Luna park 9 new rides construction

[19Michael96]

Anyway Coasterlife has received more footage from the North Sydney local who's been filming park progress and has uploaded a new video. Includes shots from the reopened Glen St stairs and a detailed look at the Big Dipper entrance station including stairs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aDzJKvX7cA

[zacsta_1997]

With big dippers opening date hopefully in December. When do you think we may see full circuit testing? 

[Noxegon]

On 29/09/2021 at 2:22 AM, themeparkman said:

They should replace the wooden wild mouse ride with a thrill ride.  

Hell no.

The wooden wild mouse is an absolute treasure and one of the last rides of its type anywhere in the world. Removing it would be sacrilege.

On 29/09/2021 at 3:27 AM, Gtmichaels said:

I see too many parks removing iconic attractions, that were operating fine and were totally ridable and enjoyable. Like Arkham Asylum at Movie World

I think you might have ridden Arkham a few too many times if you thought it was totally rideable and enjoyable  

[Gtmichaels]

15 minutes ago, Noxegon said:

I think you might have ridden Arkham a few too many times if you thought it was totally rideable and enjoyable  

I’m a sucker for Arkham cause it was the first suspended/inverted coaster I ever went on when I was 10 years old (as I’m sure a lot of us Aussie enthusiasts can relate to 😂) 

Now 9 years later, I’ve been on Nemesis Inferno and the almighty Montu! Ye, I haven’t ridden any other SLCs, and B&M is just the master at inverted style coasters. I wouldn’t wait more than 20 minutes for Arkham when it was still breathing, and especially after seeing what the world offers in terms of coasters,I don’t think I would’ve gone back haha.

I suppose Australian coaster enthusiasts who have not been on coasters abroad would have enjoyed Arkham so much more, and the last time I rode it, I hadn’t yet travelled sooo yehh. Just from what I remember, the new restraints had made a big difference, but I’m more than thrilled a replacement is on it’s way haha.

[MrLukeCarroll]

Raging Waters has also just announced it's reopening date and as expected it is much later than Luna Parks, opening up on December 18th just in time fo rthe Summer School Holidays. Will be interesting to see what happens with the price of a Season Pass as it will be a few months shorter of a season than usual.

 

[JoshiYomanto]

At least with NSW starting to open up, we might see some more photos of the site soon

[StingRay]

1 minute ago, JoshiYomanto said:

At least with NSW starting to open up, we might see some more photos of the site soon

This is true, The park re-opens next week anyway so we don't have long to wait.

[MrLukeCarroll]

Now that I can finally go that extra few kilometers outside the 5km bubble fromy my house to Luna Park Sydney, I popped in today to see the progress on all of the upcoming additions.

Big Dipper has both trains on track and was finishing up the part of the queue that will take you over the first launch and into what can only be described as a scare maze looking lead up to the station.

 

The front of the Big Dipper station was getting some thematic touches added too it, though it's a shame these appear to be incredibly flat compared to the building it's trying to continue the style of next door.

Elsewhere it seemed to be a big day for testing, with Boomerang, Loopy Lighthouse and Cloud Nine all cycling in the time I was there.

Sledgehammer was having the finishing touches placed on its locker system.

The Big Dipper was also creating quite a buzz amongst the local wildlife, with a rather large beehive deciding to call the brake run home.

The park's set to open next week and I'll be there over that weekend to finally ride at least 8 of the brand new attractions!

[New display name]

32 minutes ago, MrLukeCarroll said:

I'll be there over that weekend to finally ride at least 8 of the brand new attractions!

Have I missed something?   I thought most of the rides opening up are for kids.

Edited October 14, 2021 by New display name

[MrLukeCarroll]

1 minute ago, New display name said:

Have I missed something?   I thought most of the rides opening up were for kids.

Unlike a certain other park, there's no max limits on the new rides. Adults can ride any of the new attractions and the fact all of them are open during Halloscream an event reccomended for 15+ shows they are happy for them to do so.

[Guest 239]

1 minute ago, New display name said:

Have I missed something?   I thought most of the rides opening up were for kids.

It's a mix kids, family and thrill rides. Sledgehammer and Boomerang are the most thrilling out of those and Big Dipper will add to that in the future. The rest are great for families. 

[joz]

I think it's fair to say that if any park on the Gold Coast presented their rides like that, we'd be tearing them a new arsehole. For a park that trades on its charm and history as much as it's rides, the new additions are pretty woeful in their presentation.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think it'll be a great success, and I'm really happy to see them adding stuff, but that just all looks appalling.

[MrLukeCarroll]

13 minutes ago, joz said:

I think it's fair to say that if any park on the Gold Coast presented their rides like that, we'd be tearing them a new arsehole. For a park that trades on its charm and history as much as it's rides, the new additions are pretty woeful in their presentation.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think it'll be a great success, and I'm really happy to see them adding stuff, but that just all looks appalling.

The rides out the back are as well presented as anything else that’s been in the space over the last 17 years since the 2004 reopening. 
 

Ultimately the park refers to itself as an amusement park not a theme park like the GC parks, and with the lack of space available I think most of us would agree for their unique situation managing to squeeze so many rides into the space is still an amazing achievement even if it unfortunately limited the theming opportunities.

 

If LPS had the same space available as the GC parks, and called itself a theme park then yeah I’d be slamming it too 

[StingRay]

Thanks for the photos @MrLukeCarroll. Looks like the Sydney lockdown has not caused any major delays, possibly minor, but thats about it.

While the Maloney's Corner (Behind Coney Island) does look congested it will all work out. They have managed to use such a small place to great effectiveness. The Maloney's Corner section of the park is not much bigger than the entire Doomsday area (Shop, interactive games included).
 

I cannot wait to sample these new rides, For families this while rival what the GC parks have had for many years when it comes to families. I am most looking forward to the opening weekend.

[joz]

15 minutes ago, MrLukeCarroll said:

Ultimately the park refers to itself as an amusement park not a theme park

No where did I say stuff should be themed, but just be presented well. That's all I expect of Gold Coast parks too. But if you want to play the 'small amusement parks can't be well presented' card, then I would just say that Aussie World -a small amusement park with well presented rides- exists and kind of ruins your point.

 

Just because it's not a theme park, doesn't mean you can't put effort into the rides. I also get budgets, I get realities of economics. I also understand that the headline '9 new rides' will be effective for them, and I'm sure it'll be a success. But even if you're looking forward to visiting (which you should be), you have to admit, it looks like crap and has zero charm.

[Slick]

Just touching on a few points:

38 minutes ago, MrLukeCarroll said:

The rides out the back are as well presented as anything else that’s been in the space over the last 17 years since the 2004 reopening. 

I think you're right, but that's a low bar to begin with too, and I personally would want our parks (which are fundamentally businesses centred around profound enjoyment and escapism) to exceed our expectations and not just meet a low expectation that's nearly two decades old.

38 minutes ago, MrLukeCarroll said:

Ultimately the park refers to itself as an amusement park not a theme park like the GC parks, and with the lack of space available I think most of us would agree for their unique situation managing to squeeze so many rides into the space is still an amazing achievement even if it unfortunately limited the theming opportunities.

The park had some pretty beautiful facades way back when even despite the space-issue (I should also point out that during that period there was plenty of Victorian-era facades and motiffs interlaced with the oriental architecture at the time):

I wanted more and I reckon the public deserved more. It's not a budget thing, I do believe it's just an effort thing. There's so much potential to play into the eccentric Coney Island "oriental meets art deco vibe", from the trim on rides:

Colour-use (above and below) & sign design: 

even little things like typefaces all play a role in setting that theme:

For me the issue is that despite so much rich design culture that was worth tapping into in order to make something iconic, we got "modern corporate". It's fine, it'll do the job and it'll make them a good bit of coin, but at the end of the day i'm just not really chuffed by the execution. 

Edited October 14, 2021 by Slick

[MrLukeCarroll]

1 hour ago, joz said:

No where did I say stuff should be themed, but just be presented well. That's all I expect of Gold Coast parks too. But if you want to play the 'small amusement parks can't be well presented' card, then I would just say that Aussie World -a small amusement park with well presented rides- exists and kind of ruins your point.

 

Just because it's not a theme park, doesn't mean you can't put effort into the rides. I also get budgets, I get realities of economics. I also understand that the headline '9 new rides' will be effective for them, and I'm sure it'll be a success. But even if you're looking forward to visiting (which you should be), you have to admit, it looks like crap and has zero charm.

I haven't seen the finished package for all rides obviously, but they appear to be pretty spot on to the concept art in regards to "theming" if you want to call it that. Bug for example has what looked to be the painted flats behind and some 3D flowers etc sticking out. Even with the handful of attractions running today the one big thing the area has going for it is Kinetics, I almost feel they put too much focus on each attraction individually rather than trying to give an overarching "theme" to the area to tie everything together. From what I could see is it great? No. Is it crap? Also no.

1 hour ago, Slick said:

I wanted more and I reckon the public deserved more. It's not a budget thing, I do believe it's just an effort thing. 

See that was my initial thought with the Big Dipper trains being the generic ones until the owner came out and specifically said it was a budgetary thing. The fact that every smaller ride is straight up the base model and theme from Zamperla seems to point to something similar. 

I honestly wonder if it was a classic board room "Well we can have 6 rides spaced out more with better thematic consistency, some themed bridges etc or we can have 9 rides crammed together for the same $30million". Of course as enthusiasts and theme park history buffs I know what we'd ideally love this expansion to be. Hell I'd be happy with just a new old school river caves back there taking up the whole space but that wasn't an option. We can see what choice was made, and it will be interesting to see how it pays off.

[Slick]

41 minutes ago, MrLukeCarroll said:

See that was my initial thought with the Big Dipper trains being the generic ones until the owner came out and specifically said it was a budgetary thing.

The point I'm making is that inside of that budget, there's still plenty of decision making that lands us in "generic modern corporate" and not at all in the realm of Luna Park Sydney. Take Sledgehammer's logo for example:

This ultra-modern "theme park" logo is such a juxtaposition to the brand that it almost looks out of place on the website. And it would've cost the exact same amount of money to design a more fitting logo, more fitting colour, more fitting trim etc. etc. 

Are these choices going to change the experience in such a way that you'll be fooled into thinking you're at California Adventure? Of course not. Will it make the overall experience feel more cohesive and at home at Luna Park? 100%. And in time, when there's plenty of money post-COVID, the groundwork will be there to plus these attractions further (something Disney's been doing for decades).

[BringADecentParkToSydney]

Isn’t Maloney’s corner now “Luna Land”? So if the theming doesn’t correlate to the Midway, is it truly such a bad thing? 
 

Outside of theming though, I still think it was all presented nicely. No longer can you see the tyres on attractions like you could with the Ranger, and the base under the Boomerang seems well implemented.

I get wanting to have a more cohesive theme to the park, but I think they wanted to broaden their horizons. Besides, they’ve improved the midway over the years with facade touches, so I wouldn’t rule out upgrades in the future. 

 

[Slick]

14 minutes ago, BringADecentParkToSydney said:

but I think they wanted to broaden their horizons.

How is it broadening their horizons?

Edit: I'll go a step further, how is generic modern design better than a totally unique, instantly identifiable, iconic design aesthetic that's weathered the distance for over a hundred years?

Edited October 14, 2021 by Slick

[rappa]

Let’s be fair, amusement park, theme park, school playground, westfield shopping centre, or whatever you want to class the place as…

Unless its a temp construction site and this is backstage only then this looks SHIT!

 

Some cream painted picket fence, burgundy trim and festoon lighting is all that was needed here. A crappy chain link fence and this horrid bridge doesn’t cut it on a heritage site. 
 

 

[Cactus_Matt]

1 hour ago, Slick said:

The point I'm making is that inside of that budget, there's still plenty of decision making that lands us in "generic modern corporate" and not at all in the realm of Luna Park Sydney. Take Sledgehammer's logo for example:

Just replace one of the hammers with a sickle, paint it red and boom, instant iconic theming!

[19Michael96]

Christ everyone's a critic aren't they? I would like to bring back this quote of @Jobe's from last September. 

And I would also remind people once again what park manager Warwick Doughty himself said on the History of Luna Park Facebook page. 

And who's to say theming won't be beefed up in the longer term once finances allow it? COVID has hit every business hard and Luna Park is no exception. Finances need to be directed to where it is most needed and if theming has to take a back seat at the expense of general maintenance or running events, then that's the way it is. Theming is something that's still a work in progress anyway; need I remind everyone that theming around the Tango Train, Volare and Wild Mouse base STILL isn't finished 5-4 years after it started. But it will get done in time, as I'm sure plans for extra theming in Maloney's Corner will as well. If that doesn't satisfy people then I wouldn't suggest you take your complaints to Peter Herne and Warwick Doughty.

44 minutes ago, rappa said:

Unless its a temp construction site and this is backstage only then this looks SHIT!

Some cream painted picket fence, burgundy trim and festoon lighting is all that was needed here. A crappy chain link fence and this horrid bridge doesn’t cut it on a heritage site. 

Gurl it's not finished yet. The platform surface hasn't even been completed. Other rides that have this chain fence actually have graphic backdrops wrapped around it; who's to say this won't be the case here? And that bridge is a necessity given the layout of the coaster; how else are people gonna access the loading station from the Big Dipper building? They'd be trying to pass through a lot of twisted steel otherwise. It's not more offensive to the site than the former loading station in the 90's. And that's not even mentioning the coaster itself which in retrospect was way too big. Let's hold our horse here is all I'm saying OK?

Edited October 14, 2021 by 19Michael96
Proof reading

[BringADecentParkToSydney]

1 hour ago, Slick said:

How is it broadening their horizons?

Edit: I'll go a step further, how is generic modern design better than a totally unique, instantly identifiable, iconic design aesthetic that's weathered the distance for over a hundred years?

Wasn’t exactly referring to theming. Moreso their overall offering. They wanted to add in multiple rides for people to enjoy, injecting a large sum into a park that quite frankly was needing it. As others pointed out, this wouldn’t have been achievable if they had gone in-depth with theming. 
 

I’m not saying this “generic modern design” is superior, I quite admire LP’s theme that it has kept for decades, but Maloney’s corner is only so big and finances aren’t crazy plentiful. 

[Slick]

6 minutes ago, 19Michael96 said:

Christ everyone's a critic aren't they? I would like to bring back this quote of @Jobe's from last September. 

There's so much irony in being critical about everyone being critical. You're on a forum filled with fans about theme parks. Being passionate, engaged and critical is fundamentally why these forums exist and I personally don't besmirch anyone for having an opinion.

My point about execution still stands. Some further thoughts i've had:

1 hour ago, BringADecentParkToSydney said:

Isn’t Maloney’s corner now “Luna Land”? So if the theming doesn’t correlate to the Midway, is it truly such a bad thing? 

Wait, Luna Park has different lands now? Sounds like a theme park to me.

Again, they could've literally put any logo, any paint, any design, anything they wanted here, and we got muted grey and generic logo #3. Basically if you told me a company called Multiplex ran a theme park, this is exactly what i'd expect.