Leaderboard

I've had the chance to ride the new Big Dipper. So I'll leave some of my thoughts. We all know what the ride looks like at the “Luna Land” section of the park and it's got a nice “dominant” presence. The station/queue area is not presented the best. I just put this down to a serious limitation on space. You have a giant support structure all over the place and a queue that snakes it was through. The bridge could have looked a little nicer but I understand why they picked that option. It's simply been done to ensure you don't throw medium/ large items onto the train as it goes over the first launch. The ride has a presence as it rushes around you. Much like the Wildmouse does when you line up waiting for it. The stations waiting gates are presented much in the same way as Boomerangs and I suffices for what the Park needs. The ride experience is amazing. Once the track and train (I'll come back to the train) have warmed up this thing flies around. The pacing is perfect and someone in the group I was with commented how this coaster has a similar B&M raw to it (I have never seen or heard a B&M in person myself). First launch has a nice little kick to it, that second launch definitely is on par, if not better than Jet Rescue as Seaworld. The ride elements are great, It's amazing to have ridden a proper headline role for the first time also. The non-inverting loop is nothing like Rivals but it still packs a decent whack. Even the moment of” floater” airtime on the return trip behind money island is great. The “Spaghetti bowl” section is great. Everything comes at you at a fast pace and before you know it you are back in the station. But, with all good things you get some bad things. I am an average build and size. The trains I fit into no problem, but the trains are light as hell. As mentioned by @Gazzathey rock when you go to place items into the storage bins. This also means as previously mentioned they feel every tyre and bump. The back of the train is terrible. It “jackhammers” the entire way around the course. This is all due to a lightweight train and small bogey wheels. One noticeable thing was the pacing of a train between a heavy load and a light load. Naturally, if you get adults or heavier people the train close around a little more forceful than a train full of kids. While it can be rough, it's still a great coaster. I'm happy to see this park have such a great ride.

Hi all, I’ve been reading the Just for Fun book I bought almost 6 years ago on one of my first trips to LPS. And I normally read the pictures instead of the words, the words in the book strain my eyes and put my brain in a frizzle. I remember the video that I made which I remade the coaster in Planet Coaster (you can see it above), and remember another Big Dipper proposal which didn’t pass. This coaster can be seen at Page 124. The book says: “In June 1994, as another reopening was planned for a traditional-style amusement park, there were ominous signs that the Big Dipper could be a stumbling block.” It would be more than a “stumbling block” with a coaster even taller than the one that was actually built! It also shows an old Ferris Wheel, Flying Saucer, and a Helter Skelter with a weird roller coaster going into it! I’m assuming that’s the Wild Mouse. And fireworks and weird black circles on the wall. Another reason to shut down the park! Artist’s Impressions are extraordinarily insane! They also talked about on the same page for an expansion as a “stage 3”. It never happened, but what would have happened is “remove the railway storage and spur line for parkland, an amphitheatre, gallery and museum”. That might not have been so bad… “OI HIGHLINE, ANY CHANCE?” Now we get to the juicy bit: “Plans for a massive Arrow Huss roller coaster running the full length of the Park were made public in August 1984. The only catchwas that to fit the ride on the site, Coney Island would have to be demolished. Harbourside approached the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences to determine whether they would take the building. A report commissioned by the Department of Public Works on the importance of Coney Island recommended its retention. The dominoes were beginning to fall.” That’s available on page 118, it also includes a very funny cartoon about a young kid complaining to the government about the park! It also includes about relationships between Harbourside Amusements and Abe Saffron, don’t get me started! I said, don’t get me started! *drum beat* Although there are a few discrepancies between the artist impression and what’s said in the book (because some artist impressions are dumb), it makes a connection…

It’s a bit more than a theory though. The General Manager of Luna Park Sydney himself , Warwick Doughty stated that there were certainly budgetary constraints that reflected on the theming. This is where this reason came from. I guess we will just have to take him at his word and at face value. He has been very generous with his comments and quite honest as well, in my dealings with him. We also have to remember that the park has not had the ideal start to Big Dipper’s launch with Omnicron rearing it’s ugly head right at the worst time. Time will tell if improvements are made , however from what we have seen of the park over the last few years has shown a willingness to improve on overall theming, with the new lighthouse structure , Helter Skelter cafe and the Wild Mouse building all receiving fantastic looking upgrades. I am sure that given time this will improve for the new area and Big Dipper as well.

the ride opened less than a month ago I don't think anyone is suggesting that any budgetary constraints will have been resolved this quickly - you'd just open a month later if you thought you could afford to put improved theme elements in that soon - no if we do see improvements I think it will be when the ride has an annual maintenance scheduled.

I like the idea of an 'Aussie' jungle cruise. They've shown a willingness to have a few 'aussie jokes' thrown in with the SV and ST videos - if you could get people who were willing to play the part of Skipper well - I think a uniquely Australian take on Jungle Cruise would be an absolute winner - Given the infrastructure in place, and the fact that they can't do anything with the murrisippi to remove it, running a few little clippers on the river, chucking a few effects and writing a kick-ass script... it wouldn't take long to screen the river from the pathways surrounding it to make it a real private feel... I wish that this was realistic! I meant to mention this in my trip the other week. It was just as overgrown and covered in algae or whatever as i've ever seen it, so while I don't doubt your pictures, it doesn't take very long at all for it to grow back. Something kinetic on the river to keep it stirred up and stop it collecting and multiplying is needed - running boats - or at the very least a couple of water spouts, fountains, wheels, anything to churn it up and oxygenate the water would be better than letting it sit motionless.

After John sold Dreamworld, he went back less than a few times - a few weeks after the sale and a few years ago. On his last visit, he remarked to me personally that he hadn't slept for days after witnessing the state of the park, noting that while Main Street (pre Sky Voyager) looked nice enough, everything beyond there was largely unkempt and not to the calibre or standard he would wish for. That's not to say John was always right about Dreamworld's future or how parks as a whole had evolved in the decades since the sale of Dreamworld - his hatred for any large "un-Disney-like" thrill ride was, at times, almost amusing - he was well known to hold his hand up to cover his face and the view of Dreamworld as he drove past, and we debated on more then one occasion about the merits of Rivals, large rides as a whole and how the industry in Australia had evolved and changed over the years. Having said all that, my point is this - despite some of his industry perspectives not evolving with the times, I can guarantee you John would hate having his face forever plastered out the front of that park that doesn't understand his fundamental legacy in the same way he would hate having a roped-off, un-operational steam train engine plonked out the front of a closed train line, seemingly taunting guests about a memory that once was and is no longer.

The best one ive seen is the bus stop themed around a water slide entrance

👎