CR4ZE

How about re-reading my post a little more scrupulously.

Why? I'm not one to give VRTP much grace, however it's entirely plausible that they've rushed through the final stages of construction to get it open on time, even if that means there are "finishing touches" forthcoming. That's certainly not unheard of; for some reason, I seem to recall that there's been some recent Cedar Fair or SeaWorld projects that have "opened" unfinished with extra theming added later. @Ogre mentioned in the other thread that there's already been some enhancements to Rivertown over the past few days. And let's be honest, for all intents and purposes, today really was a soft-launch to preemptively get it running smoothly for the Boxing Day crowds. If nothing's been added by February, I'll happily be proven wrong, but I do get the sense they've rushed to the finish line and that there may be further works that couldn't be lined up on time.

Is it not possible that the theming/queues can be finished in stages?

What a dick. I hope his phone gets snatched by a pack of Flying Monkeys.

Well, I've seen quite a bit of footage as people are visiting today. So, my feelings are based on this, not a first-hand experience. While the courtyard area looks good, I think there's a ways to go. There's just something sterile and "plasticky" that I can't quite articulate. Those flat, monolithic concrete walls and 2D facades aren't really selling it for me. The granular detail in the theming just doesn't feel like it's there. Anyone else get that sense? Meanwhile, from what I've seen, the interior spaces are fantastic. Great music and atmosphere. The Gale House/Kansas Twister queue looks great, but it's the Palace of Oz and Wicked Witch areas that really are on another level. So, well done to VRTP, two outta three ain't bad!

Nobody misread anything. You simply just made a stupid comment. See, a little bit of lore goes a long way. Loving the look of the photos/vids coming out. Surely an official POV is imminent. I will say that the Jungle Rush station looks a bit underwhelming. The TV screens kind of cheapen the look to me. Bit of a shame, as the rest of the queue is fantastic.

Excited, but it seems there were no lessons learned from the Atlantis opening debacle. I see no good reason other than "getting ahead" of the competition to not just soft-launch tomorrow with a proper opening on Boxing Day. But I guess I'm not an executive, so I wouldn't know any better.

I reckon I could knock out a better job on that in MS Paint. 😆

This is what Six Flags looks like "under new management". As @Brad2912 mentioned, there was money being poured into revitalising Ka, with more planned for the future. It wasn't just the station; I believe there were new trains coming, so Intamin will probably be looking to send those parts elsewhere. Anyway, I guess this is what happens when you've got new shareholders who want to see the line on the graph moving north. Still, quite disrespectful to the legacy of the ride to just shut it down so unceremoniously with no prior announcement and thus no opportunity for the GP to get a "final rides weekend". But I guess we Aussies wouldn't know anything about that, would we? 🙄 At least DW appear to have learnt some lessons.

Well, this certainly changes things. I haven't been following this thread at all, so I was under the false impression that it would be able to do a full rotation.

I speculate both trains run forwards through the first block section. "Forwards" train 180s on the turntable, switch-tracks, and completes second block section forwards. 180 on turntable again, switch-track, third block section forwards, enters station forwards. "Backwards" train doesn't 180 on the turntable, switch-tracks, and completes second block section backwards. Doesn't 180 on turntable again, switch-track, third block section forwards, enters station forwards. Unless the "backwards" train starts/finishes backwards, and completes one rotation on the turntable (either second or third pass-through). Idfk.

Came straight here to post this and got beaten to the punch! (Link for if you're feeling lazy). So, my question is, how is this going to work?

There's literally no point in arbitrarily delaying the opening if it's ready to go within the next couple of weeks (at most). That would be leaving it quite late as NSW students are back at school the following Monday. Then again, there's not much to be gained from getting in just before Anzac Day either... ... If they'd had their shit together, early April would've served both QLD and NSW holiday visitors. Now, they're placed to open with great fanfare and nobody able to visit.

Had me going there! One can dream. 5.9/10

Just to clarify, new restraints or old?

I can see where you're coming from Brad, but Mr Dorsett's mother, Mr Hanson and Mr Haber have all willingly spoken to the media about this. The former has taken this as an opportunity to honour her son's legacy. I don't think we should be speaking on behalf of the bystanders, the victims or their families. There is an interesting dichotomy in these situations where a preventable tragedy occurs; we want those affected to be able to move on with their lives, but importantly we still need to acknowledge the failings and hold the appropriate parties to account. As for the media's role, yeah sure, we all know they profit off clicks, but at the very least these recognitions of bravery were newsworthy and the article is not the typical clickbait shitpost the media usually loves to capitalise on.

Looks great! Although... Not to piss on anyone's bonfire, but there's still the renovated theatre building which will still look inharmonious with the "timeless" aesthetic of the other buildings. I imagine they'll be sticking with it.

It's hard to feel disappointed when you never had high expectations in the first place.

Not that Village ever like to over-hype things... 😏 ... but, they are teasing further details coming soon. If I may be so bold, we may even get a concrete opening date, or at the very least, a "cOmInG tHis [Easter/Winter] ScHoOl HoLiDaYs!!!11"

You would think Village would avoid repeating the same error twice in a row. I'd also like to think they'll rethink where to place the holding area, so you've got one group boarding, another at the gate, and a third being held at the entrance. They need this thing to cycle crowds better than Leviathan (which, in another world, would've already implemented the necessary fixes). I'm quietly confident. Would I bet $50 on it? No. But the fact is MW will lose the battle for the summer crowds if they can't deliver this one on time. Healthy competition is a good thing. If both Rivertown and Wizard of Oz make it on time, it's going to be a fantastic season for everyone. Precisely. You're right, but it's a good thing for both. In the post-River Rapids lull where DW were in dire straits, Village got complacent. It's nice to see them trying to one-up each other again.

If you read what I said, never did I claim that Doomsday's operating conditions are optimal. I agree it doesn't have a long-term future, not because it's unsalvageable, but because it's not worth the expenditure. You're the one making the asinine suggestion that they should completely demolish a building for no good reason, so the burden of proof is on you, not me, to propose a fitting replacement. There is plenty of room behind WWF to build a marquee attraction like a coaster, so even if they weren't going for something compact to replace GL, and provided they even wanted to go for yet another coaster, that would be the next most logical place for it to go. Now to re-run the gamut of options I put forth for the showcase building (not an exhaustive list). Walkthrough attractions: the Intencity building has not been used for anything other than FN mazes in the last five years, so it's not like Village are in any rush to use that space more efficiently. Dark ride: first of all, JDS has already replaced LTRR. Love it or hate it, it's not about to go away, so why even bring it up? Justice League has an interactive element, which is not the only way you can do a dark ride. Same goes for Scooby-Doo, which, sure you can throw in there, but it is also a coaster. Show/theatre: You're really going to use HSD to bolster your argument? More to the point, you seem to think the park is only allowed to have one type of attraction operating at any given time. This is ignorant to the fact that, for most of the park's history, there have been multiple walkthrough attractions, dark rides and live shows running simultaneously. I merely provided a few examples to illustrate that there are a myriad of uses for the Showcase building without knocking the whole thing to the ground.

The tradeoff for the prototype models' extreme intensity was excessive strain on the tracks, which caused the reliability issues. The newer models (i.e. Jersey Devil at SFGA) are tamer by virtue of the element profiling and the increased train length (which also increases throughput per-hour). However, their profiles take up a lot more space. A custom, compact layout with the new trains is fully plausible. Neither Doomsday nor GL or on their "last legs" per se. Village could keep them both going for a while; it's simply a case of whether the operational costs are worth the effort. In the former's case, probably not; it's a pretty unpopular ride at the best of times, and they could've made a much better effort with making the area worthwhile to spend time in. As for tearing down the Showcase building and plonking a coaster down there, sorry, but that's a stupid idea. There's better ways to utilise the structure, yes, but it's not being removed, probably ever. They could hearken back to the days when it was used for live shows, put a properly-themed walk-through attraction there, possibly even a small theatre/dark ride. But tearing it down? Mate, that's something strange you're smoking. So you remove one unreliable ride, then replace it with a relocation of another equally unreliable ride? At first, I thought it was the green stuff you're on, but clearly you're more hardcore than I thought.

From mere anecdotal evidence, it appears the other El Locos are more reliable. I think it's a safe bet the train would be a factor as the increased payload puts greater stress on the track, its braking systems and the supports. Naturally, this would've required some tailoring of those systems, but it's the only El Loco with the four-across setup, so S&S were in uncharted territory during the design phase of the ride. I speculate, but don't know, that there's more to it than just that, though. @Dean Barnett already put forward the 4D Free Spin and Sky Rocket II, either of which I think would work. Just saying though, the Raptor clones take up about 1,900 m2, while GL takes up about 1,700 m2. Different shape (the Raptors are a longer, skinnier rectangle) but, with some creative crossover moments, I'd say it'd be doable. There's also some limited usable space adjacent to GL where the stream is. Provided it's operating, and that's a rarity in and of itself, it doesn't exactly pump through at high capacity, so that does bloat the queue line considerably. It's maybe the fourth- or fifth-most popular ride at the park, I'd say, and I don't think it would be a great loss were it to be replaced with something better (functional).

Assuming these are indeed for the coasters, I really like both names.

@DaptoFunlandGuy same honestly. I Googled this and found no usage. Some great insights and pics otherwise.