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With VRTP finally announcing an opening date, I thought it was time to renew my pass after not visiting the park for several months. Wow. The scale of everything is very impressive in person and it’s really coming together nicely. A few things to note before my massive photo dump below. The scaffolding is down for Trident and they are currently building a wall to hide those hideous services behind Vortex.

@Gazza's Nearmap updates of Victoria prompted me to check out the GC and there have been a few updates - so here's a bit of an image dump: Marvin ride construction zone (Oct 26): Fright Nights Maze and queue races (October 26) Not exactly theme park but the below is up behind the studios \ outback on the road to Paradise Country. This paddock was used a few years ago for the Asgard set for one of the Thor movies. The 'parking area' wasn't there a year ago and was a greenfields site, but the several rows of items around the edge of the boundary fence are new since august. I've no idea what they are (I assume they're production set pieces for filming), they aren't all the same shape or size, but I can't get any better read on what it is without visiting on site... anyone have any ideas? Leviathan and Trident sites - this image is directly overhead and shows some of the pathways \ thoroughfares in and around Atlantis. Former Arkham \ Future Wizard of Oz land Didn't have a lot of time to explore so that's it for this update, but if I find anymore major changes i'll be sure to update...

New extension of Looney Tunes Village to Sea World confirmed. Introducing.... THE TWIDENT!

Nearmap from 18th of July

Here's Nearmap from 18th of October. Note the red ring on the ground. Could this be a hybrid with a small funnel before a bigger one?

I do agree, rock work outside the queue would have made a “great” entrance into a “GRAND” entrance, however I’m just happy to see theming for once. It has been so long since we’ve seen decent theming paired with a decent attraction. Here’s hoping they both live up to what I’m seeing in photos & videos in person come 2nd of Dec 🙌🏼

SW just shared this on their Instagram which gives our first look at the rockwork within the queue FullSizeRender.MOV

I won’t lie, when i saw “thrills are coming” on my instagram feed i quite literally thought MovieWorld were announcing a big new thrill ride. the caption was so heartbreaking to read

https://www.parkz.com.au/attraction/kokpunkten Kokpunkten was a place I found out about a year or so before my trip on Blooloop. In a sentence, it’s an old power station that has been turned into an indoor water park and hotel, and given an ultra modern renovation and lighting package. I love it because someone clearly had a clear big vision in their head about what it was going to be, put together a couple of contrasting things, and the result is really cool. As a water park, it's not all that big, with only 4 major slides, but there are a few nice spas, whirlpools and interconnected pools you can explore. There's also an outdoor pool on the roof, and the option to do a "VR Dive" in the main pool. It is located in Västerås, about 100km from Stockholm. I had stayed there the night before, so i was able to sleep in and spend the morning there before heading to the capital. The park has free go pro rental if you sign up to their "Club", though you are asked to come back to the counter a little while after opening after they have cleared the entry crowds. As for the rides. Black River Never in Australia. The slide is more of a channel, with about a 30cm deep flow of water that is quite turbulent, so you are carried by the current. The layout felt like a bunch of quick s bends with the occasional longer turn. What makes it wilder is that its essentially in a big dark room, so you are just being tossed and turned, bumping against the walls. No rafts or anything, it's like canyoning. The ride alternates modes, lights off is pitch black and not for the unconfident. Lights on is still mostly dark, but you have the odd bit of pipework and uv paint that is illuminated. Even getting out of the slide exit and paddling against the backflow is an effort Inside out is one of these "Magic Eye" tube slides. Essentially an oval shaped cross section and a fairly shallow gradient, so its more about length than speed. In some ways it feels like the child that comes from the marriage of a lazy river and a raft slide. Had some cool daylight rings on the way down as well. There is the option to ride with a waterproof VR headset. The way it seemed to work is that there are transponders at various points on the slide and they are used to track your position. Boomerang This was a Boomerango type slide, but built by Wiegand rather than Whitewater West Just like their toboggan runs, it's made of stainless steel. This was the highlight, felt quite speedy. On other types of this slide you go down the drop, into the quarter pipe, over a little hump and then glide to a stop. On this one you carry heaps of speed over the hump and get funnelled into a couple more turns before the splashdown (also done at high speed). Hard to describe, but if feels almost scary the speed at which you hurtle into the last bit, almost like if you were going slightly off angle you'd smack into the walls or flip yourself. But of course the precision engineering has you 'threading the needle' quite well. And of course, you can't beat the setting! The other attraction is Double Racer Another stainless steel Weigand slide. The low friction means you build up heaps of speed, so can make the ride as wild as you like. Having drops at the start helps make it fast from the get go. Note too the LED neon strips. There is a timing system and the LED strips glow green over the lane of the rider coming first at that point in time. Transparent section too, but barely noticeable. Overall, it's worth a look if you are in the area. A few more slides wouldn't hurt of course! I had wanted to combine it with my day at Skara Sommarland which would have been perfect, but on the days i was there the opening hours didn't quite line up. Photos here https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/kokpunkten

Update from yesterday, letters have now been painted orange:

Having rock work to make up the entry instead of the grace (like the TVC) really would look so much better and fit in so much more.

I had the same idea for the Bruce Bishop Car Park, many years ago.

The Village Key is a benefits program and web3 platform where you can purchase unique NFT collectables and unlock exclusive experiences and benefits. The Village Key serves as an entry point into the Village Roadshow Theme Parks' Web3 world. NFTs? Sounds dreadful.

Practically yes it can cause heat issue. You also have to take in heat reflection. SRI which is the ability to reflect heat is massive. 100 = 100% reflection. 0 = no reflection. White shed SRI 88 Black shed SRI -1 (it's taking all the heat in and more) You are right. Put aircon in and DW can paint it whatever they want. If DW don't put aircon in, you are going to have to carry a second pair of jocks with you or in my case, a third.

Technically yes, but practically, no. Heat transfers through radiation and convection. Black or dark coloured objects are going to absorb more heat and therefore radiate more heat than polished or lighter colours, but most heat transfer is through convection so the practical differences aren't too far apart. You could definitely measure the differences in a lab, but if you walk into an unventilated steel box painted white or black on a 40 degree day, the assessment is 'its f**king hot' regardless of what colour it is. I tell you, it sure is a good thing they have air conditioners.

They added 2 new kids flats, although they may of already opened at the end of last season. Out of all VIC parks, I’ve always found AP the weakest and I agree that the gap will keep on widening with the other parks bringing on new additions regularly.

I agree. I would say FF has the best waterpark while GW has the better land rides, so basically Gumbuya absolutely blow Funfields out of the land when it comes to land rides. I might try to go to both in February. I would rather Gumbuya head in a different direction and put in more land rides compared to FF/AP, which is what makes it great. I also feel like Adventure Park is going to fall behind. While the other two are competing with each other, AP hasn't got new rides in years, and it looks that there is none this summer.