Superman escape review thread

[lisalila]

Was that the tall bloke with the fo-hawk?

Yeah that's him, so funny.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I'm getting very excited as this time tomorow i'll be on SE. I just hope that my Virginblue plane lands ontime. SE here i come.

[Spotty]

I trust you will enjoy it, I may go down for a hour or so after school tomorrow.

[kennykoala]

superman was a one train operation today, i got there at 1-20 and had 4 rides with empty seats everytime.

[Spotty]

Superman has been 1 train op for a few weeks now, sadly, the capacity has dropped a bit because of this, it was great when the lines were constantly moving, at times when 1 train was being used I waited over 30 mins but it is still a awesomeness ride

[tom]

I was at Movie World on the 11th of Feb and they were running two trains, but about half wau through the day they took one train off and only ran one. Has anyone seen two trains running since then??

[Spotty]

I was at Movie World on the 11th of Feb and they were running two trains, but about half wau through the day they took one train off and only ran one. Has anyone seen two trains running since then??

Tom, I went on the 14th of Febuary and they were only running 1 train, But on the saturday, they had 2 trains, but halfway through the day, the locked 1 train up untill it got busy at about 3:00. So sunday must have been the last day for 2 train op.

[tom]

Im guessing one of the trains is malfunctioning. It was busy the day I was there and then they suddenly stopped using one of the trains... I mean the lines werent huge, but it was anoying because they didnt move as quickly as it did with two trains. Weird... Anyway, i'll be there on the 10th again! Lets see whats happening then, and then again when RC.com goes up on the 18th. Oh by the way, I shot some footage of Superman last time I was up there, and I've sent it to Richard. So that footage should be on the website once he gets the CD I sent. (If anyone is interested in seeing it. Its BASIC! LOL!!!)

Edited February 27, 2006 by tom

[Gazza]

I wonder why they didnt design the ride to operate as well with one train. If 2 trains are going its well and good because one lot or riders can be unloading as another lot loads, but when the ride is running one train the passengers unload, but then there is a delay as the train rolls foward into the loading area. IMO the ride should have been designed so that during one train operation the ride can be flush loaded rather than using both stations. But its a bit late now because the shop would have needed to be built on the other side so the ride could have been run like this.

[Spotty]

One of the trains may have malfunctioned, but that is why they have a 3rd one So that may or may not have been the case.

[tom]

Oh I didnt relise there was a third train! Oh ok, maybe they just decided to stop running it then... Lol strange!

[Spotty]

The ride can only run 2 trains due to block sections, but when 1 train stuffs up they have a backup. The transfer is just after the subway and before the tank blows.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I've just returned from the GC and they had 1 train going the whole time i was there. It was bloody pathetic the line up was shocking. After waiting 45mins my sisters were next then it broke down. I complained about running 1 train and the lady said that they run 1 train to cut costs. Well MW if you can afford 12mil for a ride you can afford to run 2 trains. Anyways SE is a great ride and you get good air time. The front row rocks. Just one more thing. what are they doing at China Town between Scooby and Lethal? That area was blocked off so we had to walk right around.

[lisalila]

When I was there on Jan 27th I so enjoyed the two trains going because I got 5 rides in the hour I had the locker for and I was there on Feb 23rd and Feb 26th and the line up was just shocking..I was in line and had just lined up when it was announced that the ride had broken down and could take half an hour - and hour to fix..I dont know where it broke down since it was going when I walked through the entrance but they got it up and working within 10 mins so that was alright. The front is really awesome..great views but the red part of the harness' need to go - they left bruises on my arms when I came out of the seat while holding them up..are they really needed? I had a ride with one of the girls that was working the ride that day because she was knocking off and wanted a ride on it and she told me the same thing dreamworld said, they dont want to spend more money than they "have to" on it which is very sad because the ride does have the potential to become the best in Australia..they just need to fix the line up time..if they paid for 2/3 trains than bloody use them.

[Spotty]

The 2nd train is mainly for peak times, And the 3rd train is a backup train in case one breaks, I hope they realise soon that the 2nd train is needed, and if it turns out to be quiet do what they did one time, and lock 1 train up untill it is busy again, it worked real well. I also agree, if they can afford to spend 12 Mill on the ride, they can afford to use 2 trains, it cant be that much more expensive, and it is Also investing in the General Publics Happiness if they don't have to wait ages, it is designed the way it is (Station Design) To be efficient, and make lines shorter, this however doesn't really work with only 1 train. When you are used to 2 Train operation, and you get there to find it is 1 train operation after you have lined up, you Really do notice that the line moves ALOT slower, the ride is still efficent, but the 2nd train is really needed, and As I have said before, if it does turn out to be quiet, lock down 1 train untill it gets busy again in the afternoon. That is fine by me

[Richard]

From a blocking perspective, this ride could operate at least three trains, but it wouldn't add to the capacity of the ride. Fact is, it's a ride that is designed to operate two trains, and no less. If two-train operation is only for peak times, then why invest in a two-station system? Peak season is around a quarter of the year. Are guests in the other three quarters of the year just expected to put up with inefficiency from the system because they're trying to save money? There really is nothing quite like telling a paying customer who has waited 45 minutes - an inexcusably long waiting time for any ride capable of higher capacity - that they're trying to save money by only running one train. So much for customer service. The first place I'd go to save money would be remove the ridiculous locker system. With a properly thought out belongings storage system, they could do away with one attendant (two on busy days). Over the period of a month this saving would easily outweight the savings of only operating one train. The real problem - and this goes with theming just as much as it does efficiency - is that once it's in place, that's it. Nine times out of ten they won't come back to fix shortcomings because it's done and paid for. The advertising programme has been a success and the ride has done its job. Very rarely is there anything that can be done post-installation that is actually value-adding, especially when it comes to theming.

[lisalila]

The 2nd train is mainly for peak times, And the 3rd train is a backup train in case one breaks, I hope they realise soon that the 2nd train is needed, and if it turns out to be quiet do what they did one time, and lock 1 train up untill it is busy again, it worked real well. I also agree, if they can afford to spend 12 Mill on the ride, they can afford to use 2 trains, it cant be that much more expensive, and it is Also investing in the General Publics Happiness if they don't have to wait ages, it is designed the way it is (Station Design) To be efficient, and make lines shorter, this however doesn't really work with only 1 train. When you are used to 2 Train operation, and you get there to find it is 1 train operation after you have lined up, you Really do notice that the line moves ALOT slower, the ride is still efficent, but the 2nd train is really needed, and As I have said before, if it does turn out to be quiet, lock down 1 train untill it gets busy again in the afternoon. That is fine by me

Well I dont know what they consider peak times but at one point during the day the line up was way down where the lockers were and they actually closed the ride to anyone who wanted to join the line because it was so long. The ride operates SOOO well with two trains, costs or no costs people don't pay $60 to stand in line for hours. Lethal Weapon did better than Superman..was only in line for at least 10 mins before we got on compared to the 15-45 mins for Superman and Superman only goes for like a minute or just under. The line isn't THAT bad..I guess it could be worse and it's def not the worst in the park it's just stupid they have 2 trains that they could use but don't because they wanna save costs. The lady I went on the ride with said that she is sick of how long the line get's and how long it takes to get the ride going when there is only one train and why does the person doing the line up also help with the loading of the train? I found that to make the line up take even longer.

[kennykoala]

i noticed that the other day also, that the ride op at the load gates also comes in an now checks harness on her side of the platform. However, you dont need to man the thing like it was when it was in it's first mth of operation either, they had 2/3 ppl at the ride entrance, 2 ppl at the station doors, another 2/3 ppl on the station platfom...about 5 pp in the contol room +maintance/techs, and 2 ppl at the ride unload (1 either side). Thats excessive.

[Spotty]

But, it worked REAL well, In Peak times the longest I waited for Superman was 15 mins, 45 with a Ride Stop, Whereas Lethal Weapon was 1 hour waits, Scooby 55 Mins, And Wild West almost 2 hours, it worked real well. And I hope they put the other train on again soon.

[Superman escape]

On new years eve the line was 10 minutes max.

[Dylaan]

Sounds agonising but not too bad! I would like to try it but I don't have an annual pass!

[Spotty]

I know, me and my cousin were there, I think I saw you at around 11:00 in the morning, you were the guy in the superman shirt right??? And Yes WnW You Should get a Annual Pass. it is 100% Worth It!!!

[Gazza]

I think they need to just be smarter about the staffing. Have only one person on the lockers and nobody inspecting at the front of the queue. Instead have this done as a secondary duty by the ops in the station, they would only check if there is a problem. Also, have only one person working the unload station since they dont do much anyway. Then just have the required numbers of ops in the loading station and the control room. Also, when i asked why they didnt have a pass through item storage system i was told that they decided against it because it would slow thing too much. Its a bit ludicrous that now they are choosing to limit the rides efficency by running one train. IMO, the only times one train should be used is on non holiday weekdays or if its so quiet LW is running one train. But i think a solution could be to have an exit in the loading station (that would come out on the path between superman and chinatown )so they can flush load rather than loading, rolling foward and unloading (which wastes time). The problem with this is riders would exit away from the shop which could limits its sales. But on another note, what is this bull about WWF having 2 hr waits, i joined the line when the entire queue house was pretty full and i waited about 20 mins, even if there were twice the crowds and the lines were out of the building into the wild west area the wait would not reach two hours. Ive told you once, ive told you a million times, dont exaggerate.

[lisalila]

When I went in Jan I went to go on WWF but the line up was out the door and I was leaving in 10 mins so I didn't bother waiting but this family came out from the exit as I was walking past and I asked how long they had waited and they said they were actually right out the door but had only waited half an hour to get on the ride which considering how long the line would have been was really good. I think Lethel Weapon is the longest wait on most days..since there is only one load/unload station and some of the ride op's take freaking forever to get it going. On Sunday they had two people on; one was in the control room who also did the line up and the other guy was telling everyone to make sure they have no loose items and was checking the harness' but they closed the ride for 5 mins or so because two people lost their stuff somehow and the guy was like "we're waiting for clearence" and we're like "why the heck do you need clearence?" it's so frustrating when they don't tell you what is taking so long and I know most of the time they don't know why but he could have told us what happend instead of leaving us hanging like that. Any way back on the superman topic I just think that if they PAID for two trains than they should use them otherwise it's just a waste of our precious money and yes I say our money because in the end it's our money WVTP is spending. But as I said I guess it could be worse..15mins-an hour isnt so bad but for a ride that only goes for less than a minute it's just nuts and the ride op thing get's on your nerves so easily. At one stage there were three ride op's working the que line and the ride but they were only working one at a time..like ride op A would do the que line than ride op B would do the que line while ride op A was checking harness' and than ride op C did the que line while ride op B "controlled" the train and ride op A checked harness' and that worked really well because there was three of them and than all of a sudden they went back to one person do it all on thier own which really slowed thing's down. Ohh Gazza, the only time I've seen LW run two trains was during the school holiday's every other time I've gone up there during non SH it's only ran one train.

Edited March 3, 2006 by lisalila

[Spotty]

Well gazza, You know that canvas area you go past at the start, that was filled up too. That adds another 30-40 mins to your wait, and they only had like 10 boats on the circut, also slowing it down, And the litter in the line was ASTONOSHING!!! This was on the 3rd of January I think, thus being REALLY busy, And this is the ONLY time i have seen wild west falls reach that line length.