Baconjack

Given a significant number of the other park's major rides don't have much life left in them (HWSW and debatably GD) or have already been ripped out (TOT, Wipeout, TRRR), you may have to take direct replacements of all those attractions into consideration (given the plan for the old boneyard previously cleared for the lazy river will still be for WWW expansion). A large chunk of what Ardent is investing right now is directed towards replacing the old rides that arent in DW's best interest to maintain any longer. Assume the coaster will trade with TOT (an investment probably targeted as such). A potential thrill ride would trade with Wipeout, and a potential family ride of reasonable size could be a direct replacement for TRRR. Then you would have to consider replacements for the inevitably retired HWSW (new coaster or another WWW tower) and GD (new drop tower or a Sky Jump conversion). This current $50+ million investment package I expect to last until at least the end of next year, given there are still a number of announcements to be made. Regardless of time frames it should be made loud and clear to Ardent that this investment isn't a one off thing, it needs to be made on a consistent basis over time, otherwise the park will return to a situation which it was in only a year ago. So basically, what I am saying is that management need to think ahead and realise that they will soon have to invest in replacements for two of their major thrill rides that won't be around in 5 years' time.

Blaze orange. This is going to be Tradie Vest: The Ride, you heard it first folks

Ocean Park in 2014. Visit there pretty much every year since the old man lives over there.

A few years back the owner of Scenic World was pictured with a Premier Rides executive at an AALARA event years ago. This needless to say didnt imply anything. Neither will this I imagine. Anything could happen. MW won't be getting anything major until when the time comes to replace AA, which I don't think will be for another five years at least. Given Village has dropped a good $80+ million in the last three years or so in park investment, it should be reasonable to expect them to tone the spending down for the next few years. I wouldn't be surprised to hear if there was no plans at all for MW's next roller coaster given they dont look to replace Road Runner.

In the photos it looks similar to rail rider. Looks like an electric motor powers the cars though.

A monorail that went up to the top of the toboggan hill that is where Shotgun/aqua racers sit today. I'm not educated on the topic by any means but it looks very similar to the Rail Rider that is at the park at present.

I think the process is a bit more complicated. The Sky Jump runs on a totally different track system to the existing Giant Drop infrastructure. The new track would have to be installed around the tower which would necessitate the removal of not only the existing TOT track, but also the existing GD track as well. And the probability this happens depends on whether a structural assessment of the existing tower has found such a conversion is feasible, and whether or not Intamin are willing to convert the DW tower to Sky Jump technology considering no such conversion has ever been attempted.

No. There already is a replacement for TOT coming - the Mack multilaunch coaster going in the plot of TRRR which is going to be a great deal better than TOT as it last operated. No major manufacturer produces a reverse freefall coaster in 2019. So, what do you do? Build a Red Force clone? an S&S air launch coaster? You'd be lucky to have any of these open within the next 10 years, let alone built at all. It should only be reasonable to expect another drop tower on the Dreamworld Tower site, or if the existing structure is proven feasible enough for it - a retrofit. If I were to guess, DW would utilise TOT's land to open up the area between ABC Kids/Wiggles and Dreamworks, an area which has been divided in half for too long.

It may be a WB film, but I don't think a Fantastic Beasts attraction will be built at MW any time soon given Universal already has the theme park rights to HP locked down, wouldn't be surprised to hear Fantastic Beasts is also tied to Universal in the same way as HP considering it is heavily rumoured for Epic Universe.

Wait aren't you permanently banned from Dreamworld?

Arkham is an awful ride for me at least. Last time I rode it around November of last year I found it to be very rough and the leg bashing I got was borderline unbearable. I prefer all of the above rides to Arkham with the exception of maybe MDMC. HWSW is bland and slightly jerky with the Vekoma cars, but it was definitely much worse than AA with the old Arrow trains running. Buzzsaw is intense but rough as guts, still a passable ride though. Storm is much better than the others, but the thing holding it back is its very short length.

I see you understand the 'Intamins are unreliable' stereotype. What happens to Intamins in America doesnt exactly happen here. Superman's been quite reliable considering: a) it is an Intamin, a manufacturer well known for mechanical problems in its products b) it is very reliable in comparison to other coasters that also use Intamin's hydraulic launch (Xcelerator and TTD specifically), the examples I listed being very notorious for downtime. If you are using Volcano as an example, that is a different launch technology, and it was also a prototype. Also TOT's demise can largely be attributed to poor maintenance on DW's part. Superman Escape from Krypton (an identical model to TOT) got a control systems upgrade around 10 years ago, which was also offered to DW but they refused. That coaster is running much better than TOT was, especially towards the end. It should be common knowledge that Village has a higher maintenance budget than DW, especially prior to 2016. Needless to say I don't think SE will be going anywhere anytime soon. It has aged like a fine wine compared to other accelerator coasters and is still one of MW's most popular attractions, behind DCR and WWF, so Village can justify spending money on maintenance. Comparably AA is a rickety old SLC, is down more often than SE, and is easily the worst coaster on the Gold Coast that is closer to its end than it is to its beginning.

Kids area should be the first thing MW needs to pay attention to. Give the entire area a refurb, get rid of the older flats and Speedy Gonzales Taxis, keep Driving School, Road Runner and the new flats and give them all a repaint and clean up. Install some new flats with the Looney Tunes theme in mind. Take a look at how Six Flags uses the WB IP's, they should be the model. I do think MW may potentially look at adding Teen Titans stuff given it is a very popular IP but I dont think anyone in here will want another DC themed area. This will probably happen in 2021/2022 given Village is focusing on SW for the moment. I do think there is a small chance AA is ripped down in the next 3 years. That space should come after the kids area, though, and will probably happen past 2022, but they may take AA out early to prepare the site.

It honestly sucks to see this ride go but this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The writing has been on the wall for this ride for many years now and it has been rather obvious for some time. It is no doubt one of my favourites and nothing beats riding the original when it faced forwards or when it ran at full speed to the very top of the tower. My most recent (and probably my last) ride on it nearly two years ago now was nothing like it used to be. So, in a way, its good to see TOT go as Id rather it be gone than running as a shadow of its former self as it is now. It is also good news as it implies Dreamworld are ready to move on from their aging thrill rides lineup and invest in new stuff. No doubt the soon to open Blue Fire clone is a more than adequate replacement to supersede TOT as DW's signature ride. Id like for DW to put the ride vehicle on display somewhere in the park for guests. Its the least they could do. Possibly integrate it into the theming of a future attraction like Universal did with Hulk's old ride vehicles, or auction it and other theming pieces off like Village did with the animatronics and theming from Bermuda Triangle many years ago.

2018-19 financial year. Typo on my part. Sorry.

Well that sucks. I dont get to make it to DW in time. Still at least we got some notice. This should have been announced at the time of the 2018 results or should have closed much closer to the opening of the Mack Blue Fire clone. I'm assuming DW finally threw in the towel if they closed the ride this early and wanted to extend the ride's life to January at the latest. Now they'll have a peak season with yet another thrill ride down and it is going to sting the main park considerably, at least they'll have most of WWW done and Fully 6 up to distract the guests. I said some time ago TOT's closing is a PR disaster waiting to happen, and they have handled it actually pretty well for Gold Coast park standards. Still, it's only a week, and wasnt anywhere near as much notice as let's say Vortex at Kings Island, but it's something. Either way good riddance. Never ran as well as it did when it ran forward. Now it is time to look into that Falcon's Fury conversion to GD.

If this was a year ago I'd agree with you, but MW and even DW surpass the quality of parks like La Ronde. Now I havent been to La Ronde but judging from the photos the presentation of MW and DW these days is much better than this park that has the trademark Six Flags tacky feel.

Spider could more than easily get a refurb and be sold to a showman. I have no doubt that ride would make a killing on the travelling circuit. It is in very sad state these days. The sun has done some bad things to that ride. I see the same potential in the Ranger, as mechanically demanding as it may be there isnt anything like it touring the fairs at the moment (the KMG arm rides do not compare in my opinion). Don't think Tumble Bug has a life beyond Luna Park however because it is a very large ride that wont fit in places like Sydney Showgrounds. Ranger as we know came close to being sold a few years ago. I'm not sure if the park is still looking to get rid of Ranger as of now but none of the other LPS rides appear to be for sale at this point in time. My money's on Dodgems to be the next to go though to be replaced with a newer model. It's not really talked about but it is in worse condition than Ranger in my opinion. Last I went to the park Dodgems and Spider were the two rides in the worst shape, but again, that was a few weeks after the new Tango Train was installed which was more than 2 years ago, and anything can change in that space of time.

Well that sucks. Manor was a good little attraction. Maybe they could rework the concept into a more permanent ride, possibly some sort of a VR experience? The Spinning coaster LPS has been confirmed to have looked at in the past (Maurer SC2000 model I think from memory) is more likely to go in the combined land occupied by both Spider and Ranger and a flat ride is put in Manor's position. It is already common knowledge that LPS is looking to get rid of Ranger, but we havent heard anything about Spider yet. It will definitely be crammed in some way into Maloney's Corner as that is the only space available, but there isnt enough room in the spot between Mystery Manor and the area where the school holiday rides are usually placed. Now given we havent heard anything of that in over a year they could be looking at a different type from Maurer (such as the SC 1000) which is a better fit for the park, which will fit cleanly in the section between Mystery Manor and Coney Island, or going with something custom that makes use of the available footprint. No DA's have been filed as of yet however so we will see. Also I've looked at the most recent Google Maps for LPS and I believe one of the 4 kids rides are gone. From memory (I haven't visited the park since the new Tango Train was installed) there used to be a kids ride in this position and it was taken out at some point prior to the opening of Volare. This does not bode well for the others as IIRC like the bigger Huss rides, all these kids rides came to the park in 1995.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cedar-fair-m-a-sixflags-exclusive/exclusive-six-flags-in-bid-to-acquire-cedar-fair-sources-idUSKBN1WH1ZA Six Flags repeating its past mistakes here. This could only end in disaster.

Cant see Universal looking too kindly to that park soon when they are building a park in China as we speak. Also IP theft is a huge problem in the Chinese theme park industry. Companies like Golden Horse literally directly copy off Western coaster manufacturers. They have already cloned Arrow coasters and Vekoma SLC's for many years, but now they are copying the track of Intamin, Vekoma, and B&M these days. They got kicked out of IAAPA for copying Zamperla's Motorbike coaster. IIRC the parks in China that actually ordered genuine coasters from B&M and Intamin, allow Golden Horse to inspect and evaluate their coasters to copy them, this means they know industry secrets like B&M's track recipe which is extremely dangerous.

Looking at some POVs and from what people have told me this coaster was batshit insane. None of the brake runs ran during the coaster and it was going much faster than the speed the turns were designed for. One thing to note is that I believe a few of the brakes were removed when the coaster was moved from Flamingo Land to Mexico, and the block brakes were disabled. The way the ride whips around the turns would have put significant stress on the trains and made something like this inevitable. This is nearly a repeat of what happened on Mindbender in Canada decades ago. I'm willing to bet the park has significant culpability in their probable sub-par maintenance of the ride and removing design features to save money. The importance of the block brakes on these older Schwarzkopf coasters which use them in spades cannot be stressed enough.

They better not touch the Daytona machine.

Well for starters, any ride at Dreamworld that isnt in Dreamworks or Ocean Parade is in desperate need of some sort of a refresh or redo. Buzzsaw really needs a paint job, it is poor form having such a massive coaster right out the front of the park looking so faded. GD's queue line is in disgustingly poor condition. I know the sign was repainted but I don't know if they've touched anything else. TOT's queue is in bad shape too, but we all know that's going soon so why invest money into it. HWSW's queue was a mistake and the whole coaster really needs a paint job. Over at VRTP, GL may need a repaint sometime in the next couple years as that isn't looking great these days. And that's all I can think of for them.

Making WWW look 1000% better is not a waste of money. WWW looked absolutely terrible before these slides were painted as they were sun faded to the extreme. Repainting these slides massively improves WWW cosmetically from a run down shithole to a well maintained water park that can compete with WnW down the road. Rather than using my words, pictures tells a thousand words so I'll send some here: This picture below is a picture of Wedgie before it was repainted: And after at the same angle. Similarly, this is a picture of Green Room before (wedgie can be seen in the foreground): And after (on the right is Green Room, you can also see Wedgie on the left) Now you tell me, what is better looking? Freshly painted slides that look brand new, or faded old slides? I'm sure that any logical person would prefer the former.