Looney Tunes River Ride

[Andy_q69]

A little off the topic but is WBMW related.. Would the water ride in Loony Tunes Village be counted as a log flume or a water coaster? Because to me it looks like a water coaster... :!: Sorry, this question just came into my head... lol :!:

[joz]

I guess it'd be hard to call it anything other then a Flume Ride, since the only difference between Bermuda and Looney Tunes is that Looney Tunes turns a corner while it goes down it's drop.

[Belgian]

It's a darkride with boats

[Gazza]

Has anyone got any pics of it, I havent seen it before, the last time I was at movie world was in 1993

[Richard]

Here's the outside of the building. It's the same unspectacular façade as every other indoor ride at Movie World - an aluminium shed.

[Ian]

As belgian said Its a Dark Ride like Pirates of the Caribean at Disneyland you wouldnt really class it a flume ride.

[Gazza]

Thanks Rich, It does look a bit drab, doesnt it? What is the ride like? Im guessing its a fairly uneventful ride through various loony tunes areas.

[GoGoBoy]

The shot Richard posted isn't actually a shot of the main entry facade, it is a side view of the building. I absolutely loved the ride when I was a bit younger. It is well themed and filled with lots of atmosphere. There are parts of the ride where you feel like you are floating along an actual jungle river at night (it is quite dark). The only problem is that it seems to have deteriorated quite a bit over the last few years. It is definitely not quite as good as when it first opened (like most attractions I guess). I also don't mind the fact that most of Movie World's dark rides are in 'aluminum sheds'. The sheds are designed to look like sound stages/movie studios so I think the park can get away with it. It is better when they actually create a proper facade out the front of the sheds though... like they did with Scooby Doo

[Richard]

The ride starts out as a tour of the Looney Tunes studios in Hollywood, including the filming of their latest movie, but it is discovered along the way that Bugs Bunny has tunneled down to Australia, and we're recruited to help track him down. Thankfully there's an set from an old movie set on the moon, with a large drill that we put into use to tunnel after Bugs. Guests then board boats and go along a gentle stream in search of him, with all the other Looney Tunes causing havoc all around. All ends well with a pretty unique elevator and splashdown. Yeah, it's essentially a Pirates of the Carribean style ride, though not nearly as grand in terms of theming or storyline. It is technically speaking a flume ride, meaning it is powered by a flowing channel of water, but I'm with rabid in that I wouldn't call it a flume ride, because that's not really the focus of the ride. GoBoi, it's true that they're designed to look like the studios, but to my knowledge, the Warner Bros. Studios at the Gold Coast are the only studios out there to use this particular studio design, which is definitely one of the cheaper out there. I've personally experienced Universal, Warner Bros. and CBS in Hollywood, which are all nice rendered and painted buildings. Paramount is also the same. Fox Studios in Sydney is also a nicer looking place, as are Fox's Hollywood studios. Sure, when you're making a movie on the inside, it matters to nobody, but when it comes to transfering the design toa theme park, which is supposed to wow and excite people with its appearance, it's a different matter. I never really liked the design, and I think it's pretty bad that they are so extensively used, unaltered, throughout the park. I love the rides and their theming is fantastic within the rides, but in terms of general appearance I it think leaves a lot to be desired. Take Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World, a park with the exact same concept as Warner Bros. Movie World. Rock 'n Rollercoaster uses a similar studio building (though, again, like most, it is nicely rendered and painted). However, this ride is themed this way. You know what'd work great in this particular situation? If they covered up the exposed white aluminium walls with some nice building fronts. I've never thought of it like this, but for what is supposed to be the Looney Tunes' home, there isn't much in the way of housing for the actual characters, or funky little shops selling all sorts of Acme goods and whatnot. Obviously just the façades, because there's no room to build actual shops or walkthrough houses there, but it just makes it that little bit more complete. This is how Disney and Warner Bros. parks differ - and I'm not saying that I don't like Movie World at all. Sure, there's not the budgets here like at any Disney park, but we're not really talking that much. I'd have to say that in terms of expenditure to attendance increase ratio, Movie World would have to be the park in Australia with the least spent on it.

[willsy]

Here's the outside of the building. It's the same unspectacular façade as every other indoor ride at Movie World - an aluminium shed.

it not aluminium. if it was movie world would be broke if they had all aluminium sheds, its just standard color bond. plan old steel.

[Richard]

Colorbond isn't plain old steel, it's a zinc and aluminium alloy coated steel base that has several layers of expoxies and other things baked on or chemically bonded. It's very common worldwide to refer to any metal shed as being aluminium or tin, regardless of how technically correct that is - no need to get bogged down on the finer points.

[willsy]

I know what color bond and all the metals are, i work with them every day, if you refereing to a shed as aluminuim when its steel :confused: they are total different metals. The "color paint" is sprayed on by the way.

[Richard]

If you know what Colorbond is and the elements that make it up, then why did you incorrectly correct me in saying it was "[plain] old steel". Plain old steel is an alloy made from iron and carbon, and often other minerals. Take that stuff, coat it in an aluminium/zinc alloy, then there's about three other layers added on top of this to make it as durable as it is. You've never heard any generic shed referred to as aluminium or tin when they're clearly not? I'd say it's quite a commonly used way to describe any shed made of a metal, however incorrect. When it comes to Colorbond, there's aluminium there, so I don't see what point your making. If it has to be pure aluminium to be called aluminium, then I guess you're wrong in saying it's steel, because it's definitely not pure steel. I made no mention of the paint, so I don't know where that last point came from.

[willsy]

i've never heard of any one calling a shed aluminuin, i have heard of "look at the old TIN shed. Color bond isnt really that duralble, once you scratch the paint of it . it just justs like ****. anyway

[scott]

god guys, just stick to the subject !

[Richard]

Thanks Scott. Nothing like helping us keep on track over a month after the discussion took place.

[Gazza]

Hey rich, do you have any pics from inside the ride? Oh and about the rides drop at the end, how big is it and what is with that "unique" lift you said about?

[Richard]

I don't have any pictures from inside - it's dark in there, and the park does have a somewhat bizarre (though understandable) "no camera flashes in the park" policy. It's pretty hard to describe if you've never ridden, but just picture some The drop is nothing more than maybe a storey or two tall. It's a gentle drop with a 90º turn to the left. The lift is unique in that it's an elevator - how many water/boat rides do you know that feature an elevator lift?

[Belgian]

how many water/boat rides do you know that feature an elevator lift?

I know 3. Both the Aussie and German Looney Tunes rides and the new Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld San Diego. Some indoor pictures of the German ride: http://www.wbmwguide.com/looney_tunes_adventure.htm

[Richard]

Well, given the German ride is a clone of ours, let's say that one doesn't count . Still, that's two/three in the world. Pretty darn unique I'd say. Looking at those pics, ours is pretty much the same. replace the medieval style theming with Australian wilderness and that's our ride. Even down to the Tunes sitting in around a mock movie set and Porky and Tweetie fishing in a later scene.

[MARK28]

The ride only has one drop, and the boat rolls down rails; it doesn't fall down a chute.

[Adam]

Does anyone know who made the ride?

[joz]

Judging by the similarity between the boats on Looney Tunes and Bermuda, one would suspect an in house job. Probably wouldn't be to far fetched to suggest some of the boats could have been old Lasseter's boats. The only difference is the lapbar thing on Looney Tunes, and that wouldn't have been that hard to install.