I wonder why they changed it?

Doesn't always have to be maintaining the ride based...

Ultimately that means they would only send one cycle every 20 rides instead of the current two cycles every 20 on quiet days...  $AVING$!!!

First thing you learn in Roller Coaster Tycoon.  How to extend a ride life.

But this is not RCT

Savings = longer queues in off-peak = unhappy people

Doesn't have to be RCT...

Never stopped DW when running one attendant alternating between 2 rides in kids areas and we all know that parents will make more noise as they have to deal with the kids complaining...

Didn't stop MW alternating BATR and LTRR...

Doesn't stop WNW not operating Calypso Beach for almost half the year...

Didn't stop DW from closing attractions for half the day or only opening on weekends...

Alternating rides or reducing hours is a bit different to changing min rider load - on the quietest days of the year it is possible that it could take much longer than the couple of minutes it takes to alternate ride operation to load the ride to min capacity - hence, if it were possible (which I know it isn't) I'd honestly prefer they alternate wipeout and claw or tailspin than pull up the min capacity for them. Slow but controlled queue times is better than slow and unpredictable queue times. I've had my fair share of waiting for ZE minimums, and it can be slow even in peak season.

2 hours ago, MaxxTheMonster said:

Doesn't stop WNW not operating Calypso Beach for almost half the year...

While I agree with your other points, there's a pretty logical reason why they close this during winter...

I think most people are generally understanding when a ride has a minimum number for balance reasons - i was quite shocked when I went to ride Doomsday as a single, only to be told they couldn't take me because they had to keep the ride balanced - despite there being other singles in the queue they could have balanced with (and they did after I pointed out the common sense of it all) - but although I was shocked - had I been there alone, i'd have waited until others joined the queue to balance it out, because clearly its an operating requirement - and I don't want to make it unbalanced, and therefore potentially unsafe.

Sure, the new minimum on Wipeout could very well be a cost cutting measure, but at the same time - it's bang for buck time here - on average - a flat ride at Wonderland cost about $900 an hour to operate - with the bigger thrills costing more. Staff costs are a fraction of that cost - so the real cost of operation is the power, and the maintenance.

Why would you operate a ride every 5 minutes for two people? 24 people per hour isn't going to cover your cost of operation - in addition, its going to increase your maintenance cost 'per rider' astronomically - full seats make it worth operating. Waiting a few minutes generates a bigger queue. And queues create queues. people see a short queue, and they jump on it, knowing that they will get on quickly.

Look - I know purists out there will say 'the park chooses to open every day of the year, they should run every ride every day of the year (excluding maintenance periods) - and thats fair, for the most part. I'll take on the Calypso example above - whilst some (crazy) people do visit WnW in the winter, they manage to stay warm because:

1. minimal queues mean you're running from one slide to the next
2. little wait time at the top of the tower, standing there in freezing winds
3. water is warmer than the surrounding air (when you're wet)

The problem with Calypso is that the traditional rider style is laying in a tube - held above water - so you aren't in the warmer water, you are exposed to the colder air and you aren't running around to warm up - you're just laying there... so the popularity of the attraction just isn't there. Sure - some people are submerged, with their head and shoulders above the tube, and actively moving - but it's a LAZY river - its meant to be relaxing, and you can't really relax whilst getting hypothermia (although if you stay there long enough you will relax!)

Even the wave pool retains its popularity because the waves encourage active swimming - which warms you up.

Back to the purists - some attractions SHOULDN'T run all year.

As for the minimum rider requirement - whether it be for operational \ maintenance reasons or pure cost reasons - i'd much rather they staff every ride they have, and only run it when it meets the necessary minimum, than to understaff the park, and alternate operations.

6 hours ago, Aimsley81 said:

I can confirm that the Wipeout has re-opened but alas, need a minimum of 20 riders 

If you're there, would you mind terribly sharing some shots of the ride running with today's newspaper in your hand?

I'm joking of course, however the park hasn't shared anything on social nor does their website reflect the re-opening, and every single major attraction re-opening has been a big deal for them, which makes what you're saying very doubtful. Adding to this, checking Dreamworld's & Wipeout's geotags/analytics on social shows a whole lot of nothing, when historically guests have clamoured to be the first to share & ride re-opened rides.

@Slick I can understand why you'd be doubting that it was operating today - with riders. I'm trying to get a copy of the photo that Dreamworld took of us to commemorate the first ride since closing last year. We were asked to hold our hands in the shape of hearts. Tho I suppose you won't believe that either. 

1 hour ago, Slick said:

If you're there, would you mind terribly sharing some shots of the ride running with today's newspaper in your hand?

I'm joking of course, however the park hasn't shared anything on social nor does their website reflect the re-opening, and every single major attraction re-opening has been a big deal for them, which makes what you're saying very doubtful. Adding to this, checking Dreamworld's & Wipeout's geotags/analytics on social shows a whole lot of nothing, when historically guests have clamoured to be the first to share & ride re-opened rides.

Maybe they haven't posted anything because it is closing again next week for maintence, so it would be disappointing for people who see the post and then go and see that its closed once again. As the ride has only just reopened today and weren't sure how the ride would go and were concerned of issues occurring, so they haven't updated the website just yet 

9 minutes ago, Aimsley81 said:

@Slick Tho I suppose you won't believe that either. 

No need to take what I said personally, it wasn't an attack on you. I, like many others, who regularly have to sift through a torrential sea of "fake news" found online, generally hold a healthy level of skepticism when things don't add up, don't have proof or don't have citations. Your post just so happens to tick all three boxes, just FYI.

Always happy to be proven wrong, of course.

18 minutes ago, themagician said:

Maybe they haven't posted anything because it is closing again next week for maintence, so it would be disappointing for people who see the post and then go and see that its closed once again. As the ride has only just reopened today and weren't sure how the ride would go and were concerned of issues occurring, so they haven't updated the website just yet 

I'd imagine re-opening the last of their thrill rides would be a big deal, and communicating that all of their rides have now met safety standards would be at the top of their list in terms of communicating a sense of moving forward to guests. 

Again, historically, the second a ride re-opened, even if it was part way through the day, they didn't hesitate to communicate, and I'd imagine this situation would be no different, regardless of annual maintenance. 

I wonder Why The Super Tubes Hydro Coaster Is Closed Now?

What's strange is it's going down for maintenance on Monday.  For as long as I can remember the Wipeout has gone down at the end of the year.  It has to be close to 4 weeks since the last ride came online and if this was the last one why haven't they already striped it down?  Every time I've been to DW this year I have seen engineers working on it.   The question needs to be asked was the ride in that bad of a state?

Worth noting that the "whats open" page on Dreamworld.com.au was removed yesterday. Wouldn't surprise me to see them announce it tomorrow or perhaps not at all as it is less than a week before it closes for maintenance.

And the drinker flyers are closed too... I went to Dreamworld the other day and the donkey flyers had nothing on it like cars or anything.

The only thing there was the mumma dragon and also wipeout is open today because I My Friend was there today and was sending me photos and people queuing for the ride

1 minute ago, Jordan M. said:

Worth noting that the "whats open" page on Dreamworld.com.au was removed yesterday. Wouldn't surprise me to see them announce it tomorrow or perhaps not at all as it is less than a week before it closes for maintenance.

Wrong.

https://www.dreamworld.com.au/park-info/whats-open

Just FYI, prior to posting a reply to @Aimsley81 I checked that very page so what I wrote was iron clad and factually correct, which next time I suggest you do the same.

Side note: Dreamworld's CMS is quite sophisticated and does tailor customer experience depending on what you click. However, that page is easily found still under "Park info" in the main header menu. 

5 minutes ago, Rollercoaster_Lover❤️ said:

wipeout is open today because I My Friend was there today and was sending me photos and people queuing for the ride

Care to share?

@Slick I have the page bookmarked and it led to a 404 earlier today but I should have tried it again before posting, fair point.

I do not think this proves the ride is not open however, for awhile that page stated TI shows were at 3:00PM and considering the circumstances I would not be surprised if it simply was not updated yet.

Whatever the case may be, even if it was open it certainly wasn't officially open. Regardless, would be great to see Wipeout open again, it's a personal favourite of mine.

@Jordan M. you should check your VPN, when I checked the website this morning it worked perfectly.

1 hour ago, Slick said:

I, like many others, who regularly have to sift through a torrential sea of "fake news" found online, generally hold a healthy level of skepticism when things don't add up, don't have proof or don't have citations. Your post just so happens to tick all three boxes, just FYI.

@Slick I can understand that. From my point of view it was easy to believe as I was there and I saw it and experienced it. From your point of view there is exactly like you said, nothing to back my words. To be honest I'm surprised that Dreamworld has made no mention of it at all. I've been checking Facebook and Twitter all day..... 

On 31/01/2017 at 11:29 PM, themagician said:

Castaway Bay Battle Boats: Closed for scheduled maintenance from Monday 21/08/17 to Sunday 17/09/17

The above has been removed from SW's attraction maintenance webpage but these have been added:

Shark Bay Touch Pools - 20/02/17 to 26/02/17

Sky Fortress - 20/03/17 to 02/04/17

1 hour ago, Rollercoaster_Lover❤️ said:

And the drinker flyers are closed too... I went to Dreamworld the other day and the donkey flyers had nothing on it like cars or anything.

Interesting that - I didn't notice until now that Dronkey Flyers' maintenance got extended to the 19th of February. That date has now past & it is still closed according to DW's maintenance webpage (though it is now no longer listed as in maintenance). They've clearly found a problem with the ride. Hopefully they can fix it or they might need a new addition to the Dreamworks Experience...

Edited February 21, 20178 yr by Jamberoo Fan

18 hours ago, Slick said:

If you're there, would you mind terribly sharing some shots of the ride running with today's newspaper in your hand?

No newspaper @Slick but does the Cherri picker working on hot wheels suffice?

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 20178 yr by YLFATEEKS

31 minutes ago, YLFATEEKS said:

No newspaper @Slick but does the Cherri picker working on hot wheels suffice?

 

 

 

If you could write "@Slick" on your palm with today's date with the Wipeout working in the background, that'd be super.

Seriously though, good to see it going again.

SHOPPED!

2 minutes ago, AlexB said:

SHOPPED!

I can make another one if you like?