GoGoBoy

I think before Dreamworld gets a crappy looking flying coaster (like Paramount has just done... and made it even worse with unrelated theming), they first need to get a REAL roller coaster. Something simple and something very large. We need a mammoth lift hill. After they install this they can then look at various alternative coaster options such as flyers. This would definitely reduce the need to add 2 trains to Cyclone as it would become more of a filler attraction

I just finished reading an article in today's Herald which mentioned the rather large increase in Dreamworld's attendance and therefore profit. They mainly attributed this to Big Brother (as no new rides were added last financial year). I just hope that attendance increases even more this year with The Claw which will in turn encourage them to add more rides. Otrherwise, they might try to focus more on Big Brother and similar attractions rather than thrill rides

Some of the ideas being thrown around here are a bit questionable. Particularly the one about turning the ToT skull back around and having it as part of Nick Central. I don't think ToT suits a kiddies area. But I think overall you guys have the right idea and that is that Dreamworld needs to focus more on theming. Just about everyone agrees on this point. No one wants a mish mash of attractions scattered everywhere. It's time they made some clear boundaries and really picked the theming up a notch or two. It doesn't look like they are heading in this direction though by plonking 'The Claw' in the middle of Main Street/Ocean Parade

I guess the simple truth is that some employees are just idiots. Even in a safety critical position like theme park operations they let their total and utter laziness get the better of them. Hey, I'm also a lazy person but when it comes down to being responsible for peoples lives I know I'd do the right thing. I'm talking about a small minority of staff here

Apparantley the operator on Cyclone did not check the lap bars. That is unacceptable! It is one thing to have bad capacity but it is another to let safety standards drop. That staff member needs to be fired. I also can't believe they only have 1 staff member on their major roller coaster... even if it is only in off peak

Wonderbus I don't really understand your point. You said "When families go to the Gold Coast they spend more time on the beach then they do anywhere else. The same goes for Sydney". So if it works for the Gold Coast then it should work for Sydney, right? The Gold Coast does have great beaches but families are still able to drag themselves to the theme parks. I will say it again - the only reason theme parks don't do well in Sydney is because none of them have been good enough. None of them have had the kind of carefully controlled finanical investment that the GC parks have received

Exactly. And show everybody that the only reason why theme/amusement parks have failed in Sydney in the past is because they have all been totally CRAP. Build something decent of a real world class standard and watch it thrive

There are many reasons why an umbrella isn't good enough and if you read over this thread again you will see some of them. I will briefly list the reasons again anyway in point form - 1. Not enough protection from the elements for the operators - The rain still gets in, the sun still hits them at different times of the day, the wind still roars in straight off the ocean, boiling hot in summer and freezing cold in winter 2. Rain on electrical control panels - This is an obvious problem which is why they bring out the glad wrap to desperately try and protect the panels 3. Distractions from various sources (mainly the general public trying ask the operators questions) - This means an operator can't focus 100% on the ride A simple umbrella does nothing or very little to alleviate any of the above problems

Great - ruin a perfectly decent (and new!) multi million dollar attraction by sticking a 1970's carnival ride (that's the Enterprise) on the end of it. No thanks

Do you ever go to school Slick? Yesterday was a school day wasn't it? Can I just remind everyone again that this is the Luna Park forum and is a post specifically about LPS ride issues. So no more talk about Wonderland/Dreamworld ride ops who think they are comedians

Do you ever go to school Slick? Yesterday was a school day wasn't it?

Wonderland was crap. Let's not forget that. It could have been cool but it wasn't. Now can we please move back to Luna Park Sydney ride issues...

It was another poor attempt at a theme park story. Everybody loves theme parks so if they covered them well the stories would be very popular but they are never any good. The Tower of Terror they showed was actually from Disney's California Adventure and not Disneyland. Apparantley due to poor attendance, California Adventure has been trying to 'Disney' up its park a bit more. The Tower of Terror is the latest attraction there which will help with this cause even though it is a replica of the same ride from the other Disney parks. Unfortunately most of the on-ride footage throughout the story was obviously taken from promo videos supplied by the parks. Nothing worthwhile at all

At the exit of Luna Park Sydney's Flying Saucer (a rather average 1980's portable UFO ride): "That was the best ride EVER!". I have also heard this same phrase spoken at the exit of most of Luna Park's rides. Some people are easily pleased

It's bad enough for the ride ops that Luna Park Sydney only has umbrellas instead of booths on (most) of its rides... but it's even worse for the poor attendants. I noticed that they don't even have the luxury of an umbrella. I've seen the poor guys either standing in direct sunlight or in pooring rain with nothing but the sky above them. What makes it even worse is LPS's exposed location. If they want to keep their staff happy they should invest a very small amount of money in a few pieces of plywood and create booths, even if very basic, for each ride. I would imagine providing the operators with a chair or stool would also be a nice touch. From what I can remember, staff at Wonderland were allowed to sit down while operating weren't they? When you are working on a ride all day and need to focus 100% for safety reasons, a little comfort goes a long way

Don't you get bored and/or sick after 15 rides on the same ride? Even when I was your age Slick a maximum of 2-3 repeat rides on my favourites was all I could handle... and 3 was definitely rare

So is the park popular? Does it get busy? Considering it is the only theme park in New Zealand I would imagine it would. People tend to flock to an attraction if it's the only one of its kind in the area, seemingly regardless of quality

That last point is very true. I think that has to be one of the ugliest permanent rides I've ever seen. Even the surrounding area looks really plain. I have never liked any of Dreamworld's ads. Especially the 'So many worlds in one' campaign. With Dreamworld mucking up all their themes and sticking rides in odd places it will soon be just one big world anyway. I also don't like the fact that the ad has such emphasis on old attractions like the log ride. It needs to be a bit more balanced. Everyone in the country already knows that Dreamworld has a log ride and the feature it gets eats up heaps of airtime in the commercial. I actually didn't mind the ad for The Claw though. The shredded bus stop at the end is a nice touch. I would say the only footage they could get hold of was of the Mondial version. Hopefully this will change when their own ride is finished

The colours are great. The chairs/restraints look nice and modern too. I still don't understand why the 'control room' building is so large. I have never seen a building that big for a flat ride... especially when you consider the main motor is at the top of the ride

I hope you're joking. Customers who demand stuff like that are disgraceful... especially when it's an obvious mistake

You're right joz... most parents are understanding when told their child can't ride for safety reasons, as they should be. There are a few who take a long time to comprehend the fact and try to argue it and others who go ballistic no matter what. The problem is that even the 9/10 parents who are understanding still take time to have the situation explained to them. They then have to work out what to do with their kid, whether they still want to go on alone and give the child to a relative etc. So no matter what, it is a time consuming situation. When you consider that it happens all the time, it really adds up. The only thing I can think of is to have a blatantly obvious height restriction sign every 2 metres along the queue with an explanation on each sign

That is totally the publics fault and not much can be done about it. It is a common problem. If the stupid morons would just look at the signs out the front (especially when they have a small child) they will see the height restrictions. The problem is that a lot of parents see the height restriction but still line up anyway hoping to get their kid on the ride. Nothing makes me more angry. The fact of the matter is if the height restriction is ignored their child could be seriously injured or killed. I know that sounds dramatic but it is the plain truth

Ok what you need to do is carefully read the first page of this thread. On that page you will see some great points (in particular there is a good detailed post by Richard) as to why the Demon would be a terrible purchase for Dreamworld. Please don't ask us to waste our time and post the reasons again when you can just flip back one page and read them for yourself

I just had a look at a big pic of the Hershey Park Claw. The thing is because they have the inwards facing version it has a different design and truly does look like a claw. Dreamworld's will be the outwards facing version (which I am very pleased and thankful about) which doesn't look like a claw. Although Richard you did say the design has been modified a bit so I guess we will see

Um, when I'm at the shops I prefer to go shopping rather than 'surveying' people. I can imagine the response I'd get too and it would be more like "who are you and why are you asking me this?". I am quite content with my personal opinion that The Claw is not a great name and they could have been slightly more original rather than using the name of a well known travelling carnival ride. I am also happy for you wonderbus and some others to have their own opinion that the name is fine and it won't make a difference. That is what makes the world go round. I would also like to say that I completely agree with joz's and Richard's last posts. I don't want to waste my time by reiterating my support for this new ride because it seems that a few of you don't bother reading the threads properly anyway. Regardless of how much I appreciate the new ride I am not going to stop discussing the negatives as well as the positives (this is why it's called a discussion) so just deal with it