Doomsday Destroyer - reviews and feedback

[MickeyD]

Well this is unexpected..

I don't want to sound too synical but given the current state of DW and SW, sadly MW doesn't appear to feel the need to put their best foot forward this Holiday season either?

I feel very sorry for the thousands of Holidaymakers about to hit the Coast that will get a pretty ho-hum experience from our Parks this Season?

Let's face it, DD could be better but honestly, is right now the time to keep it shut? I think not.

Poor form MW.  They have had months already to get this Carnival ride going. There really should be no excuses not to have it operating by Boxing Day.

I sincerely hope this is an error with the website? The ride has been testing afterall the past week? It all just seems so awfully inconvenient to have it return to Operation once the Holidays have finished. What. The. Fuck..

Edited December 24, 2016 by MickeyD

[Reanimated35]

Hasn't it been mentioned multiple times now that DD was simply waiting on new parts to arrive before they reopened it? Given its been testing again, it's likely said new parts would have to go through a certain run in time before it was approved for use. Obviously depending on how important said parts were. 

[themagician]

So we've gone from 1 weeks maintence, to 3 months. That sucks, but if the ride isn't up to scratch then it's got to be done

[MickeyD]

^ that's just it.. The synic in me says that's not exactly the reason, think about it..

Edited December 24, 2016 by MickeyD

[joz]

See I know that same line of thinking, but I just can't see them doing it at this time of year.  Without pointing to a specific time, we all kinda know there are times when rides are closed longer than they need to be.  Again I can't see them doing it, not with their new ride, and not at this time of year.  Doesn't mean it's OK though, this is the reason Intamin don't sell as many rides to Australia as they used to.

[Tim Dasco]

^ Or America. Been a long time since a new major Intamin coaster in the states.

[Bush Beast Forever]

1 hour ago, joz said:

Again I can't see them doing it, not with their new ride, and not at this time of year.  Doesn't mean it's OK though, this is the reason Intamin don't sell as many rides to Australia as they used to.

+1. This isnt VRTP saving opex this is VRTP dealing with the fallout of installing an unreliable ride.

This sounds harsh, but personally I think somebody needs to go for choosing this ride model. Only one other example had ever been built (shouldn't that alone have raised a red flag?) And it was SBNO before DD was even built! Additionally both the Zamperla and Verkoma clones were also duds commercially.

VRTP should have gone with the original plan of a windseeker (or similar tower ride) or at least a looping/spinning ride with a demonstrated track record of reliability. Reckon buying the updated Huss Enterprise 2G (where gondolas are replaced with open suspended seats) would have been a better bet.

With a relatively small number of comparatively well themed rides VRTP should have reliability/availability as the #1 consideration on their checklist (safety being a given).

[New display name]

6 hours ago, Bush Beast Forever said:

This sounds harsh, but personally I think somebody needs to go for choosing this ride model. Only one other example had ever been built (shouldn't that alone have raised a red flag?) And it was SBNO before DD was even built! Additionally both the Zamperla and Verkoma clones were also duds commercially.

This line of thinking and we would have never got the wipeout.

[Bush Beast Forever]

51 minutes ago, YLFATEEKS said:

This line of thinking and we would have never got the wipeout.

1) Dreamworld's wipeout is just a Vekoma ripoff of a Huss Top Spin. The Top Spin was already a highly successful ride by the time of Wipeout's opening. In comparison the Twin Hammer had been around for quite some time without much success before MW picked it.

2) Not sure that would really be much of a loss frankly. I would trade both Wipeout and Shockwave for instance for a Mack Wild Mouse any day of the week. More interesting ride than either of the other two, better total capacity than both put together plus I'd be willing to bet substantially lower R&M and power costs.

[Levithian]

It's pretty much professional suicide to close something during the busiest time of the year. I reckon it is pretty safe to say that what ever the reasons for the recent rides being closed outside of maintenance periods, it would have to be something critical to force the closure of them. If they could operate, you would be running them, so you can hardly blame the park for keeping rides closed.

There are probably lots of components/problems that could be repaired locally and/or by staff, and given they have been seen to be testing doomsday a number of times during the closure, I'd say there is more than just a casual issue wrong for the date to keep getting pushed back. If they were waiting for more parts, maybe they manufacturer had an issue with supply or something, or maybe they have had problems with components when they have arrived. You can get stuff air freighted around the world pretty quickly these days, so its not like you would expect them to have to wait months for something to arrive via sea. Anyone been to the park lately and seen what might be removed/deconstructed? might point to what sort of problem they are having.

Edited December 24, 2016 by Levithian

[rappa]

The Waikiki Wave Super Flip is not a rip off of a Top Spin. It's a major advancement on the design. The articulating arm greatly increases the range of movements possible over a Top Spin and is a huge feat in engineering. 

[Rollercoaster_Lover]

On 16/12/2016 at 5:55 AM, Luke said:

Dammit! Was so excited that both rides would open back up today :/

^This! Perhaps not doomsday, but my cynical side just thinks that they are keeping Scooby-Doo closed for that reason.

Scooby Doo Is Getting A Huge Refurbishment 

Are You Fricking Serious

[Bush Beast Forever]

6 hours ago, djrappa said:

The Waikiki Wave Super Flip is not a rip off of a Top Spin. It's a major advancement on the design. The articulating arm greatly increases the range of movements possible over a Top Spin and is a huge feat in engineering. 

It is an advancement but I would hardly call an articulated joint a "major advancement" or a "huge feat" of engineering. 

Fact of the matter is there are 2 of these  things left operating globally vs dozens and dozens of Top Spins. At the end of the day what makes a successful ride is if parks buy it in the first place and feel it is worth paying for the continued maintenance.

Having ridden both I can hazard a guess why the Top Spin has been the more commercially successful. Namely the Waikiki Wave just isnt that much better a ride for the increased complexity (and no doubt R&M) the articulation entails. I found while the Waikiki Wave is more varied in its movement it also has less aggressive rotational forces than the Top Spin which takes away from the ride experience (for me anyway).

 

Edited December 25, 2016 by Bush Beast Forever

[New display name]

No thanks @Bush Beast Forever I don't like your idea of a theme park.  For me what made Australian parks great was them being different.  The off the shelf path that DW is currently on does nothing to improve DW.  How many discos are in Australia now and you want to do the same thing to MW.

Edited December 25, 2016 by YLFATEEKS

[XxMrYoshixX]

On 12/25/2016 at 9:00 AM, Bush Beast Forever said:

1) Dreamworld's wipeout is just a Vekoma ripoff of a Huss Top Spin. The Top Spin was already a highly successful ride by the time of Wipeout's opening.

If you have ridden both ride types, then you'll know that the Vekoma Waikiki Wave is arguably a better ride than the Huss model. Vekoma didn't copy the Top Spin with its own version, but it enhanced the ride experience, with a third degree of movement in the form of an extra rotating arm that allows for more manoeuvres (such as twisting) than the regular Top Spin. While Vekoma didn't invent the Top Spin, it did invent a better version of a popular ride (with the famous loud roar), which is now a ride unique to Dreamworld and another park in Mexico.

Have you seen a Huss Top Spin do this?

[Tim Dasco]

There is one at AW a Moser Maverick 31 which can do the same amount of moments and is slightly smaller. Called Rampage.

[XxMrYoshixX]

2 minutes ago, Tim Dasco said:

There is one at AW a Moser Maverick 31 which can do the same amount of moments and is slightly smaller. Called Rampage.

Yes, I forgot about that one. Rampage can't do some of the twists Wipeout can, however. It feels more like a Top Spin than a Waikiki Wave Super Flip IMO.

[Slick]

It's worth mentioning that of the two left in the world, Wipeout is still the only one that still utilises a lot of the original ride program (the other one in Mexico still operating is very gentle now to avoid screwing the gearboxes). There's something about the length of the Vekoma variant that one ups the Moser clone, with that much play you can hold true to the whole "armchair on the end of a wave" basis and throw people forwards and backwards just as much as you can up and down.

Getting back on track, I do hope they get to open Doomsday asap. It's such a nice area and great overall addition to the park, and i'd hate for them to abandon the idea of doing things as quality as this because of extended downtime.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Slick

[Bush Beast Forever]

3 hours ago, XxMrYoshixX said:

If you have ridden both ride types, then you'll know that the Vekoma Waikiki Wave is arguably a better ride than the Huss model. Vekoma didn't copy the Top Spin with its own version, but it enhanced the ride experience, with a third degree of movement in the form of an extra rotating arm that allows for more manoeuvres (such as twisting) than the regular Top Spin. While Vekoma didn't invent the Top Spin, it did invent a better version of a popular ride (with the famous loud roar), which is now a ride unique to Dreamworld and another park in Mexico.

Have you seen a Huss Top Spin do this?

I have done both. Personally I prefer the more vigorous actions (higher G forces) on Top Spins but I can see how the more complicated maneuvers a Waikiki Wave is able to execute may make it more "interesting".

Does it make it 'better' though? I'd argue a ride isnt better if:

1) It costs themeparks more money to acquire and maintain, has low ride capacity and has low levels of reliability/availability. I.e. it has a poor return on investment.

2) It doesnt make its manufacturer money on a full life cycle basis.

Think of it like the 747 vs the Concord. Both were groundbreaking passenger aircraft with first flights in 1969.

An aviation enthusiast might say the Concord was the better plane given its unique supersonic flight capability.

Any airline or aircraft manufacturing executive though would say the 747 was/is a massively successful programme for Boeing and its airline partners while the Concord never recovered its development costs and didnt have an acceptable return on investment for Air France and British Airways.

While an enthusiast might say who cares if the parks or the manufacturers make money as long as parks install new and interesting rides, ultimately this is a short sighted perspective.

The parks won't be sustainable if they install rides with poor return on investment and ride manufacturers will go broke if they develop rides that don't recover their development costs.

[Slick]

Believe me, Huss are not known in the industry for quality or reliability.

[Tim Dasco]

Take a look at Inferno at AW and all the problems with that huss.

[Bush Beast Forever]

3 hours ago, Slick said:

Believe me, Huss are not known in the industry for quality or reliability.

Maybe so but design inherent in Top Spin is why there are dozens still in operation.

The numbers dont lie...

I dont want to sound like a kill joy. Happy to see parks get different rides just want them to be inherently reliable (i.e. not gimmicky), proven models.

E.g. would love to see a S&S Power Swing at Sea World to fill ride hole.

[Jamberoo Fan]

21 hours ago, Bush Beast Forever said:

I'd argue a ride isnt better if:

2) It doesnt make its manufacturer money on a full life cycle basis.

...ride manufacturers will go broke if they develop rides that don't recover their development costs.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't theme parks only pay manufacturers for new rides just once (maybe plus a deposit)? They wouldn't be paying them during the ride's whole life cycle unless they paid in instalments or if it was for repairs to the ride that the manufacturers only specialise in.

I'm pretty sure most (if not all) manufacturers don't build rides before selling them too. They wait until an order is made. Otherwise, the manufacturers would be wasting money (and space) on built rides that haven't yet (or never) got bought.

[Levithian]

Pretty sure they usually keep selling parts too, so thats a big part of the business.

I wouldn't be surprised if they charge fees for some sort of service plan too. Like, if you want support after what ever period is offered in the sale of the ride, you have to pay for it. Especially with how technical rides are getting, you'd have to be making money being able to connect remotely to ride systems and upgrade/repair/monitor controls, systems, etc.

[Jamberoo Fan]

True but depending on the part, wouldn't they wait until an order is made before producing it?

Service plans sound possible though.