Adventure World 2015 - 'Mi2' Kraken Tornado slide

[grrofunger]

Again, good work Mark and AW on listening and actioning issues/implementing quick fixes.

As for the capacity limit and turning people away... what a brilliant predicament to be in

[iwerks]

There's always a way to avoid queues. It helps if you do your research and get there early. The fast pass was really efficient at avoiding the queues. More power to Adventure World for doing so well.

[Tim Dasco]

Just going to put my 20 cents in. I went to AW the other day and went on the Kraken 8 times. When going up the hill yes the red bitumen was hot, however the cream strip really made a difference. To us the worst part was those little nuts from the trees that hurt the feet. But my feet were never 'Burnt to a crisp' and it was a 32 degree day. This was also before the hill had the shade nets installed.I can't comment on the queue because I had the fast past. But talking to people who waited in the queue I think if there was some signs that said the wait time. Like they have at disney and Universal Studios. (Electronic signs would work better on Kraken and Abyss) Would make for it better so people understand what they get themselves into. I also think this would work great for Kraken is to put water fountains in the queue line. On all of the Universal Studios outdoor queues they had them and when its hot outside they are a great blessing. However AW and Mark are clearly doing a great job and are trying to fix the situation.

[iwerks]

Good point about the nuts, Tim. I think AW could have a sign saying the average wait time from this point. Like Abyss is probably a half hour wait from the bottom of the stairwell. It would at least give people new to the park a few clues.

[grrofunger]

1 hour ago, iwerks said:

There's always a way to avoid queues. It helps if you do your research and get there early. The fast pass was really efficient at avoiding the queues. More power to Adventure World for doing so well.

Of course ! but we are seasoned pros and i have also used the fast pass many times , so cheap for so much benefit.

The average punter rocking up with family in tow for their once off visit wouldn't have a clue though.

Agree on the wait time signage, would help 

Edited December 29, 2015 by grrofunger

[Mark Shaw]

Morning, the wait time signs have been in the queue race for approx. 3 days now. I think it definitely helps as most people don't have watches or phones on them and are poor at measuring time when waiting. Consequently 45 mins becomes over an hour in their minds.

 

[GoGoBoy]

Mark huge kudos to you and your team. Sounds like you are providing a true theme park experience with an emphasis on the customer. And I LOVE that you have promised that the additional shading will ultimately be themed and you won't just leave the temporary stuff. I am always hugely disappointed when parks invest in theming and then ruin it by putting up some dodgy looking temp structures, signage etc. Keep up the great work and looking forward to what comes next!

[Tim Dasco]

I am going to say I am very impressed by Mark and his teams efforts. When there are complaints or things mentioned you go out of your way to deal with them. I even remember last year when people said on here about the weeds under Abyss and the next day they were gone. Its must truly be a great team because that what it looks like to the public. I went to AW with cadets and everyone said AW is clearly spending a sh*t tone of money and is really taking a massive step forward. A lot of people also thought the theming made it feel like a theme park and not a fair ground. I really want to thank you Mark and your team for providing a world class theme park on our shores in WA. Its showing also by having reached maximum capacity. Thanks again.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 12/29/2015 at 4:47 PM, Mark Shaw said:

Further to my comments yesterday, we have provided further shade at Kraken queue race overnight and positioned a team member with a bucket to douse the bitumen.

Cue complaints about wasting water.... lol. You will never please everyone.

 

Personally, I've always found the best thing in a hot queueline was never shade (many shade structures at parks actually make it hotter underneath as the airflow is interrupted \ blocked) - Mark, I know you guys have thrown a lot of extra cash at post-opening improvements to the path, queue and all round - but if i may make just one more...

Misting systems \ fan systems. 

As a former cast member at Wonderland Sydney - I know all too well how how queuelines will make guests. Wonderland's Snowy River Rampage had a long queue (especially on hot days when everyone just wanted to cool down!!!) and it was hemmed in on both sides by log fences to prevent people from entering the flume envelope - this unfortunately prevented air flow. Irrigation pipes (the kind you buy from bunnings for your garden) were fixed along the roofline of the queue, with little misting jets spaced out along the queue. Instant relief! (not to mention - it was almost as good as the ride itself to cool off!!). Other parks i've been to have had fans with mist jets mounted in front of them, oscillating over the queue.

Either of these could be done within the queue races fairly cheaply (provided you have a tap up there!), and could also be extended down the hill if you really wanted to go the extra mile (might double as a lawn sprinkler too!).

I think this would be the epitome of guest service... just my $0.02

Edited December 30, 2015 by AlexB

[grrofunger]

AW has misting fans in the lines at Kahuna Cafe and near the tables , they are AWesome. Would be very good in the slide lines but just thinking about the setup of some of the lines may not be as easy as it seems to install.

[Tim Dasco]

Read some of the comments on AW's Facebook page people are asking about if they could build stairs going up that hill. But their already is a set that has been there for years. See in image attached.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Tim Dasco

[grrofunger]

They look snakey 

its the part of the hill after freefall thats the worst IMO 

[Mark Shaw]

Morning

re stairs, that's a massive project in itself. We do already have the freefall stairs as mentioned here AND a chair lift!!!!

Re misting systems, the problem at the Kraken top is the wind is prominent and I guarantee you guests would feel very little, if any impact from them.

[JacobSibbald]

Have you considered putting in the sprinkler systems that are just above ground? They keep the bitumen wet and I've seen it used in Dubai and Walt Disney World.

[Tim Dasco]

3 hours ago, Mark Shaw said:

Morning

re stairs, that's a massive project in itself. We do already have the freefall stairs as mentioned here AND a chair lift!!!!

I know that people complain about is the walk. But they then complain that the chair lift is to slow. I just feel like banging their heads together when people say that.

 

[elemist]

Had to come back and comment that it really is great to see suggestions and ideas getting implemented on the fly immediately, rather than at the glacial melting pace that most larger parks operate.

Don't see anyway you'll keep people happy with that hill. Stairs would be just as bad to climb in my opinion, and as mentioned there is a set of stairs that gets you most of the way to the top already! Might have to bring back the old motorized scooters that used to take you and your toboggan to the top of the hill

[strop]

Mark, just a suggestion for a possible (temporary) solution...

A couple of tubs of crocs or thongs of various sizes that people could borrow for the walk up, then drop in a return tub at the top  would solve the problem. They would just need to be periodically shuttled back down the hill.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

#FootFungus #SharingIsCaring #AnyoneWearingCrocsMustBeShotOnSight

 

[iwerks]

They've actually got crocs at the Grand Prix Raceway for people who have forgotten their shoes, so they can still ride.

[themagician]

But they'd probably never get them back. It would be much easier and cheaper to just have water spraying onto the ground.

[XxMrYoshixX]

3 hours ago, iwerks said:

They've actually got crocs at the Grand Prix Raceway for people who have forgotten their shoes, so they can still ride.

Great, when I come back to AW i will deliberately forget my shoes.

[pin142]

And your dignity

[grrofunger]

Could you have soft bags or backpacks etc that team members at the top put peoples shoes etc in - then send the bags down the slide between riders or say every 5 rides or something?

team member at the bottom collects and empties the bag into a collection point and sends the bag back up on the conveyor belt?

this way people can wear their shoes,hats etc up to the top and collect them at the bottom?

would the bags safely make their way down the slide? or would they get stuck/clog the funnel?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

they do something like this for Wedgie at DW - they have a bunch of mesh bags they can send down... it is a slow process though as they won't let the next rider in until the bag has been received at the end. 

I could see this sort of thing happen where the rider is the next person down (easy to know whose is whose), but if you only sent it every 5 rides, potentially thats 20 pairs of footwear to sort through for the operator each time.

Not to mention - people can have anything on their thongs (sand mostly) which would increase the amount of debris going into the pool and into the filter system.... it's a no from me.

[elemist]

I've often wondered why the raft conveyers aren't put to use for moving things to the bottom of the slides.