Dreamworld, the inefficient park?

[ads086]

The braking system used on the GD (as far as I know, I may be wrong though), is magnetic. In a magnetic braking system, the magnets are installed on the gondola and there are copper strips on the track. The falling magnets onto the copper strips slows down the gondola. This system has been used on roller-coasters aswell. The two gondolas hitting the copper stripping at the bottom would have absolutely nothing to do with the whinches at the top, as the carrier cart does not free-fall, but is controlled in its decent Another option would be to have a third, smaller row of seating that joins the two gondolas on the northern side. This would mean you could fit maybe two or three more riders on, and then both sides would have to run at once, as it would all be the one gondola

[Gazza]

I reckon just replace the winches with a fast lifting system, like the ones they use in the bigger office towers of today.

[scott]

What if we had one side as a launched freefall?

[dr_teeth]

i like the idea of a launched lift for the GD. however how youd have to launch the thing pretty fast to get it all the way up to the top of that tower (120mts approx). i think just a faster winch to the top is the key here. i mean it takes what 90 sec or so. think about space probe you were up there pretty quick and it didnt stop for ages at the top either, unlike GD which stops at the top for ages. i like the idea of more seats like the pic on the last page, but the thing you gotta remember here is that the track the gondola runs down is only in the very centre and would be only about a meter wide at best. wider seats means more easily the gondola will become inbalanced. also remember most days its pretty windy up the top of the tower even if its not at the bottom. with cyclone i dont think you really need another operator, just let people que at the last set of doors...that way the ride op dosent need to move from the station at all...just let people in, check the harness and let her go....same as demon was set up...worked well even with 1 person.

[Gazza]

We unfortuantely cant have an air launch to the top, the limit of the technology was pretty much hit with Power Tower at CP according to S&S power, so we can throw that idea in the bin. A faster winch would be the easiest answer. So, how windy would it be at the top, maybe DW could make some more money, and also add some interest by letting Pacific Hydro put a wind turbine at the top, it could help with the parks power supply, for example by giving enough power so all rides could run at once.

[joz]

I reckon Dr Teeth & Gazza are on the money here, and simply reprogramming the winches would be a good start with GD. I like the wait at the top, but you could probably lop 20 or so seconds or so off without to much detriment to ride experience, particularly on the east side. Having the winch not only lift, but also descend quicker would also help with capacity (as an operator said, often the cars are loaded, waiting for the winch to come back down). Still, I bet there'd be some issue with changing the winch speed (rope wear & tear, the cable separators and the differing weight of the cars) but I can't think of anything that can't really be overcome.

[coaster_crazee]

isnt the whole purpose of the slow ascent up the tower and the wait up the top to build up suspense in the riders? thats what makes it scary, the fact that u just keep going up so slowly, then u wait up the top, not knowing when its going to fall...

[Gazza]

Well, Id glady say goodbye to some of that time at the top if meant a shorter queue, i think they should program a random time between 0 and 15 seconds, at one end of the scale you have some time for the fear to well up, but at the other end the car is dropped after 0 seconds and you are caught complety of gaurd and have no time to prepare for the drop. It would be programed to mainly hover around the 10 second mark with some variations at each end of the scale to spice things up. Just whack a speaker up there with a heartbeat, that will scare the punters.

[coaster_crazee]

I found that the count-down screens on Space Probe did a good job at welling up the fear, and that only went for about 15 seconds... i dunno why but i found space probe was scarier than GD, i dunno why...

[Gazza]

I think the scare came from being in the hat, it was like being in some wierd room without a floor, but when I was there the screens were covered in chunder or someting and were off, why didnt they just mount the TVs on a track (similar to track lighting) so the TVs could simply be haued in and be cleaned, serviced etc.

[coaster_crazee]

Chunder on the screens... thats pretty rank, whoever it was mustve projectile vomited... i think that dome thing worked well because you cant see whats around you, only whats below you, and even thought the drop on SP is smaller than GD, the actual fall seems to be more intense...

[scott]

A faster winch probably is the answer,I don't think it will make the ride any les scary,it's the sheer size of the tower,and the wait at the top which builds fear.Not that I've been on it yet.I just hope I can muster the strength to go on next time.

[coaster_crazee]

Wow scott, youve never been on GD? that was the first ride i headed to when i went to dreamworld last year... it friggin awesome and terrifying, go on the side that u can get ur pic taken on

[scott]

What! You can get your pic taken on GD? I thought you could only have an on-ride pic Cyclone and ToT.Do you remember which side it was? How good is the view of the ocean from the east side?Do you usually get TOT going up the tower when your on GD?That must surely add to the experience.Dam it!I wanna go on but I doubt I'll have the guts. :mad:

[coaster_crazee]

SCOTT!!! why dont u have the gutts? just remember nothing bad can happen, tha magnet that stops the gondola has a 1 million year life span, its fully awesome and adrenaline pumping... when i went on it i had to do it by myself cos my damn sister wouldnt come on with me, i swore my hole out but it was still good... the photo side is the eastern aspect, and when ToT goes up while your sitting up there the gondola your in shakes a bit, its fully terrifying!!!

[scott]

Thanks,coaster crazee you've convinced me.I could have never ridden GD :eek: Beleive me, I have faith in those magnets,it's just the feeling you get when you're at the top of the ride,it's like 'This is a mistake ,why did I do this?' but you never regret it when the ride is finished.

[coaster_crazee]

Good. i know that feeling, the "OMG im gunna die!" sorta feeling it instillls upon you... its worth it, i saw ppl kiss the ground when they got off that ride, wouldnt it be cool to be a ride op for GD?!?

[scott]

Kiss the ground!I guess it would be pretty cool to be an op.

[Richard]

Feel free to talk about Giant Drop in a new thread. This isn't the place.

[Rocky]

OMFG... I looked on Cedar point web-site.... Dreamworld is really junior park... Cedar point has 17 rollercoasters and dreamworld 3.

[Slick]

No. Actually, Dreamworld has 4 roller coasters. Tower of terror, Runaway Reptar, Cyclone and the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride (gee what a mouthful).

[Rocky]

No. Actually, Dreamworld has 4 roller coasters. Tower of terror, Runaway Reptar, Cyclone and the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride (gee what a mouthful).

wow... well thats a really big difference. 4 rollercoasters in biggest amusement park in city like Gold coast with a lot of tourists. Not mentioning that just 2 rollercoasters in dw are really thrill rides. DW is a nice park with nice themeing but it needs more thrill rides. Hope this will bi fixed soon in massive expansion.

[Ian]

OMFG... I looked on Cedar point web-site.... Dreamworld is really junior park... Cedar point has 17 rollercoasters and dreamworld 3.

wow... well thats a really big difference. 4 rollercoasters in biggest amusement park in city like Gold coast with a lot of tourists.

But you need to remember Cedar Point is in Ohio which is a good gate way to alot of surrounding States and Canada, where its a bit different down here. Cedar Point had 3.1 million people visit this year and the park only opens from May to October unlike Dreamworld thats open all year and gets around 1.3 million. But over the next 5 years I can see Dreamworlds attendance slowly rising with all the new hotels and housing combined with cheap domestic airfares. to reach the 2 to 3 million mark.

[steve$]

Yeah,Cedar POint has hotels on site to it can make way much more money than Dreamworld which will keep them streaming throught he gate. Its all about the population. In america where there is lots more theme parks people go to the parks lots more often because their will probably be a Six Flags down the road:p. If lots more people are exposed to theme parks then entire families will drive halfway across the country juts to get to a Famous amusement park [i.e Cedar Point. So with more population and more parks you just cant lose