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Mark, just a suggestion for a possible (temporary) solution... A couple of tubs of crocs or thongs of various sizes that people could borrow for the walk up, then drop in a return tub at the top would solve the problem. They would just need to be periodically shuttled back down the hill.

Have a look at Lady Elliot Island as an alternative to flying all the way to Cairns. It is one of the best reef snorkeling spots in the world. It is home to massive Manta Ray & Turtle populations. If you really want a wildlife experience, it can be a bit expensive as you have to fly, but it is definitely worth it. ladyelliot.com.au

Exactly what I was trying to ascertain. Some of the best spots to see the reef are accessible from places like Bundaberg or 1770 (lady Musgrave), or even Hervey Bay or the Gold Coast (Lady Elliot). If it's the Whitsunday's that are the main attraction then flights from Brisbane would save a couple of (long) days of driving. It really depends on what they want to see.

Hi Canadian Harmony, I work for a regional tourism organization (a not-for-profit-organization) here in Queensland, and would be happy to offer some tips and suggestions. You've obviously done a fair bit of research already, but I might be able to offer some help with some suggested stops / must do's etc. The biggest thing tourists get wrong on their Australian holiday is underestimating the drive times between points of interest. Don't try to cram too much in or you'll spend the whole time driving. I won't keep prattling on here, but if you want to pm me what type of things you're particularly wanting to see/experience I'll try to advise (I have 2 boys and have extensively travelled and dived the country). -Dan

Don't most chairlifts have more people going up than coming down? The one at Jamberoo and every chairlift at every ski resort in the world come to mind. What is different about AWs chairlift that it can't operate in this fashion?

That's obvious. "Two trains enter. One Train leaves." "Two trains enter. One train leaves." I guess what I'm trying to say is it will operate in exactly the same manner as Green Lantern.

^ It does say that it will be used for a maze or precinct for the 2016 Fright Nights. A great competition for budding horror filmmakers, I hope they get a good response.

^ The sarcam of many of the posters here is starting to wear off on you.

^^ Would still load faster than Cyclone.

Aussie World have announced a new evening event to be held on the 25th of July, InvaSCIon. The science fiction and pop culture themed event will run from 6 - 10pm and cost $25.00. From the website:

^ It still is a good day out though. Your eldest would miss out on 5 rides, being the Wildmouse, Redback, Ballroom Blitz, Octopus & Dark Rebel. And the 3 year old would miss out on even more, but in fairness there are probably still more things for them to do than at say Sea World (excluding the animal exhibits of course, although hopefully that will change with their new kid's area) or Movie World.

I took the family on the last Friday of the recent holidays and I would definitely say the park was busy. The car park was overflowing and the park had people everywhere. Despite this queues were minimal or a walk on for most attractions. Every ride had it's own operator, with the exception of the Wild Mouse and the Illusionarium, which both had two. Our longest wait for the day was for the Illusionarium, for which we waited close to 40 minutes. We had gotten close to the front of the queue when a technical malfunction caused about a 10 minute delay. A door wouldn't open causing a group to get stuck in the attraction for a short while, but a maintenance guy was on the scene very quickly and they resumed sending groups through. The attraction is well done, but as has been mentioned by others is rather low in capacity. Having said that I don't imagine it will be too much of an issue once the initial hype of it being the newest attraction dies down. The only other waits were about 10 minutes for the Plunge and 5 or so for the Wild Mouse. Everything else you got onto the next cycle. Another thing I was impressed by was that on arrival we were informed that 2 rides were closed for the day. The octopus is under going maintenance and the Dark Rebel was also closed. However, around 2pm I noticed movement at the Dark Rebel and it opened for the remainder of the day. I thought this was pretty decent considering they could have easily left it closed for the remainder of the day and nobody would've had cause to complain. Overall, the park is looking great with plenty of shaded areas and seating. The staff were all friendly and helpful. Special mention goes to the guy operating the 'Giggle Go Round,' a kids ride with cars and planes which have the most annoying horns in them. I was only standing by the ride while the kids had one turn and the horns were driving me crazy. However despite how irritating they were the operator was great with the kids, smiling, waving to them and blocking his hears in mock horror as the kids honked the horn at him, then high-fiving them when they got off. I didn't get his name, but I tip my hat to him, he definitely gets what working in a theme park is all about. My only gripe with the park is the overly excessive height restrictions on a number of the rides and the subsequent lack of things to go on for kids under 100cm. For example the Plunge requires riders be over 100cm. By comparison Dreamworld requires children be over 1 year old and accompanied to ride their log ride, and Seaworld and Movieworld have a minimum height of 95cm on their flumes. Even the new kiddie coaster requires children be over 100cm. Surely there could be a lower level for accompanied children. For this reason we won't head back to the park until our youngest gets over the 100cm mark, as he is rather fearless and was upset he couldn't go on most things (if it was up to him he would've gone on the Wild Mouse though). The other restrictions seem quite high too. Not sure how they compare to other parks with similar rides, but 130cm for the Wave Swinger seems a bit steep. Overall Aussie World is a great little park which is coming ahead in leaps and bounds. I look forward to seeing what they add next.

There was definitely a monorail in the early nineties. It stopped at the top of the mountain and there was some kind of future themed walk-through. From memory you then got back onto the monorail and taken to a second stop which had a food court, amusements and a sundae parlour. The magician is spot on with the creature in the lagoon, but unfortunately I don't remember exactly what it was either.

^ Awesome memories Liz! The playground and ball pit you recall were inside the castle that now houses the theatre. It used to be open air and you could watch the log flume go around from the inside. From memory it was sort of a courtyard with a multi-level play structure at the back. There were also water slides off the back of the castle for a period.

Does anyone else remember what was around the Demon's queue area and under the track? From memory it was rocks, upto larger boulders and gravel with a few tombstones thrown in for good measure. I remember it being quite effective at the time but must say I didn't get to the park in its last few years so don't know how well it kept. At the very least some sort of circle of stones/gravel where the Druids are 'worshipping' would make it look desolate yet 'sacred' but would be easy to maintain by simply spraying.

For those interested ABC's Lateline had a segement on Lynton V. Harris including plenty of footage of Zombie Evilution and training the scare actors. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-30/scaremaster-lynton-harris/6360262 Edit: Sorry I don't seem to have any luck embedding the video.

^ you forgot gravity. It might also utilize gravity...

GoGoBoy, I agree. I scoffed when it said the words 'Major Waterpark' together with 1.7mil, but if it is indeed everything they portray in the conceptual art, then it looks like a lot of bang for their buck. I hope it's successful and Stage 2 follows sooner rather than later. Coasterdude, I prefer the original badger song, call me old-fashioned, but it's a modern classic. Aaaagh!! Snaaake!! Snaaake!!

Sorry Coasterdude, you are definitely the odd one in the 'bunch' on this one...

^ I typed it on purpose, because I thought you would find it 'appealing'...

The iconic Big Banana at Coff's Harbour is celebrating 50 years this year, and as part of their Golden Jubilee they will be adding a waterpark. From the Coff's Coast Advocate: The full article can be found here.

Apologize for what? You know what they say... "No publicity is bad publicity"

They are two different parks jjuttp, the one you have linked to is in Prospect (near WNW Sydney), the one with the crazy riders, is near Wyong on the Central Coast of NSW.

^^ Will definitely take the kids! What could possibly go wrong there???

^ I concur. Photos taken with the phone held vertically, or in the portrait orientation are perfectly acceptable and in some cases necessary. Would you try to take a photo of the Giant Drop with your phone held horizontally? Probably not. However, videos shot vertically are the devil.