Wipeout is Aging

[goliath]

Yeah, they are pretty big, but Dreamworld just doesnt need that kind of capacity. I believe the large Top Spin takes 72 riders per cycle! Thats Massive! Dreamworld just doesnt need a ride that big, they would have trouble filling it!

[Dylaan]

Are we forgeting that the Wipeout once had water effects, and still does. Dreamworld just stopped using them because of the drought. Whether they will ever turn them back on, no-one knows!

[Gold Coaster]

We should all relocate to the USA, then we can enjoy those theme parks and leave DW/MW/etc to the kind of nostalgia you assign to an old beatup teddy when you get your first car

[The Claw]

^ ROFL!

Yeah, they are pretty big, but Dreamworld just doesnt need that kind of capacity. I believe the large Top Spin takes 72 riders per cycle! Thats Massive! Dreamworld just doesnt need a ride that big, they would have trouble filling it!

Hmmm but think about the future on this one. It is expected that in 5 - 10 years the Gold Coast will have 1,000,000 more people or something living here. And that's a lot of people! So if they got a Giant Huss Top Spin they could be catering for the future of more people coming to the park at once. And that also makes me think about how they could've got a Huss Giant Frisbee for The Claw instead of an Intamin Gyro Swing. Don't get me wrong I think The Claw is wicked but when that extra 1,000,000 people come it's going to be a bit hard for it to keep lines short (Intamin Gyro Swings are only 9 storeys high and can hold 32 people, A Huss Giant Frisbee is 16 storeys high and can hold 50 people!). And as for having trouble filling it? I guess they would but remember that there's a food stall and a remote control boats. All they would have to do is move the food stall over a bit and there should be plenty of room.

[goliath]

Lol, when I said they'd have trouble filling it I meant actually filling the ride with people. When I last went to DW it was pretty dead, and to actually have a ride on Wipeout, we needed to stand out the front and tell people to come on, because they need a certain amount of people on it to balance it properly. I mean, if they dont have enough people to operate a ride with 44 seats (Wipeout has 44 seats right?), then imagine how they'll go trying to fill a ride with 74 seats! I seriously dont think Dreamworld needs a ride with this sort of capacity, the line for Wipeout isnt even very long on busy days!

Edited April 30, 2006 by goliath

[joz]

You know, as much as I go on about the capicity requirements of DW, I agree that Wipeout is one ride that gets its requirement V demand pretty much spot on. The capacity of Wipeout is about right for its popularity, and if your thinking of investing capital into a ride like Wipeout to increase its capacity, I seriously think you're looking in the wrong area. Wipeout is fine, leave the poor thing alone. BTW, having been on a Topspin, I can safely say that the Vekoma version really has it all over the HUSS version. Having the arms swing different directions makes a huge difference to the ride, and having the ridged version would be a huge dissapointment IMHO

[Gazza]

Yeah, you're spot on Joz, if it aint broke dont fix it. Whats the point of spending that much to replace it (Huss Giant top spins are expensive) when you could gain the extra capacity by spending the money just building a different ride. Anyway, DWs flats are not the problem, they both only get short waits. Its Cyclone, TOT and GD where the problems are.

[T-bone]

Wipeout ain't going anywhere, and to be honest I don't expect it to go anywhere. It will be around for quite some time. As long as there still is a demand for the ride, it will not be going anywhere. Mainly rides only close if they are physically un-safe, are on the boarderline for being un-safe, or are just no-where near as popular as they should be, or as they were previously. Seriously, why waste the money on replacing a ride like the Wipeout with a ride very simular to it? I doubt the managment at Dreamworld are that stupid. Why not invest around half of that money to get the guys from Vekoma out, and give the ride a complete over-hall, and clean it up. You know, replace restraints, upgrade the ride's computers, and replace motors and mechanisms where applicable. Jeeze some people have some real bad idea's. EDIT: I posted this as a reply to Joz's response, as gazza's response wasn't there at the time I hit "REPLY".

Edited April 30, 2006 by T-bone

[The Claw]

I never said it was going to be replaced soon and I do agree that replacing it with something similar to the ride itself would be a pretty bad idea. But if it were to be replaced with something similar that would be a good way to do it. And you must go to days where there is no one around because everytime I queue up for Wipeout there's always enough people for the ride and more. Besides, what other flat ride could they possibly put in Wipeout's unique space and yet still fit in with the theme? All that I was saying was suggesting what they could replace Wipeout with. I know it's not going to be going anywhere for some time because we all know how parks like to hang onto rides until they litterally cannot operate anymore but still this topic was made about it and all I did was voice my opinion, even though it wasn't a good one at the time.

[Dylaan]

They should've put two trains on the cyclone, it has enough room for block brakes, they wouldn't cost a whole lot extra, although the trains might. I mean it takes at least 7 minutes to load on a normal day, and that means over an hour wait on a busy day.

[The Claw]

^ Yeah I say that all the time. The block brakes would be placed on that straight piece of track after the loop. And if they did that my opinion on the ride would be much better. Plus the queues would be a hell of a lot shorter than just over an hour on a busy day. The busiest I have ever seen the Cyclone was right at the bottom of the building where it reaches the 75 minute wait point and that could've been easily halved if they had a second train on the ride. Unfortunately for TOT and GD it's a bit hard to make queues shorter. All they can really do is not have any down-time and have efficient staff controlling the rides.

[RollerCoasterEnthusiast]

It's nothing a lick of paint won't fix! And maybe some new seat belts, since the last time I went on it I fell out and broke my arm! Oh well better luck next time eh!

[stardust]

I don't like the wipeout and I don't know anyone who does, it just seems sickening, not thrilling at all like the TOT, pointless nausia.

[T-bone]

I must say that now after having been on the Wipeout, I am very impressed with the actual ride it gives us. I quite liked it, and thought it was lots of fun, and the best thing is the lack of waiting in line due to it's high capacity.

[Adam]

It's nothing a lick of paint won't fix! And maybe some new seat belts, since the last time I went on it I fell out and broke my arm! Oh well better luck next time eh!

It's happened to all of us.

[Theme Park Girl]

I will be disappointed if the Wipeout goes, it has always been one of my favourites at Dreamworld with the bonus that there is never that long a wait in comparison to some of the other rides. I do admit though that when we went there in July the thing was indeed making a lot of noise, kind of like the little engine that could. As for falling out, it wouldnt surprise me if that happened to someone... being a slimmer person I have felt on that ride that with a bit of shuffling around and letting go of the grips I could probably slide through whilst it is upside down... but I guess thats what makes the ride more thrilling to some, that they really are holding on for dear life!

[saberon]

The Wipe Out undergoes a regular maintainence program, recently went under a massive overhaul maintainence. I wouldn't be concered about its safety i don't think it is possible for the restraints to fail or for someone to fall through, push the restraints really quite tight some say a bit too tight, but i like the security because i like riding it hands and legs free instead of holding on. hanging loose rocks. as far as replacing it with a top spin i couldn't possibly understand why you'd want to do that capacity is too large 40 is plenty during quiet times you can sometimes barely get minimum load (20 people) let alone get the minimun required load for a top spin. Not to mention the Vekoma Wipeout has the ability to oppose its engines so the carriage can move angularly. a top spin doesn't have this ability so the ride would possibly be a little bit more boring. I love the wipe out i couldn't imagine why they would ever want to remove a popular ride like that

[Dylaan]

I really wish they'd bring the fountains back though. Some of those videos I've seen of people on Top Spins getting a full jet of water in the face are hilarious!

[studiodekadent]

During my recent trip to Dreamworld I went on the wipeout for the first time. Its crazy! I love it! It COULD be a bit smoother though, they should just replace it with the same ride (maybe a near-identical one from a better manufacturer).... Wipeout is fun, do NOT get a top spin!!!

[saberon]

Huss topspins, although larger are inferior to the Vekoma Waikiki super flip. I am not sure you can even buy Waikiki super flips anymore. There are more axis to work with then the Huss, looking at the Huss, it looks a little bit boring.

Edited January 3, 2007 by joz