GoGoBoy

Yes I think you will find DW/Whitewater World had planned their Tornado well before WnW's. I am fairly sure (although not 100%) that WnW heard about it and wanted to get in first. However, I'm still glad that DW has decided to add one as they are a great ride apparantley. I think DW's Tornado will be better than the one at WnW as it will be slightly longer and should also feature a couple of cool water curtains on entry and also just before the splashdown. While the Tornado at Whitewater World will no longer be a first for Australia, a few of the other attractions definitely will be

Sounds good thunder. And have there been many changes in the last few weeks?

I think the transformation of the Speed Slide into the Speed Coaster was a very good one. Both the look and actual ride experience of the Speed Coaster is much more in line with modern waterparks. Just take a look at the old Speed Slide - how dated does that look! I personally found the Speed Coaster to be very enjoyable and seeing as though the 2 of us riding it were adults we managed to go quite a way up the runout hill. I totally agree with Gazza that the addition of Mach 5 is almost a full circle for the park, except that Mach 5 looks a little more modern than the Speed Slide did. The Black Hole slides are actually lots of fun and I think the park had a need for more enclosed tube slides. However, I am never overly impressed with 2nd hand additions, particularly waterslides

Don't tell me they are putting up more of those dodgy temporary looking tents? There is no excuse not to build proper shade structures considering how much time they've had to work on Tornado. When I was up there in April, H20 Zone just had a big temporary tent/marquee put up and some plastic chairs underneath. It made the place look like someones backyard... not such a good look

And even their last new one wasn't actually new. It was a hand-me-down from Luna Park Sydney. For a park which claims to be king of the thrill rides they have got a hell of a lot of catching up to do at this point already. If the Blue Lagoon land space gets wasted on something like an animal attraction or anything else that is not a ride I will be very disappointed

Yeah I would probably agree that right now probably isn't an ideal time for a new coaster considering they are building the waterpark. However they most definitely do need one in the very near future and if the park hasn't added another major new ride or two by late next year, they will seriously start falling behind. I just hope they don't waste that valuable Blue Lagoon space for something not worthwhile. If it was another flat ride in the meantime, I wouldnt be too disappointed at all. However if it is another interactive sideshow attraction like the FlowRider or some other attempt to avoid major capital expenditure then I will be disappointed

The point is they need a new coaster... not more of these cheap sideshow attractions

Very interesting, thanks for posting that letter. I really hope it is not another interactive sports related attraction like FlowRider. How long does it take to build a decent coaster? By the sounds of the letter the new 'thing' will go where Blue Lagoon is now which means they will have to demolish all the slides and pools first

Sorry if this has already been mentioned but I just noticed Blue Lagoon has been taken off the park map on Dreamworld's website. Woohoo! That leaves more room for a coaster. It's good to see DW keeping their online map up to date... something few parks tend to do

Geez what's going on up there? It seems like it never stops raining at the moment. Very frustrating when we are hoping for construction progress. Hmm black painted wooden poles? I'll be very interested to see how this park all comes together visually when finished

The next few weeks should reveal the majority of Whitewater World's attractions and I think when that happens most people will agree that their chosen attraction line-up is pretty much on the mark. This is ofcourse taking into account the fact that it is a brand new park so will probably grow over the next few years. So in keeping with the parks quality line-up I'd say a Tornado is definitely a better choice than a WhiteWaterWest 'Fall of Icarus' style slide. It's an interesting thought Coaster Boy 6 but I'd say ProSlide is definitely at the forefront of the industry at the moment

Dreamworld's (Whitewater World's) Tornado is going to be slightly longer than WnW's as it will do a full circle before going into the chute, rather than half a circle. It will also have the added bonus of a conveyor belt carrying the rafts up to the slide so the width of the stairs doesn't matter so much

Ozcoaster has just added a very nice update. My main comments were that I was surprised at the green colour chosen for the Tornado. I'm not sure how it is going to look adjacent to the other slide which will be coming off tower 2 (the red one currently in pieces at the back of the park). It certainly is an original colour for a Tornado but we will have to wait and see how it looks when the 2 attractions start being erected properly. Hopefully this will start happening over the next week or so. But putting the colours aside, both of the attractions are going to be very, very cool

I am very much looking forward to pics of either of the parks Tornados. I think mattcrombie drove past on Friday so we should be seeing some more of his pics soon. Just going on from something OzCoasterFreek mentioned... I know that WnW can be seen easily from the road but is this not the case with Whitewater World? They may be at a slight disadvantage if this is the case. As we have discussed before though, this would probably not make a particularly huge difference

I can see what you're saying aidan and I thought so at first too. However I think you will see how it all fits in when the park is completed. Some of the benefits of having the slides at the back are - 1. The obvious improvement it will make to Cyclone in terms of rider excitement for both attractions and the fact that Cyclone, or the Big Dipper as it was originally, was always designed to be integrated with its surroundings. It will now finally have both landscaping and clever integration. As a side benefit I'm sure this will kind of act as a cross advertisement for both parks for guests that are only at one of the parks, either Dreamworld or Whitewater World 2. It is likely that the second entrance to the waterpark will be located somewhere towards the back of the park, linking with Ocean Parade. Therefore having some slides in this area makes sense 3. It helps to make the park just that little bit larger in terms of land size. If everything was too close together it would seem too small

Yes that's what I was thinking. My initial thought was shade poles as the company doing the landscape design has used these sorts of poles for shade structures before. Wouldn't they normally paint them before putting them up though? I also agree that they do seem very close together. Why is it necessary for so many of them in close proximity?

As Gazza mentioned, it is fairly obvious that tower 2 will have raft return/conveyor systems installed. This is a really nice touch and shows the park is certainly focusing on the quality of their attractions. It will mean the actual loading process is a lot more pleasant and riders will not have to lug oversized rafts up the stairs. The stairs themselves look quite small so it is probably very wise thay they are doing this. I'm reasonably happy with the colours so far. I'm just very glad they have gone with bright colours which will certainly help set them apart from Wet 'n' Wild. Apart from the Tornado, WnW is mostly blues, whites and blacks. A lot of parks are going for this option now rather than the old standard colours. I think the colour scheme will really add to the parks appeal, especially for passers by. Although it's still a bit early to tell, we will have to wait for the finished product. At least the lilac colour of the 3rd tower matches the same shade as the other towers (although obviously a different colour). I think when the slides are completed, the colour of the tower poles will not be as relevant. It certainly is nice attention to detail though. I'd agree with Gazza that the building out near the front will probably display some kind of graphic along that framework. My understanding is that the actual entry area and ticket booths will be where all those wooden poles are. Can anyone have a guess as to what on earth those wooden poles are for? I have no idea, but I'd assume some kind of theming. I certainly hope they paint them or do something to them

I wonder if it's just routine maintenance they are closing it for or will it actually have to do with constructing the slides over the top? If it's to do with the slides it seems a long way away as they are already practically half built. I noticed on the website of the company who is constructing the park they mention having to work on the construction in an operating environment and essentially having to really consider the safety aspects. I assume they are particularly referring to Cyclone. While we're on the subject I just want to reiterate what a good idea it was to entwine these slides around the coaster. One of the biggest complaints of the Cyclone was the way it was stuck out in the open with hardly any theming or landscaping. This coaster was originally designed to fit in closely with its environment and curve around buildings and cliffs. This was because it was custom designed to fit into Luna Park Sydney. Glad they are giving some of these elements back to it, particularly around the Helix which actually used to go around out behind the Coney Island building at Luna Park before heading back into the main park area

I believe that's a ProSlide Rocket isn't it Gazza? Yeah it looks like fun but for some reason Six Flags New England's Typhoon Rocket appeals more to me, probably because it has all those big hills in a row. Go here http://www.sixflags.com/parks/newengland/Rides/typhoon.html and you can go on a virtual ride. Give it a go it is loads of fun

BIG NEWS! I have been doing my usual research trying to find out exactly what we can expect from this park and thanks to a great source I managed to get in touch with I have been able to get a good overview. Let me just say this waterpark is something you should all start getting very, very excited about. I would like to take back any negative comments I made a few weeks back - I am about to be proven very wrong and I couldn't be happier about it. I can't say any more other than get ready for a wish list of attractions. Let the speculation begin...

It always makes me nervous when areas around theme parks start becoming more popular for other uses and re-zoned. In this case the council wants residential which I don't think really fits in with close proximity to a theme park. I guess I am still scarred by the Wonderland saga where the land became more valuable for industrial purposes. What about the hotel/resort Macq was planning? Dreamworld has contributed so much to the area they should be able to do what they like

Well if you have a look at this website Gazza http://www.coaster-net.com/rg/typhoonsfne.php you will see that the Rocket Slide appears to use a combination of the 'standard' supports with the arms jutting out but it also has a number of supports with a T bar configuration or even just straight poles for some of the hill sections. Again it could still be anything but there are a few positive signs. I think you are referring to the tower at the front of the park Gazza. I believe this tower will only hold the Tornado and potentially one or two other slides (Rocket slide or family raft slide, possible Behemouth Bowl etc.). There is another tower which mattcrombie was talking about at the side of the park and I don't mean the Cyclone tube slides one. Construction has only just started on it but matt said the supports looked huge and that they could possibly hold a racing slide. He also said he could see some sort of run-out bay area. Refer to his map further up on this page for an idea of its placement

I was wondering the same thing. I don't love the name but I certainly don't hate it either. Thought it would have been cool if they'd gone for a specific theme to differentiate from Wet 'n' Wild, as it is it's very generic. I think it's ok though. One major problem with the name Bluewater Bay is the fact that it has already been used for a large holiday and permanent apartment complex... and it's on the Gold Coast funnily enough. The website domain name has also been taken by this complex - www.bluewaterbay.com.au I had a look at the registry details for www.whitewaterworld.com.au and sure enough it has been registered by Macquarie Leisure: Domain Name: whitewaterworld.com.au Last Modified: Never Updated Registrar ID: R00055-AR Registrar Name: Domain Registration Services Status: INACTIVE Registrant: Macquarie Leisure Operations Limited Registrant ID: ABN 22104529106 Registrant ROID: C4021724-AR Tech ID: C4021724-AR

I've had a closer look and I agree Gazza that the tube slides around Cyclone probably won't have the waterfall features afterall. There just appears to be parts where the slides goes in and out of tunnels. I thought they'd be good because it would add something unique to the slides and the Atomic Coasters from ProSlide have way better waterfalls/curtains than the one on Terror Canyon. There are couple of possibilities for the tower at the front of the park judging by its surrounding supports, besides just the Tornado. A family stye raft ride is definitely one possibility. I was thinking (hoping) it may be a Rocket Slide as some of the supports are very similar to the ones required for this type of slide

Those last few sentences were music to my ears Richard. I think this is a very good time for Aussie theme park fans right now. Congrats to Macquarie Leisure