Time for something new..

[MickeyD]

Hey all, I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts, ideas, facts or theories on the Park's next Major Attraction? MW have put their Midway parlour into a nice cosy air conditioned space now and have left the old west area by the show stage completely vacant. Is it just me or is this area screaming out for attention? I heard a while back that Springfeld & the Simpsons were on the cards for moving into the space. Personally I think this is a magnificent idea and if done right would be a perfect addition to the only really sad corner of this great Park. Or maybe something better is on the cards perhaps??

[zane]

There wont be any major rides that's for sure, because the area behind the park is all residential, they are complaining about the noise Wild west falls makes which is hardly noisy at all? If it weren't for the whining neighbors a good screamin swing would fit nicely in there \ S&S power swing

Edited October 2, 2007 by zane

[Gazza]

Well, Im thinking its time again for another large scale general audience attraction (Given the prior additions have been 2 thrill rides, and 2 children's rides) I personally am gravitating towards a river rapids, it could tie in well with the upcoming "Where The Wild Things Are" film which is being released October next year. The fact it is a classic book means even if the film doesnt do that well it can trade off that. Rapids rides seem like excellent value for money. A park in Germany recently built a ride of this scale for 2.3 mil EUR (approx 3.7 mil AUD) which IMO is excellent value and could easily fit in the standard 12-16mil budget MW tends to work with, rapids technology has moved on a bit, the model I linked to has vertical lifts, a whirlpool and true drops which are all quite interesting. Edit: After some research, I discovered a walkthrough that was based on the book, so it has been done, 6 vids are on this users profile: http://www.youtube.com/user/rodandnathalie

Edited October 2, 2007 by Gazza

[rosscoe]

A rapids ride would be great, something well themed and LONG!

[MickeyD]

There wont be any major rides that's for sure, because the area behind the park is all residential, they are complaining about the noise Wild west falls makes which is hardly noisy at all? If it weren't for the whining neighbors a good screamin swing would fit nicely in there \ S&S power swing

Interesting, when I was working at MW, the only thing the neighbours ever really use to complain about was the noise from the Police Academy show - and I was there well after WWF opened and we didn't have many issues then? I'm hopeing for an indoor family ride to take the place of the old western show stage. Perhaps a Dark ride? Most of all I would love to see them open the planned Simpson's ride for Universal! Universal have already established the technology and done the footage etc, I think WVTP's could aquire the rights and material for a fraction of the original set up cost - the same way as they did with Shrek

[aussienetman]

Wild West is not allowed to operate after a certain time due to noise restrictions and complaints from neighbours. I think that a River rapids ride is a fantastic idea, or maybe a massive intense walkthrough experience. Is there room for a smaller land in there? With the showstage you could fit a flat ride and roller-coaster in that space!

[nev]

Wild West is not allowed to operate after a certain time due to noise restrictions and complaints from neighbours. I think that a River rapids ride is a fantastic idea, or maybe a massive intense walkthrough experience. Is there room for a smaller land in there? With the showstage you could fit a flat ride and roller-coaster in that space!

What time is that? I tech directed a corporate party up there last year and we had WWF open till 10pm all lit up with 1000 guests screaming their way around it...

[zane]

Its definitely true about the noise, that's why the drop has a scream shield on one side. I personally don't think MW would add another water ride right next to Wild west falls, but you never know? although it would be cool to have a highly themed river rapids And for the available area/land, there is a "HUGE" amount of space behind the scooby-doo ride building, its so big it could fit a few "lands" in it. "I'm hopeing for an indoor family ride to take the place of the old western show stage. Perhaps a Dark ride? " Scooby-doo dose a good job at this. I would love to see a B&M coaster behind scoody-coo.

[Gazza]

I personally don't think MW would add another water ride right next to Wild west falls, but you never know?

Well, the ones at SW are on top of each other. And anyway, I never gave a specific location. I dont think they would care where it went as the rides at MW don't seem to follow any sort of pattern anyway.

[zane]

"Well, the ones at SW are on top of each other" true. "And anyway, I never gave a specific location. I don't think they would care where it went as the rides at MW don't seem to follow any sort of pattern anyway" there is no where else to put it except in that area. It would be cool if they did open a Simpsons land and had a river rapids ride theme to the polluted river where Bart cached Blinky (the three eyed fish) in the "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" episode. Zane.

[MickeyD]

^ Or what about just the Simpsons ride planned for Universal? It could go perfectly in the old Maverick Space + I think MW could easily clone it from Universal for under the 20 mil mark - they have been very industrious about building big scale attractions at a relative low cost in the past

[ads086]

Bart cached Blinky

Bart "caught" Blinky perhaps?

[Churros]

If you were going to do a Simpsons ride that wasn't the one at Universal ie, a river ride or the likes, there are a thousand things you can theme it to. I would go ahead and say theme it to Duff Gardens or Itchy and Scratchy land, but that's just me. As for them building inside the Western Show Stage, I am going to have to disagree. I think that this is a spectacular show venue that really should be best utilised for a range of Movie Based Shows - similar to the current Shrek Live, but perhaps a little more relevant to the movies they are associated with. As for the area in front of the Show Stage. I think it is pretty obvious that that area is being brewed up for additions next year. Ideally, they should redevelop the area, but that could simply be updating the scenary and potentially adding several new shops or more interactive elements to tie in with the new rides. I am not sure how they would go for sound, but in front of the show stage is a little further into the park then Wild West Falls, and there is every chance they could build a sound barrier when installing new attractions. I think building behind Scooby will be left for a couple of years yet, but I honestly don't know. If you are asking what the next major addition needs to be, I agree entirely with the idea of a family based ride. Essentially, Movieworld needs something to take the pressure off Scooby Doo. This may neither be the time nor the place, but I was thinking to myself today that if Movieworld were to open a Motocoaster this summer it would seem to fit more appropriately in their park. Couple the fact that it would be targetted at its appropriate audience, and the endless list of potential theming ideas, it more than likely would have been an ideal installation. The list of installations Movieworld can use is endless, and to list them would go on forever.

[rob]

I like the idea of a Simpsons river rapids ride. Maybe they could theme it to the nuclear power plant and have "acid" green water which the rafts travel along. It would be family friendly, would be indoors (dark ride) as well as outdoors and wouldn't make too much noise. That or replace the Batman simulator with something decent.

[ads086]

We don't want Movieworld to go Dreamworld style and just start replacing rides just yet do we?

[MickeyD]

^NO WAY! The Batman Adventure is an awesome ride and one of MW's biggest budget productions. Personally though I would like to see them somehow bring back the first batman ride - that one is much better than the second one! Or run them both, somehow alternating the two presentations throughout the day??? Or better still, upgrade the Batride to make it more current to reflect the new Batman film(s)

Edited October 4, 2007 by MickeyD

[Gazza]

I'm not 100% on the idea of a Simpsons nuclear water themed rapids ride that a couple of people have brought up. These things have only been in one or two episodes tops, and form a minuscule part of the show, its a bit much to be basing a whole ride around the idea of a polluted river and the ride would have a weak story line at best. Im sure there are plenty of themes out there that could provide a more solid basis. Also, its a bit much to be cloning the Simpsons ride going in at Universal, one simulator at MW is enough, and IMO they need to build their attraction stock with more variety before they start duplicating.

[saberon]

"they need to build their attraction stock with more variety before they start duplicating." - Shrek 4D is a duplicate of the Universal Studios Hollywood attraction Shrek 4-D.

[Gazza]

^Yeah, but MW doesn't have two 3D theatres operating concurrently does it? That's the point I was making

[Richard]

Batman Adventure has had its day. It may have been a big-budget blockbuster attraction when it opened, but now it's well past its prime and very much showing it. This technology has advanced hugely in the past decade; the current film/storyline is poor at best (and has nothing on the original) and the motion simulation is no better. In my view, there is not enough potential return of investment in replacing it with a new incarnation of Batman Adventure, no matter how much of the dated technology and thematic elements are replaced, and its days are most definitely numbered. To this end, I think the most appropriate action that would maximise the earning potential would be to open a completely new simulator attraction in a different area of the park based on a different franchise and utilising the latest technology. Back to the Future (and its Simpsons replacement) at Universal Studios utilise Imax technology that makes it infinitely more impressive and realistic than any other simulator I've ever been on. Whether they kept Batman running or not could be put down to the costs of running it versus its patronage, but it'd make sense in the long run at least to earmark the area for more thrill rides along the lines of Superman Escape or Batwing.

[Gold Coaster]

Yeah. I dislike the Batman Adventure 2 film. Before, you had a live-action style with the Penguin etc and now it's too CGI-ish. The villain designs shown in the Bat Cave are also too simplified & have a kind of 'TAFE tutorial work' look to them. I say take out Wayne Manor and put in something else entirely like a Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters style attraction.

[JDB]

Regarding the people saying the "polluted river" Simpsons themed ride wouldn't be a good idea because it is only mentioned in one or two episodes, I think this ride would fit in well. This is "Movie"World and in the Simpsons Movie, the whole story revolves around Homer polluting the river/lake. This is in the Movie, why wouldn't it work?

[Gazza]

^I wasn't aware that was in the plot if the film, I knew Homer had done something causing the family to flee to Alaska however I didn't know it was that. Its a possibility then, but it would depend on how much of the film took place around the river. Personally, I'd lean towards a dark ride themed to the streets of Springfield (A Bit more of an opportunity for the sight gags we are used to, hope I dont offend anyone, but I dont like the river idea because its not a familiar Simpsons environment, like the school, the home, moes, or the powerplant so it would be harder for guests to connect with) One ride system I love the idea of using is the enhanced motion vehicles with 3D projection. Curse of DarKastle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg shows its no longer only affordable to parks like IOA. The sets for the ride would be fairly simple, just flat surfaces painted in matte colours and black edging to emulate the distinctive art style of the show. Also, the ride films couldn't be that expensive given there is at a most 4 mins of film to do (simulator type rides generally have a ceiling of 4 or so minutes in terms of duration since people cant put up with motion for that long). Plot wise, im going to dip out and say that it is best left to the writers of the show, though if there were a sensory drop element if would be caused by homers bumbling nature. I think it could be done for under 20 Million. And Re batman, maybe trim the number of motion bases from 4 to 2, and do a bit of re-theming if a new ride opened at that end of the park, it could move to an anchor attraction to being a minor thrill ride.

Edited October 4, 2007 by Gazza

[MickeyD]

^ Batman has 6 Motion Bases - not 4!

[ads086]

I really don't think we'll end up getting rid of Batman that easily. I suspect that if they were to eliminate Wing Manor and the motion simulators, they would still replace it with something Batman themed, since they still have Batwing, a boat, a plane, a car and a man-in-a-suit. Personally, I'd like to see a new land built in behind the show stage. Access would be provided via the smokers hill near Wild West Falls, behind Scooby Doo, and via China Town. If this were to become Springfield, you could put in a Qwik-E-Mart as a food store, maybe the School as a merchandise store. Build a forced perspective wall and put the nuclear power plant off in the distance. As far as rides go, I can't think of anything to put there (I'm not much of a Simpsons person), however, I would like to see a Bolliger & Mabillard coaster built here in Australia. Movieworld seems keen to look around at whats available (they were the first to bring S&S to Australia). Something that isn't high speed, but still with some thrills. As someone mentioned before, a Motocoaster style ride, but perhaps a little taller. Something that doesn't necessarily do loops, something smooth. Again, as has been said before, a ride to take the load off Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster. Just a thought also, for the show stage. Village produced the movie Hairspray, which has been absolutely huge, and lends itself fantastically to a stage production, since it was on Broadway.

Edited October 4, 2007 by ads086