7News Spotlight: 'Ride Of Your Life'

[Jamberoo Fan]

Quote

In an hour of television your family will remember watching together forever, we go behind the screams to reveal the tightly held secrets of the global billion-dollar theme park industry.

Pushing the limit for thrills. Nothing makes you feel more alive than the visceral feeling of fear itself.

Whether you’re upside down, down under or right side up, dangling in weightless suspension or bracing for the sharp drop, there’s a kind of rush all over the world… and its name is terror.

This Sunday, Sunrise’s Natalie Barr goes to the edge in a 7NEWS Spotlight special investigation as she reveals the highs and lows, twists and turns of the multi-billion-dollar global theme park industry.

From an Aussie coaster that’s as old as the Titanic, to the newest, most hair-raising and death-defying contraptions on earth, 7NEWS Spotlight crosses continents in a wild roller coaster ride across Australia and the United States to uncover the very best and the worst.

Meet the families who can’t get enough chasing the greatest thrill on earth, and the people whose lives were tragically and inextricably changed in an instant.

Plus shocking revelations about Australia’s biggest ride disasters and how an industry locked down by COVID plans to rise again.

Pull down your safety harness and buckle up as 7NEWS Spotlight goes behind the screams to bring you the ride of your life.

Clearly, the "Aussie coaster that's as old as the Titanic" refers to Luna Park Melbourne's Scenic Railway and "Australia's biggest ride disasters" refer to the 1979 Luna Park Sydney Ghost Train fire and the 2016 Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids Ride incident.

Looks like a very interesting program which hopefully balances the positives & negatives of the theme park industry!

'7News Spotlight - Ride Of Your Life' airs Sunday the 6th of June between 7pm & 8:30pm AEST on Channel 7.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Jamberoo Fan

[CR4ZE]

Just saw an ad run for the program. They literally cut from a shot of TRRR to various coasters' POV footage with an interviewee (an enthusiast I think) being quoted "People think theyre going to die on these things".

Yes, it's going to play right into the GP's assumption that riding coasters is an inherently risky, life-or-death activity.

[dbo121]

If this is a fair story I would expect it to cover the green lantern manufacturing fault. When you ride these machines you trust the manufacturer as well as the operator. Will it be mentioned or ignored ? 

[Im Hungry]

A small article essentially advertising the Sunday special.

https://7news.com.au/spotlight/7news-spotlight-ride-of-your-life-c-3001776

[zacsta_1997]

I’m currently watching and all I can say so far...

I’m very annoyed!!  This whole program is about deaths and disasters. Completely portraying a negative view on the industry.  

[gumb00t]

Come at me, I don’t care. But the housos and the slide incident part has me fuming. She’s out for a quick pay out and that’s it. Her daughter clearly didn’t follow the instructions which put her in danger of possible injury. 
Really shitty negative segment if you ask me. 

[Im Hungry]

That Fully6 incident has me fuming as well. I mean I have soooooo many questions to ask, but the fact that the mother said it "wasn't an accident" is really triggering. Hopefully Dreamworld win this lawsuit or that the case had already been dismissed.

Such a shame there was no mention of Green Lantern - it was almost like VRTP (particularly Movie World) was in favour and crowned the "hero" of this episode if that makes any sense (I can't really explain it).

[sansborgor]

Just watched the programme and I'll say that it's pretty much what some of us were expecting.

Deaths, more deaths, injuries, tears. But did they explain how the accidents/incidents occurred? Not at all. Just a whole lot of fingerpointing. The third party auditor was clearly used as a scapegoat for the 2016 DW tragedy, bloke explained that it was the safest ride in the park with no safety hazards or warnings detected, still got overshadowed by a family member of the victims. I'm not suggesting that Dreamworld had the greatest level of WHS considerations prior but still, some better contesting arguments could've been made.

The WWW incident was just a money grab. The mother clearly knew that she could cash in and give her houso household an easy Maccas family feed off of the dollars. 

The Ghost Train fire. "The kids died!1! No we won't tell you what caused it because that woman at a competing news channel did it" was essentially what I'd summarise it as. In contrast however, the Big Dipper incident was somewhat fairly covered.

The Ohio State Fair incident was also featured in a respectable light. Actual evidence was shown, and it was clearly the ride operator's fault for not providing the correct maintanence. 

Then they had the audiacity to not only parody the accidents mentioned, but pretty much contradict themselves by showing the last interview. The presentation with happy clown music and family-fair transitions really just ruined it. Obviously the woman interviewed (I can't remember her name regrettably) had been through some very traumatic amusement park occassions, and that's nothing against her. But it was the way they edited and presented it which annoyed me.

Overall as someone who likes the theme park industry, though not having explicit knowledge about the history or rollercoaster factors in it, it was just an expected cash grab. I don't remember any VRTPs incidents being featured (GL, AA) so it was pretty much a straight rip into Dreamworld's reputation. Not surprising from a free-to-air TV channel. It's a hurtful bit of media which will probably hurt the chances for Aussie parks for many months to come - especially Dreamworld.

[gumb00t]

8 minutes ago, Im Hungry said:

That Fully6 incident has me fuming as well. I mean I have soooooo many questions to ask, but the fact that the mother said it "wasn't an accident" is really triggering. Hopefully Dreamworld win this lawsuit or that the case had already been dismissed.

Such a shame there was no mention of Green Lantern - it was almost like VRTP (particularly Movie World) was in favour and crowned the "hero" of this episode if that makes any sense (I can't really explain it).

Wasn’t an accident, yeh that got me going too. Yes, it was an accident, specifically an accident as a result of not following instructions. 

[Im Hungry]

It would've been nice if they ended the show on a positive outlook into the future of our Australian parks. For example, the new upcoming attractions and seasonal events from both VRTP and Dreamworld... Instead of ending it on Natalie Barr contemplating her life after riding a rollercoaster and Grant Denyer talking about UFOs.

[zacsta_1997]

Agreed.   Its almost as if they’re trying to kill the Theme Park industry in Australia. 

[themagician]

Reading through people’s comments on socials, no one seemed to like the show. They thought it was annoying, pointless and is trying to ruin the industry. Good to know it isn’t just this community who thinks this.

[TimmyG]

To me it seemed to be a hit piece towards Dreamworld. I’d hardly call this “viewing for the whole family”. 
 

They didn’t even mention the Green Lantern incident! Guessing village paid them off and ardent didn’t?

[Vidgamer]

A ridiculous show, really unfair they show a tragedy then cut to footage at Movieworld. Well done Channel 7, the parks have just come out of COVID and you’re out there trying to destroy an industry that employs thousands. 

[Pyro]

9 minutes ago, gumb00t said:

Come at me, I don’t care. But the housos and the slide incident part has me fuming. She’s out for a quick pay out and that’s it. Her daughter clearly didn’t follow the instructions which put her in danger of possible injury. 
Really shitty negative segment if you ask me. 

Thats exactly what I am thinking too about the slide incident. The program did they more harm than sympathy. 

 

My wife (a youth support worker) also noticed the kid makes a gang sign (education queensland has banned that sign in all schools) when they are filming the family hanging out the front of the house.

Over all, 30 minutes of stock footage, a nice build up and the thrown under the bus for 40mins. 

The ride inspector part was interesting that they went down the path of an accident, but I did hate that they put the candid part of him asking whn it airs to try and through some shade on him.

 

all up, 1 stale chirro out of 10

 

[mattcrombie]

Horrible show. Crap journalism. The Logan bogan family bothered me. 

[Brad2912]

I’m at work so haven’t been able to watch it, I’ll get to it tomorrow, however it seems it is exactly what I thought it would be (and was 110% assured wouldn’t be the case)... 

[djmcbell]

Just watched it. I loved that it was advertised as something the whole family will want to watch over and over again. My 7 year old son lives roller coasters and thank God we decided to watch this before showing it to him.

 

So, about 15% talking about roller coasters and the theme park industry, the rest DEATH. Happy, fun, DEATH.

 

And towards the end some kooky lady with kooky music and some died isn't it hilarious?

 

Did we mention the DEATH?

 

At the end some sort of conclusion not about the death, which they've spent nearly all the program discussing, which is just poorly researched bollocks anyway. Where the hell did all that crap with Sydney suddenly becoming Spaceship 1 come from? And Action Park lady saying "oh yeah, that place was full of the DEATH but I take my kids to Disney now so all good".

 

And then the presenter seemingly dies at the end. Of the DEATH.

 

I thought it would actually get about the history of theme parks and the race to be the biggest, tallest, fastest, and that's certainly what it seemed like starting out. But 10 minutes in, we've already introduced Luna Park which is a good place to start, but no, Linda from editing called and wants the rest of the program devoted to DEATH. She's feeling pretty down this week, her hamster just died if DEATH-related complications and sees no reason she can't force it on the rest of us.

 

Then at the end just say some crap about theme parks. See if you can demonise screens while you're at it.

[TimmyG]

47 minutes ago, Pyro said:

The ride inspector part was interesting that they went down the path of an accident, but I did hate that they put the candid part of him asking whn it airs to try and through some shade on him.

 

This reminds me of the simpsons episode titled “Homer Badman”… if you don’t know the episode, here’s a photo to remind you..

[djmcbell]

6 minutes ago, TimmyG said:

This reminds me of the simpsons episode titled “Homer Badman”… if you don’t know the episode, here’s a photo to remind you..

Yes indeed. As soon as she started saying "you sell fear" I thought "hmm, what angle are they trying to spin on this?"

[Lacuna]

You're all correct. I don't think anyone expected anything else from Channel Seven, but anyone who has any slight interest in Theme Parks and Roller Coasters would have found that story ridiculous. My favourite parts were how they described the White Water World Incident "At the top of the slide she let go, a huge volume of water propelled her down" (LMAO), and how they literally told Nat to act like riding Valravn was going to be a death sentence and told her to be super dramatic and put her head in her hands when she got off the ride. If I was behind the camera I wouldn't have been able to keep it together with how awkward and fake that must have looked in real life. The UFO stuff at the end was just icing on the cake to highlight how much of a joke 7 News reporting is. 

RE: The Inspector Audit guy asking "When are you planning to air this?", I thought the same thing when they showed Cedar Point promoting Valravn as their new ride. They were obviously planning and filmed that part in 2017 and added the footage of Steel Vengeance later. 

[Naazon]

1 hour ago, TimmyG said:

To me it seemed to be a hit piece towards Dreamworld. I’d hardly call this “viewing for the whole family”. 
 

They didn’t even mention the Green Lantern incident! Guessing village paid them off and ardent didn’t?

Just to ruin the hate parade on the program, the GL incident, as bad and horrible as it could have been, it didn't kill or dismember anyone. 

It's nowhere near as headline and news grabby as actual deaths and permanent injury. VRTP in no way paid to come out as the good guys.

 

A LOT of the general public aren't aware that GL had a major incident, and the regular downtime of the ride kinda helps with that since that time period was just "another downtime".

[Jamberoo Fan]

My review - Ride Of Your Life was promoted as a behind the scenes look into the theme park industry but turned out, unsurprisingly for theme park enthusiasts who know Channel 7's reputation towards theme park news, as Ride For Your Life. First 15 minutes were great with a brief summary of roller coaster & theme park history but then Action Park (the infamous US amusement park) got a mention & it was all downhill from there. Completely biased towards the negative aspects of the theme park industry. Based on the comments above, it seems Natalie Barr's statement "You sell fear" (with emphasis on each word) is probably the words the general public think summed up the narrative the show is portraying. Ironic - given Channel 7 sold advertising time for & during this show which they told a biased 'fear theme parks' narrative during.

[gumb00t]

In my honest personal opinion it seemed like Natalie just wanted a to get on a plane and do the rounds then bag the shit out of DW just cause she was there reporting the incident when it happened. 
I can’t stop thinking they just wanted to put nails in the coffins of all the theme parks in Australia. After all the COVID crap and parks losing money, they’re all finally back on their feet and investing serious money, all for it to be potentially hurt by this rubbish negativity. 
That mole should be ashamed of herself. Go back to the morning show mate, you’re not 60 minutes material. 

[Lacuna]

32 minutes ago, Lacuna said:

RE: The Inspector Audit guy asking "When are you planning to air this?", I thought the same thing when they showed Cedar Point promoting Valravn as their new ride. They were obviously planning and filmed that part in 2017 and added the footage of Steel Vengeance later. 

Okay I rewatched it and it does seem to be filmed post-Steel Vengence (the editing is misleading as they cut some older footage in), but I still find it funny that they put all of the Cedar Point and Six Flags stuff in because it's completely irrelevant to the narrative they tried to spin.