Goliath - Adventure World’s new Intamin Gyro Swing

[iwerks]

Devastated by that news. Hope everything is okay, Mark. Maybe it's time to bring some of your magic to the Gold Coast parks. They certainly could benefit from Adventure World's level of service.

[Tim Dasco]

Look what I happened to stumble across. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/mystery-surrounds-departure-of-successful-adventure-world-boss-20161217-gtdbma.html

[XxMrYoshixX]

While this is sad news, AW has really turned itself around under Mark's leadership from a sub-par run down fairground to a theme park comparable with the GC parks in quality and service, and I hope he remains in the theme park industry as he is an example of an excellent park manager who brings new ideas to the table; to recap he has done the following:

• Installed an excellent attraction in the form of Kahuna Falls in 2011 
• Given the kids area the update it needed with Dragon's Kingdom in 2012
• Finally given Adventure World the coaster it needed for many years with Abyss in 2013
• Changed the park's image with the refurbishment of the Go-Karts, Rampage and Power Surge for 2014
• Broke records and gave the park a ride it needed with the installation of Kraken in 2015
• Updated the park once again for the better with the refurbishment of Water Mountain and its slides in 2016
• Will raise the park to new heights with MI3 in 2017

And he has not only done this; but he has also listened to his customers and improved the park further with the excellent customer service of the current park, winning an award just days before his departure.

Mark, I wish good luck to you and your family in your future endeavours.

 

Edited December 18, 2016 by XxMrYoshixX
because reasons

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Something doesn't smell right.

[Tim Dasco]

^To add to that:

  2015: Rebuilt the bumper boats and themed water slides in Nautical land. Resulting in reached capacity and had to stop ticket sales.

2016: They rebuilt the carpark and made a season pass holders only carpark and entrance. With a re-theme of Inferno and a renovation to the cafe. They also closed down the paddle boats and made a massive new grass area. Plus added circus Extreme for summer, Increased attendants for Fright Nights and are launch Summer nights this year

 2017 and beyond: Plus MI3 and whats in the 5-10 year plan in the future.

All the best of luck in the future @Mark Shaw and hope to see you work your magic on other theme parks.

[iwerks]

5 hours ago, AlexB said:

Something doesn't smell right.

I expect AW will make an announcement, tomorrow.

Best of luck, Mark. It's been great watching the rise and rise of Adventure World.

Edited December 18, 2016 by iwerks

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

No, it doesn't sound like this was planned or expected at all. It also sounds like Mark wasn't ready to leave... but as has been pointed out he's done so much good for that park, so its hard to swallow that he'd be asked to leave (or told to) - so something is up - and it doesn't smell right.

[grrofunger]

3 hours ago, Tim Dasco said:

Look what I happened to stumble across. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/mystery-surrounds-departure-of-successful-adventure-world-boss-20161217-gtdbma.html

They could have at least referenced this site.

[Aw hype]

Very sad to see mark go ?☹️. He rescued a Perth icon, and put the AW in AWesome

[Brad2912]

My 2cents if I was a betting man...

Sounds to me like the powers at be wanting to put a hold on some projects in the pipeline/reduce capex, Mark pointing out that the great work they have done to this point has been largely based on their proactive approach to new developments and halting/delaying would undo a lot of the positive momentum the park has created, and management saying "too bad, make it work". 

In movie terms, the studio and director had creative differences, so the director departs the film... 

[Tim Dasco]

Did it occur to anyone that Mark got another job offer which he wanted to take?

[Brad2912]

Nope. 

[iwerks]

3 hours ago, grrofunger said:

They could have at least referenced this site.

It's actually funnier that they haven't. It'll be like, 'who is he talking to?'

Yeah @Brad2912, I've changed my mind about it too. He might end up on the Gold Coast, but that might not have been the plan. I don't want to even speculate, anymore. Good luck, Mark.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

7 hours ago, Tim Dasco said:

Did it occur to anyone that Mark got another job offer which he wanted to take?

No, given his post here:

On 16/12/2016 at 10:45 PM, Mark Shaw said:

Not sure what's next but I'll hope to stay in the Theme park industry and continue to contribute here.

 

[Reanimated35]

On 18/12/2016 at 5:54 PM, Tim Dasco said:

Look what I happened to stumble across. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/mystery-surrounds-departure-of-successful-adventure-world-boss-20161217-gtdbma.html

 

On 18/12/2016 at 9:16 PM, grrofunger said:

They could have at least referenced this site.

I just had that pop up too. Given they clearly got their info from Parkz, I wonder who tipped them off? The Parkz post doesn't exactly pop up in any common searches related to Mark or Adventure World. 

[Slick]

Sad to hear you go @Mark Shaw - you're one of the few folks in the industry that's impossibly hard to fault in terms of what you've built in your time at Adventure World. Abyss is easily the best bang for buck thrill ride any park in Australia has built in the last decade, and your hands-on approach through so many facets of the experience including dealing with us is admirable. Here's hoping we see you at the helm of something on the east coast soon.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

9 hours ago, Slick said:

@Mark Shaw

you're one of the few folks in the industry that's impossibly hard to fault in terms of what you've built in your time at Adventure World.

(sorry - I can't get rid of Mark's tag)

I don't know @Slick - I think John Menzies is impossibly hard to fault in terms of what he built in his time at Adventure World...

 

[iwerks]

According to an official comment on AW's Facebook page, Andrew Sharry is now acting CEO of Adventure World. He was the Chief Executive and General Manager of AW in the early 2000s.

[GoGoBoy]

I agree with the sentiment on here - really terrible news! Truly hoping Mark's talent and vision will be put to use at another major Aussie theme park. We need people like this making the big decisions.

[jaayden02]

I'm not too sure if this ride can be found in Europe but what if it's a ride similar to Movie World's newest ride Doomsday Destroyer. However, as the image I have added shows it may be a Bounty remake. The seating could be themed as boats which would be nice touch to the ride. Even a ride like the Bountys Revenge that closed at Wonderland Sydney. Perhaps even a Giant Loop coaster at SIx Flags New England, if possible it could intertwine within the Kraken.

[XxMrYoshixX]

17 minutes ago, jaayden02 said:

Perhaps even a Giant Loop coaster at SIx Flags New England, if possible it could intertwine within the Kraken.

A Super Loop =/= roller coaster.

If AW built one of those, I would be required to burn the park to the ground.

[iwerks]

Just a few thoughts on my visit the other day. Apparently Kraken has new rafts that require at least three people to be onboard. The queue was very small to start with, but was about half an hour for most of the day.

Inferno was great fun. They used the count down to start with and then shot or dropped whenever they felt like. I think they did two shots, a drop and then a quick shot. The young guy running it was really good. The countdown is done by the man who does the voice over for Abyss.

The Tunnel of Terror now has a camera for the final splashdown. The screens are located outside of the water mountain area (which looks great with its Wild West theming). 

The Bucanneer Battle boats have new buttons which sometimes get stuck. Sometimes the engines get stuck on or off, as do the water shooters. Had a long run early on, when no one else turned up, so they let us keep going.

The Grand Prix had a fairly long queue all day, sometimes with a long fast pass queue too. Got in line at one stage, but it didn't move, so we got out.

The cabana was great to relax in. Had a healthy Mark Shaw Caesar Salad for lunch and churros in the afternoon. The Kahuna Falls Cafe closed around 5.35, so I didn't get to have dinner in the park. There's a great little coffee hut next to the main pool now.

It was about 32 degrees max, compared to about 38 last year. The main lawn was quite busy, but the new lawn, where the lake was, was pretty quiet.

Also used the new members' car park, which was quite convenient, and the new gate was open by 9.45am with no queue at all to get in. Although the new car park is grassed, there were good sized parking bays marked clearly there.

Edited December 28, 2016 by iwerks

[Tim Dasco]

Today tonight have done a story about Cirque Extreme with some hints regarding MI3.

 

[Aw hype]

Hi fellow enthusiasts!! I am going to the park on Monday or Tuesday and should be uploading some footage of the park and trying to get a bit more of an idea around what actually happened to mark! 

[iwerks]

Good luck with that @Aw hype. I might head down in the evening, in the next couple of days just to chill out. You're not supposed to film Cirque Extreme, although I have seen footage online. They don't have a problem with photos, however.

I wouldn't expect a comment on the Mark situation, whether he left on his own account or was pushed.

Edited January 6, 2017 by iwerks