GoGoBoy

There is only one new attraction that I can think of. All the others are years old. These shows are so pathetic when it comes to parks

Well on the website it mentions that scary characters will be roaming around throughout the park and that there will be a number of 'haunted houses' or something. I assume it won't be too huge this year but if it does well then they may pick it up a notch next year which would be good. That's why I'm hoping they get good results from it this year. They seem to be doing a good job of promoting it this week but I do feel they've left it a bit late to get the word around

I would like to congratulate Sydney's Luna Park for being the only theme park in Oz (that I know of) to hold any kind of Halloween event. If you go to Luna Park's great website you can read info about the event which is happening this Sunday. Sounds like a fun day and I would encourage any locals to get down there and support it. I have always loved Halloween and think it is such a shame that Australia does not make more of it. The parks in the States do some amazing things at this time of year - why don't our major parks do something similar?

Haha yeah I'm not sure "Interesting Facts" is the best term for that. The ride has definitely had a sordid past from what I hear but apparantley the 'serious accident' didn't involve a fatality thankfully. Unless there was more than one serious accident. It was a ride failure and involved one of the carriages half snapping off and being dragged along and hitting stuff with two petrified school kids inside. Something along those lines. Regardless of its history, yes, the ride does look good for an Enterprise. You can't see the entry theming in that pic but it also looks good. Lots of big ancient god type statues and related things

Please do not start your posts with stupid phrases like "bull crap". If you don't agree with a comment I make then say so and point out your argument. Anything else is abrupt and childish. In 1995 Luna Park spent a lot more money on trying to present their rides in an attractive way than they did this year. Think about the massive psychadelic bug which used to stand out the front of the Tumble Bug. Or the position of the Spider with the giant 3D robotic spider standing guard over the top. Or the entire Wild Mouse slab themed as a big block of swiss cheese complete with holes and an animatronic mouse popping up and down out the front. Or the snow capped mountain connected to the Big Dipper. Or the kids rides all carefully placed with colourful themed objects scattered all around. By the way I should point out that I am not suggesting that the 1995 attempt at attraction presentation was anything particularly special, just that it was better than the attempt they made this year ie. very little

Please do not start your posts with stupid phrases like "bull crap". If you don't agree with a comment I make then say so and point out your argument. Anything else is abrupt and childish. In 1995 Luna Park spent a lot more money on trying to present their rides in an attractive way than they did this year. Think about the massive psychadelic bug which used to stand out the front of the Tumble Bug. Or the position of the Spider with the giant 3D robotic spider standing guard over the top. Or the entire Wild Mouse slab themed as a big block of swiss cheese complete with holes and an animatronic mouse popping up and down out the front. Or the snow capped mountain connected to the Big Dipper. Or the kids rides all carefully placed with colourful themed objects scattered all around

That's right. Luna Park Sydney made a reasonably good attempt at theming their carnival rides in 1995, certainly better than this years effort. One thing to remember is that Luna Park historically (although classified as a 'fun park') has always had an emphasis on artwork and fantasy architecture. This is why in its glory days even its most basic rides had extravagant themed facades and entry ways. Luna Park Melbourne (although lacking in many ways) has made an okay attempt at theming some of their carnie rides. Even the op booths are themed. Another example is Dreamworld - at least two of their rides could be classified as carnie (Reef Diver and Vortex) and they have some great theming and signage. The following links show some good overseas attempts to theme a classic carnival ride, the Enterprise... http://www.coasterforce.com/uk/thorpepark/zodiac.php http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/rides/xsector...nterprise03.jpg

I wouldn't want to see them take up precious space with a big bowling alley. I can't see it happening anyway as a bowling alley is a stand alone attraction. People won't want to go to Dreamworld and waste a few hours in a bowling alley. The only way it could work would be to give the bowling alley a separate entrance/admission. It's not going to happen. So do bowling alleys actually make money these days?

Well if that's the case why do parks bother to theme rides at all? Why do they bother creating attractive signage? What you're saying is that no one cares how the rides are presented. Why doesn't every park just look like the Easter Show then? It would be much cheaper from the parks point of view. I'm not saying it's just about whether the ride is a road model or not - it's about the presentation as a whole. If Luna Park made a real effort to present their rides well then I wouldn't care as much about them being portable. But when you stick a trailer mounted demountable ride on a bit of asphalt at a permanent amusement park (and don't give it any theming or signage whatsoever) - how can you say that's acceptable to everyone? You'll also find that most visitors to Luna Park think the front part of the park looks good while Maloney's Corner looks a bit cheap and nasty. Once again it comes down to presentation. You said that everyone here has high expectations of Aussie parks that can't be met. I completely disagree. There are a number of parks in Australia who already take great pride in the quality of their attractions and spend a lot of money on making them look good

I think everyone here is glad to see Luna Park open again so please don't suggest otherwise. Who gives a crap whether a ride is permanent or travelling you ask? Well actually I do... and so do a lot of people who pay money to visit theme/amusement parks. For me a ride experience is not just about how much force or how fast it is but the entire package including presentation and theming. When I am visiting a permanent amusement park I like to go on well presented permanent rides. It detracts from the experience for me when the ride has no theming, no decent signage, crappy demountable metal platforms and blocks of wood or wheels holding it up. If you can't see the difference then I would recommend getting your eyes looked at

I do agree that Wittingslow made a number of modifications but I still say the ride was always designed to be a road model. The platforms may have been changed slightly but there are still a lot of similarities - the type of railings are identical. There are obviously some parts that were retained and others which were modified. One thing that would help the ride now in terms of presentation would be putting the giant 3D Spider back which used to stand over the ride. I'll never know why they got rid of this after it was created in 1995. It was the only thing that helped the ride look a little more permanent. It definitely needs some kind of professional facade/entry signage. I'd then dig a big hole for it and put the platform base and mechanics in the ground to reduce some of its elevation. I'd then reseal the surface of the platform with actual concrete or asphalt. The metal turnable would then sit on top of this

Huss you are saying that when Wittingslow purchased Breakdance off Expo they then converted it into a portable model. I am suggesting that it was a portable model to begin with - as with a lot of the rides at Expo. I have come to this conclusion because in the pic you supplied, the Breakdance has the raised/sloped platform. Regardless of the version of Breakdance, it is my understanding that the true park models have a relatively flat platform with the turntable and mechanics built into the ground. If the Breakdance at expo was a park model, it would not have had the raised/sloped platform. Only the road models have this style of platform. This is confirmed on the Huss website where it says "For The Road Model: An Sloped Platform Which Invites Passengers To Jump Aboard". Obviously there are a couple of permanent parks (Luna Park is one of them) who have obtained a road model Breakdance, most probably because they have bought them 2nd hand for a good price off the travelling ciruits. You wouldn't find many of the major parks doing this. Huss - do you have any more pics of the flat rides from expo?

Huss you are saying that when Wittingslow purchased Breakdance off Expo they then converted it into a portable model. I am suggesting that it was already a portable model - as with a lot of the rides at Expo. I have come to this conclusion because in the pic you supplied, the Breakdance has the raised/sloped platform. Regardless of the version of Breakdance, it is my understanding that the true park models have a relatively flat platform with the turntable and mechanics built into the ground. Only the road models have the raised/sloped platform. This is confirmed on the Huss website where it says "For The Road Model: An Sloped Platform Which Invites Passengers To Jump Aboard"

No worries Mrmoon. Welcome to the forums by the way, think I forgot to mention that. Good to have another 'industry insider' here. I found some pics I want you guys to take a look at. They are park versions of the various rides at LPS (or at least very similar rides). One thing I will say is that there doesn't seem to be a major difference between park and road UFO/Enterprise models. Whereas with most other rides there is a significant difference between the two makes. I think the main difference with the UFO is that a park version should have a solid concrete platform with the ride essentially built into the ground. http://www.twoswords.co.uk/images/tpguide/zodiac4.JPG - shows the concrete platform of a park enterprise. This is what LPS's UFO would have if it was a true park model http://www.towersdiscovered.co.uk/100_1389.JPG - a pic of Alton Tower's permanent Enterprise. You can see how the platform and mechanics are actually built into the ground - as with any proper park flat ride http://www.altontowerspark.info/attraction...namo/img02.html - a pic of Alton Tower's park model Breakdance (Luna Park's Spider). You can see how the park version does not have the tilted platform and again the turntable and mechanics are built into the concrete ground These pics show how much better park models look rather than all of the demountable action going on over at Sydney's Luna Park. There are ways to disguise this (as they did sort of try with UFO) but overall they have not made much of an attempt this year

No worries Mrmoon. Welcome to the forums by the way, think I forgot to mention that. Good to have another 'industry insider' here. I found some pics I want you guys to take a look at. They are park versions of the various rides at LPS (or at least very similar rides). One thing I will say is that there doesn't seem to be a major difference between park and road UFO/Enterprise models. Whereas with most other rides there is a significant difference between the two makes. I think the main difference with the UFO is that a park version should have a solid concrete platform with the ride essentially built into the ground. http://www.twoswords.co.uk/images/tpguide/zodiac4.JPG - shows the concrete platform of a park enterprise. This is what LPS's UFO would have if it was a true park model http://www.towersdiscovered.co.uk/100_1389.JPG - a pic of Alton Tower's permanent Enterprise. You can see how the platform and mechanics are actually built into the ground - as with any proper park flat ride http://www.altontowerspark.info/attraction...namo/img02.html - a pic of Alton Tower's park model Breakdance (Luna Park's Spider). You can see how the park version does not have the tilted platform and again the turntable and mechanics are built into the concrete ground These pics show how much better park models look rather than all of the demountable action going on over at Sydney's Luna Park. There are ways to disguise this (as they did sort of tried with UFO) but overall they have not made much of an attempt this year

Great picture Huss. Do you have anymore from expo? Is that the same Breakdance that is now at Luna Park (with lots of changes since then obviously). I am pretty sure that particular Breakdance is a road model. With the park models the platforms are flat and the turntable is actually built into the concrete. Therefore all of the mechanics and hydraulics are actually underground. The trailer models have that raised sloped platform as in the picture with the turntables on top. Mrmoon - I agree that the UFO is one of the best presented rides. The reason for this is that when they placed it in 1995 they made it fit in with the existing buildings and infrastructure well. That is why it is one of the more permanent 'looking' rides. You can see where they also welded sections of the steel platform together to make it more solid - even though it was probably once demountable. However if it was a true park model you probably wouldn't even see the motors when the ride lifts up as they would be well and truly concealed in the ground (and not above ground as they are now). In addition to this, the actual platform would more than likely be made of solid concrete. I have seen pictures on the net of park model Breakdancers and Enterprises which I will try and find to give an example

Great picture Huss. Do you have anymore from expo? Is that the same Breakdance that is now at Luna Park (with lots of changes since then obviously). I am pretty sure that particular Breakdance is a road model. With the park models the platforms are flat and the turntable is actually built into the concrete. Therefore all of the mechanics and hydraulics are actually underground. The trailer models have that raised sloped platform as in the picture with the turntables on top. Mrmoon - I agree that the UFO is one of the best presented rides. The reason for this is that when they placed it in 1995 they made it fit in with the existing buildings and infrastructure well. That is why it is one of the more permanent 'looking' rides. You can see where they also welded sections of the steel platform together to make it more solid - even though it was probably once demountable. However if it was a true park model you probably wouldn't even see the motors when the ride lifts up as they would be well and truly concealed in the ground (and not above ground as they are now). In addition to this, the actual platform would more than likely be made of solid concrete. I have seen pictures on the net of park model Breakdancers and Enterprises which I will try and find to give an example

Ok so you are at least admitting that it was once a road model. I realise the ride is no longer being transported around but that doesn't change the fact that it was originally designed to be portable. The majority of the rides came from Wittingslow's travelling circuit. Since 1995 they have been permanently based at LPS but they were never built for that purpose. They were built to travel. What kind of modifications were made to it? Like most of Luna Park's rides I'm pretty sure the thing still isn't bolted to the ground. If it were a park model it would have been designed to be properly connected to the ground, usually with the hydraulics and engine housed in some kind of concrete pit or structure

Ok so you are at least admitting that it was once a road model. I realise the ride is no longer being transported around but that doesn't change the fact that it was originally designed to be portable. The majority of the rides came from Wittingslow's travelling circuit. They are all now permanently based at LPS but they were never built for that purpose. They were built to travel. What kind of modifications were made to it? Like most of Luna Park's rides I'm pretty sure the thing still isn't bolted to the ground. If it were a park model it would have been designed to be properly connected to the ground, usually with the hydraulics and engine housed in some kind of concrete pit or structure

Exactly - and if the UFO came from Wittingslow (a travelling company) it is unlikely that it is a park model. I'm sure it is a portable model along with almost every other ride at LPS. Don't let its 10 year position on the same rooftop fool you... just because it doesn't travel anymore doesn't mean it didn't once

If everything goes according to plan I'm sure you can rest assured that Luna Park will end up getting the Hard Rock and Mega Drop. But don't get too excited Bruiser - they'll only be there for the school holidays before being shipped away again

I agree. People need to stop coming up with this crazy idea of putting rides on top of Luna Park's buildings - especially the heritage listed ones. The only roofs that can handle rides are the ones that have been specifically designed for them. On top of this, Coney Island has a sloped roof which goes to a point in the middle (as most roofs do). I'm still not sure about UFO being a park model. What makes you think it is Mrmoon? It looks pretty portable to me... even the platform. I'd like to know the difference between a park ufo and a portable one - has anyone got any pictures of the Paramount Canadas Wonderland version? By the way - Luna Park's Ranger is probably THE most portable looking 'permanent' ride I have ever seen in an amusement park. You could pack that thing up and drive it away in a flash. You can even see it's trailer

I don't think the ufo is a park model. Hardly any of Luna Park's rides are park models. I'm pretty sure the ufo came from the Brisbane expo along with the Ranger and all of the rides in that area were portable/trailer mounted

Oh god. One crappy pirate ship is enough. Too much even

The original Batman movie was fantastic in every respect. The rest were crap. Do you suggest they remove the Batman simulator to accomodate this new Batman attraction?