GoGoBoy

How funny. Rather than a brochure bag, I have always kept my stacks of brochures in an area on my bookshelf. This is so that I can still access them if I wanna have a little look through. Does that make me the biggest geek? I have brochures on everything from crappy little 70's tourist attractions to the various eras of all our major theme parks

Yeah I agree with your comments joz. As I said in my post, at the parks I've been involved with, the operators would never just operate the ride for an entire shift. They would always swap around with the person loading and unloading. It is normally a simple rotating system between the staff that are rostered on to that ride for that particular day. The main reason for doing this is to prevent boredom. It breaks up the day if you do a bit of everything. I would be surprised if Luna Park would be hiring some staff soley as operators and others soley as loaders/unloaders. In a small park like Luna it would make sense to have everyone trained on everything which is why a standard pay rate makes sense. I also don't mind the idea of having pay levels rising after a set amount of time as this encourages employee retention and helps to stop envy among staff. In a position like ride operators/attendants I think you'd create issues paying people different rates for doing a similar job. Once a staff member has been at the park for a set amount of time (and again if they become a team leader, staff trainer or supervisor) then their level goes up. It's just a bit fairer I think

At every park I've been involved with both the ride operator and ride attendant (loading and unloading) are usually trained to be able to perform all jobs associated with the ride. They will usually swap around positions throughout a shift. The only exception I have found to this is if a staff member is under 18 and therefore cannot operate the ride. If you are over 18 and work in the 'rides' department you will usually be trained on every aspect of the rides operation. In this case, everyone should be payed the same rate. If a park has a system of putting new staff through a probationary period where they only load/unload, then maybe there should be a lower pay rate during this period

That would be awesome if you ended up finding something rappa... not meaning to put any pressure on you or anything. It would be fascinating to see the layout of the park close to when it first opened

The advantage of the back area you referred to is that it increases the park capacity which is needed for more rides. I agree that the current line-up of rides there are pretty bad and the layout is no good. I think if they re-work the area with better attractions it could definitely add value. In keeping with the history of the park, I'd like to see them build a large River Caves attraction in that area. As it would be an enclosed dark ride, all noise would be contained which would mean no more complaining neighbours

Haha Shifty's ok. He's got a fair bit of work to do but at least he sometimes makes some kind of sense... unlike some of the other past or current members of this site. You can usually figure out what he's getting at eventually. I agree and would love to see a wooden roller coaster at DW. A big new one. Not the Beastie. That coaster served its purpose well (when it was open) at Wonderland but it is time to let it go. Same for Demon. Shifty - you are obviously a big fan of Vekoma boomerangs (each to their own I guess) so when you get a bit older best thing to do is head overseas and ride on one of the many clones in the US parks

Thanks mikrowave. I actually have that same brochure from 1995. I also have a massive 1994 park map PRE space probe. It is from just before the Outback Woolshed was built and describes it as an upcoming attraction. No scanner though yet. Would be interested in seeing a map from before this era... I'm talking 80's. But I'm guessing that no one has anything that early?!

Yes I have heard that De La Guarda is great. I personally can't imagine it but it has received rave reviews which in turn is a good thing for Luna Park (hopefully it will help it to attract more productions of this quality). Rappa - what did you think of the Big Top venue? I've only seen the entry areas and not the theatre itself. I love the main downstairs foyer - it looks great. The actual bar itself has a great colour scheme and design - very modern but keeping in with the circus/amusement theme. Glad to hear the mouse is almost ready. I always loved that coaster. It's just plain fun, especially with its total harbourside location. You can't beat it. I've also noticed that the cafe building at the front of the park is almost finished and is looking very interesting and colourful on the park side. The park is also fixing up other bits and pieces which were rushed for opening (like the Rotor facade and Coney Island marquee) which is a good sign

So does the dynamite barrel thing still 'explode' at the end of the ride? This was one of my favourite effects. For those that don't know... when the boat reaches the top of the final lift hill it is turned around on a turntable and faces outwards. There is then a large explosion noise followed by a big gust of wind and smoke. This has the effect of 'pushing' the boat out the top and down that awesome drop. Does this still happen?

Richard has summed it up perfectly. I agree with every point. I just hope Dreamworld management are reading this

I don't know why anyone would want to see the Demon go to Dreamworld. Even if you're a die hard fan of the ride wouldn't you prefer Dreamworld to put the money towards a whole new ride or coaster? Why waste any precious capital on a 2nd hand coaster from the 80's that most of Australia has ridden lots of times already?

I don't know why anyone would want to see the Demon go to Dreamworld. Even if you're a die hard fan of the ride wouldn't you prefer Dreamworld to put the money into a whole new ride or coaster? Why waste any precious capital on a 2nd hand coaster from the 80's that most of Australia has ridden lots of times already

Yeah you're right about the rate rappa. And Don't forget that that amount does not increase for Luna Park staff on weekends or public holidays which is pretty unfair. I think it is a little bit disappointing when a new company dishes out old pay rates

Thanks for that great clarification Disneyland and welcome to the board by the way. Are you aware what the actual hourly rate is for staff members at level 1? The ops I have spoken to were complaining because they were only getting a FLAT rate of around or under $14 per hour and I'm pretty sure they would have been starting at level 2. I can't imagine how upset they would be if they are now getting even less than that. It must be bordering on absolute minimum wage. The only thing I do agree with is keeping all staff on a relatively even playing field in regards to pay (within reason and not including sups and team leaders of course). It can lead to low morale if one staff member is getting paid more than another for doing similar work

Does anyone have any detailed information on this misunderstanding? A couple of the LPS ride ops told me a while ago that the pay rate is quite low, even lower than Wonderland was. Apparantley they don't even get paid a higher rate on public holidays. I can't confirm this though as it is only word of mouth. On Channel 10 news they said that staff were confused as to the level of skill required for each appropriate pay level. Not really sure what that means though. Could it have been that the park decided to reduce a number of the staff down to a lower level?

What are the transition gates? I remember in some of the front/side sections of the wildlife park they had paths tiled with those old beige square concrete tiles which cover most of the park (and have been there since the opening). Also, a couple of buildings in this same area (which I think were being used as reptile houses) had that International Village theming. For those that don't know, what became Old Botany Bay was once called International Village and themed appropriately. So I would say these are remnants of the old pathway up to HB Land. It would sure take a while to get to HB Land using this path though. There must have been a lot of expanses of nothing.. even taking the Sea Demon into account

I would LOVE to see an old park map or photos that show what you are talking about rappa. We should try and get hold of something. I have maps and brochures from the 94/95 period onwards but nothing after that

It was never wooden. Nothing at The Beach was ever changed or modified until the small refurbishment they did last year. The towers and slides remained exactly as they were when first built in the very early 90's. Even the colour scheme was basically the same. The refurbishment only consisted of repainting some slides and reinforcing the tower structure. Shifty - the pics you have must have been either unclear or of something else

This comes up just when I thought Dreamworld was starting to make a concerted effort towards theming with all of the touch-ups and theming additions they've spent money on lately. Good point re the names Joz. Although, at least most of those other names were stolen from overseas parks. The Claw is a well known travelling ride that has been on the Australian circuit for a few years now I believe. Every time I hear that name now I will think of a 2nd hand carnival ride. Let's hope Macq Leisure rejects this latest name aswell thereby forcing DW management into another one of their creative (???) brainstorm sessions.

This comes up just when I thought Dreamworld was starting to make a concerted effort towards theming with all of the touch-ups and theming additions they've spent money on lately. Good point re the names Joz. Although, at least most of those other names were stolen from overseas parks. The Claw is a well known travelling ride that has been on the circuit for a few years now I believe. Every time I hear that name now I will think of a 2nd hand carnival ride. Let's hope Macq Leisure rejects this latest name aswell thereby forcing DW management into another one of their creative (???) brainstorm sessions

That is pathetic. So basically Dreamworld can only come up with names by stealing them from mobile amusement rides. Both the names Cliff Hanger and The Claw are already being used for flat rides on the Aussie travelling circuit. If this really is going to be the name of the ride then there goes all hope of relevant theming out the window. If they keep this up then DW will continue to evolve as more of an 'amusement' park than a THEME park with unrelated rides just scattered around. I hope the info is wrong

I would personally be very interested in finding out just how much Sunway has benefited from their Australian investment (Wonderland). I strongly believe that even if Wonderland was losing massive amounts of money each year (a claim which is hard to believe), Sunway has still made an overall profit from various land parcel sales. I would be very interested to see if anyone can challenge this point. One of the comments Sunway makes in the article above is "the group could look forward to reaping good return on investment (ROI) from its investment Down Under". I am not sure whether they are referring to their investment so far or their possible future investment in the re-development of the remaining land. From what I can find, Sunway has not actually released any official information on whether the company has overall made or lost money in Australia. I'm guessing they've made a nice profit unfortunately but I'd like to get the true facts

The Sydney Morning Herald also recently pointed out the fact that Harry Seidler had a plan in the 1960's to build a number of massive multi-storey office buildings all over the land where Luna Park currently stands. Despite this he is furious about plans for a 14 storey office block recently proposed for the Luna Park clifftop. He was recently quoted as saying that the supporters of the development are "the lowest forms of human life". Richard, I would be very interested to read the article. Is there any way that you can copy it onto this site?

I would certainly agree with that last point Richard. I think as long as a new attraction complements the existing themed area and makes some effort to fit in then that's fine. With Cylcone, although it may not be perfect, as you said it works well enough. It's certainly not as odd a match as the Tower of Terror in Gum Tree Gully for example. So in summary, if Dreamworld's new ride is themed as a giant power tool or something else totally out of context then I will be disappointed. If, however, there is some kind of link (even if slightly vague) between the theme of the ride and it's corresponding area then it could work fine

I am fairly sure that Neil Balnaves is involved with Dreamworld on a number of levels other than just financial. As an example, here is an extract from an article on the Macquarie Leisure website - 'Mr Balnaves was active in securing Big Brother for Dreamworld three years ago, making the Australian franchise the only one in the world with a theme park setting. (Edit) "I suppose with my experience, I've come to see how theme parks work and how TV works; and I've seen how they can work together." While I do agree that his role would not be to focus on the day to day operations of Dreamworld, he obviously does play a part in the various aspects of researching and installing new attractions. He would be a wasted resource otherwise. I would imagine that when it comes to major new projects it would and should be a collaborative effort between a number of people involved with the park. I don't think the whole creative process would work as well if it was just left up to the staff in the admin office (ofcourse, this does depend on who they have working for them). Also, it is my experience that when it comes to creative work such as graphic design and concepts, most theme parks outsource to individuals and other companies to assist. No theme park I have been involved with has ever had their own in-house graphic design/creative team (besides maybe someone that knows how to update the website). However, they all have their own marketing managers, assistants and associated administrative staff. In my experience, most of these staff normally do not have large degrees of creative experience or expertise. Regarding the new ride name and Ocean Parade theming - I do agree that Dreamworld has always had inconsistent theming. I would never argue that point. That doesn't mean that I think it's a good thing though which is why I was saying it would be crazy to give the ride a totally unrelated name. It would not surprise me however. On the point of Cyclone - I actually think it fits in quite okay with the ocean theming. Afterall, you do often find Cyclones in coastal areas and the storm usually comes from out at sea. I'll agree it's a little sketchy, but I still think it works