TR: Gold Coast Parks

[SydRider]

Hey Guys!! Well I'm back from my trip on the Gold Coast ... very busy weekend. Went to WnW on Friday after flying in that morning ... took some pics of the Whirlpool which I will upload tonight ... tried to last night but couldn't get into the site. We didn't end up going on the Whirlpool ... really just thought it was a smaller version of Calypso Beach and maybe a little bit faster Didn't go on the Aqua racer as the last time we were there my friend cut his elbow on it ... not sure how though ... also didn't go on the SpeedCoaster. Next day we went to Movie World ... got there about 10am and the first thing we went on was Lethal Weapon ... as it looked like rain and we thought they may close it if it started to rain. Another friend of mine had come down from Bris Vegas to go the Movie World as he had never been before. He liked LW ... although I don't think he is a big coaster fan ... next was the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster ... first time on this for all of us. I can safely say that with how big the queue area is I am glad that I wasn't there when it first opened!! We only had to wait about 5 mins and we were on. AMAZING ... although I sort of new what to expect from reading on here and what other people had told me ... the themeing was great and loved the lift up and going backwards ... the lift was a surprise ... went on it another 2 or 3 times during the day I think. After that we went on the Wild West Falls ... took some pics of the theming and some other shots. (I wasn't able to take a lot of shots as I had forgotten to take the flash card for my camera and only had 8mb on the camera). After that was the Matrix exhibit and was a little disappointed with that ... but I guess it was good to see some of the sets/props they used. I bought myself a little Scooby toy when we went on the Scooby coaster again and also asked if there was anything new coming ... was told that they didn't know and they were the last one's to know. Next day was SeaWorld ... the two things that were closed was the Water Park and the train ... at the time didn't know why they would be closed ... on further inspection I found out ... there is a shark in one of the pools and the train was closed due to contruction of the shark area which is due to open for Xmas (according to the monorail) ... went on the Corkscrew a few times and the Flume once or twice and BT only once ... line got too long and couldn't be bothered lining up anymore ... we were only there for about 4 hours or so ... wasn't insterested in seeing any of the shows. After going on the Flume ride my friend and I both agreed that although it is a great ride ... it needs a bit of fixing up ... especially with all the chewing gum under the bridge you go under before you go up into the castle. Last day and we went to Dreamworld ... took 2 hours + to get to Dreamworld (due to the fact they had decided to close half of the GC Highway for the Indy. Couldn't they have waited just one more day So after planing on being at Dreamworld by 10am ... (had timed the busses and everything) we got there about 11.30 or so. As it was raining the TOT was closed and Cyclone due to annual maintenance. First ride was the Thuder River Rapids ... on and off it rained while we were in the queue and my friend was starting to get peeved because we had gone there while it was raining ... I just kept reminding him that I would have been quite happy to miss SeaWorld altogether and just go to Dreamworld. Anyway we finally got on the ride and I was lucky ... just got my feet a little wet ... he got soaked. There was also one of the tyres that had a camera crew on it and they went around about 4 times ... not sure what they were doing ... maybe making a new add for the new season ... but with the weather like it was the camera wasn't on the ride. After TRR we went on the Giant Drop ... after waiting about 1/2 hour and almost leaving the queue we got on. As it had been raining most of the morning the top of the ride was full of water and was steaming down on both of us while we were sitting at the top waiting to drop. I later found out that my friend had his eyes closed for most of the time (scared of heights). After that we went to Nick Central and went on the Raptor ride ... I quite liked that seeing as though it is a kids ride ... goes pretty fast around some of the turns. Although my friend said it wasn't fast or high enough We then went over to Ocean Parade and went on the Wipeout ... really enjoyed that ... went past the old entrance to the Thunderbolt and was a little disappointed that they had boarded it all up with no mention of the fact that it had "retired". I thought they would have at least put up a few stats about how many riders it had had and stuff like that. Anyway we walked back towards the centre of the park and decided to get something to eat so we walked down towards where the ferry goes from and but this time the sun had come out and was starting to get hot ... me wearing black jeans was not a good idea!! We decided to got past the enterance to TOT to see whether there where any signs to say that it would still be closed ... we couldn't see anything and people had started to line up. We were there about 2 mins and someone came out and said that they had to do a couple of test runs and they would let us get on. We were lucky we had been walking past. We were the second lot to get on the ride. We were going to go again but buy the time we had gotten off and around again the line was all they way down the stairs and starting to get longer. We then decided to go home as we thought it might take us another couple of hours to get home because of the road closers and we had to catch our bus to the airport at 6pm. Suffice to say we got back about 3.30pm as it wasn't as bad getting back. Will put up the pics I have when I get home tonight. Sorry this is a bit long guys ... and sorry if I put the post in the wrong place ... feel free to move if necessary.

[Slick]

Did you go on the 20th, the Monday?? Because i also saw the same camera crews etc.

[SydRider]

Yep was there on the Monday ... I only saw them on the River Rampage ... didn't see them around the rest of the park ... although I did see people walking around with clipboards ... don't know what that was all about.

[Slick]

I went the exact day as you buddie!!!!! Yeah, as you said there was a lot of Kodak photography etc. around the river rapids including one of the tubes having cameramen etc. with cell phones getting wet! I can't believe i didn't see you though, maybe cause i don't know what you look like, but maybe next time! PS: climax of the day, Tower of terror starting up, yeah! PPS: did you also see the failure they had with the pod running into the station's emergency braking system?

[SydRider]

No ... didn't see that ... but we left not long after the TOT opened ... as we were the second ride and couldn't be bothered lining up again. Plus we though it might take over 2 hours to get back to Broadbeach like it did to get there because of the road closures. I will try and upload some pics tonight if I get a chance ... i don't have any of DW but do have some of the new Whirlpool and some scenery shots from Movieworld and SeaWorld

[SydRider]

Hey guys! I have posted some pics of my trip in the Total Thrills album. Hope you like Shane