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There is something funny about forcing people to look at a chair while they stand around on a never ending walkway for one of Dreamworld's slowest moving queues.

Went on it yesterday. Wasn't bad but seemed a bit tame compared to what it feels like it could be.

Hi there all! I was just at Milsons Point, and took some photos of day 2 of the works. They've already taken down the old kids rides. And the last Joylands Rides to be at LPS. They are bringing in right now some Trucks and Cherry Pickers to help with the works. It's all quiet, except for the works and a few staff. Most of the seats and shelters near the Big Top have been removed, leaving it beare. The Hungry Horse Restaurant has been partially converted into a site office. I'm expecting that next they will take down the signs and decorations near Dodgem City. More information will come soon!

Took the family to Carnival tonight for opening night with what I would call cautious optimism, I’d heard it was going to be bigger and better then last year, more immersive more entertaining more everything. My first thought was well yeah that’s hard, last year was so underwhelming half way through I thought about leaving and only stayed cause i felt like having a rest. The fact a ticket is included with our locals pass was the only reason we attended tonight after last year I wouldn’t have bothered paying for a seperate ticket. So fingers crossed we arrived at 5:30 to enter the park the usual “please mind your social distance” rang out everywhere and enforced random places. You enter and notice the size of the structure on the lake, impressive we have a little bit of hope. Gone is the stage area on the water from last year where dancers entered and hid for 15min to reappear and dance off. We make our way past the penguin area (Rio) and notice a food truck some dancers and couple games. Nice food already and we’re 50m into the park. The kids danced we played a game and moved on, We head to vortex for a quick ride, long line but high load capacity made it quick to get on, even at night the views are amazing, and I was getting way to excited seeing Leviathan lite up in the distance and thinking about the sound and look of the coaster flying around the track at night, We leave vortex, head past the lagoon and arrive at Mexico, more food dockside tavern doubles as fiesta feast, more games, mask decorating and now fire twirlers and stilt walkers. We watch the fire play check out the giant skull and move on into New Orleans, we arrive as street party “parade” is dancing its way along, We got dancers, juggling acts, bands it’s really a hive of activity, all the normal food retail is open plus cocktails and couple more food trucks we decided to eat the burrito’s and loaded fries which were amazing surprise surprise I know but way better then park food, actually just good in general no complaints from anyone, Coctail down “also good” we moved on to Africa it was nice to see cast away bay used as I remember last year there was nothing there or at least that I seen maybe I missed it but I didn’t this year. African dancers more food and ice cream plus battle boats open we skipped Infinity “been there done that” and made our way back to Aqua Light Show. C’mon guys surely we can come up with a name better then the amazing Aqua Lightshow??? But here we are sitting almost centre about 4 rows waiting, kids eating ice cream waiting for 8:30 to roll around, then bang the flames go off the music starts and we get a couple of fireworks, this is new there’s anticipation, it’s buildings then bang more flames more fireworks and the water starts, everything in time with the music it’s building nicely. We get our first performers 4 drummers with lighted drums and water vibrating up with every hit, break dancers centre stage, the wife approved. All the while the music, water, lights, lazers and fireworks all timed together with the dancer, so far so good. Jetskis have arrived circling at first then rigged with fireworks the join in circling the island, perfoming some simple manoeuvres all in time and couple of near miss passes and side by side runs all with in time fireworks being set off from a setup on the back of the ski’s looks awesome. Drummers return dancers follow the music turns up the water effects are everywhere and it’s fireworks galore then bang the final major sequence of colour, fire and music and the place goes dark and the crowd erupts. The kids 4,10,15 all loved it, I went in thinking so poorly I had no hope but wow what a show hats off to them from last year to this year %100 improvement I would pay to go again we enjoyed the entire experience that much. Sure things could be improved from a Covid stand point, packed park lots of family’s and 1 ride attendant to load unload and clean the a ride makes for slow moving lines and a great excuse not to do the rides, Some areas some quieter then others so don’t have the same atmosphere, Jet rescue was running but no music or anything carnival related around there, running the tmnt show is nice for the kids but would love to see something carnival or Mexican related seeing as it is in the Mexican area, Be interesting to hear what others thought, it’s not disney World of Color nor should we expect it to be but it was vast improvement from last year and I was pleasantly surprised!! I say job well done IMG_3774.MOV

Something Queensland Rail and Movie World have in common.

Even better, below is a video. I worked out how to record it. Once again thanks bikassh Randawa. Oh and portrait filming and photos are the future. Screen_Recording_20210129-181603_Instagram.mp4

^Imagine riding Gold Coaster if the queue was anywhere near the spiral.

^thought that was a swear word around here?

Screenshot it.

I wouldn't rule anything out. It might have not been worth it for MW to overhaul, not for any technical reason, but simply because it's been around in the park for ages with declining popularity. But in a brand new location, the cost of a new train and new systems probably would be worthwhile since it's a brand new attraction. Could well turn up in Asia or India like many other older Vekoma rides.

You are correct that the costs for Movie World to do so may be prohibitive, but as I said, for a small, regional park without the same maintenance requirements, this is a blockbuster essentially for the cost of the new systems, plus a few mil to acquire and a few mil to construct - far cheaper than building something this size brand new. Arkham is essentially greenfields capable - all the supports are on relatively flat, level ground, with the dugout for the dive next to the station. Anyone with the space would be able to acquire this cheaply. If the structure is sound, everything else is minimal to gain such a mammoth coaster.

Ratanga Junction in Cape Town was a seasonal park similar to Adventure world, and the SLC in said park was only in operation for 20 years. Arkham was 25 years old, operated for at least 300 days in each of those 25 years, the first 12 of which would've been as the parks major thrill ride (so i'm assuming with extremely high patronage during that period). Arkham was the the 4th SLC built and Cobra was the 21st (https://rcdb.com/r.htm?order=-8&ot=2&ml=8106) so I'd assume there would've been some technological and/or structural optimisation within that time to the SLC model that would contribute to its longevity and viability. I get what you're saying, but this particular ride is just dead, and as @AlexBindicated, the cost to fix up and get the ride into operable condition would not be worth the experience an SLC actually provides.

That actually looks pretty good! Very World of Colour esc.

Sea World determined their pirate ship was financially impractical to maintain, and yet it found new life in Victoria I believe. Vekoma SLCs are regarded similarly to Boomerangs. The Expo 88 Titan (Constructed in 1987) found new life at Wonderland as The Demon ('92-'04), Alabama Adventure as Zoomerang ('05-'11) and currently resides at Wonderla Park in Hyderabad as Recoil since 2016. That's 33 years old, and it's most recent relocation was at age 29. And in this particular case, the track isn't 'bolt together' pieces - but physically welded together on-site. I think that is the case with Arkham also - so it can be done. The problems with Arkham, as I understand them, involve a very costly and expensive control systems overhaul. Coupled with the new ride safety requirements for teardown maintenance, etc etc, it wasn't financially worth it for MW to continue to operate - however, in another jurisdiction where the requirements aren't so 'Australian', the control systems might be a really cheap cost to acquire - essentially - a brand new ride for some lucky small regional park. Just as Dreamworld relocated Cyclone from Luna Park for next to nothing, there are many parks over the world that might consider purchasing Arkham. It's not outside the realm of possible for it to happen. As @ATIpoints out, people are still building these things.

Bingo. The circled area is a concrete slab in the ATCO compound that is visible in the video. This image is dated November 6th 2020.

Ahem... https://rcdb.com/18891.htm

After visiting the park and going for a quick ride, I must say that I enjoy the presentation of the Gold Coaster. From the pastel colours to the plant graphics, it feels like a postcard vision of the Gold Coast with a dash of Golden Girls. With all that said I do wish that they could've done something bit more substantial. The renovation, while aesthetically pleasing, doesn't do anything to change the existing problems with the ride and it's queue. My biggest gripe might just be the sign at the entryway. I'll commend them for going for a Googie inspired design but the execution is just a bit too flat. Would've been great to seem some more depth or maybe even some texture to break it up. At the end of the day, it's great to see them tie this attraction back into Ocean Parade. When my only sensible comment is about an entry sign, I think you've done well.