Superman escape review thread

[Morphix]

Ok, so I thought asap there would be a post ride discussion thread on SME but it appears theres nothing. So in this thread please post/link to any reviews or other information related to riding the ride.

[matty_o_911]

Well I went yesterday (27 December) and got about 8 rides on it. Verdict - the best ride I have ever been on (thus best in Australia). My review: Superman area/exterior theming - 8 out of 10 The area around the Superman ride I thought was very well done. The ride as it is is a very picturesque one to begin with - it couldn't have asked for a more perfect position in the park - and looks absolutely fantastic as you walk through the park's archway and past the fountain. Thus it is a great spectator ride like the Claw and Wipeout at Dreamworld and Wild West Falls at Movie World. The pathway connecting from the fountain to the Lethal Weapon area works really well and opens the park up a bit more - also allowing for being able to avoid the crowds in Main Street during the parade. Walking underneath the launch track and standing in the middle of the new plaza watching the ride move 360 degrees all around is great to watch. The holes in the walls of the show building in which the track enters and exits do look good with the black burn marks around them and then with then watching the train come flying out through the smoke does look good. However the mere fact that the buildings were not heavily themed is why I took a couple of points off in respect to the exterior visuals - sure the black hole and smoke looks good, but it is still a very bland white shed wall and the entrance area is nothing special. I really was hoping that they would have themed the exterior of the building to a building facade or Metropolis skyline - rather than leave it relatively unchanged. Overall, a good ride to watch and it does look very impressive from the outside. Queue and station - 9 out of 10 I was quite impressed by the queue and station - the primary reason for the 9 out of 10 rating was for the efficiency that the crowds were organised. I'm guessing once the crowds die down after the holidays, Movie World will reduce the staffing on the ride, but on a busy day like yesterday (where WWF was 30 minutes wait, Shrek 30 mins, Looney Tunes River Ride 30 mins, Lethal Weapon 40 mins, Scooby 1 hour) the most I waited during proper operation of Superman was about 15-20 minutes. (Except for the first ride I had in the morning when we were all buckled in and there must have been a problem with the second train because we where then let out and had to move into the queue again for another 20-30 mins and wait while the problem was sorted out - I was in the front row so I really wasn't going to leave and come back later. It was 20 minutes until I noticed the other train arrive back in the unload station so I'm guessing it may have had to have been evacuated in the pre-launch area.) On entering the queue - 2 staff were on hand to make it well known that no materials are to be taken at all onto the ride and that everything had to be left with a non-riding friend or paying $1 for a locker. The locker system while the cost isn't very good, works reasonably well - while the queue for getting in and out of lockers itself got long, it did mean that there was no time wasted in the loading process waiting for people to empty their pockets like on Lethal Weapon or anything else. (Though I did think it was a slightly strange idea to place the lockers there because for people to buy their onride photo or souvenirs in the gift shop, they have to walk back to the start of the queue to get their wallet from the lockers and back into the shop.) The first part of the queue - which rarely had very many people in it was just plain and white and boring - but further on the subway theming started. I quite liked the colours and the images on the walls. One problem with the queue was lack of fans/air-conditioning because yesterday was very hot and humid and it was dreadful standing in the queue for too long. Adding to the efficiency of the ride, as people reached the front of the queue - two to three ride ops were organising people into groups of four based upon which gate/car they would be in and getting families and groups of friends together and filling gaps with single riders before getting to the gates. This no doubt saved a lot of time. The 5 groups of 4 then proceeded up the ramp to the gates where the trains leaving/arriving can be seen on the platform beyond. Meanwhile, video screens in the queue are showing people dressed in formal outfits getting into the train - trying of course to continue the subway car theme. I thought this was of rather poor quality - the man talking was clearly filmed on a blue-screen and could easily have been filmed with a MRT banner behind him and avoiding the poor blending. Also when in the queue, the speakers have an occasional - "The city's engineers have reports of tremors in the subway" or something along these lines and it isn't all that bad. Moving onto the subway platform/station, the riders are quickly ushered into their seats and buckled up by 4-5 ride ops - getting the job done very quickly and efficiently and within just over a minute of entering the platform, the train begins to leave the station, which was generally well themed to a subway. What let me down slightly with the queue and I'll reinforce when I talk about the pre-launch section, is that there was no themed ceiling and the roof of the show building was clearly visible and it distracted from the feeling of being in a subway underground. Overall though, for the efficiency of loading and short wait times, the queue was handled very well. Pre-launch section/earthquake - 8 out of 10 (For those who don't wish to have this section spoiled for them before riding, skip this section - assuming anyone would be stupid enough to read this already novel length ride review.) After leaving the station, the track turns to the right and travels through the subway which is all you would expect it to be - themed concrete walls - that's about it really. As it starts out, there are relatively small cracks in the walls, and as the track progresses, the cracks get increasingly bigger as the earthquake intensifies. Having said that, there is no real earthquake that occurs - it is generally just the voiceover over the radio saying that the tremors are getting worse and to head to Metropolis Square Station. But from the right turn from the station, the track heads relatively straight along the subway track (in relation to the park this would be along the wall of the path heading from Main Street to Lethal Weapon). Along this section, pipes above (and my complaint about lack of ceiling still applies) break and steam is sprayed out over the train with warm droplets of water being felt on the riders. The ride then turns to the right again into a destroyed looking Metropolis Square station - on the right, steam is spraying everywhere and on the right, posters are swinging back and forth and lockers are shaking about with doors swinging open. The track turns to a 180 degree right turn (where the maintenance track can be seen below the fake wall) and on the left, water rushes down what looked like stairs. The track then does another 180 degree turn but this time to the left where two cars - a police car and a NYC taxi look as though they've fallen through from the street above. After the turn, the track straightens out where the launch is visible - over the speakers, it is being said that the subway is about to collapse. Superman then can be heard saying that he is coming to the rescue or something along those lines and push you out - this though I could only hear from the back of the train, when at the front I couldn’t hear a thing so I think another set of speakers need to be placed in that section. (If none of my description made much sense, the attachment at the bottom is a rough sketch in Paint of what the interior track layout was like). Overall, this was quite short, and without much real story too, and no real shaky earthquake scene. Nevertheless it did look quite good, and the advantage of it not being a long, drawn out sequence is that on subsequent rides it doesn't get boring. Thus I give it an 8 out of 10. The Launch - 9 out of 10 First of all, the launch had no theming whatsoever. What could be seen on the onride POV that was released on Supermanescape.com.au is exactly what it looks like in real life. When the train stops before the launch and you are sitting around the front, you can see the open space of a boring shed and that's about it. I was really hoping that it would be a launch out of an enclosed and dark tunnel, but nope. This though only gets 1 mark taken off out of 10 for me though, because the feeling of the acceleration of 0-100km/h in 2 seconds was really amazing and the smoke or whatever it is that is sprayed over the hole before the launch works well. Rest of the track 9 out of 10 Travelling at the high speed (which doesn't seem to drop much during the course of the ride) throughout the track was extremely good. Definitely the smoothest coaster I have ever been on. Going up and over the top hat was extremely fun, with a good view from the top (not that you have much time to admire it) and going over the crest and not being able to see the track at first adds to the excitement - and a nice bit of airtime in the process. The first fast banked curve was really good and going up over the first camel hump and experiencing the amazing airtime there was really fantastic, as was the quick trip in and out of the building once more. Another nice bit of airtime going over the second camel hump whilst at the same time ducking under the first camel hump was perfect. The still quick turn around and hill into the brake run were also really great. Overall, this was fantastic - the onride POV doesn't give the great feeling of actually being on the ride any credit. You go into the brake run and back into the station all excited with watery eyes and as everyone is quickly unloaded by a few ride ops and pointed out the door into the store, the excited passengers can be heard all around. While the fast section of the ride itself was perfect, the only disadvantage was the time - the whole ride is over in such a short period of time (and so at least the queues aren't long so that multiple rides can be had). Overall Average rating based on scores above: 8.6 out of 10. Overall the ride was the best in the park, and the best on the Gold Coast. Whoever it was at Movie World who came up with this idea and all those involved in making it have done a fantastic job and all deserve pay rises. This ride seemed very popular yesterday, and will continue to do so for a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend everyone here get there sometime and ride this - you won't regret it. And even though my average rating based upon a relatively critical analysis of the ride was 8.6 - I still feeling like giving it a 10 out of 10 overall. And by the way - sorry for this extremely long post – anyone who even bothers to take the time to read this clearly doesn't have a life, lol. (Attachment below is a rough sketch of the interior track layout of Superman Escape)

Edited December 28, 2005 by matty_o_911

[righty]

Great Review!! Its good to get a decent discription of it all for someone like me stuck in S.A and it will be a while before i get to ride the sucker! I wish we had a park here i would take any park!!!

[dreamworld_rulz]

That's a great review. I didn't read the earth quake bit as i want to find out in Feb.But other than that it wa great? Just one Q. Are the lockers $1 for the whole day or do you have to pay every time you ride SE?

[Morphix]

Are the lockers $1 for the whole day or do you have to pay every time you ride SE?

It would be for the ride its self and everytime you ride since im pretty sure the themepark has proper hire all day lockers else where.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I knew it was a stupid Q but had to ask anyway.

[obstructure1208]

OK well I probably won't write a review quite as big as that because it has all the spoilers for the ride. I rode the ride on December 26 (Boxing Day) and was within the first handful of rides for the public. I also rode it today (December 28). I will list the things which I thought were positives and negatives: Positives: The ride is a lot of fun and is terrific in comparison to other rides available in Australia. Once you have removed all of your loose articles, it makes the ride cycle time so much quicker. The area outside is a nice area for people to sit and watch the ride while they wait for children/friends etc to ride. There was an enormous amount of staff. If anything, I thought the ride was over staffed because some were standing there with nothing really to do. There was 2 people at the door, 2 people inside loading people to the doors, 4 inside the load, and I think there was between 2-4 at the unload, with less being there today. Negatives: As said in the above review, the theming is very good, however the roof really needed to be closed in at least, with some fans or air conditioners. Not only were the public hot but the staff were saturated in sweat, and this really is untidy and unappealing to the public. In an attraction of this nature, surely that could've been addressed a little better. No queue line entertainment - OK so I am being a bit picky here, but when the ride breaks down, or on busy days, Movie World is generally pretty good in this field, but they have missed this area. 140cm minimum height to ride is of course all they can handle, but I know there will be lots of families turning up with children between 120-140cm who are unable to ride. Not a problem of mine, but I can see it causing problems. OK I will stop nit picking and really get to my biggest disappointment. On arrival, the staff made sure that everybodies loose articles went into the lockers. The lockers require a payment of $1 and this entitles you to 1 hour of storage. After this one hour expires, you are charged a $6 fee to unlock your items. This is in place to ensure that people don't use this as an all day locker hire thing. That is fine, the main concerns for me with this sytem (although it does reduce load/unload time) are: 1. If the queue is long, or the ride breaks down, there is a strong possibility that your ride will cost you an additional $6, on top of the theoretical $62 you pay to enter the park. 2. (And this is what happened to me) On the first 'public' breakdown of the ride, the staff were encountered with a serious problem which will need some tweaking and re-evaluation. Because I have worked in theme parks in the past, I could give my opinion on other strategies which have worked at other parks. After purchasing a locker and waiting for the ride, it broke down at the launch and we were manually released from the harnesses and exited. At this point in time, the ride operators told us 'you need to line up again at the back of the line because that is the parks' policy." - Bad move.. In any other scenario, I may have accepted that, but if you pay to enter the park and line up, you SHOULD be next in line if the ride breaks down because that isn't counted as a turn, particularly in busy periods. Anyway, what then happened was people complained because in this event, being the first morning of it open, the queue was rather long and there was a strong possibility that after the ride was 'fixed' and operational again, AND after queueing up like we were told to, that our 1hr would expire and we would be required to pay more money just because we were 'unlucky' enough to be on it when it broke down. At this stage I was understanding of the dillemma and could sympathise with the staff because it was teething problems, and they could only do what they were instructed to do, but still, I think this potentially could be a major problem that they could frequently encounter during these holidays and in the future. Perhaps some of the people who work at Movie World could provide some input on this issue because it is difficult on the operators who are 1. Working in a sweatshop with no fans and 2. Only doing what they are instructed to do.

[jordang]

I knew it was a stupid Q but had to ask anyway.

Nope - i didn't think it was a stupid question.. i'm quite surprised by this. My mates and i are all looking forward to going on it... so there won't be a "designated bag holder"... so thats going to cost us!

[dreamworld_rulz]

Nope - i didn't think it was a stupid question.. i'm quite surprised by this. My mates and i are all looking forward to going on it... so there won't be a "designated bag holder"... so thats going to cost us!

If your going with a few mates and will be spending the whole day there perhaps you could split the cost of hiring a locker. That way you can put all of your stuff in a locker and not worry about getting your gear off b4 boarding any rides. I can't remember how much they cost but i think it was about $6 for the day with unlimited re-entry.

[willsy]

What a joke about the lockers. They up the gate price to $62 then they charge you more because you have loose items. I can see people will get pissed off with paying money each time to store there loose items and end up just taking them on the ride with them, then causeing and accident or something. So if your at MW by your self and just have your phone and wallet and a 600ml drink bottle, whats the point in getting a allday locker? No way i would be leaving my wallet or phone in a locker. Movie world SHOULD be made to provide "bins" to put your loose items in while you ride.

[jordang]

If your going with a few mates and will be spending the whole day there perhaps you could split the cost of hiring a locker. That way you can put all of your stuff in a locker and not worry about getting your gear off b4 boarding any rides. I can't remember how much they cost but i think it was about $6 for the day with unlimited re-entry.

the problem being, is that if I bring stuff in to the park - generally i want to use it. like willsy said, bottle of water - camera... all stuff people will be carrying around. This is just greed, and this level of greed will definitely tarnish people's opinion of the park. Very sad.

[dreamworld_rulz]

What a joke about the lockers. They up the gate price to $62 then they charge you more because you have loose items. I can see people will get pissed off with paying money each time to store there loose items and end up just taking them on the ride with them, then causeing and accident or something. So if your at MW by your self and just have your phone and wallet and a 600ml drink bottle, whats the point in getting a allday locker? No way i would be leaving my wallet or phone in a locker. Movie world SHOULD be made to provide "bins" to put your loose items in while you ride.

the problem being, is that if I bring stuff in to the park - generally i want to use it. like willsy said, bottle of water - camera... all stuff people will be carrying around. This is just greed, and this level of greed will definitely tarnish people's opinion of the park. Very sad.

I can understand your concerns as i've had probs leaving my stuff and to pay $ just for a bum bag and those drink bottles with string it's just a pain. You spend more time comming and going to the lockers than you do waiting in the ride queues.

[fitzgerp19]

I went on the ride on the 26th (got back from the Gold Coast late last night) and it is a fantastic ride. I think the above in depth reviews convey most of what I feel. I just love how it keeps the speed up for most of the ride, and the way you get lifted out of your seat. Fantastic.

[LunaParkFanatic]

What a joke about the lockers. They up the gate price to $62 then they charge you more because you have loose items. I can see people will get pissed off with paying money each time to store there loose items and end up just taking them on the ride with them, then causeing and accident or something. So if your at MW by your self and just have your phone and wallet and a 600ml drink bottle, whats the point in getting a allday locker? No way i would be leaving my wallet or phone in a locker. Movie world SHOULD be made to provide "bins" to put your loose items in while you ride.

Well i'd rather put my stuff in a locker then those "bins". My reason: When they're in the locker they are locked in, but having them in the "bins" a staff member or anyone else could just take em' out. So they have there ups and downs.

[dreamworld_rulz]

Well i'd rather put my stuff in a locker then those "bins". My reason: When they're in the locker they are locked in, but having them in the "bins" a staff member or anyone else could just take em' out. So they have there ups and downs.

Great point Earlier this year my sisters and i went on Lethal Weapon they had 2 trains going. When we got back a lady was cheesed off coz someone stole her video camera that was in one of the boxes.

[willsy]

Yeah but having to pay extra $$$ for them ain't on.

[Slick]

Lol, some of you guys are seriously whacked out. How many top grade australian park employees would risk their own job for something like a cheap ass phone or camera? I can understand maybe the local general public from the area (you know what suburbs) but I mean an employee? Out of the ENTIRE time that I have been to say Dreamworld for example and left a bag filled with 2k's worth of camera equipment have I never had a stolen article. From Wipeout to Cyclone, never has an employee or even a guest taken anything from my bags. I still totally agree with willsy here though, paying money to stick your items in a locker when the other parks have built better item management systems for rides FOR FREE seems rediculous to me. Maybe have outside a daily locker hire area on top of a Wipeout-esque system for item storage would be feasible, then again, they wouldn't want to "copy" anything from Dreamworld huh?

[Gazza]

Well, If people are annoyed about the locker system then they should fill out the comments thing in the "contact" part of the MW website, i did and the next day i was sent a reply with a phone number to ring (They also said they could ring me if i provided my phone number) because they wished to discuss my email. I obliged and rang, where i told them what i thought politely. The reply i got was that the reason they had to charge was to stop people from using them all day, to which i said that there could be a deposit system where you got the dollar back if you came back in the hour, but the normal charge would apply outside this. She actually agreed that the charge was a bad thing, and recognised the fact people would find it difficult to buy stuff at the shop but said the system worked well for the ride, to which i said "it may work well, but people arent happy with it". I suggested the idea of a rotating storage unit in a hole between the two stations, and she said that it was a good idea she would pass that on. I was rather pleased that they were willing to listen and acknowledged my concerns. So if you arent happy with it, just send a polite message outlining your concerns and prehaps we might see a free item storage system installed. At least that way you have a choice and the majority of park guests who only carry the basics (Phone, Wallet, Sunnies, Camera) dont have to rent one.

Edited December 30, 2005 by Gazza

[Slick]

Aha, my ideas do rock huh? Nah, nice work Gazza.

[Nebuchanezzar]

2. (And this is what happened to me) On the first 'public' breakdown of the ride, the staff were encountered with a serious problem which will need some tweaking and re-evaluation. Because I have worked in theme parks in the past, I could give my opinion on other strategies which have worked at other parks. After purchasing a locker and waiting for the ride, it broke down at the launch and we were manually released from the harnesses and exited. At this point in time, the ride operators told us 'you need to line up again at the back of the line because that is the parks' policy." - Bad move.. In any other scenario, I may have accepted that, but if you pay to enter the park and line up, you SHOULD be next in line if the ride breaks down because that isn't counted as a turn, particularly in busy periods. Anyway, what then happened was people complained because in this event, being the first morning of it open, the queue was rather long and there was a strong possibility that after the ride was 'fixed' and operational again, AND after queueing up like we were told to, that our 1hr would expire and we would be required to pay more money just because we were 'unlucky' enough to be on it when it broke down. At this stage I was understanding of the dillemma and could sympathise with the staff because it was teething problems, and they could only do what they were instructed to do, but still, I think this potentially could be a major problem that they could frequently encounter during these holidays and in the future.

That's freaking ridiculous. In any event where there is a breakdown and you've been forced to exit the ride without having a full go you should be fully entitled to get a ride the instant they get it back up and running. This Movieworld policy is bullocks. I really can't see too much of the entry-fee paying public standing for that, and I believe they'll have a lot of unhappy, peeved off customers if they keep that "rule" up and running.

[joz]

I don't think Wipeout's system is right for Superman, the wall between load and unload simply isn't long enough for such a system, don't forget that you would also need storage space for 3 groups of people, not 2 like Wipeout (two groups that are on the ride, and the one that is behind the gates at the station). It would also clog up the unload station with people grabbing their stuff, slowing things down again. I think the ultimate, workable, solution would be:

"there could be a deposit system where you got the dollar back if you came back in the hour, but the normal charge would apply outside this”

. I'm not sure if the lockers can be programmed in such a way, but I think that should be investigated.

[bigglesworth003]

They Should have the same Locker system Grizzly River Rapids at Disney's California Adventure Has, Lockers are free for the first hour. I you don't come back within that hour, it locks you out till you pay the appropriate fee. How easy is that, a complete no brainer and fair. Just sounds like MW wants some more money.

[Gazza]

Yeah, the free for the 1st hour idea would work the best since those electronic lockers could be programmed in any way you wanted and it would not require anything complex, just a person to come out with their laptop and hook it up. Any chance of you passing that on when you are at MW joz?

[nev]

Back on topic, I had the pleasure of visiting MW today and riding Superman. The ride was closed for the first half hour with Channel 10 filming on the ride. Kinda sucked, but when you're the second person in the queue it didn't matter cause I got on the first train of the day anyway! This review contains spoilers, so if you're wanting the full experience, be a good person and look away now. The OTSRs are the best of a bad situation - the only part of the restraint that actually makes contact with you at any time during the ride is the lap bar part - much like the other larger brothers of Superman I'm told. The restraints are in no way restrictive, and I don't think I ever touched the shoulder parts at any time during the ride. The queue area was handled well - there's a few temporary air con units in there at the moment which is a great idea. The loose items rule is being enforced to the point where if a staff member even sees an outline of something in your pockets you are refused entry and directed to the lockers. While I'm not going to re-hash the locker debate, they're not well thought out, break down frequently and the $1 thing sucks too. I came back to ride a few times during the day and ended up spending about $5 on locker hire - not much but still a pain finding change and remembering you have to be back within an hour to get your stuff out. Load times are pretty good - they were running 2 trains, with a train leaving the station every 90 seconds. This, coupled with a queue that rarely reached the exit of the building (even today during school holidays) meant my longest wait was about 20 mins. By 2pm however, the queue disappeared and I was walking on for the rest of the afternoon. Onto the actual ride - I felt the initial themeing was sub Scooby to put it simply - while there are some great ideas (the water, station, police cars) it just feels incomplete with no roof, concrete floors and lots of empty space with randomly and very visually placed subs all over the place. The arrival of Superman is pretty lame (I'm a lighting guy and one rotating gobo doesn't do much for me) but the fun really starts from here on in. I will say however I was suprised at how long the pre-launch experience is - it's probably comparable to the length of the pre-elevator part of Scooby. There's a good few 'rooms' that you go through, and the audio is excellent with the building nothing short of shaking as you move through the earthquake scenes. The launch is unbelievable - ripping up the straight and through the cloud of mist is something I'm never going to get tired of. The ride crests the main hill at a pretty slow pace, but it's still damn exciting to experience. If you're riding in the back, you get sucked over the top, but if you're riding in the front, you get thrown down into the first hill - try riding everywhere - each seat gives you a different but equally as good experience! The drop into the first turn is intense, and if you do get a chance to look around you realise you actually are pretty high up - more than enough to give you those first drop stomach sensations! From the bottom of the drop, you do a sharp turn at ground level and rip up over the first camelback, getting literally sucked out of your seat with the airtime. As I said, with only the lap bar holding you in, it's a fantastic experience. Down the camelback the train careens back into the building through a hole which makes you realise why there is a height limit on the ride There's more smoke on the building entry and exit, which adds to the disorientation. The second camelback is just as good as the first, with heaps of airtime. After that, its back down to the ground for another ground hugging 180 degree turn, a small hill, and down into the final break run. The entire coaster is smooth as glass and quiet - in fact the loudest thing you'll hear is the mist / smoke cannons at the building exits. All in all, it's easy to say that Superman is by far the best roller coaster experience in Australia. Sure, I've been on bigger, faster, longer, more intense things oversees, but STE really gives you the best of both worlds - think of an adult Scooby Doo experience and you're well on the way. So, with the lack of queues I found in January, don't hold off going to MovieWorld - I was dreading hour long queues but found nothing but fast moving queues, if they existed at all. The abridged version: What rocks: - The entire fast bit of the ride - The non-restrictive harnesses - The quick turn around of trains - The unique layout that makes the most of the site What doesn't rock so much: - Lockers - Unfinished feel of internal theming Get off your butts and go ride this roller coaster, regardless of cost or nagging parents! Cheers Richard

[GoGoBoy]

The place should be packed with a ride like this. I wonder if crowds are down on what they were expecting