nicely presented smaller unit ( I am unsure of the manufactuer of this one- @HussRainbow87 perhaps you can help out here?) with only 2 rows of riders. It featured murals of iconic world destinations as well as familiar Melbourne locations. What I was surprised about this unit was that it had a weight limit of 104kg. To me, this was not overly heavy and I have never seen this specific a weight limit applied to a Wave Swinger before- can anyone answer if this is normal? I am assuming its the manufacturer's specifications and its size would be a factor but none of the other park Wave Swingers I have checked have a weight limit ( Aussie World's certainly does not). Curious. Anyway the kids loved this ride and got in 3 rides in quick succession. We then moved on to where the remainder of the dry rides were located and rode the Crazy Coaster, another unit from SBF Visa. This unit differed from the LPM unit insofar that was a smaller figure 8 circuit whereas this included another helix. This remained popular all day , given its family nature, and once again , I was surprised at how good these rides are. This is a perfect installation for a small park such as Adventure Park. The kids then tried the Little Buggy Speedway, which was well themed for what it was. I found it a little confusing that a park of this size has this for the kids yet there is no option for a full sized Dodgem set. Surely this would not be a huge capital cost but I guess there is the factor of riding this if you are wet or damp. This may play some part in their decision ( and Funfields) to not include Dodgems in their ride lineup. I guess they could look at including a Go Kart set up ( like Funfields) as a future attraction. The park also has some old school retro attractions such as paddle boats on the lake. The kids loved these! Speaking of old school attractions, anyone for archery? The big new inclusion for this season was the standard run of the mill Tornado. These are becoming fairly anachronistic in Australia as most water parks seem to have an example. This one has been installed with expansion on the left for another slide in mind for sure, but obviously the budget this time around did not include the conveyer for the cloverleaf rafts, I have to tell you, lugging one of these up by hand, is no mean feat and it was this fact alone that certainly kept ridership to a minimum throughout the day. I am sure this will be rectified in the future when Adventure Park installs an expansion slide into the ready made area. The Aqua Racers are your standard mat racing slides- I always seem to get a mountain of airtime on this variety! Bonito's Bay is your standard kids play area - it was well presented with cabana's available for hire on the periphery. It was a nice setup. The Lazy river also hid access to premium cabanas on the other side, These were in an elevated position overlooking part of the Lazy river and included full fridges and TV's in each one. Very nice indeed! The park also included on a separate island in the lake 2 x 18 hole mini golf courses. These were excellent and were also quite popular and were a great way to soak up a couple of hours as a family. The last 2 major slides ,Wild West Canyon and Gold Rush Rapids , are enclosed raft slides. These ones are obviously original slides hearkening back to the earliest days of the park. Certainly do not see Wooden Towers much anymore!!! They both provided a good ride experience, operations were excellent and as a result, there was minimal lines. Adventure Park is a park that is quite beautiful - it has well landscaped grounds and a picturesque lake in the middle. It has huge areas and huge potential for expansion- they are certainly not lacking in land options. The food options were excellent and quite varied throughout the park- this was a bit surprising to see. The option to bring in esky's and your own picnic lunch is a welcome choice , especially for larger groups or families. Its a park that is very old school in some of its attractions (paddle boats, Archery and Mini Golf) but this does nothing to undermine the charm that it has acquired. This park is on the cusp of becoming a larger player in the amusement market in Australia and they are really only another major slide and dry attraction from really putting themselves on the map. They dont quite match up to FunFields offering ( more on this later) at this particular time, however, I can see them really challenging this status quo in the years to come. The somewhat strange ( to me ) combination of water park and traditional amusements is of course driven by Victoria's weather and its high seasonality for water rides. It does work but it means that they are going to have to continue adding dry and water attractions back to back to maintain some sense of equilibrium. The park was also open to 6pm during holidays in the summer to take advantage of the later day light that Victoria enjoys. This was excellent and something that Wet 'n' Wild Sydney and Jamberoo should take note of. All in all, we had an excellent time at Adventure Park and for families , it really is a great day trip. I would definitely recommend a visit!

That would make the timeline perfect then. Wonderland History reports the Funnel Web leaving Wonderland in 1989 where it sat out back in maintenance for a little while and its eventual fate is unknown. On Wiki, it says the Spider was built in 1983. It COULD be the same unit..... That's very interesting. I am sure that is a by product of that. Do you have a source for this? Yeah the Dodgem's height is a bit puzzling. LPS has 85-95cm can ride with an adult for its Dodgem set. The other restrictions I get, looking at the rides. They seem pretty standard across the board with most other parks. As for Scenic Railway, I guess its a function of the ride itself. Its not a very forceful ride and any child 100-110cm can ride with an adult. Riding such a big coaster is such an awesome thing to do for someone at that age so its great they can experience it with the whole family. The Pipe Organ is a historical feature of the carousel and is fairly integral to the overall experience. I have been to LPM on 5 occasions and have heard it play on 2. I was lamenting its silence on this visit- it really adds to the overall atmosphere of the ride. Yeah agree 100% here on the condition of the Holodeck. It was in pretty poor shape for exactly the reasons as Webslave outlined. Like a few other attractions, it needs some love and attention! What a pity LPM didnt pick up Rail Chase at the same time- going for less than $140,000 it would have been an absolute bargain and a great addition to the park! Also consider if the sale of the Titan had been actually completed from Expo Park in 1989 and this had arrived at the park. I know Boomerangs are old hat now but it would have been a great addition in LPM with its relatively small footprint. It certainly would have made the loss of the Big Dipper a bit easier to swallow. Yep operations overall were not great. Scenic Railway was good, Powersurge and Speedy Beetle was decent and the rest was a bit of a lottery to be honest. However, I thought that the park did a good job of rotating the operators- I saw first hand operators handling the majority of the rides withing their shift- with the exception of the Scenic Railway. This appears to be a more specialised field and was limited to 5 operators for the 8 hours I was there ( including brakemen) I think you are spot on here Huss. There is several spots in the park that seemed "odd placement" for mine and the current layout of rides could definitely be tweaked to be better suited for space management. I think that the SBF Coaster placement is not meant to be a permanent position. Honestly and realistically, if i was in charge of LPM, with the exceptions of the Carousel, The Ghost Train, the Spider and of course the Scenic Railway, I would gut the park and completely overhaul the ride lineup and alignment and placing. The place has great potential to be a fantastic mix of the best of the historic and the best of the new!! Thanks guys- its important that we support the smaller parks in Australia- its not just all about the Gold Coast , even though they are the main focal point of the Australian industry. I will complete the other reports in the next couple of days and I look forward to posting them

I had the opportunity to go down to Melbourne in the past couple of weeks for work and I thought I would combine work with leisure and bring the family with me for a extended break. We had a jam packed time and fit in quite a lot in our stay. I decided to tick off a couple of the Victorian parks that I have never visited and I will present them here as a trip report with my musings on each for all here to enjoy. The parks and places that we visited included: Luna Park Melbourne Action Park , Geelong Funfields, Whittlesea We also visited attractions such as: Werribee Open Plain Zoo Sovereign Hill Melbourne Zoo The Melbourne Aquarium Amaze and Things, Phillip Island The Penguin Parade, Phillip Island ArtVo 3D Art Gallery and Southern Star Observation Wheel I will restrict my trip reports to the aforementioned 3 parks, but I might do an overview of the other places as there are some excellent experiences to be had. So onward to Luna Park Melbourne! Melbourne's Mr Moon is decidedly creepier than its Sydney counterpart. We did the park on a Saturday as the park is open until 11pm at this time ( like LPS,we wanted to experience LPM in the night. It was quite warm when we arrived at around 2pm and the crowds were quite large. It was around $149 for a family ticket of 4 however, thanks to a helpful work colleague, we had an entertainment voucher which gave us 25% off and this brought the total down just on $100. Good start so far!! It is worth noting that that the park now charges $5 for just entering the park, regardless of riding or not. They justify this by saying that it is helping to maintain their heritage attractions of the Scenic Railway, Carousel and Ghost train. If you buy a ride ticket or pass this is included in that price , of course. I don't doubt that these attractions are seriously labour and financially resource draining so to me, it seems like a reasonable request , for mine. The first ride we tried was the Spider. This is a Eyerly Aircraft Company example and these are becoming rarer and rarer these days. This type of ride debuted in 1967 and this unit is a typical example of its ilk. The operations on this ride were very slow as the ride was attended to by only one ride op. It was also hampered by the cycle before our ride where a rider was sick and it had to be cleaned up. Overall the ride experience was smooth and was quite an enjoyable experience. My son and I spun considerably in our car. The ride has been maintained well and it looked in good condition. Not sure if this is the same unit as once resided at Wonderland in its early days. I am sure one of you esteemed knowledgeable forum members can tell me! Interestingly , the Eyerly Aircraft Company went out of business in 1985 and the rights to their rides went to Oregon rides Inc. They are one of the more interesting ride manufacturers out there IMHO. We next rode the Twin Dragon, a Meisho Swinging ship. As far as I am aware, this is the only type of this ride in Australia by this manufacturer , and they are extremely rare elsewhere. The ride experience was ok, however they certainly do not match a HUSS unit in any way. More on that later though. We then rode the park's Enterprise, a unit which has obviously seen much use. It is a genuine HUSS unit(@HussRainbow87 will be happy about that! ) but its a unit that is in need of some love and attention. Still, the ride was smooth and as always, gives great forces. My son and daughter had never ridden this type of ride and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This is LPM's new cafe and function centre. It looks excellent and is 3 levels- the first level a retail cafe and eatery , the 2nd level a function area and there is also a third rooftop level for functions as well.The food looked good and we decided to wait until later in the evening to have dinner to try out its wares. Alas this was not meant to be, as LPM made the inexplicable decision to shut this ( and almost all other food outlets) except for The Diner car at 7pm. This is in direct contrast to LPS where all food outlets are open until close. The park could have made some serious dollars if their food options had remained open. Subsequently , we left the park to nearby Acland street for a quick meal to return to ride. An amazingly short sighted decision on managments part IMHO. The kids wanted then to ride the Powersurge and this is a fairly recent arrival at LPM. It was well presented and was quite popular with good sized lines throughout the day!! My daughter had to be talked into going on this with my son, but when she did, she loved it!! They ended up riding this 4 times throughout the day! We then lined up for the Hellerious Clowns walkthrough attraction. This is a experience that has stayed since Halloween, and although not as well presented as LPS's Mystery Manor, it was quite an enjoyable scare attraction. The scare actors werent quite as good as their Sydney counterparts and it required you to wear 3 D glasses but it was certainly longer than Mystery Manor. This attraction was only open during the day and shut at 5pm. The kids rode the Coney Shot Drop and the Pharaoh's Curse in quick succession. Both pretty standard park rides and fairly forgettable. The restraints on the Pharaoh's Curse were quite restrictive on the legs, making for an uncomfortable ride. The Ghost train is well presented but with very slow operations. Its a ride that of course has quite a history, as it is one of the few remaining Pretzel dark rides left anywhere in the world, having opened in 1935. Its old school fun inside and can get quite dark in sections but i think it desperately needs a refurb inside, with some of the scares looking quite tired. Also, the ride would benefit enormously from having live scare actors roaming the track but unfortunately , this is not allowed anymore. However, there is plenty of technology that could be utilised to enhance this ride and the overall experience. Of course the Great Scenic Railway was what we really wanted to see and ride and it was great to see it finally in action. This ride had 30 minute waits for the entirety of the day and was extremely popular with all ages. The only had one train in operation at any one time and the ride was down for about 40 minutes due to weather conditions. It was quite windy at this time and the train ( Red Train) valleyed after the first initial drop. It was quite amusing seeing 4 LPM employees scale the ride and walk to where the loaded train sat waiting. They then pushed the train to complete the circuit. To fix this issue, the park changed trains, (red to blue) and they completed several circuits with the maintenance crew oiling several sections of the track as they went. The ride then continued without any further stoppages. I am told this does happen quite regularly when the wind is blowing at the right angle. Fun times!! The blue train awaiting riders and also displaying the awesome mural on the back wall. The Scenic Railway station is a beautiful work of art in itself and is a pleasure to see and view. We then decided to ride the park's smaller family coasters, the Silly Serpent a Zamperla powered coaster, and the Speedy Beetle, an SBF Visa spinning coaster. This was the first time that I had ridden one of these types of rides and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. They are an excellent family addition to any small park and they pack a good punch in a very small footprint. This unit is the smallest option that SBF Visa offer but they do come in varying sizes. More on that later. Given that it does not get dark in Melbourne during summer until about 9:15pm, we opted to ride the Skyrider ferris wheel right on dusk. The view was magnificent looking out on Port Phillip Bay , riding as we watched the sun disappear from view, dipping below the horizon at last. It was a bit chilly due to the wind but an awesome experience and I would say a must do!! This Ferris Wheel has been in the park since the 70's and its quite a feeling to ride an open seating styled ride like this rather than the more common cabin style. This ride , like all Ferris Wheels , had to be carefully balanced in its riders. The other historical ride at the park is the magnificent 1913 vintage PTC carousel. This has just been restored after some serious downtime and money to get it back into operating status. Little known fact is that this is the only PTC carousel ever imported outside North America and is one of only 35 remaining. It was originally installed at Sydney's White City amusement park before fire destroyed this park ( perhaps a topic for another day?). LPM management bought it and transported it to Melbourne where it resides as the centrepiece of the park. Disappointingly, the 1909 vintage Pipe Organ was not running on the day. Of course this place takes on a new level when night drops and the lights are turned on. The park becomes a incandescent wonderland and the atmosphere is absolutely wonderful at this time. This it shares with its sister park in Sydney. There is nothing like going on rides on a balmy summer Saturday night. Brilliant! Interestingly , the Scenic Railway's trains are adorned with Blue LED's for night time action. The effect was brilliant and they looked amazing as the ride traversed its circuit into the night. The face does look much more inviting at night...... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this trip report of a park not often reported on Parkz. LPM is a great place to visit for an afternoon, if only for the historical value of the Scenic Railway, the Carousel and the Ghost Train. Is is as good as LPS? Hmmm, thats a difficult one to answer. Both parks have their pro's and cons. LPM is quite a bit smaller than LPS but the Scenic Railway and its St Kilda setting is timeless. LPS does have the magnificent Harbour and bridge backdrop though to counter this. I guess we will have to wait and see what improvements are now brought to fruition for LPS. LPM does need some serious reinvestment to give it a lift- there are many things in the works and they are planned but of course financial backing is the key. We are incredibly lucky to have both LPS and LPM in Australia for us both to enjoy and they are significant in the amusement landscape and history of Australia.They cannot compete with the Gold Coast parks(nor are they meant to) but they deserve their place in our park lineup. My advice is get out there and enjoy them both

Any pictures?

I get that difference having been on quite a few lazy rivers and adventure rivers in my time. My point is has any of that been confirmed? Is that exactly what we are going to get? Or will it just be a lazy river with animals on the periphery to give it the “adventure” tag....knowing Dreamworld this is probably what we are going to get.

Hmmmm.....and the major difference is?

The positioning of the Flying Carousel has been confirmed by Brad Loxley, the Senior Amusement Park Manager, and that is on he old Flying saucer site. Of course, that was well over 12 months ago but I dont think that plans have changed in that period of time. In reality, I dont think you could get a better site than this for this type of ride- the elevated position of the ride will give it an extra thrill factor as the ride rotates and swings out across the Midway. Will look fabulous!! In other news Brad Loxley, the aforementioned senior rides manager at Luna Park, has left the park to take up a position in Vietnam's Sun World. This is a huge loss for the park as Brad had worked at the park for well over 20 years and is well respected in the industry. I had managed to strike up an excellent relationship with Brad over the years and conversed on quite a number of subjects relating to the park, he was nothing but a consummate professional and his love for Luna Park was great to see. Luna Park is now looking for a senior Manager to fill his shoes!!! Anyone on these pages care to apply?? https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/brad-loxley-to-depart-luna-park-sydney-after-20-years-to-join-vietnams-sun-world Its great to see an Australian do extremely well in the industry!! Good luck Brad, we wish you all the best from the forums here at Parkz.

Cheers mate- I will be down that way myself for work and I will try to call in at some point to get some pics if I can as well.

Just to clarify this point, which has been reported as a major bone of contention by the said North Sydney Councillor, Ian Mutton. Ride installs under the new legisaltion on Lavender Green are NOT going to be permitted. The only way that Luna Park can change this is to go through the normal DA process and have any addition or change to this area subject to the findings and auspices of said process. That would mean that any resident objection would be met and listened to. This is detailed in the DPE public information e-mail that was sent as part of the annoucement of the changes pertaining to Luna Park, as outlined below. Looking forward to the construction of the new Flying Carousel- perhaps @19Michael96 will be able to keep us regularly updated as to the ride installs progress from when it begins? Very positive times for LPS- cannot wait to see what they have in store for us- of which I am reliably told will be of an excellent quality. For now this month brings visits for me to Luna Park Melbourne, Fun Fields and Adventure Park. Looking forward to doing some trip reports and photos of these Victorian parks not often mentioned on these boards.

Sorry T-Bone I am going to have to disagree with you here.I have been on these boards since nearly inception and most know that my main points of interest are the Luna Park's of Australia and the smaller Australian theme parks such as Jamberoo, Aussie World , Adventure World and the Victorian parks such as Fun Fields and Adventure Park. Sure I have a huge interest in the GC parks as well and recognise rightly that they are are the pinnacle of the amusement park industry in Australia, but I always gravitate to any threads regarding our smaller burgeoning parks in the other states. My point is that I have shared my opinions and views on these parks over these many years and I have had (mostly) well rounded, intelligent discussions from members and posters that have certainly taken a fervent interest in these parks. This site is CALLED Parkz and as such encompasses ALL Australian amusement parks in the country as a whole. Its not called Gold Coast Parkz for a reason. Yeah sure the main thrust of the industry and the sheer scale of the parks on the GC mean that they attract the lion share of the focus on these boards but that is not meant to detract at all from the smaller parks within the Australian amusement park landscape. To say that no one seems to really care about the other parks is just a massive incorrect statement , IMHO. @iwerks, @Tim Dasco , @19Michael96 and myself are certainly examples of regular and respected posters who's main point of focus are not solely aligned with the GC parks.

Here is a very interesting case study video on the Sydney/Darling Harbour Monorail system!. I bet @pushbutton will approve of this!! From the same Youtube channel as the above Sydney Monorail posting, here is a case study video on the life span of the Australia's Wonderland. Very interesting and I know that there are several posters on this forum such as AlexB who worked at the park. I know that that the death of Wonderland has been talked about ad-nauseum on these boards but this video does provide an interesting take on the Wonderland saga. He certainly does provide an interesting viewpoint on a what if scenario if Wonderland had not been sold to Sunway. Enjoy the video!

Hi guys I just saw this extremely interesting video on Youtube regarding the history of Sega World Sydney. The video is a mine of information and features virtually every known image and video of Sega World found on the net currently. I had the pleasure of visiting Sega World in 1997 the first year of its operation and I remember feeling underwhelmed at the time. It had some ok attractions but there is no real surprise as to why it eventually failed. The biggest blunder for mine is that none of the major attractions were ever picked up by local operators- Rail Chase the Ride roller coaster was sold for a paltry $140,000!!! Imagine if one of the smaller operators such as either Luna Park, Aussie World or Adventure World had managed to secure this unique ride!! Such a waste of an opportunity! Also the Ghost Riders interractive Ghost train was a decent attraction and once again, would not have looked out of place in any traditional amusement park. Very interested to see how many members of the forums actually visited Sega World in its hey day? Please add your memories and impressions below! Enjoy the video if you have not seen it before!!

@Jamberoo Fan the footage is a mixture of Scenic Railway scenes ( at the station) and then definitely interspersed with footage from Melbourne’s Big Dipper , which ran the length of the park and sat adjacent to the Scenic Railway on the far end. The River Caves we’re situated at one end of the Dipper, under the far turn. The Melbourne Big Dipper and the Sydney Big Dipper we’re identical in layout.

Yep population of the greater Newcastle/Lake Macquarie area is about 560,000- making it Australia's 7th largest city. However , if you couple the fact that the Newcastle catchment area also encompasses the populations of the Mid North Coast up to Coffs ( population of 310,000) and the Hunter/ New England area ( Tamworth (61,000 population) and Armidale ( population 25,000) all who are will to travel to see international acts , then staging a concert in Newcastle/Hunter Valley becomes a very lucrative and viable proposition in its own right, distance from Sydney not withstanding. Not sure what you are referring to here @iwerks. Bohemian Rhapsody was released in 1975 and Queen then toured Australia in 1976 in what was only their 2nd visit to Australia ( their first was an ill fated appearance in 1974 at the Melbourne Sunbury Music festival). Perth was definitely on the stopover for the '76 tour. I do agree with you however. Most international acts certainly include Perth on their itinerary for any tour- Perth is usually the first stop of any Australian leg. This has been proven time and time again and distance from the east coast isn't really a huge deciding factor in deciding these things- the population is large enough to warrant it almost always being included on any tour. The only thing that would prevent Perth from being included on the tour is where exactly that particular tour is headed- normally East coast tours encompass dates in New Zealand or continuation onto Asian countries like Indonesia or the lucrative tour market of Japan. Of course , it also depends on the popularity of the touring artist in Australia-I know several bands that have a niche fanbase who have only done Melbourne and Sydney shows as their Australian leg. The city that tends to miss out the most of any tour stopover is Adelaide. This city is frequently missed out by numerous touring artists and with a population of only 1.2 million it is comparable to Newcastle without the added advantage of being 2 hours from the largest city in the country. That's good to hear. Perth deserves a bigger theme park industry and hopefully there are good signs of this expanding. Having never been there, its certainly on my list and I an keen to visit Adventure World. Having another good sized park or attraction will only hasten that decision to go.

Yeah you are right- this is used frequently. However, it is not for vehicular access but rather just a storage area from what I could see. The staff seem to use it as an access to the offices-this access could be redirected to the access point near the carpark lift entrance. The storage area COULD theoretically be used further down the park such as in between area between the Big Top and the Cliff face .which would then free up this ENTIRE space for another attraction- the Hair Raiser would then fit in here quite nicely. Not saying that this is ever going to happen but I guess if the park wanted to do something like this- they could probably make it work. I dont believe this space, however usable it could be , will ever be utilised for a new attraction. In addition to your points, the space in question is the open entrance to the boardwalk and also the open space where small shows are held - with the steps forming a mini ampitheatre. As much as I could SEE an attraction here, I dont think this space will ever be utilised in this way. Yeah the ride footprint where the Hair Raiser currently resides is not huge. They have utililsed it in the past for several other rides- a Miami I believe and a Hurricane was situated there in years past before Hair Raiser's time. Any ride that is positioned here would need to be of a similar footprint. I honestly dont think Hair Raiser is going anywhere in the park anytime soon but it is fun trying to come up with some possibilities. Yeah @GoGoBoy you would be absolutely correct in saying that. The Original Rotor had moved around the park several times- it started life situated adjacent to the Wild Mouse and then the Wild Cat. For the 1980's incarnation, it was moved slightly to be sited next to the Crystal Palace. In 1995, the new replacement Rotor ( slightly smaller than the original) was placed halfway down the Midway , next to the Tango under the then Big Dipper. It was moved in 2005 to its current location. Yeah we are just having a bit of fun, moving rides around in a vain attempt to maximise space. Moving rides around the park is not unprecedented, rides and attractions were moved around the park quite regularly even in the early days. This was mainly done in the off season ( Luna park used to shut down during the Winter Months) , especially when a new attraction was coming or to just give the park a refresh or new outlook. I think the process to move an attraction back then was not as involved or expensive as it is now. Another idea I have been throwing around is the utilisation of another area in the park that is virtually bereft of any use at all I am referring to the area of the park that is the roof to the underground carpark.( See below pic for the red arrow). Currently, this area is a green area of quite a decent size. It is quite an elevated position but I think that this area would be an awesome area for the relocation of the kids rides that are currently situated in Maloney's Corner. With one or 2 new additions, this could turn into a fantastic themed kids area. Of course , the area would have to be paved but it could still retain its greeness via suitable gardens and a ramp or access would have to be built to allow access from the park itself. This space is self contained and is locked after the park is closed, making it ideal for an attraction space. Kids rides are non invasive and would not upset the nearby residents. If done in a very sympathetic and amenable way, it could be highly themed and would allow greater space for the installation of significant attractions in the Maloney's Corner area of the park. It will probably never happen and under the new proposed legislation, this area of the park would require a land application and DA approval to build here , but its only a thought. Parks with small footprints like LPS need to think outside the box in regards to land utilisation and how to install attractions to the best available use. I think we can all agree that Luna park currently does not make the best use of the land it has at its disposal. It will be very interesting to see what ideas the park will implement in installing new attractions in the near future.

Yeah I thought that too AlexB , however I did approach the park regarding this , hence the info that I received. The info points to one of those "new ride coming" as being the Typhoon, the other the new Wild Mouse Spinner ( due mid 2019) and the other is a yet unspecified new ride that could be any of the 5 already announced. It was hinted that this could be coming sooner rather than later. Three new rides in one year is a big investment , however , they have already announced the 5 new rides in addition to the Typhoon and Wild Mouse Spinner. The plans are already well advanced and either the rides are purchased or on order, the DA's have been approved and plans are announced. I guess the timeline on their installation is the only thing we dont know for certain. Any number of things can happen to stretch this timeline, and whilst I am a realist , I am very much in the same thinking as you. I want to believe.......Time will tell how this pans out in 2019.

This new ride is going to be huge!! As per Aussie World's map, they have 3 new rides coming soon. Presumably, one is the new Typhoon 360 degree Inversion ride. The other 2, as we know from the DA's that have been submitted are for a new spinning coaster and a collection of flats. The new coaster is due mid 2019 and the other ride, according to Aussie World, could be much sooner. Aussie World are tight lipped about which ride this could be at this stage but it is certainly one of the 5 rides that have been approved- a Drop Tower (40m high, 12-person capacity), Air Race (10m high, 24-person capacity), Windstarz (9m high, 24-person capacity), Star Fly (40m high, 24-person capcaity) and the Aerobat (6-15m high, 14-person capacity). 2019 is certainly going to be a very big year for this excellent little theme park!!

There is more space here than you think. Here is a closer shot for you to compare. The room provided has about as much space as the current spot in where the Hair Raiser resides- queue included , which isnt really a large area to begin with. I do like your idea of moving it next to the Ferris Wheel though and think it would be excellent to ride the Hair Raiser and eyeball the riders on the adjacent Ferris Wheel, but if Luna could make it work in this spot, then that would leave that larger space as an option for another attraction. Ah yes..the long lost art of installing a bridge.......lets hope that Luna remembers some of the fantastic bridges that have adorned Luna Parks rides from yesteryear. They have stated that they have plans for their new installs to have extensive theming and facades and if the new Light House /Helter Skelter theming is any indication then that is heading on the right direction.

Quick update to Luna Park Melbourne: The aforementioned new kids rides are now installed in park and will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The spinning coaster appears to be , as previous speculation surmised, a clone of the SBF Visa spinner at Adventure Park in Geelong. This has yet to be confirmed , however.The LPM unit will be called Speedy Beetle. The other new ride is a kids Ferris Wheel called Moon Balloons. What is good to note is that neither of these rides are replacing any existing attractions- these are completely new ride installs. It would not have been unreasonable to expect that the Silly Serpent may have been updated or one of the older kids rides but this will not be the case. The park cannot confirm at this time whether any seasonal rides will be located in the park for this summer period. Not a huge update but its always nice to see new additions in any park. Younger families will most certainly find them pleasing when visiting LPM

Thanks for clarifying Huss. Great for the park.

Ha you are right. However , a ride of this scale means a great deal more for a small park like Gumbuya World than it does for an established and much older park like Seaworld. The irony is that if the Skyflyer was announced for Gumbuya World , then we would probably all be praising its installation. Seaworld has the capacity and has done in the past to do so much better. Its an understandable reaction I guess.

The park has confirmed that the Rebel World is a permanent attraction beyond just this season. However, it may still be a temporary attraction with a tenure of a 2 + years given the language that they used to respond. Good news for the park and its aim to position itself as a major player in the Victorian market.

Yeah. Nah. Not going to happen.

Good question- its one that has not been clearly defined. Its quite possible that this is only a seasonal attraction., although at this stage the park has certainly not marketed it as such. Lets assume its a permanent ride until we learn otherwise.

Yeah I love the Big Dipper name but i think that name should be reserved for a coaster befitting its status. If that can be accommodated for a Gerstlauter Eurofighter install or similar then I would absolutely support that!! However, for mine, it doesnt feel right to couple it with a Maurer Spinner install and if thats the case, then I would lean to using the name Wildcat instead. I definitely did not like the cinema option for Luna- it felt way out of place for mine. However, the idea of a flying theatre style ride would be IMHO, a great addition to LPS. I sincerely hope that this can be revisited at some stage and I think it would be a very popular attraction with the general public and enthusiast alike. Yeah like the idea of the Hair Raiser ride being moved- in front of the park- in front of the Ferris Wheel would definitely work but I do think that next to the Rotor would also be a good option, to make as much use of the available space as possible. A more permanent Horror walkthrough attraction would also be a welcome addition, and I think that the popularity and adaptability of the Mystery Manor attraction has proven that. Great call. Power Surges are great rides but they are fairly common attractions- there are two park installs in Australia at Adventure World and Luna Park Melbourne. and at least one travelling unit, I would rather see something more unique come to the park. Any thoughts as to what flat rides you would like to see replace the aging Huss rides at LPS?