I'm going to sydney soon and I'm making sure Luna Park is on my list of things to do.. but before I go up there I'm heading to St Kilda first... Melbourne's Luna park recently got upgraded a year or so ago and I still havn't gotten off my ass to go there so I'm going there next week, and I hear Sydney's Luna park has some brand new attractions... so Which one is better and why?

I Like Melbourne's better its still wrapped by the scenic railway, which is a great piece of rollercoaster history. But lets face it there both pretty crap.

Sydney is pretty crappy, Not much there and for the ride price not really worth it (only wild mouse is fun for a couple rides) And when i was there the ride ops/attends were pretty rude. Anyway hope you have a better time there.

You are really going to get mixed reactions about the two parks.... Ive been to Melbourne's Luna Park many times, and I visited Sydney's Luna Park in April 2004, during my visit to Sydney for the Royal Easter Show (which was soo amazing, im going back in 06) I liked Sydney's park for the classic HUSS rides, my favourite ride company in the world. I love seeing the Ranger (which I hadn't seen in action, since about 1990) and seeing the Troika and UFO for the first time in person. I don't really like how the rides have been placed...it feels as if the placing on Ranger and Breakdance were very last minute... Melbourne's Luna Park has a good historic feel... probably wont after Lyndsey Fox and his people have done the place up...which is looking to be exciting. The Scenic Railway, is a great historic piece of rollercoaster history....no matter how bumpy it is, its still good to have. The enterprise is the only existing HUSS ride at the park... Overall.. the two parks have their pro's and cons... really its up to you how you view the park, you can take opinions from other people, but I think both parks are basically on the same level.....even though Sydney have the larger amount of Huss rides. Chris

And when i was there the ride ops/attends were pretty rude.

I especially hate the Indian Wild Mouse Operator!

Well, lets see. Melbourne Coasters: Scenic Railway (A.C.E Classic, BTW), Metropolis and Silly Serpent. Sydney Coasters: Mad Mouse Melbourne Flat Rides that go Upside down: Enterprise, Pharos Curse. Sydney: Enterprise, Ranger Melbourne other Rides: Spider RIde, Swinging Ship, Dodgems, Michael Jackson Simulator, Ferris Wheel, Ghost Train, G-Force, Frog Hopper, Dumbo Elephants Ride, Other juniour rides., Caurosel. Sydney Other Rides: Coney Island Midway ( Fun-house type rides), Dodgems, Tumble Bug, Rotor, Spider, Ferris Wheel, Tango Train, Carousel, Other little Kid Rides. I would say Melbourne. But i guess i am from Melbourne, So i am a bit biassed.

Ill say melbourne because the focus is still on being a fun park, and not function centre like LPS has become, and also becuase of the historic rides. So has there actually been any news yet on the re_vamp of LPM by Lindsay Fox?

Well, it was almost a year ago that he actually purchased the park, and still hasnt done anything with it to this day. I'd say he'll wait a few years and then knock it down.

No can do, its heratiage listed remember. he may be a buisnessman, but i wouldnt be that pessemistic about him.

I liked Sydney's park for the classic HUSS rides

MMM sounds about as good as my "classic datsun 200B" Face it dude these are all crap carny rides!

No can do, its heratiage listed remember. he may be a buisnessman, but i wouldnt be that pessemistic about him.

Well, it will be very interesting to see what he does (if anything) to LPM in the future. Hopefully he'll decide to rip down Metropolis and build a new coaster there (wishful thinking). On a completely unrelated topic, does anyone know whats going on with the Docklands ferris wheel? Just wondering when construction will begin...

I wonder if we will ever see a Luna Park Brisbane or Adelaide etc. Probably extremely unlikely though, and I s'pose we don't need another lot of carnival rides.

I dont think there would be any point in opening a Luna Park in Brisbane, why would people pay heaps for a crappy carny ride when they can go to a world class amusement park 40 minutes away at the Gold Coast? As for Adelaide, there used to be a Luna Park there a looooooong time ago, but it was relocated to make what we now know as Luna Park Sydney.

Even though I live in Sydney, I'd have to say and admit that LPS is really crap compared to LPM....

LPS has a new ad on the TV advertising the upcoming school holiday 'carnival' with a circus theme. They proudly advertise "4 NEW RIDES!" which makes the park sound like they are investing in some serious new equipment. Those of us in the know are ofcourse aware that they will just bring in some more portable carnival rides temporarily (some truly crappy favourites such as the Dominator and Chair-o-plane)

I don't care what anyone says. As much as I hate Sydney, Luna Park Sydney is my utter favourite, and it really craps all over LPM. Sure, it has more history still intact, however the overall presentation of the park is utterly crap.

After visiting LPM recently I have to say, it really is...well...crap. It's basically a sea of asphalt and second-rate carnival rides, and on top of that, it's $7 just for one ride ticket. $7! Also, when I went, the Scenic Railway wasn't even in operation! On school holidays! No wonder the place was deserted; poor operations, horrible scenery, and outrageous prices! Although LPS isn't that much better, at least they have a nice view of the harbour.

After visiting LPM recently I have to say, it really is...well...crap. It's basically a sea of asphalt and second-rate carnival rides, and on top of that, it's $7 just for one ride ticket. $7! Also, when I went, the Scenic Railway wasn't even in operation! On school holidays! No wonder the place was deserted; poor operations, horrible scenery, and outrageous prices! Although LPS isn't that much better, at least they have a nice view of the harbour.

If you go on the Ferris wheel you can get a great view of St Kilda. I prefer LPM it has better rides. I'll be there tomorrow taking pics and vids for Tony Teulan.

The thing I can't stand about these Luna Park convo's is how much negativity in it. I think you have to accept these parks for what they are, which is small, carnival style parks. These aren't theme parks, these are small parks, with rides packed in more or less where ever they'll fit. Its more like a year round Easter show then a theme park, and I think you need to view the park as that when you go. I think Aussie World is much the same except with a bush setting, and I really like that place, even if it hasn't got the themeing and whatever. Personally I have only been to LPS, and while I'll take a Gold Coast park anyday, I did find it to be a pleasent park with a nice view and more rides then I expected. From what I see of LPM, its more of the same, with a bit less in the scenery department. As for the $7 a ticket thing, well its $34 for an unlimited pass, which isn't quite 5 tickets, and also cheaper then Sydney ($39).

The thing I can't stand about these Luna Park convo's is how much negativity in it. I think you have to accept these parks for what they are, which is small, carnival style parks. These aren't theme parks, these are small parks, with rides packed in more or less where ever they'll fit. Its more like a year round Easter show then a theme park, and I think you need to view the park as that when you go.

joz I have to say I completely disagree with this statement (not something I find myself doing often with you). When the Luna Park's were originally built they were never designed to be 'small carnival style parks'. They were designed to make guests feel like they had been transported into another world. The rides and attractions were incredibly unique and had massive amounts of care put into their presentation. The facades and artwork turned the parks into a fantasy land. Immersive dark rides like the Ghost Train (particularly Sydney's much larger version) and River Caves helped with this effect. Even the Big Dipper's were custom built to fit into the park. The Luna Park's only became 'year round Easter shows' in recent years. But it is not a good thing and I don't think it is acceptable. However I think most of the general public has forgotten what the Luna Park's originally were and share your own viewpoint about them. This is why the parks are allowed to get away with such crap. Neither of them have anything near the original spirit. It was looking promising for a while there that Lindsay Fox might atleast restore LPM to its former glory but now I'm not so sure

I agree to some degree, but the shift in the parks has been going on for 30 odd years now, and it seems only very recently that the parks have even acknowledged that they have heritage significance. Also, even back in the early days there were side shows, spin and spews and whatnot, the only difference is the care that has gone into the presentation, and the thing about that is that that’s kind of an everywhere thing. No where really does the ornate intricate presentation (be it theme parks or just in general architecture), and I don’t think modern audiences really care enough for it to be an issue. Not saying I'm a huge fan of lack of attention to detail, but it does seem to be pretty much a fact of life now. Another point I can’t help but agree on though is the lack of a dark ride these days (and for this I am purposly ignoring LPM's haunted house). Something along the lines of the River Caves would be brilliant for either park, and I’m sure it’s possible to design a show building that you can put rides on top of. Having said that, even though neither park is anything like what it started as I still think they’re not as bad as they’re made out to be. The Luna Park’s have kind of “evolved” into what they are today, which I think is perfectly acceptable. If our parks didn’t evolve SW would look more like the (now closed) Cable Ski World, DW would still be a cheap Disneyland rip-off, and MW still wouldn’t have any decent thrill rides. True, perhaps in Luna Park’s case it possibly has gone in the “wrong” direction, but I’m not sure if the whole “escape to another world” thing has the same legs it used too. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to try out the old Luna Parks (as in 1950's or earlier) but I don't think as they are now is that bad.

LPM use to be sooo good in the early 1990's..we use to go there every weekend..when they had the membership thing..you would just get your hand stamped and could ride as many ride's as you wanted..my sister and I went on the Dragon (now silly searpant) sooo many times..it was our fav ride..still is, the scenic railway wasn't as rough, the ferris wheel wasn't so run down and seemed soo much better than it does now..now it just seems small, the dodgem cars was alot better (the track was bigger)..I just think now it's a bit run down but I prefer it over LPS. When we went to LPS I only went on two rides the ferris wheel and the Tonga Train and I paid for a unlimited pass..at LPM I go on all of the rides (cept the kiddie ones) at least 5 times. I do wish they had a rollercoaster or something more updated than the scenic railway but it's not as bad as LPS imo...nothing could be as bad as LPS. joz, LPM doesn't have a haunted house..they have a ghost train...or were you talking about an old ride?

And guess what Luna Park Sydney has done now - if you want to go on the 'extra' rides they bring in for the holidays you have to buy a Mega Pass which is $49. So now you are paying almost as much as the Gold Coast theme parks to ride a small collection of the crappiest, most poorly presented ex-carnival rides around. A print ad for Luna Park in the paper advertises the cost as ONLY $6! Quite misleading as this only includes access to a circus show and circus school (whatever that is). But you'll need to pay an extra $43 to go on the rides

I guess that makes LPM more value for money.