The New Atlantis - Construction Updates

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

12 hours ago, rappa said:

This construction approach also resulted in one of the worst wooden coasters in history so probably not keen to copy it. 

 

10 hours ago, rappa said:

Bush Beast. I think we can all agree it was a fair piece of crap. 
the Beastie was a great little coaster though. 
 

There’s a heap of amazing examples of the craft of maintaining great wooden coasters. Grand National is an awesome one. 
But Bush Beast certainly was not. 

It's odd - your signature block used to display that you were one of the last riders on BB. I've not heard you refer to BB as being 'one of the worst' previously that I can recall.

As far as BB goes, there was nothing wrong with the construction or the design. The Coney Island Wildcat design was copied for Wilde Beast and both Grizzly coasters, all three of which still operate today (and i'm sure there's others out there too).

What was wrong with BB was the maintenance. I've walked the base of the coaster, and the cat walks, as well as riding enough and walking the exit ramps enough to see the split timbers, and the number of bolts, nuts, washers, and nails that were strewn around the envelope. I'm not saying it was unsafe - I've also watched the chippys walk the track each morning - but there were many band-aid solutions, which, while safe, and cheaper than replacing things, there's a lot of things that should have been replaced near its end of life. It wasn't, which is what lead to the bone shaking ride you got on its final day.

Again, that doesn't make it a bad coaster, or make the construction method a poor idea. As stated:

15 hours ago, Richard said:

There's really nothing to a wooden coaster at its core. Measure, cut, bolt, repeat.

 

[Brad2912]

Bush Beast is still in my list of fav rides, though it’s the only large woodie I’ve been on. Guess I will be blown away then when I try another if BB is crap comparably..

[joz]

Was there a different Bush Beast than the one at Wonderland, because the only Bush Beast I went on was shit. Hate to say it but the reason people think of it fondly is because it was a right of passage sort of ride. If I could reride any coaster that has closed it would probably be Thunderbolt, but it's 100% nostalgia. It was an absolute mess of a ride. Be honest and admit the thing you like from your childhood was shit but you have a soft spot for it because it is was an institution in the city you grew up in, and you have a nostalgic connection to it. Don't waste your time saying how objectively good it was.

[rappa]

I did have the very last ride on Bush Beast. 
I have fond memories of the ride from my childhood. 
But I’m objective enough to recognize that it was a very crap coaster. Design, maintenance, construction, whatever, it was not good. 
 

When it opened it had bad pacing, shuffled through the big turns and was overall quite ‘meh’, but it’s all we had. By the time it closed it was bone shatteringly painful. I couldn’t even ride it in the back. 
 

We can have fond memories of the place. But let’s not think for a second that we don’t let that fondness cloud our objective judgement.

Bush Beast was a very ordinary coaster. 

[themagician]

[Brad2912]

24 minutes ago, joz said:

Be honest and admit the thing you like from your childhood was shit 

That’s simple to say if you’ve got other things to compare it to. 
As I said, given how shit everyone seems to think BB was, I guess I’ll be blown away by Leviathan when it opens, or one of the big woodies in the US when I can get over there post-covid. I look forward to that though. 

at this stage, all of ridden was BB and Beastie in terms of wooden coasters, and I thoroughly enjoyed them, but I had nothing to compare them to. 
Give me BB over Buzzsaw, MDMC or even Sidewinder any day of the week. 

[Coasterlife]

it would have been good if they made it a hybrid coaster as they seem quite smooth and also fairly popular overseas

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

If we're all finished with 'my opinion is righter than your opinion so your opinion is wrong' - my point was, BB was built by local tradespeople based on PTC plans and SW could easily do the same. Rappa's argument that SW wouldn't want to repeat that method was shot down by Rich's point that there isn't much to building a woodie, and it's further confirmed by the fact that we have timber on slab, and tradespeople on site currently building the damn thing. (Last I checked, our borders are still closed to the overseas specialists you all think are necessary for construction to begin).

As for the ride experience - the wildcat design was born out in the 1920s. Most of the clones were built in the 80s. You know, back when computers operated in Megahertz, instead of Gigahertz. We've come a long way. Sure, modern woodies are far better designed, engineered and built. You might argue Nostalgia, i'll disagree. Just like a 40 year old gamer remembers fondly the days of the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64, which by today's standards would be called "shit" but 'for its day' were incredible machines. BB was, when built, a great ride. It was poorly maintained, but 'for its day' was a great coaster.

[rappa]

21 hours ago, Richard said:

firms skilled at building these rides, I'd be inclined to say that neither SW nor M&V would be too keen for significant progress without that wooden coaster expertise on site.

So if you can just point out for me in which part of the above Richard afirms your point that they should just knock it together themselves that would be great. 

[StingRay]

3 hours ago, AlexB said:

If we're all finished with 'my opinion is righter than your opinion so your opinion is wrong' - my point was, BB was built by local tradespeople based on PTC plans and SW could easily do the same. Rappa's argument that SW wouldn't want to repeat that method was shot down by Rich's point that there isn't much to building a woodie, and it's further confirmed by the fact that we have timber on slab, and tradespeople on site currently building the damn thing. (Last I checked, our borders are still closed to the overseas specialists you all think are necessary for construction to begin).

As for the ride experience - the wildcat design was born out in the 1920s. Most of the clones were built in the 80s. You know, back when computers operated in Megahertz, instead of Gigahertz. We've come a long way. Sure, modern woodies are far better designed, engineered and built. You might argue Nostalgia, i'll disagree. Just like a 40 year old gamer remembers fondly the days of the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64, which by today's standards would be called "shit" but 'for its day' were incredible machines. BB was, when built, a great ride. It was poorly maintained, but 'for its day' was a great coaster.

100% bang on the money here.

We have come along way since the time BB was built. CAD has bought us much better results than a standard string line and some sums done on a back of a napkin used as lunch. You can use local tradies to build things. Its the signing off that is required by an engineer from the actual company those designed it.

Cause if anyone has those brought then how on earth would Australia get any of the big rides built that it does?. We've always used our own trades in the areas that they can assist.

[rappa]

45 minutes ago, StingRay said:

Cause if anyone has those brought then how on earth would Australia get any of the big rides built that it does?. 

What does this mean?

 

All our major coaster installations have been overseen by representatives of the manufacturer. 
It’s great and all that you have both cooked up this idea that some local chippies will just follow the plans and knock em selves up a coaster but it’s only that, an idea. 
 

Doesn't seem to be any more that we can do to persuade you otherwise so guess we’ll just have to wait and see. 

[StingRay]

36 minutes ago, rappa said:

What does this mean?

 

All our major coaster installations have been overseen by representatives of the manufacturer. 
It’s great and all that you have both cooked up this idea that some local chippies will just follow the plans and knock em selves up a coaster but it’s only that, an idea. 
 

Doesn't seem to be any more that we can do to persuade you otherwise so guess we’ll just have to wait and see. 

Eh, I had a kid annoying me wanting dinner. So I suffered a stroke.

Yes, local chippies can follow the plans and do some of the work. All machinery is only ever signed off by an engineer from the company who has designed it. So I am not as silly as you might think. But I also know they cant simply built the entire coaster unsupervised. But I am sure they could follow plans until a particular point.

I didn't realise I was in a brainwashing seminar.

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

Photo Update - 19/08/2020

Edited August 19, 2020 by Jay Jay The Jet Plane

[Rachelkinks]

Interesting to see some work on Vortex does this mean it could be opening soon? 

[Brad2912]

1 hour ago, Rachelkinks said:

Interesting to see some work on Vortex does this mean it could be opening soon? 

It needs approx 6 weeks of testing etc once the overseas techs are allowed into the country

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

10 hours ago, Jay Jay The Jet Plane said:

Photo Update - 19/08/2020

 

Vortex should have been mid-construction this time last year for a December 2019 opening - so this is just routine annual maintenance... lol.

[HussRainbow87]

There was a cherry picker at Vortex last week when I visited, looked like they were installing spot lights just infront of the motors.

Gotta say, its soo good to finally see a Huss Top Spin in Australia, they're honestly soo much fun!

[Brad2912]

48 minutes ago, HussRainbow87 said:

its soo good to finally see a Huss Top Spin in Australia,

You know what would beat that?

Actually being able to ride the damn thing....

[HussRainbow87]

43 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

You know what would beat that?

Actually being able to ride the damn thing....

I know what you mean, seeing it sit there just made me even more frustrated. Hopefully HUSS can get out here soon and get the thing operational for next school holidays!

[Brad2912]

9 minutes ago, HussRainbow87 said:

I know what you mean, seeing it sit there just made me even more frustrated. Hopefully HUSS can get out here soon and get the thing operational for next school holidays!

Next school Holidays are in a tad over 4 weeks, so no chance it will be up for those. 
Christmas holidays if we are lucky, but if I had to hedge my bets I’d be saying Easter. 

[HussRainbow87]

14 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Next school Holidays are in a tad over 4 weeks, so no chance it will be up for those. 
Christmas holidays if we are lucky, but if I had to hedge my bets I’d be saying Easter. 

Yeah I’d say the same. Haha wishful thinking I guess. Least Superman reopens next week so there’s a little more incentive to head back to Movieworld  

[TomiJ]

9 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

 Christmas holidays if we are lucky

If that's the case last year's banner will come in handy ⬇️

[rappa]

10 hours ago, HussRainbow87 said:

There was a cherry picker at Vortex last week when I visited, looked like they were installing spot lights just infront of the motors.

Gotta say, its soo good to finally see a Huss Top Spin in Australia, they're honestly soo much fun!

I’m actually genuinely happy for you. 

[HussRainbow87]

2 minutes ago, rappa said:

I’m actually genuinely happy for you. 

Haha thanks! I do enjoy a good HUSS! I was pretty excited seeing it the other day

[Rachelkinks]

The vortex looks good but I wished they didn't use so much blue i feel it's a bit heavy for my liking, sandstone look shown on the original concept would've looked great adding a bit of contrast as well. 

Can anyone also confirm for me if there are fountains underneath the ride?