Adventure World New Coaster - Abyss

[Richard]

I did like the newspaper's quote by the lady: "Are we living in such a litigious society that they feel they can't apologise to us for this?"

Conversely, are we living in such a punitive, self-centred society that people feel the need to go to the media to air their dirty laundry?

Once emergency services were involved, Adventure World's role in the process was likely nothing more than advising and facilitating. Ambulances were surely on scene and everyone was well hydrated, fed and sunscreened... it sounds like the kid was given a quick once-over and given the OK to run off to the bathroom.

In the scheme of things, it was a mild inconvenience about on par with being delayed on a flight in a holding pattern.

[rappa]

Wow if the news reported on every ride breakdown (or usually more correctly defined, safety systems engaging) there would be no room for anything else in the papers. Clearly they'd already filled their quota of made up stories about the Malaysian Airlines flight and still had pages to fill

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

i take the accuracy of your statement - and agree with it - but to me, 'breakdown' doesn't seem to have the same negative connotations as 'safety systems engaging'..

breakdown is like "my car won't start"

safety systems engaging is like "there was a potential safety hazard that could have caused serious injury - lucky the safety systems engaged or someone would have died!"

[rappa]

Actually I don't agree at all.

The media love to use 'breakdown' to imply an attraction has problems and 'keeps breaking.'

Actually safety systems is exactly that. They see there is a potential for a hazard and stop it. A car is going too fast could cause an accident so I'm going to stop the ride before there is any chance of something happening.

Sounds better than the ride is breaking.

[AllegroCrab]

And a free ticket valid in the next 12 months as well as various free products is quite generous. Greedy buggers just want to try and rip the park for all they can...

I'd settle for a free drink

[Reckless Loony]

Well shit... if you're going to go that far, you might as well run year-round?

No point in keeping the park open all year as during winter the park would be empty.

Already during the week you get about 400 people pass through the gate even on warm 32 deg sunny days. Compare that during peak season in January where the park gets over 7,000 daily.

Obviously the advantage of such low numbers now during the week is there are no queues.

Next week is start of school holidays so the park will go back to being open 7 days/week and one expects the numbers passing through the gate to increase to around 1,000 daily.

does anyone know what happened with the Freefall?

It is in an odd spot and just looks like one of the rides fron the Royal Show sitting on the back of a trailer...

Abyss is amazing though.

Would be good to have another dry ride (I Voted) as only so many water slides you can have. Just seems the waterslides are all spreadout. Water Mountain is good and all but then over the other side is The Shotgun which just seems out of place like its been plonked there.

Freefall breaks down several times a season.

It is very common to find it not running or running with limited capability such as drops only no shots or as was the case on Sunday late afternoon 6^th April after they just got it fixed after yet another break down although operating as shots only no drops.

Currently still operating as of 10^th April 2014 shots only no drops.

BTW freefall just like Abyss also has a smoke machine last time used in 2011.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

No point in keeping the park open all year as during winter the park would be empty.

Thats my point though - They open from September, and with the announcement I replied to - had extended through until June despite the currently low attendance. That left only July and August they are closed for.

By the time you take into account issues with loss of staff when you close down, recruitment, training, etc - you might as well open the whole year and maintain permanent staffing levels.

[iwerks]

Great weather in Perth this weekend - 32/33 degrees.

Went to AW yesterday - looked to be a couple of thousand people there as the school holidays have just begun. The waits were pretty short for most rides.

Reckless Loony was right - Freefall was just doing shots and not drops.

The chairlift is not currently in operation.

The smoke effects on Abyss are back. I didn't notice them until I was on the ride.

Cool thing about Abyss' on-ride photography is that they can record what number photo you were in on your armband and they don't charge you anything unless you purchase a picture.

[iwerks]

Crazy promotion time at Adventure World continues..

https://www.facebook.com/AdventureWorldOfficialPage

There's the grand parent challenge for the Abyss.

The Season Pass holder survey to win a Season Pass for next year.

And the selfie competition for the extended season.

[Reckless Loony]

Thats my point though - They open from September, and with the announcement I replied to - had extended through until June despite the currently low attendance. That left only July and August they are closed for.

By the time you take into account issues with loss of staff when you close down, recruitment, training, etc - you might as well open the whole year and maintain permanent staffing levels.

The park will be closed on the 3^rd of June up until including 26^th of September. So that is a total of 116 days (3 months and 26 days). The park has only a small permanent staff. The vast majority of staff are casuals. This includes ride operators/attractions, cleaners, lifeguards, merchandise attendants, etc. BTW ride operators/attractions staff are also expected to perform other duties including picking up rubbish.

Outside peak season and school holidays staff numbers are at bare minimum. Ride operators/attraction staff time share the rides/attractions. The two water slides at water mountain are unattended which results in undersized kids going on the slides which keeps the lifeguard at the pool area at the bottom of the slides really busy.

For the people reading this that are going to be coming down to the park during the weekdays after the school holidays remember the park is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays with the ride schedule as follows for Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img836/2227/oxll.jpg

Great weather in Perth this weekend - 32/33 degrees.

Went to AW yesterday - looked to be a couple of thousand people there as the school holidays have just begun. The waits were pretty short for most rides.

Reckless Loony was right - Freefall was just doing shots and not drops.

The chairlift is not currently in operation.

The smoke effects on Abyss are back. I didn't notice them until I was on the ride.

Cool thing about Abyss' on-ride photography is that they can record what number photo you were in on your armband and they don't charge you anything unless you purchase a picture.

During the current school holidays attendance numbers during the week have been about 1,500 to 1,700 through the gate. On weekends the numbers have been getting to about 1,800 to 1,900 during nice weather.

As for the smoke effects for the Abyss they are on at random days. Some days on some days off. The smoke when it is on is for the exit side of the building. They haven’t bothered using the smoke effect at the entry to the building since early December.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Reckless Loony

[iwerks]

Reckless Loony

Posted Yesterday, 01:36 PM

The park will be closed on the 3^rd of June up until including 26^th of September. So that is a total of 116 days (3 months and 26 days). The park has only a small permanent staff. The vast majority of staff are casuals. This includes ride operators/attractions, cleaners, lifeguards, merchandise attendants, etc. BTW ride operators/attractions staff are also expected to perform other duties including picking up rubbish.

Outside peak season and school holidays staff numbers are at bare minimum. Ride operators/attraction staff time share the rides/attractions. The two water slides at water mountain are unattended which results in undersized kids going on the slides which keeps the lifeguard at the pool area at the bottom of the slides really busy.

For the people reading this that are going to be coming down to the park during the weekdays after the school holidays remember the park is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays with the ride schedule as follows for Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Someone is obviously in the know.

Yeah, I saw one of the Grand Prix guys picking up rubbish today. I'm guessing they're not too fond of this..?

No smoke effects on Abyss today and Freefall is ironically still only going up.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Freefall is ironically still only going up.

they're going to need to bring it down sooner or later....

[iwerks]

AlexB

Posted Today, 08:01 AM

iwerks, on 25 Apr 2014 - 5:02 PM, said:

they're going to need to bring it down sooner or later....

Yeah, it's not like they have to call the fire brigade, like they did for the still-closed chair lift, every time they use it. It's shots and not drops. Freefall is not in a good way - it does not sound healthy at all.

[rappa]

I really don't understand why parks install effects on rides without proper thought into the long term implications of maintaining them. Smoke is always a bit one for that.

Edited April 27, 2014 by djrappa

[iwerks]

djrappa

Posted 16 minutes ago

I really don't understand why parks install effects on rides without proper though into the long term implications of maintaining them. Smoke is always a bit one for that.

It seems odd that they can keep the Kahuna Falls volcano smoking most of the time, but not the rides. I've only once seen the smoke at Abyss' station working and it's always a pleasant surprise when it's on at the exit to the building.

[Reckless Loony]

For the people reading this that are going to be coming down to the park during the weekdays after the school holidays remember the park is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays with the ride schedule as follows for Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Sorry people I failed to check the calender. This coming Thursday is 1st of May therefore the park will be closed. Yes the park is open tomorrow Monday 28th April as well as Friday 2nd May. From then on its Fridays and Weekends with the last day being open Monday 2nd June (public holiday).

Yeah, I saw one of the Grand Prix guys picking up rubbish today. I'm guessing they're not too fond of this..?

It’s a change from the monotony.

Yeah, it's not like they have to call the fire brigade, like they did for the still-closed chair lift, every time they use it. It's shots and not drops. Freefall is not in a good way - it does not sound healthy at all.

Freefall has broken down again. Maintenance is working on it.

I no longer remember which day of the week it was but back in March one weekday afternoon some riders got stuck on Freefall when the gondola failed to fully descend. I didn't bother to find out

what part failed.

The only other incident at the park of note other than the chairlift failure is the woman that got knocked out at the Tunnel of Terror back in December on a Wednesday 4th afternoon.

She was placed in the recovery position by the side of the pool close to where the mats and single tubes are returned. Paramedics and Ambulance attended.

This resulted in the closure of Tunnel of Terror, Water mountain mat slides and rocky rapids for the rest of the day.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Sounds like the park is falling apart! Maybe money from Abyss would have better been spent maintaining their other attractions!

[iwerks]

AlexB

Posted 44 minutes ago

Sounds like the park is falling apart! Maybe money from Abyss would have better been spent maintaining their other attractions!

It's been a long season. It's like whenever you get something new it makes everything else look old. I hope they don't remove the chairlift and leave the supports there as a reminder to the ride that once existed (like other parks have). Perhaps they should leave the Freefall closed until next season. It was was grinding metal and dropping you quite hard to the ground from the last ten feet. I think my favourite breakdown would have to be some kid getting stuck in the OTSR of Powersurge. All of the rest of the rides seem to be doing okay. Bounty's Revenge's brakes no longer squeak. The Bumper Boats; squirter things all seem to work (except for the four they're keeping in reserve) and the Grand Prix racing cars aren't too bad. Dragon Kingdom of course has the newest rides, except for the whiplash rollercoaster.. I mean the Dragon Express.

Perhaps they'll spend their insurance payout on fixing their rides and buying some new grass over the winter break.

And thanks for sharing Reckless Loony. That's pretty scary about that woman who got knocked out in the Tunnel of Terror.

[Reckless Loony]

Sounds like the park is falling apart! Maybe money from Abyss would have better been spent maintaining their other attractions!

The only ride that does not get maintained or rather just the accessory option is the Australian Water Slides and Leisure built 6 lane aqua racer.

The Christmas trees and scoreboard do not get maintained and thus why they are no longer used (stays turned off). These days the race is started by the attractions team member blowing a whistle. The top red light of one of the Christmas trees is broken off and hanging down by its wires no attempt at repairs has been done to this or the scoreboard.

Here is a pic of the 6 lane aqua racer back in 2011 showing the faulty scoreboard. The scoreboard should be displaying digits from 1 to 6 to show who came first, second, etc. Instead what you see there are just some segments (or none at times) of the digits illuminated rather than an actual digit.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img845/5567/1yus.jpg

No problem with the rides 6 flumes, water pumps or chlorination system, which do get maintained.

Adventure World has a permanent full time staff of maintenance (mechanics) personnel, which keep the rides operational. The Rampage was down on Sunday 27^th4th. Maintenance working on the hydraulics of one of the two bridges. The ride was back in operation Monday 28^th4th.

On Sunday 27^th it the day was 24C with some cloud around. There were just under 700 (69 something) through the gate. Monday 28^th 18C day with some showers just under 200 through the gate with just a small number of these people entering the water while the majority stayed with the dry rides.

As for the Freefall it does keep getting repaired but then it soon fails again. In the past a tech from Huss Germany was flown out to work on it. It soon failed again. Basically the ride is a lemon just the same as you can get lemon cars.

The recently built Kahuna Falls also has a problem in that the water is always cold. Even on hot 38C days and warm above 25C nights the water remains cold. With the other water attractions the water would be warm.

[iwerks]

Reckless Loony

Posted Today, 12:48 PM

AlexB, on 28 Apr 2014 - 06:24 AM, said:

The only ride that does not get maintained or rather just the accessory option is the Australian Water Slides and Leisure built 6 lane aqua racer.

The Christmas trees and scoreboard do not get maintained and thus why they are no longer used (stays turned off). These days the race is started by the attractions team member blowing a whistle. The top red light of one of the Christmas trees is broken off and hanging down by its wires no attempt at repairs has been done to this or the scoreboard.

Here is a pic of the 6 lane aqua racer back in 2011 showing the faulty scoreboard. The scoreboard should be displaying digits from 1 to 6 to show who came first, second, etc. Instead what you see there are just some segments (or none at times) of the digits illuminated rather than an actual digit.

It would be nice to have the scoreboard working again, but it's not essential. It's usually pretty obvious who wins.

As for the Freefall it does keep getting repaired but then it soon fails again. In the past a tech from Huss Germany was flown out to work on it. It soon failed again. Basically the ride is a lemon just the same as you can get lemon cars.

I was surprised to find out that Adventure World only got this in 2010 - it has not aged well. It just goes to show that buying something brand new (but tried and tested, re: Saw to Abyss) is a better bet in the long run.

Other than that, I want to say that it's been a pretty good summer. I'm heading back there tomorrow for my tenth time this season (and my first time in May ever). I want to congratulate yourself, Reckless Loony, and your colleagues for working so hard and providing such a good, friendly service.

[iwerks]

Have you ever had that dream when you go to an amusement park and you’re the only one there? Well, as I walked past the tens of cars parked outside Adventure World on Saturday, I realised today might be the day.

It was so quiet inside, there was a bandicoot lounging by the pool. There was no staff member at the gate to the water slides as there was no queue. They closed down the box office after the first hour and sold tickets from the gift shop. They only ran one set of go karts most of the day. The skeleton staff switched back and forth between the rest of the attractions. The chance of getting your own train on the Abyss was high.

Here’s what I learnt:

The coin operated machines they installed at the end of last year have Adventure Time prizes.

The water is really, really cold – but you get used to it.

Being in the front row of the Abyss brings tears to your eyes when it is cold.

They have fixed the safety sign outside of the Abyss.

Most riders make it a habit to check out the ride photos before re-entering Abyss.

The One Shot isn’t worth it on days like this.

Someone has been sand bagging the Sky Lift.

The FreeFall is still only doing shots and not drops, but it feels much better (thank you for asking).

A couple of Adventure World's Zamperla kiddie rides are not on the Parkz Database.

Kids have been doing burn outs on Yarli’s Safaris! (is that even possible?)

The Golden Churros at Sub Zero are not made of happiness, but plastic (as they are display only).

[iwerks]

A nice bit of cross promotion. Dance theatre with a rollercoaster background.

https://www.facebook.com/AdventureWorldOfficialPage

[iwerks]

Apparently the local 10 News was presented from outside Abyss this evening. Adventure World is also offering a new deal: 25% off if it is below 25 degrees. They also have a mother's day special where mum gets in for free with a paying child. It's been pretty stormy in Perth, but the weather is looking better for the weekend.

https://www.facebook.com/AdventureWorldOfficialPage

http://adventureworld.net.au/#/gifts,-comps-offers/25-off-in-cold-weather/

[iwerks]

They have kindly posted the video. I like my weather reports with the sound of a Eurofighter in the background.

http://tenplay.com.au/news/perth/2014/5/9/perth-outlook

[iwerks]

Season pass holders now get 50% off food and beverage for the rest of the season according to Adventure World's Facebook Page.