GoGoBoy

If anything these ride stoppages should be seen as a good thing at our parks, as long as they are within reason. It shows that the rides' sensors and control systems are responsive, and are ready to kick in and do their job as soon as they detect any operating anomaly. From what we know so far of the DW tragedy (and, of course, the investigation has not been released yet so can only speculate), it looks as though this is what didn't happen. I'd prefer ride systems to overreact rather than underreact in the interests of safety.

This story really, really frustrates me. I knew it was only a matter of time before a stoppage on one of the parks' water rides would lead to totally ridiculous and unfair comparisons with the DW tragedy. Thanks to Paul and his daughter, it's unlikely we'll see any new water rides at the GC theme parks for a very long time. That is a real shame and everyone loses from it. These rides are some of the most popular with families and are also perfect for parks located in hot climates. What would have happened if two boats had collided on that section of Storm? Nothing. It could have been different it if it was stuck on a high speed section and a following boat hit it -- but the ride control system is specifically designed to stop that happening. That's why these stoppages are occurring. Flume rides like Disney's classic Splash Mountain often have times where the boats back up during the ride and bump into one another. You just can't compare it to a completely different ride type like river rapids. And it wasn't just the fact that two rafts collided on Thunder River, it was the fact that one raft had apparently become stuck and the other was forcibly pushed into it by the conveyor lift. This can't happen on the other water rides that are left at our parks. The setup is completely different. On another somewhat related note, I am interested in the sensors Storm uses for the safety block system. I haven't been on it myself, but I'm assuming that for the coaster portion the standard track-mounted proximity sensors are used that detect the presence of the train. They usually look like little plastic coloured boxes located at certain sections along the track, for example: But when it comes to the flume section of the ride, it is likely a type of reflective eye is used, mounted above each side of the trough, detecting a boat passing through when the invisible beam is broken. Lassiter's/Bermuda, Looney Tunes River Ride, Viking's Revenge and the log ride all used this system. You could see the reflectors and light beam instigator on either side of the trough at particular parts of the ride. In the case of the dark rides, these were used to trigger the show scenes too. Can anyone confirm these are the two systems Storm uses?

It would make absolutely no sense to me if the park was anywhere near as busy as usual. Why would anyone expect it to be? Two major rides are permanently closed and plenty of others are still down for safety checks. The park is a fraction of its former self, for now.

That looks incredible. I can't believe how good some of these aquatic centres are becoming these days. Seriously a kids wonderland (and I don't mean as in Wonderland Sydney).

It's interesting though isn't it that they apparently replaced the backstop safety components on the lift hill, and then announced the ride would be permanently closed a couple of weeks later. Certainly makes it seem like it was a last-minute decision.

I have to say I'm more comfortable with this now that they've put up those signs alerting guests to the ride undergoing 'thematic enhancement'. Let's just hope that this does end up being the case, with a decent replacement of what was there before. I am all for rides being refreshed and renewed, but I am nervous that this could end up being a downgrade, especially considering the (I'm assuming) unbudgeted expense. I do actually remember Disney undertaking some minor refurb work on their Haunted Mansion attractions while they were still operating, with specific scenes being curtained off. But it was nothing like the scale of Scooby's gutting, and certainly no temporary fencing to be seen. I can sympathise with MW in this instance to a certain extent, with the need to keep the holiday crowds happy and the loss of Doomsday. It's definitely a rough patch for our parks though.

As much as I hate what they've done, I agree with this. Any chance a Parkz user can get in there and do a nice POV video?

As much as I am absolutely no fan of this attraction and have zero interest in it myself, I actually think it is most suited to Wet 'n' Wild. While I would much prefer the park stuck to waterslides, it is pretty clear they made a strategic decision a while back to create more dry attractions, linking them with the 'wild' part of the name. We saw this with the Surf Rider and then the various zip lines and Sky Coasters at both WnW GC and Syd.

Yeah I mean the sign needs to be really obvious or maybe put in a few different locations so that everyone sees it. Because imagine if you were an international tourist going on this ride for the first time and you're riding through a bare warehouse with no idea it was under refurb. You'd literally be thinking 'WTF?!?!'

It is ironic that at the same time as potentially Australia's best and most expensive attraction is being built, our parks are in some ways being torn apart. This might sound overly dramatic, but I'm sure many others have this same sense at the moment. No doubt the recent tragedy, combined with a touch of poor management and questionable decision making, is having wider repercussions than we initially might have thought and is responsible for a lot of the actions being taken.

Is anyone else slightly terrified that the theming replacement will be a job similar to Wild West Falls final room post-fire? ie. all static and a fraction of its former self? Or the changes queue area for Lethal Weapon where they just got some dodgy artist in to spray graffiti everywhere? Makes me shudder to think.

Great point. The difference, of course, being Disneyland would never, ever do that. It's called standards.

So they basically just sandblasted the tower and all of the supports? That must have been a big job. I didn't see any scaffolding -- how did they get to it all? The steel underneath the blue paint has come out really well and looks like new, which is why I was confused. It seems that slide towers in particular are quite expensive as parks always do their best to re-use them or tack new slides onto them.

So just remind me -- only the slide itself has been replaced? The tower and support poles are exactly the same? I wonder why they did this. It wasn't the oldest slide in the world. Any ideas?

I agree with the sentiment on here - really terrible news! Truly hoping Mark's talent and vision will be put to use at another major Aussie theme park. We need people like this making the big decisions.

I'm quoting with the pic again, as it was on the last page and some may miss it. I reckon it's an awesome teaser. Such a good tag line, and I'm glad to see they are giving it the billing it deserves. The way the banner runs along the fence also hints to the scale of this thing. Nice work MW.

What happened to the Octopus? Assuming it was removed, but does anyone know why and where to?

Why are so many people seemingly holding on to the apparent delusion that the log ride will be reopening at some stage? With the TRRR accident and the resulting major safety audit, the removal of the log ride from park map and website, fencing, and now the confirmed permanent closure of Viking's Revenge, how could the ride be anything other than gone for good? I could be wrong, but all signs are seriously pointing in one direction only.

Really sad news today to hear of the closure of both DW's log ride and SW's classic flume. I have something to add about the flume ride that I've been meaning to discuss on here for some time (ever since the DW tragedy), but never got around to it. So way back when I was a kid on a trip to the Gold Coast, and Lassiter's Lost Mine Ride was still a thing, I would literally go between both rides -- Lassiter's and the flume -- and ride them all day, usually accompanied by my poor dad. I absolutely loved them. Anyway, on one particular trip, there was an incident on the flume ride that occurred when we were right at the end of the queue. Two boats were apparently released at the same time from the two separate channels on the platform. They both converged together where the flume becomes one channel and essentially jackknifed. One boat in particular was on quite an angle. It understandably caused a lot of commotion, with the ride attendants and members of the public running in to try and assist and dislodge the boats. Nobody was hurt. I remember thinking at the time that it had more to do with the sensors than an operator error, although obviously I don't know exactly how the ride works. I understand the ride uses a reflective-beam sensor system that detects a boat when it passes, and thereby operates the block sections using the metal gates and, in the case of the top of the flume, those metal arms to stop the boats. I remember thinking at the time that the sensor may not have registered that the first boat had passed, so the gates then released the second boat, thinking that the channel was clear. You can see how I think this could be relevant to Thunder River Rapids, as I'm pretty certain most boat rides use a similar sensor system. I'm not sure how frequent an occurrence it was for this failure to occur on the flume, but if it was a known issue and there was any chance it could happen again you can see why Sea World would be wary. Two boats colliding would not be a good look after everything that has happened. Even more so if it is found that a faulty sensor played a part in the DW accident.

But using that logic, you could say the same thing about dry park rides. Why do people expect to see Dreamworld theme their rides? Because of the atmosphere and the feeling it creates. Look, I do see your point. I do think water parks can get away with minimal theming in some cases. But they should at least have excellent landscaping and great presentation and signage to make up for it. Lush tropical landscaping can be a good alternative to decent theming. But we certainly don't see that at WnW Sydney, which basically reminds me of an expanded H20 Zone. I remember back when WnW Gold Coast first installed White Water Mountain and for a while it was a real move to immersive themed attractions. As a kid I had never had any interest in visiting the park, until this attraction opened. I remember the picture on the front of the brochure showing two people on a raft flying out of the themed White Water Mountain. The brochure also made reference to the fibre optic special effects that were installed on the slide. This was enough to make me want to go to the park. Not too long after they opened Calypso Beach: another brilliantly immersive attraction with a very distinctive theme and lots of attention to detail. Then -- and despite obvious attendance success -- they gave up. We got H20 Zone with no theming, super basic signage and almost no landscaping. It's like a water park version of Luna Park's Maloney's Corner. They repeated this at WnW Sydney; reversed only very, very slightly when they re-themed the kids area to Nickelodeon. Thankfully we have these other Australian water parks which understand the value of creating a bit of additional excitement and atmosphere. I personally appreciate the creativity and effort involved. And just like WnW GC back in the '90s, Jamberoo even managed to bring the story inside the slide, with special effects in the main funnel.

Credit where credit's due -- if it ends up looking like that promo pic, this will be one of the best themed tornado slides I have seen, alongside AW's Kraken. I agree that it was a very strange ride choice considering the existence of Funnel Web (and the fact that the colour doesn't distinguish it from that ride much), but they deserve full marks for theming, at least by Asutralian water park standards. Wet 'n' Wild Sydney (and even Gold Coast now) should be ASHAMED.

First POV I have seen from inside the recently enclosed Perfect Storm. Good to see there are some strobe effects. It would work better if it was darker inside the funnel though. Not sure if there are any sound effects. Starts at about 1:55.

I'm not sure what they're going to do but I think the original idea was to compete with the Village offering by saying - get access to 2 parks!

Exactly what I was thinking. This is potentially the coaster that we've been calling for for more than 15 years, all the way back to the 'Total Thrills' days (I had to look that name up because I'd forgotten! I knew it was something to do with Thrills)

This particular ride, Roaring Rapids at Six Flags over Texas, has not been without its own serious troubles though. A woman was killed and a number of people were seriously injured on it about 15 years ago when one of the rafts flipped towards the end of the ride (before the conveyor belt). I understand one of the rafts was slightly deflated and caught on a pipe on the base of the channel used to create the rapids. It then flipped and its occupants were trapped underwater. A number of modifications were made including ensuring the pipes have a graduated ramp to ensure rafts would not get stuck, and some modifications to the rafts themselves.