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Kansas Twister Testing has Begun Testing! kansastwistertesting.mp4

Photos courtesy of MW

I went last night so thought I would pop up a bit of a review of positives and negatives of my thoughts for anyone interested. Small spoilers ahead regarding the Horror Encounters. The event began at 6:00pm with an introduction by Beetlejuice, he came up on stage, introduced the event and then it went into about a 3-4 minute musical performance, after this Beetlejuice came back and 'released' the horde and then the event began. We had fast pass for the mazes so went straight to try and get on a maze without using the fast pass so we could do a maze without using the entitlement. Positives + The mazes themselves haven't had any real changes, except all the preshows are gone (the VIP rooms, the Conjuring). This did speed things up and added another 'room' to the Maze. There was considerably more actors in the mazes than last year + They have added a DJ to the maze precinct at the back which builds a much better atmosphere. + Beetlejuice pretty much stayed out the whole night in main street for photos. If you wanted a photo, you got one + I really enjoyed the entertainment. There is good pyrotechnics, The Wrath was great as always, the calibre of the entertainment just felt better this year. It does make main street feel like a 'concert vibe', which I really liked + The way they group people in mazes this year is much much much better. Previously you were grouped in 10 or so and this meant you almost always missed a scare. This time they ran people through generally as a group (or 2 groups if it was 2s) so you often only had about 4/5 in your group. You get a lot more scares, people move through mazes quicker and it's much more immersive. The improvement in the way you experience the mazes cannot be overstated, it is much much better. + The staff were great. I can find Movieworld staff a little 'barky' but I did not find this last night. Negatives - Fast pass continues to be oversold. We still waited 25 minutes for DCeased, 30 for Conjuring and 20 for Death Row even with fast pass - DCeased had more actors but is still just a 'poor' maze, it's not overly thrilling, which was a shame because I thought the time could have been used to improve the maze - There is considerably less scare actors in the precincts now (i predict maybe even half?!). There are many more actors in the mazes, but the precincts themselves would now only have about 7/8 in each area. - Hypercoaster was running 1 train (!?!) The 'new' this year is the horror encounters. There are four horror encounters and they are setup in Main St. They are The Exorcist, Conjuring, The Nun and IT. You line up for each of these separate and they don't have a fast pass option for these. The lines rarely exceeded 15 minutes. The staff essentially take a small video of you 'encountering' these characters. If you want a photo you can pay a $25 'candid' photo charge (although we have a candid photo card so just used that). They were a bit of a mixed bag but I see what they are trying to do there. The Conjuring: The crooked man comes out and greets you and then goes back into the door. This was a great encounter as you saw the crooked man and he looks great. The Nun: You stand in front of a wall and the Nun essentially appears behind you. IT: You stand in front of a wall and Penny Wise appears behind you, although he did 'reach out' a bit The Exorcist: The best one by far. They give you a cross and you basically perform an 'exorcist' for 10 seconds or so and they capture the video. This was very very very clever and looked amazing in person, genuinely 'movie quality'. My whole group loved the encounters. The ones where you could see the character (rather than wait until you had left and had to watch the video) were the best ones. I think these are a great addition, simple, effective and sunk up some of the crowd. As they were in main street you could hear and watch the Music while you waited as well. So, in summary. I really liked the event. I was quite disappointed when I heard the mazes were the same but the quality of the entertainment, the addition of the horror encounters and a better way to experience the mazes had me genuinely impressed. I don't like that there was less scare actors and I still wish there was more 'new', but if this year's event is about improving quality then I would call it a success. Side Note You get some good views of Wizard of Oz and the Oz Precinct, it looks nearly complete and Emerald City looks great.

King Claw went out for tender today. Images from public tender.

Not in Qld they don’t, which is what is relevant here. you can find all requirements for the commission of new rides on the below link, zero mention of minimum testing hours, only that they meet manufacturer standards https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/118501/amusement-devices-cop-2023.pdf There is also people online who say they work for Mack and typical rides only require 100-150 cycles. So there is nothing definitive as Mack don’t publish their requirements publicly. JR has already done a test cycle, so I am not sure how that is applied in this case. The coaster weaves around the land so a large proponent of the theming land-wise is outside the envelop aside from the temple area, so that work can continue whilst commissioning begins

First opening night, in the history of FN, opening night wasn't a sell out. Says volumes on what people want.

I think this is extremely disappointing. This wasn't just a theme park ride, it was the last monorail in Australia. It held an important place in rail infrastructure history, and because it was primarily a tourist attraction rather than a public transport system I thought it had a much better chance of surviving than the Sydney and Brisbane monorails. Welp, guess I was wrong.

No need to worry anymore, they’ve started installing the roof structure for the station 📸 @Ogre

I think when people talk about successful 500 cycles, they are talking about the final stage where you are "stress testing" the ride and just running it non stop. The final box to tick, so to speak. You'd hope the ride was stopping in the right place every time by that point. All this finer calibration you mention where you measure stopping positions, individually test circuits etc happens early on. I would think so, I mean think of all those travelling rides where the fencing is just standard crowd barriers you see at New Years Eve.

Somebody, Give that plane a Redbull!

Some great videos on Dreamworlds Instagram story at the moment, showing the indoor queue, station and outer temple structure. The ride is looking really impressive.

If they sell Dreamworld its likely they won't look to buy anything else and are wanting to wrap up the Coast business.

They could be doing this now especially as they can just be cycling from transfer to the station, the ride does not need to do a full circuit to test any of the finer things. I would imagine there would be more then just one team working on the Jungle Rush area, and while some teams are working on MM, I'm sure Vekoma is down there programming and testing alot of the smaller aspects to a rides commissioning process. Not everyone works in a theme park, so no I'm going to assume most people have not read an operational manual related to a theme park ride

Funfields has released more information about their Lazy River expansion for this season. Its official name is “Lava Lagoon” and will feature theming that ties it into the nearby Volcano Beach wave pool and Voodoo (essentially turning that whole section of the park into one giant cohesively themed area). The park will also be adding bumper cars on the site of the former go karts shed.

You can def send a train every 3 mins with live guests and a good crew. I mean a 3 min interval = 20 trains per hour, 20 seats, is "only" 400 persons per hour. I imagine its even quicker without guests, you don't have to wait for them to be seated or store items, you are just cycling the gates and flicking the restraints down.

I don't think the testing is the end all and be all, doing some rough math and assuming the ride lasts 3 minutes, to get 500 cycles if that is what we are going to assume, that only requires 25 hours of cycles which can technically be achieved in two days if it comes down to that, or in 5days assuming they do 5hrs of cycling a day. We also haven't seen FoTWW start testing either so it is hard to know how far behind any of them are.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/qyqerX9rFEG2W8Ex/?mibextid=WC7FNe

@Brad2912 ShakeShack got the info from........................ Where all good info comes from.

There is no on the contrary, with what I said. Less people went because MW went cheap on new mazes.

@themagicianI'm even more worried. The level of theming DW promised us and bones of the ride still aren't completed. Track isn't completed, no building structure completed and let's not mention the whole ride system that needs to be installed. Some late night coming up for workers on this one to get it ready.

DW have a great opportunity to light the creature up on top of the ride so it can stand out from the highway. Lasers shoot from out of the eyes, blowing up cars on the highway, during peak hour, is also acceptable.

Based on what the park has shown so far, I’m pretty sure they’re going to get their own dedicated area that’s separated from the Lava Lagoon/Volcano Beach zone. They’re going to be housed within a show building that appears to take up some of the land from the former Pirate themed Treasure Cove mini golf site. I’d say that entire area in front of Cyber Drift will be reworked to fit the attraction. I just hope they’re able to hide/disguise the rear of the building on the Lava Lagoon side so it doesn’t take away from the (what looks to be fairly impressive) theming.

GCB says before Christmas: The project is expected to open to the public before Christmas. https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/entertainment/dreamworld-vietnam-warera-raaf-caribou-a4179-installed-in-rivertown-precinct-of-gold-coast-theme-park/news-story/416c70a9c24e8a35bad33681a6a1acf0 I feel like it’s too close to the date to be throwing out things like “by end of 2024” or “before Christmas” if it weren’t achievable. Now would be the time they’d bring in more vague timelines like “opening soon” or “opening this summer” in their comms if they wouldn’t make it.

Based on the 7News report, it would seem DW are still confident on opening end of this year…

Channel 7 news had a short segment on the plane being carried through the park and placed - appears to have a lattice structure similar to a tower crane inside it to keep it sturdy. It's not on their Facebook at time of posting.

The other factor at play here is that each of the businesses that form part of the Major Amusement Park Safety Case are required to outline their own commissioning standard in the safety case outline. Its likely not to state the specific number of cycles in the outline but I know first hand that supporting documents for one particular property does outline a minimum number of cycles as part of the commissioning process. 500 cycles for example may sound like a lot but that figure can be tracked from the initial commencement of commissioning while the OEM still holds ownership of the ride, the figure is also not an unlikely benchmark.

The plane is being installed today!

I'd like to see the legal definition on what constitutes a ride envelope fence for my own curiosity. I've seen rides that have fences to exclude FOH, but BOH the ride was fully accessible - so just curious what defines it. At any rate - we will know when they do actually test JR, whether it is at night or not, for the simple fact that the track going over the tunnel is currently wrapped in black plastic - so when that comes off, we'll know they're planning on testing soon.

That may be the manufacturer of Flash’s requirement. Which could have increased due to its being a relocation, or due to having new seats and harness installed. also again, where is the 500 number from? if you tell me industry sources, then again that’s just conjecture. Funny you didn’t quote the bit of my post that unequivocally refuted your statement that states mandate testing hours…

Manufacturer, yes. State, no. there is no hour based requirement. Only state requirement is manufacturers recommendations are met id like to know where you pulled 1000 cycles for ST and DCR from. I believe it was substantially less. Only thematic elements within a certain clearance of the track need to be fully in place prior to test cycles to be completed

Less people went because people assumed that the same IPs in the mazes meant it was going to be the same event. Based on the reviews above, they made an incorrect assumption.

When Harry flew a drone over in early August you could see what looks to me like a bit of test track outside their maintenance sheds, cars might already be on site being tested back of house

The path\track looks pretty complete from all the photos we've seen so far. just needs a guide rail which won't take long to install. 'whole ride system' is a bit of a stretch given the ride type.

there's a Diwali event November 2 this year at DW, I don't think the markets normally run during it so it would be weird for them to reopen with a big celebration on the 1st only to be closed the next night

It seems they struggle to get the right balance because for a few years a lot of us on here have been seeing there aren’t enough actors in the mazes, but a good amount in the precincts. And then a few years before that it was the other way round (which seems to be the case again this year). Around 2016 and prior years they almost always had a great balance of actors in mazes and around the park.

The thing that bugs me about RWS is that the layout is too spread out, and presumably all that space has to be cleaned and maintained (And heck built in the first place) It's literally a 500m walk between the raft slides and the racers But you go to WnW and its "full" and doesnt have these massive areas of empty paving and flat grass or bark chips.

I don't believe you'll find the property shutting down anytime soon. There would also be some complications (not impossible to navigate however) about the lease use of the land to which the site sits on. You can't forget that Palace purchased the park for a bargain. Even better so than their original offer the year prior. Following the acquisition and change over period they drastically right sized their shared service side of the business and slimed down their P&L making it a profitable 'regional water park' in the eyes of its owners. With that being said its likely to continue that way, a regional/seasonal style water park that continues to plot along with occasional commercial capex that has guaranteed ROI. But id be shocked if we saw any sort of significant new investment anytime soon unfortunately.

If they were to sell they wouldn’t sell to a developer for the land it sits on. No shit. Coast is not pulling a Sunway. But at the end of the day its land value is still a component of the park value. Add the additions to the park, especially in the last 5 years, and you’ve got a park that’s worth a lot more than what Macquarie/Ardent/Coast bought it for originally.

The fact their last online was 15 minutes after account creation, i'm leaning into spam.

This has been the endgame for the Coast business for quite a while now. Greg and the rest of the Coast Executive team stand to directly benefit with its sale, this is still their focus.

Makes no financial sense? They sell the entire company to another buyer, and all shareholders get a windfall profit from the sale...? They don't have to keep running a business just for the sake of it...

Dissappointed about the feet not returning though.

So they do seem to have used the same platform location, and rotated it to face Main Street rather than swing adjacent to it. Should create an even better effect from there, especially with the queue entrance being framed directly underneath the swing, also facing Main St. Big fan of its presentation so far.

Which is ok too - they've been coasting their success, jacking prices while delivering less across the board for some time and i've been screaming for people to vote with their wallets, and yet people still turn out in droves to feed at the trough. Finally, some fans are saying "i won't go this year because they haven't invested in the right stuff" and this might be the wakeup call that they need. I do think the park's marketing team have probably woefully under-marketed the new additions though. So it's a big double whammy, but ultimately it might be the turning point for them to realise people won't just queue up for the same crap...

I myself have Luna Park Sydney as my local park, so the introduction of Boomerang, Big Dipper and Sledgehammer was huge for me. Never thought I would be so close to an Intamin coaster in my life! I think as Aussie enthusiasts, not only is it harder to get to other places in the world to pursue our passion, but it is also harder for other enthusiasts worldwide (for instance 7hrs from London to America, 16-20 hours from London to Australia). I remember other enthusiasts on youtube announcing a trip to Australia because of the recent developments, and the massive curiosity of DC Rivals helped quite a lot, and it sounded like they were talking about taking a trip to Mars with the way they spoke😅 I believe we are just so separated from the world’s best parks compared to say Europe or America. However, this also taught me how powerful just one new big attraction is for our tourism. Saw a lot of American enthusiasts on one of my most recent visits to Movie World! I am happy that parks around Australia are starting to introduce new world-class experiences. Still waiting for a B&M and/or an RMC! But seriously, the world of Oz and Jungle Expedition are really good investments, pushing the overall full-package experiences envelope further than I have seen previously. In my personal opinion, I believe that because we have not been an amusement/theme park-heavy country, the demand, cultural significance, and enthusiasm for such is markedly lower than elsewhere. If I talk to anyone from Europe or America, they instantly light up when talking about their local parks, even when they aren’t enthusiasts. Most people I know in Sydney haven’t been to Luna Park since they were children! I definitely hope that we even see new parks start to pop up in the future, grow a new generation of love for such attractions. Anyways, that’s where my head space has been in recent years on the past, present, and future of Australian parks. Covid really did a number on parks, and I was even a ride operator right before they shut down, definitely a scary time. However, I think the future of Australian parks is brighter than ever with these new investments and expansions!