Adventure World 2015 - 'Mi2' Kraken Tornado slide

[Slick]

Er, how do you figure that one exactly?

Yeah I can see how that might not make sense. I was inferring that Rainbow's End is a closer competitor to our gold coast parks specifically, not Adventure World. What i'm saying is that a Gyro Swing would be a great addition to their line-up regardless of the fact that a park on the other side of the country (Dreamworld) has one. Last time I checked, both Fuji-Q and Nagashima Spa Land both have Giant Frisbees (albeit both are different sizes), both are geographically close and yet none of the general public bats and eyelid.

[DWP]

I would have to agree here with Slick as a Perth theme park with similar rides to the GC parks would not hurt the Perth park in the slightest as despite the fact the travel time from (Sydney at least) to both Perth and Auckland are pretty comparable more people are likely to be heading to NZ than Perth and the fact it more often works out cheaper heading to NZ strangly. So if AW were to hypothetically completely copy DW in type of rides it wouldn't hurt them in the slightest because a GC park has the same type of rides

[Tim Dasco]

I would love to see a dark ride at some point. However I don't think AW has the room for a decent sized one. But Mark feel free to prove me wrong.

[iwerks]

^ Yeah, make Yarli's Safaris into a dark ride.

I reckon, Gerstlauer family coaster around the old castle island. Log flume ride up the back corner of the park.

Don't have a problem with the old Pinfari looping coaster, but they are getting a little elderly.

[Mikey112]

One of these, perhaps?

http://rcdb.com/6712.htm

That'd be perfect. If Adventure World surprised us with an inverted coaster like that, where would it be placed?

[Noxegon]

That'd be perfect. If Adventure World surprised us with an inverted coaster like that, where would it be placed?

Terrain layout on the hill between the water slides and race track?

Or relocate the pirate ship somewhere else and use that area?

[Gazza]

I want to see rides at AW use the hillside as much as possible.

Some sort of coaster that uses the hillside well, such as Iron rattler or boulder dash (Appropriately scaled) would be great when it comes time for another big investment.

[Mark Shaw]

I would love to see a dark ride at some point. However I don't think AW has the room for a decent sized one. But Mark feel free to prove me wrong.

I would love to do all of the suggestions here and do them all now but sadly Perth's population will not support such huge investments. Ours is a longer term strategy though and we will not compromise on quality of attractions, it may just mean being more patient to do things well rather than doing lots of smaller attractions more regularly.

[iwerks]

I suppose even theme parks have news cycles. How do you keep the customers coming back? How do you keep your park in the news (in a good way)? If MI-2 comes out in September, how much clear air will it get before the next big park investment over east or elsewhere grabs the headlines?

We can wait three years for the next big attraction - can everyone else?

Kudos on the 7 days until extinction with regards to Dinosaur Island - a very funny and appropriate way of reminding people how long it is until the dinosaurs leave.

Judging from Noxegon's comments it sounds like Adventure World has the best operations of any park in Australia.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Judging from Noxegon's comments it sounds like Adventure World has the best operations of any park in Australia.

With all due respect to Mark and the wonderful team at AW who by all accounts do an absolutely fantastic job "all round", I think the parks being compared here (the gold coast parks in particular) suffer from being a lot larger.

When you have a small, dedicated team - a CEO in touch with his staff so closely (and apparently a taste tester to boot!) it's very easy to foster a great family working environment that sees everyone work together for the common good.

As parks get bigger - you'll find less of the 'family' environment. Silos will develop between "operations staff" and "Retail staff" and "F&B staff" and "Custodial Staff" where they will no longer interact on such a wide scale.

I'm sure Mark will work with his team as the park expands to maintain this great working environment - but even Disneyland suffers from this 'Silo' effect (made even worse under Eisner) - and they're doing a damn fine job of 'bringing it back'. It also started out as a meagre park with a CEO who kept in touch with his staff and considered them family.

I'm not forecasting doom and gloom. Obviously the GC parks have grown to a point where stronger leadership was needed to maintain the environment created at opening, and it hasn't happened. I do hope as AW grows and expands that Mark and the team will succeed in holding onto what they have now.

[rappa]

With all respect to your opinion I disagree that a large park/business can't foster a healthy team and friendly environment.

AHL is a perfect example of this in a very similar industry.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Yep - absolutely - it can happen - i'm not saying it can't - i'm just saying the bigger a business gets, the less hands on management get in most cases, and it requires far stronger leadership to 'hold it all together' and keep that magic that they had when they were 'younger' or 'smaller'

[iwerks]

Just as long as the GC parks don't poach Mark.

In other news..

'Lost Perth: The 1980s' will be on our local channel 9 tomorrow night. There's definitely Atlantis footage in there.

Also..

Local Magazine 'Scoop:Perth Guide' did a little snippet on our theme parks (pg 72).

http://www.scoop.com.au/Magazines/Scoop-Perth-Guide

Edited March 25, 2015 by iwerks

[Noxegon]

With all due respect to Mark and the wonderful team at AW who by all accounts do an absolutely fantastic job "all round", I think the parks being compared here (the gold coast parks in particular) suffer from being a lot larger.

Warner Brothers is, if anything, smaller.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I had meant in terms of popularity and attendance Noxegon - MW is by far a much "bigger" park in terms of this.

[Mark Shaw]

I had meant in terms of popularity and attendance Noxegon - MW is by far a much "bigger" park in terms of this.

I understand the comments about getting larger and losing control of the detail etc., but coming from Merlin where our teams there were far bigger than MW/DW I'm certain we have the resources, passion and skills to continue to expand without losing focus and whole team commitment. I'm also 100% committed to AW for the long term.

[joz]

That's a good point, I've never been to Thorpe Park (sorry Mark!) but I have been to Alton Towers many times, and I'm always surprised at how many of the staff seemed to have a real pride in the place. The park on my visits at least has had a very pleasant feel, and each of the ride staff seemed convinced that they've got the best ride in the park. Just down the road though at Drayton Manor though none of the staff could crack a smile all day on my visit, and Drayton Manor advertises itself as being family run. It seems to me that the size of the company is irrelevant when compared to the intent of the company.

[grrofunger]

This is from 7th March,

All that land ready to have something exciting plonked on it

I'll keep posting photo updates as nearmap keep adding fresh satellite images during the installation.

This is most likely way off but i tried to pick up and plot out the pegs by zooming right in and picking up shadows and objects that looked like the marking pegs

Edited March 26, 2015 by grrofunger

[grrofunger]

nah - iwerks gave us this great shot earlier showing pegs going up the hill far past the shotgun start

[iwerks]

Yeah, but I like what you did with the mapping on the ground. I've been trying to figure out that shape. Could well be the outline of the Kraken slides. Makes you wonder how people are going to get back to the top. Can't wait.

Lost Perth 1980s is about to begin.

[iwerks]

Not a lot on Lost Perth - stills of Atlantis and some video of the bumper boats at AW.

Here's the latest from Throw back Thursday. Looks like this shot was taken from the fence line at the top of the park. Plenty of construction work underway. It looks to be the monorail going up the hill and not the toboggan tracks coming down.. but I could be wrong.

The close up shots on Instagram are getting lots of likes (and inane comments).

https://instagram.com/adventureworldperth/

Edited March 26, 2015 by iwerks

[iwerks]

reanimated35

Well shit, they've got better shows than Movieworld.

Apparently.. only caught the kids show at AW, today. Nice, stuff. When they said there would be singing, I thought it would be prerecorded -- apparently not. The girl who was 'fairy Floss' wasn't the one from the ads, but she was good enough. There was a back story longer than a Game of Thrones novel and a song that wouldn't be out of place at Disney. Sweet little, show.

[XxMrYoshixX]

nah - iwerks gave us this great shot earlier showing pegs going up the hill far past the shotgun start

That photo tells me they may either install a Tornado or Wet Abyss... the funnel shape gives it away.

[iwerks]

Lots more pictures of the hillside today. There are coloured flags and conduits everywhere.

[grrofunger]

I'm convinced now too yoshi