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We are going vertical kids

So a child, who refuses to speak to professionals or any family about the incident, will only be able to move on with her life once she receives monetary compensation? what a load of rubbish. i am not for one second arguing that this girl doesn’t deserve compensation for losing her mother, she absolutely does, but she is a child and no money is going to bring back her mum or help her process what happened. her family should be less focused on campaigning for her to get cash, and focus on her mental well being - if it’s true she has been internalising the events of the day for 4 years, and not spoken to anyone, that can be completely destructive for her long term quality or life.

I hope the builders do

OzThrills on Instagram posted this on his story a few hours ago

I remember seeing this article in the paper when i was just 10 years old and reading it with fascination and wonder. Of course the plans did not eventuate but I do remember that the coaster plans were by Arrow Huss. I just wanted to share this with all of you as this article has been in my brain for 30 + years and to finally see a digital copy is great. Given that there was fierce resident opposition even then this did not progress beyond pre planning stages but it certainly does present a huge "Oh what might have been" moment. The link to the article is HERE

Quick little visit to the park this morning

There is zero financial sense for Disney in opening a park here. We won’t have the population, nor the international tourist numbers, to make it viable let alone profitable.

Someone sent me these today

I think once upon a time that all of our parks were filled with real, genuine Australian can-do spirit and put passion and pride into doing big ideas on shoe-string budgets (and showing up the big players in the process.) There's that story of Lassiter's Mine costing 3 million and Disney Imagineering folks saying it would've costed 20 million. There's another similar story about Gum Tree Gully at Dreamworld. And then I think about rides like Bermuda Triangle and how cool the Pepper's Ghost effect was even as an adult and how so much of that ride would still hold up today. Same goes for Police Academy. Genuinely funny, really good stunts, brass-ring winning show. Same goes for Steam Trains. Super unique and a part of Australian history. Same goes for the Batman Ride - beautiful themed set pieces, awesome embark/disembark procedure into the simulator pods, totally mind-blowing stuff for kids. Really unique ideas executed well that are over-achievers in their own right. What happened? I think OH&S plays a part in some ways for sure, but as @joz eloquently painted the picture above, somehow all of our parks got into this epic death of creativity through a thousand cuts and two decades on it shows. Every park has big, obvious SBNO crap somewhere. Facades that have no place in the "themed land" they exist in. Unkempt gardens. Lacklustre theming. Just yikes all round. Take me back to an era where creatives created, not execs.

There's a classic rule of mine which I reckon applies here - "if you replace something, what replaces it should be better." For example - i've got some great nostalgic memories of the Gremlin's Ride, but Scooby kicks ass, weird projection screens withstanding (new lighting in the high zone more than makes up for it, IMO). I think it's predominantly why we're a generation who clings to nostalgia so much - so much of the stuff we had in our childhoods (Bermuda Triangle for example) was just better in every way than what's there today (Storm, lol.) So with that in mind, here's what stands out, based on that rule above. Dreamworld - Wipeout - saved the park, one of the best theming executions for a flat ride i've ever seen, period. The park is worse without it. - Steam Trains & Paddle-wheeler - landmark institutions that form the foundation of the brand. Movie World - Looney Tunes River Ride - what replaced it is 1/10th the attraction it was and the park is poorer without it (or a good kid's zone, for that matter) - Police Academy - everyone, and I mean everyone, will remember the plant in the hawaiian shirt for the rest of their lives, but no one will remember what car did sick burn-outs at Stunt Driver. Sea World - Skylink - Kinetic. Freaking. Energy. And what a vantage point to see the whole park. Another tentpole ride that the park is lesser without. - Bermuda Triangle - Doesn't need explaining. Wet 'n' Wild - Mach 5 Plunge Slides - as an adult, still mental they existed.

Yes, how rude of the Premier to look after the health and wellbeing of the state, and ultimately Australia. Very thoughtless of him. /s

I think people are forgetting that Luna Park Melbourne used to be home to a 2nd coaster in the form of the Big Dipper. This was added to the park in the 1920's and the Sydney example was a clone of this coaster. There is certainly more than enough room for a 2nd coaster within LPM- especially within the footprint left by the former Metropolis coaster, which in itself is in the footprint of the former Big Dipper. At one stage , the Big Dipper was slated to be replaced with the Titan Vekoma Bomerang coaster from Expo Park before the deal fell through and it went to Wonderland instead. There are plenty of coasters that would be a perfect fit for the park within that footprint including the aforementioned Zamperla Motocoaster, Maurer SC 2000 Spinner, a custom Gerstlauer Eurofighter would be ideal , a Premier Rides Skyrocket II, a Custom Mack Big Dipper coaster, S & S El Loco , Maurer Skywheel, Skyline attractions Skywarp, Zamperla Tunderbolt , S&S 4D Freespin could all concevievably fit into the park with some vision and planning. There is actually more usuable and flexible space to fit in another coaster at LPM than there is at LPS. Another coaster that has moderate thrills would be just the ticket for the park to add to its list of attractions. Some of its current ride roster such as Enterprise and Twin Dragon are getting older so some thoughts as to replacements would definitely be on the horizon. Obtaining another coaster at this time seems more than sensible and a coaster such as a compact Eurofighter would certainly catch the public's imagination. The Eurofighter model would be for mine, the best option , but a Sky Rocket II would also be an excellent addition. Have a look at the coasters below that could all fit into the space required at LPM - any of these would be great addition to LPM's lineup and should be well within their reach both financially and physically to obtain and fit into the park.

Yaaaay Space Mountain!

Just posted on SW’s Instagram account Construction updates will be posted on their ‘socials’

Introducing an all-new experience on Dreamworld's #1 attraction, Sky Voyager! For a limited time, you can take flight and see America's greatest sights aboard Sky Voyager Experience USA, with the new film available daily from 10:00AM – 3:30PM upon the park's 16 September re-opening. Aboard Sky Voyager Experience USA, you will experience iconic locations such as the islands of Hawaii, the city scape of New York and Niagara Falls, just to name a few. You can still journey around Australia from 3:30PM - 5:00PM daily with free passage across state borders for some of the country’s most incredible sights. I think this is a great addition and shows how easily they can change the attraction when they want. And it’s good to see they are still offering the Australia version, so really you get two attractions in one. Hopefully they advertise this in park as it will give people a reason to re-ride it

Some extra height today

Great to see, looks cool. An idea below.

Superman fast?

I'm STILL HERE!

I'm on the presentation call, construction to start in October for the new coaster.

New colour scheme really looks right at home with the WhiteWater entrance building in the foreground. Love it.

That's a big woody. It ain't even schoolies yet!.