GoGoBoy

Thanks for the photos Zamperla, they're great! Just to clarify for everyone, I think Zamperla got the descriptions mixed up. The first 2 pics are actually of the Disco Train at Darling Harbour which has now become Luna Park Sydney's Tango Train and the 2nd 2 pics are of the ride which used to reside at LPS in the 80's and is commonly mistaken for the Tango Train. By the way, the 'Love Express' in its current state looks absolutely terrible

I would be interested to hear what makes Aussie World so impressive. A few people have mentioned that they quite like it now. It just seems to me like it's a home-made fun park with a few really average rides scattered around and a random, inconsistent theme

Zamperla - I would love to see some of the photos you are talking about. I am particularly interested to see what the Tango Train looked like when it was at Darling Harbour. When the 'Love Express' (as it is now known) was at Luna Park in the 80's, where was it located? In a similar spot to where the Tango is now? Any pics you can upload would be much appreciated

Jobe, you are not entirely correct. This is where people get the Tango Train confused. It is a common belief that it is the same ride that was at the park during the 1980's... but it is not. The ride you are thinking of was similar in design to the Tango Train (although the carriages were quite different and the overall design scheme was different). This ride never returned to the park once the 1980's park closed. It is worth noting that there are a very large number of these type of rides around, a lot of them made by different manafacturers. They are very common but they come in quite a few variations. The Tango Train now at LPS was manafactured by Mack and is a trailerised 'Musik Express' model. It spent quite a few years at Darling Harbour's old amusement park where it was called 'Disco Train'. The only ride that still exists from the 1980's era of Luna Park is the Ferris Wheel. On another point, I strongly believe that Luna Park Melbourne has a number of really significant heritage features. The face and towers although refurbished are the originals whereas Sydney's were completely rebuilt. The Scenic Railway is one of the oldest surviving wooden roller coasters in the world - that is a big claim. The Ghost Train was built in the 1930's and a large proportion of the ride and structure is original which makes it pretty special. And then there is the Carousel... also an original feature of the park. While a number of these features are in very poor condition and the rest of the park is below average, you still can't deny the huge historical value within the park

Jobe, you are not entirely correct. This is where people get the Tango Train confused. It is a common belief that it is the same ride that was at the park during the 1980's... but it is not. The ride you are thinking of was similar in design to the Tango Train (although the carriages were quite different and the overall design scheme was different). This ride never returned to the park once the 1980's park closed. It is worth noting that there are a very large number of these type of rides around, a lot of them made by different manafacturers. They are very common but they come in quite a few variations. The Tango Train now at LPS was manafactured by Mack and is a trailerised 'Musik Express' model. It spent quite a few years at Darling Harbour's old amusement park where it was called 'Disco Train'. The only ride that still exists from the 1980's era of Luna Park is the Ferris Wheel. On another point, I strongly believe that Luna Park Melbourne has a number of really significant heritage features. The face and towers although refurbished are the originals whereas Sydney's were completely rebuilt. The Scenic Railway is one of the oldest surviving wooden roller coasters in the world - that is a big claim. The Ghost Train was built in the 1930's and a large proportion of the ride and structure is original which makes it pretty special. And then there is the Carousel... also an original feature of the park. While a number of these features are in very poor condition and the rest of the park is below average, you still can't deny the huge historical value within the park

The Tango Train at LPS could not be considered an historic or particularly old ride. Also, like most of the other rides it is an ex-road model too. When they were doing some maintenance on it you could see the trailer underneath the platform. It was built around the 70's I think and has only been at LPS since 1995

Yeah that's a big problem with both Luna Park Melbourne and Luna Park Sydney... they just don't look that great. Certainly not like they used to anyway. In the old days you would step into either park and feel like you had been transported into another world. This led to a major factor in the success of the old parks - ATMOSPHERE. Everything was themed and nothing looked normal. You can't just stick a few portable rides around the place and get the same effect

Bring back the River Caves for sure! I would make a special trip to Melbourne if they were reinstated. Everyone that experienced the River Caves says how special they were... I think they'd definitely bring back some of the atmosphere to Luna Park. And as someone else said above, it would be great to see a return to the old days with unique rides and lots of facades and artwork. No more of this asphalt with mobile rides plonked on top of it business

The Sydney Morning Herald needs to get their facts straight. Talk about poor research. The SMH is normally pretty good. The roller coaster in question is NOT a Mad Mouse coaster at all... that is completely wrong. And then relating it to the incident at the Royal Show makes it even worse as it was a totally different style of ride. On Mad/Wild Mouse coasters (like the one at Luna Park Sydney) a hat can quite easily jam the wheels of a carriage but I think it would be a lot harder on a Galaxi coaster (Luna Park Melbourne). Feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I think the paper is getting their parks and coasters mixed up

The Double Screamer seemed a bit primitive and dated to me... I'm happy to see it go. I don't think it fits in with the way the park is heading

So Richo, are these 'thrill' attractions in addition to the Mammoth Falls upgrade? Any more details on what they actually are? Surely if there was anything major it would have been mentioned along with the already announced attractions

Actually our Gold Coast theme parks have come a long way when it comes to rides and theming. The GC is now home to a number of really fantastic dark rides. I was only referring to Luna Park (Syd & Melb) which have a complete lack of rides that are even remotely special or atmospheric.. certainly nothing like they were in the old days

Actually our Gold Coast theme parks have come a long way when it comes to rides and theming. There are now a number of really fantastic dark rides on the Gold Coast. I was only referring to Luna Park (Syd & Melb) and their lack of rides that are even remotely special or atmospheric like they were in the old days

It's such a shame that both Luna Park's are now made up of 2nd hand carnival rides. You would think that as the years go by more thought and effort would be put into the attractions but it has gone the other way. The River Caves sounded like they were really special and it is so sad that neither Luna Park has any dark rides of this nature anymore. What is even sadder is the current lack of fantasy artwork and facades at Sydney's Luna Park. Whereas Luna Park in the old days made people feel like they were entering another world, today it just makes you feel like you're entering a harbourside shopping/retail precinct with a few carny rides stuck around the place

Definitely an improvement. The old site was starting to look a little sad and limited

I'll be interested to see whether this new area actually contains rides and what sort of rides they will be. If the aim of Wiggles World is to attract young toddlers and their families, what sort of rides and attractions would be suitable for them? Even rides designed for small children have minimum height limits that must be reached

Why was the Zodiac bad to operate on a busy day? The Beach at Wonderland had the potential to be good but just wasn't. They built it and then did nothing to it. I remember driving past and seeing the queue for the aqua tube was full most days. How unpleasant standing in a queue waiting for an hour to ride a waterslide

I do strongly believe the Ranger, Spider and kids rides could fit into the main park with a bit of creative planning... 1. There is a large area next to the Ferris Wheel which opens up to the boardwalk. It is a void area which only contains a series of steps and an open gateway. Next to this is a small eating area and the Crystal Palace. I have never liked this area as it only became like this in 1995 and before that was always taken up with rides. In its current state I feel it opens up the Midway too much and makes it feel more like Darling Harbour and less like a heritage amusement park. I feel that the Spider would suit this spot very well. They would first need to fill in the steps and lowered section with concrete to bring the level up to the main park. You could then just have a smaller gate accessing the boardwalk. The ride itself could be modified by taking off the surrounding backdrop so that it is is less imposing if you were looking at it from the harbour side. It would be a very similar location and layout to the old 1950's Flying Saucer. 2. The Ranger could possibly be placed on the other side of the Crystal Palace where they sometimes place a temporary children's ride. It is actually quite a large area and is once again under utilised. There are a couple of umbrellas and chairs and tables which could be easily removed for this. The Ranger would be facing inwards to the park and it would be a good idea to place some sort of facade or artwork on the harbour side to cover up the back of the ride and its ugly motors. 3. The kids rides could go just about anywhere as they are relatively small. You could scatter some of them in random places around the park. If they were to be placed together I think the best spot would be the void area on the rooftop next to the Tumble Bug. We all know this spot is crying out for something. I'm sure you would be able to fit all of the kids rides in this area. This just gives an idea of the possibilities. I'm sure there are others I haven't thought of. Some of the rides might be better suited to different locations ie. there could be a way of fitting either the Spider or Ranger next to the Tumble Bug and putting the kids rides next to the Crystal Palace instead

Yeah I also remember reading in Luna Park's original development plans (which I think they had on the old website and various other places) that the area to the north of Coney Island was only to become a 'children's playground'. That's why on the first day I visited the new park I was totally shocked to find the Ranger and Spider plonked out the back. I never liked it from the start and really think Luna should consider moving some of the rides back into the main park. I think we all agree there are definitely areas of the main park that are still fairly empty and sparse and could reasonably easily accomodate some of these rides. In fact I truly believe the Midway in its current state is crying out for more rides to be scattered around. They would need to be fairly creative with positioning but in the long run I think it would suit the park better (and be more in line with the original layout). Even if it means they don't have room for the temporary rides in the holidays, I don't think it will matter too much. It might just mean they will have to get in a new permanent ride or change some of the ride line-up every couple of years. Come on Luna, we all support you on these forums but most of us agree Maloney's Corner is not a great area. However, the rest of the park (including the Tumble Bug) should be allowed to continue to operate without unreasonable restrictions. I sure hope the residents lose that part of the battle or else the park really will be in trouble

Yeah I also remember reading in Luna Park's original development plans (which I think they had on the old website and various other places) that the area to the north of Coney Island was only to become a 'children's playground'. That's why on the first day I visited the new park I was totally shocked to find the Ranger and Spider plonked out the back. I never liked it from the start and really think Luna should consider moving some of the rides back into the main park. I think we all agree there are definitely areas of the main park that are still fairly empty and sparse and could reasonably easily accomodate some of these rides. In fact I truly believe the Midway in its current state is crying out for more rides to be scattered around. They would need to be fairly creative with positioning but in the long run I think it would suit the park better (and be more in line with the original layout). Even if it means they don't have room for the temporary rides in the holidays, I don't think it will matter too much. It might just mean they will have to get in a new permanent ride or change some of the ride line-up every couple of years. Come on Luna, we all support you on this site but most of us agree Maloney's Corner was not the best idea. However, the rest of the park (including the Tumble Bug) should be allowed to continue to operate. I sure hope the residents lose that part of the site or else the park really will be in trouble

Yeah I also remember reading in Luna Park's original development plans (which I think they had on the old website and various other places) that the area to the north of Coney Island was only to become a 'children's playground'. That's why on the first day I visited the new park I was totally shocked to find the Ranger and Spider plonked out the back. I never liked it from the start and really think Luna should consider moving some of the rides back into the main park. I think we all agree there are definitely areas of the main park that are still fairly empty and sparse and could reasonably easy accomodate some of these rides. They would need to be fairly creative but in the long run I think it would suit the park better (and be more in line with the original layout). Even if it means they don't have room for the temporary rides in the holidays, I don't think it will matter too much. It might just mean they will have to get in a new permanent ride or change some of the ride line-up every couple of years. Come on Luna, we all support you on this site but most of us agree Maloney's Corner was not the best idea. However, the rest of the park (including the Tumble Bug) should be allowed to continue to operate. I sure hope the residents lose that part of the site or else the park really will be in trouble

In today's SMH they mentioned 5 rides were subject to the legal action. They said 3 of these rides were permanent and 2 were temporary. I have no idea what 'temporary' rides they are talking about. To the best of my knowledge, the only temp ride at LPS for these school hols is the Dominator. The Ranger, Spider and Tumble Bug are the 3 permanent rides. I can understand the complaints about Spider and Ranger due to their current location. However, the Tumble Bug should not be included as it is located in the main section of the park. The ride sits on part of the site of the old Big Dippers. The residents could have had it a lot worse if the original wooden Big Dipper had not been demolished. The Tumble Bug should definitely be left out of this

They will never give up. Some people are like that. It is really disgraceful. The only thing I would agree with is that large rides like the Ranger in Maloney's Corner seem out of place and this area was never a part of the park in the old days. But the problem is I would imagine the residents would continue to complain about the rest of the park even if Maloney's got shut down. As I said, they never give up

As I have said before in previous posts, I think a Perilous Plunge would be a perfect fit for Dreamworld's Ocean Parade. I was hoping this would be the new addition we'd see instead of the Claw. A large water ride would have suited the area a lot better than a gyro swing themed as an animal's claw. And sorry Dreamworld fans but I am still not convinced by that particular theming choice. I always wondered what Creature Cruise was like. I remember seeing it advertised on TV and the next time I visited the park the whole ride was cemented over. Apparantley it was created 'in-house' by Dreamworld's staff and was a total failure. For anyone that got a chance to ride it - can you please give us some details

I didn't realise they were on TV now... that would certainly help their popularity. But what on earth is the 'Green Lantern' and 'Martian Manhunter'? Such crappy names. Good point about the Marvel/Universal thing. I assumed that would probably be the case