GD ideas

[steve$]

Dreamworld could be exceeding its current capacity on almost every rides. But parks like dreamworld couldnt be bothered hiring more ride ops if they are already making plenty of profit

[T-bone]

Well i reckon the capacity problem at Dreamworld is not as bad as some places. The issue with capacity at Dreamworld is no the amount Ride operators at the park, but the way the place was designed by the guy that was in-charge before steven greggs. Hopefully, (and it certainly looks good) steve will fix this problem up. Not that there is anything wrong with the park's state at the moment. It meets saftey requirements doesn't it? Its in good condition and really that's all you really need. Back to capacity issues, have you thought that they might want people to make use of the $7 come-back another day deal.

[steve$]

Dreamworld seems to be just fine in the middle of the week. When i went It was nsw school holidays and all the big rides were empty. But rides like Reptar were 50 minute waits

[scott]

50 minute waits for Repatar? That's surprising.

[steve$]

Yeah because it all seemed to be kids with their dad. THe thrill rides were empty because of it mostly being families in the park that day

[dr_teeth]

yeah?? you say during NSW school holidays?? bugger we waited specially till after both nsw and qld holidays were finished, and went during the week cos we figured that it should have the least amount of people there... anyone that goes to DW regularly is it normally like this during the last week of nsw school holidays??

[ads086]

Heres an idea Close the ride down to refurbish it. Install new motors that can handle the workload that GD would have, and change one of the gondolas to a Stand-Up gondola. This would get more people in, and they could then market it as the tallest stand-up drop-ride in the world (until someone else beats them) Thoughts??

[dr_teeth]

troube with the stand up idea is that the gondola will pull around 4+G as it comes to a stop...that means for an instant that your body weight is effectively 4 times what it normally is....i dunno about you guys but i weigh about 85kg...i doubt wether my legs would hold me up if for a few seconds i weighed around 350kg

[Gazza]

Well Apocalypse at DMP and Acrophobia at SFOG have standup vehicles and they would pull similar gs, and they do fine. And what about Riddlers revenge at SFMM, it pulls 4.2gs and Georgia Scorcher, which pulls 4gs

[Nebuchanezzar]

Which pulls the g-forces for the longest time? Then I guess you can argue about which is more dangerous for crushing your legs.

[ads086]

If the stand-up idea isn't that great, how about an alteration of the tilting seats that are available. Have each seat set up on its own axis so that it free spins on its way back to the ground Thoughts on that one?

[Richard]

The issue with capacity at Dreamworld is no the amount Ride operators at the park, but the way the place was designed by the guy that was in-charge before steven greggs. Hopefully, (and it certainly looks good) steve will fix this problem up. Not that there is anything wrong with the park's state at the moment. It meets saftey requirements doesn't it?

Don't go saying or assuming things for the sake of it. The only ride with this problem introduced under Tony Braxton-Smith's ("the guy before Stephen Gregg") time at Dreamworld was Cyclone. There were absolutely no problems with Nick Central, and Giant Drop and Tower of Terror are well before his time. Also note that the CEO would have little to do with the actual design of the queue. The position of CEO is a managerial position. Queue design would be a collaboration between the operations and engineering departments and perhaps the ride manufacturer if needed. The inherent problems with Cyclone is that clearly not enough enough money was invested in the proper design of a queue and station. The problems that exist with Giant Drop lie firstly in not operating the ride to the fullest of its current design (i.e. not running both sides even with hour-plus queues), and then with the inefficient ride programme.

[dr_teeth]

amen richard...finally someone has put some common sence back into this thread

[Obstructure]

Don't go saying or assuming things for the sake of it. The only ride with this problem introduced under Tony Braxton-Smith's ("the guy before Stephen Gregg") time at Dreamworld was Cyclone. There were absolutely no problems with Nick Central, and Giant Drop and Tower of Terror are well before his time. Also note that the CEO would have little to do with the actual design of the queue. The position of CEO is a managerial position. Queue design would be a collaboration between the operations and engineering departments and perhaps the ride manufacturer if needed. The inherent problems with Cyclone is that clearly not enough enough money was invested in the proper design of a queue and station. The problems that exist with Giant Drop lie firstly in not operating the ride to the fullest of its current design (i.e. not running both sides even with hour-plus queues), and then with the inefficient ride programme.

Correct there Richard, however, the obvious obstacle there for the Cyclone had to be catered for. That being, originally it was a ride that was built high up, but that is in a different thread. It would be a very difficult and expensive venture to completely replace the current motors and also changing the ride procedure. Would you rather millions spent on changing that on GD? Or would you rather themeing across the park improved with that amount of money?

[dr_teeth]

It would be a very difficult and expensive venture to completely replace the current motors and also changing the ride procedure. Would you rather millions spent on changing that on GD? Or would you rather themeing across the park improved with that amount of money?

Given that ive worked in the construction industry i can garentee that a few new hydraulic pumps and winch motors would be no where near "millions" a few grand maybe each but not millions. And yeah id rather see money invested in quality of rides rather then themeing..sure it makes the place look nice but you dont notice that when your on the ride.

[joz]

If the themeing improvement is anything like the recent additions to Thunder River, then I think GD should get the entire themeing budget.

[Obstructure]

Given that ive worked in the construction industry i can garentee that a few new hydraulic pumps and winch motors would be no where near "millions" a few grand maybe each but not millions. And yeah id rather see money invested in quality of rides rather then themeing..sure it makes the place look nice but you dont notice that when your on the ride.

You can't guarantee that at all. First of all, the modifications would need to be custom made, second of all, there needs to be a lot of work done to make sure that the additions aren't going to have any bugs. You also have to consider moving the parts, and how they would get those parts to the ride itself and installed. We are talking helicopters. A few grand? I think not. Dont forget how much the ride was purchased for, and that was WITHOUT the tower.

[dr_teeth]

You can't guarantee that at all. First of all, the modifications would need to be custom made, second of all, there needs to be a lot of work done to make sure that the additions aren't going to have any bugs. You also have to consider moving the parts, and how they would get those parts to the ride itself and installed. We are talking helicopters. A few grand? I think not. Dont forget how much the ride was purchased for, and that was WITHOUT the tower.

Dude there really isnt and need at all for custom parts other then the various brackets and things that would be needed to fit these parts. I can tell you ive seen hundreds of of hydraulic pumps and motors and i can tell you they are all very much the same in design and operation. AND i said a few grand each...that means each pump each winch motor and times it all by 2 for this design. Probably one thing i wasnt clear on i guess when i made that comment in the first place i was makeing a comparision between the millions you were talking about and what it would actually cost which would be closer to thousands then millions...Seriously we are talking about probably less then 50 grand to fix this ride up to have a quicker cycle time (which was all the modifications i feel that it needs) i dont think for a place like dreamworld 50G would be very much at all...i bet you one of Obstructure's million buck notes that the CEO is driving round in a company car worth more then 50g

[dr_teeth]

hey slicko you got any more pics of when they were building the tower?

[Slick]

Now here are a few errors made that should be re-adressed before you go off making acceptance speeches for your work. A)you say that the parts would have to be custom made eh? Well I'm sure I have only seen one Ride Trade freefall tower in my lifetime so the parts must be pretty hard to come by (cough). B)Moving parts? We're talking an hydraulics and engines, of course its going to have moving parts. And as for the gondola getting in the way, well, does the engine get in the way now? C)You say we need to get helicopters for new parts to be put up on the GD. Now, let me ask you, how did they get the engines up there? Three chinooks? I think the attached photo explains what system they have and would use.

[Obstructure]

You think they would get in cranes? And that is going to allow it to be less than 50k how? As for the custom made thing, I was saying it in relation to how people are requesting these ultra fast ride cycles. They don't exactly make those parts in bulk, especially to the proportions of Dreamworld's. According to the staff at Dreamworld, it would cost the park 50k to move the operators booth on the Vortex from the inside of the ride, to the outside. How could importing specific motors, completely altering the ride and bringing in cranes or helicopters be cheaper then that?

[rappa]

Okay now I'll admit I only did General maths at school (cause I was a bludger, not dumb) but even we learnt that 50k is a lot less than a million

[joz]

Ok, maybe I've missed something, but why do the motors need to be replaced? Surely there's some sort of program which controls how they operate. Couldn't they just be updated so it doesn't hold the Gondalas up for so long, or doesn't slow down so much at the top and bottom?

[Obstructure]

Ok, maybe I've missed something, but why do the motors need to be replaced?  Surely there's some sort of program which controls how they operate.  Couldn't they just be updated so it doesn't hold the Gondalas up for so long, or doesn't slow down so much at the top and bottom?

The motors aren't designed to cope with that sort of workload, that is why there have been so many break downs recently, and that is why almost every holidays I can remember, one side being closed down because it can't handle it. It will require a lot more work then people on here think.

[Richard]

Quite honestly, I'd much rather see Dreamworld fix up what they've currently got before moving on to future rides. You're a fool if you think the contrary is at all smart. Yeah, it's good when parks get new rides, but I for one don't loose sleep if they go a few years without. If the thinking at Dreamworld is along the lines of adding bigger new rides over fixing then what they've got, then I really don't want to see the park come ten years from now (see SFMM for a look at what happens when you go down that path). I think the least paying guests should expect is efficient operations and the shortest possible . Whether it would cost $50 or $50 million to fix up Giant Drop, it is Dreamworld's responsibility to fix it. We're not even talking about things that are so economically or structurally unfeasable like adding additional seating, we're just talking about maximising what they've currently got. If the motors they got can't handle the load, why didn't they get replacements that could from the manufacturer, while the ride was still in its "grace period"? Why is it that Giant Drop will run only a single side all day, racking up queues in excess of an hour but then open the second side an hour or so from closing time? So that everyone can clock off at 5:15pm? That's problem number one. That's not even beginning to think about motor replacements, computer adjustments or absurd add-ons to improve efficiency.