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That really sucks. I know he's had his health worries for a while now but doesn't make it suck any less. I've been thinking a lot about DW's history lately, and one thing that has occurred to me is how rough calling his DW a 'Disney knock off' is. I'm sure I've even been guilty of making that point somewhere in the past. It's true that the influence is there to see, from building designs to the Paddle Steamer to the Matterhorn with a ride in it, to the animatronic animal show to so much else. It's there and it's not a secret. He wasn't alone in it; there are a lot Disney knock offs out there The thing about John though, is he studied it understood why it worked, and took that understanding to make his own totally different and unique thing. Look at all those Disney knock offs that have sprung up in Asia (or even the entire Chinese amusement industry as a whole) and tell me the people behind them understand what makes a park good. John not only understood why Disney worked, but was able to craft it into something else entirely, an Australiana version, that was really charming and amazingly good. That's an effort, I don't think there's any one else that could have done it. There are a million other things he did, but that will always be the one that made the most impact on my life, RIP mate, see if you can book a chat with Walt while you're up there.

Cheers for the shoutout @Rivals - here’s the photos in higher quality.

The crane is there to help lift the huge amounts of public pressure to open by Easter.

This made me laugh as well

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

I notice that AlexB has also posted a visit, but I have not read it yet. Will be interesting to compare after. I got an Annual Pass for Xmas, but I wasn't planning on going back until another new attraction would open after SV and ST. But, a welcome gift regardless. It must be very different for someone who's not a Park enthusiast (ie on Forums or Social Media pages) going back the first time after 2016. For me, I've been here the whole time so I know what's changed (mostly) since I was last a passholder here (I instead had VRTP passes mainly because of DCR, but I digress). I arrived at 10:30 on Sunday and made sure to check out the skyline from the carpark with Buzzsaw gone. For me, I was still surprised that the top part of ToT's track is still there. I guess leaving it is easier than removing it (sounds familiar regarding our Parks...). I guess though unless you look for it you won't notice it. ST's MCBR looks a lot longer to the eye, but it does have to fit the whole train. The trains roll onto and along it pretty quickly anyway so it isn't that important, but it does stand out when looking at the skyline. The spike and loop, however, are much more eye catching. The entry staff were all very polite and helpful, with the one on my gate taking a moment to explain the Apple Wallet feature of the Annual Pass (I got it as a gift so didn't read the welcome email). Thinking back, Sky Voyager's building did not stick out like a sore thumb, although again I'm quite familiar with the changes over the last few years. It's possibly because of the lack of bright colours, despite the fancy architecture. The eye is still drawn to the Globe, Candy Shop and weenies of ST and GD. Naturally I went straight to Steel Taipan. The precinct was nicer than I was expecting. When the greenery grows in a bit more I think it'll do fine. I went to take a few pics and the gate to the former Buzzsaw was open. This area must not be getting any love from the grounds people. Could certainly do with a tidy-up. The old entry to the Buzzsaw gift show (behind the wood fence in the pics) just has a speaker and sound system on wheels plonked down in the doorway. Could do with another look at that area, DW, even if it's now blocked off by the old timey photos stall. Going by comments I've seen around, I thought that this view of the launch plant rooms was going to be a big detractor to the ride, but it really isn't. The view up from the carpark looks over the top of these, and unless you're going out of your way to be in this spot (down an obvious dead-end path), you'll never see these buildings as ST's launch and queue fence block the view of these buildings. Being a single rider, ST was a walk-on. With two trains running, standard queue barely had to wait 15 minutes to ride... and this was the first sunny day after many of bad weather. In school holidays. Hmm. Anyway, good for me. I posted about my rides on ST in the reviews thread. Very enjoyable ride. Staff are in the honeymoon phase with it and it's going great. Their enthusiasm helps make the ride experience great, even the one in the control booth / on the PA. I hung around in the ride area to watch a few cycles. Cool to feel the rumble under you when you're under the first hill when the 3rd launch makes it over. Nobody was in the Tail Whip seats that I saw for 3-4 cycles. I then moved over to Sky Voyager. Having never experienced the original videos, I can only comment on the current ones. The short one in the main queue room with the luggage was fine, and the advertising that has the changing colours certainly works in getting your attention away from your phone. Whoever came up with it, kudos. The indigenous welcome video is a nice idea, however it does need subtitles. The main ride info video isn't too long, which is good. Funny enough, too. Reminds me of some of the classic Virgin Australia / Air NZ safety videos. My first ride was upstairs centre, as sorted by the rideop. The ride appeared to be run by only 3 staff - one upstairs, one downstairs, and one operator. Ride Cycles felt slow, I wondered how much faster it was in earlier days with more staff on the load/unload part, especially if people weren't filling the middle seats. I really enjoyed it, having long forgotten about the mentions here of water spray and smells, they were a nice addition and compliment the video. Surprised that DW itself doesn't make an appearance, but I think that's been spoken about here before? I exited the ride and made my way over the the train station to check out Baldwin. On the way, the barbershop quartet were singing happy birthday to a woman in a wheelchair. They really made her smile, which was nice. I missed them over the years. Goldie less so (for me, YMMV), but he always had a crowd. Next I made my way along the path towards Giant Drop, past some kids throwing rocks around under ST's Twister Horseshoe section (really, DW - grey walls and rock gardens?), and up onto spaghetti junction. Now that the train no longer comes this way, nature is healing... This area offers a good view of the ride, no wonder the construction thread posts and social media channels had photos from here a lot. My plan was to ride the oldies on another visit, and I wanted to get rides of ST/SV this visit, and get a feel for the park. I wandered down the ramps instead of the stairs, and found the RHLR area in this state: ...certainly not the most scenic part of this theme park. Oof. Also, I wonder what's living in that hole? The new owner of this part of the park that's been sold off? j/k DW need to either hide this are better, plant new trees like they've done closer to Corroboree, or put in a new attraction quickly. Otherwise, this area of the park is a major detraction. Rocky Hollow Train Station must go. As should spaghetti junction. The GD queue could easily be re-done on the western side of the ride. Corroboree was pretty much as it was all those years ago. The nocturnal animal exhibit was always a favourite of mine on a warmer day, and I'm a bit disappointed that it's closed. If it's a health concern I will understand, but if it's because they have chosen to discontinue it, I'll be disappointed to learn that. Without many international tourists this part of the park is very quiet. The Koala photos area had nobody there apart from staff, who were happy to chat with the occasional guest who wandered in. Corroboree feels a little overgrown at the moment, but I guess it does need shade for animals and guests. The Cassowary area is always nice to walk though, and its obvious rainforest setting offers a respite from the sun. The area from the barnyard animals, past the Billabong Train Stop and the Restaurant itself, is a dead part of the park (apart from the many turtles that want to come say hi if you get anywhere near the railing). I didn't know that Big Red Car had closed. It certainly needs replacing if so. I know that the ABC Kids area is very important to families visiting the park, but I'm of the vintage that fondly remembers old Rivertown. Tiger Island's bamboo-walled walkway under the train line tries to hide the ToT building looming behind it, but without luck. That should come down. Broken record time - I guess leaving it there is cheaper than removing it. Pulling it down would open up some much needed room for a Dreamworks expansion down the line. This said, I guess the path to Tiger Island already has mushroom to grow. Ahem. Kittys being kittys in hot weather, were doing all they could to keep cool. I made my way over towards the Gold Coaster, as this part of the Park always used to feel unsettled to me. The area that had trolls / Kevil / Flowrider / WW internal entry - and Google Maps show Thunderbolt's station still there? I think it needs opening up completely, maybe a dark ride could replace all of this area? This said, workshops still operate in the old Thunderbolt footprint. Speaking of... What is this blue vehicle? Is it a diesel tug for Perry/Baldwin? Shockwave feels like it's hidden away now, I'm not sure what has changed in that area since I was last a pass holder. Also strange to be in Ocean Parade and not hear wipeout. Um, nice seating area? By this stage it was getting very warm and humid - and the apparent respites were the magic show (which doesn't interest me) or Sky Voyager. So I joined the 30 minute queue in the luggage room. Guess that's a good thing about less staff on the ride - you get to cool down while waiting. I managed to make it onto centre lower level this time, and the ride was much better. Upstairs the top of the screen is much more noticeable. Something I did on this ride was to look at the gondolas alongside ours - the view is pretty cool. I then rode Steel Taipan in row 10 on the non-Tailwhip train (incredible!), and had to wait a bit for to decide if I wanted another go so soon. Hmm - maybe I'm not the coaster head I used to be, or maybe that row really packs a (good) punch? At least there were riders doing Tailwhip at this part of the day. Sat down for a B1 at the Ice Cream shop to decide if I wanted to re-ride ST. Considering how filling they are, the answer was certainly 'no'. By this stage it was almost 4pm, and I had planned to try and beat the weekend traffic returning to Brisbane. Turns out that there was no weekend traffic returning to Brisbane. Ahh, school holidays. I found myself thinking on two occasions (when at ex-Rocky Hollow and when near Billabong) that DW should select people at random and tag along with them with a clipboard (tablet) to get a guest's perspective. Do any parks do that around the world? Anyway, if you want to ask a question of someone who hasn't been since before that thing in 2016, fire away.

Also, FLY has that sideways dark ride section before you rotate into the flying position, which could have been a powering up sequence coming out of the Batcave. Would have been mad.

Luna Park have released the first POV of Big Dippet!! Looks fantastic!! Not long to wait now!! Time to get excited people!!

If you're an anti vaxxer, you're already the sort of moron that already wouldn't go to DW because it's too dangerous. This time of year is always quiet. WnW is pumping though, and White Christmas events have been well attended. I don't think the anti vax crowd is having much of an impact TBH. The real proof either way will be after boxing day.

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.

One of the better marketing activations of seen for a ride in Australia…

Movie World need to add more family friendly attractions. Unless they propose to do so. In which case they suck and they should have got a bigger thrill coaster.

I heard from my Dad who works for theme park that they're actually turning the Giant Drop into a 120m tall topple tower during the refurb.

I Attended Movieworld for the first time in a while today & thought I’d comment on a few things including these rumoured additions. First off, the place is thriving with guests. It’s almost like they haven’t heard about the new ride down the road (which with the marketing for it they definitely would have) or they just aren’t interested in visiting the park as it is right now. Just shows DW have to keep pushing to get their mojo back! POSITIVES Superman, Batwing & Roadrunner are still running quite well despite their age. Roadrunner’s new trains are super comfy & a great upgrade, just wish they would have done a repaint. Yogi Bear 4D was quite a fun little snippet of the movie, definitely not the worst screening I’ve seen them put on in that theatre. NEGATIVES 3 rides were closed today, GL, DD & WWF. GL & DD especially must be maintenance nightmares for them! With these rides closed it really does hurt the other lines in the park. Scooby is still terrible with the “Next Gen” upgrade.. however kids seem to not care & still love it. Justice League is still all sorts of broken, with 3 screens not even turning on. If they don’t want to keep it up & working.. why bother? Wouldn’t mind this getting replaced, despite it only being 10 years old. DCR still has issues with seating that I’ve seen raised here on the forums, with the attendant having to mark off where people are going to sit on a white board. The ride is a lot rougher than I remember, but with Mack’s premium seats I don’t see it being a huge issue in the future. RUMOURED ATTRACTION(s) As for the Dualing Boomerang + Suspended Family Coaster, I think it would be a perfect fit for them. I totally understand why they would have chosen this & even though it doesn’t excite me personally, I can see it being a big hit with families. PAST & FUTURE If it was me, I would have kept pushing the themed rides long ago. The parks theming seems to have declined since 2011 when they removed LTRR & Batman Adventure Ride. Only noticeable mention of “theming” would be Justice League & the Doomsday precinct, but accompanied by terrible rides, it just doesn’t live up to the old standards. When you think about how much detailed theming was put into the LTRR & Batman AR, the new theming just isn’t as good. I would have pushed Movieworld as the “Universal of Australia” & let dreamworld take the Six Flags route, but it seems MW is taking the same. I just hope they don’t dig a hole like DW did & struggle to get out of it. I agree as others have said Movieworld as of right now is neither on an “incline” or “decline”, but the next few additions will shape the direction they’re heading. The kids area is desperately needing a new ride, something that takes you on an adventure, something that LTRR did. As for the next addition after, I would either be replacing JL or use the Showcase studio with a Spider-Man/Transformers type ride system. Anyway sorry for rambling on! Just my thoughts 😃

It wouldn’t be an enthusiast forum is we weren’t all debating the validity of a parks decisions with zero confirmation that they’ve actually made them 😛

Not a huge amount to report, test seat outside the ride. Boarding gates much like a coaster, water is currently clear. Ride didn’t feel any different with the new boats, although some reports have stated they were moving to no loose items onboard this is not the case. Some of the effects are still as they were prior to closure. New spash trough prior to the water tower appears to have been built but was not functional.

I had the opportunity to ride Big Dipper 3.0 yesterday multiple times. Firstly; Wow! This coaster is great and is exactly what Luna Park Sydney has needed in the last couple of years. It packs a punch, provides a spectacular view of Sydney, has some incredible elements and its pacing is spot on from start to finish. It is easily the best thrill attraction in the park by a country mile (understandably) and I'd comfortably place it fairly close to Jet Rescue in coaster rankings. Going through the entire experience, the queue definitely sets expectations fairly low. Besides the nice murals during the stairs at the start and the old Big Dipper 1.0 coaster train, it is not a nice queue. You climb the aforementioned mural stair cases until you reach the cement platform that tumble bug used to reside on where you now have the option to go right into Foyeur 2 at the big top or straight forward towards Big Dipper. At this point you can you see the holding area for the second train which is interesting considering it's so close you could touch it (and has no covering which is kind of interesting considering how harsh the Australia sun can be) but surrounding the ride footprint are chain wire fences covered in custom fence mesh graphics which combined with the metal staircases and unpainted aluminium railings makes it look like a construction site. As you make your way up these stairs and start to realise that this attraction is not at all disability friendly, you come to the controversial metal archway bridge. Legitimately this feels like something you expect to see in a prison and it was not uncommon to hear 'dead man walking' from our group as we meandered over the bridge. You do get an interesting vantage overlooking the attraction but its definitely not nice looking and once again all feels incredibly temporary. From here you make your way down from the metal bridge into a small cattle pen that uses similar decking to what we've seen behind the park in Luna Land surrounded by further chain wire fences with custom fence mesh graphics on them. These graphics show the different iterations of Big Dipper through history which is neat but once again it feels like it should be temporary. To help assist with the guest movement they use small modular metal fences which were neatly organised at the start of the day but progressively got shoved into the corner of the cattle pen as the night went on but thankfully all guests were respectful of the queue. There is now one final ramp you ascend before the attraction and then you're ready to board! The line honestly moves fairly quickly so thankfully you're not stuck out in the open for too long. The longest we waited was around 10-15 minutes which isn't bad for the parks premier attraction. This is assisted by the fact that they make sure to stage guests as the coaster is cycling which helps to increase flow. Keep in mind that there was only one train running all day. Once you ascend the ramp you're now greeted to the station which is incredibly barebones and, considering the height, doesn't even provide a good vantage of the park because the station is almost entirely surrounded by solid walls. Instead you get a good vantage of the coaster, expect for the non-inverting loop, which helps to hype you up as you see other riders soaring around. The ride cycle is roughly 30-40 seconds so it's not longer before the next group is back and as they disembark you're ready for your own journey. Before you get harnessed in you must drop off all your loose belongings but there are no lookers are anything provided except for some coloured tubs which still had the labels on them from where they were purchased. They are red and blue which mirrors the ride vehicles but they honestly looked really tacky. Sit down, cross your arms and the second ride operator will lower the harness for you. Nobody in our group had a problem with the seat or harness and I found it to be rather comfortable! Though no time to think because before you know it the ride is moving. The first little jolt out of the station is a friendly introduction to the movement of the attraction, before it cranks things up to eleven and you hit the second launch and soar into the non-inverting loop. You don't have a lot of time to think here but the view that you get is spectacular! The forces placed on you through all the elements (on average. I'll get to this later) are strong but not uncomfortable, and you constantly find yourself surprised by how much a punch this coaster is packing. As you leave the non-inverting loop you now enter the mess of track surrounding the queue area and you fly through this area. Even riding it near five times I found it difficult to anticipate where the coaster was going next because it trashes you from left to right and even, at one point, upside down. I'm often not a fan of corkscrew like elements but whatever element is right at the end is really fun! And, before you know it, the journey is over and you hit the brake run. This is the area where people have their little 'woohoo!' moment as the train coasts into the station and you get ready to disembark. They make you keep your head back and cross your arms during this point because once the harness releases it springs up with some extreme force. I almost saw a kid get their nose clobbered because despite holding the position for a little while, right at the last second they turned around to see their friends reaction and the restraint grazed their face. I will not be surprised if this gives somebody a bloody nose one day. Gather your belongings, exit to the right, descend the stairs and check out your photo! The experience of Big Dipper is over. Overall here are my takeaways that I can't figure out how to put into a proper sentence structure: It is an incredible coaster presented fairly poorly. It does not feel like the parks premier attraction considering the queue and presentation, but it sure does feel like it when you're on-board. The ride has 'personality' and it changes through the day and where you sit. My first ride was at the back and it is VERY rough! Then our next three rides as a group were at the front and it was spectacular. Though our final ride before park close was at the front and suddenly now the front was rough and it made me feel rather unwell. If you get the choice, ride as close to the front as possible. Usually I'd say the opposite for most launched attractions but this is the exception. Somebody in our group predicted it had to do with the wheel sizes differing from front to back. Hopefully it doesn't degrade with age and operation. It goes down a lot. There were several times the ride simply was not running for whatever reason and one of those times it appeared that the train got stuck on the brake run and the guests needed to be evacuated. On top of this the ride also did not open until around midday. Operations was pretty good all day except for the end of the night where the ride operated announced shortly towards ten o'clock that they were only doing two more rides and those towards the back of the line would miss out. It came out of nowhere and everybody was really shocked. You need to manage guests expectations in this instance as the last experience of the night should not be them getting kicked out of a line that they've already waited 10-15 minutes in. The park needs an announcement an hour before close telling guests to get their final rides in and that they cannot guarantee that guests in queue will not be able to experience the attractions close to closing time. I hope that some time within the next 12-18 months that they attraction goes down for an extended period of time to improve the queue. It just isn't good and is bad show. If this is not temporary than I will be extremely disappointed as no amount of cutesy paintings will fix this and its polarising compared to the vibrant and colourful park down below. I'm surprised the second train was not running. It was not busy but you would think that they'd want to take the opportunity to get operators used to cycling two trains as much as possible so that they don't panic when crowds return. I can predict that as COVID eases this ride will become more popular and the operations we saw were good, but would struggle under standard school holiday crowds. I would argue that is easily one of the most unique coasters in the world. No where else can you soar through an iconic skyline on such a unique type of roller coaster. Seeing the harbour bridge and the city fly around your vision as you thrash through the coaster course is very memorable and makes the experience extra special. If Luna Park Sydney is listening; I want more things like this! You've got plenty of flat rides and now I'd love to see more future additions like this coaster. I have no idea where you'd put them, but at this stage it seems like your only choice is more custom designed coasters considering space limitations. I love how you can see this coaster from so many different angles. There are certain vantages obstructed by Coney Island, but otherwise you've got clear vision on almost all parts of the ride and its great to just sit and watch. It's got an amazing roar! It doesn't carry a lot which is nice for residents, but when you're nearby it really lets you know that it is there. That's all I can think of for now. I know it's a lot but TL;DR I really liked it but it's presentation is weak.

Adventure World has an amazing quality menu with some great food options. Their pizza and donuts are the best that I have had at a theme park. This bad boy with season pass discount is $28 and is super tasty. Took 3.5 minutes to arrive once ordered. (Tiki bar outlet) All fresh 😎

Do carnival ride operators just put random movie names on their rides and hope for the best? Reminds me of this:

Who gave you permission to post the social media policy?

They need to demolish Speedys and replace it with a couple of new kids flats and maybe one central general family flat. They've gotten rid of Tazs bumper cars and put in that calming space, they've gotten rid of pounce and bounce, and of course the Marvin Maggot has been gone for years, so the kids zone is pretty threadbare imo. And it would be such a cheap bit of capital too!

That may be true, but you can’t deny the park has improved greatly in recent years. It’s still far from being at its prime, it’s still merely a shadow of its once great former self. But my understanding is the current management for the park understand this, recognise what is iconic about the park and are trying to bring as much of that back as possible. Just look at all the school holiday offerings they had last year; they’ve never done that in the past and it was overall all successful. They’ve produce a great new attraction which has had some of the best marketing we’ve seen from a GC theme park in a long time. There is still plenty more to do, but based off 2021, they are on the right track.

I checked it out this morning and it’s my favourite exhibit they’ve done yet. It could be because I’ve always loved (most) of the Batman movies and to see these props, costumes and vehicles up close was great. The setup was really good and they were pacing the groups out so it didn’t feel crowded.

Alright I’ve ridden this a few times so I thought i might put up a cheeky review. Big Dipper is a pretty decent and forceful little ride. The presentation overall is a little weak other than the murals at the tower it’s pretty much just generic construction fencing with photos of the coaster on them, and event barrier fencing in the queue. On the ride itself the restraints are very comfortable. The first launch and the section between that and the 2nd launch is a little meandering and slow but the 2nd launch definitely has a bit of a kick to it, like the 2nd launch on jet rescue. The non inverting loop is quite forceful as is the sidewinder although there definitely is a bit of a rattle on these elements. The airtime hill is fine, it’s not as good as the last few hills on Rivals but offers some OK ejector. Finally the curve and corkscrew is very forceful, although a bit rattly. It’s definitely a coaster that takes a bit of warming up and is quite fast when fully warmed up - although it’s a bit rough, which I feel is something that you have to expect with coasters in our climate and is fine as long as you ride a bit defensively. Overall it’s a good coaster but I don’t think it’s better than Rivals. I don’t think it will be better than Taipan either.

So to clarify: Superman is the fastest single direction launch coaster Steel Taipan is the fastest multi directional launch coaster Big Dipper is the fastest double seperate launching coaster Jet Rescue is the fastest tire double launch coaster And MDMC is the fastest tire single launch coaster

Here's all my photos from my visit: https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/luna-park-sydney

I don't think the park needs any sort of "theming", as @GoGoBoyhas said the way things like Volare have been done are perfectly adequate for the park, but yeah things like the temporary barricades instead of proper queue rails just seems needlessly cheap. I was thinking they could arrange alternative access via the lift in the Big Top foyer (presume it has one?) and then up the exit, but then the exit has steps as well so 💁‍♂️ Granted the ramp would be too steep for independent access, but a staff member would be assisting anyway and it would be better than nothing: ******************** I headed down to Sydney and rode this on Saturday. To echo everyone else, yes it shakes a lot, except in the front, and I put this down to how light the trains are. In the station if you rock in your seat side to side you can get your car to jiggle, so theres def a bit of play in the wheels. Likewise every time you pass over a friction wheel the whole car bumps up. Seats are comfortable, surprised there is no back up seatbelt, but echoing Doms comments that you could get struck by the harness opening since it springs open so quick at the end….It doesn’t raise up gently like on Superman or Rivals etc. First launch starts steady and then suddenly kicks right at the end into the turn. The dips feel like the start of Steel Vengeance or Twisted Collossus, with random little bumps and twists. 2nd launch is spirited, with a good bit of force in the loops, but some definite shaking at the bottom of the loops. The top of the non inverted loop doesn’t have the same ejector DC rivals have. Overall, the transitions and track design are well done, no sudden neck snapping moments or anything like that. I was worried being a compact design that might happen, but really its just the cars themselves making it bumpy. The airtime hill has a good little moment of ejector. The s bends are cool because theoretically this is the ideal coaster for heartlining, so you actually feel your bottom swinging outwards with each bank in the track. The turn dives under the bridge (which looks like those freeway footbridges with barriers to prevent rock throwing, but the holes are big enough to poke your phone lens through for photos) and then you go up and over the station entry stairs, and its actually very close in terms of clearance, surprised there is no netting. The corkscrew is drawn out, with a moment of hangtime at the top, then as you come out is a super close near miss with that first turn after launch #1 Hit the brakes and the ride is done. I did about 8 laps, including the back, and twice in the front. Try and get a front row ride if you can. It was quiet for a Saturday so I rarely waited more than 1 or 2 cycles. As for Boomerang, so smooth in every way, not just on the track but even when it stops and changes direction there is not a single lurch, it has been finely programmed. The helix on the reverse trip is quite dizzying.

If only they’d also included a worldwide pandemic into their plans…. sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.. I’d also give them a little more credit than classifying Leviathan as being “half-complete”

Quiet day, despite it being school holidays. I mentioned to the staff sorting the queue that I’d be happy to wait to ride row 10 on the non-spinning train. She gave me the knowing grin and waved me to it. Rows 6-10 were empty except me, and the seat checking rideop guy also gave me that knowing grin when he finally reached me, saying “best seats apart from the spinning ones”, and wow I agree.

Just had my first ride, row 5. I was surprised at how compact a coaster it is - making some transitions quite surprisingly snappy. DCR has snappy elements, but being a hyper you can see they’re coming. as so many have said, that reverse launch is surprising. Part of the thrill is knowing the track has no apparent end on the spike (and even though the ride’s computers apply the correct amount of thrust), the half-fear of flying off the track is fun. Two trains today, so as a single rider it a walk-on.

A next gen Vekoma Flying Coaster (see F.L.Y. @ Phantasialand) would have been a slam dunk replacement for Lethal/Arkham. 1) It's a step up/evolution of what it's replacing. 2) Very unique and easy to market to the GP; would easily capture people's attention/imagination. 3) Fills the multi-looper thrill coaster gap in MWs coaster line-up. 4) Ride system suits a Batman theme; so VRTP can keep milking that DC license and triple their bat cape sales.

Here's the layout of the double boomerangs based on the ones at Wildpark Emmen. So you probably could snake a custom invert around the rest, and even have a station fly through. I don't think you'd be able to do the standard SFC layout threaded through, would need to be custom. The following is just speculative, there's of course heaps of land behind scooby if you wanted to do a really long layout.

Spinning seat solo ... Most intense and exhilarating experience I have had on a rollercoaster in my life

You really can deny this. It's quantifiable and provable,and it's not an old management v new management thing. It's been going down hill for years, and that didn't stop in 2021. ST might be their best ride ever, but the park really sucks right now. Now there's an argument about declines last year being inevitable and nessicary so you can give them a pass but to ignore it entirely and say how much it's improved seems like a combination between wishful thinking and data omission. The park didn't get better when they shortened the train route. The park didn't get better when they closed a bunch of smaller attractions during the year. The park didn't get better when they removed Buzzsaw. The park isn't better because of some temporary entertainment options. Closing White Water World 5 days a week didn't male the place better. I'll pay the whole thing of in order for a forest to grow anew you need a bush fire now and then, and I'll totally give you the idea that basically what's happened at DW recently can be compared to a deliberate purging bush fire - a clear out so the place can grow back (hopefully) better. But you don't look at a freshly blackened landscape and say 'You can't deny this is better'. FWIW, for those who think it's a company thing, I think SW declined, WnW got better (but still off it's peak) and MW stayed pretty much flat, and despite critism for presentation, Luna Park Sydney improved massively.

The operations for Steel Taipan are putting Hypercoaster to shame at the moment.

Here's a new POV of the ride by CoasterLife; the ride has sped up SIGNIFICANTLY from the POV the park posted!

Yeah I cannot wait to ride it. Doing so in early January. I have been on these forums for a long time now and I have always been a proponent of Luna Park receiving a new coaster. It’s been a passion of mine and I dared to believe and hold out hope that it would actually happen. Now that it finally has occurred the scale and audacity of what has been installed is so much more than what I had dreamed. After the debacle of the 2nd Big Dipper and the ensuing resident problems a lot of people ( some on these boards) expressed grave doubts that the park would ever see another coaster. Now we have 2 excellent additions- a neat family coaster and a world first Intamin prototype. We really have to take our hats of to Luna Park and their management for believing in the park itself , the guts to see it through after such a long time and the vision and foresight to deliver what we see today. This is a massive cause for celebrations and it’s also such a massive shot in the arm for the amusement park industry which could have seriously positive ramifications for the future of amusement parks in the rest of the country, in an industry which has been primarily Gold Coast centric. Perhaps the decision to spend $30 million at Luna Park spurred on Gumbuya’s surprising decision to purchase Buzzsaw ( another prediction which many on this board said wouldn’t happen) Hopefully this in turn will see new investment in our parks as a sign of a healthy amusement park industry- both on the Gold Coast and elsewhere in the nation.

No track works have happened in the last few weeks, but the fence is complete and they have begun installing the automatic boom gates next to the central station

At least if I ever work there again I don't have to worry about a huntsman falling on my head and accidentally bashing the e-stop when trying to get the spider off my head haha

Putting West out after Easter is smart. Probably one of the smartest maintenance decisions I’ve seen in years. wet rides closed in winter… such innovation!

Change of management has definitely been positive for Dreamworld and a negative for Movie World

That’s it. And then if you rebuild the Captain Sturt, it’s not travelling between three country themed lands anymore, you’ll have a 19th century paddle boat docking between a kid’s area, a fake boat, a green concrete jungle of a coaster entryway and the remnants of an opening day building that’s been all but abandoned. If I were rescuing Dreamworld, building a boat is not the solution.

That’s like them bulldozing DC Rivals and you saying “if you need your fix go ride Sponge Bob’s Boating School Blast”

*LPS has entered the chat*

Never underestimate the power of The Tate! 😜

Thats what happens when you take most of the good high up operations supervisors from Village and put them at Dreamworld. Glad that the park has a competent team running the operations department finally. And it's really starting to show with their operations and staff morale as well.

Just had my first ride on BD today, as well as all the other new rides other than Sledgehammer (employee benefits haha). Now, I have moved on with my work life to new and better opportunities for me, so I haven’t worked at Luna Park for close to 3 weeks. I had to come down here and try BD, and WOW! Ngl, it looks sluggish on camera, but it’s absolutely amazing, and has great pacing. I got a front seat ride first time, and it was not too jolty at all. Being an enthusiast for almost all my life, I’ve travelled around Australia and the world for the best Rollercoasters and Theme Parks there are. Port Aventura and Ferrari Land, Ferrari World, USO, Disneyworld, BGT, SWO are just some of the parks I have done outside of Australia, and I would gladly put BD in my top 30-40, also it’s close to home so that makes it more special to me And i’ve been on the fastest coaster in the world so that’s saying something. I’m glad Sydney has a park to be proud of now, and I’m so happy my dream of a new Luna Park has been brought to reality! IMG_5267.MOV

Hi all, I'm sorry there hasn't been that much posting for the past few months. The lockdown came and screwed everything up, and it was pretty much done by the end of the lockdown! But now we got something exciting! I don't like to boast, but I just have to spread the word. I was very lucky to be the *first* rider on Big Dipper III (although that there was a press event earlier, and human tests. But at least the first guest...)! I throw up on Teacups, so there were high standards to prevent raining vomit. I never felt nauseous, even on my 3rd go (just because)! Your back gets pushed in as you launched, which forces a smile, even on the most upset of people, the photos will give you proof! Then at the second launch, you know truly a thrill ride. The most intense part for me was the Luna Land section of the coaster, it's like a strict parent pinning you to bed and yelling at you: "GO TO SLEEP! FOR GOODNESS SAKES, G O T O S L E E P!!!". At the last section of the coaster, you go very low to all the customers in the queue, and gives chills to those waiting to ride. They had a GoPro facing me to see my reaction, I'll try to grab that recording, and a few others that I have that should be available on my social media soon! There was a Red Train, and a Blue Train. The first one to go was the red train, but broke down around twelve hours and thirty minutes post meridian & was put into a siding. I went on the Blue Train the other 2 times. They had GoPro holders on both right now, they'll be using the Blue Train for more recording tomorrow. But they will probably take them off soon... I think that's a shame as it can cause trouble and violence against staff from people not using a chest strap for their GoPros, and this would be an easier way to do it in theory. There was also trouble with people using the bridge to cross the track to the queue for people filming the ride, blocking way for people wishing to ride. A good spot for a vantage point in the future they might want to add is either expanding the bridge slightly (unlikely), or use the area where the Big Dipper 1 queue painting is right now, and a few other places around the Foyer 2 area (more likely (at least) ). There were also new mascots at the park who arrived today! Meet Loop & Zag, and there were 4 people in full body suits in 4 different colours, I couldn't get their name because they can't talk, but they're interested in getting a 5th member, but I believe that's already been taken. Thanks so much to the builders, architects, managers, team members, media, guests, enthusiasts, and video bombers for making this day possible! Every single person has made this 20 year dream into a reality! Matthew

I couldn’t get a picture because I was driving (sorry) but just spotted BS track sitting in this industrial lot !

Wild West Falls was open today in technical rehearsal