Movie World Scheduled Maintenance 2024

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 20/01/2024 at 4:56 PM, Dean Barnett said:

Why not tho? They’re both really good - tried and tested models. Personally I pulled the most G’s ever on a free spin. (Maybe second most) 

So you've already answered half the question. The Zacspin \ Freespin style of attraction are incredibly forceful, and a lot of people don't enjoy having their breakfast put through a blender while it's still inside their stomach. I've done one once, and while I didn't mind that it was super forceful, the people I was with came off rather green and would never even consider looking at it again. Movie World needs to increase it's appeal across its attractions and that includes three things:

1. Having more rides that appeal to a wider selection of their current audience
2. Having height requirements a bit lower so that more of the family can ride together
3. Having attractions that by their nature have a higher, not lower capacity. 8 Riders per car isn't big enough for a dispatch and it needs to be increased to get more guests through the ride.

 

As for the SkyRocket - apart from it being so super similar to Buzzsaw that the majority of people will think they bought it off Dreamworld (remember, a lot of folk thought Vortex at Sea World was the old Wipeout), it also has a 54 inch (135cm) height requirement (see point two above), the trains are quite confined and difficult to get into (see also: What's the worst coaster train on the market and why is it the Sky Rocket II? [Ice Breaker] : r/rollercoasters (reddit.com) (and while we're at it, refer back to point number 3 - it's slow to load because of the complicated harness system which you know won't be improved upon at movie world).
We visited San Diego last year and I was the only one who wanted to go on Electric Eel. I enjoyed the ride experience (not the load experience) but I know some of the people in my usual group would not have enjoyed it, and for that, i'll refer you back to point 1.

 

In conclusion - You've demonstrated that you know a lot about different ride models, and you've travelled a lot to experience a lot of coasters and turnstiles. 

The problem with your suggestions is that you're only thinking of what ride you would like to ride, and not what ride is going to work best for the park overall. The big thrill parks like cedar and six flags have these balls to the wall models, but look around - they've also got a great selection of things the whole family can ride together, and a bunch of other attractions just for kids. Our parks are quite lacking in their selection, so what they have can't be polarising, and shouldn't start at 1.35 \ 1.4m height requirements... 

 

On 20/01/2024 at 11:53 PM, STRAWS said:

It seems that way, but they can easily relaunch it Like I know it's not the same but Tower of Terror and TO2 they just modify the name but a different ride. 

 

 

You've hit it bang on. Like T O T and like X\X2, if you have much the same track, and you just replace the trains, or reprofile a piece here and there, by all means relaunch it as a new 'version' of the same attraction... but don't demolish one ride, build a completely different ride, and then call it the same name. just don't.

[Rivals]

Doomsday is down for maintenance with no information (such as the typical “down for unscheduled maintenance”) so i won’t be shocked if it’s down until its February 5th maintenance period. 

I think Doomsday will close once the 2025/26 summer holidays are done, as all the new additions should be done by then. Green Lantern i think will last until around 2029, with its replacement opening 2030.

I think an indoor well themed wild west themed indoor coaster / dark ride would work well in the current Studio Showcase building, with a new flat ride being put into the Doomsday plot of land with the DC Villians area being returned back to its Wild West theme. as for Green Lantern’s replacement a WWGLC raptor clone would work well in its plot of land.

[New display name]

Doomsday should be replaced with a gyro swing and Intamin should give MW a huge discount on one because the last ride Intamin sold to MW doesn't work.

[Gazza]

Quote

Doomsday should be replaced with a gyro swing and Intamin should give MW a huge discount on one because the last ride Intamin sold to MW doesn't work.

Australia literally doesn't need any more of these style of spin and swing rides.

I can ride one at AW, I can ride one at LPS, I can ride one at DW, I can ride a lil one at Funfields.

I can go to a show and ride 3 or 4 other variants too.

Edited January 22 by Gazza

[New display name]

34 minutes ago, Gazza said:

Australia literally doesn't need any more of these style of spin and swing rides.

I can ride one at AW, I can ride one at LPS, I can ride one at DW, I can ride a lil one at Funfields.

I can go to a show and ride 3 or 4 other variants too.

People love them and they don't suck like Doomsday.  

[Gazza]

Yeah but there's heaps of rides people also love IMHO.

And you know how the public were like "Vortex is the same as Wipeout"...yeah, that again.

[New display name]

I agree, there is heaps of rides the public like.  I'm suggesting a ride where MW shouldn't require a blowtorch, to the area, to make it fit.    

 

[TBoy]

In my opinion, I feel like Doomsday will be the first to go after the new expansions, yes Green Lantern is also unreliable but at least that isn't running at half the speed and without inversions. As @Rivals said, they probably want the ride to be open whilst WoO and Flash are being built and Scooby is closed. This would be my idea for the Doomsday area:

• December 2025: It is almost time for the 10-year strip down period and Scooby, WoO and Flash are open. MW decides its not worth the investment fixing up the ride and announces it is closing like what happens to Buzzsaw Showcase also closes, as the new ride will be taking up some of the building.
• Late January/Early February 2026: Ride closes forever, with the precinct blocked off. 
• February 2026: Demolition starts.
• April 2026: Construction starts inside showstage, as well as outside showstage where Doomsday was, with walls being placed in front of the building for the queue.
• June/September 2026: New ride is announced to be a simulator, with the area around it being rethemed including the right side of Scooby, the Western cafe, former Intencity and Midway Games.
• December 2026: Ride opens to the public

The simulator would have the queue where Doomsday was, and it would be fully indoors. The actual simulator, however would be inside the Showstage which saves costs on having to build a new building from scratch. As said above, the area around it would be rethemed to match the area, which includes Intencity, the midway games and the Western cafe.

[Spotty]

I don't think it will be a simulator, purely because running a ride like that requires lots of staff... and that is something that Village really doesn't like spending money on. As far as timelines go, I'd say they will keep Doomsday till 2026 which is when it comes up to its 10 year strip down. If they decide to keep it after that, they are honestly incredibly stupid. 

As much as a Gyro Swing would be a good fit (size wise) for the area, I really hope they don't go down that route however another flat ride is really needed purely for the capacity and for something that isn't a roller coaster. I don't think Wild West Fall's days are numbered just yet as someone mentioned, but maybe when it's time for the next 10 year rebuild they may decide to go with something new in that space. Really, I think what Movie World needs to round out the park is another 2-3 flat rides, a decent family high capacity ride (Potentially a replacement for JL in 5-10 years), an overhaul of the kids rides and another thrill coaster to replace Green Lantern when the time comes. For coasters they have most of the categories filled (Thrill: DC Rivals, Superman, Green Lantern and Flash. Family: Scooby, Wizard of Oz coasters, Kids: Road Runner).

[CR4ZE]

On 21/01/2024 at 12:48 PM, Baconjack said:

How is doomsday not on its last legs? It is barely open, and when it is, it runs at a third of its power because if it doesn't it shits itself.

If you read what I said, never did I claim that Doomsday's operating conditions are optimal. I agree it doesn't have a long-term future, not because it's unsalvageable, but because it's not worth the expenditure.

On 21/01/2024 at 12:48 PM, Baconjack said:

As for the showcase building the park has no room to expand so at the end of the day they'll use whatever space is available. The land doomsday & showcase occupy lend themselves well to a major wild west coaster to complement West, and any non superhero ride is always a plus. Lantern's plot is too small as it stands and doesn't allow for much. As for the other attractions you mention:

Walkthrough? The old intencity building exists (you know where there used to be one)

Dark ride? Justice league (and the junior driving school building exists too), you can arguably fit scooby in this category while you're there.

Show/theatre? Stunt driver and roxy already fill that need

You're the one making the asinine suggestion that they should completely demolish a building for no good reason, so the burden of proof is on you, not me, to propose a fitting replacement. There is plenty of room behind WWF to build a marquee attraction like a coaster, so even if they weren't going for something compact to replace GL, and provided they even wanted to go for yet another coaster, that would be the next most logical place for it to go.

Now to re-run the gamut of options I put forth for the showcase building (not an exhaustive list). Walkthrough attractions: the Intencity building has not been used for anything other than FN mazes in the last five years, so it's not like Village are in any rush to use that space more efficiently.

Dark ride: first of all, JDS has already replaced LTRR. Love it or hate it, it's not about to go away, so why even bring it up? Justice League has an interactive element, which is not the only way you can do a dark ride. Same goes for Scooby-Doo, which, sure you can throw in there, but it is also a coaster.

Show/theatre: You're really going to use HSD to bolster your argument?

More to the point, you seem to think the park is only allowed to have one type of attraction operating at any given time. This is ignorant to the fact that, for most of the park's history, there have been multiple walkthrough attractions, dark rides and live shows running simultaneously. I merely provided a few examples to illustrate that there are a myriad of uses for the Showcase building without knocking the whole thing to the ground.

[Baconjack]

3 hours ago, CR4ZE said:

You're the one making the asinine suggestion that they should completely demolish a building for no good reason, so the burden of proof is on you, not me, to propose a fitting replacement. There is plenty of room behind WWF to build a marquee attraction like a coaster

I’m pretty sure that land in question is not being used by the park it’s all allocated to the studios but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. And even if it is, if you were to put a coaster in there (which they will need in 6-8 years time) you’d have to either pull down the building, or re use it as a queue/station or extend it out for something indoors (both requiring major alterations)

If you read what I said I already nominated a use of that space so what you’re saying is very confusing.

[Dean Barnett]

On 22/01/2024 at 8:57 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

So you've already answered half the question. The Zacspin \ Freespin style of attraction are incredibly forceful, and a lot of people don't enjoy having their breakfast put through a blender while it's still inside their stomach. I've done one once, and while I didn't mind that it was super forceful, the people I was with came off rather green and would never even consider looking at it again.

There's an option to do a mild/wild choice with alternate cars - and it doesn't cost a dime extra to run!

I also think Australians can take a fair bit of force - even though our choices are limited. 

 

20 hours ago, Spotty said:

As much as a Gyro Swing would be a good fit (size wise) for the area, I really hope they don't go down that route however another flat ride is really needed purely for the capacity and for something that isn't a roller coaster.

This shows how bad the operations are at our parks - and yes I sound like a broken record player - but rollercoasters are high capacity, they've just gotta be operated better!

Rivals has a advertised capacity of 960rph, I've witnessed rates of around 200rph. (To compare -  Velocicoaster running 2 trains is 768rph) 

I'm all for another gyro swing if its the next size up - a ride on The Claw and and a ride on CraZanity are so completely different. 

 

[New display name]

26 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

There's an option to do a mild/wild choice with alternate cars - and it doesn't cost a dime extra to run!

I also think Australians can take a fair bit of force - even though our choices are limited. 

 

This shows how bad the operations are at our parks - and yes I sound like a broken record player - but rollercoasters are high capacity, they've just gotta be operated better!

Rivals has a advertised capacity of 960rph, I've witnessed rates of around 200rph. (To compare -  Velocicoaster running 2 trains is 768rph) 

I'm all for another gyro swing if its the next size up - a ride on The Claw and and a ride on CraZanity are so completely different. 

 

I sound like a broken record player

No! keep going.  We love reading the same shit, over and over.

Edited January 23 by New display name

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

43 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

There's an option to do a mild/wild choice with alternate cars - and it doesn't cost a dime extra to run!

I also think Australians can take a fair bit of force - even though our choices are limited. 

It's still an imposing attraction, off putting to many GP, and still with absurd height requirements.

It's very nice of you to speak generally about the entire Australian populations tolerances for G forces based on your extensive research into the population's capacity. /s

While we're making broad generalisations based on non-scientific research (AKA opinion) I'd like to share my own in depth research that says less than 30% of riders who physically meet the manufacturer's requirements (ie - they're tall enough) will actually want to ride this. (Source: my family group who didn't want to ride this)

[Baconjack]

1 hour ago, Dean Barnett said:

I'm all for another gyro swing if its the next size up - a ride on The Claw and and a ride on CraZanity are so completely different. 

Nah the restraints on those rides are awful if you’re either tall or fat or both. I’ve been on Sledgehammer and even if you’re below the max height limit the restraints dig into your shoulders and have an enormous amount of clearance between the restraint and the seat because of their design. I almost didn’t feel safe on my ride. Goliath on the other hand is far more comfortable.

Not to mention the height restriction for zamperla models are far higher. You’d be looking at yet another 140cm ride for a zamperla model (its 132 at Luna park but would probably go up to 140 on the coast). Whereas claw and Goliath are at 120, far more accommodating for different types of guests and body sizes because of the lap bar it uses

[REGIE]

I feel like there's so many other cool flat rides out there. There's no need to put in another gyro. 

[aaronm]

Probably a maintenance nightmare but a Huss Giant Jump (https://www.canadaswonderland.com/rides-experiences/sledge-hammer) would be a fantastic replacement for Doomsday. Quite possibly the most fun I've ever had on a flat ride, when it worked.

[Rivals]

that model looks fun but, replacing an unreliable problematic flat ride with another unreliable problematic flat ride doesn’t sound like a good idea.

[Dean Barnett]

And only one exists. 

[aaronm]

43 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

And only one exists. 

A great opportunity to revisit some old faithful “only one in the southern hemisphere” marketing.

A serious replacement might be a Zamperla NebulaZ, they are popping up everywhere and have the added benefit of being more of a family ride than Doomsday.

 

[aaronm]

A bit bleak at MW today, SE, WWF and DD all with unscheduled closures. Not much they can do about unexpected downtime once it happens but it seems to be a very regular occurrence these days, and a terrible guest experience when so many rides are impacted at once.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

wait until monday...

[Dean Barnett]

 

Never seen them offer something in return! 👀

They didn’t reply to this one tho 

[Spotty]

Yikes... the whole watch breaking thing seems like total BS that it happened. If that had been me as the staff member I would have been more than happy to put it in the basket that glasses etc go in. A watch is normally worn on a wrist, so the fact that it broke is NOT the guests fault at all. Sadly seems like the operator was either on a power trip or having a very bad day. Sadly it's becoming more and more frequent from what I have heard from friends who have visited the properties in the last few months.

I really do hope management reads these sort of things and takes a long hard look about what its doing to their brand before it's too late...

[STRAWS]

On 02/02/2024 at 5:04 PM, Spotty said:

Yikes... the whole watch breaking thing seems like total BS that it happened. If that had been me as the staff member I would have been more than happy to put it in the basket that glasses etc go in. A watch is normally worn on a wrist, so the fact that it broke is NOT the guests fault at all. Sadly seems like the operator was either on a power trip or having a very bad day. Sadly it's becoming more and more frequent from what I have heard from friends who have visited the properties in the last few months.

I really do hope management reads these sort of things and takes a long hard look about what its doing to their brand before it's too late...

Exactly why I'm sick of Village and their bullshit. I haven't had a good experience at One of their parks in ages unless its completely empty. its why I cancelled my annual pass and go to Dreamworld where I actually enjoy myself 

Edited February 3 by STRAWS