Have I got a special treat for you boys & girls! Just before the holidays I had the pleasure of heading out to Dreamworld, and have taken some photos to show the latest from what's going on in the park. Enjoy! Also, be sure to vote in the 'Worst Ride name in the World poll', in which Dreamworld's Angry Beaver's Spooty Spin is equal favourite with 'Thunder Dolphin'.

Great photos! I haven't been to Dreamworld in a while, so I haven't seen the new Ocean Parade re-theming....But it looks great. Isn't Thunderbolt the only ride in that area now that doesn't match the theme?? If so, would this be an indication it may not be there much longer?

Yeah, thunderbolt is now the only ride that doesn't match the "Ocean Parade" theme. I can't help but get the impression that the park couldn't really be bothered re-thememing (or painting) the ride. With the exception of Thunderbolt, the whole new area looks really good, I was presently surprised with how well the Vortex theme came off. Thunderbolt just continues to attract rust. I can't believe how long Dreamworld have let the ride go for. Wonderland looks after Bush Beast better then Dreamworld looks after Thunderbolt, and with the slow down in international tourism, I can't see anything positive happening to Thunderbolt soon, and I dare say Dreamworld will just operate it in its current condition for another few years.

I'll slightly repunctuate your first sentence for you...

Yeah, thunderbolt is now the only ride that doesn't match the Ocean Parade "theme".

They've pleasant-ed it up a lot, but I wouldn't really call it theming (is a garden with gnomes in it fantasy themed?), unless your definition of theming is well... garden gnomes. Angry Beavers gets my vote. Thunder Dolphin is a very cool name (don't you just love Japanese culture, and translations ). I see nothing wrong with "Scream!", and Top Thrill Dragster just sucks too much to bother. As for the Z*nga's that seem to be the current craze. I like it (the Swahili names really do it for me too I guess).

when were you at dreamworld as for names thunder dolphin rocks sure godzilla would be what americans would call a coaster in the middle of Tokyo , but I think Thunder Dolphin sounds awesome and after seeing the video looks awesome. And in 86 days I will be riding Thunder Dolphin

What are they doing to the Giant drop? Did they actualy remove the whole car? The waiting time must be painfully slow........ Shaun

Sorry, my bad, that was the operating side with the car out of the station :oops: Best I can tell they aren't actually doing anything, but I could be wrong. Yeah, waiting times are through the roof, even with both sides its got a pretty small PPH. With one side down it makes waiting for it a little bit on the slow side.

The wait times at dreamworld arnt that bad...if u get there for 10am you can get at least 4-5 rides on the drop b4 u even start getting a wait..and if u have friends working..you dont have to get off at all.(my record is 6 times without getting off)i got bored after that! also wait times at movieworld arnt that bad either..we got to dw and mw nearly every sunday...and scooby just recently, has been a walk on walked on...about 8 ppl in front. Who else in the forums has year pass to dw and mw..i have both...see you there sometime LETS HOPE FOR SOME GREAT RIDES WITHIN THE NEXT FEW YEARS!!!!! dw should be getting a flat ride next, not a coaster for a while...a friend told me(ride op)

Speaking of new rides, supposedly from an insider, i got news that there will be something big happening to the ThunderBolt in 2003 and 2005...... 1)Apart from the lift hill, the rest of the ride will be demolished and rebuilt from Meishi, B&M or Arrow. 2)The last minute of the ride (the boring bit) will be replaced possibly by Arrow 3)There will be new trains and a new coast of paint (Yippee *sarcasm in voice.......) 4)Or the train tyres will be replaced with new ones to decrease the sqeakiness PS: About Option 2, Meisho pacifically designed the last part of the ThunderBolt to interpretate a wooden rollercoaster (pictured here.)

There is quite a bit of truth in that story. Dreamworld investigated possible courses of action to make Thunderbolt more pleasant during early 2002. They spoke with (at least) three companies, Vekoma (whose Asian partner is Meisho), KumbacK Coasters, a spinoff company that came as a result of Vekoma's bankruptcy, and the then Arrow Dynamics. Whatever has been heard about B&M is undeniably false. The thing the three companies above have in common is a similar track style to that of Thunderbolt, which suggests existing technology could easily be implemented in a rehaul of the ride. B&M on the other hand, have always worked with their European track style and quite simply, the technology is really in no way compatible. There have been rumours of a B&M replacing Thunderbolt, but that's about it. The picture attached is one of my old ones from RCDB. The project was originally penned in for a last-2003 release, but that was around 18 months ago, and obviously things change (there's a bit more to it, but I won't go into great detail). Between 2004-2005 Sounds right though.

Sorry My Bad!!! I ment that the ride apart from the lift hill (possibly) would be replaced with a M&M rollercoaster!!!!

Sorry My Bad!!! I ment that the ride apart from the lift hill (possibly) would be replaced with a M&M rollercoaster!!!!

Would that mean we can now eat the coaster? Just joking, I'm sure you meant B & M ~Flea

Nah, again, I have to disagree with you (or your source). There's no way anything with the existing ride (lift inclusive) would be compatible with B&M. It'd be easiest (and cheapest), if that's the way they were to go, to simply knock the whole lot down, and start again.

i have to disagree with you Slick. the Thunderbolt will eb demolished but the first drop and the two loops willl be kept according to a them park source. the thunderbolt was the first rollercoaster in Australia to have a loop on a rollercoaster at a height of 21metres.

And believe me when I say that the contention for that record is intense among Australian parks.

Now Now Boys, No fighting please as you yourself has said lately Richo. It is possible that B&M could desing a new style of trakc to suit the current track on the coaster. There is no rule book that states a company cannot change the way they design rides if there is a call for it. This is how major companies survive in todays market. So if the parks ask for it to be done, the designers have to think of a way for it do be done so that they can make money. Never say never to a person with a overactive imagination and a limit of about $20million dollars to spend. This is how X was created. We can only wait and see what happens. By the way the rumors that you are all quoting about thunderbolt, were brought to your attention by yours truly about 6 to 12 months ago. And after talking with the park none of them are true at this stage as nothing has been confirmed and this comes from the park itself. But that is just my opion so please contiune this little chat of yours. I wonder if the King has anything to add??

I have arrived Thunder Bolt, Australia's number 1 roller coaster for hip replacements This is my opinon on this subject could go 2 ways (1) Do a similar job to what Kennywood in the states did with steel phantom by retracking and renaming it phantom revenge. Thunder Bolt could become Thunder Struck. http://www.rcdb.com/installationdetail123.htm (for info) (2) Taking all the track up and redoing the whole ride. But as mention before Dreamworld havent said anything yet, and my reliable source says dont even look for a announcement or ride till at least November 2004. and remember no matter what happens a 2 year budget will be great for whatever Dreamworld gets. THE KING HAS NOW LEFT THE BUILDING

I spoke with someone reliable at Dreamworld (exactly 16 months ago to this day ) regarding Thunderbolt. I was told pretty much everything I've mentioned here (and of course some things I haven't mentioned ). I also was informed a bit later that the plans were on hiatus for the development of Nick Central, but would be made a high priority following Nick Central's launch. What they are looking at doing, I don't know. They wanted to address the issue of roughness, which means make it a more pleasant ride. Around 50% of the problems with that ride are the train and restraints, and the other 50% is the track. The basic fix for this ride to me would be as follows: Replace the trains (lapbars anyone?) with sleeker, better articulated trains, completely replace the first drop and the transitions into and out of the loops and you've got a half-decent ride. There are problems with the track (you can see the badly joined sections of track quite clearly) - some decent shock absorbers, and more padded trains would remove this problem. Fix some of the transitions in and out of turns, and you've at least got a rideable ride. It should also be faster through the second half - those bad transitions kill all the speed - which would mean some gentle airtime and overall more thrills. Regarding B&M, I'd again have to disagree . The US Amusement Industry is quite different to the European market. Look at the leading US Companies: Arrow (don't bother correcting me), S&S, Setpoint etc. They could all be considered innovators. Meanwhile you’ve got Intamin who seem to have made their niche by perfecting older styles (hypercoaster, inverted etc.). Vekoma specialises in a few very specific and similar/identical designs. B&M have become to be known for their consistency and reliability on their small but perfected selection. If I were B&M (and I’m not…), I wouldn’t even bother bidding for a project like Thunderbolt, if approached. The time they’d spend designing a completely new style of train and track, is time that could have been spent designing a new coaster from their current selection. And it’s often suggested that B&M coasters are heavily in demand. Besides… B&M certainly wasn’t on the *list* I was given. 8) That’s my 400 word effort at stirring trouble.

/em dreams of getting a Beemer here in Oz........ I'd take any addition to the list of coasters here right now.

What makes you think that the crew at B&M would not like to take this as a challenge. And you are only thinking small again Richo. Put yourself in their shoes and think 10 to 15 years down the road. If B&M where able to design a track for attachment to standard old coaster tracks like the bolt, then think of the money making opertunitys that it creates for them in the future with parks who may have a two looper in a large area. They then get B&M to come along with the new design track that allows the B&M track to fit say an arrow track and it opens more doors for B&M to make money from. And remember that with these types of companies it is all about the bottom dollar. And as for the list of coasters given to you by the parks cheif engineer, what makes you think that they are going to give away any of the parks future projects to the public and if they tell you anything, why tell you the truth anyway. It does not help the parks if thy tell their competers what they are getting next, two years before it happens, does it? MY THOUGHTS are that the Bolt will be removed to another section of the park (the big brother area is my first thought) and that the area where the Bolt is now will be turned into the Plaza area that everyone is talking about. This will allow the park to make any changes to the Bolt while it is being moved. For a park that can spend up to $20million on one ride, they have not spent there money for some years so what ever happens, it is going to be big.

Okay, I'm in B&M's shoes. I see five new coasters open/ing this year. I saw seven last year. They recently released their flying coaster, which is just picking up with great interest. B&M isn't a terribly large firm. They build fewer coasters each year than other companies, they charge a lot more for them, but its a more reliable end product. At this stage, B&M seem to be right for work. They wouldn't need to turn to a less glamorous project like a refurbishment of an old ride, to sustain themselves. If you think about it, the R&D money they would pour into a new design is taken from their profit, and the time spent could be time spent working on other designs, where the profit margin is much larger because all the development has been done. And in my opinion, if they were to go after a project like this, it'd be pretty close to a once off thing. Not many parks would opt for a retracking of an older coaster, if they could, for the same price get a brand new coaster, which would be easier and more effective to market, and at the end of the day, give better return than a slightly smoother old ride. Parks will approach B&M for a completely new replacement ride, over a retracking (no matter how good it makes the ride), simply because it'd be a better investment. The list if firms wasn't given by the chief engineer. And we're not talking about some highly secretive new prototype coaster, where a single leaked detail could ruin the whole ride. I was informed of the three companies they were talking to, and that the project is a long way from completion. It's really not that special, and I doubt the information could be used in any way to benefit a competitor. Okay, let's move away from the fact that B&M could fix Thunderbolt. I don't deny that if US$20mil was popped into their pockets, they'd probably consider this project (B&M coasters average at about US$16m). However, it is my thinking that this project won't be anywhere near US$20mil. I'd estimate it at closer to AU$10mil. This doesn't need to turn into any feud. I'm not trying to start any fights, I'm just trying to be realistic.

I agree that this is not a fued Richo, but it is nice to "heat things up" every now and then. As for the B&M thing, we will let it lie, but things are called impossible until someone does them and that is the point that I am making. As I said before, we can always dream can't we, might make a thread for that.