17/02 Dreamworld Update

[Slick]

All right, all right.... after taking Tuesday's trip to Dw and taking a leisurely day walking around and about, you know, talking to my mates, the ride-ops, taking a peak at the back shed, watching the Reptar, what's being added.... the list goes on..... I have noted these new things to report. -Well it certainly looks like DreamWorld are keeping up with their new standards, and means that the Runaway Reptar train was being taken off the day i was there to do their "annual maintnence", which is good, finally they're getting their act together, or should i say, getting their back together, after the ThunderBolt..z(little joke there guys.....) -DreamWorld, without even having to close the damn thing, have placed new security gates in on the Cyclone. Basically something must have had happened i.e. someone falling off the station, and now at the very front where the train exits to the lift hill, there are two hydraulic gates, with a laser trip sensor, so basically, if the train goes of the egde of the station the trip sensor will lock the restraints up from the control desk so the ride-op (in an emergency situation) will manually open each indivudal restraint up using the kick stand. The trip sensor is also used to power up the lift hill, basically, if it gets tripped and the gates are opened, the lift hill starts, great idea i reckon..... It's just another way DreamWorld is shaping up the efficiency of the park..... -Well, let me say now that i think the only thing DreamWorld is interested in about the ThunderBolt is most positively scrap metal. Basically, there is now alot of pink markings going on certain parts of the ride, which looks..... interesting i'll give you that..... And another thing, the second train is now scattered across the park, the front carriage is at the house (where the employees take their brake), and the rest is in the back storage area. The first train on the other hand, is still in the station, sitting there, like everything else.......... -Currently, where the go-kart station used to go (under the ThunderBolt, ALL of the stuff from the cinema where Tomb Raider is now, is there. This includes seating, vending machines etc. -The west side's gondola on the GD has been taken off the tracks and sent (70% to germany) for repairs and maintnence, which means, queue lines are now offically timed at 70 minutes for your pleasure. -Tower Of Terror, the next one for a month's leave!!! Basically, after riding this baby more than 30 times within the last fortnight, i have noticed an incredible amount of things go wrong, and things that are broken. Firstly, the leather ccovering on the lap-bar restraints are starting to tear, nothing serious, but it looks tacky. Secondly, on Tuesday in particular, there were a number of E-brakes taking place, plus the fact that last Saturday, in very, very brief words (not allowed to give too much away) a guide wheel ceased resulting in the pod hitting the friction brakes at the back. Thirdly, do you remember that sign that says how fast you travel? For future reference, don't bother looking at it, it is showing false numbers because of the faults currently taking place in the computer system. Now before i go i've got two things to say. Please don't blame DreamWorld for everything that goes wrong on the TOT, let me remind you that the lsat time the technology was used on the TOT was in the American Army doing some very, very secret business with missiles etc. And lastly, i do not have a photo of it yet, but just as you come out of the second loop of the ThunderBolt and into the corner, on the right, there is this... station like building.... i thought ,aube it was originally for taking photographs back when they first started, but i still can't figure it out..... Rivhard, i hope you know what i'm talking about...... Cya everyone!

[Richard]

I'd really appreciate it if you created a new topic rather than posting in this one. Okay, I understand the need for maintenance, and I can appreciate the ride being down so that they can have the full freedom to work on it to bring it up to scratch after a year or more, but what I don't understand is why they pull it down for so long, yet days like today - a weekday, they're not working on it. I can understand that maintenance teams can't be there all day every day, but if you pull a ride down, it'd just be smart to be working as quickly as you can to bring it back up again. Add up the hours they'll spend working on Reptar, and I doubt it'll add up to much more than a few days. I don't think anything happened with Cyclone to make the changes to the station. I always thought it was somewhat unsafe up the front of the train - you're about three stories up - it was an accident waiting to happen. They also added a bigger gate to the exit door. When the ride opened, there was nothing there at all, just an open door. They soon added a small airgate, but now they've gone all out with a jailhouse door. I'm not sure about the laser sensors you're talking about, but Cyclone's lift hill runs non-stop anyway, so there's no issue of it not starting or anything. Giant Drop's west side gondola was there today in its entirity. I'm not sure where you've got the information about it being shipped to Germany from, but it's sitting there, attached to the tower as always. Not operating, in typical Dreamworld fashion. The covers for Tower of Terror's lapbars are a cheap vinyl cover. They looked nice for all of about two weeks when they were new, until disgruntled guests got to them (you wonder why there's so much graffite in all of the queues at Dreamworld but not at other parks - it's because everyone's so bored from waiting forever). They were put there because after five years the original orange ones were looking a bit shabby. It can't be too long until Dreamworld takes off the red covers, because the orange restraints after five years were far better than the two year-old red covers. Unless Dreamworld plan on reworking or replacing the ride's controllers, I don't see the reliability issue being solved. The components of the ride are fine - it's the system that runs it that causes all the errors. It certainly could do with a replacement given how far amusement technology has come in the past seven years, but I just don't see it happening. Well, what you're speaking of is the old on-ride photo system's supports for Thunderbolt. You can see it in this picture. When the ride first opened, they had a Giant Drop style on-ride photo system, but it was later automated (is having two staff photographers on duty all day really the most cost-effective way to do on-ride photos for that ride?). In other news, Cyclone is getting a valley platform built in the sidewinder. I can't say I've ever experienced the ride valleying, but it does seem the most logical place for a valleying to occur, given that the sidewinder is the third highest point of the ride after the first drop. I can't imagine getting out while banked at 65º will be easy though. My last point, not that it matters to me at all, but Tuesday - shouldn't you have been at school?

[willsy]

i think the same richard, the tot computer system is out dated with the technolgy we have today.

[Slick]

Two things... Firstly, we had a swimming carnival and it was not compulsory if you were not swimming..... hoorah for being short.... And the technology on the TOT is not outdated, if you've ever seen what goes on, wand what systems they really have (i.e. lcd screens in the "box" or the rid-op's platform) and not to mention the extra wireless laptop they have to accompany the wireless techonology used for the Pod..... the technology is NOT OUTDATED!!! Next time you're around, and happen to get a front row seat, and are sitting on the very right, you'll notice a small box which is locked, this is for hooking up a laptop to do adjustments and whatnot to the technology used....

[Ian]

the whole TOT system is outdated because it was some what of a 1st same with STE at SFMM they are now old boring version of the new systems out there eg Xcellerator, Storm Runner, California Screamin which can all run in the rain unlike TOT and STE which close when it rains.

[Psycho]

Cyclone valleyed in the sidewinder during its first weekend of operation at Luna Park...... Having said that, I guess it's even more likely to happen now that it's at DW

[Flea]

the new systems out there eg Xcellerator, Storm Runner, California Screamin which can all run in the rain unlike TOT and STE which close when it rains.

That's odd, I thought TTD & Xcel close when it rains due to the higher chance of rollbacks. I guess not!

[Richard]

So, you're saying that technology developed in 1995 is not surpassed by what Intamin are able to do now, in 2004? I'm not saying that the ride is not comlex, I'm saying that there are surely more reliable systems that are out there. LCDs and wireless systems doesn't make a ride the latest. What rabid said is right - the ride itself is far outdated - launches are far more efficient and exciting these days. Of course, I see nothing wrong with the actual ride - it still does its job as a thrilling ride. It's just blatantly obvious that the technology driving the ride is unreliable and could be improved. Having said that, I don't really care if the ride's system were changed, because it's never really effected me. Also, there's no technical reason that TTD or Xcelerator would close in the rain. I suspect the only reason they do this is the damage that the speed can do. Speaking of updated technology, Eureka Mountain has a new control system installed, which adds nothing to the capacity, but just makes it a safer and easier to operate ride.

[thunder001]

^ To add further to what Rabid and Richard have allready said, the PLC's used in the ride would have been outdated in 1998. The "latest" as far as these are concerned are only about 6-12months old and are now on their way out. To update these, you would have to remove all the sensors from the track as well as the cable, because the new style sensors do not work as well with the old style cable and most work on fibre optics style cable anyway. See what you learn when you are at work and need to know about something new for that job. Who would have thought you would learn this while working to install a production line in a factory.