Gazza

Movie World, because its the only one with good coasters and good theming. But Disneys Animal Kingdom can be done in as little as a couple of hours too, but that place is better than most full day parks.

In which case you might as well pay the $20 extra, and ride Green Lantern when it opens, too.

I wonder if at marine parks they punch dolphins in the face?

I wonder who actually figured out that punching a tiger in the face works? Its up there with the guy who discovered cows milk was drinkable.

As much of a theme park I am, I don't see it as an appropriate use of public funds to be building theme parks, apart from say contributing to infrastructure upgrades around a park ( which a private company is funding)

See, I think the problem is people can have 3D on moblie phones/handheld consoles, and in their loungeroom, And of course at cineplexes too, so a theme park just doesn't hold a unique advantage anymore, apart from say 4D effects in the theatre. So why spend more on a film then you need to? By all means, if a park has a pre existing cinema, keep it ticking over... But it's a waste to run expensive films like Shrek these days.... In 2005 it made sense, but not in 2011.

Hahaha. Well, I'm guessing the hapless journalist that wrote that article is gonna have a ton of angry emails from teenage theme park nerds in her inbox tommorow morning.

Ugh, you mean they'll call Sydney Aquarium, 'Sea Life Sydney' and then use their crappy logo, going from this. To this. Talk about cheapening the brand.

MW have been releasing puzzle pieces of the coasters promotional image...Here's one of the car, showing the Kvasten / Blue Fire style lap bars. The nerd in me likes the fact the handle on the harness is a U shaped one out the front. This is the way they are on HP and the Forbidden Journey, and that is actually the most comfortable way to have your hands, and it naturally keeps your elbows away from your neighbours. I think the harness on this is better than the ones on Buzzsaw. Literally, Maurer Sohne ones come up to just under pec/boob level, so they are a bit restrictive. With these, it seems more like a regular lap bar, so much more freedom. Here is the full puzzle put together: And a super duper full res one (Because High Res is always useful ) http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/101/ellocomw.jpg/

We've had this discussion though Randy, the show stage is not practical for an indoor coaster/ride/whatever because it's not flat, and the building isn't that big inside.

Haha, love that quote.

Well, those track pieces do have that real 'banana curve' to them...Was it the response you wanted?

Hey I have an idea!!!

The ones in the rear of the photo already have one...

Or an IOA coaster.... They don't have theming beyond the queue Getting back to the topic, bear in mind the coaster bits of Superman and Lethal don't have theming either anyway but that doesn't make them "Six flags coasters". I'd define six flags coasters as ones having theming that is really only logos and random crap related to the character, arranged in a meaningless manner... SF Great Adventures version of the ride would be a prime example, as would be the Superman coaster going in at SF Discovery Kingdom. .... Most thrill coasters don't have theming on the main bit, except for a rare handful like Black Mamba, Rock n rollercoaster etc.

It does, the camera sits in the load station, atop the control booth.

^Funny you should post that...On Spiderman, we'll exclude the 3D screens and the ride system, since they are what make the ride.. But the actual "Built" sets on Spiderman are incredibly basic when you really pay attention (I did so on my most recent visit, had more time on my hands so did Spiderman a good 7 or so times)...I mean in the Ozcorp warehouse scene there are in fact simple 'cardboard cutout' bits of theming in front of the main screen. Hard to spot, but it's there.And many of the city building façades are 2d. Thinking back to the actual 'real' effects on Spiderman, we can draw some pretty close comparisons with Bermuda. -Bermuda had its fire, spiderman has its fireball. -Bermuda had many sections of dense fog. Spiderman has the foggy sewer, and the cloud of green smoke when you get hit by the anti gravity cannon. -Bermuda had collapsing columns, Spiderman had the collapsing bridge. I'm struggling to think of much else noteworth in the 'real' sections of Spiderman. Haha, I guess the spidey signal gobo was pretty cool. So I guess the actual scenery on Spiderman and Bermuda are probably on par when you think about it. Though i must say, despite having a couple of flaws, HP and the Forbidden Journey raises the bar for everyone now though

What's that supposed to mean? Versus Or how about versus Or heck even from today: Versus Need I give any more examples? Ride type has nothing to do with how well you can theme it.

Time for another addition to this. With the announcement of Green Lantern at Movie World I thought I'd give my thoughts on another Green Lantern, the one at Six Flags Magic Mountain. This was a ridiculously short visit...2 hours. Basically, I was on the way up to Santa Barbra, and had other commitments. I didn't even get to friggen ride Tatsu But it's OK, I've been before and will undoubtedly return anway. On the plus side, I finally got to ride Ninja, missed it on every visit to date due to it being closed. But before we get into Green Lantern, here's a pic that will make Dreamworld visitors weep: That's how high Superman: Escape from Krypton, Launches. Every time. I didn't get to ride though, owing to the time constraints. Would've been nice to go that high, but at the same time, I can say I've had 50-60% of that experience at DW But anyway, Green Lantern: First Flight. The ride kicks major arse. If you want something that really tests the limits of intensity, this is for you. Strongest G's of everything I've ridden, and for the length of ride its perfect. Its not the longest ride out there, but it is relentless the whole way through. I doesn't make your stomach queasy, but...well, watch this POV (not mine) he reactions you can hear from the guy are literally what I was like on the ride. You know how when you go through a loop or at the bottom of a drop on a coaster the Gs are through your bottom? Well here, you can be headfirst or face down experiencing this. And you constantly alternate between postive and negative. It's just crazy. The ride is super effective at emptying pockets: http://www.parkz.com.au/photo/US/Valencia/Six_Flags_Magic_Mountain/1448-Green_Lantern/1,7,5194-Green_Lantern_lost_items.html Whilst queuing, somebody's phone was flung from the ride on the final hump. And it wasnt a case of it just dropping out of the ride, it was like when somebody tosses a tennis ball to a dog. Thankfully guests aren't allowed in the area behind this element! On my ride I waited a bit over an hour. I got an unbalanced run, since I was by myself on my side, and two heavier guys on the other. When the op came round and stapled my harness a bit further I knew I was in for trouble. The ride itself was basically a bit of a blur, it was difficult to actually keep track of what point of the ride you were at, but I got about 4 flips total through the course, plus a bonus one when we were back in the loading dock (it just kind of decided to) The leveling device is basically a bar that presses down. There is an inverted triangular frame on the axles on each side which hold the seats. The two outer points of the triangle have small wheels on them, so When the bar presses down, this forces the hypotenuse of the triangle to be level too and the car can then move foward to the unload. Well, its supposed to do that. But when the car is particularly unbalanced, and you are sideways, all it ends up doing is catching one of the wheels on only one point of the triangle, and then the thing can be forced to spin the wrong way and actually partially invert again instead of leveling. The ride computer obviously picks up this is happening , and the leveling device immediately retracts, and then tries again. It Repeated this process about 4 times until it finally caught the right way and we could get off. I'm not sure if they are actually supposed to let cars go out unbalanced like this (Judging by reports from other versions)...probably because of this issue. But being SFMM, the staff probably are a bit blasé about it. Was it better than X? Yeah bugger it, I liked it more though X still has its wonderful first drop. Also, check out our pics of Road Runner Express. It's like a long lost younger cousin of WBMWs version.

Theres is actually a saw protruding through the roof of the station (Same as the smaller one you can see outside on the roof, but separate), but its static, and wont ever move by the looks of it, because there's a sleeve around the slot clearly made of 'theming foam'. It wouldn't be hard to give guests the backstory, even if it was something like a town notice board with old style newspaper clippings explaining the leadup, much in the same vein as the notice board by The Claw, and what that does for the ride.

Agreed. Not trying to be a smartarse or clutch at straws or anything but: http://www.ushsho.com/detailedsteelrollercoasterpollresults2010.htm 17 Superman Escape Warner Bros. Movie AU 8 226 213 7 6 0.9558 111,Abismo Parque de Atraccio ES, 42, 336, 212 107 17 0.6563 172 X Coaster Magic Springs AR 6 178 96 67 15 0.5815 226,Sky Wheel Skyline Park DE, 26, 327, 105 207 15 0.3440 Buzzsaw, It's a fun ride and all, but I mean I still think GD is better too Q4U is available, on the sketch I did, it is directly right of the main entrance, and just feeds a short distance straight to the load platform. PWDs go in that way too. Nobody used it today, but geez, when people do

I reckon the animation looks like it was done by Keith McVeen. http://www.3dvip.com/About/About.htm He has done a lot of work in the past for places like Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Paramounts and Holiday World. Would be nice if MW released a full POV and fly by vid...Would be able to tell if it was his work or not.

There's a section of bullpen inside a timber building, but you wrap up and back past some theming in the latter part, quite narrow though. There's no reference to the Jack Darke backstory seen here http://www.dreamworld.com.au/Rides/Thrill-Rides/BuzzSaw/Backstory.aspx Basically, you wander through and there's the odd "Stay out/ get out now" type graffiti: In the main bullpen section, along one wall, theyve put occasional breaks in the timber slatting, and filled the gap behind with flatscreens, which normally display a static image of timber slats, but these occasionally animate with fire. I guess its representing the attempted arson on the Sawmill. The shiny bits on the left are the screens. There's cages of theming with old style "Gold Rush Town Police Crime Scene, do not touch". (Ta Zen) The actual saw scene has no blood and guts though, but a lot of real sawdust scattered on the floor. Every now and then you hear loud buzzsaw and rattling chain sounds, and a ghostly "Get out now" voice. Basically, its quite similar to WWF, just darker light levels and paint. So I guess you'd get the impression that it was haunted, but the reasoning for it being a "crime scene" etc would probably be lost on many guests, unless they had read the back story on the website. By the way, the main goldrush sign is back, but it now has a large 2 man tree saw and circular saw attached to the bottom, and has had "Town of" added at the top. So you are in the "Town of Goldrush".

I didn't think it was at all. To me, it was as I expected, you can see what it does, if you've been on a few coasters, you know what these things feel like...Nothing more, nothing less. Was OK, basically, a useful addition to the park. Perhaps the funniest bit is seeing a trainload whizzing through at high speed. The thing with the harnesses is they come halfway up your chest essentially, and you get stapled a bit, so I never felt particularly free. I got 2 rides, back right, and 2nd row left. Back is the pick because on the reverse trip you go all the way through the twist and dive and back again, so 4 inversions in the cycle. And just on that, nah, no need for a 2nd lap IMO...By the end you're sort of "Yeah, we get it". The theming was good by DWs standards, whist still retaining that feeling of "weirdness" in excecution.