Dean Barnett

As much as I'd love a raptor - they're definitely not a capacity sucker like a huge B&M.. and LPS have a very similar product. Boomerangs seem like a really dumb way to attempt to suck capacity - you can only have one train and its unload/load time to ride ratio sucks. I'd rather 1 Mack Spinning Coaster (since the gold coast are obsessed with spinning rides right now). Something like Sierra Sidewinder with a 105cm height limit. Good for kids and adults, a unique ride every time and you can have 2 trains! and nest that inside a RMC. There's no way it could be louder than the SLC. And look! Here's another one that's small - and 10ft less height wise.

OK chill just an idea. It's a custom design so they can just make something fit. RMC's can spend most of their time close to the ground after the lift hill

They should do a ground up RMC - something like Untamed. It would fit in its spot High capacity if they run it right (900RPH) lower height limit (120cm) and something that's missing in the GC coaster lineup (huge airtime moments). 36 meters is a nice in-between drop height too.

It's open every day. I did it in November .. the only downside is it gets pretty cold (was 5-7 degrees C for my visit) which also means the coasters run pretty slow

This exists

That's completely different - the ops would need to balance the ride anyway - nothing changes here. VR only adds time after the ride is secured. Considering the actual ride time is tiny.. it won't really ruins peoples days - unlike running rivals in the school holidays with one train. It isn't worse than any of the station decor that they pump out now. I've seen it work - in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. It works. If a group gets to the front with not enough places left to accommodate the group - they just wait or actually call for smaller groups to come forward. It's brilliant to see in action. Wait until you guys find out how The Oath of KÄRNAN does it's row allocation!

It’s two separate statements. DW shouldn’t be spending money on vanity projects. Honestly how is a lit sign gonna bring in / back more customers ? The irony of the sign being lit and the park being closed 99% of the time of darkness is not lost on me. Secondly - the turnstiles work. The parks I’ve seen them in have guests who don’t understand the main language of the park, understand it. I mean what about this won’t people understand? It’s pretty obvious. I think your statement about guests not understanding them really discredits the guests ability. VR and covid have no link - still not a single proven case of a covid case that was transmitted by touch - so no worries there. It’s a new guest experience - that could change - and it will be the worlds tallest (just) Heck I rather them just add a soundtrack and speakers to the lift gondola.

Yes and it would. This ride actually uses turnstiles too - as soon as the doors to the ride close, the next ride is automatically grouped… by the turnstile (it’s free to run) then it just repeats. The grouper turns into a VR dispenser.

Ok so today I went on the exact same ride model. It was running one train today (the wait was around 20 mins). Here's how it works. The turnstile lets through the exact number of people that fit on the train. Once you're through you put your bags on this thing (load is on the right, unload on the left) That thing cycles with the ride. You then self group. Same ride model. 3 workers (Op, 2 on the platform). Sub 3 minute dispatches (timed when the train reached the unload platform). My point is there's so many ways to make superman better - one free way would be just to have a little basket that the op walks down the train with once its secure for phones and small items.. then just puts the tray in the unload station. At least then people can have their phones... but they refuse to. These guys also double launched it later on in the day when there wasn't a full train load waiting on the platform. Somewhat related - here's a flat ride with self loading.

Make it half price for AP holders... it will look like a bargain and a great offering.. when in reality the same would be available for everyone a few years ago.

And I'm guessing no discount for annual passes? What a rip. if it was $5-10 it would probably get way more riders. It's now 30% of the day ticket price. smh.

This is plain stupid. Easiest way to fix this is the way Kolmården run Wildfire. Yes, a zoo runs roller coasters better than a full fledged theme park.. insane. Once the airgates close they set the turnstile to let 22 people through (the train seats 24). If people want to wait for the front row - thats great. If the 22nd person that gets let through is a part of a larger group - no worries! They just wait for the next train. Simples. The better option would be to have a screen to show how many people can be let though and people just work it out for theirselves .. trust me I've seen this work in person.

Sorry my bad. It was late. Dream world can ...*

Perhaps dispatch based incentives would help?

OK I came up (stole) with a better idea Yesterday I did AtmosFear VR - Liseberg's replacement while their woodie is down. It was brilliant. Something the completely transformed the ride and takes only about 2 mins extra per cycle to add (it's free). I actually thought it was more thrilling than non VR You can choose VR or non VR after the ride is secure. WB could make a *insert super hero movie reference here* version.. and it could even change every few months. The headsets aren't tethered to the ride - however there's nothing below the drop tower apart from a roof. WB could tether them like they do for Can Can Coaster VR with no risk. Oh and how's this - their massive drop tower (381ft) is in the middle of the city on a hill.. and doesn't have any branding on it... and heaps of people still came! Amazing./s

Please. Ok another idea from Tivoli is particularly for rivals and taipan. Pay for the upgrade to the back car at the station! All it needs is a lil terminal thing as pictured (the technology has already been made guys!) This turns the painstaking process of deciding you want to do it - walking back to the relevant ticket office, lining up for that, paying for that - receiving a (pointless) wristband, walking back to the ride then doing the ride….. into just double tapping your watch / phone - scanning then ride. Theme parks thrive of spontaneous purchases - they’d make a killing. Also instant repeat rides! Really looking forward to someone disputing this one.

I’m not sure why you’re so against it - I’ve seen it working in the flesh - I’m not making this up from scratch.

No - it's a balance between letting the entire queue in and it being a free for all, and a old style grouper that the GC parks love. (Of course only in use for days where there's a 10+ minute wait I'm sure I'll be corrected but the only instances of injury from objects falling off riders was the duelling inverts at Universal Orlando - they stopped duelling them and that fixed that. Twisted Colossus at SFMM has nets between trains when they're above or below each other. Seems like a simple fix I rode every coaster at Cedar Point without using lockers. Phone/Wallet/Keys go in a running waistband thing. Simples. Is this not how fastpass works now? If not you can just change the programming.. simples.

It's still rough aF. Would rather a retrack or the inevitable KDRB. Why would they do this with the drop tower car right there? Why would they do this with the drop tower car right there?

I won't reply to individual posts but some points raised People just work it out and let smaller groups through. Worked every time from what I saw. The Hyperion queue kinda reminds me of like a mini squid game. Quick snip of it here Here's one better option.. completely staff less and 100% profit! Seriously if they charged $5 they'd get so many more sales. Which seems so silly because of the even more slower process of having to secure each row with RFID (which I've only seen elsewhere at Hagride.. because of the moving platform ... they can unlock the restraints too!) Another useful thing is the screens Seas have at their parks on the platform Shows what seats are not secured without the op needing to communicate it to the attendants. How often does superman even run 2 trains? It's really hard to tell. It should just unload in the load station and just open the door between the two. I don't even get why they're so pedantic about loose items too.. Top Thrill Dragster doesn't and it goes 3x higher . Another thing that I really like here is the interaction between station lighting and audio and ride operations .. sound effects when gates open, lights chasing or changing on certain events. Fly at Phantasialand's station is very dark. When the train enters the LED's backlighting the wall chases the train, then the entire station gets lighter for the loading procedure, then gets dark when the train dispatches. Simple things that are relatively cheap compared to the entire coaster. On dead days - why can't they just double dispatch rides? No restraint clearing necessary. This happened for me at Fårup Sommerland... before the park even officially opened. Fastpass would have a RFID or barcoded wristband that would enable the turnstile, after the previous train dispatches - a certain % of the next cycle would be let though.. so say 6 people per rivals train etc. Then the "standby" queue. This is stupid. Their whole motive should be to get as many people on rides as quickly as possible. It's weird they let people with watches on (secured by a strap) but won't extend that to sunglasses (secured by a strap). (please don't get any ideas) Other crowd pleaser idea is free wristbands for parents to write their name/numbers on and slap on their kids. I think that's it for now.

I’m saying enclose one side so you can still run both. I just did Mystery Castle and can quiet happily say that the drop in the dark was way more intimidating- but it will never happen. Same as adding a launch which will be very exciting but would never happen because it’s a completely different ride system. My issue is spending so much money / causing so much down time for adding stupid aesthetics.

It’s such a waste of money. At least add to the attraction - I’d be enclosing one side and putting a pretty sign up the top if it. It would be a world first to drop 400ft in darkness.

Superman is ridiculous. I’ve been to heaps of parks - and there’s only two other rides I’ve seen so far that doesn’t let you have your phone for the *entire* queue. Steel Vengeance did for a period but they put pockets on the trains instead which are big enough for phones. Velocicoaster has double sided lockers that work with your park ticket (or any) barcode. Usually only spend under 5 mins without your phone after that. Baron 1898 has free lockers out the front with a wristband key. Manned checking with wristbands right before the preshow. Fly at Phantasialand has plastic watch bands that are colour coded for front row/resort access and everyone else - that work with double sided lockers. Yukon Striker has automated bins that travel from the load side to the unload side - that are synchronised with the trains. (If the ride stops cycling, so to the bins) Ripriderocket and Hulk are the worst locker experiences but it’s still better than superman. None of this remembering colour BS. Barcode operated. Any of these options would be better. My suggestion would be just add simple bins in the station … even if they were on the other side of the train and stop using the unload station if you’re not going to use it to save time I’ll reply to the other posts later - just on my phone rn

Look I know I'm not the most popular person on this board but I thought I'd make a thread about what Europe is doing better - park wise - than the gold coast parks. Yes - I know Europe parks have a different sized market - but I believe these learnings could be successfully transferred to our parks to save time and money money while increasing guest satisfaction. Hopefully just one decision maker reads this. 1. On ride photo kiosk Several parks here have unmanned automated kiosks with a eftpos machines where you just press your photo - pay €5 for a printed copy and a QR code to download the high res copy. I'd think you'd get more sales that way, rather than getting a wristband or remembering a number - going to another location - lining up - then waiting for the print. Simple 4 step process that takes seconds, requires no staff and makes you more money! 2. Minute makers in queue Simple 10/20/30/45/60 min markers spray painted on to the ground in the queue Easy peasy. 3. Automated turnstile loading / grouping This one is big brain stuff. Energylandia uses it and it's epic. Got a flat ride that only fits 40 people? Have a turnstile that lets 40 people through then locks. For rivals/ST you could do it really easily.. add a turnstile each for Front Row, Back-row, Rest of train and Fast pass/Single Riders. Don't bother manually grouping any coasters - especially ones with 4 to a row. I haven't seen a single coaster here which does so - and most of them don't even group at all. The world keeps revolving and everything works out. 4. Misc coaster things Don't wait for the entire train to be seated before starting to secure the train. In the back row of B&M's I was seated for a few seconds before an attendant cleared my row. Add an announcement in the brake runs to instruct people to undo their seatbelts before entering the station. If there's an empty station - allow re-rides! Why wouldn't you? I lapped Ride to Happiness 6 times - changing rows every lap. Sunglasses - it's the gold coast.. it's sunny. I've been on several coasters way more intense than anything on the gold coast (Silver Star / Untamed / Zandra) and my sunglasses have stayed put without an issue. 5. Buy a RMC A RMC is the only thing that would offer anything new to the Gold Coast's line up - it's a clear winner for me in any park - and comes with a 120cm height restriction with the latest trains! I think that's it. Didn't mean to offend anyone or any park - just saying it how I see it. (Also I've now done the original Blue Fire.. it's a lot better - and I think it comes down to theming and rock work. I mean compare the pair.. and if you want to make Giant Drop better - enclose it.. at least one side of it. Having it in complete darkness would absolutely be an world first ... Mystery Castle blew my mind)

Spend millions of dollars on a new rollercoaster. Only open it for 4 hours on weekdays. Brilliant. They should follow Energylandias way of queue management. Completely automated. No grouper required. Just have an operator and two platform attendants that secure the train from the front towards the back as people sit down. Works brilliantly. The spinny car can just scan a card at the turnstile to be let through