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Oh, so they hired a baker to make them a path...

If you turn it into a vertical garden, it will still be a Sky Voyager plant area

I'm starting to realise that there was a great opportunity here to bring a first nation's artist in to make something brilliant.

Photos from TPSN

If not done on the ground, perhaps they could hire an art firm like Balarinji or a First Nations Artist to cover the wall (or most of it) of Sky Voyager? Qantas have worked closely with Balarinji numerous times for its "Flying Art" series and it would be nice to see someone use the large canvas at Dreamworld too...

For a bit of fun, while we are experiencing lockdown blues, I thought I would pose the question to the group of where do you think a new Amusement park could be establised in NSW and there are certainly a number of places where this could work. I have given this some consideration and I feel that one place it could work is at the Hunter Valley Gardens. The Hunter Valley Gardens, for those who do not know, opened in 2003 and are in the Hunter Valley about 15 minutes from the town of Cessnock. The gardens span across 14 hectares of land, containing 10 differently themed gardens, accommodation, a shopping village, small rides/events and dining. The gardens are a popular venue in the Hunter Valley for weddings and events. Hunter Valley Gardens is the largest display garden in the Southern Hemisphere. I feel then the establishment of an amusement/theme park here with a host of attractions with some elements of thrills but focusing on family friendly attactions would be an absolute hit. Most of the attractions would be placed sparingly around the gardens with emphasis on a new back area where the majority could be situated. There is plently of room to expand and as the Gardens are already a successful attraction in their own right, this is the next evolution of that idea and follows in the footsteps of other similar parks around the world that offer similar dual attractions such as Alton Towers in the UK , Tivoli Gardens in Denmark and Efteling in the Netherlands. I have included 2 aerial shots of the Gardens to give context to placement and to also show the expansive room that we have to work with. In deciding on rides and attractions, I have tried to keep things fairly unique- the majority of these rides you will not find elsewhere in Australia. I think this is important for any new amusement park as the need to stand out and offer a point of difference is strong. Similarly , with the coasters I have selected, I have steered clear of any Top tier manufactuers such as Intamin, B&M or RMC. This is to keep it grounded in some semblance of reality and also to keep the focus on family thrills and not over the top , first level thrills that the top tier manufactuerers offer. I have selected 7 coaster which I feel fit the bill. These include: • Vekoma Invert- New generation • Preston and Barbieri Family Duelling Coaster • Zamperla Moto Coaster • Zamperla Thunderbolt • Zierer Elevated Seating Coaster • Reverchon Drifting Coaster • Technical Park Water Coaster For the flat rides I have included once again, a selction of rides that are not present at most other Australian parks and most are rides that offer elements of good thrills but are mostly also family friendly. There are some attractions that are old school but also some that are brand new concepts- so much so that a couple of them do not have an installation currently. I will also include a video concept of every ride below so that each ride selection can be seen in action to give a good grasp of context as to why the ride was chosen and what it would offer to the overall park. The flat ride selection that I have chosen include: • Technical Park Aerobat • Gerstlauer Dancing Pavilion • Gerstlauer Bavarian Express • Larson Tilt a Whirl • Larson Flying Scooter • Chance Freestyle • Gerstlauer Polyp • Zamperla Disk O • Zamperla Endeavour • RES Parachute Tower • Huss Airboat • Huss Condor Hybrid • Zierer Wave Swinger • Sartori Roto Techno • Sartori Twister • KMG Afterburner • Fabbri Alladin’s Ride Giant • Zamperla Hydro Lift • Zamperla Gryphon • Sartori Roundabout • Larson Drop Tower • Technical Park Big Wheel The Gardens are an already established attraction with an accompanying Village/Retail precinct and nearby adjacent hotel and there are also plenty of other wineries, attractions and dining options nearby to add to the value of a trip. I think this concept could definitely be a success , especially as the infrastructure for a major amusement park attraction such as parking and other ancilliary considerations are mostly there. Very interested in seeing what you guys think of the concept overall and whether you think it could work, what are the strengths of the proposal and what are the roadblocks that may stop it being a success. Also keen to hear feedback on the ride selection and whether you think the mix is good, or what changes you feel could work. Have a look at the video presentation for each ride to give you a better feel for how they could fit into the Hunter Valley Gardens theme park concept. Hunter Valley Gardens from the air: Coaster Possibilities Apart from Vekoma, I have avoided Top tier manufacturers for reasons stated above All of these coasters are envisaged to have respective theming and will be park models with permanent installations. I think a stage 2 could possibly add a small family wooden coaster and or a Vekoma Family Boomerang. Vekoma Suspended Thrill Coaster Preston and Barbieri Family Duelling Coaster Zamperla Motocoaster Zamperla Lightning/Thunderbolt coaster with 2nd generation trains Zierer Elevated Seating Coaster Reverchon Drifting Coaster Technical Park Water Coaster Flat ride attraction selection: All rides would be park models. All are rides that are currently being offered or produced by their individual manufacturers. Of course these rides would evisaged to be accompanied by respective theming. The videos selected are meant to show park models and examples of theming that could be possibilities with any install. Technical Park Aerobat Gerstlauer Dancing Pavilion Gerstlauer Bavarian Express Larson Tilt A Whirl Larson Flying Scooters Chance Freestyle Gerstlauer Polyp Zamperla Disk 'O' Zamperla Endeavour Intamin Parachute Tower Huss Airboat Huss Condor Hybrid Zierer Wave Swinger Sartori Roto Techno Sartori Twister KMG Afterburner Fabbri Aladdin's Ride Zamperla Hydro Lift Zamperla Gryphon Sartori Roundabout Larson Drop Tower Technical Park Big Wheel Of course this is all hypothetical but with very real considerations. The fact is that NSW is in desperate need for a major theme park in the long wake of Wonderland's lamented demise. Luna Park and its impending opening of its $30 million dollar investment will be brilliant but what the state needs is a destination park. These rides are all my own opinion of course, and I am sure that everyone will have an opinion or personal views on what rides they would like to see. As it stands, if a park offering these attractions were to open at Hunter Valley Gardens with reasonable themed elements then I think we would all be mostly pleased. The only thing that could be added for a Stage 2 would be as mentioned above , A family Wooden coaster, a Family Boomerang and some sort of Dark ride- be it a straight scare attraction or a shooter. I think the location would be a great fit, as the Hunter Valley Gardens are a great attraction in their own right and the addition of a theme park is not meant to detract or dilute this experience in any way whatsoever- in fact , in my mind , they are meant to be inclusive and be seen as a sum of the whole park eventually. Anyway a bit of fun, I look forward to seeing what discussion is generated from the overall idea and I would love to see what any of your ideas that you think could enhance it. Cheers!!

Yall hating on the path but I think its great, atleast they did something other than a plain path, and give that a few months of wear and grit and i think it'll actually look good with a bit of fade. The area is shaping up to look really good in my opinion especially for DW standards.

This is actually the best bit of theming they've done so far - i've seen so many snake handlers put snakes into hessian sacks, so I guess this tells the story that the steel taipan has been caught! CRIKEY!

If you're going to start handing out awards, you need to know @Naazon only takes cash.

Instead of spending money painting roadkill on the ground, they should have screened Sky Voyagers back of house for sure @Slick.

I'd love a mixture of this and a vertical garden, especially when it comes to hiding the Sky Voyager plant area.

Maybe Emily Kame Kngwarreye dropped in?

I mean - maybe I asked for this so I can't really complain. I can see what they were going for but the template edges have been done as straight lines so you can see the square borders too and that makes it look horrible. I want to hope this is a 'work in progress' and it isn't finished yet, but it looks like they've cleaned up so i'd say that's it. I don't know - at least they tried? On a brighter note though - After thinking we were going to get plain black cyclone fencing, I want to say that the white\grey school fencing is a much nicer look. I said TEXTURE! TEXTURE! Not painted dots!

It's ether that or DW got the 1st graders over from Coomera State School to paint it.

I get sick looking at it... Mr Taipan seems to agree.

Maybe they forgot the difference between a Taipan and Giraffe

To be fair, the mods get angry when people do their job for them