Wizard of Oz - Movie World Arkham Asylum Replacement

[Brad2912]

8 hours ago, Levithian said:

You're still floating for the most part, just you might feel the bottom sometimes. You know what really removes the immersion? The ride being closed for good because there are safety concerns. Which do you want? live with the changes or have no ride at all?

From the switchback and going past old faithful through to the Indian reservation you are scraping the floor 90% of the way. It’s incredibly uncomfortable bordering on painful. 
 

So the safety concerns only appeared now after 20+ years that say the water level must be higher, but the new boats must be heavier and lower to drag along the channel - so why didn’t they allow for this when ordering new boats? 
 

in its current state of disrepair, bulldoze the whole thing and start again 

[Spotty]

On 31/12/2024 at 11:35 AM, Levithian said:

 

You would have been working there when the attitude was still if it's part of the ride, we have to return it to service and repair/maintain it. We cant just let it sit out of service. You can say that about a lot of the park now. Must be frustrating for staff that actually care about the place looking its best. 

 

Eh, there was still a few people around at that stage... but the cracks were starting to show around the time that I left (2013). Sadly pretty much all of those people are now long gone.

[Levithian]

1 hour ago, Brad2912 said:

From the switchback and going past old faithful through to the Indian reservation you are scraping the floor 90% of the way. It’s incredibly uncomfortable bordering on painful. 
 

So the safety concerns only appeared now after 20+ years that say the water level must be higher, but the new boats must be heavier and lower to drag along the channel - so why didn’t they allow for this when ordering new boats? 
 

in its current state of disrepair, bulldoze the whole thing and start again 

This is starting to get into its own thread territory. Look, i dont feel comfortable talking about all the details. Obviously you dont believe me when i say it was a serious issue that put the continued operation of the ride at risk.

As to why so long in operation? Why only now? Thats the point of risk assessments and investigations. Sometimes something happens externally (like incidents on similar rides) and forces greater scruitiny and a focus on risk based on worse case scenarios. 

It had nothing to do with the new boats or wanting to change the speed of the ride or anything of the sort. 

Long story short, the water levels were too high/troughs too deep. There was an unacceptable risk found, thoroughly investigated, the safety teams responded as they should have and modifications were made to the depths of the troughs to mitigate the risk. They did everything they should have, credit to the park and the team, it's results allowed continued operation of the ride. I can tell you 100% it would not be in operation today if this process and result had not been completed. 

Do you understand enough of what i said above to leave it at that, or is this going to be a continued issue? 

FYI, contrary to what you might think, the water levels were actually raised in the majority of the ride, not lowered. What you are feeling is new concrete ramps and infill panels raising sections of the trough floors. 

The replacement boats were actually more than 100kg lighter than the old ones and are every bit as boyant. 

If wild west falls was demolished you would never get another ride like it again. Thats the simple reality. Its nowhere near in the budget for developing another flume as big and as detailed as west is. For all its faults and neglect, its a big, expensive ride.

Anything else you think is the problem you want to raise? If you doubt what im saying, go back and look at shutdown photos posted here. Pay close attention to runout 2 (the final drop) and the throughs ahead. Youll see exactly what im talking about and should be able to put 2 + 2 together and work out what the issue might be and why it required these modifications.

There are very little complaints from guest about the roughness of the ride following the modifications, so im going out on a limb by saying the majority of people either never noticed or werent phased much by the changes and would still rather the ride stayed open. 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 12:44 PM by Levithian

[Coppertine]

4 hours ago, Levithian said:

people either never noticed or werent phased much by the changes and would still rather the ride stayed open. 

Honestly, I liked when you speed through the canyons, it made the falling rocks effect that more thrilling. The only rough parts were actually on the NON-water parts of the ride (partically the backwards section). Other than that. It's in pretty damn good condition for amount of time it's been here for.

[webslave]

9 hours ago, Levithian said:

Do you understand enough of what i said above to leave it at that, or is this going to be a continued issue? 

I think this encapsulates the problems a lot of people (not specifically in theme parks and amusements) have with the risk industry; there's a trend toward "it's a risk because we have said it is and no further correspondence shall be entered into".  There's far less willingness to discuss the quantum of the risk on its merits, and even less-so to do it in the context of what the mitigation may entail.  Some say it's a pendulum and it may well be, but it's a rather slow one.

It's why we can't have nice things.

[Levithian]

2 hours ago, webslave said:

I think this encapsulates the problems a lot of people (not specifically in theme parks and amusements) have with the risk industry; there's a trend toward "it's a risk because we have said it is and no further correspondence shall be entered into".  There's far less willingness to discuss the quantum of the risk on its merits, and even less-so to do it in the context of what the mitigation may entail.  Some say it's a pendulum and it may well be, but it's a rather slow one.

It's why we can't have nice things.

You could work out the risk for yourself and openly discuss anything you think might be an issue or a concern. 

It has everything to do with the fact that employees (even past ones) are not supposed to share anything from back of house, full stop. They sign media policies and disclosure agreements. You can see anyone who does tread a fine line between ok and giving away too much that might raise the ire of the parks or management. Often this information is shared with people who want to respect the source and the trust placed in them to keep certain details private. Its pretty much how any info makes its way out from behind the scenes.

So coming out and detailing in full why things are as they are, or why they do what they do probably isn't going to happen. Not unless its obviously been outed by someone else and its no longer confidential.

You have to appreciate there is a difference between discussing the impending debut of a new churro cart vs things surrounding operational procedures, safety or incidents that may have a legal responsibility attached (on both sides).

Sometimes you just have to settle with what people are prepared to talk about, and hopefully there is enough info in their posts to understand the person is probably telling the truth. 

Or you don't. But its probably not going to change their feelings on the matter.

Edited Thursday at 01:15 AM by Levithian

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 01/01/2025 at 11:44 AM, Levithian said:

You know what really removes the immersion? The ride being closed for good because there are safety concerns. Which do you want? live with the changes or have no ride at all?

Honestly, if they can't operate it as intended, if they have to neuter the experience to the point it isn't worth doing, yes, i'd rather that they closed it.

[Levithian]

Thats a valid feeling, but its in the minority.

Its still an excellent ride that should stay open, it just deserves a bit of attention...