NICK LAND construction

[Ian]

hey guys how it, went to dreamworld today to check progress of construction all I notice was loads of bricks, a big drill , bulldozers and as for work being done pipes were being layed and some steel worms

[Richard]

By the looks of things - construction is just about ready to go vertical, after about a month or so of the groundwork. Can't imagine that they're too far away from some real construction. Like the sound of that, you say they've got lots of bricks, that's rare, after the past few structures have been made from aluminium and wood. Gotta love those sheds! Let's keep an eye out for that Vekoma family coaster now! They'll either be keeping track in the overflow carpark out front of Cyclone, or they will be moving it in behind Thunderbolt, or further along to the actual construction site. Hopefully the first one so we can all take a good gander. How'd you find that Double Shot promotion? I for one was surprised at how well it works. You might have noticed too that they've improved efficiency on Cyclone by about 400%, which is good to know, particularly after a very lazy past 6 months.

[Ian]

i got there at 11am so did wipeout as my double shot I noticed more ride ops which is great for our loading time. the bricks are all stacked behind the wall oppisite the main shops

[Psycho]

Has Dreamworld finally gotten more staff for loading/unloading?? Last time I went, which was a while back during the holiday period - their cycle times on rides were hopeless! It'd be great if they've worked on this.

[Richard]

They have indeed improved loading times on most of the major rides. Back a few months ago, when I photographed Cyclone, it would take about 10 minutes to get two of the same photo. Today, there would have been ride time +30 seconds. They now have two ops on the entrance side, including one in the booth, and one on the exit side. This is a million times better (well, 3 ), than much of this year, where they had only 1 running the ride, who did everything from check the restraints, to getting a new trainload of people, and dispatching and monitoring the ride. Now, one attendant checks the left side, one the right, one operator dispatches, and while the ride is on the course, the left side attendant gets the next load ready. They were/are aiming for 500pph on the ride. Boxing Day, when it opened, it was running at a pretty consistant 288pph. Over the summer, they got it up to about 350, max. Then, for the rest of the year until now, they went down to under 288, probably closer to 100 (yes, at times they were only getting one dispatch every 15 minutes). I am very very happy to say that they are currently running at easily 350, if not more. :!: Just a quick point. If you've got a question to ask about something that isn't totally to do with the topic of the thread you're in, don't hesitate to start a new one. The more on the topic the posts are, the easier it'll be to find answers. In this case, let's keep it to do with the Nick Central construction as much as possible. :!: Nick Central, as of today, they've laid a huge slab of concrete at the old Kenny Koala show area, next to the Swamp Gators. Over at the back - they've got some new footers up, which look very suspiciously like coaster footers. That's all the major news. Over by Thunderbolt, they're repainting the Seaplanes, probably to be rethemed for Nick Central.

[Psycho]

Oopsies. Apologies for the off-topic post. :oops: A coaster for Nick Central was confirmed by the park wasn't it? But did they confirm what type it would be?

[Ian]

new coaster the rumors say vekoma family supended which staying in theme with NICK land would most likely mean a clone of RUGRATS RUNAWAY REPTAR coaster at Paramount's Kings Island in the states http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery1037.htm

[thunder001]

The type of coaster was confirmed to me by the park to be the same as the one going into Paramount Carowinds this/next year. They were quite supprised at the fact that I/we knew about that coaster and that this one is the same. The name of the coaster and type is to be known with the October/November Time frame, as soon as the park has all the advert stuff ready. Will be trying to get down to the park on the way to MW on Sunday the 20th of October. If anyone wants to meet up then check the MW Thread for more info. :arrow:

[Richard]

As of today, October 12, the site is as follows. They've put down a lot more footers. I'm going to have to wait until they lay the final ones before I can get an accurate idea of the orientation of the ride, but I've got a hunch that the lift hill will run parallel to the Tower of Terror launch track, in the direction of the station. Concrete has been put down in the old area that was once occupied by the stage by Central Cafe. They've put down some 'fancy' concrete, which will be the main entrance into the area no doubt. It is a earthy coloured concrete, with stones mixed in it, and looks very fancy. No parts etc. are yet on site, and no coaster parts. My best guess is that parts won't be kept out front, such as with Cyclone, rather, they'll be in the maintenance area down by Thunderbolt. This is very close to the site, and has very easy access to the site through a temporary gate near the Tiger Island main entrance. The park's actual written stance, from the top of the park, is that no information regarding the specific details of the new area are to be released until an unannounced date. However, common sense, visual proof, combined with 'leaked' information (failing to find a less-harsh word) leads most to believe that there is definite coaster of some description coming. It doesn't take much either, to realise what kind it will be.

[thunder001]

From what you have said about the stage of construction Richo, I would guess that we should start to see some track, surports, or even a station start to form soon. I am hoping to get to the park within the next month as I was told by the park that the ticket prices are going up again around the begining of December and I want a max action pass before that happens. So I am hopeing to get a glance of the construction before it's to late. Will check out the car park next Sunday on the way to Movie World and see if there is anything there.

[zztopless]

I wonder if that means the max action will cost more to renew for current holders...I don't have to renew mine till feburary

[Richard]

I heard today that Nick Central is currently being advertised on Nickelodeon. I've been told it features a lot of footage of the Paramount Nick Centrals, as well as plenty of shots of the Reptar Inverted Coaster. This to me, pretty much confirms that it'll be the Vekoma Inverted RollerSkater we're getting.

[joz]

Very cool, nothing to be sneezed at there, the countries second invert, looks like a fun little ride. Any news yet on track peices arriving yet?

[zztopless]

Seems to me its basically an inverted bersion of road runner express (a normal verkoma rollerskater).

[Richard]

Yeah - that is exactly it. Vekoma designed the ride so it is an exactly identical version of the regular RollerSkater. Just picture sitting on Road Runner, and then move the track above you. You're still sitting in the same place, just now the track is above - that is what this ride'll be like. That doesn't mean it won't be a good ride. It certainly won't be the sort of ride people run to at nine in the morning to try and get on the first ride, but it'll just diversify their existing collection of coasters - give an experience they couldn't give before.

[thunder001]

Richo and I both went passed the park on the way to MW today and I have found what looks to be a lot of track. On the way home, Richo entred the park and found the same coloured track and some green surports near the thunderbolt. Give it two weeks and the whole track may even be in place. Only time will tell if it gets ready by X-Mas. But after watching the construction of the Cyclone I don't think that the park will have any trouble.

[Richard]

Here's a quick photo of the track, this is in the storage area beside Thunderbolt's lift hill.

[Psycho]

nice pic looks like the rumours were true..... by the colours of the track looks like Nick Central will be as bright as Ocean Parade is now!

[Richard]

Construction over the past week has very much gone forward - in a very upward way. Supports and track has started to appear in the area that was suspected to hold this new coaster. The ride isn't even half as tall as it will be, but yet you can already see it poking out of the site from everywhere - even in Rivertown, where it is hidden by much of the shops and buildings scattered along the road. So far they've got the station, the start of the lift and the turn over the station - if you've ever been on Road Runner at Movie World, you'll know this part of the ride. They've also opened the Plaza area they worked on for the past few weeks over by the remote control boats - they've put up nice sails for shade that will be a great area to eat in (or on days like today when you need to run for cover every time it starts pouring down again). They're certainly not being secret about this - taking an approach that will certainly result in better coverage of the new area - they've put viewing holes in some of the fences.

[Richard]

Construction is very nearly complete on Reptar, that I think is quite amazing - just two weeks ago there was nothing but a few holes filled with concrete here and there. They've just got to build the twisting first drop (the section directly after the lift, where the train does a tight 360 turn, going down then up again). In other news, Giant Drop West and Wipeout are both running again.

[Richard]

A new article regarding Nick Central has just surfaced. It includes an official photo of the ride's contruction (over a week out-of-date), from an angle inaccesible by guests, within the construction site. http://www.thrillnetwork.com/index.php?pag...article&sid=788

[thunder001]

Nice pictures Richo...so when we go on the 17th it should be all done allmost.

[joz]

wow.... its bright isn't it Good picture Richard. Just think, in a couple of short months, you'll have a whole new set of kids rides to go on

[Richard]

Ahh! The truth has been exposed! Okay, I admit, I'm a kiddies ride junkie, I ride 'em with family, friends, solo, you name it, I've done it on a kddies ride in some form.

[joz]

Hey, someone's gotta do it... Personally, I take someone else on kiddie rides with me so I can pretend it was someone else's idea to go on 8) Tell ya something though, now its gone vertical, its all of a sudden quite exciting, even we knew pretty much the whole time what they were getting. Can't wait to check it all out