Richard

With keeping the loops, now I'm not the sort of person who get's too sentimental about things, but am I the only one who doesn't like the idea of keeping the loops as some sort of memorial to Thunderbolt? It's just incredibly tacky to me. It's a part of their history granted, but they made the decision to remove the ride, because it simply didn't perform and was incredibly outdated - is it really worthy of fanfare?

Keep telling yourself that Nightshifter. Maybe your Fairy Godmother will someday make it true.

Okamoto don't develop their own rides - their catalogue includes rides from Arrow, Meisho, Togo and other manufacturers. Think of them like the Swiss company Giovanola, who stick more to the fabricating side of things rather than developing and designing their own rides.

Geronimo: http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/coaster.php?cid=25 I don't know for sure about the designer, but it's a German design. Some sources say that Schwarzkopf did built some wild mouse coasters, others are unsure on the matter. What is certain is that it's a German design. I'd probably say it's a Mack.

I've always had a go when there's a post that's really pushing the limits of the English language. I'm not going to come jumping back at people if they spell a word or two wrong here or there. Furthermore, it was a simple note. My post was actually related to the topic at hand. How many times have you posted a reply including nothing but a correction or two, with nothing to do with the actual topic?

Yeah, I'm a 1280x1024 person. Back when 14" was standard, 640x480 appeared as the "large" resolution with 800x600 as the "small" one. With 15", 800x600 became the "large" one and 1024x768 became the "small" one. Now that 17" is the standard, 1024x768 is the "large" one and 1280x1024 is the "small" one. Some people prefer "larger", some "smaller". The current standard sized screen is really 17", so I design for the minimum standard - 1024x768. This covers me for about half the people out there with only 15" monitors, and every other bigger monitor right up to 19" and 21". It's just a lot neater to design with a fixed width rather than everything moving around and chaning size based on the screen. I know that what I see when I make it matches what everyone else will see. I'm sorry if Roller-Coaster.com.au doesn't work properly with your current resolution. However, I would suggest that if at least 1024x768 isn't your current comfortable screen resolution, then you probably could do to look at what's out there in terms of new monitors or computers.

I, probably more than anyone here, don't want to see the Australian Wildlife Experience ruined by thrill rides, however the conjestion of the Ocean Parade area of the park is getting a bit much. It's even almost gotten to a point that even very high capacity rides won't do much good, because the infrastructure of the area in terms of food outlets, retail stores, toilet facilities etc. is already pretty much pushed to its limits. There are very few ways they can actually expand in terms of rides. At the very back of the park they're almost at their limit for land. There's some there, but nothing significant. To the left at the front, you've got Dreamworld Studios. Behind that you've got Blue Lagoon, and I'd leave that area open for expansions to it, which I think are inevitable. Then there's Rocky Hollow that has two manmade ponds behind it, making it difficult to go that way and next up we have the wildlife park. Heading out from the top left corner might work. There's a lot to use, but you're also a heck of a long way from anything. Make it decent and you'll work wonders with crowd control, but To the right obviously you've got the boundary just beyond Thunderbolt's former footprint. Using Thunderbolt's land and heading to the back, there's quite a huge area of land that would be rather easily utilised. You'd need to move the maintenance area further back, probably in the slither of land at the very back of the park, but that's a virtually insignificant cost if you're doing this sort of expansion. Dreamworld indeed is in good hands. Macquarie Leisure have a very focused and talented board of directors. Because the company is relatively young, there's a very obvious added desire to succeed in order to grow. Dreamworld's management team are also very talented and know the industry perhaps better than any other park in Australia. Work out some of the internal issues with regards to operations and if the standards set by Nick Central and more recent work are anything to go by, I'd suggest a very healthy short-term and long-term future.

If you're not going to use capitals and full stops where appropriate, the least you could do is press enter every now and again to help people try and dissect it. As for taking credit... I seem to recall you saying it was being placed right on the roundabout. Not next to it, not in the general area, but right smack on top of the 3m wide roundabout. When we said that was highly unlikely given the size of the thing, you came back saying we were wrong and on top of the roundabout was exactly where it was going. Cross that one off the list. You came to us saying that Dreamworld were getting a Huss Delerium. How is a Huss Delirium at all an Intamin Gyro Swing? Wrong model and wrong manufacturer. Cross that one off the list also. If we want to get picky, I mentioned the new thrill ride in August. Perhaps I used a bit more discretion than you, but you were hardly "the first to post about the new ride". I don't get caught up in bragging rights or "I said it first so there" garbage, but if that's your thing, at least make sure you're right about it.

Are you running at 800x600? Because it's designed for 1024x768, with a fixed width (Total Thrills has a floating width, based on your resolution/window size - it can take any resolution, up to 1600x1200), if you're running at anything less then you'll get the horizontal scrolling. It's not something I really want to change because 1024x768 is the norm these days. If you're running at anything less, you probably need to take a look at your display settings or think about an upgrade.

While Foxtel's busy having their digital revolution this evening, I decided to get in on the action and have a digital revolution of my own. Actually, I've been planning March 14 as the beta site launch for a while now, so here it is. http://www.roller-coaster.com.au Please note that it is nothing more than a beta test. It is far from the completed site. You'll see a distinct lack of photo galleries. The idea is to take a cruise around the site and have a look at what it can offer, not what it is currently offering. There'll be plenty of updates before the official launch to fill the gaps in content. Do read the article, it should help with understanding a bit about how the new site and in particular the beta period will work.

At the top of the east side there was a section of alloy fins just like the final braking ones, just a few metres from the top. You'd drop then slow and drop again. Double the thrill and twice the fuss. They should have done it to both in the first place or none at all, which is what they've done now.

To my knowledge, they didn't actually advertise the closing in terms of paid spots in ad-breaks or newspapers or anything, it was all through news stories in papers and on television and radio. I like ScReAMmachine!'s way of putting it - would you rather they just decided one morning not the open the gates, and that was that? If there's one thing that the influx of guests proves, it's that Wonderland had huge potential. Sydney definitely has the population to support a large theme park, all the people needed was a reason to come. Some new rides would have done the job just as well as announcing the closure has. The only difference of course is that new rides would have meant the park would still be getting revenue years down the track. Instead they get $50 million now and absolutely nothing in the future. You know, Amazons (a pretty decent water park up here - it was only a 15 minute walk for me) closed about three times before the place was finally turned into a beautiful housing estate. Obviously the Wonderland situation is different given that the land has already been sold, but that place experienced the same sorts of attendance spikes in it's last few days each time. vbmenu_register("postmenu_6521", true);

It's one ride, which at one stage had two different experiences on offer. I'd hardly call it two different rides, especially when we're counting the rides that Dreamworld have purchased from Intamin. Dreamworld handed over $12 million and Intamin strapped some rails to the sides of the tower, it wasn't done as two separate projects or anything.

If Dreamworld are getting Demon, then it's something that even Dreamworld's management don't know about. If nine out of ten operators at Wonderland said they're getting it, I'd have to say that nine out of ten are wrong. If you want to discuss this in further depth, then here's your thread.

Wouldn't that be the LSM coaster he mentioned? Needless to say, Intamin and Dreamworld certainly have worked together on quite a lot of rides. And why not? Intamin have the largest catalogue in the amusement industry and produce arguably the best rides in the world.

It all makes sense now, Zamperla. Gyros, as you've suggested is a Greek food, containing sliced lamb. Still, it's a bit of an "ehh" article to me. As funny as it is, has the whole fat ACEr thing just been done to death? Slick, I'm a tad confused. You mentioned that Intamin have built two freefall rides for Dreamworld? Last I checked they've got one - Giant Drop. Am I missing something?

Unfortunately the pics that thunder001 took for Twisted Rails (a Southern California site that was definitely the best for X and Deja Vu construction updates) are no longer online, which were definitely the best construction shots we had. For a particularly bland article about Tower of Terror from years ago, try this one. Nothing in there that a press release didn't tell you, but there is one (pretty small) shot of the tower being built.

Don't forget Tomb Raider! To be totally honest, I don't think the relationship is as close as we'd like to think. I really think it is a case of Dreamworld, while researching for Nick Central had a look at what else the Paramount parks had on offer (in terms of movie attractions, thrill rides and whatnot). Through this, perhaps Paramount had a look at Dreamworld and the Gold Coast and based Boomerang Bay on what they saw (which has some of the most hideous names I've ever seen, by the way). There's relationship there, but we're certainly not talking to the extent of any part ownership etc., it'd just be meetings and discussions back while Nick Central was being developed which lead to mutual benefits for both parties. Sorry, did I miss something with that ARN&R article? I normally think they're quite funny, but that one just lacked it in many ways. As warm and fuzzy it makes me to see Dreamworld or Australia mentioned on that site, that one was well, unfunny. Did I miss some joke somewhere about Gyro Swings being made of lamb? I get the usual ACE dig, but the whole thing is too bizarre to be considered good satire.

Daniel, what's happened? I thought you were perfect. You don't have a "count down", you have a "countdown". You "count down" a countdown of course. If you're going to apostrophise Krusty, the clown, then it should written as it would correctly appear. It's "Krusty the Klown", not "Krusty the Clown" I don't ask that people are perfect. I just ask that if you're going to go around correcting everyone's mistakes or make a fuss about typing skills that you yourself make sure yours are 100% perfect. Yes, you've made a point with certain members, but now it's just you being a nuisance. I'm not talking about your posts in this thread, it's just your posts in general. You're wasting everyone's time, but much more importantly, my resources.

Financially, the place is a gold mine (historically it's a coal mine, but that's just a bad pun). Day-in-day-out they get coaches coming in with 40+ Asian tourists, who take a ride on one or more of the various gizmos, maybe have lunch in the revolving restaurant (I wouldn't want to see the prices on that menu given how the snackbar/cafe was) and are out of there. Let's look at it this way. It's family owned and operated, yet they have the cash to do a $20 million upgrade/expansion in 2000, a $17 million upgrade/expansion this year and who knows what else in coming years. That's some big spending and does out most Australian parks. To put it into perspective, that's about the same as what Dreamworld has spent on thrill rides in its 20+ year history.

I do have photos. If you read my post, you'll see I said I did take photos, nothing special because of the weather, but a few will find their way to the new website.

Yes, don't forget that Worlds of Adventure only has around a six month operating period whereas our parks operate year-round. That effectively halfs the operating costs. SFWoA is underperforming, that's why they only have 1.5 million guests per year, which is up on a few years ago. Six Flags underestimated the effect that Cedar Point has on the area and tried to go all out installing many very nice and shiny rides, proving that rides don't mean everything (Six Flags as a whole proves this point as well). They were expecting to gain market share - essentially take Cedar Point guests away from Cedar Point - but this didn't succeed. My point is that SFWoA's collection of 10 roller coasters and other attractions isn't normal. It is the result of huge expenditure which is abnormal for a park of its size in the Six Flags chain, and ultimately proved unsuccessful. Six Flags cut their losses and are doing what's in the best interest of the shareholders by selling it.

To anyone that missed out on the t-shirts last Sunday, either because you didn't have the money on you or you couldn't attend, you can still purchase them. They are priced at $25 each, and as with the calendars, this includes postage. You can pay using credit card online, or send a money order or cheque direct to me. For credit card payments, see this link: https://www.2checkout.com/cgi-bin/buyers/or...ge.2c?sid=27553 Once you have proceeded, please email me and let me know of the size you want. They're available in M,L,XL. If your address differs from the one entered on the credit card page, then let me know the correct address. For cheques, mail-orders, wads of cash etc., contact me for an address. Make the cheques etc. out to me. It'd be wise to include somewhere your address and the size/s you want. And YES, you can still purchase a Total Thrills Calendar for $20.

Wow, that's some unexpected news. In regards to the Six Flags Worlds of Adventure sale... if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

Hey all, here's a two week old update from Sea World. http://www.totalthrills.com/sbconst.php It took a while for me to get around to putting it together and WVTP thumbs-upping it, so it's not the latest. I'm told by the park it's looking much more complete now. The April 9 opening date sounds pretty set in stone now. With four months delay, you know they'll have taken the extra time to get it perfect. I'm guessing that they could have had it going by as early as February, but held off to make it hit the Easter holidays. Definitely a winner. I'm not shy in suggesting that this is likely Sea World's best attraction to date.