real sorry if i'm not quite on the topic but im not sure how this forum thingy works, or what's the best way to get ppls attention... anyhow, can anyone give me, or tell me where i could find, a roughly accurate, ballpoint figure as to how much a new ride costs (i hear wonderland sydney is in the process of adding a new ride, is that right?), from original design to final dedication and use? cheers

Welcome I can tell you the rough figures that I know off-hand. As for prices, www.rcdb.com has prices listed for some coasters. Park press releases sometimes have the amounts listed (Never Six Flags for some strange reason). Hyper Coasters - Usually around $US 12 million. (I've read these were the prices for Intamin's Superman hypers and B&M's Raging Bull). Giga Coasters - Millennium Force was $US 25 million. Intamin Rocket Coasters - Xcellerator $US 13 million, Top Thrill Dragster $US 25 million. B&M Flyer - Air was 12 million pounds. Steel Loopers can very quite a bit depending on length. Other people may have other costs, or more accurate ones. Like I said these are just approximates as far as I know.....

I know that the new Huss Fly Away that was build in Bobbejaanland(Belgium) this year, costed 1,4 milion euro (that'salmost 1,4 amrican $). It's just a flat ride and still costs a lot.

The cost of rides varies alot. Firstly, depending on the manufacturer. B&M are probably the most expensive because their rides are so smooth and well designed. Intamin is down a bit and below that is probably Vekoma and Arrow (excluding the 4D ). The reason Australia isn't doing too well in the ride department is because of the cost of shipping. We have no track or coaster train manufacturing plants so all goods have to be shipped in from Europe or USA. This can be quite expensive.

Well, BHP have done the steel for several coasters in Australia, and I'd wager that they do equal, if not better steelwork, than most European or US plants. I'd say the real reason that Australia isn't doing too well in the ride department is because of a lack of creativity, or the respective owners trying to milk them for everything they're worth. These days, there is very little difference in cost between the big manufacturers. You'll pay almost as much for a Batman inverted clone from B&M as you'll pay for a Vekoma SLC. As a rule of thumb, based on the past 10 years or so, a new "big" ride from conception to opening in Australia, is around $16m. •Lethal Weapon - $16m •Wild Wild West (WWF) - $16m •Tower of Terror - $16m •Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster - $13m •Giant Drop - $12m (on top of the $16m for TOT) •Big Dipper - $8m •Cyclone - $5.5m (3 for ride, 2.5 for relocation/construction/"theming") The three biggest of those rides, the top three, as you see are each $16mil - a fair benchmark price for the bigger rides.

I thought that Scooby was $15 million, or was that with the theming and lasers?

Actually, we were both wrong. The original figure was I believe $15m, this was well before even the name was known - just that it was to be Scooby Doo themed. The actual cost was $13m. I believe around $2m was spent on lasers.