Gazza

Have you booked yet? Is your time fixed due to other commitments? The reason why I ask is because airfares are the main sunk cost, so adding a couple of extra days (with associated hotel and costs to feed and entertain yourself) aren't much in comparison.

Moving a fast food outlet is a $1 million job anywhere, and was redone about 3 years ago when they put in "Prime Burgers" and added the traffic light theming, so it would be a hard case to make A dining area is useful though. People need to sit down to eat though, it's an inherent part of the overall capacity of any theme park (people on paths, people on rides, people in queues, people in shows, people dining etc) As much as it would be fun to cram in a ride there or whatever, anecdotally, it can be hard to find a seat at at busy times in MW (Note the people who plonk down on the fake grass in the main plaza for instance) It does however make sense from a guest flow perspective. A main food outlet out of view in an alley would get less passing trade. I imagine the theming harks back to when MW was really just main street and the branches to Young Einstiens and LTRR. Back then, there were no specific Batman or Superman rides, which is why you have a daily planet, and a gotham building in main street (along with other famous movie buildings like the Bonnie and Clyde bank)

"The Air".....lol. In other news, read the article properly please in future. Thanks.

Walygator is a shithole from all accounts....It has that 2nd hand B&M invert, but then you're gonna be riding OzIris at Asterix right?

I think then you might just do Asterix, Disney Studios and Disneyland. Other parks might not be as accessible, though Futroscope is on a TGV line and has its own station.

Time to get back into this. Pics http://www.parkz.com.au/parks/US/Hershey/Hersheypark/photos/sort/oldest After a congested drive out of DC on Thursday afternoon, which was slow right up to Frederick, and passing through the rusty city of Harrisburg I arrived in Hershey, Pennsylvania, my destination; Hersheypark. The park was closed that day of course, and there was still some light left, so I parked my car and went for a wander around the outside of the park to get some photos….Seeing rides like Skyrush, Lightning Racer, Storm Runner and Great Bear certainly had me pumped up for the next day. There was a Wendy’s opposite one of the corners of the park, so a quick stop for dinner, then I headed back to my car the and to my hotel for the night. The next morning I was one of the first ones into the car park. Again, with some time to spare I walked around the rest of the perimeter and got pics of Fahrenheit and Wildcat. My hopes of a super quiet day were dashed when I spotted the “Physics Day” sign at the front gate. Turned out to be mostly unfounded, with no particularly unbearable queues (Certainly nothing I couldn’t avoid). Ended up doing Great Bear, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit twice each, 3 laps in Lightning Racer and the rest of the coasters once, plus a ton of rides on Skyrush, and a few other rides too. So, when the gates opened I took a right past the stroller rental place, which leads onto a hidden public pathway between Comet and Spring Creek, and jogged straight to Skyrush. This ride is mint. It really is one of the best coasters out there, but be prepared for intensity. I can see where people are coming from about the harnesses…They press on your legs more than the lap bar on Arkham Asylum, but the airtime of the ride makes it harsher.But that said, it didn’t bother me…Dunno, do your squats and your legs should cope lol. The ride is merciless, and it really feels like the train is dragging you along kicking and screaming. Particularly on parts like the Stengel dive and the twisting hill, the train banks and you are pulled down, and flung sideways at the same time. I did my first ride back row, outside seat. The lift hill hauls you to the top, and you are thrown over the top and into the drop. Like new Texas giant, it has one of those super steep drops where you first start off thinking “woah, this is steep”, and then it gets even steeper and survival instincts kick in and your mind shifts to “holy crap!!!!!”, with the train simultaneously dragging you down and pushing you outwards from your seat. Insane. A couple of airtime hills follow….Imagine like superman escape, but stronger. There’s that Stengel dive and twisting hill, and then another small hill, a turn, and the final brakes. There’s an awkward turn that crosses over another coaster, and then you are back at the station. You get some relief from the harnesses, as they are programmed to pop up slightly whilst you are stacked outside the station. Immediately I went around for another lap in the front middle seats, still just as good, though a little less aggressive on the twist/Stengel. Still trying to outrun the crowds I headed across to Fahrenheit. I’m not sure what I was expecting from this one…maybe because Eurofighters have been middle of the road for me, and this looked similar, but again, it was brilliant. Did a front row ride. The 97 degree drop is cool, but not the star feature. The Norwegian loop was odd…on the way up it randomly banks one way, before twisting the other into the actual inversion. The cobra roll was run of the mill, the corkscrews had a nice bit of snap to them, but the coolest bit was this powerful little airtime hill right at the end. Would have re-ridden, but the line had built up a bit. So I pressed on to the back part of the park and mopped up the coasters at that end, starting with the Wild Mouse, because nobody can be bothered queuing for them right? Fairly fun, as always. Following that was Wildcat. Was worried about this one, since people say its so rough and the retrofitted Millennium Flyers still don’t run well on such an old GCI, but honestly didn’t have a problem with it. Pretty good, and I liked how it had a couple of big hills, which you normally don’t see on most GCIs. Laff Trakk represented the first missed coaster of the trip. I was a couple of weeks too early unfortunately. I wasn’t too stressed since I’ve been on a couple of the standard layout Maurer spinning coasters before, but still, riding in the dark would have been fun. Moving on, I did both sides of Lightning Racer. Didn’t think one was better than the other, but the ride overall is fantastic, and one of the best GCIs out there (Up there with Gold Striker), the racing/duelling aspect works really well, with some sections where you are side by side, others where you come at each other head on, and a really cool final sequence where the tracks keep diving over and under each other in a braid. The flashing light that denotes the winning train as you arrive back in the station is a nice touch. I had an early lunch at the Decades burger place near the blocked entrance to the boardwalk. Your burger just comes with a piece of chicken (in my case) and cheese on a roll, and there is a salad bar where you add your pickles, lettuce, onion, tomato, sauces etc (Yes, I’ve learned to really enjoy pickles on burgers these days, surprised so many adults would find the taste of them so offensive :S, they actually aren’t) There’s a ferris wheel down there too. No single riders, but nothing asking someone else in the queue “can I go with you” in a thick Australian accent can’t fix. Got pics of the Boardwalk area. I think it looked decent as far as water parks go, especially the water play structure, but the slide complex looked very run of the mill, and there were only 6 slides total. They should stuff in a few more types in my opinion. With that end of the park done I headed around to Storm Runner, and I think I waited 30 mins because the pricks only had one train on. This was really good, but perhaps my Australian bias showing through, but Superman Escape is still the best accelerator in my opinion. I could sum it up like this…Superman has the better launch, Storm Runner has a better top hat (faster, and more air), and Superman has better airtime (On this, during the course there’s half a moment as you come up into the inline twist). The ride is over very quickly too, because there’s not really any turns etc filling in the gaps between the elements. So you launch, over a top hat, through an immelmann, down a big drop, up an incline, a bit of air, through a barrel roll, through a second half barrel roll that drops halfway through (Flying snake dive), then an incline where the track banks from side to side, and then it’s done. A good rush, and a great ride, but perhaps it didn’t feel as a complete experience to me as Superman does. Next to Storm Runner is Sidewinder, a Vekoma Boomerang, normally find these a bit of a chore, not so much because they are rough, but because I find doing 6 tight inversions in such quick succession a bit nauseating for some reason. But my mood brightened a bit when I saw it was running the newer Vekoma trains with the nice soft vest restraints like on Battlestar Galactica. The ride ran very smoothly, which improved things a fair bit, though it still is a little bit of a sickly ride. Whilst in the area I did a lap on the Dry Gulch Railroad, hoping to get some shots of rides from different angles, but it is a little bit pointless in that regard, since it really just goes around Storm Runner, and doesn’t really offer any unique clear views. Mucking around some more, I did a lap on Cocoa Cruiser since there was no line.... a Zamperla kiddy coaster. Using up even more time, I went on the monorail, which was sponsored by some health insurance mob which I found funny because they spieled about it and I was just thinking "Bitch, please....Medicare". This was worth a ride, and you get some good shots of a lot of the rides. The next coaster I did was Trailblazer. Arrow mine trains are dull at the best of times (Well, except for ones like Adventure Express), but this was really quite crap, as in, a roller skater is more thrilling. Just did barely anything, and picked up next to no speed. Whilst queuing I got to see them add an extra train. A couple of maintenance guys just wander into the ride envelope, the transfer track moves, and they use muscle power to push it off the track towards the lift hill. Heading back up the hill to the top part of the park I did Reeses Extreme Cup challenge. The guns worked well, but I felt the story line was a bit hokey and unfocused. You went through scenes of spinning targets with cut outs playing various extreme sports, so it kind of felt like being in a deodorant commercial, or a “summer” Coca Cola ad. There were a pair of animatronic sports announcers throughout the ride too, and Im not sure if they were trying to make them look silly, 80s and fake on purpose as part of the joke. The ride track was a bit like a dragon wagon powered coaster, but it ran at the same speed throughout, and the cars could spin, and at the end there was even a full on bunny hop you just steadily cruised over. Bit of a bleh ride. I did another bit of timewasting on Skyview, which is a chairlift that goes to a dead end and comes back. It’s really quite short, and just cuts through the middle of Great Bear and over a creek. Again, if you are after some unique views, it’s probably not worth it. SuperdooperLooper was next, and it was pretty fun, I liked it more than Revolution actually. Ran quite well, had lap bars, and the ride crews were fast. Fairly simple ride, a drop, couple of turns, loop, and then a few more turns and hills till you got to the end. Straightfoward and effective. I then hit up Comet, the parks old wooden coaster. I finally understood what the term buzz bar meant. I knew it meant a fixed position lap bar, but when they lock they make a buzz sound. As for the ride, decent, middle of the road, and unoffensive sums it up. I headed up the hill to the Kissing Tower, and got some nice shots of the park. The kiss chocolate shaped windows (Sort of a raindrop shape) work quite well because they bulge out, allowing you to point the camera any way you want, and because they bulge out, people don’t smear their hands on it. I saw a vending machine selling flavoured milk. America just redeemed itself…. and the chocolate flavour was actually palatable, and not shitty and bitter and waxy like actual Hersheys chocolate is. The last coaster I had to ride was Great Bear, and it had a bit of a queue. The sign telling single riders to pair up and sit in the middle seats to reduce wait times for everyone else is a bit galling. No, how about instead of telling people to sit in the crappy seats you put in a single rider line, and speed things up that way. Anyway, shortly after I joined the queue the ride broke down, and guests were being released from their seats on the first brake run. But this was the only one to go for me, so I just waited, and let others leave the queue, which put me closer and closer to the front, until I was in the front row queue with basically no effort. Spent the time watching the boats come down on the drop on Coal Cracker (And decided I needed to add that one to the “to do” list for reasons I’ll get to) Soon enough, maintenance were cycling trains, and I was on. It’s really quite good, and interacts with the other rides and terrain well. From the first drop you do a helix high in the air, before the main drop, then it’s a loop, immelmann, and zero g roll (all fairly standard B&M stuff and well excecuted), then the remainder of the ride is a few sweeping turns along a creek, with a corkscrew along the way. I think a lot of people whinge how the ride “dies” after the last corkscrew with the turns to the brake run, but really, there are other coasters that faff around far worse during the ride (Eg the mid section on Talon). At least on this you get some nice visuals of the other rides doing their thing under you, which I think is half the fun of hanging below the track. So, back to Coal Cracker....Normally flumes are samey samey, but this one had a little hump at the bottom of the main drop, and got a bit of air like a nautic jet, so I had to ride. It was pretty cool, and not too wet. With everything done I used the remaining time till 8pm to get re-rides out, including several laps on Skyrush, another go on Storm Runner and Lightning Racer and Great Bear, and a final ride to end the day on Fahrenheit. Tried sprinting to get a 3rd go on Storm Runner, but missed by about 2 minutes. Whilst I was up near Lightning Racer again I did the Whip, which is like being on a sofa attached to a pulley, that whips around the ends of the pulley. Felt a bit neutered though. Overall thoughts on the place. Great coaster line up for starters, and up there with the likes of CP and SFMM IMO….3 good Intamins, a decent B&M, and a really fun racing woodie makes 5 solid coasters. I did think the park looked cheap in parts, with a few carnie flat rides set up in places, and minimal presentation on others. On the way out I tried the Whoopie Pie place, which is basically two cakes, filled with icing so rich it burns your throat. Had orange cakes with choc icing. I’d been pining for one all day, but for the road I got one of their lemonades with half a lemon in there and the straw stuck through. I thought the place was really weak with its kids offering. No kiddy land to speak of, and the offering really just consisted of a crapload of “spinning rides that bob up and down”. None of them had queues, and they could safely rip out half of them, and replace them with some more engaging stuff for the younger set. Operations were better than I expected based on reviews of the place, and queues weren’t really a problem.

Why not? The ride are different? Space mountain is a coaster with inversions in Paris, and in the studios you have the Rattatouille 4D dark ride, and Rock n Roller Coaster, and Crush's Coaster, plus that Armageddon walkthrough where all the air gets sucked out and the room catches on fire, to name a few. It's like someone saying they wouldn't go to WnW Sydney because they've already been to the Gold Coast one...but in both cases, they're not the same! In terms of other parks to visit...Futroscope is a unique one, with various types of Imax theatres, dark rides, and other cool stuff. Nigloland has a Mack "mega lite" style coaster, plus a few others.

Those pics are looking down the track in the subway station scene (just before the turn past the flooding stairs). The reason you can see straight though is because the maintenance bay continues off in a straight line, and the roller door is at the end: http://www.parkz.com.au/photo/872-Superman_Escape/gallery/sort/newest/location/ride-282/offset/46 During construction there was a big hole in the wall too http://www.parkz.com.au/photo/804-Superman_Mini_Update/gallery/sort/newest/location/ride-282/offset/59

Bumping this because we keep getting photos not following the rules.

Woolies falling share price can be directly linked to them ceasing to sell honey baked ham chips.

*Cedar. For me, Dollwood, or Silver Dollar city are the ones I'm most interested in. Its basically just a few more SF parks I'm yet to visit, which are not bad in themselves, but I do like those parks that mix themed attractions with coasters, so Dollywood and Silver Dollar win out for that reason.

^Does Photoshop only allow images of parks that aren't Dreamworld?

Waits for a carnie lurker to post and be all "No, we're actually called showies".

Hey guys, just a tip if you want to know if a ride will fit...there's google earth and Google maps, both of which have measuring tools. Oh, to address a couple of points. Flat rides....a starflyer, or some flying scooters would be great. As for the Maurer spinning coasters, decent, but I prefer the custom ones I've ridden. The Zamperla motor coaster..... Fun, but there's better choices for the space. I reckon the park could do a family shuttle coaster that just threads through a spare bit of space....Check out Ben 10 at Drayton Manor, or Rewind Racers. As for Boomerangs, well, you can always fabricate a new one, like the one at Power park in Finland. Boomerangs with the new gen trains do run smoothly.

So why did you ask the question?

You're the one going on about how much you hate water parks in a forum full of water park lovers mate. Can you not separate your own personal experiences with what is popular with the majority? Is it really that hard to understand why water parks keep getting built here? They're cheap to build and run compared to a dry mechanical ride park, and Australians on the whole enjoy water activities.

Sure :D http://www.bolliger-mabillard.com/product/family-coaster

Why not friggen relocate Justice Leauge to SW, I mean you're shooting starfish, which come from the sea amirite?

Could you not ride most of the stuff at WnW/WWW where you splash down into runout chutes that are like 30cm deep, or splashdown pools that are about 1m deep? I mean, by all means avoid the wave pool if you can't swim, but for the rest..... http://cdn2.parkz.com.au/cache/photo/individual_photo/general/2008/03/0312-1968_Blackhole_parkz 145.JPG

In terms of compact coasters, my choices would be. -Compact Eurofighter, similar to Iron Shark. -S&S Free Spin similar to Batman at SF Fiesta Texas -Premier Sky Rocket II similar to Tempesto at Busch

It's a Mack. http://www.mack-rides.com/en/products/coasters/launch-coaster/c-lp-picture-gallery/index.html They've really been turning out some excellent stuff using this ride system. Check out Helix at Liseberg, Manta at SW San Diego, Blue Fire at Europa Park, Aplina Blitz at Nigloland, Storm at Etnaland....All some of the worlds best coasters.

With all due respect, why are you basing current decisions on something that happened when you were 11? I mean, when I was 11 I wouldn't even go on the corkscrew at SW. Water parks probably didnt have the same safety standards back then either.... Yay for Aussie World! Or I mean Adventure World, or....

^Because there would be no benefit in promoting a ride with an uncertain future at this stage. >DW posts video. >Hundreds comment, demanding it reopen, others get confused and visit the park expecting it to be open. More to lose than gain for them at this point.

Digging down is a bit nightmarish at Sea World due to the soil and water table.

Basically, the virtue of a Volare being compact is its greatest drawback. The turns on the ride are quite tight and violent, which doesn't work in the flying position because you are basically held in a fibreglass sandwich toaster. Other flying coasters tend to have sweeping turns, and rather ergonomic cars with soft harnesses, which as a whole makes for an enjoyable experience. The Volare is the opposite.