Old video footage of our Aussie theme parks in 80's/90's

[joz]

I reckon I do remember the yeti thing, it was in the roof on the South East side of the ride.  Don't remember the glowing red eyes though

[mission]

2 hours ago, Themeparkfan said:

A: does anyone remember in the 80s and 90s  the avalanche ride having a yhetti with white fur with red glowing eyes inside the mountain 

 

Is the avalanche ride the mine ride in the mountain that's still standing?

 

If so, it definitely had a yeti thing.  Back in 1994 I went on it and when I got off I had scratches to my face.  We assumed it was the yeti that got me (obviously it wasn't, no idea how I ended up bleeding though).

Edited March 14, 2017 by mission

[themagician]

No, this was avalanche

[Themeparkfan]

Original state Before it's reskin for nickelodeon

Edited March 14, 2017 by Themeparkfan

[Theme Park Girl]

7 hours ago, Themeparkfan said:

A: does anyone remember in the 80s and 90s  the avalanche ride having a yhetti with white fur with red glowing eyes inside the mountain 

B: a ride operator once told me the avalanche also went in a reverse cycle  when it first opened but international tourists didn't understand and got out in between change of cycles and so they stopped it  going backwards does anyone remember it going in reverse? 

C: when It got removed for pandamonium did it get sold and if so where is it now? 

A: Yep. Both hubby and I remember it well, including the red eyes ?

B: Yes, we also both remember (and rode it numerous times) in reverse cycle lol. 

C: Unsure, however there are similar versions of it doing the rounds as travelling show rides. This version was at the Gold Coast Show as the "Midnight Express" in 2015:

The version below was at the GC show last year (2016) by a different rides mob. Their version was called The "Flash Dance", but was more simplified - didn't have a tunnel/cave or elevated floor like the others. Went both forwards and backwards, though:

Hubby also says he has known the ride to be called the "Alpine Express" as well in the past. So seems there's a lot of different ones still around.

Who knows, maybe Dreamworld's Avalanche is one of them? Wouldn't be the first time a former theme park ride has hit the road as a travelling show ride lol... 

Edited March 14, 2017 by Theme Park Girl

[Wil_i_am_not]

@Theme Park Girl, the Midnight Express was imported in 2013 from England, I believe it's either a Reverchon or Sobema and the Flash Dance is a Reverchon Explorer. About the ride being sold, I haven't seen that particular ride in Australia or at any travelling shows, so my guess is that it's been sold overseas or has gone into hiding somewhere in Australia. 

Dreamworld honestly ran it like shit, probably one of the worst Matterhorn style rides I've been on. Though, I guess they wanted to gear it more towards the kids in years leading up to its removal.

[Tim Dasco]

There is also The Thunder Bolt (Bells amustments)

and Rock N Roll (Chants amustments).

Plus The rage (L&L Osbroune Showtime amustments) is the same ride type but instead of hanging the cars are on rails.

Here is a link to how the ride gets set up. This version requires 2 trailers and takes a long time to set up as they build it from scratch. This is why it only gets used once a year.

 

Instead most other versions still have 2 trailers but the whole roof folds in. Like below:

 

[Themeparkfan]

 The Avalanche was one of my favorite rides at Dreamworld as a kid  was beautifully themed in the 80s/90s with the log cabin entrance and waterfall coming down the mountain  the Bavarian village around it and the yhetti above your head with glowing red eyes inside when the lights went out in the mountain it went pitch black so it was a unique experience  than other Matterhorn rides  and it was quite a fast ride in its early life  before its reskin for nickelodeon kids area

[rappa]

Hang on is the flash dance above a Tassy Devil brother? I've never seen another one 

[Themeparkfan]

4 hours ago, djrappa said:

Hang on is the flash dance above a Tassy Devil brother? I've never seen another one 

Yes but the tazzie devil was a smaller version than the traveling versions and the one in Luna park Melbourne if they still have it 

[Spotty]

In Europe the "Explorer" is a fairly common ride. Flash Dance is a Reverchon model, and if i'm not mistaken the Tasmanian Devil and the old "G Force" from Luna Park Melbourne were manufactured in Australia under license.

As far as what happened to the Avalanche i'm fairly sure it was scrapped when it was sold. As far as rides of the same type we have in Australia we have the following still travelling. 

Alpine Express (Sobema Gen 2)
Midnight Express (Sobema Gen 2)
Thunderbolt (Sobema Gen 2) - Ex Grundy's Cripton
Matterhorn (Sobema Gen 1)
Rock n Roll (Reverchon)

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the Dreamworld unit is still in the boneyard along with the Reef Diver and Vortex. Dreamworld's matterhorn was run like garbage anyway, most travelling units can hit 14RPM going forwards and 12RPM backwards (or approx 100kph) whereas I'd say Dreamworld's unit once it was neutered for Nick Central would do half that speed, however it was more than capable. 

From what I have heard though Dreamworlds model was built by SDC.
 

[Wil_i_am_not]

Didn't Dreamworld's enterprise get sold to Downunderland in Canberra? @Spotty

[Spotty]

They had two enterprises, one was replaced in the early 90's I think as it was a maintenance nightmare. If you look at early TVC's for Dreamworld you can see the older model in the videos that is very different to the Meshio version that was with the park in the 90's - 00's

[Jobe]

2 hours ago, Spotty said:

In Europe the "Explorer" is a fairly common ride. Flash Dance is a Reverchon model, and if i'm not mistaken the Tasmanian Devil and the old "G Force" from Luna Park Melbourne were manufactured in Australia under license.
 

 You are 100% correct here Spotty- both were manufactured by Danfab Engineering in Australia under license from Reverchon.

The G Force at LPM was removed in early 2015  and replaced with the Power Surge.

As for Wonderland's Tasmanian Devil: "The Tasmanian Devil was Built for Australia’s Wonderland in 1985 and was slightly smaller in diameter than the other explorers they built and had the capability to go backwards, for whatever reason Australia’s Wonderland chose to operate it in one direction only.   The Tazzie Devil was half trailerized but not completed for travelling on the show circuit."

Here is a bit more info on the Explorer ride ( Thanks to Dave Burton's Amusement Ride Extravaganza site)

"

The explorer was first manufactured by Reverchon Industries of France in 1980. Reverchon, a pioneer in the electric bumper car. Several units were made under license in USA and Australia in the early 1980’s with approximately 30 built worldwide before production ceased by Reverchon around 2001.

The ride consists of a fast undulating rotational movement with 3 ups and downs per revolution ranging from 0.5 to 5 metres (1.6 to 16 ft), with a swinging sensation, both clockwise and counter-clockwise direction. Unlike similar rides the hydraullically driven Explorer does not use a tram guide to lift and lower the cars but instead an ingenious reverse eccentric centre hub.

The large 40-person ride is mounted on one 46ft trailer and can be set up in as little as 4 hours with 3 people.

There are approximately 5 Reverchon units operating in Europe, at least 5 in USA and 3 Explorers in Australia - one at Melbourne’s Luna Park, one immaculate road model renamed Flashdance owned by Chant’s, and an ex-park model under refurbishment. These 3 were built in Australia under license from Reverchon in the 1980’s.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• 20 two seats cars
• Two axis
• Maximum speed : 16 rpm
• Power supply : 80 kW
• Hourly capacity : 900 to 1,000 people
• Set-up time : 6 hours for 3 people
• Hydraulic unit with 4 functions
• Control rack for all functions
• Mounted on a 14 m (46 ft) trailer
• Road weight 24 tons"

 

[rappa]

I still recon it's an amazing flat right. Really powerful sensations and leaps and bounds above the variants that use a track for lifting the cars. 

[Themeparkfan]

4 hours ago, Spotty said:

They had two enterprises, one was replaced in the early 90's I think as it was a maintenance nightmare. If you look at early TVC's for Dreamworld you can see the older model in the videos that is very different to the Meshio version that was with the park in the 90's - 00's

The first enterprise was also manufactured by SDC if you look at the paint work on the cars of both the avalanche (pre nickelodeon) and first  enterprise they are almost identical in design the first one had a better ride experience in my opinion the meshio one that replaced it Was much slower 

SDC model the first Dreamworld Enterprise 

and the meshio model the replacement  which became the reef diver 

[Spotty]

I personally didn't mind the speed that the newer unit ran, it was honestly nice and relaxing in the breeze. In saying that I have not ridden the original one and the only other Enterprise I have ridden was the one at Luna Park Melbourne (and the UFO at LPS)

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 3/16/2017 at 5:06 PM, Jobe said:

As for Wonderland's Tasmanian Devil: "The Tasmanian Devil was Built for Australia’s Wonderland in 1985 and was slightly smaller in diameter than the other explorers they built and had the capability to go backwards, for whatever reason Australia’s Wonderland chose to operate it in one direction only.   The Tazzie Devil was half trailerized but not completed for travelling on the show circuit."

 

Not quite correct - Wonderland DID run it in reverse - stopping mid-way through the cycle and changing direction - but they stopped doing it in later years for reasons unknown to me - the operator panel was still set up to do it, and maintenance guys in manual mode still ran it backwards during morning maintenance some days too.

My only thinking is that when the ride was converted to single-operator control, perhaps it was deemed risky that riders would try to get out mid-way through - similar to the reasons given for the ones above. The second operator stood almost directly opposite the main control booth, so would have had eyes on to the first operator's blindspots.

[Brad2912]

Thought I was going crazy as I was certain it did run backwards. The Tassie Devil was my favourite flat at Wonderland and I was starting to question if the nostalgia was clouding my memory!

thanks for the confirmation @AlexB

[rappa]

Yeah I remember riding it at night backwards during 5 after 5 

[Theme Park Girl]

On 16/03/2017 at 7:48 PM, Themeparkfan said:

SDC model the first Dreamworld Enterprise 

Ugh. Memories. My first real spin & spew experience when I was 19! My sister in law and I both got off this one dry retching and running for the closest toilet lol ??

Didn't do much better after riding Aussie World's Redback, hence why I tend to avoid these type of fast spinny rides now ?

[Spotty]

I still find it funny looking at nearly every photo / video clip of the Gen 1 Enterprise as it seemed to be missing 2 cars. Wonder why this was the case lol.

[TomiJ]

^ I could be wrong but I think it was designed like that. 

[themagician]

I could be wrong, but imagine it is to do with ride maintence, to allow for easier access to the motors in the centre, rather than having to remove a car 

[Themeparkfan]

Yeah gen 1 Enterprise had a full compliment of cars attached. The only time they would be removed is for maintenance purposes