Shows and carnival rides

[Shaun]

Do they have a future in Australia? All our rides seem very old? The other day we were talking in my class and everyone in my class had gone to the last show but hardly anyone actualy went on the rides, they were just there for the atmosphere. Do you think we just need a few more new rides or what is your opinion on the whole thing? Do you think that new rides would be sucsesfull? Is there much money in it? Thanks Shaun

[scott]

Of course australia has a future in thrill rides! sure we could do with a few new rides , but most of our current ones are relatively new.And when they do there always gonna be good.Tot was made around 2000 and it rules.But it is a bit anoying that i have been on almost all the coasters in qld. Good point scott

[Daniel]

Scotty, Welcome to the forum mate, but if you read his post again he was referring to carnival rides. By the way, ToT was about 1998 from memory... Correct me if I'm wrong. Good to have you here though. I trust your first post was simply an oversight. Welcome aboard.

[rappa]

Ah why not be totally precise and say '97 ay mate :-) Yes I'm sure this post may have been an oversight but if you read some of the others I'm not too sure. Just keep an eye on things and only post if its really something of substance and accurate Scott buddy... Welcome to the forums.

[Daniel]

We could say then too Rap. Ta for clarifying that for me old mate. I knew I could count on someone.

[HussRainbow]

To answer your question Shaun, Australia definetly has a future with carnival rides. This year so far has brought on 2 new rides, the Darton Cliff Hanger and thr Fabbri Mega Drop. Both of these rides will be debuting at their first big show in Sydney next Friday for the Easter Show. At the moment with what we have is pretty good. Australia is definetly lucky regarding the Huss rides that are still here. Most of Huss' rides, like Rainbow, Ranger, Enterprise cease to exist in the u.s because of the 2 or more trailers. We still have a few travelling, well the only Huss ride travelling now is the Rainbow, with O'Neill Shows. Wittingslow's Pirate and Enterprise both got sold to China, being 2 of the oldest rides they owned. Regarding to accidents and public liability, 2003 wasn't a very good year with Wittingslow's liquidation (kinda), the Wild Mouse accident, and absence of most major rides at the major shows. The thing with the Australian carnival ride industry, is that it has its ups and downs. This year is starting off to be a good year, the ride lineup at the Easter Show looks very exciting indeed, lets just hope now, that the cost of public liability won't rise, and that the owners will be able to maintain their rides so that they keep travelling. Also regarding new rides, Australia isn't allowed to have most of the major rides that travel in Germany, like Huss Topspin, Mondial Top Scan etc etc. But slowly every year we are gettin some new rides, in the past 3 years we have seen new rides like Slingshot, Crazy Mouse, and now Cliff Hanger and Mega Drop. Also another ride that may be hitting our shores sometime this year will be Technical Park's 'STREET FIGHTER'. I have total confidence that the Australian carnival industry will be around for many years to come. cheers. Chris

[Shaun]

Hay, it's only taken me 2 years to get a reply to this post , what speed. I like your optomism Huss. but yeah, someone must be makeing money out of it. Shaun

[HussRainbow]

Well operators are making money out of it, the operators make quite a killing at the royal shows. Like with the Melbourne Show, in 2003, you had to pay like $5 at the rides ticket box, and the money went to the operators. When you think about it: Rainbow: Seating: 36 people Hourly Capacity: 600 Cost Per Ride: $5 Times this by the amount of hours the ride runs each day, on average. The ride runs for 11 days in Melbourne. So this is on approx how you'd kinda work it out 10am - 10pm 600 x 12 = $7200 (This would be if Rainbow run full loads non-stop all day) Over 12 Days: $7200 (over 12 hours) x 11days = $792,000 So the money goes towards repairs, paying the ShowGround for space, and petrol / operation costs

[Flea]

$7200 x 12 = $86400 - No idea where you got those figures from, it's not even close to the real answer (no mistake made by adding an extra 0 etc.). Does the Rainbow need petrol to operate these days? I'm never heard of such thing, unless you're talking about the trucks that travel the rides? I actually think our carnival rides are pathetic compared to what Germany has. Our collection consists of rusted old rides that are not trustworthy - I never ever feel safe on carnival rides, no matter who manufactured them. Carnies still set it up, I don't trust carnies. P.S Huss - I love how you mention Rainbow in 80% of your posts!

[HussRainbow]

lol, well i edited it, and its 11 NOW lol and also the final figure is a bit off but that kinda gives you are rough idea also yes the rainbows diesel generator needs petrol to run, also petrol for its 3 trucks and I don't care what the rides like ill ride it, at least id die on sumthing i love

[rappa]

Yeah must have just been a type on the calculator there Huss. Its more like 86 grand give or take a few hundred. Well no it doesn't need petrol Liam but most of the rides are operating of generator sets that run off diesel so He's pretty much correct there. You're also going through a fair bit of grease with each setup I'd imagine and the rides would probably work their way through a bit of Hydralic fluid too would be my guess.

[HussRainbow]

yes well rainbow uses alot of hydrolic fluid for the 4 drives and grease is used on rides alot, all part of the process. Also liam, wed have rides like germany if: 1. no road rules 2. very rich travelling carnival families 3. Huss Rides, and other large manufacturer offices in Australia

[Richard]

1. How to Australia's road rules affect the transporting of modern portable rides? How is a brand new two-trailer ride different from a twenty year old two-trailer ride? 2. They get rich by offering rides that are worth paying the ridiculous prices. The same Zipper we all rode 12 years ago isn't worth paying $5++ to get on. New rides = new customers. 3. Because annual trade shows and easy-to-contact international offices aren't good enough? If I were looking for a new ride, I wouldn't pull out the Yellow Pages, I'd book an October flight to Orlando and take the I•RIDE south to stop 32. Seriously, these people don't say "I would buy a new ride, but there's nowhere here I can buy one, so I guess I can't get one." Seriously, the reason we don't have any good rides is pretty obvious when you go to your Royal Show. It's very rare to find a ride that there's not two or more of. These companies are so unoriginal in the way that they follow trends that they bought the latest ride, and like two other operators with the same ride haul it to the show and effectively third their potential revenue. Then they can't afford new rides and we end up where we are today. Enough Zippers and Dodgems and other junk to fill Sideshow Alley, but nothing new because they can't afford it because they dilute their own profits. Yeah, there's a ride new every now and again, but it's a very slow process. All the politics involved with the RNA (or whoever run your respective shows) doesn't exactly make it encouraging for new operators to get in, so we're relying on the same old operators who are relying on the same old Rainbow to get them enough profits to make replacing it possible. I'd say the industry's not dead, nor will it die, but they've really shot themselves in the foot time and time again and it'll be a downward spiral until they get a clue or bankrupt themselves.

[HussRainbow]

Richard, Road laws play a major part in the transportation of amusement rides. Since most new rides are on low flat bed trailers, their weight plays a big part. The Huss TopSpin would never be able to travel here, because 1. Weight of the trailers 2. Size of the trailers so most new thrill rides wouldnt be able to travel here, unlike germany who allow any weight of the rides. Also I must admit Oz has their fair share of Zippers, I think we have like 5, I kinda don't see the point, but oh well they are popular.

[Gazza]

Maybe they could make a mini top spin that comes under weight restrictions, and have 2 of them running to keep capactiy up, or maybe they could get special permission to drive with heavier trucks, it happens when they have to move large bits of machinery over the continent (i remember it being in the paper when this massive bit of mining equipment came through town)

[Bussy]

Huss, that’s a load of rubbish. As Gazza said how do they transport things like mining equipment? They usually have to travel early in the morning, 2-3am usually, they also usually have a police escort depending on the size and destination of the vehicle. This also applies to large cranes, 100+ tonners, which are limited to the time they can travel. "The Bus is now leaving for Transportation Spur, NSW"

[rappa]

I don't think Huss is disputing the fact that oversize vehicles can be moved on the roads. I think its more a case of whether its economically feasible for the carnival operators to do so. I think we all know its not just a case of ringing the rta and saying "hey I have a big truck, can I have a police escort?" There is also a considerable cost involved and that may outweigh any increased revenue they would receive from such a ride. Sad but true...

[Richard]

The Huss Rainbow's weight is 65 tonnes. The new Top Spin 2 is 75 tonnes. If they charge $5 for a ride on a Rainbow, then they could get away with $7.50+ for a Top Spin (I wouldn't pay it, but that's another story). I don't know how many trailers these things pack down to, but I'm guessing roughly the same. That means we've effectively increased revenue and profits by 50% over what we could get with a Rainbow. Perhaps things like Frisbees etc. would be out of the question because of weight, but it doesn't limit them too much. They'd certainly have no troubles with some of the large travelling coasters on our roads.

[Gazza]

Again, maybe a mini frizbee could be made, we have a portable pirate ship so it could be the same structure, just with a 12-15 rider or so car.

[Shaun]

Would these large rides get enough business anyway? There would only be a few shows a year where they would run at full capacity, if that. So these new $4,5 Million dollar rides are proabaly gunna be sitting in a shed like the rainbow for neally all the year anyway. So to make any money they are gunna have to charge a ****load per ticket. Anyway thats probaly just stating the obvious Small rides are the way.... Shaun

[joz]

I dunno if new small rides are the answer, after all how many different ways can one be spun? What is needed is something that makes people sit up and take notice. Give the 'midway' some 'wow' factor again. One of those German models would be just the ticket. Also, on the size thing, why can't they customise the ride model to use an extra trailor? Don't tell me that they could spend millions on a ride and not spend $30/40 thousand on another trailor?

[Shaun]

I think the problem with the transport is the the main components are too big to fit onto one standard trailer (2.5m wide). eg. the huge gondala on Huss's topspin 2 wouldn't fit on a trailer, and i asume the towers and all that hold the ride up are pretty big too. If the big rides were redesigned to be smaller to fit onto our trailers you would end up with small rides like we all ready have..... Zamperla make some pretty amazing small rides, which most fit onto a single trailer. These rides have plenty of 'wow' factor but they do lack a bit of personality without the themeing of the larger rides. Shaun

[HussRainbow]

Ah no daniel it's not a load of rubbish, its true facts, weights and sizes of most rides that travel in germany aren't able to travel here because of size and weight, the australian road laws just dont permit them. Also Lauries Breakdance that was next to Rainbow at the show this year, has special permition because it is larger than the average Sobema Breakdance. I heard Lauries had to get a special permit to get it, but rides like Topspin wouldn't be able to because they are wayy over the level. chris

[Gazza]

Uh, Daniels only post was about when the TOT was built. What about spin dragon? who made that? just get them to make another one. One thing i'd like ot see come onto our circut is a pinfari express..

[HussRainbow]

good luck man, really most operators here these days aren't soo much interested in new rides, they are looking to buy off each other, or co-own with other owners. p.s gazza, daniels post was like yesterday bout it being rubbish